When I asked the Lord what to write about today, He referred me to the book of Nehemiah, Chapter 2.  Now, at that time, the walls around Jerusalem had been broken down, and the Lord put it upon Nehemiah’s heart to rebuild the walls.  As you read the book of Nehemiah, you will see it was not smooth sailing to accomplish that great task, for there were many adversaries that wanted to prevent the walls from being rebuilt.  And the Lord showed me how that relates to trials we go through today.
    I have to start somewhere, so let’s start here: you’ve read the promises of God in the Bible pertaining to salvation, healing, provision, deliverance, and so on.  Just because God promised them does not mean that your possessing those promises will be without opposition, and how I’ve had to learn that!  The promises of God are as a wall, to keep you safe within, and keep the enemy out.  Are you with me so far?  The problem is, sometimes the wall is not in good repair, neglected, loose stones, cracks, broken down in places, or missing altogether in other places for one reason or another.  The reason for that is the destroyer is always trying to breach the walls to get to you.  Of course, he’s working from the outside to destroy the wall, and if he’s unable to accomplish that, he will try to get someone on the inside to help him weaken the wall from the inside.
   Perhaps that someone is you.  How can the devil get you to help him tear down the wall from within?  Obviously the devil couldn’t talk you into dynamiting a hole in the wall for him to have entrance, no, you’re too smart for that.  But he’s sly, and if he can get you into disobedience or offense or just the lack of caring for the wall, you know, normal maintenance, before you know it, there’s a hole in the wall and here’s the devil standing beside you saying “Howdy!”. And of course, the devil likes a party, so he brings some of his friends, and guess what? When the party’s over, you get to clean up the mess.  Maybe you’re in the process of doing that right now…..
    Now, if you don’t know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, there’s no wall there in the first place to protect you, and if that’s the case, now is the time to remedy that.  But if you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and you just haven’t been looking after that wall as you should, let’s work on rebuilding it.  You might be thinking, if God has put a wall of protection around me, then why am I having these problems in the first place?  For the same reason the walls of Jerusalem got torn down and burned, lack of defense.
 You see, when God builds that wall of protection around you, He left you in charge of it.  What do I mean by that?  Think about your relationship with God.  How strong was it the day you asked the Lord Jesus to save you?  It was new and strong, and you loved Him.  But it’s somewhat like a married couple: on the day they were married, they drove off from the wedding and it was hard to see which one was in the driver’s seat, they were so close. 
   Perhaps looking at that same couple ten years later, you will see him sitting on one side of the car, and her sitting on the other side.  Somebody moved!  So it is with our relationship with God, only the problem isn’t that God moved, because He never changes.  The problem is, WE move, and it is caused by the cares of the world moving into the relationship and drawing us away from our first love with God, as it was on the day of salvation.  Now, look back in your own life to the day of your salvation.  You know how very much you were on fire for the Lord then.  How is it now?  You SHOULD be more in love with God right now than you were then, because He has done nothing but show you how faithful He is to take care of you.  But are you more in love with Him now than you were in the beginning?  Only you and God know the answer to that one.  Or has the fire died down a little? 
    It only takes a little of the fire going out before the devil can make a hole in your wall.  And you can rest assured the devil is not going to help you repair the wall!  Just as Nehemiah and the Jews found out, just seeing the wall broken down and need of repair is not enough.  You have to take action to start repairing it.  And as soon as you do, the enemy is there to try to stop you.  We read in Nehemiah 4:
Neh 4:1  But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
Neh 4:2  And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
Neh 4:3  Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
    The devil will mock you if you try to restore your relationship with God.  He will mess with your head, people!  He will flood you with guilt, Why did you let this happen in the first place?  Then he will send people, perhaps from your own family to oppose you, after all, they probably want the old you back again, not the “on fire for Jesus freak”.  The devil will remind you of your past promises that you made to God and failed to keep.  If that doesn’t stop you from rebuilding the wall, he will send forces of evil to attack you.  Some of you are feeling the effects of those attacks right now.  What do you do?  What did Nehemiah have HIS people do? 
Neh 4:17  They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
Neh 4:18  For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.

 How does that relate to you today in rebuilding your wall?  Let me show you.  What are the weapons of our warfare?  Let’s have a look at what Paul wrote:
2Co 10:4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
2Co 10:5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
    What about when the devil tries to convince you that you’re just too tired to study God’s word?  Or what if you’re just not in the mood to pray?  Praise and worship is the most powerful weapon you have against Satan.  How often are you using that weapon?  Or are you just too busy?  You see, failure to use those weapons that God has provided is how the devil defeats people.  The thoughts you allow inside your heart determine who you are really serving, either God, or the world.  You can’t blame the devil for everything, you have some responsibility in this, too.  You are the gatekeeper of your mind and heart.  If something is trying to get in there that is not of God, CAST IT DOWN!!!  Nehemiah’s people had a weapon in one hand, and they were doing the work of repairing the wall with the other hand. They were doing the work, and were quite ready to throw the enemy out if he came lurking.  We must do the same.
    If you put down the weapon to do the work with both hands, you will not be able to fight the enemy, and even though you’re trying to do the work, you’ll be massacred.  If you put down the work so you can hold  your weapons with both hands, you’re not doing the work.  Either way, you’re out of balance.  Some people say, all I have to do is worship God constantly, and He will do the rest.  Wrong!  Faith without works is dead.  Others get in the ditch and say I do warfare all the time, and they wonder why they aren’t getting anything done in the work, or why their ministry isn’t growing.  My friends, there must be balance!
    The book of Hebrews tells us there is a rest in Christ Jesus, that He has defeated the enemy, and the scripture clearly tells us to occupy until the Lord returns.  I don’t spend hours and hours doing warfare getting all beat up by the devil, because I’m not going to let him draw me into a fight that was settled 2000 years ago, and Jesus won it.  By the same token, I have my weapon girded on my side, using praise and worship constantly to keep the enemy at bay.  Yes, he fights me tooth and nail, but I always win one way or the other, because I’m doing the work, AND I have my weapon in hand.  Does that mean I operate in ministry without hindrance?  Certainly not!  Nehemiah and his people were opposed by the enemy, and you and I will be, too.  But keep reading in the book, and you’ll see the Lord fought for them and they won!
    Get to work getting your wall back in good shape.  Praise the Lord with one hand, and do whatever He assigns you to do with the other.  Worship and praise God with all your being.  Every “Praise God” puts another stone in your wall and mortars it in place.  Every minute you spend loving on God makes your wall of protection thicker and higher.  Remember, God gave you that wall, but it’s up to you to take care of it! 
 One day you will look back and see the enemy no longer has the upper hand in your finances, or in your marriage, or in your body, because your wall is strong and high, just the way the Lord intended it when He gave it to you in the first place. 

What’s the word then for today?  BUILD THE WALL!!