WEBVTT - It's Your Door 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.040 Hey there. Before we jump into the amazing message today, 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:05.640 we wanted to let you know about our upcoming tour, 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.520 the starting end just a few days. We're heading out 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.240 in the month of August with our friends Carry Joe 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.680 and Codycarnes, and we're coming to a city near you. 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.799 We're gonna have an amazing time in the presence of God. 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.520 Every single time we gather, He's faithful to meet with 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.600 us and do something new and fresh in our hearts. 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:25.799 So we hope you'll join us. Yes, we're gonna be 0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:30.400 in Dallas, San Antonio, Omaha, We're gonna be in Toledo, Dayton. 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.400 We're coming to you Knoxville, Huntsville. Yes, we're also going 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:37.080 to be in Louisville, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and New York. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:40.960 So come out join us, bring your friends, bring your family. 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.640 Everything you need tickets and information is at Elevation Worship 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.800 dot Com. We'll see you. See all right, how many 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:52.760 are excited about God's work going into your heart right now? 0:00:56.680 --> 0:00:59.640 That's what has to happen, y'all. The Word of God 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.320 has to get in your heart. Up here in your head, 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.160 you just got a history lesson. Oh no, maybe you 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:11.319 got a little motivational saying, if it gets in your heart, 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.920 it goes home with you. If it goes home with you, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.720 it can help you in your real life, not your 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:23.200 church life, not this little time we share together, but 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.880 the whole expense of your existence as a human being. 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.520 And that's what I'm after, and I believe that's what 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:32.680 God is after today. So may he speak something life 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:34.959 changing in this place. I'm gonna let you be seated. 0:01:34.959 --> 0:01:37.920 I've got a few different scriptures to read, so go 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:42.720 ahead and take your seat. Man, it gets hard to 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:44.760 hold these sermons all week while I wait for you 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:49.000 to get here. Really does I feel like I got 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:52.520 these boxes keep coming and I can't hold all of them. 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:54.720 So that's what's been like this week with the scriptures. 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:57.600 But one scripture that I want to make sure we 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:02.960 look at today is from nami chapter six, Verses one 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.480 through four and Neamiah chapter seven, Versus one through three. 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:11.280 And some of y'all might have post traumatic stress disorder. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.400 When I say Namiyah, don't worry. I'm not starting a 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.280 building project for the church today. It's about the only 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.799 time Neamiyah gets to come to church when they're raising 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:23.240 money for a fellowship, Paul or something pend me another brick. 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:30.680 But not to be corny about it, but I believe 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:36.600 God is building something in each of us, and that 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:40.200 God's construction project in your life related to your character, 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.840 your contentment. That's what I mean when I say the 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.480 hard work of happiness. Holly mentioned it when she made 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.040 the announcements. That's what I've been working on in my 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:54.680 own life, realizing that, man, there's an easy way to 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.840 get high and feel happy, not necessarily just off of drugs. 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.440 You know. It could be food, could be gossip, be 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:04.320 a lot of different drugs, you know what I mean. 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.520 You just have your own little pill bottle. But it 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:11.000 might not be something physical, It might be something might 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.959 be something very internal. And then to realize that to 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.600 truly in a sustainable way know the joy of the Lord, 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:20.000 well that's going to take work. So not to bore 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:21.760 you with all the details of how I got here, 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.959 but in the Amiah chapter six, verse one through four, 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.440 I want to share with you just just a really 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.760 brief glimpse into something that I think it's going to 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:36.640 be so simple that some of y'all won't listen. Some 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.560 of y'all won't listen. It'll be so simple that some 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.360 of you are gonna shut me out right now. But 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:50.480 sometimes we need practical strategies for spiritual battles. Sometimes we 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:54.680 do go name in and dip into Jordan. What in 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:57.000 the world does that have to do with my skin? 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.240 What in the world does what in the world does 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.440 launching a fishing net on the other side of the 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:04.720 boat have to do with me and the disciples? But 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.160 the Lord will give you something practical sometimes everybody say practical. 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.360 By the way, I hadn't even greeted the e fam yet. 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.960 Hello to our epam all over the world less thank 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:19.039 God for him right here from Valentine, quick question in 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.800 the chat. What state, what city? What state? What city? 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.000 If you're in the United States, shout out to our 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:28.599 pop up church in California today. Where are they in 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:33.760 California today? Riverside? Y'all make some noise for Riverside pop 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:39.520 up praise party in Riverside. Amen. So good, so good, 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.120 so good. So let me know the city and state 0:04:41.200 --> 0:04:43.800 that you're in right now as we go to the 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.679 Word of God. Namiyah chapter six. All right, the Lord's 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:49.120 going to shift something in your life today. Niamia chapter six, 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:55.480 verse one, when word came to Sandballot, to Baya Geesham, 0:04:55.560 --> 0:05:00.279 the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.640 had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.920 in it. He's not bragging, but I mean he's been 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:08.760 through a lot to get to this point. This was 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:13.200 a hard project. Here's how hard it was. They couldn't 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.400 do it for eighty years until Nehemiah got there. They 0:05:17.480 --> 0:05:21.120 kept trying and it would stop, and they'd get discouraged, 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:24.039 and they'd stop and they'd be opposed. They're trying to 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.520 rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, right, because they've been in exile. Right, 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:30.839 I'll take a little history lesson real quick, just real quick, 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.000 just real quick, just real quick. I will not stay 0:05:33.040 --> 0:05:35.360 in this very long. But the background is they've been 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:40.080 in Babylon, about fifty thousand of them. The Jewish people 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.839 came back to Jerusalem, but the city was in bad 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.880 shape because it was still ravaged, so it came in waves. 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:50.440 Zir rub A Bell took a group back and he 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.400 helped to rebuild the temple. And then after Zor rub 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:55.520 A Beel and you can always remember that he's the 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.480 one who built the temple because zorrubb a beel rubble. 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.120 He had to work with the that he had and 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:03.719 build what he could, but he couldn't do everything. It 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:07.200 came in waves. God sent Ezra after Zorobabel had been 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:10.400 there a little while, and Ezra started preparing the people's hearts. 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.320 Now that the temple was in position, he had to 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:17.120 get the people ready. Okay, quick principle. In the Old Testament, 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.920 God had a temple for his people. In the New Testament, 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:27.000 God has a people for his temple. He lives in you. Now. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.000 The challenge of Bible application is we don't want to 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:34.520 make it entirely external or entirely internal. If I just 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.960 take this text and start talking to you and make 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.080 it mean whatever I want, we can come to some 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:41.680 pretty crazy conclusions, as i'll show you in a minute. 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:43.919 But at the same time, if I just tell you 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.880 about Zorobabel and Ezra and meah my in five thirty 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.760 six BC and all of these things, you're like, what 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.000 did I did? I did I really get up this 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:57.560 morning for history? I got my diploma in nineteen eighty three, 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.599 so I didn't have to learn any of this anymore. 0:06:59.800 --> 0:07:01.919 And you'll be totally checked out and that's not the 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:04.160 point of the Bible anyway. All of this is written 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:07.320 for examples. It's the living Word of God. It is 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:09.320 not a dead history of a people who happen to 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.080 live in a certain place that we can study from afar. 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:14.600 It is meant to get inside of it. That's my 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:17.840 challenge for Bible preaching, because I've got to get you 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:21.960 to see that while they are rebuilding the city, God 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:28.200 is rebuilding your soul. Your soul is like a city. 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.320 And this brings up a question. If your soul is 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:38.960 a city, what's the crime rate your soul, your mind, 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.680 your will, your emotions. Now your spirit. That's perfect. That's 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.160 what Jesus. When Jesus saves you, he gives you the 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.480 Holy Spirit. There's nothing wrong with the Holy Spirit. The 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.920 Holy Spirit doesn't need upgrades. The Holy Spirit doesn't have 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.680 bugs and glitches, the Holy Spirit doesn't buffer. The truest 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.120 part of you, if you belong to Jesus is light 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.760 and truth, and it is the incorruptible seed of the 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.840 Word of God. So that's your new nature. When you 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.520 do something crazy and say I'm just keeping it real, 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:12.320 no you're not. Actually, that's not the real you. At all, 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:17.680 that's the you that you remember. But to really learn 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.600 this new way of thinking requires that God does some 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:25.760 work not in our spirit, but in our soul. If 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.360 your soul was a city, just putting this out there 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:38.960 before we read all of this, how's the economy? Is 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:44.040 it a lot of poverty of compassion? Are you in 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:50.920 compassion fatigue? That would be poverty of compassion. If you 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:54.160 have a poverty of empathy, only can see things how 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:56.800 you can see things. So, if your soul is a city, 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:01.479 God has given you charge over it. You are elected 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:05.840 as the mayor of the city of your soul to 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:12.680 develop and defend what God gives you. Hey, man, pastor Steven, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:14.560 you are on fire today. You only read a half 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.760 a verse, but you are preaching. You are preaching. I 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.680 have to encourage myself. I cannot rely on y'all to 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.760 know when I'm preaching good, but I'm saying something. Give 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.520 them Proverbs the Proverbs verse. This will make it clear 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.880 the writer of Proverbs. Most people believe Solomon wrote the 0:09:29.920 --> 0:09:33.400 majority of the Proverbs. You got it like a city 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:38.240 whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:45.440 self control? Did that scripture feel like it should have 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.040 had your name by it, or you're doing real good. 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:56.640 If your soul is a city, what's going on inside? 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:02.040 I see your sneakers, I see your smile, I see 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.760 all of that, But I'm asking about the city of 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:10.800 your soul. That stuff. Yeah, only God really sees that. 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.000 And if Solomon did write proverbs, he would be the 0:10:14.000 --> 0:10:16.920 perfect one to tell us that when you don't have 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.360 self control, you're like a city with no walls. Just 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:23.560 anything can get in anytime, because that's exactly what he 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.040 let happen, not only to his own heart, but to 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.960 the nation. You remember, Saul was the first king of Israel. 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:34.920 David came after him. Solomon, David's son took the throne next, 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:37.920 and the Bible says he was the wisest man who 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:41.000 ever lived. The only time I can find a sort 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:43.880 of contradiction in the Bible is that if he's the 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:46.720 wisest man to ever live, how did he have seven 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:50.280 hundred wives? So to me, I'm still working on that. 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:53.880 That's the mystery of God right there for me. But 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:59.600 the Bible says that he did something crazy. He'd let 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:04.000 the influence of the foreign women that he loved turn 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.800 his heart just the literal language of it tecon King's Limba. 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:10.320 It says he let them turn his heart from the Lord, 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:15.040 so he started to let things come in, not directly attention, 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:20.719 but indirectly. He did not turn toward those gods. He 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.679 turned toward those people, and those people turned him toward 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:30.200 those gods. We are far more easily influenced than we realize. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:36.040 And like a city without walls, just anybody, anything, any thought, 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.080 any feeling, any impulse, anything you want to do, anything 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.320 you want to say, anything you want to look at, 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.800 anything you want to watch, anything you want. Anything can 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:49.000 get in when you do not see your soul as 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:54.200 a city and realize that you have the responsibility to 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.840 defend it. Now, I wish I could tell you different. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:00.440 I wish I could tell you that when you turn 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.199 twenty five, somebody's gonna come in your life and make 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:05.240 you happy, and they will help you deal with all 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.920 of your dysfunctions, and you will meet the right person 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.200 and they will make you whole. But if you are 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.800 half and they come into your life and you are half, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:14.960 then they will make you watch this. They will not 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:18.440 make you whole. They will make you go through a 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.760 living hell as you realize that what you thought was 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:25.040 in another person could only be found in God. I 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:28.280 gotta work on my city. I gotta work on myself. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:32.760 I gotta work on what's within. I gotta work. Let's 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:37.240 go back to the Amiah, because now I think you're ready, 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.199 he said. When we got the wall built, they did 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.320 it in fifty two days with the help of their God. 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:44.840 So this is something to celebrate, and there was not 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:49.160 a gap left in it. Verse one six. Though up 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:52.360 to that time I had not set the doors in 0:12:52.400 --> 0:12:58.480 the gates. Sanballat and Gusham sent me this message, Come 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.960 let us meet together in one of the villages on 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:07.440 the plane of oh No. But they were scheming to 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:12.000 harm me, Theamiyah says, so I sent messengers to them 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.640 with this reply. And y'all, I'm glad Niamiyah was skilled 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.839 as a builder because he did not have the gift 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.319 of a preacher. Because he missed the most obvious layup 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:25.120 in the history. Watch this, come meet with us on 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.960 the planes of oh No. And them, I said, I 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.920 am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:37.960 Why wouldn't you start the response with oh no missed? 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:43.280 Come on, y'all, like my humor. You didn't pay anything. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:48.800 It's not like you need a refund for the ticket. 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.439 So they say need the planes of Oh no, he says, 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.400 oh no, he didn't say it. I'm putting it in there. 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.320 You should have said it. I am carrying on a 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:03.320 great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop? Well, 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.000 I leave it and go down to you. Now this 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.040 is the part I like, because this gives me an indication. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.080 You don't just fight spiritual battles once and they go away. 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.240 Look at verse four. Four times they sent the same message, 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:20.760 and each time I gave the same answer. So he's 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:25.240 persistent about this because he has priorities. And we'll come 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.320 back to priorities in just a moment. But skip over 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:32.920 to Neamiah seven, verse one. They keep trying to get 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:34.600 him to come. He won't come. They give him a 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.480 false prophecy. They try to get him to go in 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:38.240 the temple and close the doors. They're like, hey, come, 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:39.920 somebody's get killing. You need to hide in the temple. 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:41.880 He's like, if I hide, I lose my credibility. I 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:43.080 know what you're trying to do to me. Why should 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:44.920 a man like me run and hide after God? Brought 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.720 me this far. If God enabled me through letters from 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:49.720 Artis Zerxes to come here and rebuild this wall, and 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.440 help me do it in spite of all this opposition. 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.280 You think I'm gonna go run and hide in somebody's 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.760 house right now. Not me. Oh no, you wouldn't do it. 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.960 I wouldn't quit. So now look at chapter seven, verse one. 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.920 And I never heard anybody preach chapter seven, because it 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.200 lists a bunch of names of everybody who came back 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:11.760 after the Babylon captivity. And so this is like a skip. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.120 Most of the time in the book of Neomiah, just 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.360 read right past it. But I saw something so important 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.880 that I thought we should spend this entire sermon on it. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.400 Neamiah seven, verse one. After the wall had been rebuilt 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.720 and I'd set the doors in place, the gatekeepers, musicians 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:30.520 and levites were appointed, and I put in charge of 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.280 Jerusalem my brother hand and I along with Han and 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.240 I are the commander of the citadel. Because he was 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:40.120 a man of integrity, that doesn't mean he's perfect. That 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:45.520 means he's one person everywhere, same person here as the 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:50.200 same person there, whole integer in math. You remember that 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.560 that's what he's saying he had integrity and he feared 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.120 God more than most people. I kind of liked the 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:02.600 shade of meaning behind that more than most people, Like 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.520 he's better than all these other bombs, So I picked him. 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:08.240 But really, when he says he's a man of integrity, 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.360 we realize that he is appointed because of his character. 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:14.680 And look at verse three. It says I said to 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:18.280 them the gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.640 until the sun is hot, while the gatekeepers are still 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.640 on duty, had them shut the doors and bar them. 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.960 Also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards, some at their 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:32.760 post and some near their own houses. Y'all, if I 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:34.800 could call this study what I want to call it, 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.320 what I really want to call it, I would call 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:47.920 it self awareness as a form of spiritual warfare. But 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:49.880 the more I thought about that, I thought, they will 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.640 never remember that when they leave. I don't hardly even 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:57.760 remember it. And I just said it's so clunky. So instead, 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.160 I'm going to call it and I want you to 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:00.680 look at the person that you and tell them the 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.520 title that I think you probably can't remember. Say, it's 0:17:03.560 --> 0:17:11.439 your door, it's your door, it's your door, and I 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.280 need your prayers as always because God continues to have 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:21.240 to help me to focus my priorities. I am constantly 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:26.080 having to deal with the Holy Spirit about my priorities. 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:31.080 It's almost like a bath or brushing your teeth. It's like, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.080 if I don't do it a couple times a day, 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:40.520 I start to notice in my attitude, in my thoughts, 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:45.679 in my conversations, and I can be the pettiest person. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.840 Last week, I told you that I'm very protective as 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:50.639 a father. When my kids are in the ocean, I 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:55.160 turn into safety Steve. You know, y'all come in. You're 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.240 too deep. It's really annoying, and I know it while 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:01.199 I'm doing it, but I'm just scared because I just 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.960 don't want I'm just I don't know I'm getting old. 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:07.320 I know I'm getting old because Elijah went to get 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.520 five napkins last night and I freaked out just last night. 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:15.399 This is recent, but see, even that goes back because 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:17.520 my dad used to tear the paper towel in half 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:19.440 and say, you don't need a whole paper towel. Half 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:20.840 a paper towel is all you need. Was in the 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:22.520 world you need With a whole paper towel, you need 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:24.600 to learn how to manage me. Had a whole system 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:26.480 for folding it and getting through with half paper towel. 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:29.919 But he grew up poor. So now you carry all 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.199 these things into your adulthood. I don't know where this 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.040 one came from. I can almost hear my mom's voice 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:39.199 in my head. But somewhere along the line, my children 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:43.360 all had a meeting and decided relatively recently that none 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.840 of them was ever going to close a door in 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:52.160 the house ever. Again, not a door to a bedroom, 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.960 not a door to a pantry, definitely not a door 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.359 going outside. I mean, I'm just walking through the house 0:18:58.440 --> 0:19:01.159 all day and I hear my mom's voice. That's the 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.439 craziest part about it. I hear my mom's voice, you 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:09.080 are cooling off the outside, and then she used to yell, uh, 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:13.200 you know, she would yell. She would yell, you're letting 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:17.199 the cool out. You're letting the cool out. Shut the door, 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:19.399 you're letting the cool out. Or if it wasn't that, 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:22.400 shut the door, you're letting the flies in. So I'm 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.919 either letting the flies in or the cool out. And 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.439 I am so petty. I was walking through the house 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:32.720 just the other day and there's a door, and there's 0:19:32.760 --> 0:19:36.240 a door, and there's a door, and I'm closing the doors, 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:39.160 and I'm doing a little speech under my breath. That's fine. 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:42.080 I'll just be the official door closer around here. I 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:44.600 got nothing better to do. It's not like I lead 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:47.640 a global ministry. I got nothing better to do. Then 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.960 follow y'all and close the doors so that the dumb 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:53.919 dog that y'all made me buy won't get out and 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:56.320 get hit by a car. That's what I would love 0:19:56.359 --> 0:20:01.720 to do today, is close the doors behind y'all, And 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.879 I promise when the Lord speaks to me, sometimes it 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:09.000 is so basic, he said, this is like I don't 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:10.280 know if it was the Lord. It was a thought 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:14.840 that went through my mind. Wonder what would happen if 0:20:14.920 --> 0:20:23.480 you were as concerned about what you let in your heart? No, no, no, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.320 I didn't get to the best part yet. Here you're 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:30.800 talking about I'm letting the I'm letting the flies in, okay, 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:36.080 but you let the fear in. Don't seem to be 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:40.400 very concerned about that. So I wonder what would happen 0:20:40.480 --> 0:20:43.400 if you would be as concerned about what you let 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.320 in your heart as what's getting in this house? Because 0:20:47.359 --> 0:20:51.239 the door is open. I wonder what would happen if 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:53.200 you were as concerned about what you let in your heart. 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:55.520 And this is the one that got me and what 0:20:55.600 --> 0:21:08.080 you let out of your mouth. So, uh, everybody do this. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:15.040 We're going to talk about that in a minute. Because 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:22.200 that's your door, whether you realize it or not, that's 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:30.800 your door. And that's your door, y'all with me, And 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:38.440 that's your door. And that big old elephant sized brain 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:42.199 that you're carrying around up there, that knows all of 0:21:42.240 --> 0:21:49.240 that math and science, that's your door. Because Neiamiah builds 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:53.399 the wall, and they've got the structure, and the city 0:21:53.480 --> 0:21:56.080 is spacious and large, but the people aren't back yet. 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:59.440 I don't know if you notice the detail, but it 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.160 is pretty significant if God put it in the Bible. 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:06.040 Anything God put in the Bible, I'm like, Lord, that 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:09.080 seems random, but it must not be revealed to me 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:12.320 what's in it. And he said in chapter six, verse one, 0:22:13.440 --> 0:22:18.240 that when his enemies everybody say enemy, when they heard 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:23.000 that I had rebuilt the wall, the whole thing and 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:26.080 didn't leave the gap in it. But look at verse 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.720 two or verse one part be excuse me, though up 0:22:29.760 --> 0:22:34.240 to that time I had not set the doors in 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:37.359 the gates, So we got two things happening. In the scripture, 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:43.639 Nehemiah is making progress for God and he receives an 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:48.960 invitation from his enemy. All at the same time he 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:52.240 is making progress for God. He's getting this wall. Bill. 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:54.119 If we could get a wall, we can get an 0:22:54.200 --> 0:22:56.640 educational system. If we can get a wall, we can 0:22:56.680 --> 0:22:58.680 worship without being worried that they're going to come and 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:00.800 get us. If we can get a war all built. Ah, 0:23:00.880 --> 0:23:04.320 But he said after the wall was built, that was 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.280 the first wave. Now I had to set the doors 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:12.800 in place so that in the daily comings and goings 0:23:13.160 --> 0:23:17.040 we could have assurance of protection, so that when we 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:19.959 did what we did in the course of our lives, 0:23:20.000 --> 0:23:23.920 whether worship or work, we would be protected. I've got 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:26.920 to get these doors in place. If I don't get 0:23:26.920 --> 0:23:29.639 these doors in place, this wall isn't going to do 0:23:29.680 --> 0:23:31.840 me any good. Because if I get a wall but 0:23:31.960 --> 0:23:34.560 no doors, nobody can go out. But if I have 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:38.000 a wall without doors, anybody can just get in. So 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:40.359 I got to have a wall, and I gotta have 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:44.360 some doors. Because I'm making progress for God. But I'm 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:47.840 receiving an invitation from the enemy. So this is the question. 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:50.520 I'm bringing it right to twenty twenty two. What do 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:54.359 you do when you are making progress for God but 0:23:54.480 --> 0:24:01.560 you receive an invitation from an enemy? And invitation from 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:05.240 the enemy not a physical enemy. Remember, we don't wrestle 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:08.880 against fresh and flesh and blood. So sand ballot, he's 0:24:08.920 --> 0:24:12.439 over Samaria in the north, and Tobiah is over the 0:24:12.480 --> 0:24:14.919 Ammonites to the east, and Gsham is over the Arabs 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:17.080