The persevering spirit of Neemias

Briefly with a portion of the word of God. Our brother Eugene is going to take all of this and put it into perspective from the word of the Lord.

I would like to continue to worship. Let's pray for a moment. We thank you, Lord, for your sweet presence in this place. Thank you because you have saved us, you have set us free and now we can worship you in spirit and in truth. Lord, Father, use me to proclaim your word in Jesus name. Amen.

I want to read a portion of the Scripture of James, the epistle to James, first Chapter and then we're going to go to Neemiah the first Chapter. James 1, verse 2:

“...consider pure joy, my brothers, when you face different tests because you know that the test of your faith produces perseverance. And perseverance has to be perfected and fulfilled in order for you to be mature and complete, not lacking in anything. If some of you lack wisdom, ask God who gives abundantly to all without reproach and it will be given to you. But when one asks, one must believe and not doubt because the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea that is moved from here to there by the wind. The man who asks doubtingly does not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is double-minded and uncertain in all his ways...”

Now Neemiah in the first Chapter, verse 4: “....When I heard these things, says Neemiah, I sat down and wept, For some days I mourned, fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven...”

I want to briefly share with you the life of Neemiah. Neemiah was the king's cupbearer in Babylon and the cupbearer's responsibility was to taste everything the king would take before the king took it. Before taking this I thought to you, there will be something here in it that is not convenient for me. But I will trust in the Lord.

You see, Neemiah came before the king one day with a sad face. He came to bring the wine to the king and asked him, Neemías, what is wrong with you, your face is sad. And Neemiah told him, yes, it is true because the city of my fathers is in ruins and the walls of my city are in ruins too.

You see, Neemiah had a deep desire in his heart and God had put that desire there. His desire was to return to Jerusalem and rebuild it, the walls. And he asked the king for permission. He says, could you please go back and rebuild the ruins of my parents' city? The king looks at him, the king's wife, the queen, also looks at Neemiah and the king says, yes, you can do it.

They don't think it's tremendous when we go to our father and make a request and our father says yes. What a blessing it is when we go before the presence of God and find favor and grace before our God. If I could put a title to this sermon I would title it 'God is faithful'.

To make a long story short we see that Neemiah got permission to go to the city of Jerusalem and rebuild the walls, but before he got to Jerusalem he had to get permission and a special favor from the king to receive wood. , and other physical resources needed to carry out the reconstruction.

You see, Neemiah had a persevering spirit. Neemías was not ready to give up, he was committed, he was going to pass the test and stand firm despite the difficulties, without complaining and he was going to keep trying, and trying again and again and he was not going to give up.

As we see the word tells us in Santiago that the prayer of the just man, the just woman can much. Neemiah was a man of prayer. Neemías always prayed for anything. Neemiah had a vision from God and here we see him again in his land in Jerusalem and he is surrounded by ruins and garbage everywhere. But you see, God is faithful. What is impossible for man is certainly possible for God. Many times what we see with our natural eyes may serve as an obstacle, may depress us and seem impossible to achieve, but with God all things are possible.

God is faithful because even on the way to Jerusalem, God provided Neemiah with safety; He provided him with wood to be able to rebuild the walls and doors.

God is faithful. We have to, for example, go to the Bible and look at the life of Abraham, Genesis Chapter 23, verse 14. We see there that Abraham called that place where God provided him Jehovah Gire (Jehovah is my provider). His faith had been tested there but nothing was going to stop Abraham from bringing his son Isaac to be sacrificed as God had asked. He had heard the voice of God and faith motivated him to obey the Lord. He said, I'm going to do this because God has asked me to. I know, Abraham said that God is my provider whom I serve and at that very moment when we see that he is ready to cut off his head and sacrifice his son, the Lord provided what was necessary. He provided a sacrifice in place of Isaac. Jehovah Turned, what we need, everything we desire according to God's will, God will give it to us. Amen.

Understand this, that according to Neemías he was there using the guys from teen challenge to build the walls. Amen. A little imagination there. It was not easy, many of these people were discouraged and discouraged, some were already ready to give up. Because you see, even enemies came to attack you. They wanted Neemías to go to them to negotiate with them and they told him, look, Neemías, you know what? You're doing a good job but you know, Neemiah could discern their hearts. He had a personal relationship with God and he told those enemies, not once but four times, you know what? It doesn't bother me because I'm doing a good work here, I don't have time to be negotiating with you or giving answers or anything like that. I am attending to my father's business right now and that is what the enemy often wants to do.

When we are doing the Lord's work and his will, when God has us in the place where we are doing good things for him, then the enemy comes in and tells us, 'come here, I want to encourage you, I want to tell you how well you are doing things that is a lie that comes from the very pit of hell.

Because when God calls us, God will fulfill his purpose in our lives. See, they were disheartened by all the attacks and Neemiah encouraged them to keep going. What is impossible God makes possible. One day to God is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. It took 40 days to build those walls and the enemy was furious, he was furious. And it also happens sometimes in our lives. The enemy hates the fact that God is building and building his church.

And Jesus had told Peter 'on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.' God grabs us and pulls us out of this world and begins to rebuild our lives in his image and likeness. And I tell you today my friends, stay in that holy faith, allow God to continue building his word in your lives.

You see that Neemiah had that vision. And we must share that same vision in our lives. God wants us to unite and bring people together like Pastor Miranda has a vision for a new sanctuary and he needs to unify the people, a larger place to build up the Lord, but it will require a lot of work, there will be discouragement in the way, but I know that he will encourage them.

Right now we are going through something similar, we have a physical plant two blocks here. God provided a building for us but we are the people that God has in this place at this time, we have to build that place to worship the Lord. I encourage you because the reality is this: the devil is furious and I am also furious. But my just anger will prevail, it will win because I know that he who died for me, the one who saved me, the one who redeemed me, the one who built me anew, the one who has always encouraged me, the one who lifts me up when I am fallen, the one who gives me that extra hu, he is faithful, he is faithful, he is not going to turn his back on me, he is going to continue guiding me. Do not give up.

Raise your hands, help each other in the struggles of life, raise the arms of the pastor through prayer, through encouragement, sharing with each other the word of God and I end with this: the temple was built, it was finished, we see in the Bible and everyone was united as one body. They studied, read the word, worshiped the Lord and I think that around Chapter 9, I think we see that Neemías contemplated that place and then fully understood that his joy... of man, of the flesh, did not come only from the fact that that the temple had been rebuilt, he understood that his joy came directly from the Lord.

And I encourage you, brothers, once again, our joy, despite the circumstances and situations we face daily, the joy of the Lord is our strength, the power of God. We can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. Amen.

Thank you for having us as guests and thank you for allowing us to share God's word with you and may the Lord bless you once again. Amen.