FRIDAY May 26, 2017
Target the Leader
Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me harm.
Sanballet, Tobiah and Gesham wanted to destroy Nehemiah––the leader. They knew that if they could get to the leader they could destroy the whole work of God. Nehemiah became their ultimate target. They wanted to kill him. But Nehemiah, as a leader, was visionary and discerned their intent. It was very hard for these enemies to try and defeat him.
When a leader begins to build a church, so that people have a place come worship the Lord in their communities, the devil is not pleased. So what does Satan do? He attacks the leadership of the church. If he can create disunity between them, the church cannot continue, and Satan has achieved his task. People cannot follow a divided leadership? Satan tries to discourage the leaders. If he can discourage them and get them not to trust in God, he has once again accomplished his work.
This is exactly what happened to Elijah. Discouragement and fear caused him to flee two hundred miles to the south. In 1 Kings 19:4, despair had caused him to lie down and pray to the Lord: …that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” The Lord basically asks him, “What are you doing here? I have a task for you; quit feeling sorry for yourself, get up! (1 Kings 19:9-18).
As a pastor, I face the enemy––Satan every day of my life. He works within different situations in my life, to try and destroy the work of God. But how can we do anything else but serve God? Peter was a fisherman, he had a regular ordinary job but when Jesus called him to be a disciple he was to become a fisher of men. Jesus had many of His disciples leave Him as He taught them. But Peter knew he could not go anywhere else.
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
~John 6:68~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit Somebodylovesyouradio.org!