Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.

Nehemiah Tape 1

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



"He restores my soul; " (Psalms 23:3 a).

We are approaching Nehemiah with Pastor Jack Hayford's audio-tape series in a very practical way for personal application, which demonstrates the Holy Spirit's passion to rebuild our souls, our personalities. The name Nehemiah means comfort of Jehovah. Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit is the comforter in John 14:26, "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26, KJV).

It is not a trivial coincidence that Nehemiah has the same meaning as the Holy Spirit and that he is responsible for rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Pastor Hayford has mined some eternal riches in his unveiling of this book, which I first studied back in 1981, and I suspect he published in the late 1970s both in audio tape and book format.

We will be looking at this Old Testament book along with Pastor Hayford as a type and shadow of how the Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers today. "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). The Old Testament stories continue to speak to our hearts with the language that we best understand which are stories, parables, analogies, types, and shadows, the language of the Holy Spirit.

As we study Nehemiah, I will endeavor to point out some poignant definitions for some of the names of people and places. For instance, Nehemiah's father's name was Hachaliah which means, "whom Jehovah enlightens" (Strongs Concordance). The name Ezra means help. I will also include some of my own insights in an attempt to expand this teaching, and at the same time attempting with all my respect to maintain the integrity of Pastor Hayford's original thought and theme.

I consider Pastor Hayford as one of the most balanced Pentecostal teachers in the Body of Christ. He has done much to unify Evangelicals and mainline denominations with Pentecostal/Charismatics and bring a much needed healing and understanding between them.

Setting the scene.

Ezra was used by God to rebuild the temple after seventy years of Babylonian captivity. This was after the destruction of Jerusalem including the temple and the city walls and gates. The rebuilt temple is parallel to our new birth, our regeneration, to the Holy Spirit taking up residence in our very bodies.





Our souls need rebuilding.

We who are believers have inherited the first and most important work of salvation, however the work of the Holy Spirit does not stop there. Even though worship had been restored for many of the returning Hebrews, the walls and gates of the city were still in shambles. If the temple represents our spirit then the walls and gates represent our soul. Our soul, consisting of our will, mind, and emotions, do not become instantly whole and sound the moment we receive regeneration through the new birth. There are many areas of our personalities that are still in shambles, a heap of rubble, which have been broken down by our past life and from sin itself. We need our personalities edified, build up, as did the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah's day.

In Nehemiah's day something was sadly lacking, the walls were down and the people were a reproach to their enemies. After our initial experience with Jesus, our will mind and emotions can still be broken down. The spirit is our God consciousness, the soul is our self-consciousness, and our body is our world consciousness.

The soul is our decision making center. We received Christ perhaps even the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but we may be still cripple and broken down because of the debris of the past. We may carry the shredded chunks of past failure. The hurt could still be there.

The word (noun) for salvation in Greek is soteria - the verb is sozo.

Salvation is not simply a one-time experience as defined here; it is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to continually deliver us from danger. Strongs Concordance defines it as: "be saved, delivered, health, deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation deliverance from the molestation of enemies that which concludes to the souls safety, or salvation." Some commentaries state that this word means to be rescued from a life of meaninglessness, futility, and emptiness.

The Holy Spirit desires to perform an ongoing work of the salvation of our souls. It is a total penetration of the personality intended by God. It is the promise of health, promise of wholeness in our soul. The story about the ten lepers in Luke chapter 17:12-19 makes this point. There were ten lepers that were cleansed, but only the one who came back to glorify God and give thanks was made whole, soteria.

The woman in Luke 7:50 who came and worshipped was made whole as well. She lavished herself and her worldly goods on Jesus. "Then He said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved (sozo) you. Go in peace'" (Luke 7:50).

The Lord no longer wants us to be limited by feelings and emotions, but that we should experience the wholeness of mind, will and emotions in order to enjoy the free flow of our total personality.

God wants us to be a person who is not ruled by emotions, but a person free to be emotionally functional. The mind needs to function like God's and not like our carnal nature. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7, KJV). He wants us to be free to exercise our will to choose God's ways and God's will. The Lord wants us to be sensible people, reasonable people.

The restoration of your soul will give you the strength, a resistance, to the devil pulling you around, so that you have a will and the resources to resist Satan. God works from the inside out. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Other areas of brokenness.

You may have others areas that are in shambles or that are broken. You may have broken health, dreams, relationships, or financial resources. The Holy Spirit comes to rebuild and restore these as well. There are at least two things to remember. First, those broken areas of your life are not counted as liabilities by God but as assets. Secondly, while the Holy Spirit does want to convert those areas of brokenness into blessings, He does it from the inside out. Often we look for God to work from exterior circumstances, but He most often works from the inside of our souls first. Look what John said in 3 John verse 2, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." The words "just as" are like the measurement of your external prosperity. As your soul is rebuilt by the Holy Spirit, so shall you see your external circumstances rebuilt.

The historic scene.

"Our first glimpse of Nehemiah is in his role as cupbearer for at the court of King Artaxerxzes. A cupbearer had a position of great trust as advisor to the king and had the responsibility of keeping the king from being poisoned."

"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani (his names means gracious) one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire'" (Nehemiah 1:1-3).

Nehemiah was born in Babylonian captivity. He was a Hebrew, a Jew in exile along with most of his brethren.

The nation Israel began with Abram whose name was later changed to Abraham. The Lord started the nation as a seed, for all nations to be blessed. He called Abraham, like us, out of ignorance, out of a pagan world. He had no light or truth, just like we did not. This took place around 2200 BC.

Abraham's seed was through Isaac, then through Jacob whose name was changed to Israel, then the tribes of Israel. This took place over approximately 250 years. God told Abraham about the captivity that his people would experience in Egypt 400 or 440 years, depending on how you keep score.

They went into Egypt as a free people and became slaves. Egypt, in order to control the population, had each male child killed. This was also Satan's way of trying to destroy the promised Messiah. However Moses' parents protected him and he became the deliverer of Israel from Egypt around 1450 BC. The Israelites went into Egypt as seventy in number in around1900 BC, but they eventually grew to at least 2 million before their exodus. They came into the land after the wilderness wandering for 40 years.

Then came the time of the kings, and around 1000 BC the conclusion of the rule of David and the start of Solomon's rule took place. Solomon died and there came a division in the nation of Israel. The land was apportioned into twelve areas due to discord. Solomon's son's Rehoboam became the king. The people asked for mercy from high taxes, but Rehoboam became more wicked and taxed them even more than Solomon had. Jeroboam (means the people will contend) became the ruler of the Northern Kingdom. The people did not like Jeroboam. Jeroboam did not want the people to go to Jerusalem to worship so he instituted idol worship with a shrine and golden calves. He instituted heathen worship. Jeroboam was referred to as the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin. He pioneered a rapid deterioration around 950 BC.

In 723 BC the Northern Kingdom Israel had been reduced beneath a world power and under the dominion of Assyria. A purer form of worship existed in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but they were also decreasing. After about 100 years, around 606 to 591 they finally fell into bondage and captivity.

This history is not just for some academic reasons, but to show that God was trying to relate to His people who would be a testimony to the nations. Israel was always faced with the dominant world power, like Egypt, Syria, etc. They were called to be spiritual, to establish the dominion of the Lord by their obedience to Him.

They had experienced a miracle deliverance from Egypt, but their own faithlessness caused them to wander for forty years. Under Joshua they came into the Land. But they declined by pride and human ease. They suffered the miseries of luxury; they forgot the goodness of God. Finally came the division of the kingdom and the expulsion of Israel from the Land. When this took place Jerusalem was destroyed. The capital city, Solomon's temple was destroyed. It was reduced to rubble, plundered, not a single stone left on another. Only debris remained. They were led into captivity. Ezekiel and Jeremiah were prophets in captivity. Jeremiah told them that they would go into captivity for seventy years. He said it would happen within two years, and within two years it did. Many thought Jeremiah was wrong and they told their brethren not to worry.

Seventy years after captivity, 521 BC, Zerubbabel (which means sown in Babylon), was raised up by God began to lead people back. He was permitted to lead 50,000 people back to Israel from captivity in Babylon.

Prior to this there had been a rapid turnover of world power. Babylon had three monarchs. Then the Medes and Persians took over, including Cyrus of Persia in 525.

A group of Jews asked Cyrus to let them go. Why? Here is why. They took Isaiah chapter 45 and showed it to him. In the year 750 BC which was over 200 years before this time in history, Isaiah recorded a prophecy about Cyrus who would let them go. Cyrus read about himself! "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb" (Psalms 139:13). God knows the end before He begins anything. He would not begin anything without knowing the end first. He in effect said to Cyrus, "Look, here is your name, you are my man, I knew you before you were born."

Cyrus issued an order stating that willing Jews can return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and the city. A faithful group responded and departed in 538 BC under Zerubbabel. Temple construction was started but opposition from the non-Jewish inhabitants discouraged the people and they ceased their work. God then raised up the prophetic ministries of Haggai and Zechariah who called the people to complete the task. Though far less splendid than the previous temple of Solomon, the new temple was completed and dedicated in 515 BC.

Nearly sixty years later (458 BC) another group of exiles returned to Jerusalem under the leadership of Ezra (Ezra chapters 7-10). They were sent by the then reigning Persian king, Artaxerxes, with additional monies and valuables to enhance the temple worship.

The Holy Spirit is passionate about rebuilding your life.

It is with this background that Nehemiah hears that although worship had been restored, the walls and gates were still broken and his people were suffering. Jesus restored our possibility for true worship when He was crucified, resurrected, and returned to Heaven. This was like Ezra's work. Then Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to take up the rebuilding of our personalities, much like Nehemiah's work.

Nobody doubted the restoration of the temple, but the people were open prey to their enemies, just as we are, due to the broken down walls. The walls had been destroyed 155 years earlier. Our enemies come at us through our broken personalities. Not only do we need to build up these areas, but we also need to assail our enemies as an act of offense.

Sometimes we feel like our past is just there as a liability forever. Friend, I can tell you from Scripture and from experience, that the Holy Spirit, indeed the entire Godhead, is on task to restore your soul, to actually turn the rubble of your past into valuable building material.

The gates were also broken.

Gates speak of government or authority. They were the civic center of activity. When our gates are still broken, we do not know who we are in Christ, we do not know that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ, we do not know that we are crucified with Christ and that Christ now lives His life in and through us. We cannot live a righteous life by works, but only by the authority of knowing our true identity. We cannot assail our spiritual enemies unless we are sure of our authority in Christ. The Holy Spirit does this work just like He did in Nehemiah's day when the gates were rebuilt.

Edify means to build up.

The Holy Spirit came to edify and build up your soul so that you may be a whole person. "But you, beloved, building (edifying) yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 1:20). This is the same work implied in Nehemiah, to build up, to edify, to raise up a wall of protection against the enemy. The Holy Spirit can use something as simple, as indicated in this Scripture, as praying in tongues to build and edify, and extend His work in us.

I have seen day and night differences in people's minds and their thinking processes after they have been baptized in the Holy Spirit to overflowing with speaking in tongues. How does this occur? I truly do not understand everything about the filling of the Holy Spirit. It happened to me when I got saved. Within just a little while I was speaking in tongues. Rivers of living water were gushing from my inner being, yet there was a fire burning in my heart!

I do know that the Word points to the fact that when Jesus is glorified or revealed to people something supernatural happens. On the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24, the disciple's hearts were turned from slow and foolish to burning when Jesus revealed Himself. Jesus said in John 17:4 that He had revealed or glorified the Father. When the blinders are taken from our eyes and we see Jesus for who He is today, His fullness can fill us. That is the Holy Spirit's job. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14).

The main purpose of the in-filling of the Holy Sprit is in Ephesians 3:19 (amp) which says, "that you may really come to know practically through experience for yourselves the love of Christ which far surpasses mere knowledge without experience; that you may be filled throughout your being unto all the fullness of God may have the richest measure of the divine presence and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God himself."

The baptism in the Holy Spirit fills the soul with the wonderful presence of God, and it has a drastic effect on the mind! The tongue has a major impact on the functioning of the mind.

The gift of tongues.

Two main purposes for tongues are:

1. Public. There is a public speaking in tongues, which is primarily for the benefit of the congregation. There is also a private prayer language that is for the benefit of the individual.

2. Private. Jude 20 says that we should pray in the Holy Spirit for the purpose of being built up. Romans chapter 8 says that even our groaning puts out words that create the perfect will of God. In Mark 16 Jesus describes the new race that He created and part of that description is that it has its own language like most other races.

James chapter 3 says that the tongue is like the rudder of the ship, it is in control. So our tongue is the strongest member of our body. If you were to hand the rudder of your ship over to someone you would give him or her control of the entire ship. Medical doctors tell us today that the speech center in the brain has dominion over the entire brain. This is God's wonderful design to supply man with the same kind of creative dominion and authority that He has. When you speak in tongues the Word of God is coming out of your mouth. Everything that the Word will do will be done as your speak in tongues! If you give your tongue over to God, you give Him control of your life. That is power! In much the same way as the Holy Spirit brooded over the void and dark places of the earth in Genesis 1:2, He will brood over your void and dark places through the media of praying in tongues to do the same work. Notice in Genesis 1:4 God considered that what He had done was "good."

Sometimes our intellect does not know how to pray. Romans 8:26 says we should use our prayer language to pray God's perfect will. Every time you use your prayer language, you are praying out God's Word and God's will. Because your speech center dominates the entire brain, your mind is renewed, and edified.

The Holy Spirit prays for others.

I have personally experienced times while praying in tongues that the Holy Spirit will intercede for another person. While I may or may not know who that person is, I sense the burden, and I pray until the burden lifts. One time it was a person who was not saved and I felt like I was going to Hell. Another time it was a believer who was addicted to drugs, and I saw a marvelous deliverance when this person came to my home four hours later, without any contact from me.

Why is the Holy Spirit so intent upon rebuilding your personality?

Is it to make us feel better, live with inner peace, and have more godly self-esteem?

It is simply to be returned to God's normal plan of being functional in all areas of our lives, spirit, soul, body, mind, will and emotions?

Is it to have us be more productive in our jobs and community and even in our church life?

Is it to make us relate to those around us better, like become better parents, spouses, etc.?

It is to be able to relate to God at a deeper level of relationship and worship?

It is to be able to do the works that Jesus did, including confronting evil, spreading healing to people, etc.?

Is it simply to glorify God because He did something in you that no one else could do?

Is it so that you may be used to glorify or represent God on this earth, to a dying world so that others may worship Him as well?

I don't want to be presumptuous with this answer, but perhaps it is all of these. In my life there has been a progressive work which included all of the above. When the Lord first encountered me I was like the man wounded on the side of the road, which the Good Samaritan helped. I was flat on my back spiritually and in most other ways, unable to function as a normal human being. Progressively the Holy Spirit restored additional areas in my life so that many of the things I listed above became and are becoming reality for me.

Happiness is knowing that your deepest desire is God's will for you life.

I remember a time in my life when the Lord spoke this to me. It was almost too good to be true. While we seldom know for sure what God's custom plan is for our lives, we can be sure of this. That it is God's will, yes even His passion and commitment, to take the rubble of our past and rebuild our lives to make us whole, peaceful, productive and contented people.

Deeper fellowship with Jesus.

Another great by product of the restoration of our souls is that we are able to become more God conscious. We are able to enjoy God's presence and fellowship on a much more predictable and regular basis. Also, we will be able to relate to others around us with the love of God. We will become a blessing to others.

God wants to transform you to become a person who can fully love Him. Often we look only at God's love for us. God is drawing you as a worshipper to offer freely to Him your love. When this love exchange takes place in His presence, you will become more like Him, and you will glorify Him.

If you studied Junk to Jewels, our previous book/Bible study, you may remember walking through the Tabernacle and going through the Holy Place as a representation of our wills, minds, and emotions. The end result of such an exercise was to find ourselves in the very presence of God as He pulled us into the Holy of Holies.

Larry Chkoreff - August, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio-tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.

Nehemiah Tape 2

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



"He restores my soul; " (Psalms 23:3 a).

"The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani (his name means gracious) one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, 'The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire'" (Nehemiah 1:1-3).

"And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, And the sons of the foreigner Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs" (Isaiah 61:4-7).

I think it is valuable to make the connection between the Scriptures from Isaiah 61:4-7 and the rebuilding of our personalities described by Nehemiah. Isaiah 61 was Jesus' mission statement. When He declared this He was not adding something to His work of salvation, this was His work of salvation, the complete work.

I believe that when God spoke through Isaiah and said, "And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations," he was speaking of the broken down walls of not only our souls, but of our generations past. We inherit so many issues from the generational iniquities of our forefathers, going all the way back to Adam. Not only does the Holy Spirit desire to rebuilt our personalities, our souls, but one way He sets about to accomplish that is through overcoming generational curses.

While we will not go into detail here, suffice it to say that Jesus did the work necessary to free us from our past. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree")" (Galatians 3:13). We have provided a more complete teaching on this subject in our book/Bible study Junk to Jewels which is available on our web site (www.isob-bible.org) or on CD ROM for your computer.

As we discussed in the last lesson, the first great step of God's salvation process is to regenerate us through the new birth. This is based upon God's amazing grace. We certainly did not deserve this great salvation, but we received it with joy. I have been grieved over the years as I have seen people construct "ceilings" over the new birth process and for many and various reasons block God out of His ongoing work of salvation which is intended to make us whole persons. It is like saying to God, "Thanks for the ticket to Heaven, but now let me stay in my broken state until I get there."

Jesus continually described the Holy Spirit in terms of water.

"But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).

He begins as a well deep inside of us. What a wonderful grace to have the very living God inserted inside of us. Actually, this is merely returning to God's normal and original design. Anybody that says that we do not receive the full and complete Holy Spirit at the new birth is, in my opinion, horribly wrong. However, having said that, there is obviously a release of that well that Jesus wants to transform into a running river. The difference is not how much of the Holy Spirit we have, but how much we take the cap off of the well and allow Him to flow and heal our bodies and souls! Jesus causes the well to burst open. The Holy Spirit desires to heal and make whole all aspects of our being. He wants to build up our walls, repair our burnt gates and make us real people, going back to His original design.

"On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 'He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39). This river is not mere theology, this represents my personal experience as well.

Prayer by the Holy Spirit is a powerful rebuilder.

Nehemiah started with confession of sin.

"Please let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open, that You may hear the prayer of Your servant which I pray before You now, day and night, for the children of Israel Your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against You. Both my father's house and I have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against You, and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations; but if you return to Me, and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name'" (Nehemiah 1:6-9).

Notice Nehemiah, representing the Holy Spirit, prayed not only for confession of sins, but also asked God to remember the promise of His Word made to Moses. He admitted that they had been scattered due to disobedience, yet he reminded the Father that He also promised to re-gather them.

It is the Holy Spirit's job to transform us from glory to glory, not in all one big event. If, as in the above Scripture, you continue to live in disobedience, you will face disaster. The opposite of salvation which means safety and wholeness, is danger and un-doneness. The devil loves to look for opportunities to grasp on to people who do not exercise repentance.

The Holy Spirit does not condemn, with the horrible feeling that most people will put on you, a feeling of hopeless guilt and remorse. He, rather, will bring conviction with promise and grace to change and renew. He wants to press each one of us into the image of His son. He wants us to enjoy the sweet fellowship with Jesus that only can be enjoyed by a rebuilt life, or a life in the process of being rebuilt.

Nehemiah prayed for his people. The Holy Spirit prays for us.

The Holy Spirit knows that you don't know how to pray, that is why He gave us Romans 8:26; "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." The word sin means to miss the mark, but the word intercession means to take hold of and hit the mark, right on target. Praying in the Spirit is powerful! It builds us up as described in Jude 1:20.

Does that mean that in order to be Spirit filled one must speak in tongues? No, and a believer that criticizes another for not speaking in tongues is more wrong than the person he/she is criticizing!

The gifts of and the fullness of the Holy Spirit are not a "works" thing; they are a privilege that Jesus wants us to have. They are an act of mercy, not a sign of superior Christianity. I have personally seen many acts of mercy and great deliverance in my own life and in the lives of others through the practice of praying in tongues. God can use any way to accomplish His will, but in my life praying in tongues has been a discipline prescribed by God for me.

When we receive the gift of the fullness of the Holy Spirit it is just a beginning. The gift of tongues and other gifts are not the main point. The lasting evidence is a fruitful life, a life whose soul becomes like and reveals Jesus to a dying world. A fruitful life should result from praying in tongues.

The creative power of prayer.

Prayer, any kind of prayer begins with God. Gods speaks His re-creation of the new heaven and new earth through His praying sons and daughters. If we are in tune with God, we will find ourselves becoming co-labors with Him, utilizing prayer that has been initiated by Him. There is so much about prayer that does not have to do with asking God to perform. There is a creative power in speaking positive, creative words, especially the Word of God, and including praying in tongues. When one prays in tongues, he/she is praying God's language and God's purposes into the earth. This kind of praying unleashes God's spirit to do what it did in the first creation; "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light" (Genesis 1:2,3).

Jesus spoke to plants and to circumstances, and they obeyed.

The modern culture, assisted by Satan, set about to establish that spirit and matter were totally separate. The Greeks propagated this thinking through Plato and others. The Bible teaches that in fact that the spirit and matter are not apart from one another and opposed to each other. Quoting a portion of Hebrews 1:3 in the Amplified version, it says, "…upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power." Some scientists have said that the very atom itself, and the circular spinning of its elements cannot be explained, but that there is an invisible power keeping its elements in perfect orbit.

When we speak God's ordained words, when we quote the rhema He has given us for a particular situation, when we speak in tongues for extended periods of time, we are allowing God to affect the material and the circumstances in our appointed realm of influence.

Don't cling to extremes, you will miss God.

Our enemy is not happy about the Holy Spirit coming to rebuild our lives. Notice that the first group of people that truly noticed what Nehemiah was doing was the enemy. "But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?'" (Nehemiah 2:19).

Satan works in many ways the most clever of which is to get people to think that he is irrelevant and that the evil that is being perpetrated does not come from him.

Satan causes people to adapt all sorts of extreme views so that they will miss God's best. I see people cling to both sides of excesses and hang on to a swinging pendulum of theology rushing to extremes.

I believe that as long as you press into God and allow Him to live His life through you, you don't have to worry about the excess worthless arguments on either side. Jesus does not want you to become a religious spectacle, He very simply desires to live His life through you, the vessel He purchased with His blood. And while He is doing that, He loves you so much that He wants to make you a whole person who can enjoy Him and others around you. I can guarantee you by the Word of God and by my own experience, that there is a place of rest of eternal security in Him. But it is based upon a real time living Biblical relationship between you and Jesus. Come to Him with an openness and an honesty of heart. Let Him know your feelings about the Holy Spirit baptism and speaking in tongues, and He will deal with you with kindness, dignity, and gentleness. But be open!

The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He desires to be received as such.

The Holy Spirit wants to be received as a welcomed guest. Treat Him with respect and dignity. Position your life, attitudes, habits, words and passions to make Him feel welcome.

I was a "social drinker" when I met Jesus. I know this is a controversial subject in some cultures, but what I am telling you is not my opinion or argument, it is the way the Lord dealt with me; it is testimony. One unforgettable day a few months after I met Jesus, I reached into my refrigerator for a beer and I heard the Holy Spirit say, "That will grieve Me." I asked Him why and He said, "Because it replaces what I am supposed to do for you." I have never regretted not drinking alcohol since then. For me, alcohol is one of the "other gods." Ask the witch doctors in Africa and Haiti about alcohol.

The Holy Spirit wants you to receive His fullness and not deny the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. He wants to make Jesus real to you. Jesus did not make a separate mission statement for the Holy Spirit as some feel. Jesus did describe the work of the coming Holy Spirit, but if you examine John chapters 14-16, you will find that the Holy Spirit's primary task is to, in an internal way, take the place of Jesus for each believer. He is to promote Jesus' mission statement (Isaiah 61) of making us whole so that we can make Him known to a suffering world full of tormented people. If we do not allow Jesus through the Holy Spirit to make us whole, and therefore reveal Himself through us, we are being selfish and I think we will face consequences.

Not only is the Holy Spirit the only one who can help you, but helping you to become whole is His task. He has already given us the Holy Spirit when we were born again. We cannot be overturned.

We need a comforter.

We need a comforter when we find ourselves as the walls and gates were in Jerusalem, as described in Nehemiah. "The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress (affliction) and reproach" (Nehemiah 1:3b).

People who are hurting know that they need some sort of comfort. Many who can no longer stand torment just take their own lives. Others seek the comfort of a toxic relationship, alcohol, or drugs. Many bury themselves in work or fantasy.

Affliction can often mean the emotional anguish, the depression, the brow beaten state of being. But here in Nehemiah, according to Jack Hayford, it means having been broken in pieces. Reproach means shame. It means to be standing naked and embarrassed in front of others. According to Pastor Hayford, it means being totally naked and having the sex organs exposed. Reproach means exposed. It is described by our very life begetting potential, the sex organs, being utilized for shame. This is not simply emotional, but is actually being broken up beyond hope, where one thinks that repair is something too good to even think about.

Being a reproach and being afflicted is described in the Old Testament as a curse. Remember that Jesus took our curse. Jesus was naked and exposed at the Cross. He bore that horrible shame and reproach for you. Jesus was a reproach. It is too much for the human mind to comprehend to imagine that the Creator, the inventor of the human body, could bear our shame and reproach!

Look at a portion of Jesus' mission statement in Isaiah chapter 61. "Instead of your shame [reproach] you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs" (Isaiah 61:7). Reproach does not simply disappear, it must go somewhere; it went into Jesus as a free gift to you and me!

The opposite of comfort is torment.

The Holy Spirit is the comforter. Nehemiah's name means comforter. So often we miss this work of the Holy Spirit. If you have torment, you want a comforter. If you have fear, you don't want to be criticized you want a comforter. When you are in trouble, torment, lack, etc. demons come along and say, "do something, God cannot help you." "Do this or that, struggle we to work out things. You got yourself into this mess, God is watching to see how you will get yourself out of it."

But the Holy Spirit comes along and says, take my yoke, I will work things out. Pull back and focus on Jesus. Demons tell us to perform. The Holy Spirit does not take responsibility away from us; we have responsibilities. But we must give godly definitions to them. There are some things we can do, but there are things that only God can do. Demons cause us to cross those lines in both directions. We need to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to perform those things that we can, but not get into torment in trying to perform those things that are God's role.

The gates were burned; the people's defenses were shattered.

God wants our human authority reconstructed.

Here is another area where so many people are caused to compromise. A watering down of the Gospel to include only the new birth is not God's plan. It lacks so many benefits that are included in God's purposes for you. Yet people can only respond to the measure of truth that they hear. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. As we interact with this world, it must be through godly gates, godly boundaries, not over the top of our broken down walls, our weak points, nor through our burned gates. Wholeness demands godly boundaries. We cannot be whole unless we know who we are in Christ, and that we dominion over the demonic forces in our realm of influence.

As we discussed in the last chapter, the gates stood for our defense and authority to the enemies attack. The gates were more than iron gates that swung around. They actually had rooms and offices in them. They were the place of judgment, and government. If an injustice occurred, the case was settled at the gates.

Jesus bore your judgement. He was innocent, you were guilty, yet He took your place. "And they all cried out at once, saying, 'Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas' -- who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!" (Luke 23:18-21).

The truth will make you free, but you must receive the truth. My advice is to be passionate about everything that God has in store for you! Do not let denominations or friends or even families cause you to compromise. When you get to Heaven they will not be your excuse. Ask Jesus to bring you whatever resources He wants to bring you to give you whatever knowledge you need to be free and whole! He loves that kind of request.

"Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore Sheol has enlarged itself And opened its mouth beyond measure; Their glory and their multitude and their pomp, And he who is jubilant, shall descend into it" (Isaiah 5:13,14).

Sometimes God breaks down before He builds up.

So often entire theologies are built upon man misunderstanding God's ways. Yes, God does want to bless us, He does set out to heal us and prosper us. However often, probably more often, He must cause the negative to be destroyed. God did not destroy the walls and gates of Jerusalem, but He utilized the enemy's work to cause a wonderful rebuilding, just as He does in our lives.

John the Baptist came with a different kind of repentance than the Old Testament prophets. They attempted to turn people back to the old path of walking and living righteously. John's ministry was to take the ax to the root, which, I believe, is the very core of our being, our very Adamic nature, our generational curses and the nature or our forefathers.

Repenting for sin is indeed important and vital, but recognizing that our very old natures are corrupt is even more important. For when we know that our nature is corrupt and undone, then the Holy Spirit can begin to rebuild us and do a replacement in our very cores.

Maybe the distress and fiery trials you are going through is the ax laid to the root of your old nature so that God's nature can replace it.

"See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant" (Jeremiah 1:10).

"And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 3:10)..

"As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: 'What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.' 'Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come'" (Matthew 11:7-14).



Larry Chkoreff - August, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.



Nehemiah Tape 3

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



In the previous lessons we have covered the fact that Nehemiah is a type and picture of the Holy Spirit in rebuilding our souls, our personalities in order to make us whole vital people. We discussed that our "walls" are in shambles and in need of re-building. We brought up the fact that the Holy Spirit desires to re-build our "gates" which represent our authority to live a life worthy of the Lord with proper boundaries. We discussed the power of praying in the Holy Spirit to fully appropriate His working in power.

The Holy Spirit's concern.

The Holy Spirit feels what we feel. The Holy Spirit hurts when we hurt. Look at Nehemiah's mindset and emotions. "And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.' So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?'" (Nehemiah 2:1-3).

The Holy Spirit grieves over us, but He does not condemn us.

Before you were born again you did not feel conviction when you sinned. Now when you are acting in an unholy way, the Holy Spirit within you grieves, and makes you feel conviction. However it is not condemnation, which produces a feeling of hopelessness. An unhealthy view caused by a low self esteem and now knowing who you are in Christ might cause you to think that you do not deserve to have your walls re-built, and to live in wholeness. When you appropriate God's grace, His wonderful free gift that does not depend upon your performance, then you will be free to allow Him to work in your life.

Jesus said in John chapters 14 and 16 that it is expedient for Him to leave, because the Holy Spirit is coming to glorify Him. Glorify means to reveal. Only when the Lord is glorified, revealed, can we respond.

Don't misunderstand God's grace. God does not give us grace for rebellion and in order to live our lives in a way that is unpleasing to Him. God's grace is to give us the power to live for Jesus and to have our character changed into His character. Anything else is presumption, and you will be sorry! All He needs is our willingness to cooperate.

However, we must remember that the Holy Spirit can be jealous. "Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, 'The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?' (James 4:5).

Nehemiah, picturing the Holy Spirit, received several things for our benefit.

1. Letters of authority.

The Holy Spirit has been given authority on earth. Satan and his helpers are no match for the Holy Spirit. This is not a battle of evil against good, as we stand back and wonder who will prevail. No. Since the resurrection, the Holy Spirit has authority, and he gives us that authority by indwelling us. He shows us who we are in Christ, that we are New Creations, and that we have been made to sit in heavenly places in Christ. If circumstances and broken down walls have caused you to believe that your enemy is prevailing, hang on, the Holy Spirit will show you the truth!

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13-15).

Not only did the Holy Spirit receive authority, He also gave it to us.

We have letters of authority in the Word. We need to know the authority of the Holy Spirit in us, not just for us. The enemy will attempt to keep our self esteem low, he will attempt to turn Christianity into a religion. We need to daily feed on the Word of God so that we can Sit, Walk, and Stand. Ephesians 2:6 says that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. That is our position. We are reborn New Creations in Christ. That is our identity. Ephesians 4:1 says that we must walk a life worthy of our calling. We are to walk in love, and we can only do that when we know that it is Christ living His life in us that is the only way to accomplish that. Ephesians 6:14 says that we must stand against our spiritual enemies. We can only stand when we are sitting and walking. Only the Holy Spirit with the Word of God can accomplish all three of these elements.



We cannot enjoy the authority given to us by God unless we submit to His authority. This includes His delegated human authorities here on earth. "The acts of God issue from His throne, and His throne is established on His authority. All things are created through God's authority and all physical laws of the universe are maintained by His authority. Hence the Bible expresses it as "upholding all things by the word of his power." which means upholding all things by the word of the power of His authority. For God's authority represents God Himself whereas His power stands only for His act. Sin against power is more easily forgiven than sin against authority, because the latter is a sin against God Himself. God alone is authority in all things; all the authorities of the earth are instituted by God. Authority is a tremendous thing in the universe - nothing overshadows it. It is therefore imperative for us who desire to serve God to know the authority of God."

"Both Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-17 speak of the rise and fall of Satan. The first passage, though, lays stress on how Satan violated God's authority while the second passage emphasizes his trespassing against God's holiness. To offend God's authority is a rebellion far more serious than that of offending God's holiness."

"Satan is not afraid of our preaching the word of Christ, yet how very much he is in fear of our being subject to the authority of Christ."

Nee, Watchman. Spiritual Authority. New York, NY: Christian Fellowship Publishers, 1972, pgs. 10,11



2. Materials.

You may feel burned out and undone, but the Holy Spirit comes with all of Heaven's resources to rebuild your life. He has everything that is needed. He has omnipotence (all power), omnipresence (being in all places at all times), and omniscience (all knowledge). Your enemy does not possess those attributes. Your enemy is a created being. God created all things through the Holy Spirit and the Word, and now He is going to use those same resources (even more now since the resurrection) to do an act of re-creation in your life. The Holy Spirit can bring people and circumstances into your life. He wants to make Jesus and the Word of God real to you so that the Word can do the transforming work internally.

The Holy Spirit is the only one who has the resources to re-build your personality, and your life.

The picture given here in Nehemiah shows us that the Holy Spirit is equipped with all of the resources needed to rebuild our souls, our personalities.

"And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it.' Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), 'How long will your journey be? And when will you return?' So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time. Furthermore I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.' And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me" (Nehemiah 2:5-8).

Notice that Nehemiah requested timbers. I don't want to stretch this too far, but perhaps "timbers" are a picture for the Word of God. The Word is the major building material, the substance that the Holy Spirit uses in our rebuilding. If Jesus is the Word, then perhaps the timbers may stand for the Cross.

Look at how God re-created what was void and dark.

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2, KJV).

"Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light" (Genesis 1:3).

The word used in the Scripture moved is Rachaph, it means to vibrate rapidly. This is the energy source that science cannot explain. Waves transmit energy. Energy cannot create itself vibration must create energy.

Then in verse 4 God said that it was good. God was pleased because His Spirit and His Word re-created something that was void, empty and in need of restoration. It is still good! He is the Source of Life!

I submit that the Holy Spirit still uses the same method for re-creating the voids in our lives. When we speak God's Word and when we allow the Holy Spirit to speak through us in His language, we are allowing Him to create the vibration, the sound waves, that create the holy energy to do miracles. There is a flip side however. We can also release unholy sound waves!

Paul knew that the Holy Spirit had the supply needed.

"For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ," Philippians (1:19).

"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Ephesians 3:16-20).

3. Personnel to help with the project.

Nehemiah 2:9 says that the king sent captains of the army and horsemen with Nehemiah to do the job. The Holy Spirit has a band of angels to assist Him. We have been given angels to walk us through this maze of life.

"And of the angels He says: 'Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire'" (Hebrews 1:7).

"But to which of the angels has He ever said: 'Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool'? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews (1:13,14).

Revelation chapter 12 tells us that Satan was cast out of Heaven and he took one third of the angelic host with him. I thank God that the holy angels outnumber the evil angelic beings by two to one!

"So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, and said, 'LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." (2 Kings 6:16,17).

I believe that when the Bible talks about angels, that we can take that literally. They do mighty battle for us and for God's Kingdom. "Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word" (Psalms 103:20).

However the word angels means messengers, or an envoy from God. It can also refer to people whom God can and will send into your life just at the right time to help you with His plan.

4. Time.

Notice also, that the king granted Nehemiah as much time as he needed to do the work. It actually took twelve years. While we are not sure how much time was granted during the firsts request, we do know that Nehemiah stayed the course and finished the job. Your transformation will not take place immediately. Circumstances may not change immediately. But the Holy Spirit will stay the course with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you unless you invite Him to leave. Your life may not look like it is changing much, and perhaps you are ready to give up, thinking that God is not working at all.

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

"that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing" (1 Timothy 6:14).

The overcoming and rebuilding process with the Lord usually seems to take a long time. Perhaps God is working out purposes that we have no knowledge of. Perhaps the time is lengthened due to Satan opposing God's will and plan for our lives. Perhaps both. In any event, my experience coupled with Scripture says that you need to trust God daily for the long haul. In the Book of Revelation, there were only two churches that were not admonished by the Lord for repentance and change, and those were Smyrna and Philadelphia. They were both told to hang on no matter what. To the Philadelphia church He said, "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown" (Revelation 3:11).

We have enemies that oppose our wholeness and re-building.

The enemies heard the plan, they actually knew about the plan before the Israelites did. "When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel" (Nehemiah 2:10).

Nehemiah did not tell anybody what His task was, but the enemy knew. The Holy Spirit quite often does not reveal to us exactly what He is doing, but we can see His task revealed here in Nehemiah, at least enough to trust Him, that He is looking for our good.

"But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us [to scorn] and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?' So I answered them, and said to them, 'The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem'" Nehemiah (2:19,20). Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your spiritual enemies in this fashion.

Our restoration is not always neat and tidy.

Sometimes I had hoped that God would have done such a neat and orderly work in the rebuilding of my life, but so often it was not so. I propose that is because we live on a planet where there is a clash of kingdoms. We are at war. Wartime victories do not come with neat ribbons attached. They are rough and often full of bruises and wounds. Sometimes the enemy will use this to condemn us and make us feel like we are out of God's will and plan, when indeed we are in the very midst of it, confronting His enemies at His beckoned call.

The primary enemy.

Sanballat, his name means "strength." He was a Moabite of Horonaim and the opponent of Nehemiah and the returned exiles in their goal of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

Satan is indeed strong and crafty when compared to the natural man. Don't be deceived, just because Jesus defeated him at the Cross and he is now under our feet, he can still cause harm if we attempt to act independently of God. I have obtained a glimpse of Satan's wisdom and power. However, if we are totally submitted to God, and walk hand and hand with Him, Satan is not strong but weak.

His daughter married the high priest Eliashib's grandson. "And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me" (Nehemiah 13:28). This seemed to have been a tactic not only by Sanballat but also by Tobiah. The enemy strives to infiltrate the ranks of believers. He does not always work from the outside, but often from the inside. Daniel had a vision of this internal working of Satan, and it caused him to become sick.

The internal enemy.

Another accomplice was Tobiah the Ammonite. His name means "good is Jehovah." His family were among the returning Jews with Zerubbabel who were unable to prove their kinship with Israel. He was formerly a slave at the Persian court. He found means to ally with a priestly family as his son married the daughter of Meshullam. This created a strong faction among the Jews. He and Sanballat attempted to terrify Nehemiah, using fear. and intimidation. He mocked Nehemiah (verse 4:3).

Tobiah's role as an enemy confirms that our enemies can be from within. Satan can utilize fellow believers who have not totally submitted their lives to Jesus. These are among his favorite tools.

After many unsuccessful attempts to thwart the plans, later we find Tobiah carrying on secret correspondence with the Jewish nobles hostile to Nehemiah. During Nehemiah's absence, Eliashib the high priest installed Tobiah in "a large room" one of the very large building in the forecourts of the Temple, from which he was ejected by Nehemiah upon his return.

The third enemy was Geshem the Arab. His name means rain, or shower. He was part of a tribe, most likely a tribal chief, in the Arabian desert who dreaded the reestablishment of Jerusalem. The Arabians, Ammonites, and Ashdodites are recorded as having conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to hinder its repairing.

Our enemies form a confederation.

"They have said, 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, That the name of Israel may be remembered no more. For they have consulted together with one consent; They form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; They have helped the children of Lot (Lot representing worldly Christians)' Selah" (Psalms 83:4-8).

But here is our answer:

"Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera, As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon, Who perished at En Dor, Who became as refuse on the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb, Yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, Who said, 'Let us take for ourselves The pastures of God for a possession.' O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, And as the flame sets the mountains on fire, So pursue them with Your tempest, And frighten them with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O LORD. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish, That they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth" (Psalms 83:9-18).

We are rebuilt, but our enemies turn to stubble and chaff!

Larry Chkoreff - August, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.





Nehemiah Tape 4

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



Nehemiah Chapter 2. The Holy Spirit brings the supplies, time, and authority for the rebuilding project.

As a review for the past several lessons, Nehemiah finds himself at place in history where the Temple has been restored but the walls and gates of Jerusalem are still broken down and are in piles of rubble. The parallel application is that we have received the new birth, the Temple of God now resides in our hearts, but our souls are still in need of rebuilding and restoring.

Psalm 23 talks about the fact that there is a path for the restoration of our souls. "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Psalms 23:3).

The rebuilding process requires leadership, authority, time, and materials. The Holy Spirit has all of these elements. He wants to rebuild those things in you that have latent potential, but which have been hidden under the rubble of your life.

I can remember God speaking to me just a few months after I had met Jesus back in late 1979. It was not an audible voice, but rather it came through a cassette tape by Pastor Jack Hayford that had been previously recorded in a service 2,400 miles away. When I heard it I knew in my "knower" (deep inside) that it was God speaking directly to me. It went like this:

"I see the original design for your life. It is like a parchment scroll that unrolls. As it unrolls the script of your life is written on it. However, the edges of the scroll have been burnt and the ashes have been scattered so that no person, not even you, can any longer read the scroll. No human could possibly find all of the ashes, fit them together in the proper places, and reconstruct the scroll.

However, I have not forgotten it. I am God Almighty, and I am capable of finding the ashes, resurrecting them back into parchment and putting them exactly where they belong so that you and others may see who you really are, and so that your life may return to its original design. This will be done slowly and progressively, and will only be an act of my grace. You need only to walk close to Me and give Me your heart, which also means being gut level honest with Me at all times."

I can testify that what God told me in 1980 has been my experience and is still my experience. God cannot lie!

The Holy Spirit is passionate to rebuild your soul!

"And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I had done; I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, or the others who did the work. Then I said to them, 'You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach'" (Nehemiah 2:16,17).

"And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. So they said, "Let us rise up and build." Then they set their hands to this good work" (Nehemiah 2:18).

The Holy Spirit issues a personal invitation to you today!

"Come let us build…" You are not alone. Us includes God Himself, the Holy Spirit. If God be for you who can be against you? (Romans 8:31)

Their response should be our response. "Let us rise and build." Go ahead, make an altar here right now, mark down this date and settle it. Take a cup of communion and settle it with God; that you are going to give the Holy Spirit full access to your life to rebuild you!

Some of the Holy Spirit's goals in rebuilding our soul are:

1. A new capacity for resistance to sin, like taking vitamins in enhance your immune system.

2. A new capacity for sensitivity. The Holy Spirit wants to make Jesus real so that you may enjoy fellowship with Him and His manifest presence. The result will be that you will make Jesus real to a lost and dying world because His sensitivity will be expressed through you.

3. For sound mindedness.

4. For genuine, Biblical, Holy Spirit love

5. Freedom from fear.

6. Authority is rebuilt so that power becomes a trait in your life. Not self and independent soul power, but Holy Spirit confidence so that you know who your are in the Lord, and move in freedom and confidence.

Nehemiah surveys two of the principal gates.

"And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass. So I went up in the night by the valley, and viewed the wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned" (Nehemiah 2:13-15).

The first survey included the gates that led to the two valleys. Two things the Holy Spirit surveys are the two basic things in our spiritual life. Gates stand for authority. The Valley Gates give us our authority for our confidence in Christ's first work of salvation in our lives. The Fountain Gate stands for our entry into the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

1. Valley gate - the wells of salvation - the new birth. The confidence of our new birth.

God does not want you to be chained to your past, to condemnation and confusion. He wants you to walk in the freedom of grace and love with Him without guilt and the pressure of performance.

This gate exemplifies the confidence of a redeemed life. It speaks of the first gift of salvation, our new birth in Christ. Visiting this gate, the Holy Spirit wants to bring to us our confidence that we are out of the hands of Satan. We do not need to be eternally insecure. The Holy Spirit does not want us caught up into performance, legalism, and always trying to earn God's favor and love. It works like this. Once having received our wonderful free gift of the new birth, we are so thankful that all we want to do is to please Jesus, not for favors, but out of a heart of love. If you do not have this burning desire in your heart, you need to ask God to show you why.

This gate represents the authority that you now belong to Jesus, you have been born from above, you are sealed for eternity by the Holy Spirit and no one can "steal" you from Jesus, except your own decision.

The Valley gate led out to the Dragon's Well.

Valley gate leads to the dragon well. Just inside the gate there was a well. A snake was killed there. The serpent had been killed there. The fact that we received the new birth gives us the authority and confidence that we are out of Satan's hands, and we may now see him as a defeated foe.

Notice this gate led to a well not a flowing body of water. This is symbolic or our new birth in Christ.

"The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?" (John 4:11).

"but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14).

"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.'" Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:2,3).

The Valley gate faced hell, the dung gate. The well, the dragon well is what we get when we first get saved. This gate of our initial salvation and new birth therefore being typified by a well, can be described as our well of salvation where Satan was defeated and our eternal destiny has been nailed down without a doubt!

Here is a great opportunity to stop and worship!

The Holy Spirit wants to bring us to the point where we remember what really happened when we were saved so that it does not get old. We should daily be thankful for our confidence in Christ, and our eternal destiny. When I consider the great salvation God gave to me, it just results in worship. I cannot think about this for very long without tears! I simply want to pour my love on Jesus, not as an obligation, or some kind of payment, but out of trying to express the passion and thanksgiving in my heart.

"And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil" (Luke 7:37,38).



Your identity will be attacked!

In my book Grow or Die, there is chapter titled "Sit." In that chapter I write about the need to continually study in the Word about who we are in Christ. The circumstances of life can make us feel defeated, like God has dropped our file, and sometimes even cause us to doubt our salvation. The title "Sit" comes from Ephesians 2:6 which tells us that our position in Christ is an accomplished fact. "And [He] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).

The first temptation of Jesus was, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread" (Luke 4:3). Satan challenged Jesus' identity as he does ours. We are diminished in our authority in the same degree that we lose our identity. This chapter is also available on our web site, www.isob-bible.org/book.htm.

Now that we know for sure that we have walked through the Valley Gate, we have the opportunity to invite others to step through the gate with us.

2. The Fountain gate symbolizes receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit after the new birth.

While our new birth gives us confidence for our past, the fullness of the Holy Spirit is to give us a joy for today and an unlimited view of our future.

The Holy Spirit wants you not only to receive the well of salvation, but also the flowing river of the Holy Spirit also. This builds a new kind of authority for those who have passed through the experience of the Valley gate. The Fountain gate leads to the Kings Pool, which is fed by flowing water.

There are so many doctrines about the Baptism into the Holy Spirit, and even how it happens.

My opinion is that people give too many personal opinions! Let the Word speak. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:38,39).

Ezekiel and John, in Revelation saw this river.

"Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed" (Ezekiel 47:5). "Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine" (Ezekiel 47:12).

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:1,2).

Some history about this flowing body of water.

During Hezekiah's rule there was no fresh water to Jerusalem. There was a 1300 foot conduit built out of solid rock from the river Kidron. The brook Kidron was the only available flowing water. It was a small brook, twelve feet across. It was fresh water although it was not deep. It formed the Kings pool that, together with the river that fed it, is symbolic of the flow of the Holy Spirit.

This supplied water to the city. Psalms 46 was written on the dedication of that pool. A song of rejoicing from a people who now had a supply of water. "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High" (Psalms 46:4).

Satan's ways.

The Fountain gate is a place of refreshing. Don't let Satan clog the flow of the Spirit. Nehemiah said in 2:15 that there was so much rubble that there was no room for even the animal under him to pass.

Satan wants to dam up the rivers of water that God has given to you. Doctors and medical science tell us that if we don't take in enough water during each day, that the cells of our body will not be able to discharge the waste. The cells would swim in putrid water and would not have access to clean water, which would make them healthy. There is a process of intake and waste that must take place in the cells of our bodies and in our spirits as well. Therefore, we must allow the river to flow, as in Ezekiel Chapter 47. "Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar" (Ezekiel 47:1). The river coming out from the temple was a flowing river, and we are now the temple. However we can allow doubt and Satan to stop the flow which would give us health.

Allow the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Satan breeds unbelief. Satan puts rubble into your Fountain Gate. The Lord wants to re-establish your authority, that you can receive the fullness. This gates leads out to the flowing water, where you can stand with no doubt about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit without doubt and fear. The fullness of the Holy Spirit will give you the power you need to combat doubt and unbelief. It will provide fullness in worship. It will make the living Jesus more real to you than your own spouse, parent or friend. Then you come and drink at the Kings pool, King Jesus.

People would not be feeling such a spirit of doubt and unbelief about tongues and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit if it were not such a dynamic instrument against the enemy and for your rebuilding.

In the darkness, let the Holy Spirit loose by praying in tongues as the secret survey of the inner man. "But as it is written: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." "These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual" (1 Corinthians 2:9,10,13). When we are crippled for prayer, the Holy Spirit will not leave you bereft of intercession.

The enemy laughs.

"But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?'" (Nehemiah 2:19).

In the previous lesson we wrote about some of the enemy's tactics. We even defined their character by the Biblical meaning of their names. I just wish to emphasize here that the enemy "laughs." Often we do not recognize it as a laugh, but rather a mental thought bomb that might say, "This time you are not going to make it. It doesn't matter what your history is with God, this time is too tough. You got yourself into this mess, and God is not going to get you out."

But our Lord also laughs.

"The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision" (Psalms 2:2-4).

While Satan's laughter is going on, you may not know it, but the Holy Spirit is at work in your life.

Nehemiah answered the enemy as the Holy Spirit wants to answer our enemy.

"So I answered them, and said to them, 'The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem" (Nehemiah 2:20). It is interesting that Nehemiah answered with a remark about God prospering them. The Holy Spirit will begin to rise in you to say just that if you allow Him access.

Apparently prosperity of some kind or type was challenged by the enemy's assault. It has always been so in my life. Also, each time the enemy attacks God's servants, it always has the potential of working out a far greater weight of glory for His Kingdom.

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:7,8).

The ways of our Lord.

Nehemiah waiting three days and did nothing. Like Jesus at the resurrection, three days went by. He is there, but for awhile he does not do anything. Learn the Lords quiet times in dealing with our souls. We need patience when it looks like nothing is going on. Hang on. The Holy Spirit has a plan.

God does not have to give us signs to prove Himself. Sometimes He just waits. Don't get into the flesh.



Nehemiah arose in the night and performed a secret survey.

I call this the dark times of the soul. If we can't see anything happening, just know He works in the night. In the darkest times, the Holy Spirit is not idle. He is doing something. He is surveying. He is working, be sure of that!

The secret ministry of the Holy Spirit may be enhanced by speaking in tongues.

He that speaketh in unknown tongue speaketh mysteries. Mystery carries the idea of the secret work of the Holy Spirit. He is working nonetheless. Permit the Holy Spirit in you to do a survey in you. You may speak in tongues and permit the language to flow to speak mysteries. Don't let Satan bind you up by a damnable spirit of doubt, and hinder your power weapon. Tongues make a lot of difference. I have so many personal testimonies of how prolonged speaking in tongues has brought great and mighty deliverances in my life, in the lives of my family, and in the lives of people on the other side of the world.

Why tongues? Why so much emphasis? Pastor Hayford claims that you can have glory without it, but that people without tongues can tend to waver easier.

Let the tongues flow, doubt may come, but tongues can overcome doubt. It can cut down the enemies of the day. It can and does prevent temptation. It goes before us in the day, and neutralizes temptation. Like a lawn mower, it will go before you. It produces certainty.



Larry Chkoreff - September, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.





Nehemiah Tape 5

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



The Holy Spirit uses other people to help rebuild our walls.

He wants to use us to rebuild other people's walls. He uses interaction and relationships with those around us. There is a healing power just in fellowship that goes beyond Bible studies and work groups.

Look at Nehemiah chapter 3 and how all of the many people worked next to one another. Twenty five times it is mentioned that "next to him built this person, etc."

"Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars. And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam the son of Berechiah, the son of Meshezabel, made repairs. Next to them Zadok the son of Baana made repairs" (Nehemiah 3:1-4).

I have looked up the Hebrew meaning of many of the workers listed in chapter 3, and listed them on the attached exhibit A. Notice the significance of their names, showing how the Holy Spirit will bring various types of believers into your life to assist Him in the rebuilding of your walls. Also notice how you may fit into some of the names of these people.

Here is a brief summary of the Hebrew meanings of the names listed in Exhibit A.

God restores, God has favored, mindful, eloquent, Jehovah is my light, friend, Jehovah blesses,, God delivers, righteous, in the affliction, trumpet blast, Jehovah knows, the one who limps - ancestor of a family of temple slaves who returned from exile with Zerubbabel, Jehovah delivered, thankful, watchtower and hill city, my strength is God, fear of Jehovah, God has favoured, healed of Jehovah, praised of Jehovah, my king is Jehovah, dedicated, considerate, compassion, Jehovah has considered,, treasure, blessed, pure, son of the right hand -the covenant hand, Jehovah has helped, work of Jehovah.

We are touched by people, and the Lord wants us to touch people.

The workers were joined side by side. They were not building in a circular motion going around the city, but at every point there were people working together.

We need to be aware of our role of circling other people in the body of Christ. We have roles in the rebuilding of their walls as they do in ours. We are an expression of Christ's Body. We do His work. We are His hands to rebuild.

Relationships always have risks. Sometimes relationships bring pain. But even in the pain, lessons are learned.

"you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:5). If you forsake the fellowship of the Body, then you are forsaking the rebuilding process. There is a breach in your wall, or someone's wall that is not being rebuilt.

Your whole personality cannot be restored unless you are making your whole personality open and available to the body of Christ.

Warning!

You need to be Spirit led, and not just jump into any group and pour your heart out to just everybody. You need discernment and direction. You cannot and should not pour out your heart to just anybody, no matter how spiritual they may appear. Also make sure that you keep loyalty to those to whom loyalty is due.

Nehemiah's helpers were victims.

We should kneel down in the rubble that others are experiencing, which often is the same rubble we used to be in.

The basic human conceit is that we feel that no one understands us. While this may have some validity, it is not entirely true. We feel similar infirmities, and the Holy Spirit can cause us, through intercession and burdens to feel the exact same suffering. God has a way of bringing people into our lives who have suffered the same way we are. He has given me authors, some gone to be with the Lord, to read about their experiences. The Holy Spirit has made these experiences from years past alive to me. The Holy Spirit uses Old Testament experiences and brings them alive as well. One thing for sure, the Holy Spirit will empathize with you.

There are some things in our lives that may never be rebuilt until we expose ourselves to people who we would prefer not to be in fellowship with.

Sometimes we don't open up because we would not be with some particular people. We can be whipped around by the devil with offenses. Instead we should heed Galatians chapter 6, to restore one who is offending you. "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). So many around us are sowing bad seed. We can bless them and help restore them without their even knowing it, and being criticized.

Sometimes God purposely set us among those people that may be abrasive to us. He is after something in us. Ask Him!

When it comes to rebuilding one another we cannot be critical.

There is a principle of the splinter and the log that Jesus spoke about. The log is the criticism and the splinter is the fault that you see. The criticism is always larger in God's eyes than the sin that is being criticized.

How do you handle dealing with people who think differently?

Our rebuilding should lead to being sane, sensible, sensitive and Scriptural. Praise and worship is sane and sensible. We need to be around people who worship sensibly, and Scriptural. Just being around them will give us a lot. Worship styles can offend others, but real Scriptural worship, even if offensive to some is okay.

Edification.

Dr. Mark Rutland, president of Southeastern College and Global Servants, told a heart-warming story of a Central African tribe and their customs. When a member of the tribe commits an offense, or is caught in a crime, the put him/her in the middle of a circle made up of the entire village. But instead of stoning him/her, each one takes a turn and tells a story of how the offender had been a blessing in the past. They each take turns and make a positive statement about the offender. They each bless the offender. The edification turns into healing. Think about it!

Love covers a multitude of sin.

How can you help someone rebuild if you criticize? Or do you put your arm around them and bring them higher. What did Jesus do? If you are into serious reading and you have someone reading funny books, you build a bridge not criticize.

Jesus did not criticize the prostitutes and tax collectors. He gave the woman, in John 8, the power to be free from sin by building her up not by cutting her down.

There are those who will always pervert Scripture.

I have seen on numerous occasions, those that state, "You must love me no matter what I do." Remember, God, nor the Spirit of God in you, should ever be tested in such a manner. Fellowship should not just consist of "Sloppy Agape," but should be a call for all of us to a higher standard.

You also need to use balance so that others do not cross your God given boundaries.

You don't condemn bad habits in other believers, use mercy, use the log and the splinter idea, but you draw the line, and create a boundary, against manipulation. Make sure you are influencing them, and they are not manipulating you using the unconditional love banner.

Too proud to help?

Nehemiah 3:5 says that the Tekoites nobles did not help. Were they too proud to help? All kinds of backgrounds helped, but these nobles did not. They were too elite to help. Don't ever become too proud so that we will not have patience with the less mature. If we offend one of these little ones it is better to have a millstone around your neck. Before you start pointing or looking, perhaps you better cut if off or pluck it out.

Your liberty can become someone else' bondage.

People who are less mature do not need to be beat over the head with your Bible due to their bad habits. Just because God has given you liberty in a matter, the Bible is clear not to use that liberty to offend others.

"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables." "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind." "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another" (Romans 14:1,2,5,19).

Let us not make rules and regulations for other believers. Such conduct will lead to legalism and may actually hinder the relationship between the believer and God. Certainly some activities are laden with demonic power, but many issues are not. The Lord prefers to work through His own dealing in a person's conscience. We can turn people away from God by giving their immature minds a wrong picture of God.

There is another purpose God has for putting us into family and church relationships. When we are in groups like this, the worst in us comes out and the hidden things that need to be changed are brought to the surface. If a lake has pollution in it, the best thing to do is to stir it up. A good storm helps the junk rise to the top; then the scum can be scraped off.

Benefits of being in fellowship. Being in fellowship with other believers can be both rewarding and painful. I have had both experiences. When a brother or sister in the Lord hurts you, it is most painful. However, these are tremendous opportunities to learn and to be taught by God. If you were in the wrong, God will correct you if you allow Him. If you were innocent in the matter, there will be a great learning opportunity for patience and forgiveness.

Satan's plan is to bring offenses to people so that they stop attending church, or at best go "church shopping." There is nothing wrong with church shopping, but do it at the leading of the Holy Spirit and not because you are running from someone who offended you. If you run every time you become offended, Satan will be your guide and not the Holy Spirit.

It is good to stay planted in a local assembly; doing so will produce fruit and blessings. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flowering; to show that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and no unrighteousness is in Him" (Psalms 92:12-15).

How to treat other believers.

It is extremely important to your spiritual well being to relate to all people with love. I can guarantee you that in your church fellowship you will have an opportunity to have disputes with other believers. It may be your fault or theirs; that is not the issue. The issue is that the enemy may use this type of dispute to hurt you.

One of the greatest ways we can serve Jesus is to serve the people in His Body. The natural tendency for people is to be selfish and think that the world revolves around them and their own problems. Many churches are filled with people who are running around looking for blessings and looking for people to bless them. This is not God's plan. His plan is outlined in Matthew chapter 25:14-30 in the parable of the talents. This is the law of increase. We are to use what we have in our hand to serve others, and when we do, Jesus gives us more.

Conflicts will happen. Do we handle people selfishly?

Everyone needs unconditional love; only the Spirit of God in us can do that. When I say unconditional love, I do not mean just lay down and let people walk all over us, nor do I mean give everyone everything that they ask for, even if it is wrong. What I mean is to interact with them not out of selfish motives, but out of love.

We need to remember that we have entered into a blood covenant with Jesus, and we are in covenant with other believers through Him. If we mistreat other believers, gossip about them, talk negative about them or hurt them in any way, we can be in danger. I Corinthians chapter 11 gives a warning for us when we take communion. Taking communion is remembering the blood covenant with Jesus, but it also causes us to remember that through Him we are in covenant with other believers. "For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing [discerning] the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29).

Judgment can come in many ways. It can come in your relationship with your spouse, your children, or in your finances, health, business, etc., when you do not rightly discern the Lord's Body. That is, when you do not consider the other person to be part of Christ's Body. When you discern the Lord's Body according to what you see and not by what the Word of God says, you are in danger.

WORD FOR TODAY by Bob Gass 23 August, 2002

Reach out and touch somebody

" WE WERE ALL MADE TO SHARE " 1 CORINTHIANS 12 : 13 NCV

It's easy to fall by the wayside and get run over without anybody noticing. You're afraid to ask for help in case somebody questions your experience with God. Refuse to live that way! Not reaching out to your brothers and sisters in Christ can: (1) keep you vulnerable to attack (2) cut you off from your supply lines. Paul says, "...we were all made to share..." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NCV).

In wartime, enemies would lock their prisoners in 'the hole' for long periods. Without physically abusing them, the darkness and isolation would break them down. Sometimes the church can feel like a dark, isolated place; especially when you're hurting and you don't feel you can reach out for help. It's filled with the greatest actors and actresses of our time. In fact, if Hollywood needed extras, they'd find them in the pews!

God said, "It is not good that man should be alone." Why? Because we're communal by nature; we need to feel 'connected.' This applies not only to marriage and family, but to other close relationships too. We need people to talk to, laugh and interact with. When that doesn't happen, we're not strengthened by receiving, and others aren't blessed by giving.

A note of caution, however: (a) never hold others in such high esteem that your fellowship becomes idolatry (b) never worship at the altar of their opinions in order to stay in their good graces (c) never be intimidated into being anyone other than the person God made you. Having realized that - reach out; the help you need is available today. \

Printed copies of "The Word for Today" are available free from UCB, PO Box 255, Stoke-on-Trent, ST4 8YY, England.

Larry Chkoreff - October, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.



______________________________________________________________

Exhibit A - Hebrew translation of certain names in Nehemiah chapter 3.



Nehemiah 3:1-32.

"1 Then Eliashib [God restores] the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel [God has favored].

2 Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur [mindful] the son of Imri [eloquent] built.

3 Also the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

4 And next to them Meremoth the son of Urijah [Jehovah is my light], the son of Koz, made repairs. Next to them Meshullam [friend] the son of Berechiah [Jehovah blesses], the son of Meshezabel [God delivers], made repairs. Next to them Zadok [righteous] the son of Baana [in the affliction] made repairs.

5 Next to them the Tekoites [trumpet blast] made repairs; but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.

6 Moreover Jehoiada [Jehovah knows] the son of Paseah [the one who limps - ancestor of a family of temple slaves who returned from exile with Zerubbabel] and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah [with the council of Jehovah] repaired the Old Gate; they laid its beams and hung its doors, with its bolts and bars.

7 And next to them Melatiah [Jehovah delivered] the Gibeonite, Jadon [thankful] the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and Mizpah [watchtower and hill city], repaired the residence of the governor of the region beyond the River.

8 Next to him Uzziel [my strength is God] the son of Harhaiah ["fear of Jehovah"], one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Also next to him Hananiah ["God has favoured"], one of the perfumers, made repairs; and they fortified Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

9 And next to them Rephaiah ["healed of Jehovah"] the son of Hur, leader of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs.

10 Next to them Jedaiah ["praised of Jehovah"]the son of Harumaph made repairs in front of his house. And next to him Hattush the son of Hashabniah made repairs.

11 Malchijah ["my king is Jehovah"]the son of Harim ["dedicated"] and Hashub ["considerate"] the son of Pahath-Moab repaired another section, as well as the Tower of the Ovens.

12 And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs.

13 Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired the Valley Gate. They built it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired a thousand cubits of the wall as far as the Refuse Gate.

14 Malchijah the son of Rechab, leader of the district of Beth Haccerem, repaired the Refuse Gate; he built it and hung its doors with its bolts and bars.

15 Shallun the son of Col-Hozeh, leader of the district of Mizpah, repaired the Fountain Gate; he built it, covered it, hung its doors with its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah by the King's Garden, as far as the stairs that go down from the City of David.

16 After him Nehemiah the son of Azbuk, leader of half the district of Beth Zur, made repairs as far as the place in front of the tombs of David, to the man-made pool, and as far as the House of the Mighty.

17 After him the Levites, under Rehum [compassion"] the son of Bani, made repairs. Next to him Hashabiah ["Jehovah has considered"], leader of half the district of Keilah, made repairs for his district.

18 After him their brethren, under Bavai the son of Henadad, leader of the other half of the district of Keilah, made repairs.

19 And next to him Ezer ["treasure"] the son of Jeshua, the leader of Mizpah, repaired another section in front of the Ascent to the Armory at the buttress.

20 After him Baruch ["blessed"] the son of Zabbai ["pure"] carefully repaired the other section, from the buttress to the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest.

21 After him Meremoth the son of Urijah, the son of Koz, repaired another section, from the door of the house of Eliashib to the end of the house of Eliashib.

22 And after him the priests, the men of the plain, made repairs.

23 After him Benjamin ["son of the right hand -the covenant hand"] and Hasshub made repairs opposite their house. After them Azariah ["Jehovah has helped"] the son of Maaseiah ["work of Jehovah"], the son of Ananiah, made repairs by his house.

24 After him Binnui ["built up"] the son of Henadad repaired another section, from the house of Azariah to the buttress, even as far as the corner.

25 Palal the son of Uzai made repairs opposite the buttress, and on the tower which projects from the king's upper house that was by the court of the prison. After him Pedaiah the son of Parosh made repairs.

26 Moreover the Nethinim who dwelt in Ophel made repairs as far as the place in front of the Water Gate toward the east, and on the projecting tower.

27 After them the Tekoites repaired another section, next to the great projecting tower, and as far as the wall of Ophel.

28 Beyond the Horse Gate the priests made repairs, each in front of his own house.

29 After them Zadok the son of Immer made repairs in front of his own house. After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, made repairs.

30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun, the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah made repairs in front of his dwelling.

31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs as far as the house of the Nethinim and of the merchants, in front of the Miphkad Gate, and as far as the upper room at the corner.

32 And between the upper room at the corner, as far as the Sheep Gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants made repairs."



__________________________________________________________________

Who is it that you treating good or treating bad?



Something Jesus wants for Himself.

In 1996 the Lord spoke very clearly to me with a question. Mark 14:3 tells about a woman who broke her alabaster container and poured out her costly oil of spikenard on Jesus. He then asked me, "Will you pour yourself on My Body, just because it feels good to Me? Forget about whether or not you really have a heart for the people, they may be very disagreeable to you. But it is Me that you are ministering to; it is My body."

"She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial" (Mark 14:8).



Who lives inside of your brothers and sisters?

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).



"If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also" (1 John 4:20,21).



"Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge" (James 4:11).



"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me'" (Matthew 25:40).



"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).



When you mistreat another, who is it that you are really mistreating? What will Jesus say to you?



I believe that God chooses our fellowship and relationships if we allow Him. Sometimes he chooses difficult relationships to teach us how to be like Him. Then He is free to give us those blessed relationships.



Larry Chkoreff - November, 2002

Nehemiah Tape 6

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



Satanic opposition. Nehemiah chapter 4.

"But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews" (Nehemiah 4:1).

In the rebuilding process we need to be aware of the fact that we will encounter satanic opposition. The Book of Nehemiah certainly amplifies this and makes it clear that spiritual enemy forces, real ones, are at work. If Satan cannot have your eternal soul, then he will do what he can to limit you in your temporal living. God wants to rebuild you to your full potential. Satan is opposing this work.

The rubble in our lives, the rubble of the walls, was the result of satanic operation in this world. While we are not to put our focus on what Satan and his forces are doing or have done, we need to know that his fallen world of sin and rebellion and their effects on humans are what has caused our walls to fall. They are what have caused our personalities, our souls to become something far below God's intended purpose.

The interesting side of satanic operation however is that God actually employs the enemy to do His bidding. "Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation" (Isaiah 10:5).

Look at how Jesus obtained victory for God's work in His life.

"But Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain'" (John 12:23,24). In verse 12:27 He said that His soul was troubled. There are many times when we go through soul trouble, but that is a productive ingredient for bearing fruit.

A seed needs to "die" before it bears fruit. God is not the one who cuts us down and beats on us, that is just the result of satanic influence, perhaps our own choices, and/or of the world around us. However, even the beating we take is working for our benefit. God can do more with rubble than with the old walls that are still standing. He does not whitewash old walls, He waits until they are rubble and then rebuilds. Our past failures are the very materials that God uses to rebuild. "See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant" (Jeremiah 1:10).

Satan has great wrath.

Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time" (Revelation 12:12).

Satan has a power structure and an organization. "And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, 'What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned?'" (Nehemiah 4:2). Study Ephesians chapter 6 for more details.

Often His attacks come as a question, like he used in the Garden of Eden. You are tempted to get your eyes on your own ability and take them off of God's power and His Word.

The enemy's work is progressive.

The enemy mocked. They attempt to intimidate and cause you to loose hope.

They said, "Will they worship, or even try to bribe their God with sacrifices?" Perhaps they were even questioning if they would continue to worship God with sacrifices.

"Even if they do build, it will not last" they said.

"And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices [to bribe their God]? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned?" Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, 'Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall'" (Nehemiah 4:2,3).

They said, "We will stop this work." "And our adversaries said, 'They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease'" Nehemiah 4:11). Notice, your enemy thinks nothing about killing you, or stealing the blessings that God has for you in your life.

Five things that Satan did in these first four chapters to intimidate the Jews.

1 He called the workers feeble.

What is our answer? "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

"Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).

"which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" (1 Corinthians 2:8).

2. The enemy accused the Jews of getting ready to start a rebellion.

"But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?" (Nehemiah 2:19).

What is our answer? Yes we are going to become independent of our old king, the Prince of this World, but we are going to be dependent people, dependent on Jesus and the Word. God does not want us to remain weak and feeble, and always coming apart. He wants us to become totally sufficient in Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. We become the slaves of the one who died for us, and no one else. When this happens, the Lord makes us whole and well. Satan is interested in keeping people weak so that he can continue to dominate.

3. "Will they sacrifice?" the enemy said. This could have meant, "Will they try to bribe their God" as the Amplified version infers, or "Will they still worship with sacrifices?" It should be elementary to our thinking that God; the Source of life cannot be bribed. He cannot be impressed with our performance and legalism.

Satan's plans often includes coming in like a fifth column, or by infiltrating our families, our churches, our marriages, and many other such means. At first his tactics included a lot of talk, and he comes into your midst.

"Then Judah said, 'The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.' And our adversaries said, 'They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease'" (Nehemiah 4:10,11).

Satan is always after our worship.

Satan hates worship towards God. He attempted to have Jesus worship him. Worship glorifies God and gives Him the rightful place for who He really is. The rubble of our broken down walls will get in the way of our worship. Our rubble clouds our worship.

What is our answer? Nehemiah immediately turned to worship when he prayed. "Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders" (Nehemiah 4:4-5). Notice Nehemiah said that the enemy provoked God!

Will we worship when the walls are rebuilt? Yes, we will worship more. When we are whole and well, we become more aware of who God really is, we see more of Him, and our desire is to worship Him increases. One cannot really worship God until they have seen a glimpse of Him. The more God restores our soul, the more we see Him, and the more we worship. Peace in our souls allows us to worship. "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).

Our increased worship glorifies God. "When we are blessed by the restoration of our souls, we will bring others into worship, which how the cycle is supposed to work.

All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name" (Psalms 86:9). "Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested." (Revelation 15:4).

4. The enemy said, "Will they make an end in a day?" In other words, "You guys will never get this job done." Endurance and patience is a major factor in overcoming enemy opposition. Satan steals the Word many times because we give up before the time of victory. In the meantime God wants us to overcome in the long haul. He wants us to keep our faith in His Word and His character for no matter how long it takes.

Our answer. Will our walls be built in a day? No. But if we continue on they will be made whole. There is a constant development in your life. God loves to turn rubble into wholeness, junk into jewels, but He does it over a process of time. The rubble and junk are always used to build us up.

Often we tend to give up because we don't see God meeting our needs. "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." (3 John 1:2). As our souls are rebuilt so will we see our needs met more readily. However, in the meantime God always is able to provide manna for us, streams in the desert, and all kinds of supernatural provisions while we are still in the deserts of our lives.

Satan cannot last forever, but you can because God lives in you and because the truth is stronger than the lie. Don't be deceived however, the lie can be very powerful!

Peek behind the curtain with Daniel in his vision to see the truth about Satan.

Satan compromises if you continue to stand.

"He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time" (Daniel 7:25).

""until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom" (Daniel 7:22)

"But the court shall be seated, And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him" (Daniel 7:26,27).

5. The enemy said, "Will they revive the stones?" "…Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish--stones that are burned?" (Nehemiah 4:2b).

Our answer is yes!

Remember that Nehemiah represents the Holy Spirit, who is God Himself. He is the creator of the Universe; He is the author of life. He invented the brain, He knows the stars by name, He figured out the reproductive cycle for animals and plants. Can you revive the stones? No, but God can!

Notice they did not get into frantic activity, but they prayed and called upon God. Nehemiah set armed men behind the wall in the least protected places. Verse 4:13 says that He used the people with their families with swords, spears, and bows. We know the sword of the Spirit as the Word of God, which is our offensive weapon. But the Holy Spirit has additional weapons. Remember, as we wrote in previous chapters, the Holy Spirit calls angelic beings, strong warriors to help with His work.

Helen Keller once said, "I long to accomplish a great and noble task; but it is my chief duty and job to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moving along, not only by mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

Stella Stuart once commented, "Behind me is infinite power. Before me is endless possibility. Around me is boundless opportunity. Why should I fear?"

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Do not fear!

If He says do not fear, then you have nothing to fear. Fight fear like the plague that it is. Fight it with the Word and worship. Fight it with the presence of God.

"Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, 'Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.' And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, 'The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.' [Notice the unity with our brothers and sisters brings on the power of God!] So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared" (Nehemiah 4:13-21).

Satan's only real weapon is simple. It is simple for him, but it can also be simple for us. All he can do is to steal the truth of the Word of God out of your heart, or to keep you from receiving the Word in the first place. When you study the parable of the sower in Mark 4, Matthew 13, and Luke 8, you will notice that in every case, Satan's only goal is to steal or choke the Word of God planted in the soil of your heart.

Why?

Because God's Word is a living and active seed which will bear fruit for your life and for His Kingdom!

God's Word is truth, and the truth is that Satan has been defeated at the Cross and the resurrection. God's Word in your heart will bear fruit for your life, for God's Kingdom, and the fruit will bring God glory.

The truth is that you have been crucified with Christ, yet He lives in you. The truth is all of your needs have been provided for. The truth is that all of God's personal promises for your life are fact. They may seem like a promise to you, but for God they are fact. He has already seen their manifestation, and has come to your time zone to give you light on His truth.

Truth and light.

Truth is awesome but when you receive light on the truth is it transforming. The main ingredients you can offer is to be gut level honest with God, have absolute integrity with others, ask God to give you the fullest measure of the Holy Spirit, and follow Him as Lord in His Word daily. Give up your right to operate your life in any way except by His Word. Then you need to speak the truth against the lie as in Revelation 12:11 which says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death" (Revelation 12:11).



The enemy's threat is frustrated, they returned to do construction.



Here is something to hang onto when you feel you are becoming weary in your stand.

He is not a dead Jesus. HE LIVES. IL VIT! ELVIVA! "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death." (Revelation 1:18).

"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).





Larry Chkoreff - November, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.





Nehemiah Tape 7

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.

The role of angels.





The enemy continues to be persistent with his attacks with a view to thwart the rebuilding of our personalities, but the Holy Spirit engages angels to help with His work. "Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word" (Psalms 103:20).

The enemy does not give up easily! He comes back time and time again, using different strategies to wear us out. We have seen his attacks in past lessons and chapters, but here he comes again with confusion.

Nehemiah 4:7,8: "Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion."

Nehemiah 4:11: "And our adversaries said, 'They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease.'"

The enemy claimed that the Jews would not know how their work was being destroyed. Satan feels that he works underground and without being seen.

Nehemiah 4:12: "So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, 'From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.'" The adversary would say every day "We are going to stop you!" On the way home from work they would hear this enemy speak antagonistically. "We see the broken parts of the wall; the gates are not up yet, we will come over the unfinished parts of the wall."

Nehemiah 4:13: "Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows." The Holy Spirit Himself will be our defender. The power to win the battle is not ours, our job is simply to stand. The Holy Spirit would say, "Be not afraid of them, the Lord is great and terrible, fight for your families, but use the sword which is the Word of God."

Nehemiah 4:14: "And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses." When you come under attack from the devil, the Lord can get mighty mean.

"The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Nehemiah 4:15-18: "And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me."

They held weapons and built at the same time. Notice the builders used swords and the trumpet. There is a supposition that the others who were using spears and bows were angels. The Holy Spirit comes with angels and powerful resources.

Nehemiah called for unity and fellowship again to battle the enemy's advance.

Nehemiah 4:19,20. "Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, 'The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us."

We need to wear out the enemy. His strategy is to wear us out, but if we have the resolve shown by these believers we will wear out the enemy. "So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing" (Nehemiah 4:23). Perhaps if we knew about God's resources here on earth we would have more faith to stand on the Word with patience. In this lesson we are emphasizing angels. We need to realize that we have a mighty force of combatants acting on our behalf.

Lord open our eyes! Help us to see more than we can realize.

"And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:15-17).

In Acts 5 the apostles were thrown in prison but the angel let them out. "and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said" (Acts 5:18,19).

"And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly!' And his chains fell off his hands" (Acts 12:6,7).

The people in the New Testament church were accustomed to the ministry of angels. Rhoda opened the gate for Peter after his release and in her joy ran to tell the others in the prayer meeting that Peter was at the gate.

"But they said to her, 'You are beside yourself!' Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, 'It is his angel'" (Acts 12:15).

Stephen's face was as an angel. Had they seen angels?

"And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel" (Acts 6:15). Had these people seen enough angels to even make such a statement? There are times when we feel like we would fail, when we loose heart and even physical strength, when "something" perhaps angels have strengthened us. There have been times in our lives when supernatural events have taken place when the only rational explanation was the intervention of angels. One of our children actually had a physical manifestation of an angel in our house when we were 2,000 miles away praying Psalms 91 which says, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Psalms 91:11,12).

We need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and provide the weapon of the Word.

"Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me" (Nehemiah 4:17,18). What weapon can we hold? The Word. What are some of the practical ways of using the Word? This is a subject too lengthy to discuss here, but here is a summary that helps me. It deals with three main issues:

1. His Cross. What Jesus did for us at the Cross. This includes seeking the Word to acquire our true identity in Christ, and for listening to His promises for us.



2. Our cross. Seek the Word to discover those disciplines we need for walking out our life in godliness, i.e., taking up our cross in order to obey His commands. When we fall short of course, His grace and His power kicks in.



3. Proclaiming the Word in spiritual warfare against the enemy.



They labored together.

Here again, as we discussed about Nehemiah chapter three, we see the importance of close fellowship among believers. Jesus does not expect us to be loners. Just this week, as I am writing this outline, the Lord brought several situations into our lives where we witnessed the work of God through the fellowship of His people. "Christian activity and theology are always spoken of in collective figure - Christians are 'fellow citizens,' 'members of the household of God,' a 'priesthood,' a 'nation,' a 'flock,' a 'fellowship,' 'members of the Body,' or 'the church which is at -.'"

"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25).

They went home after work everyday, and got discouraged.

By the worker's interaction with the world, they continued to feel beaten down and became discouraged. Nehemiah finally told them to move into the inside of the city.

We are not to become isolated from the world, but insulated from its influence. We can begin to live in the spiritual world, in our newly found sound mindedness. We don't move out of the physical world, but we move our minds and souls out of the world and into Zion, or the Kingdom of God. Then the harassment of enemy can be overcome.



Larry Chkoreff - November, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.









Nehemiah Tape 8

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.

The gates represent authority.



The wall is finished, but what about the gates?

Chapter 6 of Nehemiah takes place when the walls are finished but the gates are not yet rebuilt. The primary emphasis in this chapter is how the enemy, Sanballat in their case Satan and his army in our case, goes to extreme means to come against rebuilding our gates, or our authority.

Gates represent authority.

Gates always stand for authority. In Eden, after the fall of man, angels guarded the gates to the Tree of Life. Authority infers "right" to something. Like the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. In Revelation chapter 21 there is a picture of twelve gates through which only the righteous enter in. They drink of the stream and eat of the Tree of Life. This is the reversal of the curse back in Genesis when the gates to the Tree of Life were closed to man.

In Hebrew Scripture and history, gates represented much more than a door that swung on hinges. They were the place of commerce and government of the culture. They had rooms and offices. It would be like combining city hall and the major office building in a major city.

In Genesis chapter 23 Abraham was seeking to purchase a tomb for Sarah. He went to the gates of the city to make the deal (23:10,18). In Ruth chapter 4 Boaz goes to the gate of the city in order to confirm his right to marry Ruth. It was like a civil court proceeding. This depicted the right of entry and authority.

Nehemiah's people were going between home and work by going back and forth through the breaches in the wall. However under the best of circumstances we are supposed to go through the gates, those areas of authority. The Lord defended them when they went back and forth in the broken places in the wall. Now it was time to use the ordained method of passage, the gates. God has a mission to rebuild authority in our lives in many ways.

In Nehemiah chapter 3 all the gates are listed and named; there are10 gates. Ten stands for human government. Twelve stands for God's government, the Kingdom of God.



Here comes the enemy again.

In previous chapters they sustained the words of the enemy, overcame the weariness caused by the enemy, now we see the wiles of the enemy. He often uses fear as he did in this case. The entire Kingdom of God is based upon authority. Everything God does has authority as an underlying principle. That is why Satan is so intent upon attacking proper authority. Many believers do not walk in overcoming power because they do not understand authority and its multi-faceted aspects.

"Now it happened when Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall, and that there were no breaks left in it (though at that time I had not hung the doors in the gates), that Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, 'Come, let us meet together among the villages in the plain of Ono.' But they thought to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?' But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner.

Then Sanballat sent his servant to me as before, the fifth time, with an open letter in his hand. In it was written: It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumors, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king. And you have also appointed prophets to proclaim concerning you at Jerusalem, saying, 'There is a king in Judah!' Now these matters will be reported to the king. So come, therefore, and let us consult together.

Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.' For they all were trying to make us afraid, saying, 'Their hands will be weakened in the work, and it will not be done.' Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands" (Nehemiah 6:1-9).

The wiles of the enemy are going to come against us. This is when the Holy Spirit gives us the grace to fight for us when we are weak. However we must cooperate and give the Holy Spirit the resources that He needs from us. What are they? In this lesson we are going to focus on respect for authority and forgiveness.

Satan sent a letter. Nehemiah answered.

"So I sent messengers to them, saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?" (Nehemiah 6:3).

"But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner" (Nehemiah 6:4). Sanballat didn't give up quickly. He sent a fifth letter (verse 5-8). In this letter he beseeched Nehemiah to consult with him and reason with him. Do not let carnal reasoning get in the way of the Holy Spirit's voice!

Satan is a liar.

Nehemiah answered as we should, "Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart'" (Nehemiah 6:8).

Satan uses people in the church.

He sent secret informers and false prophets to meet Nehemiah in an attempt to deceive and cause fear. The Holy Spirit can protect you in this area.

Nehemiah said, "Then I perceived that God had not sent him at all, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. For this reason he was hired, that I should be afraid and act that way and sin, so that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat, according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid" (Nehemiah 6:12-14).

My wife and I have had several encounters with such people within the church community. This is real!

Why is Satan making all the fuss about authority?

It is because if believers do not understand and respect authority, God is limited in their lives. Notice the Centurion in Matthew chapter 8. He stated that he was a man under authority, and had been entrusted with authority over others. He told Jesus that he respected the authority of His Word so much that he would believe whatever Jesus said in order to have his servant healed. Jesus marvelled and called this "Great faith." The servant was healed. The centurion had submitted his life to all delegated authorities, and he was loving those under his authority.

Adam and Eve were looking for freedom when they attempted to become independent of authority, and the result was just the opposite, they went into satanic bondage. The only way to be really free is to be totally under God's authority and respect and honor his appointed earthly authorities.

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom; not a republic or a democracy as so many in the Western culture are exposed to. A kingdom is ruled by a king, period! Thankfully our king is in love with us and wants to care for us.

This is a big deal to God! I guarantee you that this "law of authority" will work for and against you!



Authority applies three ways.



First we must learn to be under authority.

We submit to God's authority through the delegated authorities that God gives us and through the Word and the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul (Saul) obtained a real vision of authority when He was slain by the light of Jesus on his way to Damascus.

"As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So he, trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, what do You want me to do?' Then the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.' And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus." (Acts 9:3-8)..

Notice Saul said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" I pray that the light of the Glorious Jesus slay you and that you would say the same thing!

Many do not understand delegated authority. God delegates humans to be in authority here on earth. His power and Kingdom is so keenly based upon authority that He even honors evil authority, to a point of course. We are to respect and submit to our governmental leaders, our law enforcement servants, our teachers, parents, bosses at work, our pastors, wives and husbands, and the list goes on.

When we violate these authorities, we are dishonoring God and disobeying Him. His response is not always immediate, but we can see His how He feels about it in an exemplary way. In Numbers chapter 12 Miriam became leprous when she came against Moses.

Look how the Lord felt when the people murmured against Moses and Aaron. "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.' And they fell on their faces" (Numbers 16:44,45). A horrible plague followed.

When Korah came against Moses in Numbers chapter 18 the Lord opened up a hole in the earth and swallowed up Korah and his group. "'But if the LORD creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the LORD.' Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly" (Numbers 16:30-33).

Second, the authority in our soul is restored.

The Holy Spirit wants to rebuild your internal authority. He does not want life, circumstances, other people, and demonic forces to run over your rubble and through your broken gates. He wants the Kingdom of God to be established as your gates so that you can be a whole person, no longer subject to the penetration of unauthorized attacks. Will attacks come? Yes. However when your gates are standing, that cannot harm you. They may hurt, but hurt and harm and not the same.

Third, we take authority over Satan's realm.

After restoration, we go out to battle to take the enemies gates. Now we storm the enemy's gates instead of him always storming ours.

We will receive the keys of the Kingdom. When our soul authority is restored and we submit to proper authorities, we take the gates of the enemy. We are blessed to be a blessing. The gates of Hell will not prevail. The government is restored to humans. Not only for their own souls, but also for all the Kingdoms of the earth, as Jesus was tempted with in Luke 4.

Peter learned about submitting to authority, and how the result was the Keys to the Kingdom.

"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (Matthew 16:16). Peter received a supernatural revelation of who Jesus was. He knew to bow his knee to this Christ!

Jesus replied, "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:18,19).

The "rock" was the revelation of who Jesus was, the revealed Word, and a mere man submitted to Him. The result is that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against this package, i.e., a revelation of who Jesus is, and our obedience and submission to Him.

When our internal gates are restored, when we are submitted to God's Word, the voice of the Holy Spirit and God's delegated authorities, then we can be used by God to take ground from the kingdom of darkness for the Kingdom of God.

In Genesis 22 Abraham was promised that the messiah would posses the gates of His enemies. "and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son -- "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies" (Genesis 22:16,17).

God wants His people to represent Him in taking ground from Satan. This can only be done by God's anointing, or His power working through us. He will entrust that authority to us when we cooperate with Him in those practical areas of our lives.



Forgive as you have been forgiven.

Nehemiah chapter 5 shows another area that the Holy Spirit wants to work on in our lives. It has to do with becoming impoverished by unforgiveness. The text speaks about actual debt and property, but the application is definitely spiritual. The people became their own worst enemies. They became indebted to one another.

"And there was a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brethren. For there were those who said, 'We, our sons, and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain, that we may eat and live.' There were also some who said, 'We have mortgaged our lands and vineyards and houses, that we might buy grain because of the famine'" (Nehemiah 5:1-3).

Forgiveness sets you free. Unforgiveness keeps you in prison.

Unforgiveness gives license to demons to act in your life and to keep you impoverished, spirit, soul, body, and circumstances.

Most believers are aware of forgiving for major issues, but are you exacting of others repayment for offenses and misunderstandings?

To forgive does not mean to excuse. The Greek word for forgive means to cut away, as in a surgery, it even infers death. The only way for a human to truly forgive is to cut the sin off of the offender and put it on Jesus. He bore everybody's sin, that is the only place it can go without harming another human.

It is not an emotional act, it is a faith act. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

Receiving forgiveness and forgiving others will make you free!

"Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them. So they said, 'We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.' Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise. Then I shook out the fold of my garment and said, 'So may God shake out each man from his house, and from his property, who does not perform this promise. Even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.' And all the assembly said, 'Amen!' and praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise" (Nehemiah 5:11-13).



Larry Chkoreff - November, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.





Nehemiah Tape 9

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.

Learning to receive the Word of God.

Receiving God's Word without condemnation



As we have seen in the past eight lessons, the walls have been rebuilt, and the gates have been established. Our soul is becoming whole and our authority is re-established. The Lord wants to continue the process of restoring our soul. "He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake." (Psalms 23:3).

Chapter 8 of Nehemiah shows how the Holy Spirit is not finished with us, in fact never finished with us in the rebuilding process. He is the interpreter of the Word of God and He knows that the Word is needed for the rest of our lives. We can never sit back and say, "I know what the Bible says, I don't need to read it any more. Don't tell me I need to be in the Word, I don't have time." This chapter makes it clear that we not only need the Word, but we need it in its proper revelation for which it was meant, and only the Holy Spirit can do that.

We never rise to the point where we do not need the Word.

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8,).

"But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night" (Psalms 1:2). I don't care how much you know the Bible, it is not the Bible we need to read, rather we need to expose ourselves to the living Word of God through the Bible, Jesus Himself. We need to constantly be listening to Him. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When we allow God to speak to us through His Word, our lives will come closer to being fulfilled and made whole.



We need constant exposure to the Word.

The truth makes us free, and it keeps us free!

Ezra teaches the Word in this chapter. The name Ezra means aid, a helper, another picture of the Holy Spirit. He leads people to the Word of God and he helps them understand it.

The emphasis on this chapter is not only that we need the Word, but from the typology, to learn that we need to receive the Word in a positive edifying way. These people had not heard the Word for years, and their first response was condemnation. Notice how Ezra corrects them and tells them to look at the Word with joy. Then he tells them, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

Lets read Nehemiah chapter 8.

"1 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel.

2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month.

3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up.

6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. Then all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

7 Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law; and the people stood in their place.

8 So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

9 And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep." For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.



Ezra was in effect saying, "Stop it you don't understand the point of the Word."



10 Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, "Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved."

12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them.

13 Now on the second day the heads of the fathers' houses of all the people, with the priests and Levites, were gathered to Ezra the scribe, in order to understand the words of the Law.

14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths [tents or tabernacle], as it is written."

16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate of Ephraim.

17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.

18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner."

Nehemiah 8:1-18, NKJV.

The Word can be misunderstood when filtered through the wrong mindset.

These people had not heard the Word for years. Their first response was, verse 9, "they all wept." Perhaps their slavery mindset was translating the Word into condemnation. So many believers do not enjoy the Word, nor is it beneficial to them, because they always interpret it with condemnation, misjudging the character of God.

We need a positive frame of mind when we approach the Word. The Lord wants His word to be joyful nourishment and joyful encouragement.

The Word does bring reproof and correction. But Satan can paralyze us with condemnation.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16,17). The emphasis is for equipping us for every good work.

Don't be so proud to think that you don't need correction.

Be humble and meek about being corrected. Don't get defensive. Chastisement comes because we are children, but He does it with arms of love. Many of us have insecurity because we are craving acceptance. It is because they have never been disciplined. Discipline shows love, not rejection.

We desperately need those things, not for condemnation, but for safe keeping and growth. If I tell my child to "Get out of the street, now!" it is for his/her safety because I can see the truck coming at 80 miles per hour. The light is there not for condemnation, but for edification. Our old nature is just a negative sort of thing. The flesh is always subject to making us feel like worms.

When the Word does bring discipline, correction or reproof, it is to remove the stain, not with your tears and remorse, but by the blood of Jesus. That is a reason to praise. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). We do need to continually confess our sin. But when we do it is removed.

God is for you, not against you!

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:1-3).

The remedy is to understand Sit, Walk, and Stand.

When you read the Walk Scriptures, you can come under condemnation if you don't first understand the Sit Scriptures. I remember struggling with this in my early years as a believer. I kept hearing that we are saved by grace, then I would read instructions in the Epistles about doing this and doing that or you would not enter into the Kingdom of God. I really agonized with God about the truth of the matter. I was not looking for an excuse to sin. I was honestly looking for the best way to please God, and to understand His mind.

Through my agony and searching the Scriptures and the heart of God, He finally gave me relief and balanced understanding. I have taken that understanding and have included it in several discipleship books which I feel have helped many other people in their walk with the Lord.

We need to see the application of the Word in three ways.

These three ways are a theme throughout the entire Bible and are not just taken from a few sample verses. While I cannot give the exhaustive study here, it is available in some of my other writings.

1. Sit. This represents His Cross. Ephesians 2:6 tells us what our position is in Christ. That entire portion of Scripture tells us that we are saved by grace, by what Jesus unilaterally did on the Cross and the resurrection. It also tells us that as believers what our new identity is and what our position is in Christ. "and [He] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). We are now sitting with Him in the heavenlies. That is who we are. We are new creatures in Christ. No performance or legalism can add or subtract from that.

We should be continually renewing our mind to this truth. In addition, as we read the Scriptures we should always be on the lookout for God speaking His promises to us. His promises enter our hearts as a seed (Mark 4), and as they take root and grow they accomplish God's purposes for us in our lives. This glorifies Him.

2. Walk. This represents our cross. "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called" (Ephesians 4:1). Now that we have a new nature, we need to cooperate with that nature to passionately push in with our responsibility. If we really have been born again, our passion should be to please Him and take up our cross. The blood covenant is of little effect in our lives if there is only blood shed on one side, we must take up our cross, the cross which denies our old nature and conforms to the new one. However, even this "walking" is of grace. We are given the grace to confess our sins and allow the life of Jesus to be lived out through our lives. We cannot be perfect, but we can be perfectly honest and repentant!

3. Stand. "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness" (Ephesians 6:14). We are in a spiritual war with satanic forces, and our only offensive weapon is the utilization of the Word of God against Him. We are to take in the Word to such a degree that it comes out of our mouth as a sword against the enemy so that we may stand while the victory is on its way.

Change your perspective!

"And Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, 'This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep.' For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law. Then he said to them, 'Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength'" (Nehemiah 8:9,10).



The joy of the Lord should come through hearing the Word.



Finally, they understood!

"And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them" (Nehemiah 8:12).

This is the Gospel! You are free. Your sins have been covered. Now walk in His strength and the Word of His promise.



Isaiah chapter 40 is the turning point of the book. The book of Isaiah has been said to be a micro image of the entire Bible, having 66 chapters, 39 of which represent judgement, or the Old Testament, and 27 representing the New Testament good news, the Gospel. Isaiah chapter 40 is the first chapter representing the New Testament. Notice how it is packed with good news!

"'Comfort, yes, comfort My people!' Says your God. 'Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, That her warfare is ended, That her iniquity is pardoned; For she has received from the LORD'S hand Double for all her sins.' The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken'" (Isaiah 40:1-5).



We are partakers of the divine nature through the promises in the Word of God. This is cause to rejoice!

The Word is given to us to give us joy and the nature of God. "by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." (2 Peter 1:4).

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4).

"---Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8: 10).





Larry Chkoreff - November, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.









Nehemiah Tape 10

Study notes for "Restoring Wholeness to the Personality.



The walls and gates have been finished, Nehemiah had gone back to Shushan, and when he returned he found that the Hebrews had compromised many things.

He might have said, "The reason this place has been in rubble is because of what you are doing now. We just cleaned up two generations of this mess, and now you are at it again!"

This shows that the Holy Spirit will not simply give up on us when we fall into error and when we begin to mix with the world. He can get violent!



God wants us to live a separated life. He will correct and discipline us. But don't misunderstand His personality.

People can misunderstand God's personality from two extremes. They can avoid Him because they just don't want to feel condemned for not being perfect. They feel that "God understands their weakness." Be sure that He does understand, and that He lovingly comes to correct and guide us to higher places at the same time. His correction and discipline does not come with a hand of condemnation.

You can handle the Holy Spirit's chastisement once you know the personality of God, that is not condemning but is showing you that by His power you may avoid creating new rubble in your life.

Believers can miss it by going to two extremes: Legalism/performance on the one hand, and false grace on the other. Legalism will put you under a curse, false grace will make you a slave to sin. You will be a prisoner either way. The truth is that God lives in you, Christ in you the hope of glory. Meditate on Galatians 2:20 and Romans chapter 6 until you really see, with the eyes of your heart that you are dead and Christ lives in you. This will transform your life to one of constant fellowship with the Lord, rest, peace, and the absence of fear. Faith will fill your heart as you hear God inside of you speak from the Scriptures.

God wants us to grow in holiness and sanctification.

Once you understand His grace, His mercy, His mind, and His desire to move you on further, you can accept correction with gladness.

You have no fear that if you mess up you might backslide or end up in Hell, but just a good Father trying to give His best to the child He loves. You understand that His love is intense and that His love casts out all fear. You are becoming more and more in love with Him as you understand from day to day in your walk with Him just how much more He loves you than you could ever imagine.



Ephesians chapter 3 says it well in the Amplified version.

Ephesians 3:

14 For this reason seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named that Father

from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name.

16 May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

17 May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

19 That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

20 Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]--



You can really see and feel the difference when you encounter a believer who has this mindset.

"You brought me to you, you are recovering my personality, now you are putting me together, now Lord, in the level of my daily walk and talk, including my health, I want to possess it all, and at times there are things that would cause me suffering and sickness. We are now going to possess it all. We are going to possess the land. We want to be sanctified in You. We want nothing left of our old personality. We want Your holiness prevalent in us. We are going to reach out. We have been blessed to be a blessing. In the meantime we want to press in and have our total lives glorify you, body, soul, spirit, health, relationships, etc. The clock is ticking, we want to redeem the time, making the most of every day for your glory oh Lord. We don't want to build our mansion here on earth where moth and rust corrupts, but we want to store up treasures in Heaven.



Their prayer of contrition. Continual confession of their need for God.

Here they demonstrated a good understanding of God's character and an openness to repent and be honest.

""Now therefore, our God, The great, the mighty, and awesome God, Who keeps covenant and mercy: Do not let all the trouble seem small before You That has come upon us, Our kings and our princes, Our priests and our prophets, Our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day. However You are just in all that has befallen us; For You have dealt faithfully, But we have done wickedly. Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them. For they have not served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things that You gave them, Or in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from their wicked works. "Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it! And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress. "And because of all this, We make a sure covenant, and write it; our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it."" Nehemiah 9:32-38, NKJV.



God wants to make you independent, not of God or of other believers, but now dependent upon things that are not of God, idols, control, manipulation. God wants you to know who you are.



They had given place to the devil.

"nor give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4:27).

Here are the main things that Nehemiah points out in this chapter.

1. Instead of affecting the unbelievers, they allowed the world to influence them.

2. Idols, unbelief. Anything or anybody that you trust in for your basic needs in life is an idol! The big three needs are love, security, and significance.

3. Language. Don't forsake the language of the Holy Spirit.

4. Tithe. Covered below.

5. Sabbath. Covered below.

6. Allowing the enemy to influence their holy place. Our churches and fellowship groups can easily be invaded by and therefore neutralized by the enemy.



Nehemiah chapter 13

"4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, having authority over the storerooms of the house of our God, was allied with Tobiah.

5 And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.

6 But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king,

7 and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God.

8 And it grieved me bitterly; therefore I threw all the household goods of Tobiah out of the room.

He throws out the things that Tobiah put in. Violent. We need to be violent spiritually.



9 Then I commanded them to cleanse the rooms; and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God, with the grain offering and the frankincense.

10 I also realized that the portions for the Levites had not been given them; for each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to his field.



They had stopped giving. Tithing.

Can you trust Him, the One who died for you? Will you obey His simple commands. Tithing, in my opinion, is not primarily to fund the church and its operations. That is part of it. However it is primarily to bless you, the tither. Money and the world's monetary system is basically corrupt, however we must use it while we are ambassadors here on earth. God has given us a way to bless our money, even in its corruptness. The Lord had the Israelites tithe as a way to bless the 90% that was remaining. The first fruits were sacrificed so that the remaining funds would be free from Satan. If you want your finances to be out of the hands of Satan and under the control of God, tithe, and give above your tithe. The tithe actually belongs to God, it is not giving therefore. You are only returning the tithe to God who owns it anyway. It is His. When you give above your tithe, 10%, then you are really giving.



11 So I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and set them in their place.

12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse.

13 And I appointed as treasurers over the storehouse Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and of the Levites, Pedaiah; and next to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered faithful, and their task was to distribute to their brethren.

14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for its services!



Sabbath forsaken. The Sabbath, the Lord's rest.

Can you trust jumping off of the cliff into His arms?

In the Old Testament the Sabbath was expressed as a day of rest, or in the case of the farm land, a year of rest. Eventually Israel went into captivity to Babylon for 70 years, the exact number of years that they had ignored the year of the Sabbath for their crops. Land needs to rest from producing crops every seven years; that is a law of nature established by God. Our bodies are made from the earth as well, therefore we need to rest physically and emotionally one out of every seven days.

In the New Testament the Sabbath is entirely different, and is not legalistic at all. While we are still to rest our bodies one out of seven days, there is more. There is a spiritual Sabbath. If you look at Hebrews chapter 3 it is clear that we are to enter into rest from the works of our flesh by faith in the Word of God. The Word says that we are able to rest because the works of God for us have already been completed from the foundation of the earth.

"For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3).

"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words, Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 58:13,14).



15 In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.

16 Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.



17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, "What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day?

18 "Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."



19 So it was, at the gates of Jerusalem, as it began to be dark before the Sabbath, that I commanded the gates to be shut, and charged that they must not be opened till after the Sabbath. Then I posted some of my servants at the gates, so that no burdens would be brought in on the Sabbath day.

20 Now the merchants and sellers of all kinds of wares lodged outside Jerusalem once or twice.

21 Then I warned them, and said to them, "Why do you spend the night around the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you!" From that time on they came no more on the Sabbath.

22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.

Living Bible

"I punched a few of them and knocked them around and pulled our their hair.

They vowed before God that they would not let their children intermarry any more."



26 "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.

27 "Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?"

28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.

29 Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.

30 Thus I cleansed them of everything pagan. I also assigned duties to the priests and the Levites, each to his service"

(Nehemiah 13:4-30).

Larry Chkoreff - December, 2002

Many portions of this lesson are taken from the audio tape series by Pastor Jack Hayford, Restoring Wholeness to the Personality. Living Way Ministries, Van Nuys, CA. (800) 776-8180.

However, the author wants to point out that a great deal of the content herein has been written for a Bible class and does not necessarily represent the opinion or teachings of Pastor Jack Hayford.