Victory Every Day in Every Way: Kingdom Living According to Nehemiah the Governor

By Clarence Washington Sr.

How much of the awesomely abundant life that Christ died to provide for believers do you want—a little bit, a lot, or all of it? If your answer is "all of it," then Victory Every Day in Every Way was specifically written for you! This book will guide you on a journey from the outhouse to the penthouse or from wherever you are in life to where God wants you to be. God wants all believers to be victorious in everything we do, wherever we go, and for however long we stay.

This book explores the foolproof plan for kingdom living that God revealed to Nehemiah the governor. The plan is centered around the very difficult task of building a wall of protection around Jerusalem for the establishment of an uninterrupted victorious lifestyle for his people. This plan worked for Nehemiah and the Jews. It will therefore work for you! For God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512786576

Clarence Washington Sr.

Clarence Washington Sr. is a graduate of Luther Rice Seminary, with a Bachelor of Arts in biblical studies, and has completed several graduate courses toward a Master of Arts. He also graduated from DeVry Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois (his hometown), and has thirty years of experience in engineering and science. He has served as the senior pastor of Abundant Life Community Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for more than twenty-two years. He is also the author of Tools for Effective Prayer: The Mechanics, Dynamics, and Contents of Prayer and Victory Every Day in Every Way: Kingdom Living According to Nehemiah the Governor.

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WestBow Press rev. date: 11/13/2018

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible

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Scripture taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Contents

Dedication

Foreword by Pastor Eric Villanueva

Preface

Introduction: Is it Possible to Possess and Enjoy Victory in Every Issue of Life?

Phase 1:   Starting the Journey to Victory Every Day in Every Way

Chapter 1:     Starting Is the Hardest Part of the Journey.

Hate Your Present Condition

Confess Your Sins and Shortcomings

Pray and Listen for Instructions for Starting the Journey to Victory

Wait Patiently for the Burden to Take Your Life to a Higher Level

Chapter 2:     Examine Your Life and Make a FACTS List

A New Level Means a New Devil

Frequent Actions Causing Troublesome Situations—FACTS

Denial Is Demonic Darkness Designed by Satan to Keep You in Bondage

Don’t Tell Everybody Everything God Tells You!

Chapter 3:   Be Determined to Never Ever Give Up.

A Higher Level of Opposition Requires a Higher Level of Determination

Know When Your Enemy Takes His Opposition to a Higher Level

Beware of the Double Whammy

Phase 1 Summary

Phase 2:   Preparing and Getting Ready for Victory Every Day in Every Way

Chapter 4:     Watch, Pray, Work, and Fight.

Preparing and Getting Ready to Fight the Enemy

Step 1: The Habit of Daily Watching and Praying

Step 2: The Habit of Daily Putting on the Whole Armor of God

Step 3: The Habit of Daily Having the Right Attitude for a Great Fight

Chapter 5:   Christ’s Victory Is Your Victory

Chapter 6:   There Is Victory in the Belt of Truth.

Chapter 7:   There Is Victory in the Breastplate of Righteousness.

Victory in Imputed Righteousness

Victory in Imparted Righteousness

Chapter 8:   There Is Victory in the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace.

Chapter 9:   There Is Victory in the Shield of Faith.

Chapter 10:   There Is Victory in the Helmet of Salvation.

Victory in the Present Experience of the Assurance of Your Salvation

Victory in the Hope of the Future Experience of Your Final Salvation

Chapter 11:   There Is Victory in the Sword of the Spirit.

Phase 2 Summary

Phase 3:   Executing the Divine Strategy for Maintaining Victory Every Day in Every Way

Chapter 12:   The Divine Strategy for Victory.

Chapter 13:   The Power of Unity for Maintaining the Divine Strategy for Victory.

General Principles of Unity for Daily Living

A Specific Principle of Unity for a Complex Issue of Life

Chapter 14:   The Power of Following Spiritual Leadership for Maintaining the Divine Strategy for Victory.

The Victory-Producing Dynamics of Benevolent Spiritual Leadership

The Victim-Producing Dynamics of Malevolent Spiritual Leadership

Chapter 15:   The Power of Persistence for Maintaining the Divine Strategy for Victory.

Chapter 16:   The Power of Forgiveness for Maintaining the Divine Strategy for Victory

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Forgiving Everybody of Everything

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Giving and Receiving Forgiveness to Set People Free

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Letting Go of Your Worldly Guilt

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Letting Go of Your Shame

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Letting Go of Your Anger

Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Breaking Free From Pornography and Sexual Addictions

Chapter 17:   Total Surrender—the Key to Never-Ending Victory

Total Surrender Through Prayer

Mechanics of Prayer

The Dynamics of Prayer

The Contents of Prayer

Total Surrender Through Worship

Phase 3 Summary

Conclusion

Appendixes

Mile Markers on the Journey to Victory Every Day in Every Way

Facts List #1: Inventory of Hurts, Wounds, &:   Traumatic Events

Facts List #2: Inventory of Hang-ups, Bad Habits, & Compulsive Behavior

Facts List #3: Inventory of Good Deeds &:   Accomplishments

Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy

Books on the Character and Works of God

Daily Bible Reading Curriculum

Notes

List of Bible Versions Abbreviations

Dedication

To my wife Janice and my son Donald, I dedicate this book. They constantly encourage me to become all that God wants me to be. I also thank Jan for her help with constructive comments about the contents and for being such a willing, and sometimes unsuspecting, guinea pig that I stealthily use from time to time as a sounding board to test my thoughts about what I write. Also, Jan’s objective viewpoint of the text was an invaluable resource in the final editing process. And I thank my son Donald for his graphic design contributions for the front and back covers and the graphic images for the chapter and section divisions.

Without Jan and Donald’s joyful willingness to sacrifice some time that I should have spent with them so that I could write, and their continuous assurance that it was OK to do so—I could not have completed this book so expeditiously. They gave me the freedom to write without any sense of guilt. And for that I am most grateful! They are both in deed true warriors of the cross for Jesus Christ—dedicated to proclaiming the truth of God’s Word and living the victorious life that embracing truth provides.

Therefore, on behalf of the two Christian soldiers to whom I have dedicated this book, I included on the next page the poetic epigraph by the most notable William Cowper, entitled, Truth.

Truth

Man, on the dubious waves of error toss’d,

His ship half founder’d [sunk], and his compass lost,

See, far as human optics may command,

A sleeping fog, and fancies it dry land;

Spreads all his canvas, every sinew plies;

Pants for it, aims at it, enters it, and dies!

Then farewell all self-satisfying schemes,

His well-built systems, philosophic dreams;

Deceitful views of future bliss, farewell!

He reads his sentence at the flames of hell.

Hard lot of man—to toil for the reward

Of virtue, and yet lose it! Wherefore hard?—

He that would win the race must guide his horse

Obedient to the customs of the course;

Else, though unequall’d to the goal he flies,

A meaner than himself shall gain the prize.

Grace leads the right way: if you choose the wrong,

Take it and perish; but restrain your tongue;

Charge not, with light sufficient and left free,

Your willful suicide on God’s decree.

Oh, how unlike the complex works of man,

Heav’n’s easy, artless, unencumber’d plan!

No meretricious graces to beguile,

No clustering ornaments to clog the pile;

From ostentation, as from weakness, free,

It stands like the cerulian arch we see,

Majestic in its own simplicity.

Inscribed above the portal, from afar

Conspicuous as the brightness of a star,

Legible only by the light they give,

Stand the soul-quickening words—BELIEVE, AND LIVE.¹

Foreword by Pastor Eric Villanueva

Pastor Clarence Washington in his second book, Victory Every Day in Every Way makes the biblical book of Nehemiah become real for followers of Jesus Christ. Nehemiah faced the news of his ruined city, Jerusalem, feeling helpless with his city out of his reach and yet he cried desperately for God to fix it. His calling on God brought about his order from the king to go home and repair its wall. His leadership and tenacity to succeed among internal conspiracies, enemies outside the gate, and the need to constantly motivate struggling and weary workers lays the foundation. Pastor Washington teaches Christians to approach a disorderly life the way that Nehemiah faced a ruined city and know success, or victory. He lays a foundation in Phase 1 to start the journey, calling the reader to Hate Your Present Condition. Phase 2 takes deep, logical, biblical, and true demonstration of spiritual battle. In each step to fighting the spiritual conflict he closes the section with mile markers, closing phrases within a text box to let one know, the main point in that step to victory. Phase 3 is The Divine Strategy for Maintaining Victory…

Pastor Washington continued the style of his first book, Tools for Effective Prayer. Rather than describe the intensity and obligations of a Navy Seal prayer life, he pastored the reader to live a consistent and disciplined Christian life, praying unhindered. He shepherded his readers to get them where they want to be with God. In this his second book he also makes the reader feel that he is having a cup of coffee, or a visit to the pastoral office as he gives close and personal advice to a church member who wants to leave the frustrations of sins and lack of motivation behind and move on to Victory Every Day in Every Way.

Dr. Sam Hogan, pastor of Good Shepherd Church of God in Christ in Roxbury, Massachusetts taught preaching at Gordon-Conwell Seminary. He told us that in the African American preaching tradition, a sermon which finished with a strong message was when the preacher moved into third gear. Pastor Clarence Washington, in Victory Every Day in Every Way, screeches across the finish line at full speed, engine screaming. In Phase 3, The Power of Forgiveness for Maintaining the Divine Strategy for Victory, he makes it real. Guilt, and holding on to resentment from wounds and trauma without forgiveness are major factors holding people back from a free and joyful life trapping them in cycles of repeated sinful thinking and living. Without victory in forgiveness, so many deal with wounds and trauma in error. Too often wounded souls, seek comfort through porn and sexual addictions. They end up worse. He then lays out through facts, stats, anecdote, and an objective look at today’s society, the devastating effect of sexual sin, especially pornography upon relationships, health, loving, dignity, and productivity in our modern society and how it has invaded, infiltrated, and infected our evangelical churches. He leads the struggling soul into recognizing, I need help! and then into a new dimension of healthy spiritual, emotional, flesh and blood victory in daily living from holy scripture. Yes, his pastoral counsel points the way to biblical and real time freedom to live and love God’s way.

This book’s powerfully ending, the third gear seems like a grand slam in a world series or an unforgettable dessert after a wonderful meal, maybe a long touchdown pass in the last seconds of a game, or what Latins call, "mediacancha," a soccer goal from the middle of the field at the last second. He walks the reader out of these prisons and pastors the reader in his consultation.

So reading Victory Every Day in Every Way, isn’t like you’re just reading a book. You are in pastoral consultation, and the advice is laden with illustrations and examples like psychoheresy and how it leads sincere believers to fall for manipulative leadership such as happened with Jim Jones of People’s Temple in San Francisco, allowing me to see how to avoid danger and live biblically. All the while the reader receives a biblical exposition of the book of Nehemiah and deep insight into Nehemiah’s own personal struggles and victories.

Victory Every Day in Every Way makes disciples of Jesus by truth delivered in love from one who knows your pain and struggle as a follower of Jesus and a church member. The loving touch, human caring, and yet calling for change and repentance is biblical pastoring. Yet, the book doesn’t lack scholarly and technical excellence in bibliography, footnotes, and extensive relevant references. Rather than hard core discipline for the spiritual Navy Seals or a soft and cushy exchange between a grandfather God ready to dispense all the goodies, he pastors his reader into a relationship with God, their role in the church and the world, and all of the basic spiritual disciplines with help from a Jew named Nehemiah. My sincere prayer is that God would grant a vast audience to Pastor Washington’s books and that they’d challenge and soothe needy souls as he shepherds his readers into consistent prayer and victorious Christian life. IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.

Preface

Every problem in life is a wisdom problem! Or you could say that every problem in life is a painful difficulty that arises because of the improper application of the truth of Scripture. Along that same line of thought, every case of poverty can be traced back to a broken law of God. And so to go from the spiritual, emotional, and physical outhouse to the penthouse, you must know how to effectively execute God’s divine strategy for continuous—uninterrupted—victory. You must know how to effectively execute the divine strategy for kingdom living or victory every day in every way.

That is to say, you must know how to escape from the outhouse and remain in the penthouse spiritually, emotionally, and physically—day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out. You must know how to do this regardless of the inevitable troublesome issues of life. This book will show you how to employ the change-producing, Holy Spirit empowered forces to execute the divine strategy for victory to do that. Take note that what I am talking about here is not rocket science! Any believer can do it, once you know how. For this is what Jesus promised believers when He said the following two things:

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31–32)

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10, NKJV)

Therefore, in order to possess the abundant kingdom life, life to the fullest, or victory every day in every way—you must totally know, understand, and effectively execute the wisdom and divine strategy for victory that is recorded in Scripture. Victory every day in every way is not something that you can stumble into! It is rooted and grounded in a divine strategy that you must purposely execute. It must be executed like Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls basketball team executed the Triangle Offence and won six NBA Championships in seven years. You must execute the divine strategy with the kind of excellence with which Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packer football team executed blocking and tackling. Their excellent execution won them three straight and five total NFL Championships and two Super Bowls.

So what I am saying is that God has a strategy for victory that works every day in every way! It works and provides you with victory over anything that you could possibly face in life. It works all the time—if you execute it properly! And through the power of the Holy Spirit, this is not hard to do. Jesus said,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28–30)

This book, Victory Every Day in Every Way, will take you from wherever you are in life spiritually, emotionally, physically, and economically to where God wants you to be. And where God wants you to be is living life abundantly. Where God wants you to be is living life to the fullest, day in and day out—without any interruptions whatsoever in your peace, joy, and contentment.

You see, that’s what Jesus Christ died to provide for everyone who believes in Him while we are still living in our earthly bodies. Jesus said to comfort His disciples as He prepared to leave this earth and go to be with His heavenly Father,

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart [Be of good cheer (NKJV)]! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Now as I bring this prelude to encourage you to dig into the victory-producing principles that are presented in this book to a close, think about the following question: Why could James say so convincingly, Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds?

James could say this so convincingly, with so much confidence, because he knew without any doubt that the divine strategy for victory always works when you execute it properly! James knew that the divine strategy for victory for maintaining the promise made by Jesus of abundant living or victory every day in every way always works—regardless of what you might encounter in life when it is executed according to the Word of God.

So onward to the Introduction to take the next step in the journey to victory every day in every way! And may God bless you richly in unimaginable ways when you do this! Complete this journey and your life will never—ever—be the same again!

Introduction: Is it Possible to Possess and Enjoy Victory in Every Issue of Life?

The reason for writing this book is to help people to thoroughly know, understand, and then install into their lives the awesome plan that God has established for Christian believers. His plan is to provide continuous—unquestionable—success, prosperity, peace, and joy in every aspect of their lives. This is God’s promise to believers who are willing to follow His plan for kingdom living.

And so this book is for people who are experiencing some difficulty in making victory every day in every way a reality in their lives. It is for anyone who is struggling or undergoing some difficulty in finding the pathway to a victorious lifestyle or for people who are struggling to continuously walk in victory after you have found the path.

But also, this book is for people who yearn to be effective in helping others to make the transition from where they are in life to where God wants them to be. It is for pastors, teachers, friends, and family members who have a heart for helping others to start the journey to victory. It is for people who want to help others successfully maintain victory in the issues of life—day in and day out—year after year! Or you could say that this book is for people who want their lives (or to help others) to transition from being a thermometer to a thermostat.

In other words, this book is for you whose success, prosperity, peace, and joy is determined by the environment or happenstances of your life. But, you want your success, prosperity, peace, and joy to be permanently set on full or abundance. Now what about the contents of this book? How easy is the material to grasp and also to revisit for future refreshments on one’s journey to genuine kingdom living or uninterrupted victory?

This book contains an extensive table of contents; Mile Markers, upon which are written the important principles of the journey to victory; brief phase or section summaries; subject-author and Scripture indexes; and appendixes. Such a format promotes quick and easy access to the wisdom principles for a victorious lifestyle that is contained herein. Therefore, readers can effortlessly get back onboard and refresh their memories as they travel on their journey to victory every day in every way.

Mile Markers, for example, are located throughout the book as you proceed along the journey to victory. They are also listed in the Appendix in the back of the book. The Mile Markers are particularly useful as a reference to quickly refresh your memory with the goals that must be achieved to arrive at the destination of a continuous victorious lifestyle.

And so, memorizing the Mile Markers as you encounter them along the journey is greatly encouraged. Memorizing them will keep the details of each phase of your journey to victory fresh in your mind at all times. The Holy Spirit will use the memorized Mile Markers to help you stay on course when you are tempted to stray off and delay your journey.

As previously stated, God has a time-proven plan for taking His people from where we are in life to where He wants us to be. One of the numerous places in Scripture that the basic principle of God’s plan is recorded in the book of Joshua. When the Israelites were on the banks of the Jordan River, getting ready to cross over and take possession of the Promised Land, the LORD said to Moses,

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the

LORD

your God will be with you wherever you go. (Josh. 1:7–9)

In another very familiar Scripture that records God’s victorious plan for His people, the psalmist said,

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the

LORD

, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers….For the LORD

watches over the way [the lifestyle] of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction. (1:1–3, 6)

And so it is obvious that God has a plan that, when followed, He guarantees that it will make victory every day in every way a reality in your life. His plan will make you successful, prosperous, and contented every day in every way!

However, the problem is that people sometimes get stuck in the mud of life and then undergo an extremely difficult time getting unstuck. They keep getting stuck and then unstuck in what seems like a never-ending cycle. Or you could say that they get so far out into the deep waters of life that they just can’t quite swim back to the safety of the banks of the river that engulfed them. Before they can swim back to the safety of the river bank, the river rises to a higher level and sweeps them back out into deep water.

But, through the prophet Jeremiah, God in His infinite wisdom provided a word of encouragement for such people. During the time of Jeremiah, the Israelites of his day possessed this same kind of seesaw or roller coaster—up and down—spiritual instability in their lives. It got so bad that, finally, God exiled them from their homeland for seventy years. He did this to bring them back to their senses or to install a desire in them to worship Him only. The word of encouragement that was given to them is recorded as follows in Jeremiah 29:10–14:

When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good [gracious] promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.

And so within the context of Jeremiah 29:10–14, this book simply—but thoroughly—coaches a person on how to get unstuck from the mud of life. It coaches a person on how to swim out of the cyclic captivity of deep water. It instructs a person on how to get released or how to go from wherever you currently are in life to the promised position of victory every day in every way, which is where God wants you to be! It provides directions on how a person journeys from a current state of mediocrity or from a troublesome status in life to God’s purpose and plan for their continuous success, prosperity, peace, and joy. Now, what book of Scripture do you suppose can most effectively accomplish this? What book of the Bible is best qualified to instruct a believer on how to rise above whatever your status is in life and make this kind of uninterrupted victory a reality for you?

And the answer is—Nehemiah! This book, Victory Every Day in Every Way, is based on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah records three distinct phases of a tried-and-true process for installing God’s continuously victorious, divine purpose and plan into a person’s life. Those three phases of kingdom living according to Nehemiah the governor are the following: (1) Starting the Journey to Victory; (2) Preparing and Getting Ready for Victory; and (3) Executing the Divine Strategy for Maintaining Victory. Note that these are the three sections of the Table of Contents. So let’s dig deeper into the question—Why is Nehemiah such an appropriate book for learning how to possess and enjoy victory every day in every way?

To answer this question, it is necessary that I start by providing the following background and historical information for the book of Nehemiah. So, who wrote the book of Nehemiah? That’s a good place to start. The book of Nehemiah is believed to have been written by Ezra the priest; nonetheless, it is obvious that much of it was taken from Nehemiah’s personal diary.

And who was the man Nehemiah? He was a famous Jewish cupbearer (a food and wine taster) for the Persian king, Artaxerxes, after Judah’s seventy years of Babylonian captivity. But just as important, Nehemiah was a faithful servant of God and a Jewish patriot who became the governor of Jerusalem after the captivity.

Now what is the key feature of the book of Nehemiah that you must know to fully appreciate the indispensable wisdom that is contained in this book for achieving a continuously victorious lifestyle? You must know that Nehemiah is the record of a journey from a state of crisis to a state of uninterruptable victory. It is the record of the journey of a people from the outhouse to the penthouse! Nehemiah describes the solution to the crises-filled problems the Jews encountered in rebuilding the great wall of protection that once surrounded the temple and the city of Jerusalem. And the crises and their solutions are graphically or vividly recorded—with great detail!

You see, after the Jews were released from seventy years of captivity (Jer. 29:10), they had this great rebuilding task before them that they were not yet mentally prepared to embark upon. This was an imminent or looming crises-filled burden for them. The Jews knew that this was a task that they must eventually accomplish. They envisioned the problems that such a task would give rise to; but, they were not yet mentally or spiritually ready for what they foresaw. So they became stuck in denial, pretending like all was well—until God intervened. God sent the people a leader, the man Nehemiah, a man that He had prepared for such a great task and provided a plan for him to follow.

Therefore, by studying this seemingly impossible rebuilding project, invaluable spiritual principles can be extracted. And these principles can be deployed to establish continuous—uninterrupted—victory. This is true regardless of the magnitude or the nature of the issues that you are now encountering as well as those that you will encounter in the future on your journey through life.

Now, before moving on and digging even deeper into the importance of the book of Nehemiah to the subject of victorious kingdom living, I need to answer a question for inquisitive minds and as a foundation for digging deeper. For inquisitive minds, I need to say a bit more about the question—Why did the great wall of protection around Jerusalem need to be rebuilt?

Well, the huge wall of protection needed to be rebuilt because it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. (2 Kings 25:10). The LORD sent King Nebuchadnezzar to plunder and take the rebellious, idol-worshipping, Jewish people of the Southern Kingdom, Judah, into captivity and ruthlessly chastise them (Jer. 25:6–11). The writer of 2 Kings recorded why these things happened.

Surely these things happened to Judah according to the

LORD

’S command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of [King] Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood [He lead the people in the sacrifice of their young sons and daughters in the fire to the Ammonite, fertility god, Molech (Jer. 32:35)], and the

LORD

was not willing to forgive. (2 Kings 24:3–4)

Years later, God allowed the Persians to overtake the Babylonians (Dan. 5, 539 B.C.). And then at some time after the seventy years of captivity, He moved the hearts of Cyrus (Ezra 1) and Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 2), two Persian kings, to encourage the remnant of Jewish people to return to their country. Cyrus and Artaxerxes encouraged the remnant to return and rebuild the temple and the torn down protecting wall that once surrounded Jerusalem.

Moving on and digging deeper—there is yet something else that readers of this book must know. There is something that readers must know to understand why the book of Nehemiah is so important for establishing the spiritual principles for victory every day in every way. It is important that before starting the journey to victory that you completely understand the spiritual purpose for which the Jews returned to their homeland and rebuilt the temple and the protecting wall around the city. So what was the purpose?

The purpose was to restore the surviving remnant of Jews back to the level of faithful worship, service, and daily living that they possessed before their rebellion against the covenant and seventy years of captivity. After twenty years and much opposition, Ezra 7:6 tells us that the temple was rebuilt and dedicated. God sent Ezra the priest up from Babylon to Jerusalem to re-establish the spiritual life of the people.

However, rebuilding the huge protecting wall around Jerusalem was another story. Under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Ezra, the temple had been rebuilt fourteen years earlier before Nehemiah went to Jerusalem. But the badly needed protecting wall around the temple and the city was still nowhere near completion. So why was it so important for the protecting wall around the city to be rebuilt in addition to the temple, which is the place where worship occurred?

It was not enough to just rebuild the temple and re-establish the spiritual life of the people without the great wall of protection. And the reason was that in order to restore the state of uninterrupted worship, service, and victorious living—a wall that protected the Jews from the attacks of their surrounding enemies was an absolute must! In order to restore the lifestyle of victory every day in every way for the Jewish people, both the temple and the huge wall of protection around the city had to be rebuilt.

So God spoke to his servant Nehemiah, called him into service, prepared him for the task, gave him favor with the Persian king, Artaxerxes, and then sent him up from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the protecting wall around the city. Now, does this spiritual principle from Nehemiah relate or apply to the lives of believers today?

It indeed does! Paul said in Romans 15:4 to emphasize this most important biblical principle,

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Therefore, in applying this spiritual principle to the lives of believers today, it is most accurate to say that continuous—uninterrupted—victorious living requires more than just salvation and worship. It requires more than a temple for God to live in and produce a spiritual type or form of living. Continuous—uninterrupted—victorious living or a continuous, victorious lifestyle requires that we must build walls of protection around the cities of our souls. It requires that we must build spiritual walls of protection around our relationships, our works or service, our worship, and the corporate ministry of our congregations.

Hence, the lesson learned from the historical background of the book of Nehemiah is that the reason why so many saints are having such a hard time achieving continuous victory in every aspect of their lives is that the protecting walls of their lives are lying in ruin all around them and need to be rebuilt. You see, the destruction of the spiritual walls around the cities of our souls can occur very gradually—almost imperceptibly!

First, a small piece of mortar falls out of your spiritual walls of protection. And then a stone becomes loose in the protecting spiritual wall of your life. Then this stone falls out and leaves a hole in the wall, which allows some of the stones above it to fall also. Until at last there is a gaping hole big enough for Satan or some of his demons to pass through and conquer some of the spiritual fortresses of your life, which weakens you spiritually a little bit at a time. Satan has a strategy to steal your joy, debilitate you, or to take you captive through an addiction or obsessive habit.

And his strategy works like this. His strategy is to take you out one small piece at a time so that when you crumble and fall apart spiritually, neither you nor your close friends that observed your demise will know that it was him who orchestrated it. Many believers are known as good Christians. But there are many of us that know in our hearts that the wall around our spiritual life that is supposed to protect and defend us is in shambles—lying around in plain sight like the rubble that was left after the 9/11 disaster.

However, if you commit yourself to read and absorb the principles presented in this book, you will learn how to build a spiritual wall of protection around all the various aspects of your life. And by doing so, you can possess victory every day in every way for the glory of God and your good. Just like the temple located in the city of Jerusalem needed a wall of protection built around it and the entire city—so also does every believer or every aspect of a believer’s life need a spiritual wall of protection built around them. Believers are now the temple of God, in which the Holy Spirit has lived since the instant that we were saved.

The apostle Paul reminds believers of this salvation truth. He said to the Corinthians, and he is saying to all believers today,

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body [with your whole self or with everything that you are]. (1 Cor. 6:19–20)

Believers and everything we need to make us successful, prosperous, and effective at bringing glory to God—all of these things need a spiritual wall of protection built around them.

So to keep Satan from destroying our marriages and families and putting our spouses and children in bondage to alcohol and drugs, we must build a spiritual wall of protection around us. To keep Satan from controlling our minds with obsessions for the things of this world, we must build a spiritual wall of protection around us. To keep Satan from inflaming us with passion and lust for ungodly relationships, we must build a great spiritual wall of protection around ourselves and everything that is under the sphere of our God-given influence. A spiritual wall of protection will allow you to possess victory every day in every way—even in the midst of the hostile environment of the satanically inspired culture in which we live.

Summarizing this introduction, this book is for people who are encountering difficulties in either starting or continuously maintaining a victorious, blessed lifestyle. It is for people who are having a hard time kicking a bad habit, addiction, or obsession. It is likewise for people who are struggling with abuse, guilt, shame, anger, and forgiveness issues. In a nut shell, this book is for people who are struggling to continuously take their lives to higher and higher levels of victory or spiritual growth.

Also, pastors, teachers, and concerned believers who want to effectively lead others on a journey to never-ending, abundantly victorious kingdom living will find this book invaluable! And there is no other book in the Bible that provides more precise details than Nehemiah for doing this. Nehemiah provides all the spiritual principles needed for guiding believers from wherever they might be in life to where God wants them to be—which is to be victorious in whatever they do, wherever they go! Eric Martinez, the very successful, sought-after actor and motivational speaker (who had a very tough time growing up in Albuquerque, NM, during the early years of his life) recently said—I do today what other people won’t do so that I can do tomorrow what others can’t do.

Everybody wants to live a life of never-ending victory in everything we do. But not everybody is willing to start doing today the things that will led to a continuous victorious lifestyle tomorrow. So what about you who are reading this introduction right now? Maybe you are wondering if you are ready to start your journey to victory by building a spiritual wall of protection around your life—today—right now. To you I say—Let’s hit the road together right now by committing yourself to read more of this book!—and see where it leads you. This book will take you on a journey with me so that when the journey is completed, you will know how to build a spiritual wall of protection around your life for success, prosperity, peace, and joy all day long—all the time—everywhere!

Now, it may take a little bit of time before the wall is completed and for you to get in the habit of effectively maintaining it. But if you persevere—it will surely happen! The fact that you are reading this introduction is not an accident. It is a divine appointment! This is God’s way of telling you that it’s time for your journey to victory to begin. So grab my hand and let’s go! Start your journey to victory every day in every way—right now! Read chapter 1—right now!

PHASE 1

STARTING THE JOURNEY TO VICTORY EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY

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1

Starting Is the Hardest Part of the Journey!

Hate Your Present Condition

From studying the book of Nehemiah—and from the practical experiences of life—most of you who are reading this book know that the hardest part of any task can just be getting started! Likewise, the hardest part of any successful trip or journey is sometimes getting started. It seems like it takes me forever to get all of the stuff that I need to go on a three-day fishing trip that is only a couple hundred miles from home.

And, regardless of how much planning I do, occasionally, I still forget to take something that would have made the trip more enjoyable. But also, every now and then, I forget something like my fishing net, which has provided me with some interesting stories to tell. For on a couple of those forgetful occasions, I hooked a really big fish and had to land it without a net. You see—it seems like that’s the way life is! There are so many little details that need to be considered to ensure a successful trip—even short trips.

Therefore, in writing this book, I tried to address the details of the trip or journey to victory in a simple and easy way to grasp and retain. This is particularly true of the first phase of the journey—Starting the Journey to Victory Every Day in Every Way. Henry Ford said, Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. It may be hard getting started on the journey to victory, but through Christ, everything that God has purposed and planned for your life is possible (Phil. 4:13). This is true regardless of your starting point.

So be confident of this! Take a step forward on the journey to victory—a step toward building a spiritual wall of protection around your life. Read the first four verses of Nehemiah chapter 1:

The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah: In the month of Kislev [Nov/Dec] in the twentieth year [446–445 B.C.], while I was in the citadel of Susa [east of Babylon, 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf], Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire. When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. (1:1–4)

Verse 4 of Nehemiah’s diary reveals that the first thing a person must know is that—getting started on the journey to victory requires some help from God. God has to condition your heart to get you started on the journey to victory. Nehemiah said in verse 4, When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Nehemiah prayed to God for help! So how did God condition Nehemiah’s heart to get him started on the journey to rebuild the huge protecting wall around the temple and the city?

Nehemiah’s diary in 1:1–4 tells us that when his brother told him about the trouble his people were undergoing—the extreme embarrassment and disgrace they were suffering—it broke his heart! The news of the inability of his people to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem to protect them from their hostile neighbors—broke Nehemiah’s heart! Hanani told Nehemiah about how the once very creative, intelligent, and militarily and politically powerful Jewish people were now very passive. They had no desire or the courage to come together and rebuild the great wall they so desperately needed for uninterrupted, victorious living amongst their hostile neighbors. Nehemiah was overwhelmed with sorrow. He hated, with all his heart, the powerless condition in which his people were living!

So the very first thing God did to get Nehemiah started on the journey to rebuild the wall—the journey to victory—was to arouse some intense hatred in Nehemiah for the living conditions and the attitude of his people. God used Nehemiah’s brother to passionately paint a clear, vivid, and detailed picture of the disgraceful, pitiful condition of his people. And it was Nehemiah’s hatred of the living conditions and attitudes of his people that drove him to mourn, fast, and pray to the LORD for help.

Summarizing what has been learned so far from Nehemiah in these first four verses, we can say that—Whatever is broken in you, God can repair! Whatever has been closed off to you, God can reopen! And whatever you have lost, God can restore or recover!¹ But—you must first intensely hate your present condition or your current status in life and the things that are keeping you from achieving victory every day in every way. You must first hate your present condition enough to be driven to fast and pray to God for a plan that shows you how to travel from where you currently are in life to where He wants you to be.

And the reason why God interacts with us in this way is that—God sovereignly gives all men and women free will to make their own decisions and choices. This means that He won’t overstep the free-will boundary and force us to do anything that we don’t want to do. We must go to God in prayer and seek His help.

However, God will send, motivate, or allow situations and circumstances to come into our lives that will encourage us to see and agree with His point of view on the issues of life that are preventing us from possessing what He has purposed and planned for us. You see, that’s what God did to Nehemiah. We must first intensely hate where we are in life. We must intensely hate some things that are happening in our lives so that we are motivated to go to God in prayer for the help we need to start the journey to victory.

For a vivid example of this, let me say that if a person has a demon living in him or her, nobody can exorcise or deliver that person and cast the demon out—if that person wants the demon to stay. Likewise, the reason why people can’t stop drinking, drugging, trafficking in pornography, reading erotic romance novels, engaging in sexual self-gratification, smoking, and over-eating is because they don’t yet hate these things or what these things are doing to them—enough! Because free will always prevails. (See discussion in chapter 16 entitled, Maintaining Strategy for Victory by Breaking Free from Pornography and Sexual Addictions.)

In other words, so long as you are indifferent about where you are in life—or in love with where you are in life or with the things that are keeping you from journeying to where God wants you to be—you won’t be able to overcome those things. You cannot conquer what you cannot or will not hate.And—whatever you cannot or will not conquer will eventually conquer you.² The psalmist said in chapter 97, verse 10, Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

As I think about the many things I hear people say that they don’t like doing, I know that most of them don’t yet possess enough hatred to be delivered. I hear people say such things as—I don’t like being overweight! Well, that may be true. But—do you intensely hate being overweight? This is the real issue. Or, they will say—I don’t like smoking cigarettes! I want to quit!But do you intensely hate smoking cigarettes? Do you intensely hate what cigarettes are doing to your lungs and to other parts of your body? Some say—I don’t like arguing with my wife or arguing with my husband all the time! But do you hate it enough to do something godly and positive about it? I don’t like being an alcoholic! But do you hate what being an alcoholic or being addicted to drugs is doing to your health and to your relationships with others? That’s the real question! Do you hate those things enough to be delivered, transferred, or brought into the victory of kingdom living?

Paul said, For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (Col. 1:13). But, in order to stay out of the darkness from which Christ rescued us and to keep from becoming its slave again, we must intensely hate the darkness of the things and systems of this world—every moment of our lives.

And you will know when you truly start hating the darkness because your hate will drive you to grieve. Your hate will cause you to weep, mourn, fast, and pray to God to help you get rid of what’s keeping you from taking hold of His plan for your life—just like it