The Nehemiah Project
"This Page Dedicated to Building a Godly Life -What are we building?"
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, Nehemiah 1:1-4
What are we building?
Have you ever really asked yourself that particular question? I would venture to say very few of us have really even thought about the question. And when asked the question, our minds will go to the most obvious answer and that would be concerning structures like a home or garage. You may have never built a home, garage, or a dog-house and that’s O.K. because I am thinking of another type of “building”. The “what are we building?”question is to be applied to our own life and lifestyle. Most of us are busy living our day to day lives that we don’t take the time to reflect what type of building we may have been involved in building. You are probably scratching your head about now and thinking I am not making a lot of sense, but stay with me while I make the case about our life’s building.
I was raised in a family that had 8 uncles that were all from the same family and each of them worked in the home construction process as a particular trade. My mother is from a family of 14 children who were born to my grandparents. That had to be a feat within itself since my aunts and uncles were all born before 1950. There were block and brick layers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, drywall men, and roofers. My dad also enjoyed working in his woodshop and I have a brother who has his own home building business. You could almost say that it is in my blood to be involved in the construction industry, and it must be true due to the fact I have been employed at a local lumber company since 1984. During one of my teenage summer months when I would be learning a trade from one of the “uncles”, I knew and decided the laborious part of the industry was not for me and I should prepare myself for the retail side of things. I still love to get out and work with the wood whether it’s framing a project, installing trim, or in the wood shop building a cabinet. The smell of a new home being framed, wood being planned down, or cut for a finish product is an aroma that brings back many a memory.
There are several steps or processes to building a home that can be similarly applied to our own spiritual life. Even if you have never been involved in building a home or even know the home building process, hopefully the following comparisons will become easy to follow.
The first step to building a home or a structure for it to last many years is to lay the proper foundation. The foundation is the most important component of a building. Everything the building is rests upon it foundation. If it has a weak foundation, it will soon crumble and the building will begin deteriorating and eventually fall into a pile of broken and damaged pieces. There are building codes that require foundations to be a particular size, but these are the minimums and a wise builder will build his building upon an established foundation that is more than the minimums. He knows to withstand the elements and time itself; the foundation must be large enough to handle the “unknowns”. The gospel of Luke 6:48 tells us this truth, “He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”Jesus was telling his disciples in a parable how important it was to have a deep foundation. This same theme carries into other New Testament books and the foundation of Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;What better foundation for a man to have but Jesus Christ. And not just have Jesus as our foundation, but to increase our foundation of Him to be able to withstand any element that may come against our life building. In 1 Timothy 6:19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. A foundation that is laid with Jesus as our cornerstone will result in eternal life, which is our ultimate desire to be with Jesus all eternity. With Jesus as our cornerstone we will never need worry about our foundation crumbling. 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So let us establish ourselves with the foundation of Jesus Christ and continue making it large within His strength by studying His Word.
The second process of building a longstanding home is creating the floor or platform. After a foundation is laid, a building must have a solid floor for you to walk confidently. Everyone has been in homes that when you walked across the floor, the dishes in the kitchen cupboards would rattle. This is due to not having a solid floor in the building structure.2 Kings 6:2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. We must take our building and create our own strong and solid floor or platform based upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. If we are to make a difference with other people and remain stable through out our lives, we have to be on strong and solid floors. Our building will be walked upon and we don’t need it to rattle the dishes in the next room. We must have a strong & unshakeable stance for our daily walk in Christ. Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. If our foundation is laid by Jesus and we have a strong and solid floor, we can withstand any type of attack from the world.
The third element in home building is erecting the walls. The walls are a boundary between you and the outside elements. It keeps the unwanted and non-desirable weather elements from attacking you as you remain inside. They have the ability to keep you safe and peaceful as long as you remain within their boundaries. Our spiritual life needs boundaries. 1 Samuel 25:16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. This verse speaks about David’s men guarding a group of shepherds. We MUST have boundaries to guard our spiritual life from the elements of the devil. The walls we put up in our lives must be based upon the Holy Spirit’s leading, and according to scriptures will establish the boundaries needed for us to grow in peace with Jesus.
The fourth element of building is to allow within our walls some doors and window openings. Sure, we could have a home with solid walls and no doors and windows, but we would have to decide to live on the exterior or interior. A wall without doors and windows doesn’t allow us to go in and go out of our building. We need doors and windows to be able to see the outside world and prepare ourselves before we embark on a journey. The sunshine that enters through the doors and windows is refreshing and enlightening and much needed for us to have a balanced life of the interior and exterior. Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knee three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Windows allow us to have a transparency with others. It allows people to see inside our hearts and our true nature or character. Set the wall boundaries, but also let others see inside your heart and the passion you have for the Lord and the lost!
The fifth element of building is the roof. The roof consists of the ceiling joists, rafters, and some form of weather tight material such as shingles, metal, or slate. The purpose of the roof is to keep the undesired weather from falling onto our heads. Sure, you have your walls of boundaries to protect you from the ground elements, you have the doors and windows to view and prepare the outside, but you also need something to protect you from the unwanted overhead elements. We have all seen pictures of forts of long ago that only had walls and no covering. What good is it when we have protection in our wall boundary, but get blasted by an attack from overhead? Having a good roof covering your home is important, and so is the covering we have in Jesus on our spiritual life. Romans 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Our sins are covered by Jesus Christ, we need to remember that! So many times the devil will get into our heads and convince us of all kinds of things. Rebuke him, because you have built your building with the proper covering, Jesus Christ.
Compare your spiritual building to the 5 physical elements of home building.
#1 Does your building have a deep foundation in Jesus and is being increased through the study of God’s word. Studying the scripture is like adding runs of rebar in your foundations, it just makes it stronger!
Can your foundation withstand attacks from the unexpected and violent storms that happen in life?
#2 Have you constructed a stable and strong floor or platform to stand on? You may have the best foundation in the subdivision or cul-de-sac, but is your platform worth standing on? With Jesus as your foundation, you must be able to withstand the “walks” of life that will try to rattle your faith. If your floor is bouncing, get with a fellow brother in Christ (Call them stiffeners) and get some bridging to stiffen your spiritual floor. Keep several stiffeners around to fill in those soft spots that may be causing your building to be rattled.
#3 Did you establish the proper wall boundaries in your spiritual lives to keep the attacks from the devil from penetrating? Every day the devil is walking about your building and looking for the cracks in your walls. Keep your walls of boundaries maintained and crack free.
#4 Are you allowing others to see Christ working through you? The blinds on the doors and windows must be opened for the lost world to see your desire for Christ. Are they seeing your true self as you live for Christ within your boundary walls? Are you looking at the world through those openings with a Christian world view and are preparing yourself as you enter the outside environment? If you don’t let others see you as a faithful servant of the Lord, then how can you make a difference with the knowledge you have to share with them?
#5 Check your roof. You may have excellent boundary of walls to protect attacks from the devil, but is your head covered? You must have proper boundaries set up all around you through-out a normal day. As Christian men, your heart is given to Jesus and the devil knows he can’t pluck you from your Heavenly eternal home, but he can attack your mind. Jesus has covered your sins with His blood, and you should never forget that when the devil starts putting crazy ideas in your head. You are covered by Jesus, and pray for that covering.
There are many similarities between a physical building and yourself being the spiritual building. As the Lord leads in the next few months, I hope to be able to get into details on “What we are Building” in ourselves as Christian men. I pray we can grow into a deeper relationship with Christ as we establish ourselves as a builder of our lives under the jobsite supervision of Jesus Christ. The book of Jude sums it up by; Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
May we all build of our faith in Jesus Christ!
In Christ Name,
Bobby
Have you ever really asked yourself that particular question? I would venture to say very few of us have really even thought about the question. And when asked the question, our minds will go to the most obvious answer and that would be concerning structures like a home or garage. You may have never built a home, garage, or a dog-house and that’s O.K. because I am thinking of another type of “building”. The “what are we building?”question is to be applied to our own life and lifestyle. Most of us are busy living our day to day lives that we don’t take the time to reflect what type of building we may have been involved in building. You are probably scratching your head about now and thinking I am not making a lot of sense, but stay with me while I make the case about our life’s building.
I was raised in a family that had 8 uncles that were all from the same family and each of them worked in the home construction process as a particular trade. My mother is from a family of 14 children who were born to my grandparents. That had to be a feat within itself since my aunts and uncles were all born before 1950. There were block and brick layers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, drywall men, and roofers. My dad also enjoyed working in his woodshop and I have a brother who has his own home building business. You could almost say that it is in my blood to be involved in the construction industry, and it must be true due to the fact I have been employed at a local lumber company since 1984. During one of my teenage summer months when I would be learning a trade from one of the “uncles”, I knew and decided the laborious part of the industry was not for me and I should prepare myself for the retail side of things. I still love to get out and work with the wood whether it’s framing a project, installing trim, or in the wood shop building a cabinet. The smell of a new home being framed, wood being planned down, or cut for a finish product is an aroma that brings back many a memory.
There are several steps or processes to building a home that can be similarly applied to our own spiritual life. Even if you have never been involved in building a home or even know the home building process, hopefully the following comparisons will become easy to follow.
The first step to building a home or a structure for it to last many years is to lay the proper foundation. The foundation is the most important component of a building. Everything the building is rests upon it foundation. If it has a weak foundation, it will soon crumble and the building will begin deteriorating and eventually fall into a pile of broken and damaged pieces. There are building codes that require foundations to be a particular size, but these are the minimums and a wise builder will build his building upon an established foundation that is more than the minimums. He knows to withstand the elements and time itself; the foundation must be large enough to handle the “unknowns”. The gospel of Luke 6:48 tells us this truth, “He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”Jesus was telling his disciples in a parable how important it was to have a deep foundation. This same theme carries into other New Testament books and the foundation of Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;What better foundation for a man to have but Jesus Christ. And not just have Jesus as our foundation, but to increase our foundation of Him to be able to withstand any element that may come against our life building. In 1 Timothy 6:19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. A foundation that is laid with Jesus as our cornerstone will result in eternal life, which is our ultimate desire to be with Jesus all eternity. With Jesus as our cornerstone we will never need worry about our foundation crumbling. 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So let us establish ourselves with the foundation of Jesus Christ and continue making it large within His strength by studying His Word.
The second process of building a longstanding home is creating the floor or platform. After a foundation is laid, a building must have a solid floor for you to walk confidently. Everyone has been in homes that when you walked across the floor, the dishes in the kitchen cupboards would rattle. This is due to not having a solid floor in the building structure.2 Kings 6:2 Let us go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye. We must take our building and create our own strong and solid floor or platform based upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. If we are to make a difference with other people and remain stable through out our lives, we have to be on strong and solid floors. Our building will be walked upon and we don’t need it to rattle the dishes in the next room. We must have a strong & unshakeable stance for our daily walk in Christ. Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. If our foundation is laid by Jesus and we have a strong and solid floor, we can withstand any type of attack from the world.
The third element in home building is erecting the walls. The walls are a boundary between you and the outside elements. It keeps the unwanted and non-desirable weather elements from attacking you as you remain inside. They have the ability to keep you safe and peaceful as long as you remain within their boundaries. Our spiritual life needs boundaries. 1 Samuel 25:16 They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. This verse speaks about David’s men guarding a group of shepherds. We MUST have boundaries to guard our spiritual life from the elements of the devil. The walls we put up in our lives must be based upon the Holy Spirit’s leading, and according to scriptures will establish the boundaries needed for us to grow in peace with Jesus.
The fourth element of building is to allow within our walls some doors and window openings. Sure, we could have a home with solid walls and no doors and windows, but we would have to decide to live on the exterior or interior. A wall without doors and windows doesn’t allow us to go in and go out of our building. We need doors and windows to be able to see the outside world and prepare ourselves before we embark on a journey. The sunshine that enters through the doors and windows is refreshing and enlightening and much needed for us to have a balanced life of the interior and exterior. Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knee three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. Windows allow us to have a transparency with others. It allows people to see inside our hearts and our true nature or character. Set the wall boundaries, but also let others see inside your heart and the passion you have for the Lord and the lost!
The fifth element of building is the roof. The roof consists of the ceiling joists, rafters, and some form of weather tight material such as shingles, metal, or slate. The purpose of the roof is to keep the undesired weather from falling onto our heads. Sure, you have your walls of boundaries to protect you from the ground elements, you have the doors and windows to view and prepare the outside, but you also need something to protect you from the unwanted overhead elements. We have all seen pictures of forts of long ago that only had walls and no covering. What good is it when we have protection in our wall boundary, but get blasted by an attack from overhead? Having a good roof covering your home is important, and so is the covering we have in Jesus on our spiritual life. Romans 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Our sins are covered by Jesus Christ, we need to remember that! So many times the devil will get into our heads and convince us of all kinds of things. Rebuke him, because you have built your building with the proper covering, Jesus Christ.
Compare your spiritual building to the 5 physical elements of home building.
#1 Does your building have a deep foundation in Jesus and is being increased through the study of God’s word. Studying the scripture is like adding runs of rebar in your foundations, it just makes it stronger!
Can your foundation withstand attacks from the unexpected and violent storms that happen in life?
#2 Have you constructed a stable and strong floor or platform to stand on? You may have the best foundation in the subdivision or cul-de-sac, but is your platform worth standing on? With Jesus as your foundation, you must be able to withstand the “walks” of life that will try to rattle your faith. If your floor is bouncing, get with a fellow brother in Christ (Call them stiffeners) and get some bridging to stiffen your spiritual floor. Keep several stiffeners around to fill in those soft spots that may be causing your building to be rattled.
#3 Did you establish the proper wall boundaries in your spiritual lives to keep the attacks from the devil from penetrating? Every day the devil is walking about your building and looking for the cracks in your walls. Keep your walls of boundaries maintained and crack free.
#4 Are you allowing others to see Christ working through you? The blinds on the doors and windows must be opened for the lost world to see your desire for Christ. Are they seeing your true self as you live for Christ within your boundary walls? Are you looking at the world through those openings with a Christian world view and are preparing yourself as you enter the outside environment? If you don’t let others see you as a faithful servant of the Lord, then how can you make a difference with the knowledge you have to share with them?
#5 Check your roof. You may have excellent boundary of walls to protect attacks from the devil, but is your head covered? You must have proper boundaries set up all around you through-out a normal day. As Christian men, your heart is given to Jesus and the devil knows he can’t pluck you from your Heavenly eternal home, but he can attack your mind. Jesus has covered your sins with His blood, and you should never forget that when the devil starts putting crazy ideas in your head. You are covered by Jesus, and pray for that covering.
There are many similarities between a physical building and yourself being the spiritual building. As the Lord leads in the next few months, I hope to be able to get into details on “What we are Building” in ourselves as Christian men. I pray we can grow into a deeper relationship with Christ as we establish ourselves as a builder of our lives under the jobsite supervision of Jesus Christ. The book of Jude sums it up by; Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
May we all build of our faith in Jesus Christ!
In Christ Name,
Bobby
