SCRIPTURE: NEHEMIAH 6:2
“Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, ‘Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.’ But they intended to do me harm. And 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?’”
OBSERVATION:
One of the most powerful forces on the planet is a group of people with a unified commitment. Unity is one of the most powerful things a church can have. Jesus understood this and prayed that the church would walk in unity. The enemy understands that if he can break apart the unity of the church, he can kill its strength. This is what happened to Nehemiah. The enemy tried to get among the people and create problems so that they would have to stop rebuilding the walls. The great thing is, Nehemiah does not give his enemy any room to sow him down. He tells them that the work he is doing is too great to get distracted by them. He refused to stop and entertain the negative voices around him. This is a great reminder to us today.
As a church, we need to be committed and move forward together. The work we are doing is too great to allow anything to distract us or to cause us to stop working. Each person must guard and protect the unity of the church. We cannot allow anything to come between us or to give the enemy a foothold in us. Our desire as a church is to move forward together in unity – that we keep The Story Initiative vision in front of us and refuse to allow anything to distract us.
APPLICATION:
Spend time praying for the unity of the church. Pray for those in the church you have relationship with. Pray that the enemy would find no room to create confusion or division in the church.
“No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.” – Isaiah 54:17