Nehemiah 2:11
And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
God had placed on Nehemiah this burning desire to see the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. They had been broken down and the gates destroyed during the captivity as the people were lead away. Sin and rejection of God had brought all of this upon them, but now God was beginning the process of restoration and rebuilding. Before anything could take place, Nehemiah needed to walk the perimeter of the wall and take inventory of the damage.
Step # 4 in the Twelve Steps is much like what we read in Nehemiah.
Our walls of protection have been broke down by the years of abuse.
The gates have been burned by the bad choices we have made which seem to have accumulated over time.
Because of this state of our lives, the enemy has free reign and can come and go in our hearts and minds as much as he likes. There is nothing to stop him.
Lies....
Cheating....
Stealing.....
Deception....
Deceiving....
All a part of the army that keeps coming and going as we are helpless against the onslaught.
But, Step # 4 is the point at which we began to take back what has been destroyed and stolen.
Step # 1 is the step of admission. We are powerless and our lives are the evidence of it. Our lives have become unmanageable.
Step # 2 is the step of definition. We recognize and come to believe that there is a POWER greater than ourselves who can restore us to sanity, or the ability to make sound decisions. That POWER being Jesus Christ.
Step #3 is the step of surrender. Instead of living by our own desires and thoughts and ability, we make a decision to turn our will and our life over to the care of God. The God we know and understand today, realizing that our perception of God will change as we grow in this new found relationship.
Those first three steps are us TRUSTING GOD.
The next eight steps is where we CLEAN HOUSE.
The first of the eight is step #4, is where we make a fearless (don't back down or turn away) and searching (we look deep within) moral inventory.
How can we rebuild the walls of our life if we don't know where the breaches are?
It may be a broken wall because of jealousy or anger.
There may be an open place in our wall caused by unforgiveness.
No matter how wonderful we try to make our recovery out to be, it will never stand against our enemy until the walls of our character have been rebuilt.
Only God can aid us in this endeavor.
Only God's Holy Spirit can shine the light of illumination into our hearts and truly show us these broken down walls. More than anything, it is God himself who will work and will in us to bring about the changes of character needed. This, if the truth be known, is all part of the Salvation process.
I was saved yesterday.....
I am being saved today.....
I will be saved tomorrow....
If you haven't done a fourth and fifth step, I would encourage you to.
The weather is suppose to be beautiful today....
It would be a good day to begin to rebuild your walls....
God on you.....
mb
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