Scripture Psalm 15 - “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your Holy hill? (2) He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; (3) He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; (4) In who’s eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; (5) He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” – There are things listed here that would cause us NOT TO BE MOVED! Stay in the ZONE!
Psalm 15 “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your Holy hill? (2) He who walks uprightly,…
=Note, it doesn’t say, “he who walks uptightly!” There is a difference between walking uprightly and walking uptightly! It is the difference between living IN the Zone, or living OUT of the Zone! - What causes this? Leaning on our own understanding! Leaning on our own understanding pushes us OUT of the ZONE! Our Emotions can easily affect us and cause us to get UPTIGHT, forcing us OUT of the Zone! Worry… fear… frustration… leaning on them will CROSS CHECK us OUT of the ZONE!
-I like the next one… “and he who speaks the truth in his heart…”
=Prov23:7 “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with you.” - I don’t know if you ever experienced this… you may have, (what you think is a friend) saying nice things to you, only to find out, (that the more you spend time with them) that their HEART is not for you! Their heart was for themselves… to manipulate you to accomplish their plan! – Additionally, the more you are around people, and the more you get to hear them talk, you will find out what is REALLY in their heart!
=“speaks the truth in his heart.” You can’t fool God. You can’t just say, ‘I’m Good!’ and get away with it! God knows the very thoughts and intents of your heart! We have to be honest with God. Tell him what you feel. Tell him what you think. Let God hear your complaints and your disappointments and your doubts and your fears and your inability to climb higher because of the obstacles in your life. Tell God about it all. He’s a GOOD God, and He will answer you everytime!
=You are NOT what people say about you! It will be HARD to stay in the ZONE if you are believing what people say about you or HAVE SAID about you! We will FACE all kinds of OPPOSITION when we are trying to STAY in the ZONE with Jesus! People will say things and attack you to get you OUT of the ZONE.
-You are what God says you are! Know for CERTAIN what God says about you! Use an A-B-C method to remember! I am, Accepted, I am Adopted, I am from Above and not beneath, I am Blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, I’m A Believer and not a doubter! I am Cared for, for He says to cast all my cares to Him, I am Delivered, I am Loved with an EVERLASTING love! I am Forgiven! I have been given GRACE to abound in every good work… I am Healed! I am a Holy Generation! I have an “INHERITANCE” that is incorruptible! I have been “JUSTIFIED” and freed from “Judgment!” I have been Filled with His loving KINDNESS! Given KNOWLEDGE and the KEYS to the Kingdom! He LEADS me besides still waters! I’ve been given the Breath of LIFE! He has proclaimed LIBERTY to me! His word is a LAMP unto my feet! And MANNA from heaven! I am Mysteriously and Marvelously made! I have been shown MERCY and He is my MEDIATOR! I’ve been given a new NATURE and help in my time of NEED! He has anointed me with OIL, extended an OLIVE branch to me in Christ, and I have OBTAINED the promises of God! He has been PIERCED for my transgressions and exchanged them to have PEACE with God! I was a son of PERDITION am a brother and Heir to the PHYSICIAN of physicians who’s has healed me from the PLAGUES and the PESTILENCES that roams on noon day! I have been given a PERFECT PEACE, and I am PERSUADED that neither death or life, nor angels, nor PRINCIPALITIES, nor POWERS, nor things PRESENT, nor things to come, …shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I have been QUALIFIED Redeemed, Regenerated, Reborn; Saved, Sanctified; Tested and Transformed! I have an UNDEFILED inheritance Unashamed and shown UNDERSTANDING! I am a mighty man of VALOR, given a VISION and VICTORIOUS over every VIPER! I am blood WASHED, Fearfully and WONDERFULLY made and His WORKMANSHIP! X – When I seek Him FIRST everything else is an EXXXTRA! Y? Because! Third Base! Z – I have the ZEAL of the Lord, and He is Zealous for Me! THIS IS WHAT I AM! THIS IS WHAT I CONFESS! THIS IS THE TRUTH IN MY HEART!!!
=Psalm 15:3 “He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend…
*How can we ever expect to experience God’s best if we don’t treat other people as good as we should, especially those who are in the family of God? We should be kind, gentle and truthful to all people, all the time, no matter where we are.
I know people who will be kind, gentle and loving in church but look out at the checkout line at the department store or get behind the wheel of a car during rush hour! OR, don’t give them what they REALLY want! The tongue wasn’t made for back-biting, or to lash out at others! it was made to speak the truth and to praise the Lord and to communicate love and compassion for other people!
Psalm 15:4 “In who’s eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change.”
*Love what God loves, and despise what God despises! Serve the Lord… even when it hurts!
=You can’t be a friend of the WORLD, because the WORLD is an enemy of God! We cannot agree with those who love sin. We have to despise anything and everything that’s vile and disagrees with the Word of God! We cannot condone anything that is unjust or sinful, no matter if it costs us something to do so! (swears to his own hurt!)
Psalm 15:5 “He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.”
*Now we are talking about integrity, something that is very lacking in society and even in the House of God. If you are going to live in THE ZONE, with God you will have to have integrity! There was time in our nation when a man could borrow money, have the confidence that he could pay it back without being robbed with high interest rates, and seal the deal with his word and a handshake. His word was as all that was necessary because people had integrity and they would do what they promised.
Creditors CHARGE High Interest Rates, taking advantage, and Debtors Don’t pay regularly! Both are untrustworthy now!
*If we really love God and people…we will never do things to take ADVANTAGE or harm them!
Closing =Psalm 15:5b “He who does these things shall never be moved.”
= If we will learn to dwell in God’s high place (in the ZONE), and allow Jesus to control our lives, we will never be defeated. God’s people live in defeat all too often, because we don’t give God first place in our lives!
TODAY’S MESSAGE, “STAYING IN THE ZONE!”
=Turn with me to Neh.4:1-20 (Open & Read)
=History – Nehemiah Chapter One – Nehemiah has a Burden for his people; they are in DISTRESS and have suffered a ‘REPROACH!” And the walls of Jerusalem are destroyed and the gates were BURNED with fire… so he prays to the Lord a prayer of CONFESSION and for Gods to help and be attentive to his prayer! He closes the prayer as the servant of the Lord, and the kings cupbearer! There’s a message inside that.. he was the cupbearer! A humble, serving position! Jesus said that ‘anyone who wants to be GREAT in the kingdom, must be SERVANT of all!” To do any GREAT for God, we have to be ‘Willing’ to do the ‘humbelist’ of positions! There are many people who want positions in life, and in ministry, but haven’t achieved them yet because they HAVEN’T been HUMBLE enough to do the minial of tasks!
-Nehemiah Chapter TWO – Nehemiah, has favor with King Artaxerxes, and gets permission to leave to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem! In addition, he gets letters from the king, giving him authority and PERMISSION to PASS through the enemy territories!
-Nehemiah Chapter THREE – Nehemiah obtains many WORKERS ‘from all over’ to do the work! Here we are now in chapter Four…
STAYING IN THE ZONE! When you are in the WILL of GOD… there will be many DISTRACTIONS to get you OUT of the ZONE! Nehemiah ‘Got in the Zone’ by Confession & Prayer… now he will have to ‘Stay in the Zone’ to accomplish the task of rebuilding the wall!
=Neh.4:1-3 “But it so happened, when Sanballat (enemy) heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he became furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews.” (2) And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? WILL THEY fortify themselves? WILL THEY offer sacrifices? WILL THEY complete it in a day? WILL THEY revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish – stones that are burned? (3) Now Tobiah (another enemy) the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall.”
=What are these feeble Jews doing? – We see MOCKERY! Mocking with the intent to DISCOURAGE! And to GET THEM OUT of their ZONE of rebuilding the wall! Will they… this? Will they… that? I often wonder what people on the outside of church are thinking? It’s what the world thinks! What are those SILLY Christians doing? Do they really think going to church each Sunday is going to make things better? Will they offer hours of their time HOPING if fortifies them? Makes them STRONGER? Really? Will they give their offerings HOPING that God will Bless them! Will they really THINK they will get REVIVED?” Will they REALLY resurrect STONES that have been dead and burned???? The Answer to all of those mocking questions is YES! We all have been (at one time) dead stones in heaps of rubbish… thanks be to God for ‘His Sacrifice’ we are now ‘Living Stones!” Will they really think ‘Sacrifices’ will make a difference to them? The answer is a resounding ‘YES!”
-1 Peter 2:5 “You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
=Neh. 4:6 “So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half it’s height, for the people had a MIND To WORK!”
=They STAYED the COURSE! They STAYED in the ZONE… (determined)…they had a MIND to WORK! How many of you, ‘once you’ve made up your mind, NOTHING is going to STOP you?” This was their MINDSET!
*They had a MIND to Work… it’s also like saying, they had a ‘Heart to Work!’ You have to put your HEART into it! IGNORE THE ‘WILL THEYS’ AND STAY IN THE ZONE!
*They made ‘that issue, the center of their heart!”
**When you SET YOUR MIND to OBEY God completely, you will be CHALLENGED!
*EVE – “What are you doing? Did God really say you would die? You won’t die… you will be just like Him!”
*EZEKIEL- “What are you doing walking in a cemetery? In a valley of DRY and DEAD bones? What are you doing talking to them? Are you serious? Really? What are you doing feeble Ezekiel?”
*JOSHUA – “What are you doing marching around Jericho? Seven times? Really? Is that going to do anything??”
*PASTOR MARK – “What are you doing building a church? This is not faith… your playing the fool?”
[ Keep the MIND to Work! Stay in the ZONE! ]
-Phil.2:5 “Let this MIND be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus!”
-Prov.24:16 “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again…”
=Neh. 4:7-9 “Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry. (8) And all of them conspired together to come an attack Jerusalem and create CONFUSION.” (9) Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.”
* =CONFUSION will sometimes come to get us OUT OF THE ZONE!
*NEVERTHELESS! Nevertheless, the STAYED in the ZONE! Praying helps you to STAY in the ZONE! Paul the apostle encourages us in times like this to ‘Pray without Ceasing!” Some of us can quickly, WORRY without ceasing! TALK and COMPLAIN without CEASING! Vent without Ceasing…When CONFUSION comes… ‘Nevertheless… Pray… and STAY in the ZONE!” Worry… can’t easily take you out! Say… “Nevertheless!”
=Neh. 4:10 “Then Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much RUBBISH that we are not able to build the wall.”
[ Post It’s ] - *REMOVE the STUFF…. The Rubbish, that is getting in the way! What is it in your life, that is RUBBISH? What RUBBISH needs to be REMOVED?? Now! A Dumb argument? The right to be right? Bitterness? Anger? Pride? Jealousy? Critical or bad attitude? Desires of the Flesh? Sexual sin? Laziness? Procrastination? Unwillingness to serve? Selfishness? Words that hurt you that are paralyzing you? Feelings of Unforgiveness! Unflexable? Rigid? Reproach against your brother or sister?
=OBJECT LESSON: You all have a POST IT! Write what the Lord is telling you that is RUBBISH in your life, that is SLOWING you down…and tiring you out! Throw it down in the BASKET!
=Neh. 4:14b,17, 18 “…Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. (17) Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, (material), loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other hand HELD a WEAPON.” (18) Every one of the builders had his SWORD girded at his side as he built.”
*What is in your other HAND? One hand is your pen/pencil/calculator or power tool… what is in the OTHER HAND?? We so often forget…when we are working… we are ‘habitually’ in a WORKS MODE! We have to have a MIND to WORK….
*Have a NEVERTHELESS Mind to WORK… while Holding onto Your SWORD! Keep your SWORD by your side!
=We have the SWORD of the Spirit, which is the WORD of GOD! Meditate on it! Devote yourself to it! Speak it! Live it! It is part of your weapon of warfare!
*Jackie Chan is famous for making ANY TOOL into a WEAPON! A folding chair, a step ladder, a lamp…etc. *We have the WORD of God which is OUR TOOL (and Weapon), for our life!
*Eph.6 tells us that the SWORD is part of the Armor of God! LET’S CLOSE WITH THIS!
CLOSING:
-Eph.6:10,11,17 - “Finally , my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might! Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the enemy.” (vs 17) “…the helmet of salvation and the SWORD of the Spirit; which is the Word of God.”
-The SWORD of the Spirit which is the Word of God – The word of God must be taken seriously! It is a SWORD for you! It is your ‘Offensive’ weapon! Every other armor listed in Eph.6 is ‘Defensive!’ The sword of the Spirit is Offensive! It is given to you by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit will help us to use it! THEREFORE, the Word of God, MUST be taken SERIOUSLY, and not looked at as just America’s top selling book!
[ Take out Machete ] – This Machete is a Tool! However, I am sure your FIRST IMPRESSION was one of ‘Wow!” “Uh-OOH!” AWE or FEAR or… ‘oh my God, he’s got a weapon!” “That’s scary looking!” Yup! It is…
*This is ‘Precisely’ THE POINT on how we need to REGARD the ‘Word of God!” As a WEAPON!
-This is a tool… and this is a weapon… and it should be RESPECTED for both uses! To use it effectively… we must practice it’s use! A soldier, PRACTICES his moves and ‘Thrusts’ in preparation for battle! If he practices regularly… he will know what move to use at the proper time!
*The GREATEST Example of this was Jesus combating satan in the wilderness! So STAY in the ZONE! Fight! For your families FIGHT! For your sons and daughters… FIGHT! For your household… FIGHT! Keep on BUILDING the kingdom in your home!
=When you hear the “Will they’s…” STAY in the ZONE!
=SET your MIND to WORK! Stay in the ZONE!
=REMOVE all the RUBBISH! Don’t compromise it! REMOVE IT! Throw it Down!
=Grab your SWORD! Totally REGARD it’s POWER!
How many are ready to do this today? Let’s pray!
