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Nehemiah 4:6 - So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. NASU
I don't know of anything more irritating than starting a project and one or two people want to complain about it. Seriously! I see people in one of two groups when there is a project. Are you going to be "on the way" or "in the way"? If you are "on the way" you are there to help, encourage and see the goal accomplished. If you are "in the way" then you are there to discourage, hinder the progress and see the goal isn't accomplished. My advice for you is to separate yourself from the group and let them be successful.
Originally, our goal was to pack 50K meals and to accomplish this we needed $12,500. The NL congregation gave $15K so we increased our goal to 60K meals. When the final count came in we had collected $18,247 to give to IDES. When we were finished packing all the food IDES shipped down our total was 62,208 meals packed. How were 150 plus people able to accomplish this feat? They all had "a mind to work". There wasn't anyone complaining. It was like watching ants go after a chocolate cupcake. Everyone knew their job and they were executing it to perfection. Since Nehemiah isn't here to say it I will, "those people had a mind to work" and work they did. We finished 45 minutes ahead of schedule because these people were relentless. I was blessed to be a part of this awesome display of Christians being the hands and feet of Jesus in this modern world.
Think About These: Enthusiasm is the propelling force necessary for climbing the ladder of success. To succeed you must be easy to start and hard to stop. For success, try aspiration, inspiration, and perspiration. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Deut. 1:30-33 - The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.' 32 "But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, 33 who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. NASU
In the above text Moses is retelling the Israelites the story of the Exodus. He is telling them why they had to spend 40 years wandering around in the wilderness and it all boils down to one word.
Vs. 33 -…who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. The Israelites had God leading them miraculously by day with a cloud and by night with a fire, but they would not TRUST Him. How many days and nights would you need to see this special appearing of a cloud and a fire before you might have some faith in God? Once your faith is broken there aren't any hospitals that you can visit to have your faith fixed.
When someone expects something from you this can be seen as a compliment because they trust you and are allowing you to be in this situation to build a trusting relationship. So go ahead and fulfill their expectations and build up your trust factor.
Everyday when we get into our vehicles and we turn the key or push the button our trust level is high that it will start. Why, because of past performance and the trust we have in the battery and other engine parts. Someone's past performance helps us to build trust in them and a poor performance will cause us not to trust them. You know people right now you can trust and people you can't trust because of their past performance. You probably have friends who are either always on time or consistently late. So if you need someone to be there for you you are not going to ask the person who is consistently late. The Israelites didn't trust God. His past performance suggested that they should have trusted Him. He sent the 10 plagues on the Egyptians of which not a one of the plagues hurt the Israelites. He led them out of Egypt. He parted the Red Sea. Lets be honest God had a great track record. The Israelites failed to allow God's miracles to build their trust. Don't allow this to happen to you. You can read God's word today and trust in the miracles that you read about in His Word. The greatest miracle that I trust in is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I hope you trust in His resurrection as well.
When a person wants to be trusted they will do the best they can to earn that trust. Be The Best You Can Be and Earn All The Trust You Can. I don't know of anyone that wants to be considered untrustworthy. Think on These: Few delights can equal the presence of one whom we trust completely. A man who trusts nobody is apt to be the kind of man nobody trusts. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Gen. 6:6-8 -The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The LORD said, " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. NASU
Are you able to mentally accomplish this type of forgetting?
When your heart is grieving because of what you have done, own it. Openly confess to those who are your friends. Confess it to anyone who will listen. If no one will listen confess to God because He is always listening. Let Him know you feel like He did after creation of mankind, sorry for that which you have done.
This is known as "stinking thinking" when all you do is think about that which you can't change. They say that when a quarterback throws an interception that he must forget about it. He must put it behind him and get himself mentally ready to come back out on that field again and play like it never happened.
God was going to start over and His plan included Noah. Sometimes we need to start over and start over with new people. These new people will be people willing to listen to God's Word. Noah listened to God and found himself building an ark which I am sure looked like a fairly crazy thing to be doing. When you partner with God you may find yourself doing some outlandish things, but partner with Him anyways. It will be the best thing you have ever done. Think About These: There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't. We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Acts 15:37-39 - Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. NASU
2 Tim. 4:11 - "…Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."
It is Saul and Barnabas who are going to get into such a heated argument that they will separate from one another. Their friendship is going to be severed. Why? Barnabas didn't give up on people. He gave them second chances. Are you known for giving people second chances? Or are you like I use to be and that was one and done. I remember meeting with a man on my team telling him he needed to fire a guy. I have never forgotten his answer. He said, "Gary, let me work with him. Let me "Fire Him Up" rather than fire him." He did work with him and he did "Fire Him Up" and I learned a valuable lesson. He was more interested in people and I was more interested in the finished product. I can't even remember the project today but I remember that person. All I'm saying is invest your time in people and you will not go wrong. Even if you don't turn all of them around at least you know you tried.
Being able to admit when you are wrong is a sure sign of maturity. So who comes to your mind right now as you read this that you need to contact them and "admit that you were wrong." If the apostle Paul made mistakes then I am sure you will agree with me that we all can make mistakes. Now if can you admit that you were wrong like Paul then follow his example and do what it takes to make peace. I believe that a true sign of maturity is admitting when you are wrong. Think About These: Carve your name on hearts - not on marble. A single rose for the living is better than a costly wreath at the grave. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Nehemiah 6:1-4 - Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it,.... 2 then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, "Come, let us meet together ...." But they were planning to harm me. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?" 4 They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way. NASU
What is a leader to do when confronted with this type of situation? Follow in the footsteps of Nehemiah by refusing to associate with them. If you are going to be a leader you need to realize there are certain people with whom you will not associate. "Bad company corrupts good morals," the apostle Paul said. Nehemiah had three powerful enemies who were trying to get him to stop building the wall and meet with them. They wanted to kill him. Your enemies may not want to kill you but they would like to kill your influence. Stop for a moment and think back over the last five to ten years of all the business, sports or political people who have lost their influence. The cause of their loss of influence may have been they succumb to drugs, fraud, greed or sexual promiscuity. The street smart leader will avoid people who would introduce them to these types of temptations and so should you. Governor DeSantis was invited to be on the TV show The View. He declined. There was nothing good going to come from this meeting so he did what all good leaders do, he refused to attend. He kept working for the people of Florida. I want to say, "Thank you Governor DeSantis for being a great leader".
Nehemiah said, "NO. I can't come down. I am doing a great work." He didn't say this just once he had to say it over and over again. When your enemy attacks you better be prepared to fight more than one battle. You better be focused on your goal. There are going to be times in your life where you are either going to take a stand and say, "NO" or give in and live with the regret. The choice is yours.
There is no doubt in my mind that the reason Nehemiah said, "NO" was he never lost focus of rebuilding the wall. That meant more to him than anything in his life at that time. By rebuilding the wall he was going to once again bring honor and glory to the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the city that God chose for the Israelites. What is it that you need to reevaluate at this time? What has been tempting you? What is it that you need to say, "No" too? Are there some people with whom you should not be associating? Think About This: It is easier to judge people by what they fall for than by what they stand for. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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