Characteristic of Focus: Nehemiah
Galatians 4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you
2 Cor. 13:11 Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
Courage: Gracious God confidence
Contentment: God has provided everything I need for my joy in him
Meekness: Strength under control
Trust: Knowing who’s got you
Haggai 1:5: Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
Haggai 1:13-15 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
Took 23 years to build the temple – why so long? Lack of focus
Nehemiah 2:17-18 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.
They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
Distractions
Neh. 2:20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding”
Neh. 4:9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Nehemiah 6:3-4 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?” They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.
Nehemiah opened his heart to be moved by God
God, break my heart for what breaks yours
Focus on what God has called you to
Eph. 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Journal:
What do you want people to say about me at my funeral?
Put a ‘great’ in front of it…
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Focus on God’s best for you