1. Homeland Security

2. Have you ever struggled with feelings that your life is not worthwhile
Have you ever struggled with feelings that your life is not worthwhile? Do you think, “What am I accomplishing that really matters? How can I spend my life so that it counts for something worthwhile?”

4. All
I am and have is yours

5. What good are shiny new gates

6. Nehemiah 7:1-3 7 Later, when the wall was completed and the doors had finally been set in their places, the temple gatekeepers were appointed to protect the city with the help of the singers and the Levites. 2 I placed Hanani, my brother, in charge of Jerusalem, along with Hananiah, the captain of the fortress. Hanani was honest and faithful, and in the fear of God he surpassed most men. 3 I commissioned these two men. Nehemiah: Do not open the gates of Jerusalem while the sun is fully risen; make sure you close and secure the gates, and the gatekeepers will still watch over them. As for the guards, get men who live within Jerusalem. Have some stand watch at the regular stations and have those whose houses abut the city wall stand guard in front of their homes.

9. Great wall of china

10. Nehemiah understood the importance of guarding what was God’s and God’s work. What can Christians learn from this same rationale?

11. We are God’s. Romans 14:8 (VOICE) 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord. If we die, we die for the Lord. So in both life and death, we belong to the Lord.

12. When we are saved, God begins a good work within us
When we are saved, God begins a good work within us. Philippians 1:6 (NLT) 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Therefore, we must guard what is God’s and God’s work. We are gatekeepers, and therefore we decide who or what gets in and who or what gets out.

13. Spiritual application: Don't leave any gate unguarded
Spiritual application: Don't leave any gate unguarded. Guard the gates of your heart. Guard your eye gate, your ear gate, your mouth gate. Don't allow the enemy to penetrate the gate!

14. King Solomon said it best: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Why is the heart so important?

15. Mark 7: And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

16. Why is it important to guard the heart
Why is it important to guard the heart? The Lord looks at and searches the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 …People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Jeremiah 17: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

21. Ephesians 5:18-20 …be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

26. Nehemiah also appointed godly men to govern Jerusalem -- Hanani his brother, and another man named Hananiah. Why did God choose these 2 men? What qualities did they possess?

27. Faithfulness is the #1 quality for any servant of God.
1 Corinthians 4:2
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

28. Ecclesiastes 9:10 10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might...

29. What are some ways we can develop

31. John Knox

33. 5 It was at that time that God inspired me to gather those people who were in the city. I called the nobles, the officials of the city, and the common folk. I had found the genealogical record of those who had been the first to return to Jerusalem; this is what the record showed:

34. 6 A list of the Jews exiled under Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, living in the province of Jerusalem who returned from captivity in Babylon. They came back to Jerusalem and other towns around Judah, each returning to his home. 7 They were the first to journey back, following the leadership of Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, and Baanah. The men of the population of Israel, listed by their family of origin— 8 Parosh’s descendants: 2,172

35. 4 While Jerusalem was large and open, its population was still very small. In fact, no homes had yet been rebuilt, and without people it seemed empty.

37. Are you simply coasting along on the service of others
Are you simply coasting along on the service of others? Or, are you actively serving God with the gifts and abilities He has entrusted to you – for the good of God’s people and for the sake of His glory?

39. Live to the hilt every moment you believe to be the will of God.

40. References Counting for God – Stephen Cole Homeland Security – Jay Patton It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over -- Jay Patton Life Inside the Wall – Jerry Shirley