Nehemiah 4:10 says, “…there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” The past destruction seemed impossible because they lost sight of what God had done. He prepared the way for them through a pagan king who provided what they needed materially, as well as Nehemiah to lead them.

2 Peter 1:9 is very insightful for us. It says, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness…” What were ‘these things’ that lacked? Verse 5-7 listed the character qualities to add to our faith: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.

Verse 8 says, “For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Verse 9 continued to point out that the lack comes because we forget that we are cleansed from our old sins. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a great reminder when we feel buried in the rubble from our past. It says that old things have passed away. Our sins were borne away by Jesus’ death on the cross.

When we lose sight of the cross our focus will be drawn down to our impossible piles of past rubble. We rise above our rubble by standing on the wall of our salvation.

Watch now how that worked in the lives of the Jews who rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah 11:31 says, “So I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and appointed two large thanksgiving choirs…” Verse 40 says, “So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God…” One group of folks went to the left and the other group went to the right. They stood on the wall that they had built. They corporately lifted up their voices to the Lord in thanksgiving!

You can rise above the rubble of your past. Lift up your heart with songs of thanksgiving to your audience of One. He is the One we worship. He dug us out of the pit of despair, and the miry clay. He set us on the solid foundation of salvation. Psalm 40:3 says, “He has put a new song in my mouth–praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”

Have you ever lost hope? The children of Israel did. Ezekiel 37:11 says, “…Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off.”

The disciples lost hope. There is a great narrative in Luke 24. It was after Jesus had died on the cross. Two men were talking as they walked back to Emmaus. Jesus joined them. Verse 16 says, “But their eyes were restrained, they that they did not know Him.”

He asked them why they were sad. In verse 21 we read where their hope was laid. It says, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel…” Their hope was shortsighted. He rebuked them, and then gave them a great discourse. Verse 27 says, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”

He captured their attention. When He started to leave them, they invited Him to stay with them. He broke the bread and gave it to them. Verse 31 says, “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him…”

Despair is enemy-flak that obscures our vision. The enemy wants us to keep our eyes on our broken expectations so that we lose hope. The Lord uses our trials to develop character that will sustain us. He has called us to endure so that He is glorified.

Romans 5:3-4 says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Verse 5 clearly stated that it was hope which wouldn’t disappoint.

Our hope is our eternal anchor. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 

Jesus’ disciples missed it. They did not understand, though He told them repeatedly. They bemoaned that He had died and their hope was dashed. Yet, it is through His death, burial, and resurrection that all who believe will gain eternal hope that is sure, steadfast, and immoveable.

In war times they used flak to obscure the bomber’s target. The enemy of our soul uses the flak of discouragement to keep us from God’s purpose.

We see this played out in Nehemiah 4. As soon as they started rebuilding the wall, their enemy became furious and very indignant. They mocked the Jews. Verse 2 says, “…What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves?…Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish–stones that are burned?”

I published an ebook called, “Reviving Burned Stones: rejection recovery.” The Jew’s enemy was using words as flak to discourage them. In verse 4 they put their focus on the Lord and cried out to Him. It says, “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity!” We can use this verse right now for our national situation.

The flak began to wear them down because they focused on their impossible circumstances. Verse 10 says, “Then Judah said, The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is no much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.” Nehemiah marshaled the troops. Verse 18 says, “Everyone of the builders had his sword girded at his side AS he built…” The work continued because they were armed with weapons.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” God’s word hidden within our heart, and coming out of our mouth, will keep us focused on Him and not our circumstances.

As we fight on our knees, the flak of discouragement will clear out so that our target is clear and distinct. We come in the opposite spirit. When the enemy shots fiery darts filled with poisonous lies, we counter that flak through our focus on the Lord. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. We stand behind our door shield of faith that will instantly quench those fiery darts.

The opposite of discouragement is courage. We gird up our hearts with courage. We encourage those around us to continue fighting through truth. We are God’s army that marches forward without fear because we are following our Triumphant Leader!

When I was young, my boy cousins taught me the power of a magnifying glass. First they demonstrated how you could catch leaves on fire by focusing the glass under the sun. When they fried a worm I lost interest.

Yesterday I used my magnifying glass. I had started to put chia seeds in my batch of pancakes. I noticed something odd so put it on the counter and took a picture. I enlarged it and there were ‘bugs’ on something foreign. I got out my magnifying glass to center in on those critters.

A magnifying glass enlarges something so we can see it more clearly. Think of Psalm 34:3 says, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-47 says, “…My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.”

Here is the Strong’s definition for esteem: to make great, to enlarge, to magnify, to increase, to make conspicuous, to extol, to show respect.

When we center our focus on the Lord, we magnify Him. The brightness of the Son’s glory shines upon our heart to bring inner transformation. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Yesterday, when I magnified the ‘bugs’ my focus was on them. I could not see anything else. My stomach reacted. However, I took them to the Ag Dept. and they confirmed they were just chia seeds stuck to a piece of plant. NOT bugs. The Lord used them to teach me His lesson on focus.

When we center our focus on Him, the things of this earth will go out of focus. When we focus on our trials and complexities, they get bigger and magnify themselves in our thoughts, words, and actions. Let us magnify the Lord together. Let His deep work of inner transformation be a testimony that will glorify Him.

James 3:13 Amplified says, “Who is there among you who is wise and intelligent? Then let him by his noble living show forth his (good) works with the (unobtrusive) humility (which is the proper attribute) of true wisdom.” We know from this verse that humility is an attribute. When we allow the Holy Spirit to conform our thoughts, purpose, and actions to God’s will and ways, we will exemplify Jesus’ attribute of humility.

Ezra is a great example for us. He lived in unobtrusive humility. It was woven into the fabric of his life. He was in the lineage of priests that went back to Aaron. He had favor with the pagan king who supplied what was needed to restore the temple for worship.

Unobtrusive means not forward but modest. Ezra 8:21 says that Ezra proclaimed a fast, “…that we might humble ourselves before our God…” Why? He wanted them to seek out God’s way for their journey.

There was another reason. Verse 22 says, “For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horseman…” He was a man of heart integrity. The verse went on to say, “..because we had spoken to the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him…”

Verse 23 says, “So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.” Ezra’s humility led the others. When we lead in pride, no one will follow.

Here is the key the Holy Spirit showed me. Pride does not rise in a humble heart. The reason I am uncomfortable to confess someone else’s sin as MY own is because of pride. Why? I think that I would not do the sin they are doing. Yet sin is sin.

Recalibrate to the truth. Jesus bore the sins of every human being. He identified with our sin as His own. He took our place. Isaiah 53:12 says, “…because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Ezra 9:6 says, “…O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated…” Ezra identified himself as the sinners he was interceding for. He understood the principle from God’s word. He was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses. 2 Timothy 2:15 calls us to be skilled in God’s word, that it might direct our hearts into a lifestyle of humility.

Ezra 7 recorded another group returning to Jerusalem from captivity. King Artaxerxes gave Ezra permission to go and take them. Ezra 8:21 says, “Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.”

Verse 31 said that the Lord delivered them from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. In Ezra 9:1 the leaders told Ezra that there had been intermarriage with the pagans. Ezra responded. Verse 3 says, “…I tore my garment and my robe, and plucked out some of the hair of my head and beard, and sat down astonished.”

Verse 6 was his prayer. Notice how he included himself though he was not part of the sin against God and His commands. It says, “…O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.” Verse 15 says, “…Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”

It is good to remember that when Achan sinned, everyone of the children of Israel were affected. They could not stand up against their enemies. We are in this situation right now with our nation. The heart of an intercessor is humble. They stand in the gap before God on behalf of another (Ezekiel 22:30). They acknowledge corporate sin as their own. 

The result of the intermarriage in Ezra’s day was for the men to put away their pagan wives and children. What do we need to put away in our personal lives, in our states, and in our nation? That answer is too big. What we can do is keep our hearts humble, and confess those sins as though they are our own. Ezra and Nehemiah are great examples for us. We must fight on our knees with bowed hearts.

The book of Ezra starts where 2 Chronicles left off. Cyrus, king of Persia fulfilled what God had spoken through Jeremiah. Verse 1 says, “…the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom…”

I love verse 2. It says, “…the Lord God of heaven has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem…” God commanded a pagan king to do His work. Amazing.

Cyrus asked God’s people, who were in captivity, who wanted to go up to Jerusalem and build the temple. Ezra 2:64 says, “The whole assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.”

I want to note two things: God used two pagan kings to motivate His people to do His work. He used Haggai’s prophecy to bring them out of their discouragement.

Ezra 3:8 says that they began and laid the foundation of the temple. In Ezra 4:4 the enemy swooped in and tried to discourage them. Verse 5 they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus.

The enemy then opposed them through the next king. They set him up to believe their conspiracy through evil intent. Verse 21 says, “Now give the command to make these men cease….” Verse 23-24 says that they forced them to cease, and the work was discontinued until the second year of Darius.

Let me take you to Haggai 1. It says, “In the second year of King Darius…the word of the Lord came by Haggai…” As a result of his word, the Spirit of the Lord stirred up the people to resume the work of building the temple.

Ezra 5:5 says, “But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews…” His eye is on us right now with our nations’ situation. They sent a letter to Darius. He made a diligent search and issued a decree. Ezra 6:7 says, “Let the work of this house of God alone…” Then he commanded the enemy to pay for it all from the king’s taxes! In verse 10 Darius asked them to pray for him and his sons!

After they finished the temple they celebrated with the passover. Verse 22 says, “…for the Lord made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.”

When the enemy taunts you, do not give in to his tactic to discourage you from the work the Lord has called you to do. Discouragement stops our ears from hearing and our eyes from seeing. It blocks discernment. It causes spiritual lethargy. Haggai 1 is a great description of the fruit from discouragement.

We cannot allow the media to dictate to our ears and our eyes. We must keep our focus on Jesus alone. He used a donkey to speak to Balaam. He used two pagan kings to do His work. He can use our national crises to fulfill His desire for our nation.

The Jezebel characteristics are operative today to influence and destroy. What are the manifestations? It is to control by deceit, to thwart and destroy the man of God, and to set up someone through false honor to destroy them in order to seize their inheritance.

What were Jezebel’s words to God’s prophet Elijah? He had just destroyed 450 prophets of Baal after God revealed His unquestionable power. You can read it for yourself in 1 Kings 18. After that great victory Jezebel sent a message. 1 Kings 19:2 says, “…so let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time”

What did Elijah do? Verse 3 says that he ran for his life. Verse 4 he prayed that he might die. I love God’s response. Elijah fell asleep under the broom tree. Twice the angel of the Lord came and gave him food and water. Verse 8 says, “So he arose , and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights.”

Even in the face of the Jezebel-threats towards our nation, the Lord will give the boldness and the strength we need to resist the spirit of fear that paralyzes.

1 Kings 21 fully displayed the Jezebel characteristic of usurping power. You can read it for yourself. King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard for a vegetable garden! Verse 3 was Naboth’s answer. It says, “…the Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”

As you read this, I’m asking you to think of our nation’s situation right now. This is a present manifestation. Verse 9 says, “…seat Naboth with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, You have blasphemed God and the king. Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die”

Every believer has an eternal inheritance that cannot be stolen. However our nation’s inheritance is being destroyed by those controlled by a Jezebel spirit. Do not slacken your prayers! Remain steadfast and immovable!

These five ebooks are available on Amazon FREE today, tomorrow, and Sunday. The first four were published in 2016

Anchor Of Hope: steadfast sure immoveable

Face-Off Your Fears: God’s militant army

God’s Masterful Purpose: conformity to the image of Jesus

Overcoming Daily: consistent application of God’s word

The Power Of Forgiveness: embracing heart-freeing truths

Grandpa Manasseh, after his repentance, had a great influence on his grandson Josiah. For six years he poured his influence into the heart of his little grandson. It set Josiah free from his father’s evil influence.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He walked in the ways of the Lord. When he was 16 he began to seek the Lord, and when he was 20 he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of all the high places, the images, and the Baal altars.

When he was 26 the Book of the Law was found. When they read it to him, he tore his clothes. The great wrath of the Lord was coming upon the land because their fathers had not kept the word of the Lord.

He sent his servants to a prophetess named Huldah. In 2 Chronicles 34:27 she said, “Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God…” Who taught him how to humble his heart before the Lord? That is not a natural response. I believe, from what we read, that it was his grandfather’s influence. Wow!

Josiah gathered all the elders. Then he stood in his place. He made a covenant with the Lord. Verse 31 says, “…to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.”

Humility. God takes great pleasure in a heart of humility. Psalm 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart–these, O God, You will not despise.”

We can humble our hearts, or God will use circumstances to humble it. Wisdom is to do it and not wait to have it done. Those who fall on the Stone will be broken, but those whom the Stone falls on will be crushed. Matthew 21:44.

Let us take James 4:10 to heart. It says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” Heart-humility is a powerful testimony that will be a godly influence on others, as well as bring glory to the Lord.