At some point in your life, most likely when you were young, you spent time in a fort.  And I am certain that you were an excellent foreman in constructing your fortress.  Most, if not all, of my forts were built in the woods that surrounded our back yard.  The day would start with an idea that a few of us boys would form teams, build a fort, and then commence in some sort of battle.  We usually opted for the green pine cones as a weapon of choice (not a smart move).

Most of the time the battle would only last a few minutes, while the fort building would take the better part of the day.  Most of the time the battle was more about who could build the better fort… and the bragging would soon follow.

There is a story in the Bible about a man named Nehemiah who left his royal post in a warm safe environment to go back to his homeland and rebuild the walls around his destroyed city of Jerusalem.  Nehemiah was going home to build a fort to protect his city and his neighbors.

Every day, we wake up and we begin working on the walls of our forts.  In reality, I’m pretty certain that you have more than one fort if not several.  Some of the forts you are building are made to provide shelter and protection for the people you care for.  While other forts are made to isolate yourself and hide from the world.

What are your forts protecting?

In the story of Nehemiah, he was devastated that the world had come against his brothers and sisters  and had torn down his hometown.  Attack after attack had left Jerusalem in shambles and the city walls were lying on the ground in rubble.  Nehemiah clinched his fist, set his jaw, and was determined to restore his home… and he did it.

The forts that you have built for yourself can become quite accomodating to all sorts of matters in your life.  Some of the forts are built wiith the best intentions, but end up being hiding places where you live a separated life.  Do you have a couple of those forts in your life?  Have you built walls around your dark habits in order to hide like a hermit and keep others out of your business?  Do you count on the walls of your fort to be tall enough that no one else can see in?

God instructs us to live inside of His will.  The walls of God’s kingdom cannot be broken and offer shelter, protection, freedom, and absolute contentment.  But if you choose to live outside of those walls, you’re a dead man.

You may seem to have life, and you may think you’ve acheived some kind of victory by building your own fortress around the dark places of life – greed, pride, selfishness, perversion, or whatever keeps you bound up in secret.

Wake up brother… you’re not in a fort, you my friend are in a prison.  Evil convinces you that your fort is cool and solid.  But in fact, you’ve constructed a prison outside of the walls of God’s provision for you.

You’re not strong enough to survive out there.  If you live in these prisons, you are dying a slow death from the inside out and evil has you where it wants you… separated from God.

You are an excellent fort maker.  Let’s put that ability to use by building the walls of God’s kingdom.  Let’s spend our time fighting back the evil that wants our family to wander outside and build a “”fort”.  Let’s spend our day as warriors who will continue to fortify the walls of faith around our neighbors, our family,  and our community.

May you escape your forts of isolation and realize that freedom only comes from the Grace of God and He has a place for you… inside His walls.  And may we be like Nehemiah… clinching our fists, setting our jaw, and being determined to fortify the walls of faith for the people we care most about.

Peace,
Greg Arnold
Acts 4:31
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