R1307 The Power of Intentional Preparation

Word for the year is intentional to love today's message the power of intentional preparation from Dr. Don Wilton to know that will connect with you on our website right now that TW online.org connecting, especially with a series of rings yourselves TW online are with Dr. Don Wilton. God is going to speak to you but you must open your heart, you must let God speak to you I will promise you that.

Not because of Dawn but because he loves you because he cares about you and I'm absolutely convinced of the day that the Lord has got something very very special to cite your heart today. It's about the power of one 12345 impact on February 20, 2011 I received a phone call. Many of you received that same phone call. In fact, hundreds of people began to give the news one very very fine young man had been involved in eye and horrific accident.

His name is Mack. Many of you will remember that time back in February 2011, his parents, Jimmy and Becky, just wonderful, wonderful people I don't know whether the word to describe was heartbroken. I don't know how to describe the way parents feel when a son or daughter is involved in an horrific accident and that the word is that it would be very probable that Mac would not live he's injuries were so severe, and as he lay in that coma in hospital hundreds enough community came together. I remember it so well. I remember the prayer groups.

I remember the times that I had the privilege of speaking to Jimmy and Becky. I remember the conversation that was going on across the board's church people believers and all a while Mac lay on his deathbed.

He's injuries were critical they were just the worst they could possibly be, and I guess we didn't fully appreciate what it was that God had in mind for this young man and as they upgraded his condition.

People were saying. I guess medical personnel another's well it looks like he's going to live, but he's going to live with major issues.

His body is very badly damaged, some were even saying that maybe his mental capacity would be impaired in others were talking about the fact that he might never walk properly again, and various and sundry other issues that were arising out of this horrific accident that he was involved. There been a lot of things that have happened, but in the drive and the resilience took a hold of this young man's life yet, but was all about Mac and his Lord. This young man who was baptized here in our church followed the Lord Jesus Christ knows and loves him, as do his parents, people of great deep and abiding faith. A people who rarely believe that God can do things that you and I can do for soups and we began to walk, something happened which the watching wasn't just one wasn't just about Mac it.

It was a bodies parent sign. I cannot tell you the number of times that I sold such strength in the middle of their anguish and their hearts cried to the Lord a couple well acquainted with grief how this mom and dad rose up in the church community believers frame wasn't just wanted was to it was three.

It was for was five and in some way in Taunton and the power of one began to come together and Mac have to make some decisions that only Mack could make one of those many decisions that he made was that he was going to do what ever he could do to get himself well again. Only Mack could make that decision. He realized that the power of one began with himself even though he himself was not in shape to be able to follow through, but he began to put certain things in place in amongst many other things that he did. Mac began to go to the same place that I go to Trenton at least sort of get myself into shape by go to the Nautilus fitness center downtown Spartanburg. I wish I could get there a lot more but I can't tell you how many times obscene. Mac at the Nautilus fitness center strapped up and harnessed in crying out from the anguish of his broken body doing. Sometimes in the early days very elementary thing beginning the slow one step at a time until it happened. You see, it was said that Mac would never be able to actually stand up on his own.

He couldn't go down into a seated position and then just simply stand up those things are so simple. For most of us, you know, it's amazing how simple it is for some people to stand up.

Not so for Mac just to stand up from a seated position but months turned into users.

Mac began to apply what he knew that he have to do and then it happened one to three full five impact you can do it. I'm just so proud of Mac, you know, I want you to open your Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 2 and I want to speak to you very briefly today on the power of intentional preparation. That's somewhat along hitting on know, but you gonna get it in a minute. Nehemiah chapter 2 the power of national preparation. These are just the facts. This is Nehemiah, but I believe that there again to be so many of us that again to see ourselves right here. This is the power of one, it has to begin somewhere in the presence of the Lord Jesus. Today I'm going to call upon you.

Make this your day, and it must begin with the power of intentional preparation. Nehemiah chapter 2 in the month of Nissan in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him. I took up the wine and gave it to the king not I had not been said in his presence, and the king said to me, why is your face said, seeing that you are not sick.

This is nothing but sadness of the heart. Then I was very much afraid, and I said to the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my face be said, when the city, the place where my father's graves lies in ruins and its gates have been destroyed by fire, and the king said to me what you requested. So I prayed to the God of heaven and then I say to the king, if it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight that you would send me to Judah or to the city of my father's graves that I might reboot and the king said to me with the Queen sitting beside him.

How long will you be gone and when will you return. And so it please the king to send me when I had given him a time and I said to the king, if it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the provinces beyond the river that they might let me parse through until I come to Judah and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, that he might give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple and for the wall of the city and for the house that I shall occupy and the king granted me walked on August for the good hand of my God was upon me. Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the River and gave in the king's lifters. Now the king had also seen with me offices of the Army and horsemen, but when San about the horror night and towed by the human mind servant hood. This it displeases them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel, and I'm asking the Lord by his spirit to write this word on your heart and on mind today. God loves you very much. I don't know what wolves in your life are broken down. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't write when it came to Mac Dunbar. I'm going to say hundreds upon hundreds of us knew what wolves had been broken down. I don't know which of your gates have been destroyed by fire, and yet sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. But God does. Nehemiah understood some things he knew what was going on and in fact we very quickly came to discover that this is not about whether or not Nehemiah was going to go and carry out and do what God told him to do. Even though he had no idea he hadn't even been. He hadn't even had an opportunity to actually inspect the broken walls and the burn down dates. He had not hadn't had an opportunity to go back to Judah. He was still cup paraffin King Artaxerxes.

He hadn't taken one step forward, so to speak, but something within me or my the power of God within him because Nehemiah to take some very intentional steps of preparation. I'm going to submit to you that it is very important to know what to do before you do what you know you have to do it's very important that you know what you have to do before you do what you know you have to do.

You don't have to keep living like this. You don't have to continue like this. So what I want to do today in a very rudimentary and somewhat elementary. Why is I want just simply ask myself this question. What was it that Nehemiah did intentionally before anything actually happened that was going to happen again. When I look at Mac Dunbar. I love that young man. He's got such a resilience. When I look at him today, even in the continuing struggles that he has as he continued to rebuild these broken walls of his body, and I look at where he used to bite somewhere back there in this in the abominable spirit, which is Mac Dunbar. This young man whose heart belongs to Jesus Christ, surrounded by wonderful parents and family and surrounded by wonderful man and woman boys and those who love the Lord Jesus all across our community came together and the pact is something that just blesses my heart, let alone the hearts of all who know him and live alone. He came self.

So what did Nehemiah do just to give it to someone.

He consulted the king, he consulted the king. That's what verses one through four tell us he was the cupbearer to the king. He knew that the king was the man who could make it happen, humanly speaking, he was in the employ of the king, so to speak. He also understood that the king had the residential authority he had the means to be able to provide for him. For some reason whatever it was, he consulted the king he went to King Artaxerxes I think that's very very important number two. He admitted his fear is an amazing thing. But the Bible tells us Nehemiah was unapologetic about the fact that he was fearful. Fear is a very real thing and from Nehemiah the understood that he had to take a journey and Audrey was journey with all kinds of dangers. I can't even imagine the journey that he would've happened if taken from the court of King Artaxerxes I can't imagine who would've been lying in wait for him. I can't imagine the fear that gripped his heart that the very sort and prospect of going back to Trenton. Rebuild broken walls will send it been broken for decades. I can't imagine all the things that would gripped his heart. This man was the cup era and he was overwhelmed in many ways by fear. Fear is a very real thing. He didn't hide it you didn't try to pretend it wasn't very but there was 1/3 thing that he did. He understood his sadness. The king looked at him and said to him, you need to get a grip board why you looking so sad. Cheer up now to want to try and read something into this text, but you not know what the king was trying to say to him I guess he was saying you need to remember that you have a public image and besides that you walk along next to me. You're the one to make sure that I never get poisoned by an enemy, and the people that work around me the least.

I expect abuse that you have a permanent smile on your face.

He understood his sadness, he immediately looked at the king and he told him he said let me tell you why I'm so sad. Broken walls produce and inevitable sadness. You know it's not easy to be jolly happy when you wolves are broken down.

I've come to understand as I know we all have that every time you and I meet that there's a broken heart on every pew one the most difficult things for us to understand. As believers, is that we know that when we die we go to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus, but we also know how sad it makes us feel but I want you to know that I understand that I must understand it or not we not understand the.understand the sadness of that broken wall of that burn down dates within the context of who God is and that's there in that I begin to understand and see something far greater than myself far greater than my sad corruption will be back in just a moment the doctor will want you to know we're here for you ready to pray. Anytime you're on the mountaintop or in the valley at 866899 word jot the number down stored in your cell 866899673 to connect with resources like to pray for your spouse, resource, or more, and you can also meet us on our website TE W online.org back today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton consulted the king and he admitted he spirit he understood the sadness and I love the fourth thing that Nehemiah did. He prayed before he owns. By the way, did you notice that just look at verse four with me. Then the king said to me, what is it exactly young man that you are requesting and the next statement is so I prayed to the God of heaven. Amazing. Gary was in the most presence of the most powerful person. This person that he was consulting never bought anything to question about that, about his role he was being respectful he was doing what was right. He was doing the proper preparation he was putting all the pieces of the puzzle together, but not before he prayed to the God of heaven. It's almost like Nehemiah understood that he had to have a word from God in order to have a word for man, but there's a food thing that I noticed that Nehemiah did. He made an honest request. He made an honest request verse five tells us about it and I said to the king, if it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor please send me to Judah to the city of my father's graves that I might rebuild it. I just love the pure, open honesty with which he came.

I just love you know when you just are just straight out and you say to people.

Listen, man, this is what we gotta do people identify with just straight up rank honesty because we all deal with the same thing you know, I just say something about this that Nehemiah in response to the king didn't try and slide this one under the type he just might not honest request, but then I want you to notice number six that he analyze the details.

Verse six tells us that the king began to have this kind of apartheid. Paul with him now. It's not without any misunderstanding that the queen was sitting next to the king, and I'm convinced that's where the details came from. You know my wife is absolutely convinced and I called all due with her that the reason why Moses and the children of Israel wandered around the willingness for the years couldn't find a way is because that silly man wouldn't stop just off for direct. I didn't say that my wife said you not just something so wonderful about this. Can you imagine the king here. I mean all this honesty and Nehemiah is telling them in the walls are broken down, he's getting the sold out. The king says now let's see now how many monster you say that one and what is this going to have your and when exactly are you going to be back and how long is this going to take and what does this involve and what you need and how can we do this let's see. Do you need five mules to carry your equipment or do you need this and how all the little details of it.

Sometimes folks it's the details that really matter in God's economy. You see it's something a smaller site you know what I'm going to sit on the prize. The reason why many wide receivers dropped the bowl before they catch up and run is because they actually look away in the direction in which they going to run before they concentrate on the bullets coming toward them long before the touchdown school.

He analyze the details. Number seven, he rallied support the power of one of its biggest in verse seven through nine. The Bible tells us about all of this. Not only did he go to the king, but he mustered all that the king have to offer and wanted to do. He ended up with a company around him. You know, I couldn't help but think about Mac Dunbar. How many times I've seen them at the Nautilus fitness St. I've seen Mac walk in there over these parched years where I thought he couldn't get to wherever it was, he was going.

I've seen Mac many times crept up in like a harness. I mean, John Langford gives such attention to detail that the Nautilus fitness center, and he would strap him up. He put this, like strap around him and he'd have them do exercise but they would be machines that were designed so that as he stood up wasn't actually Mac standing up by himself.

It was all these gadgets and pulleys and ropes and John Langford sign, you could do it you can do it and then not walking you can you can then someone else walking you can you can then set Bucky would come inside Mac.

I'm proud of you.

You can you can and everybody would coming.

He rallied the support and when you study this group. This Nehemiah this is the power of one that is its 12345X would produce the impact, but there's one more thing here that he did in his intentional preparation. He anticipated the opposition. Nothing came easy for him. You know he hadn't even began to leave when certain people began to murmur anticipated the opposition he knew about it. He used that there are people. It doesn't matter which way you gonna cyclist. They don't want any wall to be rebuilt. I don't want dates to be fixed. I don't want anybody else to get the credit and and sometimes they are not particularly concerned about anything else than just against. He anticipated the opposition.

I want you to get a hold of this. Remember this.

It's very important to know what to do before you do what you know you have to do. How does that apply.

What is Nehemiah say to you and me consult with wisdom listen to your mother and father wisdom. Number two Justin Mitchell for I want you before the Lord today. Just say I'm skating number three and said, praying produce powerful day of teaching as he steps in studio. Open your heart to what he wants to share next are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now. Dear God, I know that Arneson and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross today, I repent of my sins and by faith I receive you into my heart.

In Jesus name, my friend. I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting new welcome to the family convinced some of you moments ago to rededicate your life to Christ have to give your life to Jesus for the first time walk with you in the next steps we have free resources in a matter fact Dr. Wilton want you to have if you call us at 86899 word 866-899-9673 email us at online@tewonline.org my book Saturdays with is about the relationship with a precious man lives across. You don't want to miss this opportunity to be inspired by his life. Email us at online@tewonline.org large that's DEW online.org