Chattanooga Fellowship and Teaching Center

01/01/2023

01/03/2021

From our friend Taylor. If Nehemiah would have had a "Make Israel Great Again" campaign, it may be here when he led the Jews to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. However, no sooner did they begin, but their enemies came to taunt them.

NIV Nehemiah 4:1-3

When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews,

2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble-- burned as they are?"

3 Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building-- if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"

Sound familiar? It does to me. What was Nehemiah's response to the mockery? First, he prayed.

NIV Nehemiah 4:4-6

4 Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity.

5 Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.

Nehemiah didn't ask God to forgive these people, and he didn't give up on his efforts. He didn't join the enemy, either.

NIV Nehemiah 4:6-7

6 So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry.

We've certainly seen outraged people, too. They were so angry that they would do anything to achieve their ends. The following was Nehemiah's response.

NIV Nehemiah 4:8-9

8 They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.

9 But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

The Old Testament is for our learning. What can we learn from this? Nehemiah first prayed, and then he prepared to meet their attempts to defeat them with force. Amen!

01/01/2021

Some days all we can do is hold on to our faith and trust God when we find ourselves in a battle. Paul encourages Timothy to fight the good fight and hold on to his faith in the midst of the battles around him. When we are in the middle of warfare, it can be hard to see how God is moving, protecting, and orchestrating events for our good. That's when our faith comes into play. When we don’t understand what God is doing, we have to trust what we know of His character through His Word. He is good; He is loving, He is merciful.
Some Christians though can go too far and shipwreck their faith by not doing what they know is right. Choice after choice, sin after sin they choose to ignore God’s voice. Over time, their hearts become hardened, and they no longer repent of their sins.
The same battles Timothy found himself in long ago are some of the same types of battles we can find ourselves in today. To protect ourselves from shipwrecking our faith, we must cling to Jesus in the midst of the battles and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit working in our lives. When we sin, we need to repent and not allow patterns of sin to continue in our lives. We must remember that we are not alone in our battles. Jesus is with us and can help us overcome any temptation that comes our way ( 1 Cor. 10:13)... From John Bugg, a dear brother who has overcome much, most recently in his battle with COVID-19, weeks on a ventilator and now rehab.

12/15/2020