https://www.facebook.com/groups/womeninworldhistory/permalink/2007545736540409/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v Fighting for justice is not easy. Your integrity is at stake. Where do you stand? Where do your values come into place? What do YOU think? Who was right? How would you take part?

God’s Help The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. It’s more than 13,000 miles long and some estimates say it took more than 2000 years to build! By all means, it is an astounding architectural accomplishment. Our story today is about the wall protecting the ancient city of Jerusalem. When it was repaired after its destruction, it took Nehemiah and his fellow Jews just 52 days to rebuild. Why? Because the work was done with the help of God! This record time of rebuilding wasn’t without struggle. Nehemiah faced enemy after enemy. He had threats against his life, people lying to him, and constant plots to see that this would never come to fruition. But Nehemiah was a man of conviction. He didn’t let his enemies scare him or bring him down. He wasn’t talked out of doing the project when the threats mounted against him. He knew God had given him the mission to do this, and he knew that He would help him throughout the process. What has God asked you to do lately that seems too hard to attempt? Is it your healing journey? Is he asking you to radically change the way you live your life so that you can give your body the best care possible? Is he asking you to scale back all of your commitments in order to focus on yourself and your healing? God will never ask you to do something that he will not equip you to do. Noah had to build an ark when it had never rained. Moses led his people out of slavery through the Red Sea. And Joshua defeated Jericho by simply obeying God’s strange request to march around the city for seven days. Each person was ill equipped to do God’s task on his own, but as it says in Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” When God has a mission for you, He will help you accomplish it! Questions: 1. What do you need God’s help with today? 2. Are you trying to handle your life without His help? How is that going? 3. Is there anyone in your life that you feel God has put there to help you?

On December 26th, 2004, the world was shaken by the most devastating earthquake in four decades. Massive waves destroyed entire villages and swept away tens of thousands of people from India to Indonesia. Altogether, over 200,000 people in 13 countries died in this massive catastrophe. It wasn’t until recently that I heard the story of Tilley Smith, a 10-year-old girl from England who saved an entire beach full of people. Just two weeks before Tilley and her family had headed to Thailand for a beach resort vacation, her geography teacher taught a unit on earthquakes and tsunamis. That day, Tilley was the only one in her family to notice the warning signs. Though her mom was skeptical, Tilley’s urgent adamancy that disaster was coming finally convinced her family to head for safety. Her dad convinced the security guards, and they convinced the people on the beach that danger was imminent. One hundred lives were saved that day because Tilley sounded the alarm. Sometimes, it seems like we Christians are so busy making sand castles and enjoying the view from where we sit, that we’ve forgotten the urgency of the message we carry that brings life and hope. The famous preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, “If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms around their knees, imploring them to stay…let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for.” God has placed you as an early warning system in your community. You’re there to encourage others to run into the safe arms of Jesus. By sharing the love of Christ in word and deed, you’re extending the lifeline others need to escape the despair of a life without Jesus, and eternity apart from Him. When you share the good news of Jesus Christ, you are sharing the best news ever! There’s life and hope in these six simple statements: God created us to be with Him. Our sins separate us from God. Sins cannot be removed by good deeds. Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.

Injustice Have you ever seen someone do something wrong to someone else? How did that make you feel? Angry? Social change starts with an injustice or a need. Oskar Schindler helped save Jewish people from concentration camps during the Holocaust by employing them at his factory. Rosa Parks decided to not to sit in the back of a bus during the times of segregation in the United States. Nelson Mandela was jailed 27 years working to end apartheid in his native South Africa. Each of these people saw a problem and did something about it. Nehemiah saw a major injustice too. Many of his fellow Jews were being unfairly taxed by their fellow Jewish brothers. The king and nobles had been charging their countrymen interest, and a lot of it. It got so bad that many of these people were selling their own children into slavery just to make ends meet. Look what Nehemiah said when he noticed what was going on as we see in verse 6. "When I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told them, “You are charging your own people interest!” So I called together a large meeting to deal with them." When Nehemiah heard what was going on, he went straight to the source of the problem – the nobles and officials. He called them out on it. So they agreed to give back what they took and kept their promise never to do it again. And there was someone that Nehemiah feared even more than the nobles. That person was God. "So I continued, `What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?'" v9 We live in days of many injustices. Being silent is not the answer. We must walk with a holy fear of our God as Nehemiah did, and not fearing the consequences of standing up to those causing the injustice. Questions: 1. Have you ever seen an injustice or need and felt compelled to do something about it? 2. How have you handled conflict when you’ve had to confront someone in sin?

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FNPJGrXUc/ At the end of the day, have a little talk in the mirror. Ask yourself those questions mentioned in the article linked above. ⬆️ Then ask God the same questions. See how those answers line up with yours. Before you close your eyes, have a little talk with Jesus. And while you’re telling Him all about your struggles, ask for forgiveness and help in doing things differently as needed. You might be surprised at the answers—as shown forth in dreams and through God’s word. Be honest with G of and believe me, God will be honest with you! ++++++++++++++++++Action Step +++++++++++ Keep a pencil and paper next to your bed. Write down those dreams that come after your prayerful sleep. Read them over the next day or two; find the meaning or message and write them down as well as the dream itself.