I see you dressed in white
Every wrong made right
I see a rose in bloom
At the sight of you
Oh, so priceless
Irreplaceable, unmistakable, incomparable
Darling, it's beautiful
I see it all in you
Oh, so priceless
Yesterday as Doc was preaching on Nehemiah I struggled to not cry. The tears were falling no matter how hard I tried to contain them. Then I remembered something Lysa TerKeurst wrote in Unglued, "emotions aren't bad" so I let the tears fall. The sermon was about how we need to be ready for opposition from the enemy when we are doing God's work. It reminded me of the saying about how the ole devil doesn't work in non-believers lives because he already has them. He fights for the souls of those who are walking in obedience to the Lord. Oh my, does he fight. As Doc stood there and said something along the lines of being too bullheaded to not get the church into the building and having souls won for a life of holiness I must admit the tears came. It seems like when you make such proclamations the enemy hits even harder. We must have on the full armor of God and be ready. I liked a statement made in the sermon. "The first defense against the enemy is to be aware of the kinds of opposition that he uses." The sermon was about how the enemy uses others including our brothers and sisters in Christ. I sat there and thought about how very true this is. We've been through this in the last year. The second thing the enemy uses is mockery and sarcasm. Doc said we need to expect adversity and not be afraid to proclaim the truth. The third thing the enemy uses is threats and intimidation. We can so relate to how the enemy has worked over the last two years with this one. Doc's part-time jobs, my breast cancer, people leaving the church, hurricane evacuations, etc. But we continue to press on. Doc also pointed out that satan will use those who make themselves open to him and we must be aware of his tactics. We pray for closed doors against the enemy. We pray for God to empower us to stand up against him. Why are we still fighting the enemy? Because God called us to Beaufort, SC to take the Light into darkness. In Nehemiah 4:4-5 we read this prayer...
Nehemiah was not being vengeful against those who were fighting him and his work. He was asking God to judge their sins. We need to follow his example. We need to 'Pray...Plan...Build' just as Nehemiah did with the walls of Jerusalem. We need to be out into our city proclaiming the Good News and being the light in the darkness. The more the enemy attacks, the more we should fight back. We should not, nor will not, give up. Matthew Henry writes of this passage: "The reproaches of enemies should quicken us to our duty, not drive us from it." Doc proclaimed from the pulpit that he is bullheaded. I don't know if the enemy realized it or not but I am to. We are determined to not give up until the people of Beaufort, SC know what it means to live a life of holiness. It does not surprise me that the Lord woke me to this song. It is "Priceless" to live a life of obedience to the Lord. The enemy tells lies as to why one should not live such a life. But we know the Truth and will continue to proclaim it.
Dear Jesus,
Thank You for Your love, mercy, and grace. Thank You for the way You drew Doc to Nehemiah's story to encourage us as a church body. Lord, I pray for a cleansing in my spirit today so you can fill me to overflowing with more of You. I pray for Your words, actions and attitude to be mine. I pray an abundance of supernatural strength to be over my husband today at work. Father, continue to empower us over the attacks of the enemy. You are so faithful as we trust in You. Thank You Jesus for being Our Light. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment