Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

After Nehemiah heard the story of what had happened to the beloved city of Jerusalem from his brother Hanani, whose name means grace, something kicked in him. Like many of his fellow Israelites, he knew about the song of ‘praise and prayer for Jerusalem’ written by David over 550 years before him. In it David writes, ‘I was glad when they said to me, “ Let us go to the house of the Lord!” our feet are standing  within your gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem built as a city that is bound firmly together. To it the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. For there the thrones for Judgement were set up, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.” For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.’  (Psalm 122:1-9 NRSV).

The reality for him and his brother was that the city of God was a disgrace. Its walls were broken down and there was no longer reverence for the name of the Lord there. Nehemiah was in Susa, the capital of Persia (Modern Iran), which is over 1000 miles away from Jerusalem. What could he do? He had no resources, no army, no builder or mason to call on. Initially all he could do was pray and fast. When he heard the news in the month of Chislev, (December in the Gregorian calendar), he began seeking a strategy for his project with fasting. Although it was his dream to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, he had no resources only a plan. And so he prayed and confessed, repented and petitioned God month after month until he got answers to his prayer in Nissan, (April). All he wanted was to get the chance to rebuild the walls of the city of God and restore the entrances so that his people could once again have a dedicated place to revere the name of the Lord.

Today, we need the rebuild the spiritual walls in our country. We need places where we are doing the will of the Lord and revering his name according to his word, the bible. As the established religious organisation in Britain grapple with issues such as the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexuals into the ministry, spirit led Christians need to have a plan to rebuild the spiritual walls of Britain. Our desire must be that all those who believe in Jesus as Lord, will become Ephesians 5:17&18 people. And as the will of the Lord is done and the spiritual walls are rebuilt, we can put the Great back into our nation. Each one of us has a job to do, so start by rebuilding the spiritual walls in your life, one brick at a time.

Read Nehemiah 2:1-3.