Today’s Reading:
Nehemiah 4
Nehemiah 6
Psalm 91
”So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. All of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it. But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night.“
Nehemiah 4:6-9 NASB1995
The Spirit of the Holy Living God says,
Some choices are being stirred up that will be pushy and bring stress and the feeling of chaos. They are not from Me. Choices that press in on you and make demands, choices that don’t sound or look or feel like Me are coming as distractions. Don’t entertain them, or their voices will get louder and more insistent. Don’t ignore them, because they will just hang around. Forcefully, with authority, tell them to go away. These are false choices sent by the enemy to distract you from the work I have called you to do. These are the spirits of Sanballat and Tobiah. Send them away.
Sanballat means bramble bush or thorny bush; enemy in secret; may sin give him life.
Tobiah means God is good
I believe what the Lord is highlighting here is that the enemy is sending choices and opportunities that are disguised traps of the enemy to draw people into sin. These choices may even portray themselves as being gifts from God, so it will be very important to discern and seek God before taking action.
”Now when it was reported to Sanballat, Tobiah, to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, although at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, then Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at Chephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they were planning to harm me. So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” They sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same way.“
Nehemiah 6:1-4 NASB1995
My sheep recognize My voice. My sheep recognize My Presence. I don’t come with chatter and chaos. I Am the God of order and peace. When My Presence is there, you recognize it. When My pleasure rests on a choice, you can feel it. It resonates in your heart. Will choices and opportunties I bring come quickly and need quick attention? Perhaps, yes they probably will. They very well may. But it is not with an insistence and a sound that jars your spirit. It is not with a distraction that pulls you away from the very work I have called you to do. Rather it will look like an open door that expands your horizon — that expands the scope of what you are doing, that makes a nice fit within what I have called you to do, or that presents a new cord and tent peg for you to add something new. It all makes sense together. It all works in harmony.
”Then I perceived that surely God had not sent him, but he uttered his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He was hired for this reason, that I might become frightened and act accordingly and sin, so that they might have an evil report in order that they could reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to frighten me.“
Nehemiah 6:12-14 NASB1995
I do not come with opportunities and choices that shriek and make wild demands. I come with peace, grace and vision. I come not with false promises and incentives of an inside track or a quick pay day. I come, My opportunties, My choices come with vision that excites and stirs the soul. My opportunities resonate with and expand that long-term pioneering vision. It excites the heart while having a steady, weighty presence — not a presence that feels fly by night, weightless, airy and flaky. My opportunity comes with substance and can stand on its own two feet without a flashy and hard driving, insistent sales pitch.
”For here is what the Lord has spoken to me: “Because you loved me, delighted in me, and have been loyal to my name, I will greatly protect you. I will answer your cry for help every time you pray, and you will feel my presence in your time of trouble. I will deliver you and bring you honor. I will satisfy you with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”“
Psalms 91:14-16 TPT
Your heart will know when it’s right. Your heart will know when it’s from Me. Don’t be distracted by the spirits of Sanballat and Tobiah who are trying to draw you away from My business, who are trying to draw you into distraction, confusion, wasted time and chaos. Stay right here doing the work I have called you to do. Stay here in My Presence, and you will recognize the opportunities I bring, because they will resonate with your spirit, and you will feel My great pleasure upon them.
How to Respond
- Stay busy about the work the Lord has called you to do.
- Pray, Lord give me discernment. Help me to not get distracted by the spirits of Sanballat and Tobiah who are trying to draw me away from the work you have for me to do and even pull me into sin. Help me to stay steady, focused and tuned in to Your voice. Help me to trust and recognize Your voice and the opportunities You bring my way for my good — ones that expand the horizon of the dreams You have put in my heart.
- Declare, great is the Lord and worthy of all glory, honor and praise. He is the good shepherd. He is the God of order, steadfastness, peace and truth. He will not lead me astray.
- Decree, I am a sheep of my Lord’s pasture, and I know His voice. I will not be distracted or drawn away by the voices of strangers. I will stay right here, doing what He has called me to do until He opens a new pasture to me and leads me into it.
For more encouragement from Glory & the New Wine, check out the post from this day in years past:
2023: Love Is the Source of Truth, and Truth Births Justice
2022: The Lord is Releasing Prisoners of the Information War
2021: Glorious Road to a Glorious Future
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