DEMONIC STRATEGY: KNOWLEDGE-4
Nehemiah 4:11 “And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease”

…From yesterday…

Beloved, it is high time you settle down, and get truth into your system. Know what God said concerning you as a new believer. Know the truth about the devil himself! One truth the devil will keep away from us is the truth about himself.

The devil will never want you to know that he is a defeated foe. He will not want you to know that he bows at the mention of the name of Jesus. Hear this:

James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe and tremble”

It will interest you to know that the devil even believe in one God and trembles when you say so. The devil will not want you to know that as a born again child of God, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places far above him!

Ephesians 2:6 “And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

Hear this:

John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed.”

The devil enslaves and ensnares people by ignorance but Christ came and released us from his shackles. We are not bound we are free.

The devil operates with the power of darkness and when the Bible talks about darkness, it is simply talking about ignorance. The only way to deal with darkness is by introducing light. Hear this:

John 1:5 “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

The only thing that terrifies darkness is light! You don’t cast out ignorance, you simply introduce knowledge (light)!

Friend, know the truth about your health, finances, mind, family, children, business, career and so on. God has all these well outlined and documented for us. Don’t let ignorance kill you, read your Bible!

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DEMONIC STRATEGY: KNOWLEDGE-3
Nehemiah 4:11 “And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease”

…From yesterday…

I remember one of my Sunday school teachers told me that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fought with the devil and gave the devil a dirty slap! Not only that, she said Jesus then hit him on the floor, guess what?

I grew up thinking Jesus was a “WWF wrestler” and so my concept of fighting and resisting the devil became wrapped. I grew up with that mindset!

Kudos to my Sunday school teacher for the analogy, creativity and delivery, but then you don’t go about looking for the devil to slap, Jesus prayed and used words to defeat the devil and gave us the power of attorney to do same with his name. He asked us to cast the devil out in his name.

Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;”

You simply use the name of Jesus in warfare and that’s all! Friend, I’m not saying you shouldn’t listen to your teachers but rather you should read the Bible for yourself to corroborate what you’re hearing. That way the devil will not come and confuse your theology.

The devil is very smart and you must know how to deal decisively with him. Nowadays, I’m always appalled to see believers arguing blindly on social media on issues they have never studied themselves in the Bible.

Friend, read the Bible and be in a position that you can boldly say, this is what the Bible say in so and so Book, chapter and verse; that is the way to handle the devil. Don’t ever put yourself in a position to be cheated. Why pay for ignorance when you have the whole truth loaded in the scriptures?

It is high time you settle down, and get truth into your system. Know what God said concerning you as a new believer. Know the truth about the devil himself!

To be continued…

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DEMONIC STRATEGY: KNOWLEDGE-2
Nehemiah 4:11 “And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease”

…From yesterday…

Everybody on earth pays for something, you pay your motor mechanic because you don’t know how your car works. You pay the plumber because you don’t know how to fix your broken pipe. You pay the doctor because of your limited knowledge of medicine, and so on and so forth.

That is in the realm of the physical. But the same applies in the spiritual realm. To deal with a man, the devil keeps him in the dark about certain spiritual truths.

The principle is simple, once the devil keeps you ignorant in an area, you cannot enjoy the benefit accrued to that area. If he keeps you away from the principle of sowing and reaping, he has automatically disconnected you from harvest!

If he keeps you away from believing in divine healing, he has automatically confine you to a sick bed! I have met people who believes that healing has gone away when Jesus went back to heaven.

If he keeps you away from knowing the truth about your new creation reality in Christ, you will always live as a timid believer who will never approach God with boldness.

You simply suffer from what you don’t know. So, Nehemiah told his folks that look, “don’t let the devil use ignorance to destroy us by keeping us away from knowledge” (emphasis mine).

Friend, here is the challenge; you cannot cast out ignorance. It might be a demonic strategy and operation but the only way to deal with it is by acquiring knowledge. Hear this:

John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”

I’ve met several believers who go to church but never searches the Bible themselves. The only thing they know is what they have been told by their Sunday school and Bible study teachers, and even their pastors. I remember one of my Sunday school teachers told me that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fought with the devil and gave the devil a dirty slap!

To be continued…

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DEMONIC STRATEGY: KNOWLEDGE-1
Nehemiah 4:11 “And our adversaries said They shall not know neither see till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease”

The devil is very unrelenting with his strategies and attacks. That guy never ceases to amaze me. He is so persistent that if you do not continually resist him, he will get you down.

Look at what he told God:

Job 1:7 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

Job 2:2 “And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

On two different occasions he told God how he operates. He is an unrepentant accuser of the brethren. If he is not going “to”, he is definitely going “fro”. He doesn’t rest, he is always on the lookout for an opportune moment to strike.

That is why as believers we cannot afford to rest on our oars. Someone said, “A part time believer cannot defeat a full time devil.” We must constantly be on the watch for him.

As he moves up and down, what exactly is he looking for? Nehemiah exposed that to us in our focal scripture for today. There are about three or four thoughts I want us to discuss from what Nehemiah said.

The first thing he said was that, “…our adversaries said They shall not know…”

The devil is an expert at using this principle against the believer. I call it the “ignorance strategy”. Once the devil can keep you from knowing, he will toy with your life and destiny. It is what you don’t know that you pay for.

Everybody on earth pays for something, you pay your motor mechanic because you don’t know how your cars work. You pay the plumber because you don’t know how to fix your broken pipe.

To be continued…

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THE PRAISE DIMENSION
Nehemiah 4:18 “For the builders every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.”

Nehemiah armed his men with the sword which they girded by their sides. He however didn’t stop there, he kept a man by his side who had a trumpet.

Nehemiah made sure that apart from sword, he had the trumpet as well. The trumpet is primarily an instrument of music.

Psalms 150:3 “Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.”

He was not just ready to speak the word, he was prepared to make a joyful sound as well. This man rolled out some dangerous weapons that always bring God to the scene.

Psalms 47:5 “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.”

He sure knows how to invite God to fight and win battles for him. Beloved, I know you are a prayer warrior and very skillful with your sword which is the word of God but another weapon the enemy cannot resist is that of praise. A man that knows how to praise God will always have God on his side. Why?

Psalms 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”

God’s natural habitat is an atmosphere of praise. Once you create such an atmosphere, God doesn’t ask questions, he just shows up! And you must know that anywhere He shows up He does the needful.

God cannot show up where there is sickness and not bring healing. He cannot show up where there is poverty and not bring wealth. He cannot show up where there is confusion and not bring clarity.

Hear what Nehemiah said:

Nehemiah 4:20 “In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us.”

He was so sure that in any place the trumpet was blown, God will come down and practically fight for them.

I want you to have this mindset as well, no matter what you’re going through, if can just put yourself together and blow the trumpet by praising God, He will definitely show up!

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ARM YOURSELF-3
Nehemiah 4:13 “Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.”

…From yesterday…

One thing I found interesting in this story is the fact that, Nehemiah and his folks kept their swords firmly girded by their sides but Sanballat and company never physically attacked them.

Each day they go to build, they polish their swords and kept it in top shape and Sanballat and his colleagues saw it. The enemy didn’t just see them holding work implements, they saw their weapons too.

The enemy knows the potency of the word of God, hear this:

Matthew 4:10 “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence Satan: for it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve”

Matthew 4:11 “Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold angels came and ministered unto him.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The devil can leave any man who has the sword and knows how to use it alone. If he left Jesus alone because of the sword of the word, he can leave you alone too.

The daily girding of the sword by Nehemiah and his work men was deliberate. Here is the gist, in military circles it is called “show of force”. The reason why armed forces all over the world do show of force by moving round cities displaying their artillery and military hardware is to always let the enemy know they are combat ready, and this often chases the enemy away.

Friend, deploy this strategy as well. Do a “show of force” daily by praying loud especially in tongues, fasting often, reading and meditating on the word and also boldly declaring the word.

These are all activities that keeps your sword firmly in place. Don’t be a Sunday to Sunday believer, flash your weapons daily!

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ARM YOURSELF-2
Nehemiah 4:13 “Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.”

…From yesterday…

Ephesians 6:17 “…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

Our sword is the word of God! Any believer that is not loaded with the word of God is one without weapons. As Nehemiah’s men were building, they had their swords intact.

The problem of many believers is that they are so engrossed with their jobs and daily activities that they forget their swords. Look at how Paul described them:

2Timothy 2:4 “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier”

Paul said, many believers have so entangled themselves with the affairs of life that they forget that primarily they are soldiers. No matter what else a soldier does, he knows that primarily he is a warrior. He doesn’t allow the affairs of life take away his skillset. He knows in his heart that he is not a civilian!

He exercises regularly to keep fit and trains hard for the day of battle. If a soldier is not fighting, he is definitely training.

I know you love your job, business, career and so on but the truth is this: if you keep going to your workplace without your sword firmly by your side, the enemy may take you by surprise.

One of the reasons you need to daily load yourself with the word of God is so that you can be in top shape and ever ready for eventualities of the enemy. Don’t ever let the devil get you off guard.

One thing I found interesting in this story is the fact that, Nehemiah and his folks kept their swords firmly girded by their sides but Sanballat and company never physically attacked them.

Each day they go to build, they polish their swords and kept it in top shape and Sanballat and his colleagues saw it.

To be continued…

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ARM YOURSELF-1
Nehemiah 4:13 “Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.”

Nehemiah also did something very interesting, he armed himself and his followers. They fortified themselves, they didn’t leave anything to chance.

Beloved, the Bible calls us soldiers:

2Timothy 2:3 “Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

One thing that is synonymous with soldiers are weapons. If you meet a soldier, even if he is in mufti there is tendency for you to believe he is carrying weapons probably hidden. We all know that soldiers are skilled in warfare and are good at handling all sorts of weapons.

This is a fact we grew up to know and which has registered in our subconscious but the challenge is this, we run our lives as believers without having this same mindset. If the Bible calls us soldiers then we must be skilled at warfare and know how to handle weapons too. Hear this:

2Corinthians 10:4 “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”

Paul was emphatic here, he talks about the weapons of our warfare. In order words, as soldiers of Christ we cannot afford to live without our weapons. We don’t have a choice!

Nehemiah hand them swords and they were all set for the enemy. Hear this:

Nehemiah 4:18 “For the builders every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.”

Eventually, they all girded their swords by their sides even as they build. That is probably the difference between them and many modern day believers.

Nehemiah gave them physical swords but we need to carry “spiritual swords”. Let me show you what that sword represent:

Ephesians 6:17 “…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

Our sword is the word of God! Any believer that is not loaded with the word of God is one without weapons.

To be continued…

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HANDLING SANBALLAT- BE VIGILANT
Nehemiah 4:9 “Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.”

Nehemiah continued working but he was equally vigilant. Our focal scripture said, “…we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night”.

This man was very smart, even though they kept working, they strategically kept their watch. Two things we see from our focal scripture are the fact that they were praying and at the same time watching.

That looks something like this to me:

Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Jesus didn’t just say “pray” he added the word “watch”. The issue is this, many people pray but they never watch. To watch as used here is a Greek word that means “to keep awake” and be alert. When you operate in the spirit by praying, you need to also get conscious to know what you need to do in the physical.

Praying gives you direction, while watching shows you the physical corresponding action to take. In Matthew 26:41, the disciples were praying and sleeping that was why Jesus made that statement. It is instructive to know that many people are so engrossed in prayers that when answers finally arrive they are not conscious of it.

Nehemiah was praying hard with his folks but they were spiritually and physically discerning. We pray in the spirit but needs answers in the physical.

Another thing to note is that when you pray let your mind be there. Don’t pray when you are already dosing off! When you are praying in the presence of God, you must be present. A wondering mind lacks focus, you need full concentration when it comes to prayer.

Have you noticed that, it is when you want to pray that you start having distracting thoughts? The devil starts reminding you of other matters you need to attend to and you just rush through the prayer.

Friend, you need a high level of alertness in the place of prayer, it is called watching!

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HANDLING SANBALLAT- CONTINUE WORKING-2
Nehemiah 4:6 “So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work”

…From yesterday…

Matthew 13:7 “And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them:”

Matthew 13:8 “But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”

The passage above is one of the epic parables of Jesus, called the parable of the sower. This guy went out to sow and expected a good yield from his plantation but then he was massively confronted. His effort had to survive several attacks.

If you study the story from Matthew 13:19-22, you will discover all the Sanballats that came against him. Jesus mentioned them and I want us to take not of them: The wicked one, tribulation or persecution, offence and care of this world.

Jesus was helping us to see what the sower had to endure before he got to his Promised Land! The question I ask myself was; what if he had stopped to respond and fight each of those foes? Your guess is as good as mine.

They would have wearied him out and he probably wouldn’t have arrived at the place where he got the good ground.

The enemies came against the sower and stole his seed. The sun (which represents pressure and attacks) came against him and destroyed his crops. Thorns chocked some of his plantation but do you know what? He didn’t quit until he got to the good ground!

When Sanballat saw that he couldn’t stop Nehemiah he went and recruited Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites but unfortunately for them, Nehemiah kept working.

He didn’t quit, he ignored the enemy and faced the task at hand. Beloved, could it be that you’ve stopped because you’re paying too much attention to Sanballat and his cohorts?

I have news for you, Sanballat and Tobiah will always be there but the onus is on you to keep going in spite of them. Keep your gaze and focus on the finished line. That wall must be built; the good ground is ahead of you!

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