Highlights: Nehemiah - Week 4

Let's jump into the word today.

We're gonna finish up our series on Nehemiah personal leadership today.

Last week we got to the point where they were

constructing the wall. We're gonna jump ahead now, and the

wall is finished. The wall of Jerusalem that was broken down,

the wall is now completed, and we are talking about

those personal leadership principles that we can learn. Because if

I can lead me better, I can lead everything better. Amen. Uh.

Most of the time, our leadership failures come when we

don't lead us well, you know the people part. You know,

Jesus comes along and helps us a lot more with

the other people part than he does with the me part.

Because I'm a little more selfish about me, Amen, a

little more hard headed about me.

I will.

I can trust Jesus to do something in your life,

but it's harder for me to trust him to do

it in my life. I can pray and believe for

you to be healed. Come on now, but I'm sick.

It's the worst thing in the world. I can listen.

You can come with the worst day while I'll pray

for you and I believe God heals you right in

that moment.

But when my nose runs. I like to climb in

the bed and act like a big baby. Amen.

And when we talk about personal leadership, it's easy for

us to project those principles on somebody else, what somebody

else should be doing, how they should manage. But we

need to turn that focus inward on us and learn

to lead ourselves better. So, if you got a Bible,

go to Niamiah chapter eight, Damiyah chapter eight, and we're

going to start in verse three.

Nami chapter eight, Verse three.

It says, then he he is is Ezra. Basically, what

has happened. The wall has been constructed. Their enemies have

realized now that the plan, the purpose is in place. Listen,

there is power in the purpose when when the purpose

is moving and roll, the enemy has a hard time derolling,

derailing what God is doing. He would rather come in

early in the early phases of your purpose and abort

what's happening, rather than try to murder what's happening. There's

less energy to stop it from happening than there is

to stop it. Once it gets rolling. Our all of

our thinge, all of our vision, all of our all.

Of our faith becomes aligned.

Once that thing starts rolling, and focus is important because

a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

But somebody that understands their purpose and is working towards

their purpose is pointed, focused and sharp. We come here now,

and the walls have been completed. And now we see

the reason that God dropped the purpose in the Aemiah,

the reason God drops the purpose in you. People are

part of the purpose. But the purpose is to create

a platform. Chapter eight, verse three, and Niaia. Then he

read it from the open square. It was in front

of the watergate from morning until midday before the men

and women and those who could understand, and the ears

of all the people were attentive to the book of

the law. So Ezra the scribes stood on a platform

of wood, which they had made for the purpose. Father,

we thank you for the purpose. We thank you for

our purpose. We thank you for your purpose that is

alive and well in us. And Lord, it doesn't matter

how we see ourselves, because we know how you see this.

You say that we're above and not beneath. We're the

head and not the tail, that we are more than conquerors.

Greater is he who is in us that he was

in the world. And I ask right now that you

buying those promises to your people here this morning, in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

They have rebuilt the walls, They've rehung the city gates.

There is security in the city. Now the foes of

God's people have been turned away, and now the purpose

begins to be enacted. The reason for the construction of

the purpose, they built a platform in the center of

the city, in an open square, A raised, elevated position

is what a platform is. They constructed it, and they

stood upon it, and Ezra read God's word. He proclaimed

God's word to all the people who had participated in

the purpose, even those who probably didn't participate in the purpose.

You know, there's always going to be some people that,

even when it looks like everybody's showing up to support you,

there's still some people that are somewhere in the shadows,

waiting to see if it's gonna work or not. There's

always some people that just take a wait and see approach.

Listen if you're one of those.

Wait and see people, I understand the safety in waiting

and seeing.

I understand that.

You know, if you don't, if you don't pick your team,

come on, somebody. The worst thing in the world is

to have people over to watch college football and they

won't tell you which team they're rooting for before the

game starts. They come on over here. It don't matter

to me. I'm just kind of I like both teams.

I just I like both teams. And you know, there

are people like pastor Shane who just don't know football.

That takes that stance.

But but you know, I want you to declare which

team you're on, because what I don't want to have

and is at halftime, when the game has turned into

a blowout, that suddenly you become a raving fan of.

The winning team. Listen, you need to.

Watch for those bandwagon those bandwagon fans. You need to

watch for those people that took away and see approached,

that kind of stood off, that maybe they were even

a little negative about your purpose. And then suddenly things

start going well and uh, they start buying your jersey.

Come on, somebody, they're like, oh, yeah, past Steve, I

love him. I knew he was I knew he was

so great and soesoed by you. Listen when he was

just a little old bity fella. You didn't know me

when I was.

A little but It's been a long time since I've

been a little fellow, amen, Because see, those people will

poison your purpose from the inside, and they will try

to convince you that the platform is for something that

the platform was never intended for.

But see those people.

That are early on, they that they hear that vision,

They see the strain, they see the work, they see

all of the effort, they see God onboarding into your purpose.

And every single miracle that happens when it looks like

things are going to collapse and then God shows up

and he props it up, or he brings a breakthrough.

Come on somebody that.

Moment when you don't know how and then suddenly the

idea just happens or or or God sends his favor

and somebody changes their mind, or or somebody that has

the necessary ability just comes along and gives you that

little bit of information.

You get a breakthrough.

See when we understand and the people that are for us,

and we surround ourselves with the people that are for us,

our platform stays pure. But a lot of times in

the purpose, we get confused about what the platform is

actually for, and we think our platform is now for us,

that we think our platform is for our advance.

But we think our.

Platform is for our fill in the blank. But the

platform that's built through our purpose is never for us.

The platform is.

For us to.

Proclaim who Christ is, to proclaim who He can be

in other people's lives so that we can help them

unlock the purpose that He has for their life. The

platform is not to stand up and talk about how

great we are. You know, I like to watch I

like to watch interviews with athletes because they'll say something

along more almost one hundred percent of the time they'll

say something along these lines.

I just want to give glory to God.

And I tell you what, man, I went out there

and I thought, and I scraped, and I got twenty

seven rebounds and I scored thirty two points. And listen,

I felt like I was out there all by myself.

I mean, I got a good team, but let's face it,

I'm the star and they couldn't do it without me.

It changes into that at some point, and God is

a second thought on the platform, But the reality is

God is the first thing on the platform.

God is the reason we.

Even have the platform, and his call, his giftings or without.

If you get into the.

Process and you've built it, and you stand up and

make your platform selfish. Very rarely will he ever take

the platform because of your selfishness. He'll convict you, he'll

move in your life and in your heart to get

you to share him. But very rarely does he ever

just pull it away, because that's not who God is. See,

we get this theology that we quote partial scriptures. Come

on somebody, We don't understand the contextualization that comes with them.

And one of my favorite scriptures is for somebody to

quote is the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Oh,

Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Do you know

God didn't say that. God is not the one that

said that. God never, as a matter of fact, every

everything we read and read right, everything that Jesus said,

he always talks about.

Giving, giving, giving, giving, giving.

That scripture the Lord gives and the Lord takes away,

that's actually found in the Book of Job, and God.

Didn't say that.

One of Job's friends who were vexing him and tormenting

him said that said the Lord gives and the Lord

takes away. And then about two chapters later that statement

is chastised and he says, I give you gifts.

God doesn't take.

I think some of us are bitter in this room

today because we think that we've worked hard, and we've

chased purpose and we've chased destiny, and somehow we think

God is taking something from us. When we get this

erroneous theology that God has taken something because he's trying

to teach me something. He's trying to humble me. He's

trying to do this, he's trying to do that. Humility

is born through prayer. Humility is born through spending.

Time with God.

Because you can't stand in the presence of the Almighty

and be proud when we stand in the presence of

the Almighty. We have that Isaiah experience. Woe is me,

Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.

I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

God send me anyway, though. That's humility, is that we

realize how great God is, but we know he wants

to use us anyway.

That's humility.

We think that that God is doing these things and

he's pulling things away from us, or he's dangling things

over our head, and but that's not who God is.

God Birth's purpose. God provides for purpose, and the enemy

comes in to still to kill and to destroy. Listen

to John chapter ten, verse ten. The thief comes to kill,

to steal, and to destroy, and Jesus says, but I

have come that you may have life, and life more abundantly,

life to the fullest. There's several translations there. But everything

is more than what you have right now. Now, that

doesn't that doesn't always mean money, doesn't always mean now.

In America, we think that means money, right because we've

tied everything to money. But the reality is I can

live in peace and joy and not have money. I

can be completely fulfilled and not have the outward trappings

because purpose purpose, purpose, purpose is.

Where those things come from.

And when we understand where purpose comes from, then we

stand on the platform that is in the center of

what God has used us to.

Build and we proclaim God's words.

We stand up and we proudly say, listen, God is

the reason that I'm here. God is the only reason

that I'm here. And then we begin to make decisions

not based on what we want or what we have,

but out of what God has and what God wants,

and we begin to focus. Then outwardly rather than inwardly.

But I don't know how many times I've seen people

reach that place of success and it turns inward. And

that's not the platform that God has instructed us to build.

In Matthew chapter five, verse fourteen, it says you are

the light of the world. Now, Jesus originally says I'm

the light of the world. He says me, Jesus is

the light of the world. But then here he switches

and he looks, and he says, you are the light

of the world. Everybody, make eye contact with me right now.

I know I can't make eye contact with all y'all,

but all y'all look.

At my eyes.

You you are the light of the world. You that there's

some of you that when I looked, I just look

through there trying to make eye contact.

You looked at the floor.

Because you don't want to be, or you don't believe

you're the light of the world.

But you are. You are the light of the world.

You are the light of the world.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

He said, you.

Are the light of the world. You're a city that

shines bright from the top of the hill. The platform

of your purpose has elevated you so people can see

you and what's in you can become the navigating principle,

the navigating point in other people's lives.

The Apostle Paul said it like this, imitate me as

I imitate Christ. Wow. That's powerful, isn't it.

If people did what you do, imitated closer to Jesus?

If people imitated.

Your actions, would they get closer to Jesus? Because you

were on a platform. Regardless of whether you think you

are or not, people are watching you right now.

You have influence in some way. You know, I won't ever.

Lexi was probably three years old and it was bedtime

one night, and Lexi prayed, She's just, you know, not

very plain, just you know. And there's this phrase that

I use all the time when I pray, I say, Lord,

make us the leaders of tens of thousands of men, women,

boys and girls.

I want ever forget.

The first time Lexi was praying and she said, Lord,

making is a weeda of ten of thousand boys and

girls and women men. And I thought, oh my gosh,

she listens to what I say, she watches what I do.

Because if I don't have influence over anybody, else I

have influence over her. Your platform, whether your purpose is

complete or not, your platform is already broadcasting a message.

What are you broadcasting? What is the number one thing

that people see in your lives?

Is it worry? Now?

Listen, people are already starting to squirm.

Is it fear?

Is it anxiety? Is it stress? Is it negativity?

Is it?

When I wake up in the morning, I don't hope

that the day is going to be a good day.

When I wake up in the morning.

It is a good day because the Bible says, this

is the day that the Lord has made. I'm going

to rejoice, spin around wildly, and jump up and down.

I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it.

Be glad simply because there is an opportunity for Jesus

to be seen in our lives. That even if the

day doesn't feel good, Jesus can still be seen. And

the way we handle those bad moments, he said, a

city is set on a hill, cannot be hidden. Nor

do they light a lamp and put it under a basket,

but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to

all who are in the house.

Now, I think when we.

Read those passive scriptures about this little light of mine. Right,

we read these passages about being the light of the world.

To being the light, we think that the enemy is

the one that comes and puts a basket over it.

That's not what scripture says. Scripture says, you put a

basket over your own light. That when we don't proudly

stand on the platform God has given us and.

Use our gifts.

And the way God wired us, listen if you if

you don't really understand how God's wired you, and you

don't understand your spiritual giftingness, you don't understand why you

do things the way you do and think the way

you think and want the things that listen, Engage is

the place for you. We literally operate Cornerstone Tabernacle on

the premise of trying to help you find God's purpose

for your life. Every Sunday morning at ten am, we

have Engage in room over there is the one that

says engage. It's either one O two, one oh four.

It's not one O six, it's one O two or

one O four. I've narrowed it down to two doors

at ten am every Sunday morning, and we want to

help you understand the way God designs you so that

you can find purpose, so that you can walk onto

the platform that God has for your life, because your

platform is perfectly created to be in the presence of

the people that need to hear what you have to say.

We're gonna we're gonna give you a personality survey, We're

gonna help you discover your spiritual gifts. Then we're gonna

sit down and we're gonna put those things together so

that you can see why you're not happy working at

the place where you're working, where you fit on a team,

and dream beyond anything you could possibly ever dream about.

To embrace the totality of what God has for your life.

Because purpose equals life, and once you grab that life,

you want to share it with other people. So stop

putting it under a basket, because you can't hide from

God's plan for your life. You can refuse to do it,

but it is still his plan. He still has a

desire for you. He still created you for something, and

the light is never designed to be under a basket.

So take the basket off and be the city set

on a hill. Let your light so shine before men

that they may see your good works and glorify your

father in heaven, pastor Clay, you can bring the band

out and get ready. He says, let your light shine

because your good works point people to Jesus.

Let's just but let's just.

Go ahead and let's talk about this. You are part

of God's plan for people to be saved.

You are God's plan. You are Your good words point

people to Jesus.

Who you are models Christ to people so that they

can have a desire for what's on the inside of you.

When people look at you, do they want the life

that you have? And listen, it doesn't matter. You're like, no,

they don't want my life because they ain't got two

Nichols to rub together. Listen, they still want nickel shy too. Also,

what they need to know is why you have the

peace that you have in the same situation they're in.

What they want to know is why you don't want

to strangle those neighbors that make all that noise.

In your apartment building that live up above y'all.

Why you seem to have peace about it and you

get sleep when they're stressed out and bloodshot eyes and

they just want they want to go murder somebody. They

want to know why your wife calls you and tells

you how much she loves you because you model Christ

in your relationship. See, the platform is not just about talking,

it's about acting. Being the light of the world is

that you shine all the time everywhere.

Now, I'm not gonna lie.

I have bad days. I have bad days. There are

days that I wish I could take back. There are

moments in my life where I have said things that

I've been short with people or mean to people, and

I wish I could take those things back. But I

can't get them back. But what I can do is

ask for forgiveness.

What I can do is not act like it was

their fault.

What I can do is take personal responsibility. What I

can do is ask the question, how do I lead

me better so that I can lead others better?

Pashion Cloud, would you answer this to the microphone?

When things don't go right here, when events don't go right,

when systems don't go right, whose fault is it? But

do you know why he said mine personal responsibility? Because

there's no way I was going to say yours. But

you know what, I think it's my fault too. Do

you know we don't think anything that ever happens.

Is your fault. It's our fault.

Because I can only control me. And if I want

things to be better, I'll make things better. If I

want to have a happier home, I'll learn to be

happier if I want to have if I want to

have a higher paying job, I'll learn to be a

better employee. Because the platform is about presenting Jesus, and

if I be the best me.

I can be, then people will see the Jesus in me.

Stop blaming everybody else for your situations and your circumstances.

Stop being a victim, and stand up and say God.

God has a plan for me. God has a purpose

for me. And in the middle of that purpose is

a platform. And I'm going to proclaim God's word from

the platform He's given me. It doesn't matter my situation

or my circumstance.

I'm going to let the light shine right. Everybody's staying

with me. Alter team, come please.

The Bible says that Christ is lifted up, he'll draw

all men unto himself.

Two thousand years ago.

From this elevations on the edge of the old city

of Jerusalem, there's a hill calvary Jesus, the only begotten

son of God was made to shoulder his own cross

and walked down the dusty cobblestone streets of that old city,

and he neared that that incline, that rise at elevation,

and purpose held him on course. So he got to

the top of that city. He could see all of

old Jerusalem. He laid himself down, and they drove nails

through his hands. At his feet, they picked up that

old rugged cross.

In it.

Thudded into the bottom of the horn. Pain ravaged his body.

It was the platform of the savior.

He was lifted up and in this moment.

Would be the declaration that would echo through eternity. And

in his pain, he looked into this room and he

saw those who were far from him, those who are

not trusting him on a daily basis. And instead of

mediculing him, because it was our sin that put him

on the cross, he looked across that city and he said,

Father God, forgive them.

Because they don't know what they're doing.

He looked into heaven, and with his last breath he said,

it's finished.

He died, and his blood pooled the foot of that cross,

and there the power to wash away all sin.

And today you can.

Ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin to make

you a new creation, and the polluted platform that you've

been proclaiming your own plan from.

Can be made here.

So that you can proclaim His glory his grace. So,

if you don't know Jesus is your personal lord and savior,

today is the day you start building your platform for

the kingdom, giving your life to him. Or maybe you've

done that before, but you haven't been living your life

that way, and you allowed sin to come into your life,

and you don't have the same vision and the same

passion that you used to have for his purpose for

who he is, that you can make those things right.

When I count to three, if you want to ask

Jesus to be your savior, you want to repent of

your sin and make things right with him, I'm going

to ask you this, step out and come when I

counted three.

Or maybe you're here and.

You're hungry for your platform. Something is stirred on the

inside of you and you are hungry to experience that

purpose so that you can proclaim God from the platform

that he has for your life. And there's nothing wrong

with that to be eager about purpose. God's plan. If

that's you, also, on the count of three, I want

you to step out and come. I don't want you

to look around and see if anybody else is moving.

I just want you to step out and come. When

I count thirty, the band's gonna play. Our prayer team

is gonna pray for you, and listen, we're gonna we're

gonna serve communion right after this, So please don't run

out unless you got an airplane to catch.

It's probably delayed anyway, so you can stay then too.

It's on the count of three.

Come. You're looking for purpose, You're looking for Jesus to

clinch you.

On the count of three, step out and move one.

Two three, step out, come right now, Come on, come on,

come on, amen, Amen, Amen.

The band's gonna sing. Our prayer partners are here.