Skip to content Episode 2 | Nehemiah: The Good Hand of My God is Upon Me Aug 24 · 44 min ...more
Episode 2 | Nehemiah: The Good Hand of My God is Upon Me
August 24, 2026 · 44 min
Series Nehemiah August 24, 2026 · 44 min · Nehemiah
...more Show the full description Show less Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
9.67K followers
Cascade Hills Church exists to help people from all walks of life experience a genuine relationship with God through Christ and become fully devoted followers
9.67K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Nehemiah's Burden and 4 Months of Prayer 0:00 Book of Nehemiah, we're taking this kind of a journal style, and it's just you and I just going through it. And, reading from this guy's journal that was probably the 1 of the best, leaders in the last 2400 years, and0:10 we're just taking his journal and letting it guide our lives to this very, very difficult season. I mean, it's been a it's been a season. We joked about it last week. I heard 1 this week that I thought was funny. Talking0:21 about daylight, savings time. They said, let's just cancel it. Nobody needs 1 more hour of 20 20, which is so so so true. But we are going through this deal in Nehemiah. And to kinda0:32 recap, just in case you were, here or you weren't, or you weren't here last week or maybe you weren't logged on, you're catching us now, Nehemiah is a guy that kinda wrote journal style for for us through a really0:43 difficult season. He's a he was a cup bearer to the king, king Artaxerxes. And, the cup bearer is the most trusted guy, in the kingdom because he's checking the king's wine and food to make0:55 sure it doesn't have poison in it. And so he has to be really, really trusted. And Nehemiah finds out something heartbreaking. He finds out that his local community and his home in, Jerusalem, the walls were broken down,1:06 and the walls represented the strength of of their gods. And it was and he realized that God's own people, their walls were broken down. There was violence and and looting and and and raping happened and and fire and1:18 burning the gates and it sounded a lot like what we see on the news. And, Nehemiah's heart is now broken, but here's where he's in a catch 22. He's kind of in between a rock and a hard place because the the1:30 guy that, wrote the law not to allow it to be rebuilt, he's working for that king. So he's kind of in between a rock and a hard place, and he goes into prayer for, get this, 4 4 months, he begins1:42 to pray. He begins to pray and and and think about that, how difficult it is to go into work every single day, knowing that this is the guy that has the power to change it, but I don't quite know what to1:54 do. And and we look at the book of Nehemiah and like what we talked about last week, if you're catching up. The book of Nehemiah, yeah, he's famous for building a wall. Okay? He's famous for doing that. But it wasn't2:04 just about building walls, about God building a leader and perhaps he's doing that with you during this season who would then build a group of people, maybe that's your family or the people in your influence, who would2:14 rebuild a culture, who would follow God in a world that didn't. And I believe that that is where we as a church and we as believers are at. We must be, light in a dark, dark world, and so this2:26 is very relevant. So let's let's pick up here in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 1 through 8. And if you don't mind, let's stand for the word of God in reverence of it. Let's read this together. And it says, and it came to pass2:37 in the month of Nissan, this is April, May, by the way, the Jewish calendar. In the 20th year of King Arctic Surfaces, when wine was before him. Talk about timing. He says, I'm gonna wait till I get a little little bit2:49 of wine in the King before we move. I know a guy a, a woman that doesn't ask her husband for anything big, like big expenditures, till he has a few glasses of wine. But that is not what's going on here in the context.3:00 Context, context, context. Remember, this is his job. Okay? He's checking the wine before the king gets it. Says, then I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now, I had never been sad in this presence before. But the3:08 king Now I had never been sad in his presence before. The king said to me, why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of the heart. So I became dreadfully afraid and I3:20 said to the king, may the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad as what Nehemiah said, when the city, the place of my father's tombs lies at waste and its gates are burned with fire? Then the3:32 king said to me, what do you request? And so I prayed to the God of heaven, stops there and prays. And I said to the king, if it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me3:42 to Judah, the city of my father's tombs, that I may rebuild it. And the king said to me, and this is notice it here, it says the queen was sitting beside him. Most theologians and scholars believe this is queen Esther.3:54 And do you believe that Esther would have cared about the Jews? You betcha. And so maybe that Nehemiah is timing this where his wife is there. Who cares about the Jews? You know, our children do this when when our4:06 children want something, they make sure mama's there. And that's what Nehemiah is doing at this moment. Says, how long will your journey be is what the king said. And when will you return? So it pleases the king to send4:16 me and I set a time. They're for the more I say to the king. If it pleases the queen, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the river that I must permit me to pass through until I4:28 come to Judah. And a letter to Asav, the keeper of the king's force, that he must give me timber to make the beams for the gates of the citadel, which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, of the house that I may4:40 occupy. And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. And the king granted them to me according to the good hand4:52 of my God upon me. How many of you know if you're a believer, if you're a child of God, that the good hand of God is upon you? Do you know that? Then if you are a child of God, I don't know what you're5:04 going through, what you may face, what you may feel, or what you may not feel, but if you are a child of God, you've got God's good hand upon your life. My Bible says this over in Romans. It says that,5:16 that we have the hand of God upon us and that he is that he is with us and that he's for us. Romans 8 31 says, what then shall I say to these things? If God is for me, who could be against me?5:28 Do you know that God is for you? That God is for you? That God's not got a a bull whip in 1 hand and a assault off shotgun in the other hand, and he's out to get you get you get You ever met these people today? They just5:40 think that God's just out to get you? If God's out to get you hit, I've done got you. Okay? Hey, God ain't out to judge you and get you He's done judged all of your sins and my sins on his own son5:51 Jesus. And Jesus said this, it is finished. So God's not out to get you. Now, let me clarify. If we are unchurched and we6:03 continue rebelling against God and we said, I don't want no part of you. Well then, you're gonna be up under the judgment of God. Now let me clarify, this does not give us a permission to sin. Oh, if God's not out to get6:15 me, I'm just gonna do what I wanna do. No. If we love God, do you remember the verse that says we will obey his commands? Okay? So God is for you, and I wanna encourage you today. You may be seated. Unless you just wanna6:25 stand up the whole sermon, that's cool too. God is for you. He loves you. And as I was getting prepared to do this message this week, this doesn't happen every time, but I'm going on a little walk6:36 and I'm praying as I'm walking because I'm totally ADD. And, I'm praying and every once in a while it happens that, God would give me a word, you know, because preachers need words too. It's not just you. And he he would6:48 give me a word, and then it would be your word as well. It doesn't happen often, but, have you ever had where you're just you're walking or you're praying and the Holy Spirit just gives you a verse, just comes up for6:58 that situation? If so, you'll know what I'm talking about, but that's God's direct, voice to you. That's why we're so important that we read the Bible so that when we need it, the Holy Spirit will give us that verse. And7:09 I'm walking, and I haven't read this verse, but maybe twice in my whole life. And I'm praying to God, I said, God, could today be 1 of these days when I read chapter 2, that you would speak to me and then I can speak to7:20 them. That it would be like a double word for for me and to them. I just love those. Will that happen today? And as soon as I get done praying, the Holy Spirit just speaks to me and says, and God has granted you these7:30 things because God's good hand is upon you. And I said, oh, that's it. And because I'm always sermon searching. If you're a preacher, you're always everything is you're looking for illustrations. You're looking your life7:41 revolves around sermon. I said, that's it. That's the word. And I'm starting to see the whole passage unfolding that God's good hand is upon. And it was almost like God's thing, Brent, just just stop it. What did you7:51 just ask for? You just asked that I would speak to you and then to them. And you're missing part of that. I'm speaking to you, that God's good hand is upon you. Now once you know that God's good hand is upon you, go tell8:02 the people that God's good hand is upon them as well. And so this word, I'm excited about it because selfishly is for me and for you. And so this is a great, great word because sometimes I'm guilty if I'm just being8:13 transparent. I'm guilty of missing what God wants to tell me because I'm so concerned about what God wants to, tell you. And so I'm looking, looking, looking for you. And, sometimes I miss what he wants to tell me and8:24 that's a tragedy, but that's my final work. And so I'm excited about this 1. The good hand of God was upon us. And so let's look at this and open up, the very 1st page in Nehemiah's journal, because8:36 it's 1 thing for us to go through difficult seasons. It's another thing to go through the difficult season with the perspective of knowing God's good hand is upon you and what you can expect when God's good hand is upon8:47 you. And then this passage today, there's 4 things that you can expect when God's good hand is upon you. So let's read it. It says, and it came to pass in the month of Nisen, the 20th year of king Artaxerxes, when wine8:58 was before him, that I took the wine and I gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. I'd never been sad in his presence before. Therefore, the king said to me, why is your face so sad9:10 since you are not sick? Do you know that it was inappropriate to be sad in the presence of the king? You ever had, someone just had, like, the worst inappropriate, like, emotion at an9:22 inappropriate time, at an inappropriate place. You ever had that? Like a funeral you ever been at a funeral and there's always gonna be that guy that's gonna be making small jokes at the funeral? Like, you're in the line9:32 waiting to go hug the necks of the ones that just lost a loved 1, and there's gonna be someone let me tell you the joke this week. And I am very if you're that guy, stay away from me at a funeral. We can't be friends9:43 at funerals. Okay? That makes me very uncomfortable. It's just inappropriate, inappropriate emotion at an inappropriate time. Or what I've you know, my my son Elijah, we had to teach him this. You know, I've9:55 used him in illustrations nearly every week. 9 years old, autism inspection. You know we had to teach him when to use the right emotions? Because he would cry when he's supposed to laugh, and he would laugh when he's10:05 supposed to cry, and we had to teach him that. And then he went through the stage where he just breaks people's stuff, and he thinks it's hilarious that they cry. Like I've got some of the best nieces and nephews in the10:14 in the world. They they just really take care of that boy. They they love that boy, mess with that boy. 1 of the the the boy, my 1 of my oldest nephews, he's, he's like an expert fisherman, and he's he hangs out10:26 with my son all the time. Look, he's my fishing buddy. Another 1 of 1 is my niece and she's got a little gangster to her. She's a little gangster lean, you know, a little thuggish. I'm praying for her. Great kid. And and10:38 then another 1 is like a little genius. He's like a little he just like, if you give him an instruction manual, he can put together anything. And he really got into these Legos, and he's whatever, 10000 set Lego piece,10:48 something I would never have the patience for. And he's like building these things like trophies, you know. And and then Elijah comes along, and he came in like a wrecking ball, as the song would say. And he, just tore10:59 it all up and just give us my nephew was so ticked and he's like, you know and we had to teach Elijah, it's not funny. If he's mad, this is not funny. We have to teach him this wrong emotion. Poor11:11 kid never never picked up Legos again, by the way. So, but we had to teach him this, and I don't think it has to do with anything, being on the autism spectrum. I don't. I think he gets it from my wife because,11:23 my wife is that person. Have you ever met anybody that lasts when someone gets hurt? Yeah. And she's like the most weird about it, she's the most caring person in the world. Like if a like, this really happens. This is11:35 disgusting. If you're not in the south, you don't know what I'm talking about. We live in the country. There's like worms that crawl in the asphalt. We will be going on a prayer walk together and she'll, oh, the poor11:43 worm. And I'll have to go get a stick and move the worm out of the way. Weird. I know. But that's how caring she is. But yet if someone falls, funniest thing in the world. Her dad fell the other day chasing cattle back11:54 into the gate, and she laughs at her own father. Her mother fell off a bite the other day, but like a a a roach bug upside down on the bite, and she laughs at her own mother. The worst thing is we12:06 were in an airport about a year ago, and this 80 year old man that she does not know you don't laugh at old people. And he goes to falling. Have you ever seen someone start to fall and gravity gets in front of them and12:17 they try to chase it and try to beat it? The gravity is working against them. I gotta give it to this guy. He's not a quitter. It was like a 32nd deal, like I thought, is this real real life? Is this really happening? Do12:27 I need to go catch him? It's just and he's getting lower and lower. At 1 point his nose is like scrubbing the ground. He didn't quit, and he just wiped out, and everybody goes and runs. The hell of him, not Carrie.12:37 Carrie's dying laughing. I hope it's just inappropriate, babe. It's just inappropriate. It's an inappropriate emotion, and, you know, for old guy. I just feel I hope when I die, by the way, that it's like something where12:48 I get hurt, you know? Like fall off a ladder or something because at least at the funeral, it won't be sad. She'll be like, he's such a good husband. I'm sorry y'all. He's he was he's so good. He was a13:00 good father. You should see the way he fell. He just fell off. Because That's what she would do. She's inappropriate emotion. Nehemiah, right when I open up chapter 2, and I start reading, and he says, I've never been13:11 sad before. He he realizes the king looks at him and he says, this is inappropriate. Did you know those days you could go to prison for being sad in front of the king? Did you know that you could lose your job for being13:22 sad in front of the you didn't bring your personal life into your professional life. And so you're come supposed to come into the king's presence with nothing but joy. There's a contrast there to the joy the way that he13:33 was a he weren't able to be himself, wasn't able to express emotion or hurt or pain to the earthly king. But we have a heavenly king that you know that we can come to him with all of our messes and all of our garbage and13:42 all of our flaws. The Bible says we can come boldly to the throne of grace. The Bible says that we can come to him and cast all of our cares upon him for he cares for us. So there's a contrast. We can come to our king,13:53 and we don't have to hold anything back because he wants to know what's going on in our life. And so now Nehemiah is at the spot where for 4 months think about the difficulty. For 4 months, he has hidden the emotion ofBold Prayer Unlocks Power and Authority 14:04 being absolutely heartbroken over his hometown. Here's Nehemiah, but for 4 months you know how hard it is to, like, hold your emotions back when you're mad at your spouse, but you don't wanna go through that fight?14:16 Like, it's not worth it? You you just don't wanna do it, but it's just bothering you, you have to say it. Oh, some of you have that too. Don't don't look at me like I'm weird. You just have to say it, but you know you14:25 shouldn't say it, but you need to say it. How hard it is for 1 day to hold that back. Here's Nehemiah for 4 months. For 4 months knowing that I can't say nothing because the very guy that I work for,14:37 and I can't show an emotion because the very guy that I work for wrote the law, that he will not rebuild it and it was irreversible. So for 4 months he goes to praying and for 4 months he goes to his job having to14:48 pretend he's not sad. But on this day, what is in his heart begins to be reflected on his face and the king notices it and he sees it. And in this moment, he he becomes it says that the king says, this is15:00 nothing but sorrow of the heart, is what he said. Now next, notice what Nehemiah writes. He says, so I became dreadfully afraid. So I became dreadfully afraid. You became afraid because15:12 you could be thrown out of prison. You could perhaps lose his position. He also became dreadfully afraid, by the way, because his whole job was to protect the king from being poisoned. Now think about it from the15:24 king's perspective. Here's my most trusted guy serving me wine with his face that he looks sad. He believed in this moment that Nehemiah had been forced to allow poison and that he was15:35 about to be assassinated. So the king is seeing this and watch what Nehemiah does. Really quickly, Nehemiah discerns this. He says, no, no, no, no. May the king live forever. No. No. No. That's not why15:47 I'm sad. No. No. No. No. No. I have nothing to do with that. Your food's good. There's no assassination on your life. May the king live forever is why he why he says that. It was something else going on. And now in this15:58 moment, this was Nehemiah's big moment. And now in this moment for 4 months, this is his moment to make his appeal to the king. And verse 3 says this, why should my face not be16:10 sad when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies in waste and its gates are burned with fire. He takes this opportunity. He he just says it. Why should my face not be sad? Now notice the wisdom here, 216:22 things. In leadership, you need to know this. Leadership, a lot of times, is about timing. He waited 4 months for God to open up this opportunity. Sometimes we jump through and we open up doors and we kick doors down and16:33 we say, come on, God. Come on in. And God's going, no. I never wanted that door open. I would open it myself. Timing. He waits 4 months praying. The other thing I noticed that he appeals to the king's heart.16:44 Notice what he could have done and it would have rubbed him the wrong way. He said, why should my face not be sad when the city when the city of my father's tombs lies in waste? He didn't say Jerusalem. See, if he would16:55 have said Jerusalem, the king, this would have rubbed him in the wrong way. You mean the place that I said they could no longer build until I say it? Instead, Nehemiah with wisdom said, the city. And then he goes to his17:06 heart, his emotion, of my father's tombs. You see, all of us have lost loved ones and now he's appealing to his heart saying, the place where my my my father's tombs, where my people are buried, it's burnt up,17:18 it's in waste, it's it's in a horrible position. Well now he's got the king, thinking through the heart. And then verse 4 says this, that because he appealed that way, the king said to him, well, what do you request? And17:30 then look what happens. So Nehemiah does what Nehemiah has known best for. So I prayed to the God of heaven. He he he goes right in this moment and it's just kind of a a prayer flare. It's 1 of these when the boss asks17:42 you something and you need wisdom where you say, God, just really quickly because he's been praying for 4 months. God, give me wisdom, give me favor, give me the right words, and he throws up a prayer. Number 1, if17:52 you're gonna lead through difficult seasons, knowing the good hand of God is upon you, you've gotta know this, that your power comes through prayer, That your power comes through prayer. I know it. I talk about prayer18:02 every week. If you don't like it, get used to it, because as long as I'm here, we'll talk about it. Prayer is the most powerful force us believers have. Nehemiah has been praying for 4 months and now he throws up 1 more18:13 prayer. Prayer has a way of changing in it's his situations that are that that seem to be where you can't make any change at all. Prayer has a way of making things that look impossible become possible. Here's18:25 this king that it was absolutely impossible that he reversed the wall to rebuild, and Nehemiah knows my power is in a higher power, so I'm gonna pray. And when he does, it reminds me of that Proverbs18:37 21 1 verse. You remember the Proverbs 21 1 says this, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and he can turn it like the rivers of the water wherever he turns. There may be a situation in your life, a18:48 boss, a financial situation, a relationship situation, where you realize I can't do it unless this person gives me the go ahead. Can I tell you, the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord? Like the rivers19:00 of the water, he can turn it whichever way he chooses. So Nehemiah prays and that's when change happens. Notice when he prays though, then he asked for the authority, the power to do what God had put on his heart. Verse19:12 5 says this, and I said to the king, if it pleases a king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, ask you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tombs that I may rebuild it. He throws his19:24 request out. Then look what he does. He asked for a little bit more. Furthermore, I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given to me to the governors beyond the the region of the river that they must19:35 permit me to pass till I come to Judah. He's saying I'm gonna need the permission and and I need you. I'm gonna I wanna rebuild the city that you say that cannot be rebuilt until, you get the permission. And by the way,19:48 I'm gonna need you to sign some, letters giving me the power and giving me the authority, so that I can do so. He just throws it all all on the line at this moment. And look what the word of God says. It says, then the19:59 king granted to me according to the good hand of God upon me. So now we see that Nehemiah has power, has authority, has permission20:11 because he's prayed to God. Now he can go do what God's put on his heart and he has authority. Did you know that in your life as a believer that you have the power, the authority from Jesus to accomplish your will20:23 or his will for your life. Did you know that? We often walk around in this earth being defeated and feeling like we're we're not enough or feeling like the devil just has us in a stronghold that we can't get over. Wait.20:35 Wait. Wait. You have power. You have the authority, and you have the right to use the name of Jesus, the king of all key. You have that. You have remember Jesus said over in Luke's gospel? He said, behold, I give you20:47 authority. He said, bro, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and I give you all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. He's given you power. He's given you20:58 authority, but the enemy wants you to feel like you're defeated, like you can never accomplish God's will for your life, like you can never get over that addiction, like you can never get over that hurt. When you have21:08 authority straight from the king and you had the power and the right to use his name, I don't know what you feel like you need today that you feel like I'm lacking, but I want you to know you got the king's21:20 authorization to fulfill God's will for your life, and you've got the right to use his name. We're not powerless against the enemy's attack. We're powerful. When we know that we fight from a position of victory, you21:31 gotta know that, that you would that God has already fought for us and accomplished for us, and he's given us the power and authority. Now the 2nd thing that we must know if we're gonna lead through difficult seasons,21:41 knowing the good hand of God is upon us is we also gotta know that not only do we have power through prayer, but we've got his provisions, that his provisions are with us. Look at verse 8. A letter to Asaph, and give me21:53 a letter to Asaph. I love that Nehemiah, by the way, knows who's in charge. It's not like I'm just gonna pray about it. Nehemiah's undid his research. He knows who owns all the timber, and he he brings them up by name.22:04 And give me a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me the timber to make the beams to the gates of the citadel, which pertains to the temple, to the city wall, and for the house that I22:13 occupy. Now he goes to it, and he says, I'm gonna need you to not only give me permission for the place you told me, it says, and you wrote the law that it cannot be rebuilt. You remember that place? I'm gonna not only22:24 lead you give me permission and power and authority to go there, but I'm gonna need you to fund it. I mean, think about that. The very place that you you, you know, that you said it cannot be rebuilt till I say, I need22:36 permission, but I also need, access to your pocketbook, you know, I need your wallet. I need you to, you know, pull some strings. I need you to pay for it. I mean, Nehemiah is a bold guy here. Some of the this may be22:47 giving you the courage to go ask your boss for a raise or something. Some of you are seeing this was with the trees he asked for. You're saying, you know, I need some paper too. Maybe it's time I go into the boss's, you22:57 know, office and go Nehemiah on them. So Nehemiah now asked for the provisions. And did you know that your king provides when the good hand of God is upon you as a child of God? Your king23:09 meets all your needs as well. He gives provision to you. Doctor Jerry Vines says it this way. I love this. This is so cool. That he asked for timber provisions out of the king's forest,23:21 out of the king's riches. We have something better than asking for riches out of earthly positions. We have a king, an eternal king that gives us not provisions out of, but according to his23:32 riches. Think about that. Not not not out of see, if you just get it out of people or out of positions, you can run out of earthly resources, but your king says that this in Philippians 4 19, but my God23:44 shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. And let me just ask you a simple question. How rich is your king? I mean, what what do you need that he don't have? I mean, he23:56 he can give you what you need and then some. Maybe you're watching on Facebook, put that in the chat and then some. He give you any what whatever you need that's in the will of God, your king has the ability and the24:07 right, the authority to give. Your king is very wealthy. Okay? And he provides for us. I believe as believers in Christ, all of us know this. Don't we have more than what we deserve? Would we all24:19 agree that? All of us you know what we deserve? Let's let's get real. We deserve in God's sight, who's holy and we are sinful, we deserve hell.God's Abundant Provisions 24:30 Right? Would we agree with that? If not, then we don't see our sinfulness in the light of holy God. We deserve hell, so every inch above hell is more than I deserve. Right? And how many24:42 of you know that God has provided us way, way more than we deserve and most of what we want? Okay? And so he provides for us when we know this. He he gives us provision. And it may not be24:54 money or monetary. It may be that you need peace, that you need forgiveness, that you need to get rid of bitterness in your heart. Your God is a providing God. I've read of something this, week that reminded me that God25:04 just provides when there seems to be no way when you're going after his will. It's a story of a 23 year old girl named Karen Bennett. And, she was had on her heart that God laid on her heart to start a church in the25:15 inner city of Atlanta where there was a lot of violence and a lot of, drug abuse and a lot of addictions. And she went with 5 of her friends and feels like God called her to do this, and she went into the inner25:27 city and found a building that was all run down, big building. She said, I'm gonna start a church there, glass broken out, all kind of stuff, and found the owner. And the owner said it would cost 2000 dollars a month.25:38 Well, problem is she didn't have 2000 dollars, but she felt like God put this on her heart. And so they got all together and they said, I got an idea. Let's pull up everything that we got in our checking account, in our25:47 savings account, and let's let's go in together. If God's called us to us, he'll provide. And they got all together that night, they're all excited. You know how much money they came up with between the 6 of them? 5225:59 dollars. 52 dollars. Wait, wait, wait. But God God told me to do this. God's gonna provide. How you gonna provide with 52 dollars and you need26:10 2000 dollars a month? So I said, I got an idea. Let's go to the local churches. Churches help people? We'll go to churches. So they go to these churches, they begin to ask and no 1 wanted to be involved because they26:21 said, no, that's too dirty, That that's too dangerous. It's too violent. Too much we don't wanna get messy. You know? Any church that doesn't wanna deal with messy people is not a church. You know what I'm saying? I26:32 mean, we are a hospital for sinners. Right? And so they didn't wanna do that. And, so they're discouraged and defeated, but they really feel like God put this on their heart. And so where God guides, he provides. And26:44 they got together and said, you know what? We're willing. We know God told us this. So let's all 6 of us give up our apartments in Atlanta, and let's use the rent money to pay for that, but and we'll live there in the26:54 church that we want them to get. So they all left, and they set up, and they what they did not know was it did not have heating and air condition. So if it was 30 degrees in in Atlanta, Georgia, it was 30 degrees in27:03 there. It it had windows broken down. It had no plumbing. It had no shower. They had to go to the local Hardee's to use the restroom. I mean, it was it was a bad place. But27:15 where God guides, he provides. And what he would soon do is build a ministry out of this place that now touches over 4 to 5000 people a week. Now they're starting a27:27 private school in this facility, and not without, hardships and tough times. She said that the 1st funeral that she did was for her staff and employee because they're taking in these kids that have never27:39 been taught how to live. And 1 of these kids mugged the, the the staff and actually killed 1 of the staff members. She said 1 of the 1st funerals I ever did was my own27:50 staff members. But here's what she said. This this when God guides her by us, but here's what she said that I thought was interesting. She said, if you decide that what God is asking you to do with your life is too much28:01 on you and it's just a little too, inconvenient, then you'll never see the miracles that he has for you. Isn't that true? Maybe somebody is in a spot today where you need God to show up. And I wanna tell you when the28:12 good hand of God is upon you, and it is if you're a child of God, that God not only protects for you, but he provides you. Okay? He gives you what you need when you need it. Makes me think of that, I'll go old school for28:24 a minute. Makes me think of that. Clint, you remember that Barbara Titus song? We had a woman named Barbara Titus. She used to get up here. She had soul, man. But she's saying she's just she's saying that he's an on time28:35 god. Anybody know that song? He's He's an on time god. You're not gonna do this 1? 0, yes. He is. You ready? He's an on time god. Remember28:47 how she hid out of oh, yes. Yes. Oh, he may not. I guess I've went home and he won't, but he'll be there right on time. He's an on time. Then she'd end with, oh, yes. He is.29:00 But she don't don't clap for me. That was, but but he is. God knows what you need when you need it and he's he will provide for you. Now the 4th thing that you gotta know if you got the good hand of God upon29:11 your life and you're going through a difficult season, he also protects you. Look at Nehemiah. It says, then I went to the governors in the region beyond the river and gave them the king's letters. Now look at this. Now29:20 the king has sent me captains of the army and horsemen with me. So he didn't ask for protection, but now when he gets this, he not only gets provision, but he gets protection. Now the king sends29:32 his official army with Nehemiah and gives him protection. You ever had something that you, thought you wanted, but then you thank God you didn't get it? And let me help you with this because you you weren't you're you're29:44 not with me on that 1. Have you ever had someone in your life that you thought you wanted? You really wanted to be with that person that was gonna be or you thought I need to be with this person. And then now you look29:55 back and say, thank God, then I went over that person. Yeah. All of us. Right? God protects his children. He protects us. Doctor Jerry Vines says it this way. He says,30:07 where God leads, he feeds. Where he guides, he provides. Where God directs, he protects. Psalms 23 4 says, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I love that. He says, though I walk through the30:19 valley of the shadow of death. Did you know that the shadow of a knife can't hurt you? The shadow of a gun can't kill you? Some of you are going through a spot and it's a difficult spot, but if you got God's protection,30:29 if you got God's good hand upon your life, it's yet just a shadow. Right? Remember God tells us over in Psalms 21 1, he says, the Lord shall preserve your going in and coming out from this time forth forevermore. Not30:40 only on earth, but forevermore, for all of eternity. Some people ask me, Sabrina, I can't believe you say this some of the stuff you say, and, oh, you're not worried about, you know, getting this and that. No. I send all30:50 my emails to Clint. I'm not worried about that. I don't fear man. Let me help you with that. My allegiance is not to man. I owe men nothing. Nothing. I owe everything to31:02 God. I owe everything. I don't fear what can man do to me? Kill me? Do you send me home earlier? I don't this ain't my home. My home is in heaven. Remember Matthew says this is Matthew31:14 10 28, and do not fear those who can kill the body. He cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both the soul and the body in hell. We ought to fear God.31:26 Fear God. And when you do that, you've got the protection of God on your life. So if you're gonna live through a difficult season and lead through it, knowing the good hand of God is upon you, you gotta know that you got31:35 his power, his provision, his protection. But let me give you the 4th and most encouraging. You gotta know that you're gonna have problems. Welcome to Casa Hills. Where we are just real. Right? You weren't you weren't31:46 looking for that. You're like, oh, really? You're gonna you're gonna end on that. We're gonna have problems. The Christian life is not full of cotton candies and rainbows. Nowhere ever in the31:58 Bible says come to God and you will have a peaceful life for the rest of your life and you will have no anybody selling you that garbage theology, it's garbage. The theShow more In this video 0:00 Nehemiah's Burden and 4 Months of Prayer14:00 Bold Prayer Unlocks Power and Authority24:30 God's Abundant Provisions32:00 Divine Protection on the Journey37:12 Expect Opposition but Take Heart
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.