Your great work must not cease

Today I want to follow the line of thought that Roberto began last Sunday; he is preaching a series called "A successful life" and he was talking to us about how we as children of God have to live up to the vision that God has placed in our lives and he developed the topic in a very practice.

And the idea behind this is generally that even if we have some sense of vision and purpose in our lives, it makes it easier for us to stay where we are because there are many obstacles in the way, there are many challenges to overcome and he encouraged us last Sunday to be very practical, careful, meticulous in understanding what our vision is, what prevents us from getting there and establishing very practical steps to achieve the vision.

And we know that there is no reason why we cannot fulfill the vision that God has for us in our lives because we serve a great God. We were singing, singing since we got here at 9 about the Almighty, merciful God, who has all the resources at His Hand and we entered that time of worship.

And sometimes what happens is that we come to Church, we participate in that adoration, the adoration fills us up, we go home motivated but when we encounter the obstacles of life that happen every day, then we get discouraged and think: those were my emotions, I'm going to leave it at that because now I have too many things on my plate and what happens? Life goes on, life goes on. You know it's amazing how fast time goes by.

And one day we arrive and say: but I've already arrived here and I still have so many things to accomplish as part of the vision that God has for my life. We know that we have an enemy: the enemy of our souls that is trying to abort by all possible means the vision and blessing that God has for us but it does not have to be that way. We as children of God empowered by Him because if He is a God of power we know that this power is in us because we are His children and He wants to give us good things.

And there is a verse in John 10:10 that speaks of the words of Jesus, He says: "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy" but look at what the Lord says: "I have come that they may have life and so that they may have it in abundance." That is the God we serve, he is the God of abundance and no loving parent is going to withhold abundance and gifts for their children; on the contrary, he looks for every possible reason to give these gifts to his children. As a mother, I know that this is how I want to bless my daughters more every day and that is how our God is, that is the God we serve.

And on this day my desire is that the Lord prosper their souls and their minds even more, that their minds and their spirits be nourished, that is the purpose of the Word of God: to nourish our mind, to nourish our soul; even the body is nourished when we soak up the Word of God, we believe it and walk in it, that is the purpose of the Word of God. And there are some verses in the 3rd chapter of Ephesians, the verses from 14 to 21 that I have adapted a little to impart to you as a blessing in the way of a prayer to begin the message.

So just listen to this Word and receive it in your spirits. "For this reason" those are the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named so that he may give to each one according to the riches of His Glory, being strengthened with power in the inner man by His Spirit" is where everything comes from the inner man or woman, right? "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, rooted and grounded in love, you may be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints what is the breadth, length, depth, and height, and of knowing love of Christ that passes all knowledge so that each of you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

"And he who is able to do all things much more abundantly than we ask or understand according to the power that works in you, to Him be glory in the Church in Christ" in the Lion of Judah Congregation "for all ages, for forever and ever, amen." That is the blessing from the Lord for you on this day.

In his sermon last Sunday, Roberto urged us to hold on to the vision that God has given us and to cement it in our minds, in our hearts, and make it come true for us. And he told us that we have to look at that vision in practical aspects; when one leaves it in the abstract, it only remains there, something very beautiful but it does not become part of our reality of life.

And just as a brick wall is built, how do you build a brick wall? brick is placed on top of another brick, right? with an element that unites them, likewise the decisions that we are making every day a decision on another decision are shaping our life every day that is why it tells us to redeem time, the Word tells us to redeem time and it is because each decision .

It may seem to you that it is something inconsequential, irrelevant, that it will not have any repercussions, but we know that the time that we have belongs to God and we know that what we do today, the bricks that we lay, those decisions that we make day by day that is what will establish the foundation for our future life.

That is why it is so important to take advantage of youth. Sometimes the young believe that they will never be 30, 40, 50 years old. I remember when I was in college, I was 22-23 years old, no, I was younger than 18 to 22 years old. I saw my teachers who were in their 30s or 40s and they were almost old, but time has passed and I have already overcome them much more and each time I realize how young I am now but I have already begun to call those who are 30-40 and I already feel them as children.

The issue is that we have to take advantage of time because it passes and we have to present something to the Lord in terms of the offering of what we have received because we have made good use of time and decisions, since they are key, those decisions that we make every day. Someone sincerely prayed this prayer, said: "Dear God, I've had an exemplary day so far. I haven't yelled or fought, I haven't gossiped or kicked the cat. I haven't cursed at anyone, much less lied. But God : great is the task that I have ahead of me because now in this new morning I am going to get up from bed." Amen?

We can all identify with that sentence because from the beginning of our day we are presented with a thousand and one situations that require us to make decisions, that is all the days of our lives. Some are small, others are large, some are expected, others are unexpected, but in any case, we are always making decisions, whether we are aware of what we are making or not, because for every situation there are options. There is one, there is more than one, usually one or two.

The alarm sounds at the beginning of the day: I can decide to put Snooze on it to give me about 9 more minutes I think it's on the phones and that it rings again to get up or I can turn it off and not ring again and say: I'm going to sleep until I don't want to go to work today or I can get up when it rings and go about my daily routine. In other words, even in the smallest things there are always options; there is no such thing as just one, we always have options and we therefore have to know how to make decisions that are wise because some decisions are not easy to make.

Some decisions paralyze us, others make us stagnate, fill us with anxiety and fear because that's life, unexpected situations often happen. But for us as children of God, inaction or making bad decisions is not an option. Our decisions have to align with what the Word of God says, in reality we must live biblical lives where we accept the truths of the Word and live from those truths, not from our own ideas, from our carnality, none of that, but in based on what the Word of God says.

And it is not that we are special but we know and we have to recognize that the power of God is in us, we have to believe God. If He says there is an abundant life for us we have to believe it, if He says there is wealth in heaven available to us because Jesus has paid the price we have to believe it. The more our thinking is aligned to what the Word of the Lord says, the easier it is to make decisions. We no longer have many complications and the flesh is already killing and appeasing and we begin to make decisions that are biblical and that please the heart of God.

And today I want to focus more on what that decision-making process is and for that we are going to use the Book of Nehemiah. I've been studying the Book of Nehemiah for about a month and I'm in love with Nehemiah, what a character to be emulated. And today I want us to take his life.

The Book of Nehemiah has been used a lot for leadership issues and it has been very correctly, but today we are going to apply it in the decision-making process because the principles that are there are useful for everything in life; they serve us for marriage, for motherhood, for fatherhood, for work, for all human relationships, for our ministry in the Church of service to the Lord, absolutely in all areas the principles that are here in this Book of Nehemiah they will serve us

So don't think: oh well, since I'm not a leader, I'm going to turn off my brain, no. That is for you and it is for you to apply to your area of need. And then who is Nehemiah? Nehemiah lived in the fifth century before Christ, it was a while since he was on this Earth and he lived in Susa, which was the capital of the Persian kingdom.

He was a Jew and quite possibly he had been born precisely in Persia and was a descendant of Jews who had been deported to Babylon so later he changed, other kingdoms passed, one kingdom dominated another and it was already the Persian empire but he, his family, his ancestors 150 years before they had obviously been forcibly exiled to Babylon but which is now the Persian Empire and was a servant of the king; He was not a completely free person like citizens as such but he was a servant, perhaps he did not reach the point of being a slave but he was a servant, he was under the authority of the Persian king.

And it was his cupbearer and a cupbearer was someone who, when it was served to him, brought the wine right there, presented it to the king but before the king drank it he tasted it because it was a common method at that time for an enemy of the king to put poison in the king's wine to obviously take him out of commission, so he drank the wine to be able to taste it beforehand and make sure, if Nehemiah drank it and stayed calm and nothing happened, it was certain that the king would drink it.

So he was his cupbearer and in that position of cupbearer he was a person who was very close to the king and sometimes the cupbearers served as informal advisers not on a political level but he had to present good conversation to the king and be a person, he was as a line of defense for the king for the specific job he did. And he had earned the trust of the king, he was a responsible person, upright and lived very comfortably in the palace. He had everything he needed.

But although he lived in the palace, he never forgot his ancestors and he never forgot the king of Israel. And in the first chapter we see if we can go to the Book of Nehemiah in the first chapter he tells us that his brother comes to visit him from Jerusalem, Nehemiah's brother who lived in the Jerusalem area comes and visits him with some companions and Nehemiah takes advantage ; remember that he was interested in where he had come from, his ancestors had left and he asked him about the state of the city, about those who lived there and how the city itself was.

And look in the first chapter verse 3 is the answer to your question. He says that they told him: "The captives that were left alive are in a very bad way and going through many shames. The wall of Jerusalem is in ruins and the gates of the city were burned." So upon receiving that sad report on the state of Jerusalem, Nehemiah's heart was pricked and God planted in his spirit a concern that he do something to restore that beloved city.

Verse 4 later tells us what Nehemiah's reaction was, it says: "When I heard this I began to cry and for several days I mourned and fasted and prayed to the God of heaven" his heart was touched and he saw the need and look at that strong reaction he had. What happens is that Nehemiah, upon receiving that report, immediately understood that a city without walls like Jerusalem was a city vulnerable to the enemy, it was a defenseless city; Anyone could walk in there and do damage.

And also not only that because a spiritual man, a spiritual woman understands beyond, understands the consequences of the acts of life and he understood that there was also a spiritual impact in the fact that the city of Jerusalem, the city of the chosen people God was in such a sad situation. So upon receiving the report he understood it on many levels, God gave him the discernment to understand those things.

There is a writer who says that Nehemiah was called to rebuild the wall but first he prayed over its ruins and I add that he wept not in a vacuum but he wept before the Presence of God as all of us must weep before the Presence of God. His tears and his sympathy with the pain of those who were living there, with the pain of seeing the city in that way touched the heart of God. That's a start right there, right? that when we are penetrated with a pain, be it from our own life, be it from the life of others and God sees that there is sincerity in that, God works, that is how God does.

And there are many changes that do not occur in our lives, not because we do not have the resources, because we have them in God, we do, many times we lack compassion, we lack the presence to be there in the face of pain, we lack understanding of the power of God and who we are in God and we also lack the ability to establish exactly where the need is and what I have to do in this time.

Thank God Nehemiah had the heart of God within him and knew how to identify all those areas. In our own lives, in our families, in the society that surrounds us, there are many walls in ruins, but many times we still do not recognize that they are there. We come to Church, we recite over and over again: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" but then it becomes very difficult for us to put it into practice. Even sometimes when the breaches and burned gates in our walls are obvious and are obvious to others who see them and yet we choose to do nothing about it.

By the time Nehemiah lived, as I said before, 150 years had already passed since the walls had been destroyed, so it meant that those who lived in that area no longer remembered the city with walls. They had lived in rubble seeing the rubble of the walls and the inhabitants were already used to seeing that rubble and sometimes that is what happens to us too.

If we were honest sometimes we see debris in our life, debris in the lives of those around us but we have become used to that debris; It does not occur to us to think: pray, intercede, take action steps to make us remove and that God can then with our collaboration remove that rubble and make life change.

Many times what we do is: there is an image of the elephant in the middle of the room, the image is that many times there are families where there are situations where the elephant is in the middle of the family room and everyone ignores it ; the elephant is not there but the elephant is there and it is doing damage but the elephant is not there or we turn around to go around the elephant but the elephant is still there.

Do you know that unless you do something to remove the elephant, the elephant is not going to go away on its own? God respects us so much that He asks for our collaboration to do things like that to remove the elephant, to understand where the debris is, and to do what is necessary to remove that debris from our lives. So that is the question I have for you today: do you know how to recognize that debris and are you willing or willing to do whatever it takes to remove that debris?

If not, the gaps are going to be there, we're going to be defenseless in certain areas and you know what? the enemy does not need the gaps to be very large for him to enter, with a little the door opens and he takes advantage of it. So we have to be aware of those areas, I have to be aware every day of where they are in different areas of my being: emotions and everything, and by recognizing them I then have to close those gaps, put strong doors where there is an opening for prevent the enemy from doing what he wants to do with my life from stealing my blessing and killing from the very beginning any vision that God has for my life.

The Christian life is to be in battle and it is very easy to do external battles but the main battle is in the inner man or woman, it is there where everything begins. Oh if God would give us the discernment to see that and do something and the ability and the power to do it. Again: it is not because the resources are not there, they are there but we often do not believe God.

So I hope that today you are already thinking about what is at least one area where I have to make a change, I have to recognize that there is debris and I have to overcome it. I know that God will be with you if you decide to make improvements in one area to keep yourself in the vision that God has for your life.

I am going to give you an example of how someone I know; I'm going to call her Lucila, my friend Lucila. Lucila was evident that she lived in bitterness, her face said it, her behavior was based on bitterness and she lived what I call a toxic life. It is very difficult to live a toxic life, not only for those who live with the one who has a toxic life, but also for the one who lives it because there is no joy, there is no hope; there are many things that die and are made impossible by living a toxic life especially when it comes to bitterness.

And the energy that this woman could build to help others, to help herself, she used it to hit all the balls that the enemy sent her or that her own flesh sent her; Instead of having energy for life, he had energy for complication and continuous tension in his life. And the words from his mouth were like arrows with fire: terrible, there they went and burned everything to which his word was directed.

This woman was processing an episode of adultery by her husband and many injuries because she had been raised in a very legalistic Church where abuses were apparently committed against her and her family and in the eyes of any observer this woman had it all with her: a woman of order and balance, you saw it from the outside, everything looked perfect. An impeccable home, everything in its place, exquisite food every day from appetizer, dinner, dessert, perfection. An impeccable professional perfect in her work.

But inside she had a lot of rubble as a result of bitterness and choosing not to forgive everyone she had perceived had wronged her. And what happened? It was only when she recognized that these debris were in her life, that the fallen wall made her defenseless against the enemy's attacks, it was not until that moment that she decided to start rebuilding her life in that area.

And today, thanks to the Lord, she is a woman who, when she cries, cries in the Presence of God, it is no longer with bitterness and wanting revenge against her enemies, but a woman who edifies and wants to bless others. She understood the blessing that her heavenly Father extends to her and that is why she has learned to have compassion with others, that is, something totally. Her life did a 180 degree turn, she changed direction, she understood her need for God, why? because he recognized the damage of the fallen walls, of the lack of security gates in his wall and he started to do something about it.

It was easy? It wasn't easy, he still has fights, the enemy still whispers to him to use the same mechanisms he used before, but now he recognizes them more easily and has learned to overcome them. So that's what God wants to do in our lives. All of us including the one speaking to you, all of us have gaps somewhere in our wall and we all need the Grace of God, the Power of God to determine us to close those gaps so that the wall of God around us can defend us from everything. enemy attack.

It's as easy as that, so easy and so hard right? it is easy to speak but it is difficult to put it into action but it is not impossible. We saw earlier that Nehemiah wept and prayed over the ruins. We are going to see Nehemiah's prayer and that is in the first chapter in verses 5 to 11, a precious prayer that can be a model for us of how we pray when we have such a difficult situation in our lives.

He says that prayer like this: "And I said: I beg you, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great and fearsome, who keeps the covenant and mercy to those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive now and your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant that I now pray before You day and night for the children of Jerusalem Your servants and I confess the sins of the children of Israel that we have committed against You. I and my father's house have sinned."

Do you notice the prayer? he treats God as someone who is there. He goes with his need, he goes with an attitude of humility acknowledging not only the sins of others, of his ancestors who are not only in disobedience to God but also acknowledging their own before God. In verse 7 he says: "We have been extremely corrupted against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes and precepts that You gave to Moses Your servant" acknowledging sins makes us humble.

The fact that we have reached some spiritual maturity does not exempt us from sinning, unfortunately that is our human reality, but that is precisely why we go before the Lord with humility.

Verse 8 says: "Remember now the Word that you gave to Moses Your servant saying: If you sin, I will scatter you among the peoples" which is what had happened with the people of Israel, right? they sinned and were scattered but look at the promise: "But if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them even though your dispersion be to the ends of heaven, no matter how far you are from Me from there I will gather you and take you I will bring to the place that I have chosen to make My Name dwell there."

"They then" speaking of the people of Israel "are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great Power and with Your mighty Hand" what is Nehemiah doing? He is acknowledging that despite the fact that the town is in a deplorable situation at that moment in crisis, that the city is in ruins, God's promises are still valid.

He tells God: I know that the circumstances that I see do not have to be like this forever because You said, because You once made a promise to gather the people again and bring them to You and to redeem them and bring salvation to the people. He then ends in verse 11 and says, "I beseech You O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to the prayer of Your servants" he includes others as well even though he is alone at that time "Who desire to reverence Your Name, now grant good success to Your servant and give him grace before that man because I served as cupbearer to the king."

In other words, did they see the process? he says who God is first he treats him as the God who is there next to Him in front of him, a God with whom he has connection and communion because there are no shortcomings, there are no shortcomings to have connection and communion with God. If you have a friend you can't call him a friend if you don't spend time with your friend right? it implies an investment of your resources: to invite him to your house, to accept an invitation, to spend time, to make phone calls. It implies an investment of time, there are no shortcuts, there are no short ways to reach the heart of God, you have to do what Nehemiah did day and night, that attitude of being in communion with the Lord continuously.

And then as we read in 11 he asks him for success in terms of what he already has in mind, to open it up. It says that: "Now grant success to your servant and give me grace before that man" that man was referring to the king, to King Altaxerxes I; He was not just any man, he was a man who commanded authority and commanded fear in all who saw him.

So that is the prayer and the prayer of Nehemiah is a model for us. There are some words that Abraham Lincoln once said, he said: "My concern is not that God is on our side, my concern is that we are on God's side because He is always right" so in everything we always have to be We are sure that we are on God's side and it is evident that it was the same for Nehemiah, he was on God's side and we know it because God gave him the opportunity.

He was around four months before he filed his petition. Imagine four months of seeking God's direction, four months asking Him: Lord, open the door for me to discern that Your moment has arrived for me to present my request. And in that time he took advantage of it; It was not wasted time, he took the opportunity to see what resources the earthly king had that he could use to fulfill the purpose of the heavenly King. He began to think, to strategize how he was going to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, so that time that he perhaps had was wasted time was not wasted, it was very well invested in seeking those resources, in understanding and gaining confidence in that God was going to provide for him what he needed to achieve the goal he wanted to achieve.

And we can't go into details but we do know that God gave him the opportunity. One day he was in front of the king's court, the king saw him as half sad, taciturn and asked him: Nehemiah, what's wrong with you? because he is not sick and he says that he was very afraid and do you know why he was very afraid? because in front of a king you never had a serious face, sad that could lead you to death; you had to serve the king at all times, be with a cheerful disposition, if the king told you: get here you would get there if you get here get here you would get there, that's how it was.

But God gave him the opportunity and he recognized it and at that moment he said to him: look, I want to go back to my city, to the city of my ancestors where the tombs of my parents are and I want to rebuild the city walls. That was the request that he presented to the king. And not only did the king give him what he asked for, but much more than he asked for, and Nehemiah knew how to ask exactly what he needed. Why? because he had spent time in the Presence of God and knew what he needed.

He asked for wood, he asked for letters that would allow him to go from city to city without any problem because remember that he was a servant, he was a servant, he was not a dignitary, but Altajerjes treated him as a dignitary, not as a servant. And it is wonderful that this same King Altaxerxes years before had stopped an attempt to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, so he was someone who already recognized what Nehemiah was asking for and had hindered it years before, however now, God took it upon himself to touch the heart of Altaxerxes and make him see that this was something worth doing so he gave him much more than he had asked for.

And I have a question for you: if there are three frogs resting on a log and one of them decides to jump, how many frogs are left on the log? two? Well you know what? There are three left because it says that only one decided, she decided, it doesn't say that she did but that she jumped and the point is that many times we make decisions sometimes in emotional moments but we don't follow up on those decisions. There is a difference between making a decision and taking the steps to make that decision that we have to make come true.

Many times we know that we have to obey God in one area and again in a moment, yes, we get excited: I'm going to do it, in adoration: how nice it is, yes Father, yes I'm going, do that with me, yes, the truth is I I have this bad attitude tomorrow I know that you, tomorrow I'm going to ask for forgiveness but what happens? we get home and all those good decisions we leave here sometimes; They are good decisions but we have to put them to work, right? Because God's dreams are much better than our mediocre dreams, so if He tells us something and asks us for something and we recognize that it is an area of need or something new that God wants to do in our lives, we must obey.

I remember that 25 years ago I, among other functions at that time; That was when we were at the beginning of the Pastorate. I was the leader of the children's ministry in the Church and I worked very hard to raise it up and at a time when it was already solid, it had good teachers and leaders, God gave me the desire to start the women's ministry but I, like a little frog who wanted to stay in the trunk, decided that I was not going to do it and some time passed, about two years, and what happened is that God had to work with me a little harder.

One of the things it did is that it dried up my love for the children's ministry that was so engraved in my heart, it dried up for me, at the moment it's like I lost the anointing for that ministry and it was a time of crisis, of struggle to my. And I was so stubborn that the Lord needed to send me two prophetic Words: one of them a woman who didn't even know who I was who asked another person how God does things: do you know a person in a Church called Meche? and that person knew about me and gave him my number.

And that woman called me, to this day I don't know who it was, she called me and told me these words: "I told you it's women" and hung up. So you know? I needed a little more encouragement from God in the end I obeyed but I went in there fighting against God for that reason but I learned one thing: that when the Lord speaks to me about something I already obey; It may take me three, four months but I don't take two years, I've learned my lesson. And likewise, perhaps you know of a direction in which God wants to take you and well, to a good understanding few words are enough.

So we know that Nehemiah then heard the call of God and responded to restore the walls, he did not remain sitting on the log but responded and decided to leave the comforts that he had in the palace; he lived a very comfortable, luxurious life in the king's palace but he decided to obey God. Just imagine getting to Jerusalem took you four months so it was not easy and when you got there you would think: well maybe it was easier, no: very difficult.

The first thing he did was go with his horse and examine the situation in the city: it was in rubble, a terrible situation; the doors burned and everything just as he had been told. Then he spoke words of encouragement to those who were there and one of the things that encouraged these people was when he shared with them the testimony of how God had heard their prayer, of the resources that God had given him because they remember that he arrived there with wood, with all kinds of construction materials, with a mind full of ideas, with companions; full of resources and he gave his testimony of how God was backing him up to that moment and that encouraged the people.

Throughout the entire Book of Nehemiah there is a principle that is stated over and over again and that is: even when God provides one hundred percent of the resources, still we His children have to strive and be courageous. We see that phrase from the Book of Joshua, right? "Look, I command you to make an effort and be brave." So that's all through the Book of Nehemiah as well.

He established strategies, he did everything, he formed construction groups, he formed all of that. I encourage you to read the Book, it is easy to read, it is interesting, it is full of the principles of the Word and we see then that he macro-managed and micro-managed and that is where we often fail, that we often see the parts big of what we have to do but we are not careful to see how the small aspects of the components of designing an action plan for our lives are so that we can then build those walls.

And these principles apply to everything: whether you have to make a change in your spiritual life, in your personal life, in your work; in any area of your life those principles apply. We have to micro-manage, see the big aspects of what God wants for us and take steps of faith in those big things but also break them down into their component parts in order to be successful.

Today it is said that there is a new way of looking at why students succeed, why some succeed and others don't. Before it was believed that it was only due to intelligence and there are many tests that prove the intelligence of an individual but now the factor of determination is being studied more and to keep running until reaching the finish line like a marathon runner; running, running, running and moving forward despite the challenges. That's a new way to look at why some people succeed in their education careers and others don't.

And that also applies to the spiritual, that determination, the focus because if there is no change, there can be no change, right? that is basic, we have to make changes in how we see life, where we identify where our faults are, our areas that need to be improved and then how to build to fill the gap in the wall as we said before: day by day a decision like a brick that is placed on top of another brick to build the wall.

And God doesn't see things the way we see them. We often divide what is religious and spiritual from what is life and God does not see it that way He is interested in all aspects of our life. And He is interested if your goal is to learn English because He gives steps to learn English, so easy: where are the classes? establish an action plan. That's where we fail the most, it's not vision. Many of us have vision.

If I were to ask each one of you, do you have vision? in many areas. It is not there we have to see the components of that. And for one to be successful we need three things that Nehemiah projects very well: one is faith in the Lord. That is what gives you the assurance that you are not alone, that you are supported, that all the resources of heaven are at your disposal. In Philippians 4:19 it says: "My God will supply all that you lack according to your" poverty in glory, right? It says, "according to his riches in glory." Our Father is a God rich in resources.

That first, faith in the Lord. Then comes the focus. We live in an unfocused generation, we are doing so many things all the time. We're like, do you know the dormouse, the hamsters? that they are in the wheel and hit it hit the wheel and hit the wheel and hit it, hit it, hit it; Many times we are like this: we believe that we are doing great things but we are not advancing, we are still on the same wheel that we were three years ago, five years ago and that is not what God wants, it is important that we advance in faith what God has given us.

Nehemiah had enemies: two of them were called Sanballat and Tobiah. Please don't name your children especially Sanballat (laughs). They were his enemies and tried in every possible way to divert him from the path that God had for him. And the truth is that we establish priorities based on, that is, we do things based on our priorities. Where there are no priorities we do not take time.

You notice that if you want to do something and you don't and say: oh no but that's not that important, what happens? the place it takes is last on the list "if I have time" but in the Lord we have to establish very clear priorities and do those that are going to transform our lives. So we saw that Sanballat or we see in the story that Sanballat and Tobias did everything possible to blur him.

In chapter 6 of Nehemiah, verses 1 through 4, that is perhaps my favorite part of the Book of Nehemiah, it says: "When Sanballat and Tobiah and Jezem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no in the gate" although until that time the doors had not been put up "Sanballat and Jezem sent to tell me: come and meet us in one of the villages in the field of one but they had thought to do me harm" the intentions were bad.

And look at his answer: "And I sent them messengers saying: I am doing a great work and I cannot go because the work would stop" I am doing a great work and I cannot go because the work would stop. In other words, if you have a focus and are focused on doing the work that God wants you to do, do not leave the great work to attend to other things because your anointing to complete the walls is where God wants you, not where you want to be, but in where God wants you. So.

So I think that's something to memorize. Because there were many attempts: they threatened him with death, they made fun of him. One of the things that caught my attention is that one of them, I think it was Tobias, said something like: those walls that you are building are so weak that if a fox sits on top of the wall, the wall will fall down. Knows? wonders that God was doing in the city, and what happens? they attack them.

Many times when you want to do something in that aspect of closing a breach in the wall, be it in your life, in the life of your loved ones, in your family life, in your work, wherever, do you know what is going to happen? criticism will come. It's not going to be easy, not everyone is going to tell you: "Oh, it's great that you're growing in that area." Many times it is when we make the most enemies and many times we make enemies even among those who are closest to us and who supposedly love us.

So don't allow the weakness that you have from your past to determine your future by doing it, answering those criticisms as if they are true, accepting those criticisms because many times in our past there are terrible things; we did terrible things, we committed failures and the enemy is in charge of whispering to us: "you cannot do that because remember, the vision that you believe is not from God that is your mind because it remembers that you have that little matter there in the past" and that it whispers to us and often stops us and freezes us.

The fact that you have been mean all your life does not have to continue to be so, you can say: look, it's over, now I'm going to close that gap in my wall and I'm going to be a man of compassion and grace. The fact that you have dedicated yourself to using your tongue to talk about your neighbor does not have to continue like this, you can say: look in the Name of the Lord that gap is closed, I am going to take practical steps so that I do not fall into that temptation anymore. If you recognize your temptation, your area of need and invoke the Presence of God there the Lord will make himself present and will do what he has to do.

Your great work can take a long time, there is no doubt about that, things do not happen from one day to the next, but if you stick with it, you will see that God is real, I know it from my own life. Maybe your great work is like I said, maybe some bad attitude, some bad habit in your life. Your great work can be taking time to pray every night with your little ones, they can be small or they can be big to pray with them, read them a story and have that quality time with your children at home.

Your great work may be completing the GiD or a university degree that was left halfway. In other words, you name that great work but we all have one or many great works to do. The point is that we stay attached to this great work, recognizing that God is going to make it possible if we are faithful and obedient in doing our part.

In the Book of Nehemiah no miracle is recorded, there is no miracle there but the supernatural move of God is evident from the beginning in how he speaks to Nehemiah, how Nehemiah plans his strategy, how he makes his way in front of the king, how the king supplies, how he arrives, can encourage the people to do everything that God had told them and how he manages to complete the wall. In other words, you can see the supernatural Hand of God at every step.

Such is our life. Our life is not unlike Nehemiah's. If you set your mind to something and have it in perspective that you are going to achieve that in the Name of the Lord, you will achieve it. And look at one thing: that wall that had been destroyed for 150 years had been destroyed: I don't know how long the breach in your wall or that burned door has been destroyed, but in the case of Nehemiah it was 150 years and you know? that the united people managed to raise the wall in just 52 days. What seemed impossible became possible and not only that but it was a testimony to many around.

As well as your life, your life in the hands of the Lord. When people see you succeed in an area that you were this way but now you are this way, that you used to do that but now you don't do it anymore now you do this and they are good things, pleasing to God following biblical principles that is the best testimony, that is the best Bible that we can share with others. We are open books. Others read in us our walk; They know when we really believe God or when we just say we believe God.

And chapter 6 in verse 16 says: "And when all our enemies heard it" when they heard that they had completed that wall in only 52 days "when all our enemies heard it, all the nations around us feared and felt humiliated and they knew that this work had been done by our God." So your life like this, your life changed, transformed, your faithfulness in growing in the Lord by taking steps of faith is the best testimony that you can give.

It will amaze your wife and your husband, it will amaze your children, your neighbors, your coworkers. Everyone is going to be amazed and they are going to be able even when they do not believe in the Lord that you believe they are going to see something that is not natural behind it, that there is a supernatural power and that is going to make you the best evangelist that you can be when your life preaches that way.

So we are all called to a great work in whatever area. In Isaiah 58:12 it says: "And yours will build the ancient ruins. You will raise the foundations of generation and generation and you will be called: repairer of gates, restorer of roads to inhabit." That is your call, your call is: build, raise the fallen walls, put up doors, where there were gaps before, now there will be no gaps. The walls are a symbol of God's protection and that is what God is calling you on this day.

The work that Nehemiah did with the people, do you know what he did? promoted life. He brought Jerusalem back to life. If he hadn't done that, if he hadn't made the decision and taken the steps behind his decision, that would not have been achieved, however he did and was able to bring life to a city that was already dead and without hope. Others after Nehemiah continued to build.

And one day, almost 5 centuries later, Jesus Christ Himself would exercise His Ministry in that same city. So: how wonderful. In other words, when you are faithful, you build your walls, you build the walls and God can then do His Complete Work and it will not only be for your benefit but for that of future generations. Whether you are a mother or a father or not, as I said: we are open books and when we live lives according to the Word then we can impact the lives of others and we can begin to build a better family, a better society. That is what it is about, that we are faithful.

And to finish I want to extend a challenge to you, you know? because one listens to a message but has to respond to the message, the Word says that it does not return to God empty and I want it to return full on this day, so I issue you a challenge. The challenge is that right now if you want to close your eyes to think better, right now you tell yourself about only one thing in your life where you know very well that the wall is destroyed, that there is a breach in your wall. We all have them, think about that one thing, don't lose focus thinking about three, four, five, but about that one thing.

And what I want you to do is speak God's vision to that one thing that you have thought of. And while you think, I am going to read you in Habakkuk 2 from 1 to 3, look at what it says: "I will be on my guard" that is, you have to be on your guard, in your place, in your watchtower well placed there looking where there is the breach in the wall "and on the fortress I will establish my foot" firm foot on guard "and I will watch to see what will be said to me and what I have to answer regarding my complaint."

"And Jehovah answered me and said: Write the vision and declare it on tablets so that he who reads with it may run. Although the vision will take a while yet, it hastens to the end; even if it takes, wait for it because it will surely come, it will not take long." What I ask of you on this day, that is, the challenge that I extend to you, is that you think of only one thing and if you have any doubts, ask a loved one of yours so that you see that they do not give you just one thing but a list of ten in which you can get better.

Think of one thing in any area of your life: personal, emotional, your way of thinking or whatever and declare God's vision in that area. Once again, you know what that one thing is and what I ask of you is to keep your eyes fixed on the Lord, to look at that one thing, to see it as a project of your life, to break it into its components, write down the components and write strategies to close the wall in that gap that you know you have. Are they going to do that?

So they are making a commitment before the King of kings that they are going to work on that one thing and I know that the Lord is going to be with you. He says that even if it takes time to arrive, it will arrive, and why do we know that it will arrive? because it is from God and we know that He has all the resources that will make it possible.

So come with me to pray to close that resolution that all of you have made and that I am also doing on this day. Father: on this day we vow to keep our eyes fixed on You. We decided to get out of our comfort zone and by faith begin to take the necessary steps so that that one thing that You have told us about today becomes a reality. Father, we recognize that there are going to be dangers, there are going to be challenges, that it is not going to be easy, that the enemy can whisper in our ear saying: no, that it is not possible to do that, but we recognize and declare on this day, Lord, that if the vision it is Yours, You put at our disposal all the necessary resources and that You are going to work.

That our job is: to be diligent, to be brave, to strive and wait on You. Father, I ask that all that my brothers on this day have declared in their minds, in their spirit that they are going to put into practice, come true, Lord. Father, because they have made a pact with You, a commitment with You, and they know that You are going to help them. I ask You, Lord, to increase their faith, to increase their trust in You, to use all the resources around them, to discern Your move according to that one thing, and that Father one day very soon for having made that decision before You, for having committed before You to work in that area, Your blessing in that area comes Lord and their lives are better and they can leave an even better legacy for the next generation.

Thank you Lord because for You there are no impossible oh God, for You everything is possible no matter how difficult it is, no matter what our emotions say, no matter the attacks we receive from the enemy. No matter how difficult or how uphill it is, You are going to make it possible, Lord.

Lord, we declare that around each one of us here, of each individual here, of each family represented, a solid wall without gaps will be built where Your Power, Your mercy becomes evident, Lord, not only for the benefit of those who live within those walls but so that many can see Your portents and Your wonders Lord and lower their heads before You oh God. Thank you Lord, amen.