Keep Going – EP25

Pastor Jeffrey BrandtOne Thing Audio, Pastors Corner

Nehemiah 6:3
“I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”



"Stand strong and proceed with all that God had called him to do."
Hello and welcome back to the One Thing Podcast! Today we just want to take a moment to reflect on a man named Nehemiah. We've been reading through the book of Nehemiah as a church which has been an exciting reading and God has been speaking and just really doing so much in many of our lives. We are, as Nehemiah, called to rebuild. Rebuild the walls of the church, of the temple, which is really rebuilding within our own hearts and rebuilding in the hearts of others with the word of the Lord. One thing that I really believe is important to understand about Nehemiah, it was said in the sermon this past Sunday, is that Nehemiah knew that he had work to do. It was a work that God had called him to do and his heart was so set on doing that work that nothing could stop him. You see, the passion that he had to fulfill the word of God, to fulfill the will of God, had driven him so strong that even when the enemy had come in and looked to distract him, looked to take him away from the work of God, he was not budged, even for a moment, but was able to stand strong and to proceed with all that God had called him to do.

"Rebuild the walls in our hearts."
What has God called each of us to do today? Just like Nehemiah, to rebuild the walls in our hearts. To rebuild the walls with the word of the Lord in our households, in our families, in our friends, in our church. There's so much and so much excitement in doing so. What happens along the way? We find distractions. The enemy comes in and it looks to pull us to the left, to the right. It could be as simple as television or it can be as heavy as a type of persecution in our work, or just something looking to turn our heads away from the work that God has called each one of us to do. But the Lord says today, that if we stand like Nehemiah, if we allow the will, the word of the Lord to be what guides our every step, that is the key to overcoming every distraction, that is the key to standing strong just as Nehemiah and the people of Israel had done. We must set our heads like flint upon the will and the working of God.

"...keep on asking, don't stop no matter what tries to get in the way..."

In the book of Luke chapter 11 verses 9 and 10 it says, “so I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” The real understanding of this scripture is, God is saying keep on asking, don't stop no matter what tries to get in the way of prayer. You get to where you have got to be, if it's on your lunch hour at work, if you've got to get down to the bay, if you've got to just close your door and turn off the phone, you do what you have to do. Keep going, because there is a work to do! Keep asking for the word to enter into your heart, keep asking for God to be glorified in your life and in the church. He says to keep seeking, it's not just a one time thing, but seek Him no matter what. When you're tired, let's just push through the tiredness. When everything at work seems to go crazy, when the kids seem to be acting up, you get to where you've got to be, you do what you have to do in order to seek and to build up the walls, to seek God on how to do it and how to walk in His glory. He says to knock and the door will be open! I just think of somebody who is desperately in need, they're out in the cold weather, they're lost in the heat and they’ve got to get inside to find shelter, they've got to get in! They'll bang on the door to get in and they will keep knocking until somebody opens the door. That's how we come to God, to get out of the darkness, to come out of whatever may be holding us back. We knock and we knock saying Father, here I am! I believe in your word, I believe in what you've called me to!

"To restore His people to the strong foundation of His word."

Will we keep asking, will we keep seeking, will we keep knocking as we are set upon the work of the Lord, which is to restore His temple. To restore His people to the strong foundation of His word. That we may build upon His truth and on no other. Praise God today, He's looking for another Nehmiah. He's looking for somebody that will look to do his work and not be overtaken by the distractions but simply say, I've got a work to do. I'm busy with God and I don't have time to be busy with the world, I don't have time to be busy with sin, but simply to be with my Father in heaven and to walk as he's called me to walk. May we rise today! May we stand today! May we keep asking, may we keep seeking, and may we keep knocking. Praise God, as the walls are being built.

We are going to tune in, that's right, tune in to the word of the Lord.  We've been reading as a church together in the book of Proverbs every day, such an incredible book as God is speaking His Word and giving us a strong foundation.

"Father, I know that you're speaking, I know that you're moving."
You know one of my favorite verses has been Proverbs chapter 2 verse 2 it says "tune your ears to wisdom" and and it's so simple.  Tune your ears to wisdom, tune our ears to the wisdom, to the word of the Lord to the Spirit of God.  You know God is always speaking, always moving, always doing and we simply have to stay tuned.  How many times have we been driving in our cars and we're trying to tune into the right station?  Trying to tune into the right song that really sets the tone in the atmosphere.  How many times do we go to our apps on our phones and all of our music and our playlists, and we're trying to tune to that worship song.  Or to that song to just get our day going, and maybe even bring us closer to the Lord.

You know as we watch television sometimes or are really into a good movie or a really good show and then the commercial time comes and we hear sometimes "stay tuned."  Stay tuned for what's coming up next, and there's an excitement that builds up.  We wanna get back to the show, we're going to see what happens.  No different with God.  You see today God is doing something incredible in his Church, He's doing something incredible in his people.

"He's always moving He's always doing something incredible, all we have to do is tune our ears to wisdom."
And though the world right now has so many sounds, so many voices there's so many "tunes" right, that are trying to draw people away from God.  There's so many things happening that that try to tug at our heart, that try to grab our ear. And the world just seems to be out of tune, out of tune with the Lord, out of tune what is truth.  But I say today we as the people of God, as the church, are called to beckon to His voice, to listen as his sheep.  And as we tune our ears to his wisdom, as we turn our hearts to listen and to follow and to hear and to walk with the Lord.  Oh how we begin to live in its power there's such an excitement to see as He unfolds His works in our lives as he unfolds his works in His Church and even on this earth.

And the Lord says stay tuned, right? Stay tuned.  He's always moving He's always doing something incredible, all we have to do is tune our ears to wisdom.   Tune our ears to the voice of the Lord.  Father, I know that you're speaking, I know that you're moving.  Lord I am now looking to enter in, to tune my heart, to tune my ears and to be where you are.   So tune in today, tune in today, and if you're tuning in stay tuned let this day be a day for the glory of the Lord.

We commit to the Lord our plans, we commit to the Lord our hearts and this is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Let us come into the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God that formed every mountain.  The wisdom of God that has formed the depths of the ocean, the wisdom of God that formed you and I in our mother's womb.  So intricate, so perfect, so direct that is the word and the wisdom of God.  It is precise and it is perfect.  So may we tune our ears to the wisdom and the word of the Lord today.

Stay tuned, tune in to what God is doing into where He is.