Christine Caine - Can't Stop, Won't Stop - Part 3
You can't give up now. It doesn't matter what you're facing. Opposition, negative opinions, self doubt, don't stop. The fight may be big but the victory is bigger. We serve an awesome God and he is not going to let you fail. The best is ahead of you. I'm Christine Caine and I have a personal mission to Equip and Empower people like you to connect with your God-given purpose and potential. I'm so glad you're joining us today. Let's dive right in.
Hey, hey, hey, everybody. I am so grateful to be here with you today and I'm so glad that you've joined us on the other side of the screen. I know that the Lord's got a powerful word for you. We are in for a treat. I have got the rowdiest group of people in this studio today why? Because we are so full of faith, we've been looking at the life of Nehemiah and we're talking about the fact that we can't stop, we won't stop doing the purpose of God on the planet in our generation. Every single one of us is created on no one is here by accident. God has created good works for us to do from before the beginning of time. And it is our job to bring God's goodness and love and mercy and grace and justice, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and a broken world. What an awesome job profile we have.
I know, you just like kind of tuned in, you're still hung over and you're like, "How did I stop on this Australian chick"? Well, I'm here to tell you, you did not stop by accident. God made that happen. And I've just dropped in to your house today to let you know that God's got an awesome plan, purpose and destiny for your life. So we look at the life of Nehemiah, whom God had called to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls were broken and the walls were in disarray and the people were dispersed and there was so much chaos. And there was so much brokenness it's not unlike the world in which we live in today, there are so many regions of the world that are full of such pain, such suffering, such terror, such heartache, and there's almost not a person on the planet that doesn't feel some sense of loss, or grief or a sense of this. There's got to be something more or brokenness or damage, or woundedness.
I want you to know that your God doesn't run from your problems, he is with you in the midst of them to bring hope and healing and restoration and our job, as the salt and light of the earth is to bring healing and redemption and mercy and justice into a lost and a broken world. Our world is full of such pain and this is not a time for us to run from it. But it's a time to run into it and to bring healing and hope into a lost and a broken world. So Nehemiah who was a cup bearer to the king, got the favor of God. He prayed for the success of God and he decided to undertake a rebuilding project, now, you have to understand the walls of Jerusalem had been broken and fragmented for 140 years. And so what we are about to see is that Nehemiah and the team around him rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days, under incredible attack.
I want you to know that when you are empowered by the Spirit of God, God is able to do the miraculous. What was laid desolate for 140 years can be reconstructed and rebuilt within 52 days. It is impossible in the natural but impossible is where God starts. And miracles are what God does. And because the people had a mind to work, because the people were focused, because the people chose not to listen to the nay Sayers, or the fear or the doubt or the negativity, they got focus single mindedly on what God had called them to do. And they achieved in 52 days, what had not been done in 140 years. I believe that in every area of our life and our ministry, that if our people and our team and our staff around the world can be in alignment, can be all working together, get a mind to work, we can see the impossible made possible because our God puts his super on our natural and together, you have a supernatural effect and you begin to see change and transformation in the world.
That's what God does. That's what he does. And so we see here, let me just say when you decide to make your life count, when you decide to step out, and live your life for the glory of God as a follower of Jesus Christ, here's the first thing that you could expect. You can expect opposition. Now I know you're all going to sign up because of that right now. But I can tell you as a follower of Jesus Christ for 30 years, it is the truth. Nobody care... When you do whatever you want to do. You go to the nightclub, you get stoned, you get drunk, you're just doing whatever... Everybody leaves you alone. But the minute you decide you want to make your life count. It is amazing how cray cray people get.
I remember my family before I was a follower of Jesus, when I was just like doing, you know, what normal people do when they're not followers of Jesus, which could mean a lot of different things. But anyway, at that point, I remember even I said, you know, my mom's like, "Christina, what are you doing"? I said, "Mum, I got saved, I'm following Jesus, I'm living my life on purpose". And she just was not happy about it. I said, "Mom, it's better than being down at the club and getting drunk and stoned and sleeping around" and she said, "At least then you would be normal". What I'm saying to you is people don't understand a life that's lived on purpose. A life that is lived on purpose, people are like I can handle normal dysfunction. I could handle you when you were dysfunctional normal like us. But now that you're a follower of Jesus, and you're living with me... What do you mean you are going to church? What do you mean you're giving to the building campaign? What do you mean you're living your life on purpose? What do you mean you're living morally pure?
You didn't know opposition until you started and you think the very same people that were hanging out with you at the club and didn't care when you were doing nothing and going nowhere, all of a sudden, they all have an opinion about your life now. They didn't care what you were doing with your money before when you were giving it to Dr. Jack Daniels, and they didn't care what you were doing with your time when you were just watching endless show, endless Netflix, your TV series, they didn't care but all of a sudden, now they care that you're going to church. Before you got saved, they didn't care what you were doing on Sunday. Why now do they care, all of a sudden, what you're doing? They didn't care what you were doing with your time, with your talent or with your treasure. When you were wasting your talent in the back of nowhere, no one cared but now that you suddenly want to go and serve and use your talent for the purposes of God, they call you an idiot.
It's amazing the irrationality of people. Being the same people that didn't care one week before when you weren't saved what you were doing with your time, talent and treasure. All of a sudden they have an opinion about everything in your life, what you're doing with your life. What you're doing with your time, what you're doing with every aspect. We see this in Nehemiah chapter two verse 10. The Bible says in verse 10, "But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly," listen to this, "That someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel". It displeased them greatly, that someone had come to seek the welfare. Do not be surprised when opposition starts when you seek the welfare of a city.
I remember when we started in Thessaloniki, I had a group of Greeks that were really protesting against us. They thought that I was just trying to put a bad name on the Greeks by saying there was sex trafficking in Greece. They thought that I was trying to humiliate this city and I've seen that all around the world. They would rather for the sake of their pride and ego live with this disgusting crime happening in their front doorstep rather than going, "You know what? I'm so grateful that someone has come to seek the welfare of our city". It is so incredible to me how that enemy spirit rises up when you want to do good. Suddenly you go, "Why is this not working? Why am I getting resistance? Why is this happening with this government department? Why does it seem that I'm not breaking through"?
When you want to do nothing for anybody, the enemy leaves you alone. The minute you start wanting to do something for someone, then you're going to know you're in a spiritual fight. All of a sudden, you're going to find not everyone thinks that's really awesome. Not everyone really thinks that that's beneficial. Because sometimes when you start to step on their toes, what it does is it calls out their own injustice. It calls out their own system of oppression that they've set up that serves them very, very well. So these governors, they didn't want Nehemiah to come because they were gaining greatly by having the city in disarray, by having the walls not built. By having the Israelites just at their beck and call, they didn't want the city restored. And so don't be surprised when you come in, and I've seen this happen to believers time and time again, with this heart of, "I want to change the world" and then you go, "Why am I getting this resistance"? It's because the enemy, he is fine while you're doing nothing. But when you start to want to live your life on purpose, and that attack is going to come often through people you love.
It's often going to come through family or through friends, or you're like going, "I don't get this. You didn't care what I was doing last week, why all of a sudden, do you? It doesn't make sense". It doesn't make sense because it's a spiritual thing. It's not a natural thing and people suddenly care because the enemy does not like it. You know, the fact is, it says they didn't like that they had come to seek the good of the city. And that's because all goodness truly emanates from God. Some 119 verse 68 says, "You are good and you do good: teach me your statutes". Goodness is not something that's in us. Because otherwise it just becomes subjective. Sometimes what I think's good you might not think is good. God is the standard of good in our world. God is the standard of love in our world. So oftentimes, when you seek the good of something, don't expect everybody to jump on board. And that's what we see in this text. You know, the interesting thing is good is what Jesus did. That's why the enemy doesn't like it.
The Bible says in Act 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, he went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil for God was with him". That's what Jesus did. It is your job and it is my job to go about doing good. That's what we're here on earth to do. We're not here to continue to fight or to add divisiveness or to have arguments but we are here to do good in the cities in which we are in. You also have to understand that you're going to be mocked and falsely accused. That's actually what happened here in Nehemiah 2:19. The Bible says, "But when Sanballat, the Horonite and Tobiah, the servant," it says, "Heard of this, they jeered at us and despised us and said, 'what is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king'"? I can't tell you how many times in different places around the world, I've heard people say that to me about it. What is this thing that you're doing? You're just trying to cause disruption in our nation. You're just trying to make something out of something that's because people do not want the underbelly exposed.
People are not the enemy, the enemy is the enemy, but the enemy will use people to try to take you out from the purposes of God. So you've got to remember why you are fighting this fight of faith. And the Bible says in Nehemiah 4:14, "And I looked and arose and said to the nobles, and to the officials and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them, remember the Lord who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes. Fight for them". Sometimes you got to get a bit of Holy Ghost fight on the inside of you. You're like, you know what, I don't care about the naysayers or the fear casters or the doubt or the negativity. I'm in a fight for my family. I'm in a fight for my destiny.
Someone watching this right now you need to get up off that couch and you need to go to war in the spirit for your purpose and your destiny. Yes, you were betrayed. Yes, you were knocked out. But it's time to get up and say, "Not today devil. I am going to fight for the plan and the purpose of God in my life". You got to get some of your fight back. You got to get some fight back. There are too many passive Christians just lying there. Am like "No way man, get up, get your fight back". We're rebuilding the walls. God has called us, God has anointed us, greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. Yes, the weapon may have been forged, but it shall not prosper. We are going to rise up and rebuild the walls of our cities, we are going to bring hope and life and redemption and salvation to this planet. God has called us here to make a difference in our generation and it is to our father's great glory that we bear much fruit. That we bear much fruit, that's what we must do.
And so what happens is often we just want to give up but it's not just about us. It's about the generations that are going to come after us because you fight for your sons, and you fight for your daughters and some of you keep fighting for your sons and daughters, you're not going to lose them to that addiction, you're not going to lose them to that lifestyle, you're not going to lose them to that fear and doubt and negative, you got to fight for them, don't stop fighting. We've got walls to rebuild, we've got lives to restore, keep fighting the fight of faith, we're fighting for a generation, we're fighting for the souls of humanity. It is worth fighting. There is an enemy, he is defeated but we need to go in and take what already is ours and has been attained for us through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. You're too close to quit.
As Nehemiah was building this wall they came at him, and the naysayers continued to attack him and sometimes you feel like this, and I feel like with all of the stuff happening on the planet at the moment and all the divisiveness and all the, you know, religious divisiveness and political divisiveness on the planet, the enemy is just trying to wear us out to the point where you go, "Look, I'm just, I'm done. It's just too much, I've put my hands up". And I can see people quitting and people falling by the wayside. And it's just like, it's gotten too hot in the oven for them. And they're like, "Look, I just can't take this anymore". You've got to understand, that is the plan of the enemy. That's what he wants to do. He wants to make you feel that your fight is worth nothing. He wants you to think that you're not going to be able to rebuild these walls. But I want you to know that it only took him 52 days to do it because the people had a mind to work.
The Bible says that people had a mind to work, they stayed focused. They stayed on point. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus. We need to silence the voice of the naysayers and we need to stay steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that in the Lord our labor is not in vain. We are fighting for a generation, we are fighting the good fight of faith, and we are too close to quit. We are not going to pull back. And in Nehemiah chapter six verse nine, the Bible says, "Now when Sanballat and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it. Although up to that time, I had not set up the doors in the gates, Sanballat and Geshem sent to me saying, come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono but they intended to do me harm. And I sent messages to them saying," and here is the verse of this entire series. "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come to you. And they sent to me four times".
In this way, the enemy is not going to give up. "And I answered them in the same manner. In the same way, Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, it is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel, that is why you are building", here come the false accusations again. "That is why you are building the wall and according to these reports, you wish to become their king. And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, there is a king in Judah, and now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together. Then I sent to him saying no such things as you say, have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind. For they all wanted to frighten us thinking, their hands would drop from the work and it will not be done. But now oh God, strengthen my hand".
I want you to know that the distractions that come are always persistent. They're always personal. And they're always potent. And in the day and the age in which we're living in and with so much access to information on the internet, with so much social media going on, the distractions are always there. And you've got to understand, what the enemy wants to do is stop you from doing the work. God has called you to a great work. The call of God and the work of God is a worthy work. And I love Nehemiah his response. He said, "Why? Why should the work stop while I come down to you".
I want you to know, anytime you stopped doing what God has called you to do, it's a step down. I don't care if it seems like a step up in the natural, it's never a step up. It's always a step down. There is no higher calling than the purpose of God. There is no higher calling than doing what God has called you to do. And it is a great work. It is a worthy work. The fight of faith is a worthy fight. And we need a generation of Christians that are not pulling back from that fight, that are not feeling weary, and giving up in the good fight of faith because we feel like we're being attacked and we feel like we're being ridiculed, and we feel like we're being distracted. I mean, the enemy wants us to think that we are idiots for being Christians. It's like, "What do you mean? What do you think you're doing good? Why do you think you're really helping people"? And he just begins to wear us down all of the time.
But we have to have a spirit that says, "I am doing a good work. I am not coming down from this wall. This work will not stop. I will remain steadfast in what God has called me to do. I'm not pulling back, I am not quitting. I'm going to keep turning up. I'm going to keep building this wall one brick at a time. I don't need to see the whole wall to know that God is building this wall, line upon line, precept upon precept, day upon day, I will not. I will put spiritual blinders on. I'm not looking to the right, I'm not looking to the left. I'm not going to get distracted by naysayers. If I need to get off social media, I'm going to get off social media. If I need to turn off the television, I'm going to turn off the television. If I need to change some of my friendship circles, because I don't want to listen to the fear and doubt and negativity because my God has said that if I do not grow weary in doing good I shall reap in due season, if I faint not, and I am not going to faint. I'm going to keep waiting upon God. I'm going to keep believing God. My Bible says that those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. I'm going to mount up on wings like eagles, I'm going to run and not grow weary. I'm going to walk and not faint".
You've got to fix your eyes on Jesus. He is the author and he is the finisher of your faith. You cannot look to the left, you cannot look to the right, you cannot listen to negative voices. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This is a time on the planet where we need to turn on the Word of God. We need to fill our houses with the worship of God. We need to silence all of the voices of fear and doubt and negativity and immorality and iniquity and we need to make God bigger than our circumstances. We need to make God bigger than our problems. We need to make God bigger than our challenges. We need to exalt the name of Jesus because in his presence chains fall, shackles are broken, people are set free, we will not stop this work. It is a good work that God has called us to. Following the call of God is the greatest vacation on planet earth. And you can say to the devil, "Not today, I will not come down. I will not quit, I will finish the work that God has called me to do in Jesus name". In Jesus name, in Jesus name. Amen, amen. Come on somebody, yes.