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God
makes the new year¡¯s plan
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Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he
will do this
(Psalms 37: 5)
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Today¡¯s
worship begins the New Year!
I¡¯m
sure each of you have made up New Year¡¯s resolutions and plans.
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Even
if we make a big plan but cannot put the plan into practice, it will be
useless. Let¡¯s think about how we can put our plans into practice by looking
at certain people of the Bible.
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One
of the well-known characters from the Bible was Nehemiah
who
successfully put his plan into practice.
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One
day, Nehemiah heard from a person who came from Judah that his country¡¯s
walls were destroyed. So Nehemiah¡¯s heart became broken.
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After
hearing about the problem, Nehemiah made a big plan.
The
plan was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah¡¯s country.
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But after Nehemiah
made the plan, the plan seemed impossible to do.
Nehemiah had worked
for the king of Persia that took control of Israel.
Therefore, if the
king would have not permitted, Nehemiah would have never been able to put the
plan into practice.
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Nehemiah
made a difficult plan and was determined to pray to God first.
He
began to pray to God not even eating until he finished it.
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Shall we read the
prayer of Nehemiah all together?
¡°O Lord, let your ear
be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your
servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today
by granting him favor in the presence of this man.
God let the king help
me.¡±
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Nehemiah, who was a
cupbearer to the king, presented his plan about Jerusalem to Artaxerxes king
of Babylon. But if anything would go wrong, Nehemiah would be in trouble and
he might die.
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Nehemiah prayed
first, and then God helped him to put his plan into practice.
Nehemiah said to
the king, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, and are pleased with me, let me rebuild the
walls of Jerusalem.¡±
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Artaxerxes the
king heard Nehemiah¡¯s words and then willingly let him do it.
The king supported
what Nehemiah asked, even giving wood to help rebuild the walls. This was
truly a miracle!!
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Nehemiah could go
back to his country.
And God let him
become the governor of Judah.
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Nehemiah became the governor
of Judah, and he rebuilt the wall as he had planned and prayed. There were
many troubles and disturbances but God helped his people to complete it.
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How did Nehemiah put
his plan into practice? God made a miracle; Nehemiah accomplished the impossible
plan because he prayed to God first.
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If we really want to
put our plans into practice, we should pray first about our plan. God will
help us like God helped Nehemiah.
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The great king David said, ¡°Commit your way to
the LORD; trust in him and he will do this. (Psalms 37: 5)¡±
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I hope that you
will commit all your plans to God by prayer and receive His reply.
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God makes the new year`s plan