Positioned in Power

Based on Nehemiah 10-11, Acts 4:1-22

God has the ability to raise up & bring down. He can bless us with a great position at a job, or He can just as easily remove us from that place if it's not the best fit. It's all to protect ourselves & keep us in God's Will. If we are praying & relying on Him, that kind of direction will take place. When we recognize that He has all power & authority, He will keep us positioned in a place where we can see His power in our lives. But if we get raised up, and forget the power of God that got us there, we may still have a position, but not one of power...we will soon see that God will use those of lowly positions to show His power through. If we lose God along the way, we lose the heart, joy & power that came with that position! God may not remove us right away so that we fully understand that, no matter how high we climb, God is always higher!

"Also we made ordinances for us, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God; for the shewbread, and for the continual meat offering, and for the continual burnt offering, of the sabbaths, of the new moons, for the set feasts, and for the holy things , and for the sin offerings to make an atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God." Nehemiah 10:32‭-‬33

In the beginning, these priests, offerings & sacrifices were all born out of the right idea, out of a pure love & respect for God. They were positioned as servants in a place of humility. There was a willingness to offer themselves to work for The Lord. To leave their comfort zones & to live in the heart of Jerusalem:

"And the rulers of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts to dwell in other cities. And the people blessed all the men, that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem." Nehemiah 11:1‭-‬2

These people were blessed! They recognized God's power & knew He was worth every sacrifice, offering & relocation. However, it got to a point after generations that many of the descendants of priests in Jerusalem lost the significance, sought their comfort zones & thought of the prestige of their positions as higher than the power of God! If they really wanted to be positioned in power, they would have agreed with Peter & the disciples who spoke in the powerful Name of Jesus!

"And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" Acts 4:5‭-‬7

What they once revered, they were now offended at! They were blind to the fact that this was God at work...they thought it was just a couple lowly, uneducated guys trying to take their position & authority among the people...but just remember, wherever we are on society's status scale, God gives us the most powerful positions, no matter what it looks like on the outside!