Building on Your Home Ground
by Jill Southern
Lessons from Nehemiah - Day 3
In 1986 I was asked to speak on chapter 3 of Nehemiah at the house group we ran in our home. I read that the residents of Jerusalem built their part of the wall outside their own homes, and I sensed God was asking me to build the wall for Him outside my own house. I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but then I read this verse - that Shallum repaired the next section with the help of his daughters! It was quite unusual in those days that women would be used and that’s why it deserved a special mention.
It struck me - God uses women! God would use me to build the wall for him outside my house. The very next day the local Anglican Minister rang and asked if he could visit our house group, as part of the plan for Christians from different churches in our area to get to know one another. At our house group meeting I shared what I sensed God was saying to me from this passage. The Anglican Minister told us that there was a small church building near my house which was available if we wanted to use it.
This was to be the building used to begin a new Fellowship in our area. After I had attended the Ellel Ministries 9-week school in 1993, I invited Peter Horrobin to come and conduct a weekend conference for this Fellowship, which had moved into Frensham, two miles away, by then.
That very weekend Pierrepont School in Frensham went up for sale, and God asked me to take Peter to see the school. Then in February 1995 Ellel Ministries purchased Pierrepont School and Peter asked me to be the Centre Director for the work there. So fourteen years later, in 2008, I’m still building that wall for God ‘outside my own house’.
Is God asking you to build a wall for Him somewhere - even outside your own house?
Prayer: Dear Lord, Help me to be wholly available to You to build the wall for You close to my own home and to be ready today to listen for Your voice and to be obedient. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Jill Southern is the founder of Ellel Ministries Pierrepont and directed the work for 21 years. She has recently stood down from that role but still teaches on the NETS programme and has the passion to train and equip God`s people to fully walk in their destiny and calling. She is the Regional Director for Ellel Ministries International in South East Asia and China and is also on the Executive Leadership of the ministry.
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