To be Continued

This blog has ended here. To see the continuance of our journey, please go to Staying in the Overflow. See you there!

Teacher Applicant

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said "Let me see if I've got this right."

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the final exams.

You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Spanish or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, cell phone, email, and report card.

You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

You want me to do all this and then you tell me. . I CAN'T PRAY?

(swiped from facebook friend)

Focus Part Two - Yes, You Can.

In the first part of this lesson, we talked about how when there is a work to be done, distractions will come. We talked about how one of those distractions is sin; represented in the story of Nehemiah by Sanballat.

Let's move on now to the next distraction that will come: Tobiah. It is found in the same passage; Nehemiah 4:1-3

From the Web Bible Encyclopedia:
Tobiah - pleasing to Jehovah, the “servant”

Tobiah is the believer; your co-laborer in Christ. Tobiah is the one that is supposed to be on your side. Tobiah is the one who says "Praise the Lord!" to your face, and talks about you behind your back. Tobiah is your fellow laborer sneaking around to get in the other door before you and then smiling at you once you're in the room together.

This is not to say that fellow believers should never be trusted. On the contrary, we are supposed to be of the same mind. (1Cor 2:16). But Tobiah-minded believers say that even though you are doing the work, it will fail. They wish you failure. I do not understand this at all. Why, if indeed they claim to have the same interests at heart, the same goals to achieve, would they wish failure upon you? I accept the fact that perhaps they may not agree with the method, or the plan, but to wish failure upon your co-laborer is plain wrong.

"Well, preacher", you say. "Tobiah wasn't a co-laborer." Yup. You're right. However, Mr. Pleasing-to-Jehovah was an Ammonite.

Ammonites were descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot. Along with the Moabites, this tribe hired Balaam to curse Israel. They were, through Lot, closely related to the Israelites through blood and language.

You see, it is their close relation that makes them a 'co-laborer'. Even though they were not working along side the Israelites in this task, they were originally from the same family, and that is how we draw the connection.

Let's move on.

So after Nehemiah prays, we see this verse:

So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.
Nehemiah 4:6

Why is it that the wall was able to be built, halfway completed, even though there were these distractions and oppositions? Because the people had amind to work

You can get a lot done if you have a mind to work. You can get even more done if those that are with you have a mind to work. You can get people to do extraordinary things as long as you and they have a mind to work. You can beat the oppostion if you have a mind to work.

You can reach the unreachable.

You can do the impossible.

You can beat the enemy.

You can overcome every obstacle...

if you have the mind to work.

When the people have a mind to work, they can.

"Focus" - Part One

"SIN"

The story of Nehemiah is chock full of lessons for the believer. One of those many lessons is how to overcome the challenge of distraction.

In the book of Nehemiah, he has gone, with the blessing of the Persian king, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

It is good if you read the whole story so you can get an idea of the whole scope of things. Some of it is a lot of names. If those names are a challenge for you, I think God will let you slide by if you call Jedaiah, 'Jed' and Harumaph, 'Harry'. Really, don't you think God would like you to get the message He has for you before you get discouraged because you can't read all the names. When you decide to do a full study on it, then you can go back and look up all the names. Until then...

Chapter 3 talks about where everyone was working on the wall. Let's look at 3:28

From above the horse gate repaired the priests, every one over against his house.
Nehemiah 3:28

Each person was working on the part of the wall that was near their house. This is how we should be in this world as well as in the church. There are a lot of walls that need to be rebuilt. There are walls of this nation that need repair.

There are all different sections of the wall. Those who 'live' on that part of the wall are responsible for its repair.

Your calling is your 'home'. If your calling is blogging on certain topics, then perhaps that is your part of the wall. If your 'home' is politics, start rebuilding. If your 'home' is ministry, start repairing the breaches.

If you are going to undertake this task with the rest of us, you must be aware of one thing: you can not do it without calling on God first. I will address that in a future post.

Repairing the wall requires going back to the original plan. Only someone who knows the original layout of that part of the wall is qualified to rebuild that part of the wall. It is the responsibility of people that live on that part of the wall to fix it. Wherever you call 'home', it is your responsibility to fix that part of the wall. You may be a preacher, a missionary, someone who shares their faith on the job or a pray-er. Your home is on that part of the wall. Your security in the city depends on that part of the wall. Walls enable you to see the enemy from afar. It's your responsibility to repair that part of the wall.

Part of the reason that I had such trouble blogging in the past is that during the election season, I was so drawn to the political realm and had so many opinions on the various goings-on from a godly perspective, but didn't know how to separate the two. So, here I am, on my part of the wall. And I am here to stay.

Rebuilding the part of the wall that is near your house is also a personal matter. Take care of the wall near your home; your personal life, your marriage, your children. If everyone saw to the repair of their own part of the wall, the wall would be fixed.

Some parts of the wall have too many people working on them. Stick to your own portion and leave others' alone.

OK. Let's move on to Chapter 4.

Nehemiah 4:1-3

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke 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? 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.

Understand this: When you start doing a good work, someone will always oppose you. Don't ever think that you will get away with completing anything noble without some sort of opposition. We have seen this play out in our own nation. You've probably seen it in your own lives; if not, your own struggles. But stand firm because righteousness brings a righteous reward. Righteous action may attract opposition. So what?

Now you need some name research.

From Jewishencyclopedia.com: "Sanballat," according to Sayce (in Hastings, "Dict. Bible," s.v.), is connected with the Assyrian "Sinballidh," and means "Sin has vivified."

Sanballat means 'Sin has given life'. We are not talking about (a)sin, like cursing and the like. We are talking about (b)Sin, a Sumerian god. Now, (b)Sin was a false god because we know that there is only one God. That is the belief to which we ascribe here. Without getting into too much depth on this note, let's say that all (a)sin is some sort of false god or worshipping of some sort of false god. So, for our purposes, (a)sin and (b)Sin are one in the same, if not very closely related. Follow me?

Be assured that there are many things that will try to get in the way of your righteous endeavors. And as sure as that is, it is sure that one of them will be sin.

Sin seems to be able to distract you at any given time but especially when you are making some headway. It can be something as subtle as despising the actions of another or the person themselves, or as loud as some addiction.

Sin will creep up on you and do what Sanballat did. It will mock you. As soon as you get anything accomplished, sin is right there to mock you; to bring about feelings of worthlessness and doubt about yourself and your task at hand.

Tobiah was Sanballat's henchman: "Yeah, boss. What you said boss. Heh." Tobiah will further point out your failures and shortcomings.

Wait until you hear what Tobiah means!