Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: Whatever the need may be tonight in your own personal life, whatever your need may be tonight, take it to the Lord. He's there for you. He wants to give you all the desires of His heart. If you would just humble yourself before His presence, He will do a work like you have never ever seen before in your own personal life.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. Today we’re launching an exciting series in the book of Nehemiah. Raul will share an overview of its major themes and he’ll challenge us to follow Nehemiah’s example of courage and wisdom. One thing we’ll learn is that Nehemiah committed every legal and logistical challenge to God, receiving the strength he needed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Here’s Raul Ries with our introduction to Nehemiah.

Raul Ries: Let me give you this evening—and we hope we can get into the study—just the introduction because there is so much to share about the book of Nehemiah. It is probably one of my favorite books concerning leadership. Whenever we teach leadership, we like to look at the book of Nehemiah because it has some leadership principles that you can apply in your personal life when you study it. But when you look at the book of Nehemiah, especially in the first seven chapters, it is a book of prayer. Nehemiah seems to be praying all the time, asking God for help, really depending on prayer, depending on the Holy Spirit, depending on God.

Gene Getz says Nehemiah’s experiences touch us all, particularly as we face the more difficult challenges in life. For example, he models for us many great principles. Principle number one: how to pray when there seems to be no human solution to our problems. Have you been there? I’ve been there. No solution to my problem. Lord, what do I do in this situation? Lord, how do I get out of this problem that I got myself into? Sometimes it can become a desperate place within our lives as we’re praying, but at the same time, there seems to be no answer from heaven, and yet it takes faith to believe as we pray.

Every one of us faces problems within our lives. Some of you have come here tonight with many problems in your life—financial problems, physical problems, emotional problems. At the same time, yet God wants us to call upon Him so that He can answer our prayers. He’s not deaf, but the prophet Isaiah says the only thing that separates us between you and God is your sin. Your sin separates you from God. And that’s why it’s so important, as Nehemiah here will teach us, how to pray, how to confess sin, how to enter into the Holiest of Holies as we begin to pray to our great God that knows every one of my needs and problems that I have within my life tonight.

Secondly, he says how to blend human and divine factors when facing these predicaments, the predicaments of life. These are the things of life that every day people have to face as they go through problems and situations in their lives. And yet God says, "Hey, I’m on the throne. I’m here in heaven. I hear prayers." Many times God, in our difficulties and problems, is literally not only moving in our lives, but He’s testing our lives. He’s trying to see how we’re going to react and how we’re going to operate under the power of faith and coming to Him and asking Him to do a work in our life.

Then thirdly, how to keep God’s sovereignty and our human responsibility in a proper balance. That’s a good one. Keeping that balance between you and God, recognizing, believing by faith that He is the one that’s able to do His plan in my life and work it out to His perfection—not to my perfection, but to His perfection. All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purposes. That’s what the Scripture says. And yet there are people that don't really believe that.

I think it’s really important how to plan our work and work our plan, at the same time rely on God as our divine resource person, not putting our trust on man or anything else, but truly the Lord is my deliverer. He is my savior. He is my protector. He’s the one that takes care of me in every problem and situation. Fifthly, Gene Getz says how to handle discouragement in ourselves and others. The book of Nehemiah will teach us that. God knows how to humble us. God knows how to bring us on our knees.

Many times it’s through sickness, many times it might be through bankruptcy, sometimes it might be through an accident. But God has His ways because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. Nehemiah is going to teach us many great lessons as we study this great book of Nehemiah. God desires to be everything to us in our time of discouragement. As we are discouraged and then are encouraged in the Lord, we can encourage others in the Lord as we’ve gone through things in our lives. Because we can be pretty cold people, very unsympathetic, very insensitive to people’s needs.

And yet when you suffer and you go through things in your life, you begin to understand those that are going through it. And then you can minister to them right where they’re at. Gene Getz also says sixthly, the book of Nehemiah sets goals and achievements. Not only the goals that are set, but achieving them. At the same time, it seems like we’re not fulfilling them. And yet God can teach us how to do it when we’re under pressure, when things are blocking what we’re trying to do. God has ways of teaching us those things and how to pray for God to take down those barriers.

Another thing that he says is how to motivate others when morale is rapidly deteriorating. If you’re a manager or you’re a boss and you see your employees are down because sales are not up, how are you going to go and give them a little cheery talk? How are you going to let them really know that God’s in control of this company? God knows what He’s doing. Maybe this is a time where the whole company is going through purification and God is going to weed out so that He can do His work with the boss and with the employees.

The book of Nehemiah will teach us that. It will teach you how to be a great manager, how to take care of people, how to watch over people, how to motivate people, especially as a Christian. Eighthly, he says how to cope with personal anger and other negative emotions. That one’s for me. You’re going to learn in a time of stress, when everything’s going not your way and you’re uptight and things are going the wrong way, how to bring yourself into the control of the cross of Jesus Christ, how to be at peace with God and recognize the Lord is on the throne.

Ninthly, how to accept promotion and success without abusing and misusing our privileges. That’s a good one. When you get promoted, not to get puffed up, but how to know how to be successful without the abuse or the misuse of our privilege that are given to us by God or by the people that promote us. And then tenthly, how to respond to those who make false accusations against us and malign our motives. We will see that in Chapter 4 and 5 of the book of Nehemiah. Tobiah, Sanballat, and the Arabians coming against the man of God, Nehemiah.

"Hey Nehemiah, come and see us. We want to talk to you." They wanted to kill him, to isolate him from the work of God. He said, "I’m too busy working. I’m not coming. You guys have your own meeting. I’m not coming." It’s so cool. Nehemiah is such an incredible book that teaches us all these principles about leadership, how to face and solve the toughest problems in our lives and leave God first in our life. And yet in our own lives, God has to be first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; all these things will be added unto you.

I think that every Christian can identify with these particular problems. And at the same time, Nehemiah encourages them all to us. He says, "Look, if you read it, if you study it, you will know what to do when these situations arise in your own personal life." I’m looking forward to meeting Nehemiah in heaven, like Paul, another favorite one of my Bible characters.

Guest (Male): You’re listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. For Bible-based resources to deepen your faith and help you develop a stronger prayer life, visit us anytime at somebodylovesyou.com. Raul’s motivational study titled From Opposition to Victory is available on CD and USB. Now back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: It’s interesting because the man Nehemiah was a special person in this particular time that God used to fulfill His perfect will to be done at a particular time, a very critical time in the life of the nation of Israel. Nehemiah was chosen by God at a particular time, born in captivity in Persia, a thousand miles away, between Iraq and Iran. We know from Scripture that his father’s name was Hacaliah and his grandfathers were probably taken in captivity when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians when they made the three sieges.

They came and they took the people for 70 years into captivity because the people of God had disobeyed God. Everything is so incredible when you read the history of Israel. Because as they came back in Zechariah 2, when they came back in the book of Haggai, it says that they came back and 50,000 people returned. That’s all that came back. The rest of them had built homes, had gotten comfortable in Babylon. So they stayed in Babylon. This is where the Jews were, before that, farmers, but when they went to Babylon, they learned the ways of business.

That’s why the Jewish people today are the greatest business people in the world. That’s where they learned it, in Babylon, and they passed it on to their children from generation to generation. And you know what happened at this particular time? When they came back to the land, they got busy. The land was all messed up. They started working it and it started producing. If you read the book of Haggai, and then God comes to them and says, "You know what’s really amazing about you guys? I brought you back so that you could have a place of worship, and yet you don't worship Me, and you just came out of captivity for 70 years.

You haven't learned your lessons. You’d better get your priorities together." He says, "The more you bring home and you put it into a bag, I make a hole on the bottom and I take it from you," because they weren't giving to God. They weren't doing anything for God. And the Lord calls them to repentance. And the Lord says to them, "Look, the more you make, the more I’ll take until you start building My temple." The house of God is number one, not your houses. They were spending so much money in their homes, in themselves, and not giving anything to God.

God says, "Because you don't give Me, I’ll take it from you." And God did. And what’s interesting is that when God began to do that, it says that all of a sudden, when you read Chapter 2 of Haggai, they said that the priests, they started with the priests as the people started to come back and they started giving and they started building the temple. And what did God do? As they began to come back to a place of worship, there was a small revival and God began to touch the people. God began to touch the people when they got their priorities completely right before God. God first. Nothing else but God first.

Now Nehemiah is way down a thousand miles from Jerusalem. His brother Hanani will come later on and he’ll give the report. And Nehemiah has been thinking in his heart because in their families among the Jews, they would tell the story over and over. And it was a very tough situation for him because Nehemiah really truly believed in prayer. This is an incredible book. And that’s why I’m so excited tonight just to share with you that this man Nehemiah, just even his name—you know what it means? It means "the Lord is comfort." It is the same name of the Holy Spirit, Parakletos.

The Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to become a comforter to us. Nehemiah, the Lord is comfort. The Lord will comfort us in every one of our needs. Nehemiah was a layman and a businessman, while Ezra was a priest and a scribe. You see the difference between Ezra and Nehemiah. And though he had an important office in the king’s court—for I was the king’s cupbearer—his heart was with the people in Jerusalem. Even though he never met them, even though he had never seen them, because he prayed for them, his heart was knitted with them. I love it, knitted with them.

As he has this great desire in his heart and he’s thinking about his people and he’s praying and he’s serving and he’s worshipping and he puts his faith in God, he says, "God, I will wait." He waited four full months before God answered him, but he didn't say nothing to anybody. You know there are times when we pray that we shouldn't tell people? Hold on. Be quiet. Be quiet before the Lord. Let God speak to your heart deeply. For who knows what the Lord will do if you don't say nothing about it when God confirms it? And then God, when He comes through, He gives you the great joy to know it was the Lord. He did it.

Whatever the need may be tonight in your own personal life, whatever your need may be tonight, take it to the Lord. He’s there for you. He wants to give you all the desires of His heart. If you would just humble yourself before His presence, He will do a work like you have never ever seen before in your own personal life. You say, "But how do I do that?" Hey, by faith. Step up to the plate and do it. God will bless you for it if you want to do that.

The problem in Jerusalem—let me give you just very briefly—is that Nehemiah was serving the King Artaxerxes as a king’s cupbearer. At the same time, not only was this a very high position and very important position, but the king’s selection for this position was only for someone wise, and one who demonstrated unlimited discretion, and one who was totally honest and trustworthy before the Lord. He was the only person that could do that job: wise, unlimited discretion, and totally honest and trustworthy.

This position also was for that man to test the king’s wine by tasting it first, guarding sleeping quarters so that no one, no one could assassinate the king. So he had a real heavy job. He was like a bodyguard too. And yet Nehemiah’s position alone reveals to us what? This man’s intellectual capabilities, his emotional maturity, and his spiritual status was very high. Why? Because he had been brought up in the ways of the Lord. His grandmother, his mother, his father, they had taught him the Word of God.

The importance of us as parents and grandparents teaching our children the Word of God. In the first seven chapters of the book of Nehemiah deals with rebuilding the walls. Now, rebuilding the walls—this is a good time for the book of Nehemiah—why? Because we also are rebuilding the walls here at Calvary Chapel. But most important, not the walls of Calvary Chapel, but how about the rebuilding of the walls in your life? What needs rebuilding tonight? I hope and I pray in the next couple of weeks as we go through the book of Nehemiah that the walls in your life will be rebuilt spiritually speaking.

Whatever the problem may be. The rest of the book deals with revival and reform. In the first chapter of Nehemiah, it begins with Nehemiah’s prayer. And here we see, though they had begun rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem for worship, the walls were still broken down. And if you don't have walls and you don't have doors, what happens? It’s an open door for the enemy. Tobiah, Sanballat, and the Arabians were coming and they were mad because they began to do what? To worship their God.

And then they’ll get mad when Nehemiah gets there because they’re starting to rebuild the walls so nobody could come through the walls or the doors. We need to keep our enemy out of our walls. We need to build spiritual walls so the enemy doesn't come in and ruin our lives. Nehemiah will teach us how to build those walls spiritually speaking. And yet at the same time here in the book of Nehemiah as we look at it, marks of a contemporary leader, we see a leader that has a clear recognition of the needs, a leader in personality concerned with the needs of the people.

A leader is one that goes first to God with the problem and waits for the solution. A leader is available to meet the need 24/7, 365 days a year. He never says no. And how does he do it? He does it this way: he recognizes number one the needs clearly. Number two, he gets involved in it personally. And thirdly, he took it to God. And then fourthly, he is available to meet the need if that’s what God desires. "Lord, here I am, I’ll step up to the plate. Use me, send me, I’ll do it."

Are you a Nehemiah tonight? Do you want to be a Nehemiah? Because I’ll tell you what, the benefits of prayer are tremendous. Why prayer is so important? Let me tell you quickly. Number one, prayer makes me wait patiently for the Lord to answer. Teaches me patience. Secondly, prayer clears my vision. No confusion, no blindness, no blurry vision—clear vision to know exactly what I need to do. Thirdly, prayer quiets my heart before the Lord. And I love the fourth one: as I sit before the Lord quietly, fourthly, prayer activates my faith in God. Lord, let's do it.

Guest (Male): Sometimes fear can paralyze us when we approach a step of faith, but when we trust God, He provides for every move we make. You’re listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today’s study was the introduction to Nehemiah. If you’d like an unedited version, we’ll be happy to send one to you for a donation of $5 or more. Just call us at 800-634-9165. For even more insight into what it looks like to walk by faith, we’d like to tell you about Raul’s series titled From Opposition to Victory.

It’s a 10-message study that’s available on both CD and flash drive. In it, you’ll find that when you commit your ways to the Lord, stand firm against opposition, and serve in harmony with your fellow believers, you can accomplish mighty things for the kingdom of God. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to order this 10-part series. We’ll send you From Opposition to Victory on CD for $22 or on thumb drive for just $13. The number once again is 800-634-9165. Or you can write to Somebody Loves You Radio, PO Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

We’ve developed a wide range of resources to aid you in studying the Bible on your own. Download our app to your iPhone or Android for a variety of digital Bible studies and a personal Bible reading plan. To keep listening to Raul’s teaching, you can also download all of these programs using Spotify and iTunes. And for an up-to-date discussion on world events from a biblical point of view, be sure to join Raul on the Somebody Loves You Worldwide YouTube channel every Tuesday at 10:00 AM West Coast time for Straight Talk. Thank you for your tax-deductible gifts. Your partnership helps us keep sharing the good news of the Lord Jesus. Tune in again next time as we return to the book of Nehemiah for more insight into the power of prayer and the strength of surrender.