DETERMINATION

PASTOR O O ABEL

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Introduction: Many past generations never knew what pandemic (of a disease) prevalent over a whole country or the world is, except they read about it in a book, though they must have had of epidemic which a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.

BBC in the United State of America says Coronavirus: Covid-19 death toll hits 500,000 worldwide, that was June 28, 2020
WASHINGTON, June 8, 2020 — The swift and massive shock of the coronavirus pandemic and shutdown measures to contain it have plunged the global economy into a severe contraction. According to World Bank forecasts, the global economy will shrink by 5.2% this year.[1] That would represent the deepest recession since the Second World War, with the largest fraction of economies experiencing declines in per capita output since 1870, the World Bank says in its June 2020 Global Economic Prospects.


The deed has been done, the question here is whether you want to remain down casted financially, materially, physically and spiritually or not.
If you are one of the few people that desire to bounce back on their feet, then this message is for you. It’s my prayer that God interpret the message to you in Jesus name. 



DETERMINATION: firmness of purpose; resoluteness, the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose. This is exactly what God is saying in 1 Corinthians 16:13, ESV: "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."
One might remain on a spot if there is no determination, no wonder Micah 7:8 says “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.”
At this point we are taking Nehemiah as a case study, we all know that he went to rebuild the broken wall of Jerusalem, that is not the story we want to tell here but we want to look at his determination to rebuild the wall and those attribute that helped him to succeed.

ATTRIBUTES THAT HELPED NEHEMIAH  

1, QUESTION AND INFLUENCE: question is a sentence worded or expressed so as to elicit information. While influence is the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, Nehemiah asked question from a relevant person in return Hanani influenced Nehemiah with his response according to Nehemiah 1:2 “That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
Who are you associated with, who are those that you are ask questions from? Until you associate with those who knows more than you do, you may not rise above your present level.



2. INFORMATION: facts provided or learned about something or someone, Nehemiah gathered information, information is power Nehemiah 1:3 “And they said unto me, the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” 
For your determination to rise, after pandemic to be successful you need information.



3. FEELINGS: an emotional state or reaction. The facts remains that what you don’t have feelings for, you don’t go after it, Nehemiah had feelings for Jerusalem that was why he cried according to Nehemiah 1:4 “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,”



4. PRAYERS: a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God. Some people belief wholly in themselves thinking they have all the wisdom knowledge and understanding, they will never remember to commit things into God’s hand, Nehemiah did not do like that, he actually prayed Nehemiah 1:5 -10 “And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:…………………”



5. PURPOSE: the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. You can’t be determined without a purpose, Nehemiah has a reason for which he determined, the purpose is to rebuild Jerusalem wall as we can see in Nehemiah 2:3 “And said unto the king, Let the king live forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?”



6. BEING SPECIFIC AND CLARITY: to be specific is to clearly defined or identified while clarity is the quality of being coherent and intelligible. Nehemiah was very specific and he has a clear picture of what he wants to do.  Nehemiah 2:5  “And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.” 


7. FOLLOW PROCEDURE AVOID OVER ZEALOUSNESS: procedure is an established or official way of doing something while overzealousness is to be too enthusiastic and eager, this may not help you in achieving what you have determination to achieve   Nehemiah  2 vs 7-8 7 “Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah; 8 And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.”



8. NOT WITHOUT ENEMIES: enemies, these are people who are actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.  I sometime wonder how we think of achievement without having to understand the fact that the moment you have determination to do something great ,enemies of greatness or enemies of success automatically comes up , they are nothing but opposing forces, they suddenly surfaced during Nehemiah project execution.  Nehemiah 2:10“When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.”  We don’t need to fear as God will destroy every power opposing our progress in Jesus name


9. Keep your mount to allow success :one of the major problem with average Christians is inability to control their mouth during execution of a project ,people who has no positive contribution to the project or plan should naturally be left out until, its testimony time which is expected to be after completion of such project.

Unfortunately a lot of people has destroyed their success through reveling their success secret and talking too much, no wonder,   Proverbs 17:28 (ESV) says “ Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent”.  

Nehemiah would have ruined the success of rebuilding Jerusalem wall, if he was not conscious of his mouth. Nehemiah 2:12 “And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.”



CONCLUSION: you’ve heard it all, if you can put on these attributes in your determination to rise again, you will surely be successful   

Prayer points.

1. My father my lord, thank you for this eye opening message.
2. O lord my God, give me the spirit that will enable me to rise beyond the level I am presently  in Jesus name,
3. I will be connected to my helpers in the name of Jesus 
4. Father let every Sanballat and Tobiah that might want to block my progress be put to shame in Jesus name
5. Father teach me to keep my mouth so as not to destroy my miracle with my talkativeness in Jesus name

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