First, Nehemiah, the cupbearer, asks for a “God size” response from the king of this foreign land that he was exiled in. Nehemiah asks God to let the king show him, a servant, favor; and that is exactly what happened. The king talks to Nehemiah first and asks him why he is so sad.

Second, we see Nehemiah, the administrator, who is ready for answered prayer, even thought he is afraid. He does not let fear stop him. He lets the king know the terrible conditions of Jerusalem and that he would like to return there and rebuild it. Nehemiah has thought about what he would say to the king, he has a plan all worked out. He asks for letters to give to the governors as he travels through their land on this 800 mile trip to Jerusalem. These letters will give them protection and authority. Then Nehemiah has worked out that he needs materials to rebuild the walls and a residence for himself and so he requests these from the king also. Nehemiah’s “God size” prayers are answered and he leaves for Jerusalem.

Next we see Nehemiah, the governor, arrive in Jerusalem and is met by opposition. His opposition is from Sanballat, governor of Samaria, Tobiah, an official of the Ammonites, and Geshem the Arab. These rulers did not dare challenge Nehemiah’s authority; their only weapons were scorn, ridicule, and mockery. Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem by the authority of the King of Persia, King Artaxerxes. The letters he carried from King Artaxerxes gave him the power of a governor. But Nehemiah has more than letters from an earthly king; he has the Power of the God of heaven.

He carefully surveys the situation, at night, so there is no trouble until he can set his plan in motion. Once Nehemiah assessed the walls and gates of Jerusalem, he publicly addressed the people. He states three things:

1. The Problem
2. The Solution
3. The Wherewithal (The necessary means)

(1) The problem was that the walls and gates were in ruin and Jerusalem was in disgrace.
(2) The Solution is to rebuild the walls and gates.
(3) The wherewithal (necessary means) is the power of the God of heaven. Nehemiah testifies to the “power of the God of heaven”. Everything can be done, if God is in it, by the power of God.

God moved a king to show him favor. God moved the king to supply safety for his travel. God moved the king to give the supplies. By the power of God we can do “God size jobs” for God!

We want to start a Community Bible Study in this area, why? So women and children can experience the power of the God of heaven. So women and children can know the “God of heaven” who loves us and cares for us and wants to give us life and success.

Just as Nehemiah encouraged the people of Jerusalem with the power of the God of heaven, I would like to encourage you with the power of God in my life. I want to share my problem, the solution and the “wherewithal”.

I had a problem. I was raised to know right from wrong but at 18 years old I chose to take the wrong way.

When I was 18 years old I got my first full time office job at a company in Downtown Detroit. I met some people who introduced me to a different life style. I began going to bars with them, drinking and staying out late at night.
One month after my 19th birthday, in one of those bars, I met a man 11 years older than me. At the end of a year and a half of dating him, I became pregnant and he didn’t want anything to do with it. He gave me money for an abortion. I went to a broken down, filthy house somewhere in downtown Detroit and I was given an abortion. But thank God the abortion did not work.
I loved my parents and did not want to hurt and embarrass them so I planned to go away, have the baby, give it up for adoption and come home as if nothing had ever happened.

My Uncle, and his family, who I grew up with, was now living in California. So I called my cousin and made arrangements to stay with him and they agreed not to tell my parents. Although my Uncle, Aunt and cousins showed me great love, and care, I was so lonely in California. I wanted to go home. When I was eight months pregnant, my Aunt came to me and said that my parents had found out that I was pregnant and they were about to call. The phone rang; I only remember talking to my Father. I said “Dad what should I do with this baby?” He said, “Only you can make that decision–we just want you to come home.” I called the airlines to get a ticket, but they would not allow me to purchase a ticket at eight months pregnant. So I had to stay.

The day came for me to give birth. At the end of four days in the hospital I went home to my Aunt’s house and my baby went home with its new parents. It was Easter Sunday morning and I was in bed, in pain, feeling so lonely. I looked up to heaven and said “God did I do the right thing?” I heard an audible voice say, “There is no reason on earth why you shouldn’t keep him.” I immediately called the doctor and told her I wanted my baby back; she said I could not have him. I had a cousin Raymond that wanted me to keep the baby. I called Raymond and said “Raymond I want my baby and the doctor says I can’t have him” he said he would take care of it. Raymond called back and said that I could have the baby, but it was Easter Sunday and they would like me to wait until Tuesday. Tuesday I walked into the doctor’s office and they put my son into my arms and joy flooded my soul.

I thank the Lord for my son, I have received more joy from my son than I could have ever imaged. God can make something beautiful out of our mistakes. Isaiah 61 tells us:

and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. (Isa 61:3 NIV) 

My son and I returned home and my Father and Mother loved him “like their very own.” They loved me and forgive me and accepted me as if I had never brought them any pain. I wish I could say that I learned a lesson, but I did not. I continued in my path of disobedience to God. I was sure that God could never love me.

I had a sister who would continually tell me that only those who believed in Jesus would go to heaven and the rest would die and go to Hell. I was sure I was going to Hell.

Then one day when I was 24, and my son was two, I felt this emptiness inside me. I wanted God so much. I stopped at church everyday after work. I bought a Bible and started to read it, but I couldn’t understand it. I wanted to fill this emptiness inside me and I wondered if my sister’s church could help me. I called my sister and told her I would like to go to church with her. My son and I went to church with her on a hot Sunday in July.

I listened to all the Pastor had to say. Then I heard the Pastor say: “Is there anyone here who feels empty, lonely, sad, and tired of living in sin? Do you feel you are lost and worthless?” I felt all those things. I felt that Jesus could not love a person like me. I thought I might as well give in and take all the punishment coming to me. I was ready to go to Hell.

Then the Pastor said

“Jesus does not want to punish you. He loves you. He wants you to love Him”.

The Pastor said that Jesus took the punishment, paid the price for all my sins. All I had to do was to BELIEVE that Jesus died for my sins. Believe it and tell Jesus I believed it. Ask Jesus to take my sins away. The Bible tells us:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV) 

I looked at my sister and said “I want that”. I asked Jesus to take me and forgive me, and He did. He pardoned me of all my sins. He began to work in my life and change me. He called me to work for Him.

Six months after my decision to believe in Jesus, I enrolled in Bible College. A year after I was hired as a “missionary” at a skid-row Mission in Downtown Detroit. God has let me teach the mighty Word of God for Him for 33 years. My son, who should have been born with fetal alcohol syndrome, because I was drunk for the first six months that I was pregnant, was born super smart and healthy. He prayed to receive Jesus at four years old, was baptized at 12 years old, and worked as a summer missionary at ages 15 and 16. He went on to graduate from Bible College and is a pastor today. Truly God can make something beautiful from our mistakes.

Our problem is that we all have sinned.  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Rom 3:23 NIV)
Our Solution is that God loved us so much that he sent His son the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sins.   “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16 NIV)
Our Wherewithal is that believing in Jesus can give us the necessary means to be new creations capable of accomplishing “God-size’ jobs for God.

  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Cor 5:17 NIV)

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  (Eph 2:10 NIV)

Whatever God is calling you to do, you have the “wherewithal” to do it. The God of heaven loved each one of us so much that he sent His son to give His life for us—so we could be new creations in Christ, capable of doing “God-size” jobs for Him.

Do you know this “God of Heaven and His son the Lord Jesus Christ?”

Would you like to have your sins pardoned and begin a new life in Jesus?

Talk to God, Say to Him in your own words:

• God, I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son. 
• I believe that Jesus died on the cross to take away my sins.
• Forgive me for the sins I have committed.
• Be my Savior.
• Help me become the type of person that pleases you.
• I thank you for hearing this prayer.

If you prayed this prayer, you have become a child of God and Jesus lives in you now and forever.

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—(John 1:12 NIV) 

 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.” (Acts 16:31 NIV) 

God has a position for each one of us. It may be in this Community Bible Study (CBS), or in your church or Synagogue, or in your home or neighborhood. It is my prayer for you that you will know what God is calling you to do or to be affirmed in what you are doing for Him.

Our first step is accomplishing the work that God has prepared in advance for us to do is: “not to let fear stop us”.

Nehemiah 2:1-2 says:
1  In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; 2  so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid,

God calls brave people to do His work. Like David when he saw the giant Goliath, standing nine feet tall yelling out insults against God and Israel for 40 days. A very young David said “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26)

But God also calls those who are afraid like Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 1:4-10
4  The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” 6  “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7  But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. 9  Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. 10  See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

It’s alright to be afraid, but do not let fear stop you.

When the king asked Nehemiah why he was sad, Nehemiah said to himself: “I was very much afraid,” but he continued, he did not let his fear stop him and we see Nehemiah’s prayer answered, “the king showed him favor”.

Even though Nehemiah was so afraid, he still had a plan ready. Nehemiah was prepared for answered prayer.

When you pray, do you prepare yourself for the answer?

I know this is easier to say than do. A story in the Bible that helps me is found in Mark 9. Whenever I feel “low” in faith, I always think of the man in Mark 9.14-27

14  When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. 15  As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him. 16  “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked. 17  A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18  Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.” 19  “O unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” 20  So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21  Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. 22  “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23  “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25  When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26  The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

So when you pray, be prepared for the answer. Nehemiah’s request to God was that the king would show him favor. Nehemiah could not just speak to the king. For Nehemiah to speak to the king uninvited was a serious offense that could lead to disgrace and even death.
If the king showed him favor by speaking to Nehemiah, he was prepared to share:
• First he sends up a quick prayer to God, then he shares his heart’s desire to rebuild Jerusalem.
• Second, he shares his need of protection to arrive in Jerusalem safely. It was an 800 mile trip through dangerous territory and would take several months.
• Third, Nehemiah needed the necessary materials to accomplish the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, which included a place for him to live. God calls us to work for him and he cares about our personal needs.

We want to start a CBS in Mt. Dora, why? We know the joy and blessings that come from being in an in-depth Bible study week after week. We know the joy that comes form making friends founded on the Word of God and we want everyone in Mt. Dora and a 40 mile radius to know the same joy.

How will we accomplish this task that God has put before us?

Just like Nehemiah had a plan, we have a plan, we are prepared when God answers our prayers.
1. We have taken our desire to start a CBS to the Lord.
2. We know what we need to do to accomplish this.
3. Now we need to ask for God’s favor to go before us as we invite our neighbors, friends, relatives.

Now all we have to do is take Nehemiah’s first step and that is to not let “fear” stop us. He was so afraid, but he moved ahead with his plan. Don’t be afraid of being rejected by someone you ask.

Maybe it’s not CBS that this lesson is speaking to you about. Maybe it’s something at your church or community (like the building program at your church). In what ever we are being led to work at for the Lord, let’s follow Nehemiah’s example.

Continue to pray for guidance and favor. When the opportunity to act comes, send up a quick prayer and then move ahead.

My challenge to you this week is “Be prepared to act when God answers our prayers”.

When I moved to Florida three years ago I fell into depression for the first time in my life. I had left “hundreds” of good friends in Michigan along with a great ministry—I had purpose in life! We arrived in Florida in March and in July we decided to fly Space Available to Europe (my husband is retired military so we can fly free to many bases all over the world). We were in Europe for 30 days and decided to try and caught a “Space Available” flight home. We tried unsuccessfully for a week, taking trains from one base to another base, from Italy to Germany. We were in the Ramstein Air Force Base, and I was now about to give up on God.

I had seen a poster in a hallway for a Sunday School class. So I left my room in search of it in this gigantic Ramstein complex.  I walked and looked and walked, but I could not find the room.  I returned to the Chapel and sat on a rock and cried.  “Where are you God”, I asked? “Why haven’t you answered my prayers?  Aren’t you in control?  I feel like you have left me”.  Then it began to rain.  It was cold and damp.  We had only clothes for hot weather.  A cold chill ran through me and I felt so alone abandoned by God.  Now I did not even want to go to church.  “Why”, I asked myself.  “God is not going to intervene on my behalf anyway”.  I had never before in my Christian life felt like God was not there.  In fact I had taught many, many times that God is “Jehovah-Shammah –The LORD Is There”.  But now I could not feel God, I felt that God no longer cared about me.  I felt that I had once been useful, but now God was through using me.  I sat on the rock and cried. 

I went back to the room.  My husband had gone out for breakfast.  The rooms shared a bath room in between them.  As I was entering my room a woman stepped out of her room and with a very stoic face and stern voice said to me “If you would follow the rules, it would be much easier for all of us”.  If only the women knew how I was feeling.  As I looked into her face I thought of just falling on the floor in tears and defeat.  Then the inner me kicked in.  “What do you mean”, I asked her.  “Each of us has a bath mat that we are to take from our room and put in the shower and when we are finished with it we are to take it back to our room” she said.  That was it, I could take no more.  It was bad enough that God was not answering my prayers, but now this woman was wrongly accusing me.  I looked at her and said “The bath mat was not in my room, the bath mat was in the shower.  No one told me it was mine and excuse me for living!”  I went into my room and yelled into the air.  “I’ve had it, I don’t want to go on, I want to get out of Germany, I hate everything here.” 

My husband returned and said it was time to go to the church service, and I followed him.  For the first time in 33 years I did not want to go to church.  We went into the chapel and we sat down close to the front.  I began to cry.  Tears flowed down my face as I sat there.  “Where are you God?”  I asked.  “Why can’t you get me home?  Why can’t you make things as they were?  Will you ever use me again?” then God started speaking to me through the service.

The service was all about being in a storm, about trials and despair.  They sang, “Til the Storm Passes By”, “God Leads Us Along”, “Francis of Assi Prayer”, “My Life Is In You Lord”.
The Sermon passages were from 1 Kings 19:9-18, Romans 10:5-15 and Matthew 14:22-33.  1 Kings was about Elijah in despair! As I looked at the scripture through my tears and listened to the sermon I heard God speaking to me. He knew I was discouraged. As the chaplain spoke from the Book of Romans I heard God assuring me that he was not finished using me, he was using me, he would use me again to speak for him.

God answered my questions. He did care. He did hear. He was there. He would rescue me and continue to use me. I wrote those words three years ago in Germany. Since then God has called me to this group of ladies to help start a CBS. God called me to share my life story with women all over Florida through The Women’s Connection and this Thursday will be my 24th club I have spoken at. I have even flown to Michigan to speak for God four times. I share that story with you to encourage you to run to God—He does hear and answer prayer.

When you receive bad news and are tempted to be discouraged and despaired, what will you do? I hope you will run to God.

That is what Nehemiah did. He had been in exile in Babylon all his life but he loved God’s beloved Jerusalem. So he asks some who had just returned from Jerusalem what it was like. He receives bad news; “the walls are broken down and the gates have been burned with fire”. Those words would have cut through Nehemiah’s heart. When he hears these words he runs to God. He runs to God in his sadness.

That is very important to note. He was sad! He was discouraged. That is what “to mourn” means. It is to feel or express grief or sorrow. There is a time to mourn.

Ecclesiastes 3:4  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

When we receive bad news we must take time to mourn, then we must run to God. Sometimes we fast, always we pray.

Nehemiah fasted. What is “fasting”? Fasting is the laying aside of food for a period of time in order to communicate with God in a deeper experience. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:16-18 that fasting is to be between you and God alone. It is not something you do to be seen by others.

In Acts 13 Luke shows how, through fasting, Saul and Barnabas found the direction that God wanted them to take for their lives.

Isaiah 58:6 tells us to “fast” to: loose the chains of injustice, untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, break every yoke.

In Daniel 9 we are told to fast when disaster comes upon us.

And my favorite story is found in Jonah chapter 3.
On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”  5  The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.  6  When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust.  7  Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8  But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.  9  Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.” 10  When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
(Jonah 3:4-10)

When we receive bad news we must take time to mourn, then we must run to God. Sometimes we fast, always we pray.

What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. Nehemiah prays often in this book and we can learn how to pray from his example.

First, We are to praise, lift up, God for who He is. Nehemiah praise God in 4 ways;
1. He is LORD (Jehovah)
2. God of heaven (Elohim)
3. Great and awesome
4. Keeps his promises

Prayer is talking to God. First we praise God for who he is, second, we are to confess our sins. Confess means “To disclose (something damaging or inconvenient to oneself)”. Nehemiah confessed his sins and the sins of the people. Nehemiah knew that if he did not confess his sins, his communication to God would be hindered.

King David a man who loved God, but was only human failed to keep God’s commands. He took another man’s wife and then he ordered the death of the man. He did not confess his sin and he tells us in Psalm 32:

32:1  Of David. …. 3  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4  For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah 5  Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”– and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

Sin hinders our communication with God. Confession restores it. David said in Psalm 66:18-19
18  If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
19  but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.

After Nehemiah, (1) mourned, (2) fasted, (3) prayed, praising God and confessing his sin, he brought his request to God which was: that he would have success when he went before the king.

When we receive bad news we must take time to mourn, then we must run to God. Sometimes we fast, always we pray.

God is faithful, he is Jehovah- shammah, he promises to hear and answer our prayers.

How does God speak to us today?
God speaks uniquely to individuals, and He can do it in any way he pleases. As you walk in an intimate love relationship with God, you will come to recognize His voice. You will know when God is speaking to you.

In the present God primarily speaks by the Holy Spirit through the (1) Bible (2) prayer (3) circumstances and (4) the church. “Experiencing God”, Blackaby and King, page 83.

“The kind of assignments God gives in the Bible are always “God sized”. They are always beyond what people can do, because He wants to demonstrate His nature, His strength, His provision, and His kindness to His people and to a watching world. “Experiencing God”, Blackaby and King, page 116.

What does God want you to do for Him? Do you think you will be able to do it?

I had never heard of Community Bible Study until 1982 when a friend invited me to attend a class with her. I hesitated in attending for a few weeks, as it was not a Bible study in my church, but I finally decided to go. They put me in a group of 15 women with one Core Leader and as I sat and listened, the Word of God came alive–I loved it. I attended for two years and then we moved.

There was not a CBS near my new home so I began to pray for one to start near me. The CBS area director sent me to a group of women praying to start a CBS just 15 minutes away. I joined their group and before long I was selected to be the Teaching Director. I had no idea how big and difficult this job was, but I wanted to be Teaching Director more than anything; I loved to teach the Word of God. But after only a year we moved again.

Near my new home a CBS had just started and I joined in the middle of their first year. I started out as a sub-core leader then I became the Senior Leader. The Teaching Director of this class was the most popular women in the whole city. She was loved, admired and highly esteemed by everyone in the City and her lectures were phenomenal. One day she asked me if I would consider giving some of the lectures. My first thought was “I could never give a lecture in this class, she was so good, so smart, and so loved by all, so very above me; I would surely fail” I thought. She asked me to pray about it.

As I prayed I knew God was directing me to say “yes”. I wrote what I felt God saying to me:

“God says, after all I do for you, not only what I’ve done for you, is it too much to ask you to do something difficult for me. Something that will cause you to work harder, search your soul longer; something that asks you to sacrifice of yourself and your time.

Is it too much to ask that you be willing to fail for me. It is not the words you utter, but my power. It is not your cleverness, but my power. Be willing to do this for me no matter what the cost to you. Is this too much for me to ask of you?

I wrote those words on October 2, 1988 and on November 3, 1988 after giving a lecture I wrote:

I did what the Lord asked of me. It went well! I was nervous, but not sick. I remembered all, it went smooth. I received a great, great blessing. Thank you Lord. Ask me anytime, and I know with your help I can do anything. I went on to be the Associate Teaching Director for five years and the Teaching Director after that for 12 years.

What does God want you to do for Him? Do you think you will be able to do it?

For the next 8 weeks we will study the book of Nehemiah and learn how God can raise up everyday, ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him.

Nehemiah is the King’s cupbearer. Not a position that took a great deal of skill, yet a very important position that put him in a unique position to speak to the King. His family probably lived in Jerusalem and he would have been taught about the beloved Jerusalem, the city loved by God. Even though he would have spent his whole life in Babylon, he would have loved his homeland, the Jews’ holy city, Jerusalem, also called Zion. He would have heard things about Jerusalem. Like Psalm 137 written by an anonymous person in exile weeping over the bitterness of captivity.

 Psalm 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
2  There on the poplars we hung our harps,
3  for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4  How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?
5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill.
6  May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7  Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. “Tear it down,” they cried, “tear it down to its foundations!”
8  O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us–

When Nehemiah realizes that God’s beloved Jerusalem is in ruins, what does he, a cupbearer, do? That is what we are going to find out. From this book we can learn the principles that every leader needs to know. These principles can help us accomplish whatever God calls us to do for Him.

What does God want you to do for Him? Do you think you will be able to do it?

For the next 8 weeks we will study the book of Nehemiah and learn how God can raise up everyday, ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him.

We need to understand that trails are for our benefit to mature us. Why do we have suffering, trails, and troubles in our life? People have pondered and debated this question for centuries. The answer is found in James 1:3-4:

“because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

It is through trails that we learn perseverance or steadfastness. The Community Bible Study Commentary on James states “the Greek word for “perseverance or steadfastness” literally means “an abiding under” and denotes the ability to maintain calmness and control in the most dangerous and difficult situations.”

Another words, if you have been matured through trials you will be able to follow James 1:19:

“Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”

You should be able to follow James 1:19 because through trials you would have gained wisdom to act in a difficult situation. If you lack wisdom, all you have to do is pray and ask God who gives generously to anyone who asks without question. When we pray and ask God for wisdom, we need to ask with “faith believing” knowing that God loves us, that His Mighty Word is all powerful and true. Don’t fall to Satan’s temptation to doubt. Instead ask for wisdom, pray believing God is powerful. Remember James 5:16b

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James isn’t saying that you have to be perfect with perfect faith, but just don’t be double-minded. Believe what you believe! Stand firm on what you know. Set your heart to believe. In Mark chapter nine there was a father who took his son to the disciples to be healed from an evil spirit. The disciples could not cast the evil spirit out of him. The father said to Jesus

“But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23  “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” 24  Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” 25  When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” (Mark 9:22b-25)

The next time you find yourself in a “trial”, rejoice! God is giving you an opportunity to mature. Then ask for Wisdom to get you through the trial, setting your heart to believe by remembering the Word of God. It should help you to rejoice when you remember you will be rewarded with what really matters, the crown of life which is eternal life.

Second, to help us become  a “Well-Rounded Mature Christians” we need to understand temptation. God does not temp us, instead God gives us good gifts. The greatest gift God gives us is “New Birth”. I just taught my Junior Church kids the verse 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

Although we are “a new creation in Christ” we still have a “sinful nature” in us. You can read all about it in the book of Romans, especially in chapters seven and eight. If we obey, the sinful nature within us, it will drag us away and entice us and cause us to sin.

Third, to help us become “Well-Rounded Mature Christians” we need to understand ourselves. What gets you into trouble? What sparks the “evil old nature within you”? For me it is not getting enough sleep. Without sleep I am not “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”. What helps me is knowing the Word of God. A couple of weeks ago I saw something that was wrong and did nothing about it. On the way home the Word of God came to me “

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:17) 

We need to get rid of the evil in us by confessing it.

(1 John 1:9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Once we have confessed our sin we need to fill our hearts with the Word of God. James gives these imperatives in chapter 1:

• Ask God without doubting
• Be grateful for your salvation
• Persevere under trials
• Know that God does not tempt you
• Know that God gives you good gifts
• Be Quick to listen
• Be Slow to Speak
• Be Slow to become Angry
• Get rid of moral filth
• Accept the Word planted in you
• Do what the Word says
• Keep a tight rein on your tongue
• Care for the needy
When we plant the Word of God within us and decide to obey it, we are given a promise:

(James 1:25)  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.

According to The Expositors’s Bible Commentary by Frank Gaebelein on James, the Greek word for blessed is “Makarious” and means:
• The transcendent happiness of a life beyond care, labor, and death.
• A distinctive religious joy
• A benefit of salvation

If we are filling ourselves with the Word of God, and obeying it, then when trials come we will be able to rejoice knowing that God is blessing us by maturing us and he will give us the Crown of Life in the end.

The year is A.D. 33—The place was Jerusalem. Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Before His death he cried out with a loud voice “My God, my God why have you forsaken me!” and the sins of the world were placed on Him. He who knew no sin became sin for us so we could inherit eternal life. Jesus cried out again in a loud voice: “It is finished”, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52  The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53  They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54  When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:51-54)

Because He is the “Son of God”, He did not stay in the grave but on the 3rd day He rose from the Grave and appeared to many. In His resurrected body, Jesus, walked on this earth for 40 days and then he ascended into Heaven and sits on the throne as our lawyer to intercede on our behalf.

After this the followers of Christ Jesus began to grow! Even the half brother of Jesus, who did not believe that his brother was “The Christ” (the Messiah) came to believe in Him and to be known as a leader in the early church. How did this happen? I believe it happened when Jesus appeared to James in His resurrected body.

“Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles”. (1 Corinthians 15:7)

What happened next leads up to why James wrote this book. The word of God began to spread. The number of disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. There was a man named Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power. He did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Opposition broke out against the Christians. Stephen eloquently defended the Gospel and enraged all who were opposed to the Gospel and they stoned Stephen. A great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria and beyond. Persecution caused the Gospel to spread as those who had been scattered preached the Word wherever they went.

The time is now A.D. 45 to 50. James, who had once rejected Jesus, was now a new creation in Christ, and he wanted to help these “new followers of Christ” who were scattered outside of Jerusalem. So he writes a letter, probably the first letter written, “To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”. Which leads us to a question? Is this book going to help us today? We are not of the 12 tribes of Israel, we are Gentiles. The church (the body of Christ) is no longer in  its beginnings, it has been growing for 1,957 years. Can this letter help us today? The answer is “yes”! Hebrews 4:12 tells us:

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Colossians tells us that Jew and Gentile are one in Christ:

9  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (Colossians 3:9-11)

As we study the Book of James we will find that James does not make suggestions for us to follow, he makes over 50 imperatives, imperatives that will change our lives, if we will follow them. James gives these imperatives because he wants to save the lost, restore the sinner and help us to “live for Jesus” in a way that will bring us blessings.

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does. (James 1:25 NIV) 

If we will listen and act on what we learn these next six weeks, from the Book of James, we will change and become mature Christians pleasing Christ in everything we do and in return, Jesus will bless us.

May the Lord bless you as you “look intently into” the book of James.

Once again we are taught that God is Sovereign!

Let me set the scene for today’s lesson. God set Nebuchadnezzar up as King of a great empire. Nebuchadnezzar is given two dreams by God and gives Daniel the meaning of both of them. Then God reduces Nebuchadnezzar to act like an animal for seven years because of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride. At the end of seven years Nebuchadnezzar raises his eyes to God and believes that God is the one true God. Nebuchadnezzar dies and for about seven years there are three different kings. The fourth king after Nebuchadnezzar is Nabonidus and he reigns with his son Belshazzar.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel 7:1

This time God gave Daniel a vision. This vision troubled and disturbed Daniel. In his vision he approached someone and asked him the true meaning of it (verse 16). This person gave Daniel the meaning and the “bottom line”
25  He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time. 26  “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27  Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’ Daniel 7:25-27

History shows us that there were four kingdoms that rose from the earth. The Babylonians, Medo/Persians, Greecians, and the Roman Empires. These Empires were ruthless, powerful people who have crushed and trampled the saints. Daniel 7:2 through 14 described them as fierce animals, terrifying and frightening and powerful, which eat flesh, crush, trample and devour its victims.

In the future the Revived Roman Empire will be worse than the previous. The revived Roman empire will have a 10 nation confederacy. Out of the 10 nation confederacy will come the most evil person. Daniel calls him the “little horn”, and in verse 19 “the beast”. Revelation calls him the “anti-Christ”.

The “Little horn”:
(1) He will subdue three of the nations in the 10 nation confederacy.
(2) He will speak against God.
(3) He will oppress the saints.
(4) He will try to change the “set times and law” or the Jewish customs and laws. (He would change what is God’s.)

But the bottom line is that the Saints win!

Who are the saints? The Greek word for Saints is “hagios” and means “holy ones”. It means holy ones who are set apart to do a good work for God. Saints are sinners who have been declared righteous because of their faith in Christ. There is a time coming in the future when the saints will go through great tribulation for three and one half years, but because of Christ Jesus and through Christ Jesus, they win in the end.

Daniel’s vision includes the final result of the battle of evil. He sees God, called the Ancient of Days, seated on his throne.

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. 10  A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. Daniel 7:9  This sounds like the books that Revelation 20:12-15 mentions that all who refused to believe in Jesus will be judged by.

Then Jesus appears, we know it is Jesus because he is called “like a son of man”. Many times in the New Testament Jesus is called “son of man”. Meaning He “God” left His throne in heaven to become a human being – our Savior! Jesus, the one who is “like the son of man” is given all authority, glory, and sovereign power and his kingdom will never be destroyed!

The bottom line – the saints will suffer for a while, but they win in the end because of Jesus, God the Son, the son of man is Sovereign.

What does this mean to us? As we look at events that are going on in the world. There are wars in the world and rumors of wars. Since the awful tragety of 911 our lives have changed because of securities against terrorists. Our airports are on “Orange” alert and we fear attacks from a country that hates Christians.

Jesus says “Take heart” (John 16:33 NIV)  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We need to be concerned. We need to pray. But we do not need to fear because we know the “bottom line”. We will win in the end because we serve a Sovereign God who is mighty and powerful and who will one day end all that is evil.

What should we do? We just need to fix our eyes on Jesus, and continue to be “Daniels” in a dark world.

I leave you with this challenge:

 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. 2  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1 
Let’s remember the “Bottom Line”. God wins in the end.

In today’s passage we see, once again, that God is in control.

Daniel 2:20-21 (New Living Translation) 20 He said, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power.  21 He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.

At the end of chapter five a new King and a new Kingdom came into power.

The new kingdom was the second kingdom prophesied by Daniel through Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the Gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay image of a man. The Kingdom was made up of two tribes from the western end of the Iranian plateau. In 559 BC Persia defeated Media and they became one empire. 20 years later King Belshazzar of the Babylonian Empire is slain by the Persian Empire. Historians tells us that Cyrus the Great was the Emperor and he appointed Darius (who was of Median descent) to govern Babylon (Daniel 9:1)

Darius the Mede sets up his new administration. He had a large territory so he appoints 120 governors to be responsible to three administrators. Daniel was one of the administrators and he distinguished himself above the others.

Daniel 6:3 (Amplified Bible)
3Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.
The Message Bible says “But Daniel, brimming with spirit and intelligence, so completely outclassed the other…”

I would like to ask: Could these statements be said of us? Are we “brimming with spirit and intelligence”, another words, are we “Christians” that shine in a dark world?

Daniel “shinned” in a dark world. Daniel was surrounded by 122 worldly officials who were jealous of Daniel because Daniel distinguished himself among them. In their jealousy they wanted to discredit Daniel but they could not find anything to charge him with. They found that there was no corruption in him, that he was trustworthy, and no neglect was found in him.

How can we be “Daniels” and shine in a dark world?
The first step is to be trustworthy. Some synonyms for Trustworthy are: constant, reliable, dependable, responsible, truthful, honest, honorable and upright. Some verses that define a trustworthy person are:

Proverbs 11:13 (NIV)A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.
Proverbs 25:13 (NLT) Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer. They revive the spirit of their employer.

The second step, to being a “Daniel”, is confession—so that no corruption will be found in us. When you confess your sins they are removed from you.

Psalm 103:12 (Contemporary English Version) How far has the LORD taken our sins from us?   Farther than the distance from east to west!

With confession we can be without corruption. David tells us in

Psalm 19:12-13. “How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.  14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

The third step, to being a “Daniel” is to have no neglect found in you. To do this, we must put on the qualities of Christ as found in Colossians 3:12 (NIV)

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

The fourth step is to pray. How often do you pray? Daniel prayed three times a day even when he knew it might cost him his life.
If we will commit to be “Daniels” and distinguish ourselves above the world, we will have trials and tests, but we need to remember that God is able to save us just like He saved Daniel from the lions. This does not mean that God will rescue every Christian from every trail. Many Christians have suffered and died, but if it is God’s will he is able to rescue. He commands angels today just like he commanded them 2,546 years ago. God has the power to rescue today.

If we will remember to be trustworthy, confess our sins immediately, and to put on the qualities of Christ and pray—then we will be “Daniels” brimming, shinning in a dark world and bringing Glory to God. That is what Daniel did by his behavior and his trust in God, he brought glory to God. Darius, the Mede proclaimed:

Daniel 6:26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.
       “For he is the living God
       and he endures forever;
       his kingdom will not be destroyed,
       his dominion will never end.

1 Corinthians 10:11 speaking of the Old Testament tells us “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”

Through the faith and strength of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, God was recognized, glorified, worshipped, and the people of God preserved.

Think about these young men. Back at home in Israel they had everything; wealth, status, and hope of a prosperous future. Nebuchadnezzar attacks their homeland and they loose their home, family, and future. They must have thought, “What now?” They had no idea that their steadfast “faith” would be used by God.

That’s kind of how I felt when I moved to Florida two years ago. No, Florida was not evil, but it was not my home. I left my family, friends and my ministry in Michigan and felt “useless and without a future for God”. But we are never useless. No matter what stage of life we are in, we are never too young or too old to serve God. A story in a book called “Night of the Long Knives” by Hugh Steven, Regal Books, illustrates this.

Chaddy was a young boy of 10 years old when his parents, who were missionaries, wanted to take the scriptures to the very unfriendly Kogi Indians who lived in the mountains of northern Colombia. There were seven in the group and they had to take turns flying in. Chaddy’s dad thought it would be good to take Chaddy and his Kogi Indian friend first. But when the little plane dropped them off and went back to pick up the others, the radio broke. The plane could not fly without a radio so Chaddy and his friend stayed alone in a little shack for four days before the radio got fixed. Chaddy was able to find his father’s twenty gauge shotgun and some shells and went hunting and shot six toucans. Chaddy did not know how to cook them so he mustered up all his courage and gave them to a Kogi family. In the morning the family brought some of the cooked Toucan to Chaddy and his friend. When the rest of Chaddy’s family arrived, Chaddy had become friends with the Kogi Indians. Years later the chief said to Chaddy’s dad, “We like Chaddy he is like one of us. And because Chaddy came first we have let you live among us.” Chaddy’s dad thought he had made a great mistake by sending Chaddy in first. But God used a 10 year old boy to open the door so that the Kogis could hear the gospel and have the translated Scriptures.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego found themselves stripped of everything important to the world, but God in His Sovereignty, had a plan to use Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for His divine purpose.

Divine Sovereignty is a vast subject: it embraces everything that comes into the biblical picture of God as Lord and King in His world, the One who ‘worketh all things after the counsel of his own will’ (Eph. 1:11  ), directing every process and ordering every event for the fulfilling of His own eternal plan.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were used by God to encourage the Saints (that’s us) to stand firm and worship only God. Their test was a big one. There may have been as many as 300,000 important people standing before a statue of Gold that was 90 feet high and 9 feet wide (just 15 feet higher than the Atlas Missile). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego believed that keeping God’s Word was more important than their life here on earth. They knew Exodus 20:3-6

3  “You shall have no other gods before me.
4  “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
5  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
6  but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

They believed God was able to save them, but if God did not save them it would be ok because they knew God’s promises. They most assuredly knew Psalm 91:

91:1  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3  Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4  He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5  You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6  nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8  You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9  If you make the Most High your dwelling– even the LORD, who is my refuge– 10  then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12  they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13  You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14  “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

For not bowing down, they were thrown into a fiery furnace that had been heated seven times hotter. There God rescued them. God sent the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ to that furnace to keep them from harm. Nebuchadnezzar did not know God, but God knew Nebuchadnezzar and put the words in his mouth, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks  like a son of the gods.” (3:25)

Through the courage and faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego notice: (1) Nebuchadnezzar once again praised God, (2) The Jewish captives were allowed to believe and worship their God while in captivity under Nebuchadnezzar, (3) Down through the ages Christians have been encouraged to stand firm and be used by God.

I challenge you that no matter what situation you find yourself in, don’t ever think that God can not use you or the situation for His good. God is Sovereign! He has a plan and you are a part of His plan.

An 85 year old woman heard my testimony and invited me to have lunch with her, she said we had some things in common. She asked me “Why am I still living, I want to go home and be with the Lord.” The only answer I had for her was that God still had a plan to use her to further His Kingdom. She said “What can I do at 85?” A little later she came to me and asked me if I could come to her Nursing Home and share the gospel. We got a group together and we started going to the Nursing Home twice a month. Every time we went and shared the gospel an elderly person would pray to receive Jesus, and the next time we would visit, that person was no longer there—they went home to be with Jesus–all because an 85 year old woman believed God could use her.

Through the faith and strength of SHADRACH, MESHACH AND ABEDNEGO, God was (1) recognized, (2) glorified, (3) worshipped, and (4) preserved.

My challenge for you is how can you make the name of God recognized.
What will you do to glorify God.
How can you worship God?
What can you do to help preserve the Saints of God?

Do you know O Christian You’re a Sermon in Shoes
Do you know O Christian You’re a Sermon in Shoes
Jesus counts upon you to spread the Gospel News so
Live it and give it a Sermon In Shoes
Teach it and preach it a Sermon In Shoes

Does your belief in God show in your lifestyle? It showed in Daniel’s lifestyle.

When Daniel was faced with death, he knew that the God of heaven had the power to save him. After talking to King Nebuchadnezzar, he asked his three friends to “plead for mercy from the God of heaven”. Daniel believed in God’s power to intervene, and God answered his prayers. Daniel 2:19-23 tells us:

19  During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven 20  and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21  He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22  He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. 23  I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king.”

This true story should help us today as we “live on this earth waiting for Jesus”.

I don’t listen to the news anymore because I cannot stand to hear about all the crime, deaths, drugs, deception, lies, murder and war.

Should I be fearful of these things? Should I be afraid of what will happen next?

No! I know the end of the story, it is written in the Word of God. We can trust that the Word of God will happen just as it is written. We believe in the Word of God by Faith, but this book of Daniel can bolster our Faith. We can be encouraged and assured that God is in control when we see how God revealed the events of history and the promise of a Savior.

Some critics, who refuse to believe, say Daniel was written after these events took place. But there is much evidence that confirms that God revealed these events to Daniel before they happened. I want to share just one piece of evidence found in a book by Josh McDowell “Daniel In The Critics’ Den” a Campus Crusade for Christ book.

In his antiquities of the Jews, Josephus relates a story which, if accurate, proves the Book of Daniel existed during the time of Alexander the Great (c.330 B.C.) Alexander, angry with the Jews who refused to give him their allegiance, was going to Jerusalem to punish them and make them an example. When he arrived, however, a procession of priests, which he had foreseen in a dream, met him. In this dream, God had promised him victory, and for this reason he spared the Jews. Josephus adds that the priests showed Alexander the prophecies in Daniel concerning a Greek conquering the Persian Empire. This pleased Alexander, and he treated the Jews with kindness.

Circumstances in history support Josephus’ story. Alexander marched through that area on his way to Egypt, capturing every city as he went. Without question, he treated the Jews kindly.

We do not need evidence that Daniel wrote his book before the events of history took place. We believe it by faith and by faith we can continue to be “Sermon in Shoes” because we are looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ, the king of kings, will demolish all that is evil and set up His kingdom of which there will be no end.

When you hear news that is disturbing and you are tempted to get discouraged, picture the dream and know that God is in control. Daniel 2:44-45 tells us that God wins in the end.

44  “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45  This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands–a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”

So “Christian”, be a sermon in shoes. You can confidently share the Word of God knowing that it is true and what it promises will happen.