Find Your Foundation

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected] we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media. So be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:25] Speaker B: Well, good morning everybody. I'm glad you are here. It's good to see all of you who are guests in the house this morning. We're honored that you are a part of of our church. I hope you have a great experience. I hope you come back and be with us again. In our 9:30 we had one of our guys that were back home this weekend, Cooper McDonald. He plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. He made the team this year as linebacker, number 59. He's had an incredible year and I recognized him and I didn't say anything about why he's here early and the season is still because a Cowboy fan. I just didn't even go there, you know what I'm saying? I didn't want to stir the pot on any of that sort of thing, but I was glad to see Cooper and his family here this morning. I'm glad to see you. It's wonderful that you're a part of the service. And this year we're kicking it off talking about a new beginning, how to begin again. And we're using as an illustration of this series the story of Nehemiah. And in about four chapters of Nehemiah, he did an incredible thing at a great season of his life that impacted the then known world. And one of the principles of Nehemiah that I wanna talk to you guys about is the fact that I believe the people of God are absolutely immortal until God is finished with them. I think you and I are here as long as God has a purpose and a plan for us being here. Always go to Ecclesiastes 3 where he talks about to everything there is a season. Life is seasonal. Seasonal. The Bible often uses agricultural seasons to teach us biblical principles. For example, if he's talking about prayer in the book of James, he says, look at the farmer. The farmer will plant, he'll harvest, he'll do all that he does. But he doesn't do it with an expectation of an immediate harvest, an overnight harvest. It takes time. And he was talking about the principle of prayer and being patient in prayer. Knowing that once you pray it doesn't mean God's gonna instantaneously, immediately answer to your prayer. Sometimes it takes some time. And when you think about life as a season, you and I are gonna go through seasons. There's gonna be seasons when you are plowed. When the field is plowed, everything about your life is turned upside down. And God is plowing, and he's turning over dirt, and he's doing something new in your life. And then from the plowing, there is the planting, there is the sowing into a new opportunity. Maybe it's investment into a new business, or maybe you're sowing a time into a new. So your life has kind of been in an upheaval, and now you're moving into a new dimension, maybe a new relationship. You're sowing into that. So there's the plowing, there's the planting, there's obviously the watering, there's the nurturing that comes along in that season of life. And then, hey, get ready. There's the fertilizing. And into every life, a little fertilizer must fall. And all of a sudden, that's gonna happen. You're gonna go through a season of where you're fertilized. And then all of a sudden you're going to reap. You're gonna see the result of all of that effort. And. But the reaping is just one part of the process. There's a lot that goes in before you see that happen in your life. So it's interesting to consider, as Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3, Life is seasonal. To everything there is a season. And then he said this and to every time, there is a purpose. And I do believe, as I said a moment ago, that our time is connected to purpose. As long as you and I have purpose, God gives us time. And the moment that our purpose ends on this life, the moment God is finished with us down here, he loves us too much to leave us on this earth one minute longer than is necessary. And when time is up, or rather purpose is up, our time is up. And what happens for the child of God is we simply step from the temporal into the eternal. We're absent from the body. We're present with the Lord. This week. I have two funerals this week. One is a friend that I told you about last week, that I've known all of my ministry. I'll have his funeral on Tuesday morning. I have another one coming up on Saturday morning. And in both cases, these were wonderful people who had great families who made a difference in their life. But their purpose on this life obviously had Ended. And God simply called them home. And it's a reminder for all of us that that's how this thing works. That's why it's so important, guys. And I say this to your heart as we go through this talk this morning. It's so important for us to consider where we are and what we are doing where we are. Because, particularly in this particular season because God has a purpose and a plan for you and for me. In this season of life, you say, well, Bill, I'm, you know, I'm 40 or I'm 50, or I'm 60 or I'm 70 even. I don't know. Well, look, as long as you're here, God has a purpose and a plan for your life. Now, it's interesting because when you study Nehemiah I wondered how old Nehemiah was when he got this new assignment. And. And a lot of scholars will tell you that they believe Nehemiah was probably about 40 to 50 years of age. He was at that midlife point, right? At midlife. And there's something about midlife now. I was. When my midlife hit. I had just started this church. I was 36 years old. I totally missed out my opportunity for a midlife crisis. I was working. I missed it. I had a chance and I just blew it. I didn't have a chance to do my midlife crisis. But I know I have a lot of friends that they didn't miss that opportunity. They had their midlife crisis. It said, what am I doing with myself? Where am I. Where am I going? I have a friend, when he turned 60, he told me, he goes, you know, Bill, I've really been thinking about now that I'm 60 years old, man. Man, I'm midlife, man. I gotta figure out, you know, where I'm going. And I said, Buddy, you're 60. You're not gonna live to be 120. You're not at midlife. You're like me. We're in the fourth quarter, pal. I mean, look at the clock. It's ticking. I mean, we need to put our best play on the field. And, I mean, the idea that Nehemiah was probably in his 40s and 50s is significant because he was right at that point where people kind of have a little crisis sometimes where they're really wondering is what, I've done enough. Should I be doing something different? And again, I went through that a little bit when we started the church. I kind of looked at where we were and where we were trying to go. And what about this new church oper I was 36. So there's something significant about it when you get mid-30s to mid-40s, where you start really thinking about your life. Now, this message isn't just exclusively for those people, it's for everyone. But I'm just simply saying that's where Nehemiah was when God watch this redirected his life. He gave him a new assignment. He had a new opportunity in that season of life that changed the then known world. Now, here's kind of how it went down. When you read Nehemiah, Chapter one, He has friends who come back from the city of Jerusalem, this very sacred city. And what had happened to the Jews in Jerusalem is they had been scattered because of persecution. God had warned them. He had said, look, if you follow me, I'll protect you. If you're obedient to me, I'll watch over you. But the minute you don't, then you know what? You're kind of on your own for a period of time. And you're gonna suffer a consequence, just like we do with our kids. There's a consequence. And so they rebelled against God and they lost the city. The walls of the city are broken down. The temple was destroyed. And all of a sudden, you see, at Nehemiah's time, you have Ezra, the little Book of Ezra. And that's the study of Ezra going back first to rebuild the temple because Ezra saw the value of having a place of worship. And then it wasn't long until friends came to see Nehemiah. And Nehemiah said, well, how things going? I heard Ezra's rebuilding the temple. How's that going? And they said, yeah, he's doing great, but the walls of the city are just. They're just destroyed. There's no stability in the city because there's no walls. There's no security in the city because there's no walls. And there'll be no prosperity in the city because there's no walls. The walls would protect the city and protect the citizens and protect businesses. And when the walls broken down, they were susceptible and vulnerable to attack. And so, man, when he heard that, when you read Nehemiah 1, it broke his heart. He hated to hear that his hometown was in disarray. He hated to hear that this city that he had learned so much about and heard so much about was lying in ruins. And Nehemiah saw a need. And that need awakened Nehemiah to a new calling on his life. Now, let me stop long enough to tell you there's a principle Here, God will often use a need that you see to make you aware of a calling that he has. Now, the need is not the call. There's a difference. And here's what I would tell you. There are so many needs that you and I cannot possibly respond to. Every need. You have limited resources. You only have much time. You are a limited resource, I should say, and you have only so many resources. You're limited with time and money is what I'm driving at. So you can't meet every need that's out there. I mean, did you watch all those commercials of the little dog that's crying behind the fence? And you're watching the football game and they have, you know, the Humane Society runs that commercial to tug at your heart. That little dog's there crying and there's music in the background, like in the arms of an angel. And you're sitting there, unless you're a cat person. But if you're a dog person like me, you're going, oh, poor little dog. I feel so bad. That's terrible. Why don't somebody help that dog? You know? And you're like, well, you're right there filming it. Can't you get the dog out of the cage? And thing looks cold. Why don't you help it? You know? So I'm having these thoughts and so, I mean, it's a 10 minute commercial. So you're sitting there watching these whiny dogs, the little skinny animals, and you're going, man, well, what are they doing? Well, they're smart. They're making you aware of a need. They're pulling at your heartstrings. Let me tell you how it worked for me several months ago. I'm going, coming out of Kroger, and there's these girls and cute little old college girls, and they're working for Humane Society. They went, sir, can you have a minute? And I said, yeah. They said, could you help some dogs kind of thing, and, you know, we'll give you whatever they got given away. And I said, I don't need all that. Yeah, here's $20 and help a dog. In fact, I said, let me just put it on the card. That way I don't just, you know, save my cash. So I put it on my card. But what I didn't know after about two or three months is I'd signed up every month. I don't love dogs that much. You know what I'm saying? I love a dog. Don't get a brother wrong who doesn't love a dog. If it a cat, I'd had no problem. I canceled that deal. But no, I'm not. Don't send me no hate. But I'm just saying, now I feel terrible. How am I going to call the Humane Society and say, take my name off that list? Oh, so you don't care about dogs, do you? I mean, you're a jerk, right? So 20 bucks a month is going to the Humane Society. I get a cap every now and then. Get some dog biscuits for a guy that has no dogs. I'll see if my longhorns will eat them. I'll do that. But my point is they're smart enough to know that they're gonna get your money. They gotta show you a need. Well, that's just a principle. It gets our. Everybody sees needs. But I'm saying you don't have the time. You can't run and jump and respond to every need. You watch the news and you say, oh, there's a problem here and there's a problem over there and there's a need here and a need over there. You can't respond to them. And yet God. I'm saying God will use needs to tenderize your heart to his calling. So don't ignore needs. Instead, be discerning when you see a need and ask yourself the question, is this something I feel God is calling me to respond to? That's the principle of Nehemiah. They're saying, man, the walls are broken down, the city's in trouble, and. And Nehemiah is running through his head. He's emotionally drawn in, so he's connected emotionally. He sees the need, his heart is there, and then he starts discerning. I'm gifted. I'm talented enough, I could actually do something about that. I've got some history in the city. I've got an interest there. So I'm strategically kind of aligned with this city to make a difference. And my point is, God used the need of Jerusalem to make him aware of a new calling on his life. And in this season. So here a guy is 40, 50 years old and God's given him a brand new assignment. And what Nehemiah had to do, because he was in a man, he was in a position of trust. Nehemiah was the king's cup bearer. The king's cup. Now what does that mean? Well, the king was the most powerful man in the then known world. And if an enemy was going to try to assassinate the king, he couldn't get through his guard, he couldn't get to him any Other way. But. But if he could poison his food or poison his wine, then that was the best way to get to the king. So how better to get to the king than get to the one closest to the king? And that's the cupbearer. And I'm gonna tell you something. You better be sold on the king if you're eating his food and drinking his drink before he does. That's not a job you want if you don't believe in the king. I mean, because everybody hates the king and everybody wants to take the king down. So Nehemiah was probably very well compensated, very trusted. Probably when people saw him on the street, they said, man, that guy's connected to the king. He's got some prestige and he's got some prosperity coming with that. And right in the middle of all that, God just kind of plows his field under. He's kind of making him aware of a new assignment. He's making him aware of something that's going to change his life and the lives of other people. And so what Nehemiah has to do now, he's gotta go tell the king. Oh, no, let me rephrase that. He's got to go ask the king for permission to go do what he feels God is calling him to do in this season of his life. Now, boy, this is a nervous time for him. Cause the custom of that day is if you went to the king and you insulted the king, he could have you killed on the spot. If you depressed the king, he could have you killed on the spot. So even if your countenance put off a vibe that the king thought was negative, he could destroy you in a moment. So Nehemiah is thinking, man, I know this need. It's made me aware of a call. I know I can change the direction of this city, but I gotta have the king sign onto this and none of this is gonna work. Oh, my gosh, what am I gonna do? And that's where we take up. Look at our text in Nehemiah, chapter two. I've got it on the screen for you. The Bible says, nehemiah goes to the king. And the king says to me, what do you. What do you want? What's going on with you, Nehemiah? I see that your countenance. You're upset about something. You're different. And don't you know his heart was in his throat right about now. And so he goes to Nehemiah. All right, Nehemiah, what's going on? What do you want? What's happening in your life. And notice what Nehemiah does. He said, so I prayed to the God of heaven. Now, don't miss this. This is important. Between the time the king asks Nehemiah a question and the time Nehemiah responds to the question, he prays. You get that? Sometimes we have the idea that when you pray, you have to assume the position. You have to be on a knee or both knees, and you have to be contrite in that way, or God doesn't hear you when you pray. And that's great if you can do that, but that's not always possible. Here. Nehemiah was face to face with King, with Artaxerxes, and he's asking him for permission now to go back and do something. And the king looks at him and says, what do you need, Nehemiah? What's on your heart? Something's bothering you. I can tell you're not yourself. What's up? What do you want? And before anything comes out of his mouth, he's saying, oh, God, help me say the right thing. And when I say this, help the king receive it in the right way. Have you ever been talking to somebody and they ask you your advice, and before you responded, you say, oh, God, help me to say the right thing here. I don't want to lead this person astray. I was like 26 years old when I became a pastor, and I remember how profound that responsibility hit me one weekend where after I'd been doing and speaking for a while, I was out in the lobby and I was talking to people and they came up and this one guy told me, hey, man, I heard your message last weekend. It really inspired me. And based on what you said last weekend, I'm quitting my job and I'm starting a new career. And I thought, oh, my God, what did I say? I mean, I had that. I didn't say that out loud, but I had that thought. I thought, man, I hope you heard from God, not from me. I hope you're not basing that decision on what I said instead of what God may have said through me to you. And, man, just the weight then of what I say to people really hit me that our words make a difference in the lives of other people. Your words make a difference in the lives of other people. You have great influence in someone's life. There's someone in your sphere, there's someone in your circle. Maybe you own a business. Maybe you're the manager of a company. Maybe you're the leader, and in your home, in your community, I'm just saying your words carry weight. And sometimes when somebody asks for your opinion or asks for your advice before you respond, the best way to the first reaction should be, God help me say the right thing. Now, we don't know specifically how he prayed, but we know that he prayed. I don't want you to miss that. Cause that's important. And I'm just simply suggesting that in him discerning what God want him to do in this particular season of life, a lot of things had to line up. And when God is working in your life, things will line up. God can take people that don't even know him, like Artaxerxes, he can take people who aren't necessarily spiritual or religious, and he can have them affirm and confirm his direction for your life. So all of these things are lining up. And notice what he says. He says, then I prayed to the God of heaven, I said to the king, if it pleases the king, and if I, your servant, has found favor in your sight, I ask that you release me. Send me to Judah, to the city of my Father's tombs, that I may rebuild it. And you read on. A little later, the Bible says the king was so impressed with Nehemiah's request, they said, okay. And not only that, he gave him letters of passage through hostile countries that had warred against the Jewish people. And he basically threatened them. He said, you give them everything they need. You give them support. So he got them financial support, he got them logistical support. He made everything physically possible for Nehemiah to do the thing God had called him to do. And here in this season of life, 40 or 50 years old, God used a need to make him aware of a call. And what he began to do would shake the then known world. What he did, and this is the heart of what I want to tell you before we leave, what he did in this season of life is he discovered first of all, a new vocation. A new vocation. That word is a word we use to describe what we do. It's a common word. We all know what it is. But have you ever stopped to think that it's really a spiritual word? It comes from the Latin voca, which means calling. It's the idea that whatever company you work for, or whatever company you might own, or whatever you're doing in your life is your calling. God has specifically directed your path in that way. And it is your calling on this earth, God. That's your purpose. And your purpose in that calling is to bring him honor and to bring him glory and to be a representative to him where you are, that's your vocation. And so God was using this man, Nehemiah, who was in this incredible position in this palace as the king's cupbearer, to do something brand new. He was discovering in this season of his life a brand new calling. I believe so strongly in this that I mean, it's one of the things that really undergird and is fundamental to everything I teach. And that is God has a will for every person's life, a purpose and a plan. In fact, in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, it begins with knowing him as your personal Savior. What does that verse say? That verse says God is not willing. What's the will of God? God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. First and foremost, it is the will of God, not that you be religious. It's not the will of God that you join a certain church or you give a certain amount of money or you do a certain task. It is first and foremost the will of God that you know Jesus as your personal savior. That's the most important thing. He's not willing that anyone should perish. He means by that not anyone should die without him and go out of eternity without God, but that all should come to repentance. So the will of God. I can tell you what I do know this much about God's will for your life is that you know Jesus as your Savior. That's why I close every service, really driving hard to the hoop to make sure people have an opportunity to humble their heart and receive him into their life. That's the most important thing. And the will of God starts there. And then once you've connected with your creator, then you can begin to understand what he's designed you to do. I told you before, most houses have. Now we had this. Most houses have something like this. We called it at our house the junk drawer. The junk drawer. Do you have a junk drawer at your house? That's what we always call it. That's that drawer. We have it in the kitchen right now. It's at my house. And it means it's got everything that looks important, but we don't know what it goes to. It's in that drawer, right? You have that electronic thing that looks important that you're afraid to throw it away because your Internet goes down. You won't have television service, your AC won't work. So you hang onto it in case that thing is significant to something. And you look in there at little gadgets and gizmos and you don't know how to identify them, and you don't know where they are. But they look important, so you don't throw them away. It's a junk drawer. Can I tell you, God has no junk drawers. He's never looked down at heaven at one of us and said, boy, they look important. They look like they fit somewhere. I mean, they look like they could do something. I just don't know where they fit. I mean, they look like they could achieve something, but I don't know what I'm gonna do with them. No, God has a purpose and a plan for our life. I'm saying when you connect with your Creator, the next step is you begin to discern his purpose and plan for your life. You begin to realize God has a plan, he has something for me to do. And my time on earth is tied to me fulfilling that purpose. So that's important for longevity of life, that I understand what he's got me here to accomplish. And so I would tell you, in discovering the will of God for your life, the first step I would tell you to take is, is to do the things that you know to do. Get up tomorrow, make your bed, exercise, eat right, you know, go to your work or go to school. Do everything you know to do. Check those boxes, do the general things that you know you're supposed to do. And as you do the general things you know you're supposed to do, God will begin to reveal to you the specific things that you don't know yet what to do. But he will not show someone the specific will for their life if they're not doing the general will for his life. For your life. The principle is, if we're not faithful in little things, he won't show us big things. So start out by saying, okay, I'm not really sure the direction or what God wants me to do, big picture. But I know what I'm supposed to do today, I know what I'm supposed to do tomorrow. If you'll take care of your five minute plan, your five year plan will take care of itself. In fact, there's a principle of scripture that simply says that if you walk in the spirit in Galatians 5, you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Meaning that if I'll do what I know to do and I do the right thing, then I won't be doing the wrong thing. I've told you before, people who are engaged doing wrong things are people who were not Engaged, doing right things. If you do what you know you should do, you cannot be doing what you know you should not be doing. People who do what they should do will not be doing what they shouldn't do. So when I start out my day, I want to do what I should do, and then I won't do what I shouldn't do. Because when I start doing what I shouldn't do, it's because I wasn't doing what I should have done. So it's pretty simple. I know what I should do. I should love my family. I should be honest on my job. I should work hard, I should make a difference. That's generally what I know to do. And I know if I do what I should do, I'm not gonna be swerving off doing things that I should not be doing. And as I'm doing the things that I should do, God will begin to reveal to me things that I don't yet know. He'll show me more of his general will for my life. He doesn't hide the ball. The principle of John 7:17, Jesus said, and I'm gonna paraphrase this for you, John 7:17. He said, if anyone wills to know my will, they will know my will. That's a paraphrase. So in other words, if I have the will to know God's will, I will know God's will. He will reveal it to me. In fact, in Proverbs 4:17, he says, the path of a righteous person is like following the light of a brand new day. It's like walking down the beach at sunrise and you see its glint of sun on the horizon. And. And you walk toward that sunrise. And as you walk toward the sunrise, the sun shines brighter and brighter until a full day. That's the will of God. You start moving in the direction you know you should do. And as you're moving in the things doing you know you should do, all of a sudden you find the things that God is doing that you didn't even realize that he was gonna have you doing. Ultimately, you find yourself moving with him, and he's directing you into a more specific purpose. Because, as I said, you're a limited resource. You have limited resources. So as you begin to discover a new vocation, you have to first and foremost desire God's will. You have to desire that. I love what the psalmist said in Psalm 40, verse 8. I love to do your will. Oh God, I love to do your will. God, I love to do the thing you've called me to do. It is a desire. Not only is a desire, get this. It's a desire that requires discernment. Sometimes you need help to figure out what that is. And you've gotta have some discernment on that. You gotta have people around you that love you, that can help direct you and affirm you. So you desire, you discern. And then the third thing you have to know about the will of God when you're talking about a new vocation is you can do this. God will not call you. Listen, please hear this. God will not call you to do something you can't do. He doesn't frustrate his kids. It'd be like you going and getting your kids in a few minutes and giving them a challenge or an assignment that's way beyond their scope, beyond their ability. All you've done is frustrate them because you give them an appropriate task for something. You know, as their parent, they can do this, and this is gonna help them. And God likewise will give us assignments and tasks based on what he knows that we can do. And anything God gives you to do in this new season of life, anything he gives you to do, he has equipped you to do it. He will enable you to do it, and he will empower you to do it. So you have that. There's a new vocation. Listen. Secondly, that new vocation involves a new vision, man. When you're in a new season and you're doing something exciting, God will give you a defined sense of what that's going to look like. You get a new vision for what he's called you to do. It brings this great energy into your life. And one of the things that you can ask yourself as you're trying to refine and define this new season of life, am I on the right track? Is this really what God wants me to do? I can give you four qualifiers that will help you make that determination. If you're doing what you're supposed to do in this season of life, and help you cast vision for what he's called you to do, number one, ask yourself this question, Can God receive glory from what I'm doing? What does that mean? First Corinthians 10:31 says, Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. What does that mean? Well, you gotta understand what that term, glory of God, what does that mean? The best definition I've ever heard to define the word glory is simply this. Everything that God is is glory. Let me explain it. In Ephesians, Paul puts it this way. Unto him be glory in the church. Now, by definition, what Paul was saying, may God be seen in everything that church is doing. May he be seen in the life of that church. Well, the only way God can be seen in the life of the church is for him to be seen in the lives of the individuals that make up that church. Cause the church is made up of people. In the Old Testament, he had a temple for his people. Nehemiah or Ezra rebuilt it. But in the New Testament, he has a people for his temple. So we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. We are the church. So if God is gonna be seen in the life of our church collectively, he has to then be seen in the life of our lives individually. What does that mean? That means everything I do needs to be a reflection of who he is. None of us do that perfectly. But part of my motivation in discerning what God wants me to do is I have to ask myself the question, is building this business or starting this new job or doing this, is it going to be a way to whereby some of what God is, if not all of what he is, can be seen through this endeavor? Are other people gonna be impacted from it in some way? That's the first thing. When I'm looking at a new vision for this new vocation and this season of life, I wanna say, is this something God can receive glory from? That's a good qualifier. Here's the second one I'd give you number two. Is it consistent with my gifts and my personality? God won't put you in a situation like our kids that's not consistent with your gifting and personality. In other words, if you are a people person, you shouldn't have a job that has you watching the pilot light and away from people. If you're a person that loves people but you don't like them, that you shouldn't be working in a job, that you're interacting with people all the time because you're gonna get home exhausted because you're the right person in the wrong job. So part of God's calling and part of refining that vision in this season is understanding, is this a way I can be a reflection of who he is? And is it really consistent with my gifts and is it consistent with my personality? Is this something I'm good at doing? A third one to ask yourself is, does it instill passion in me? Can I get excited about this? Does this make me wanna study and figure out how to do this better? I mean, is this something that gets me motivated about getting. I Mean, am I going to wake up tomorrow and say, good morning, Lord, or am I going to get up tomorrow and go, good Lord, this morning? I mean, does it instill passion in me? And here's the fourth one I would give you. When you're talking about a new vision, has this been affirmed by other people? It goes back to discernment I gave you a moment ago, but has other people affirmed it? I don't mean your mama with a participation trophy, Hercules. Hercules, I don't mean that. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about. Has other people looked at you and said to you, at some point, you're good at this. You're really good at that? Have you not somebody just popped into your office, your kiosk, your little cubicle? Or somebody said to you on the job, you know what, man? You're pretty good at this. That's affirmation. And when you're trying to look at that, don't look for confirmation. That's Mama in the participation trophy. Mama loves you. And that's good. We gotta have people that love us and celebrate us. But I'm just saying. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about consensus. I'm talking about confirmation. And people, somewhere out there, when you're doing something you feel absolutely certain is God's purpose for your life, they'll confirm you in that. They're gonna say, hey, you're in the zone. This is something. You're actually really good. So you had the vocation, you had the vision. Here's the third one. We'll go. Vitality, man. It'll stir a new passion up in you. And when you read, and we're gonna go through it, but when you study Nehemiah, he is so passionate. He is so fired up. His passion is infectious. He is excited about his future. And, guys, I can tell you, the only way you'll stay excited about your future is you have to properly deal with your past. And some people, man, before they can press into a new future in a new year, with a new vocation and with a new vision and a new vitality, you gotta get past some past grudges. You gotta learn to let some things go, or you gotta learn to let some people go. There's some things that you're holding onto going into this year that you're gonna have to let go of. There's some people that you're holding on this year you may have to let go of. Not everybody. That is a part of your Past may be a part of your future. And a principle is simply this. If somebody can walk away from you, you've gotta let them go. If they can leave you, it's because they couldn't stay. And if they stay, it's because they can't leave. So I'm not saying you don't work on relationships, and I'm not saying you don't try to work through things. But I am saying that you cannot let the things that have happened to you and the grudges that have developed as a result of those to keep you from stepping into the future that God has for you. If you're going to have an energy and a vitality for the future, you gotta learn to let some stuff go. You know, even the idea of forgiveness, we talk about forgiveness. You know what the word, by definition, you know what the word actually means, means to release. Release, let it go. I mean, the international symbol for help is an open hand. The international symbol of defiance is a clenched fist. And sometimes people are clenching their fists because they refuse to let situations go or people go. And that is keeping them from having the energy they need to do the thing God has called them to do. Just let it go. I mean, look, once you've done everything to try to rectify a situation with someone, that's not on you anymore, that's on them. And you just simply say, God, I'm gonna turn this over to you. There's nothing I can do about it. Cause I can't change them. And I can't be burdened by the pressure and the pull of the grudges that I'm trying to deal with in my own heart. I gotta let that thing go. So you gotta get past some grudges. Hey, here's something else. You gotta get past some guilt. Not just grudges, some guilt. All of us have done things that we're not proud of. We've all made mistakes. And listen, a guy or girl that's never made a mistake never made anything. So sooner or later, you're gonna stumble. Sooner or later, you're gonna fall. Psalm 37. The steps of a good person are ordered by the Lord. He delights in his way. Then it says, though they fall, they will not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholds them with his right hand. Good people fall. You make mistakes. So what do you do? Name it, Nail it, own it. Just own it. Just say, my bad, I'm sorry. Go to God, first and foremost. Lord, I'm sorry. Go to the person maybe that you've hurt, harmed, Ask them to forgive you. And then look. Thirdly, forgive yourself. Walk away from that situation and let that guilt go. It's interesting when the Bible describes the enemy. He calls him the accuser of the brethren, and I would say the sisters too. The accuser. You know why it works? You know why the devil creates such guilt in our hearts over things that we've asked God to forgive us of? Why it still works and we still feel guilty is because he's accusing us of things that we actually did or it wouldn't work. So that's why there's guilt. We know at some point we did that, said that, made that mistake. And even though we've rectified it and asked God to forgive us from it, we hadn't forgiven ourselves. So it still works. So he still pushes that guilt button. And that guilt button is affecting my vitality as I move into a new chapter and a new opportunity of life. I'm just saying, guys, let it go. Go. Let me give you this. It's free like the rest. There's a difference between Holy Spirit conviction and unholy Spirit accusation. Here's the difference. The Spirit of God will convict me and you of sin that we have not yet confessed. Name it. Nail it. First John 1:9. If we confess. Word confess means agree. If we confess, we're in agreement with God. He then is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So the Holy Spirit will convict me and you of sins we haven't confessed. So when he makes you aware and makes me aware of something that we haven't dealt with, deal with it. Deal with it, man. I'm sorry I made that mistake. I dropped the ball there. I've never asked you to forgive me. I want you to please forgive me for that. I really. I blew it. I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to. Whatever. Name it. Nail it. So those are the things the Holy Spirit will convict you of. The unholy Spirit will accuse you of things you've already confessed. That's the difference. I've already dealt with this. Well, why are you still dealing with it? It's because the enemy knows that's your Achilles heel. That's a soft spot. That's a weak place. And he's gonna exploit that. Until that weak place is a strong place. He's gonna exploit that all the time. Cause he's gonna push that button until there's no button there to push. So just take the button away and Just say, I'm gonna deal with this guilt by simply confessing and walking away from it. And I am not gonna allow my mind to be occupied with the problems of my past. I'm gonna let the grudges go, let the guilt go. Here's the third one I think a lot of us have to deal with. We have to let the glory go, the victories of our past. You can't just rest on the victories of yesterday. There's challenges yet to be had. There's victories. Yeah, you have a rear view mirror. You wanna look up there every now and then, look back and go, oh, man, that was amazing. But you don't want let where you've been affect where you're going. The windshield's a lot bigger than the rear view. So keep focus on where you're going and say, God, you've been good and you've been faithful and I'm so grateful, but Lord, you've given me life and I'm excited about where you're taking me and I'm looking forward to all, Father, that you have, that you have for me and friends. I know this morning, I know this morning God has some great things in store for our church, for the crc, for your businesses and your family. You're in a brand new season. This is a brand new year. And I pray you can align yourself with God's will for your life and see him do something that is absolutely incredible. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the time that we could spend this morning. I pray we'll draw some information from this and some inspiration from this that will help us be more effective in our families and business and in the life of our church. Thank you, God, that you still speak to us and you have a plan for us and that you can be trusted. And I pray for my friends, Lord, that are here this morning and those watching online that you would reveal your complete and perfect will. In this season of their life. Some of them are doing exactly what you would have them to do. Just encourage them and affirm them in the life that they're living and the job that they're pursuing. Others, you may have some new venture for them, new idea, a new plan. Lord, I pray you'll get them excited about the prospects of a brand new season. But for all of us, Lord, as I close this morning, I pray that we'll all walk away from here knowing that we know you as our personal savior. And if there's anyone who has never humbled their heart and invited you into their life, I pray this would be the moment where they pray a simple prayer like this and just say, lord Jesus, with all that I know about me, I now trust all that I know about you. Come into my heart, forgive my sin, and I'll give you thanks. For I ask this in Christ's name. Amen. [00:40:02] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week.