PROPHETIC WORD: Complete God’s work! Discerning the attacks of the enemy in this hour
“God will fight for us!”
Nehemiah 4:19
The book of Nehemiah teaches us how the enemy likes to send people who mock, laugh, slander and ridicule God’s chosen vessels anytime there’s great work taking place in the life of a believer. It’s important that you don’t get distracted in this hour. Yahweh will fight for you! Keep building!
Nehemiah knew the Lord would handle the naysayers who tried to stop the advancement of God’s work.
He said to the people: “Don’t be afraid! Remember the Lord who is great and glorious; fight for your friends, your families and your homes!” (Neh. 4:14 TLB)
Don’t be afraid.
Remember the Lord who is great and glorious.
Fight for your friends, your families and your homes.
There are always attacks before major spiritual breakthroughs, so the Lord is going to equip some of you with insider information about what might be happening in this hour. I really get the sense that some of you are battling intense spiritual warfare, so put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10).
The Lord will send ministering angels who will be with you in this journey.
The story of Nehemiah and Daniel will bring clarity, so read chapter six in both books. Pay special attention to your dreams because God will show you exactly who and what you’re dealing with. The Lord Jesus is All-Knowing and He will prepare and protect His people, especially when you’re doing great work to help others.
The enemy wants you to feel discouraged, marginalized and fearful because he wants to divert your attention away from God. Even Jesus had to deal with Satan when He spent 40 days in the wilderness. Your ability to persevere, withstand the attacks and remain steadfast will be rewarded.
In Nehemiah 6, the walls were rebuilt in a miraculous 52 days, and all the gaps were closed, but the gate doors still had to be installed. There were just a few more final steps until completion, and that’s when the tactics of the enemy really started.
Nehemiah was hit with a three-folded attack that included:
Pretend friendships or fake "niceties" (flattery, fake praise, fawning)
Slander and character assault.
False religious accusations; however, the Lord Jesus was his great Defender.
The enemy of the Lord – working through three guys named Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem – tried to arrange a fake, friendly "get-together" with Nehemiah because they saw God's work accelerating, but Nehemiah discerned the situation. He knew they had ulterior motives. They tried four times, but God supernaturally revealed what was happening.
Nehemiah 6:2-6
They were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”
David also faced intense scrutiny and opposition when the Philistines heard he’d been crowned king. They tried to capture him, but David was told they were coming and went into the stronghold (2 Samuel 5:17). The stronghold gave David protection, preparation and blueprints from the Lord. He had to sit and wait until the Lord said go. David asked, “will you defeat them for me?” The Lord said yes and David was victorious.
The point is this: When you walk in step with the Lord Jesus, just like with Nehemiah and David, God will fight your battles. He will give you strategy and the Lord will always prepare the way. You are not alone. God does not play when it comes to His children and He will fiercely defend you.
Be strong and courageous! The Lord your God will be with you wherever you go!
Discernment is the God-given ability to see a person or situation through the eyes of Christ. The Holy Spirit brings wisdom, knowledge and divine revelation so that you know what's behind the attack.
In the modern day, Satan sends his minions into your life by working through people and spirits. These folks try to discourage the work God has ordained and commissioned for you to complete. They mock, laugh, attack and hurl insults behind your back. They want you to feel rejected, like an outcast and not part of the group. That’s all part of the enemy’s playbook.
Slander and gossip are their favorite weapons.
Slander is characterized by false spoken accusations with intentions to harm someone's reputation.
There's always some form of manipulation at work (people are trying to play “God” and manipulate situations for a positive outcome in their favor, which is actually witchcraft).
The verbal assaults start like this:
"I heard that…"
"Everyone is saying that…"
"So and so said…."
It’s all dangerous. The person who is the ringleader is dangerous, but so are the people around them who don’t speak against the lies.
In Nehemiah's case, he was wholeheartedly working to strengthen the walls and help God’s people, so the attacks on his character were an attack on the Living God. Again, the Lord Jesus does not play when it comes to His people!
One day, the three stooges (Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem) sent a letter to Nehemiah that was full of all these lies and accusations against his reputation. He knew the intent and responded accordingly.
Nehemiah said, "Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head." (v. 6:8).
Later in the chapter, Nehemiah recorded one of the best prayers in the entire Bible!
Nehemiah said: They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed."
But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." (Neh. 6:9).
DON'T GET DISTRACTED! KEEP BUILDING!
I don't like giving the enemy much credit except when I have a very clear sign from God to speak on the matter. Today is that day.
The Holy Spirit is revealing that some of His children have been damaged and hurt recently by persecution, slander and even oppression. The Lord wants you to be on guard! If you have been facing intense warfare – and even experiencing odd situations from those who appear "friendly" but you discern something else at work – take it to the Lord. Really pay attention to what He’s exposing in this hour.
Then keep it moving! It's all smoke and mirrors meant to divert your attention!
Nehemiah knew the opposition wouldn't stand a chance against the Army of the Living God.
Slander and gossip are absolutely destructive, especially in families, neighborhoods, workplaces and places of worship. Please understand that God sees and knows everything and someday every person will have to stand face-to-face with our Lord Jesus Christ; we will all be held accountable for our words and actions in this lifetime. We serve a God of justice, and vengeance belongs to Him. That’s why we need the saving grace of Jesus. He wipes the slate clean, but that doesn’t mean we get to go on sinning. All nonsense must stop.
Satan is called a Slanderer and "accuser of the brethren" (Rev. 12:10). He comes to steal, kill and destroy all the work of God in your life and often does this through verbal assaults, gossip and crafted lies. Words can be absolutely destructive, and there is life and death in the power of the tongue.
Here’s the best part about the story of Nehemiah. The attacks and persecution actually accelerated the work. The wall was completed in a miraculous 52 days. Nehemiah prayed and prepared for four months, but the work took less than two months! So, keep working, beloved! You're doing a fantastic job, and Heaven rejoices when one person comes to know Jesus as their Savior. God really is using you!
In sports, there’s a phrase that says champions are built in the off-season. The idea is that the most critical work is developed behind the scenes when no one is watching. Athletes, even amid disappointments from a prior season, must put defeat and disappointment behind them and get back to work. What they build now will pay dividends in the future. The same thing is true in God’s Kingdom. The little things you do now really do matter. When building the wall, Nehemiah and his people got up there at one point with a hammer in one hand and a sword in another. They were dual champions and learned how to build and protect simultaneously.
God has prepared you to build in the same way. You have the fortitude of Nehemiah.
The Lord never said this journey would be easy, only that He would be there with you. One day everything will come together and make sense. You will see how King Jesus was writing your story all along. You will understand how He was divinely interceding and creating situations on your behalf. You will see how, all this time, God was really setting up an epic reveal. The Lord absolutely adores you! He’s beyond proud of your perseverance and resilience. He is the One who put that tenacious spirit inside you. Get back to work! He’s setting up something magnificent!
“An excellent spirit was in him…”
Daniel 6:3
One of my nieces earned the "Totally Trustworthy" award in her fourth-grade class this week. Something about the name of the award leaped in my spirit.
Totally Trustworthy.
Last night I was reading Daniel 6, and the Lord highlighted how He views so many of His leaders. Just like Daniel, you are totally trustworthy.
"They could find no corruption in him because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent" (Daniel 6:5).
Daniel was a man after God's heart, but he worked in a secular environment under a king surrounded by people who conspired to hurt Daniel. They even tried to use religion against him and made up all sorts of rules to quench his love for God. They looked high and low for anything to ruin his character, but there was nothing to find. So they had to make up their own ways to hurt Daniel.
The spirit of God that lived inside Daniel’s heart made some of these leaders uncomfortable. They couldn’t find a law against him, so they made one up. They became consumed with anger, rage, jealousy, envy and insecurity. They wanted to use their positions of power to hurt God's chosen vessel.
The Message Bible says Daniel was "brimming with spirit and intelligence" and "so completely outclassed" the others. He was a good man. He was honest, truthful and a hard worker.
"He was totally exemplary and trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence or misconduct. So they finally gave up and said, "We're never going to find anything against this Daniel unless we can scheme up something religious" (Daniel 6:5, MSG).
The enemy is not after secret Christians – he's after those who publicly live out their faith in action. Every child of God who boldly speaks the name of Jesus will face persecution. And one final tactic of the enemy is to just make up new rules to fit an agenda. That’s what happened in Daniel’s case. Sometimes this even happens in the body of Christ.
Some of the most dangerous Christians are those who are double-minded. They proclaim Jesus as their Savior, but they walk a different path.
James, the brother of Jesus, coined the name "double-minded," and the Greek word dipsuchos means: "people with double souls and two completely different wills that are in opposition."
These are Christians who doubt. They are confused in thoughts and actions. The person is “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does” (James 1:6-8).
These are lukewarm believers, who proclaim God, but follow the ways of the world and culture. They are consumed with titles, possessions, and positions of authority. They often use words and judgement to cause destruction. Extreme manipulation is often working through these people and the Lord will give you discernment to know what’s going on, so you must pay attention. It won’t always be blatant, but subtle.
Double-minded Christians have unsteady faith and waver in their character and actions. These people often serve two masters, and Jesus warned of this in Matthew 6:24. They are often lovers of self, filled with pride, consumed with worldly ambitions, and long for power over people. It's difficult to spot on the surface, but you will know them by their fruit. Meaning their words and actions will eventually reveal what's inside their heart. It’s all about control.
When people have Christ as a solid foundation, they stand firm in their belief system and don't try to control the reality of others and they don’t use silence as a weapon of destruction. Everything they do is rooted in love. Anything counter to love and compassion is not from God.
Those with a solid foundation in Christ stand for the disenfranchised and marginalized and use their voices for the voiceless. They are defenders of the defenseless.
God is the ultimate One in charge, and as we learn in the story of Daniel, the young man didn't go out of his way to hurt anyone. He simply prayed to the Lord, refused to bow to the culture's gods, and just lived his life. The king had written a decree about no prayer for 30 days, and conspirators used the rules to frame Daniel.
Daniel 6:10-12
Now when Daniel knew that the decree was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God. And they went before the king…
Daniel was ultimately thrown into the lion's den, but an angel of the Lord closed the mouths of the lions, and there wasn't even a scratch on him. Daniel was preserved in the den because of his faith. He had a consistent prayer life, obeyed God and the Lord Jesus sent an angel to intercede.
Hebrews 1:14 says angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation.
Lions often do the most damage with their mouths just like slanderers in the modern day.
The people who tried to hurt Daniel actually helped him in the end because it re-strengthened his trust in the Lord! Best of all, the power of God was magnified throughout all the land because of his witness.
We also see the doctrine of justification carried out in this story. This is when a person is declared righteous and not guilty before God. Ultimately, all those who tried to hurt Daniel, along with their children and families, were put to death. It's a harsh ending, but there were rules in the land.
From there, Daniel progressed, prospered and received honor. Best of all, the glory of God was on display for all to see!
Some of you are also totally trustworthy and exemplify the characteristics of Daniel. You are a pure vessel of Jesus Christ, and your heartfelt passion is a breath of fresh air wherever you go. Always keep your sense of wonder! God will use your heart and spirit to influence many people in big and small ways. He will shut the mouth of lions and bring you out from the den to run into your future! The “den” is just a launchpad for your next season!
TOTALLY TRUSTWORTHY
"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble" (James 4:6).
A Christian must firmly believe that Jesus Christ is the Source of everything.
It's not enough to believe a little here and there and just be a good person. Humans will naturally sin and fall short of the glory of God, so when a person strongly believes in Christ, they weigh everything from the eyes of eternity.
What would Jesus say about this matter? What would Jesus do? What does the Living Word say?
God guards and protects His name very vigorously, so those who show themselves trustworthy in His eyes will see the King move mightily on their behalf.
The biblical definition of trustworthy is:
Genuine, reliable, pure at heart, faithful, believing, loyal, noble, and steadfast in faith.
Daniel revealed outstanding leadership qualities; his legendary lessons have stood the test of time.
Here's what made Daniel totally trustworthy:
He did not deny God, even in the face of adversity.
He lived purely and righteously.
He depended on the Lord Jesus. He prioritized prayer and devoted his life to the Lord daily long before he was thrown in the lions' den.
Daniel had fearless faith amid persecution.
He had a solid character and trust in the sovereign Lord.
In Daniel 6:23, when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
Therein lies the key to trustworthiness. A person has simple trust and faith in Jesus Christ. This kind of trust is not created by man. It's a gift of grace bestowed on the hearts of God’s children who live righteous and holy lives.
I'm here to encourage you today –
Despite what you are facing, God will get you through this situation and shut the mouth of all the lions in your vicinity. You will survive without any scratches.
The only Person who will know everything you endured is Jesus and that is enough. He will lift you from the den so that you can run with hope into your future. He will speak destiny over your heart. He will help you heal, recover and be renewed in His strength.
Allow Proverbs 4:23 to anchor you in this season: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Those called to do great things for the Kingdom of God will always face persecution, opposition, slander, jealousy and lies, but the Holy Spirit will be your Defender. Nothing goes to waste in the Kingdom and everything the enemy meant for evil, God will use for good.
Be the type of person who speaks out against injustices, even in small ways.
Remember, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, crafted by the hands of our Savior, and loved for all of eternity. You will survive this.
Do not give up! Keep building! Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
