“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14).

God is at work.

Wherever God is at work, you can bet that the devil is at work to destroy everything God is doing.

The devil has already lost the war. The end is already decided. God wins. The devil loses. But for now, the devil will do everything he can to take down with him as many others as possible.

That’s where you and I come in. Don’t let the devil win. There are two things that God teaches us about living God’s best.

1. Identify the “them” in your life?
2. Remember the Lord and remember why you fight this fight

First, as God was using Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, those who benefitted from a weak and broken Israel were fighting tooth and nail against Nehemiah and those who were rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. Their livelihood and their positions depended upon a weak Jerusalem and a weak people of Israel. There are always those who benefit from our weakness and our suffering.

These enemies of Jerusalem were the “them” in reference in the opening phrase, “Don’t be afraid of them.”

Who are the “them” in your life right now? Who is working against you to prevent God’s work in your life? “Them” can be physical enemies but almost always they are spiritual enemies. The first step in winning is identifying the enemies in your life. Who are the “them” who are preventing you from living God’s best life? Name them. Identify them.

Second, remember the Lord and remember why you fight this fight.

Take your focus off “them” and remember the Lord. The Lord is great and awesome.

J. C. Ryle wrote: “The fear of man is strong, the opposition of this evil world is mighty, the lusts of the flesh rage horribly, the fear of death is terrible, the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; but Jesus is stronger than them all.“

Remember the Lord, and remember why you fight this fight. What is at stake is not only your welfare, but the eternal destinies of your families, your sons and daughters, and your wives. There is no battle more important to fight than to fight for living God’s best will for your life.

As you face the battles for today, what are you looking at? You focused on “them” or on the Lord? Remember the Lord and remember why you are in this fight.

“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes” (Nehemiah 4:14).

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

The more I draw near to God, the more aware I become of how messed up I am.

Theologically this is true because God is a perfect God. God is absolutely holy. The closer I draw near to perfection and holiness the more my imperfections and flaws stand out.

Practically, this is true because as Christians mature and grow closer to God, the arena where the battle takes place is no longer in actions but in the heart. Even though we may be better at physically not committing sins, those sins are alive and well in our hearts. The closer we draw to God the sins of the heart become ever more glaring when viewed against God’s holiness and perfection.

One of my daily prayers is that God cleanse my heart. I long for a day when my heart’s longings and yearnings would be totally in tune with the heart of God. But, I am far from that today.

The devil will use this to make us feel guilty about praying. The devil wants to shame us because we pray for the same thing everyday.

Don’t let the devil guilt you from praying.

Keep praying. Keep praying that God will create in you a clean heart, and that he would renew a steadfast spirit within you.

You see, the reason why we pray isn’t to change God. The reason why we pray to God is because prayer changes us. The more we pray, the more we draw near to God. That is what the devil wants to prevent.

Don’t let the devil keep you from praying.

Keep at it. Keep on praying.

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The verse of the day comes from the account of the ascension of Jesus. Before Jesus was taken up to heaven, Jesus tells the gathered disciples that the Holy Spirit will enable the disciples to be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Within a generation the disciples would bear witness to the risen Christ in all the known world.

“You will be my witnesses…”

What does it mean to be a witness?

There are several requirements for being a witness.

First, you have to have experienced, seen, tasted whatever it is you are bearing witness to. If you were not present, if you didn’t see, experience and you testified anyway, your testimony would be a lie. The first requirement for being a witness is that you had to be present for whatever it is you are bearing witness to. You have to have had a personal experience in seeing and experiencing for yourself.

This is why God invites us to “Taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalm 34:8).

Isn’t that great? Before God allows us to talk about how amazing and wonderful he is, he requires that we first experience God’s amazing grace and power. Love that!

Second, you have to testify. You have to speak. You can’t be a witness without bearing testimony. You have to share Christ. You have to talk about Christ. You have to talk about how amazing God is.

If you were a witness to a crime. You have to speak. You have to bear witness. You owe it to the victims, to justice, to truth. It would be a crime to keep silent.

Finally, the reality of having experienced God is so transformative that it is impossible to stay the same. Experiencing God changes us. What we experience of God is so awesome, so amazing that even in the face of opposition and persecution, you bear witness to God’s reality. No amount of opposition or persecution can ever change the reality that God is awesome, his love so amazing.

The Greek word for “witness” is martus. The Greek “u” is equivalent to the English “y”. Martus is where we get the English word, martyr.

The truth of what we experience with God changes us. It changes our entire world. So much so, no matter the opposition and persecution, you bear witness that God is God, and that God is great. And many have borne witness to God’s reality to their martyrdom. The early Christian witnesses and martyrs declared to the Roman Empire, “You can kill me. But that still doesn’t change the fact that Jesus is Lord.”

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”