WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:16.605 This is the Sandals Church Podcast, a place for real people with real struggles learning to follow Jesus. Wherever you are right now, driving, working, or trying to make it through the day, we are really glad you're here. Let's get into today's message. 00:00:18.045 --> 00:00:26.685 Hi, and welcome to Sandals Church. We are done with the book of Matthew. Amen? Took us forever. And we are launching a brand new series. 00:00:26.685 --> 00:00:41.780 So if you're joining us today, this is a great time to start your spiritual walk this summer. We're gonna be in a book called Nehemiah. It's a story of a guy that doesn't come from a super important family. He's not a kingly lineage. We don't know a lot about him, but we know this. 00:00:41.780 --> 00:01:02.970 He changed the world forever because of his faithfulness to God. And so I just wanna encourage you. If you feel unseen by the world, you may be chosen by God for a very, very unique and special thing today. And this is going to just really, really help you get in a position to do what God wants you to do. But before that, we gotta become what God's called us to be. 00:01:02.970 --> 00:01:11.050 Amen? So we're gonna talk today about a sensitive issue. So get out your tissues. We're gonna talk about recovering from a broken heart. Anybody ever had one of those? 00:01:11.665 --> 00:01:19.425 Yeah. That's super fun. So if you're a young person, just know everybody lies to you. They say you'll you'll get over it. Okay? 00:01:19.425 --> 00:01:36.250 I remember, I won't tell you her name, but it sounded a lot like Wendy who dumped me in computer class. And she said, it's not that I don't like you, it's that I like someone else. Still remember it. I can quote her. I can quote her. 00:01:36.570 --> 00:01:52.955 And so even if she gave her life to Christ and came to Sandals, I'd say go to Harvest. Amen? I mean, I just pastor Greg pastor Greg's a wonderful guy. He can teach you the word of God, but I don't wanna see you. But let me ask you, what breaks your heart? 00:01:53.460 --> 00:02:05.860 I mean, all kinds of things break our hearts. So so what are the things that that can mess with us? I mean, I think obviously, right, relationships. Anybody ever gone through a relational breakup? I mean, like fourth grade. 00:02:05.860 --> 00:02:11.395 She's like, I don't like you anymore. You know? I mean, it hurts. But anybody been through a relationship breakup? You know, don't don't point at them. 00:02:11.395 --> 00:02:34.850 But, you know, that's tough. It's hard to give your heart to somebody. And if you're a young person, let let me encourage you. Oftentimes, what you you think you need more than anything is a loving relationship, but that may be the very thing God's trying to protect you from. Because when you're young, man, somebody can totally love you in a week, and then the next week not want anything to do with you, and that's really, really hard emotionally to deal with. 00:02:34.850 --> 00:02:48.645 And and what I always tell parents, this is Tammy and I's philosophy, is let's work on friendships first. Can I get an amen? And when we figure that out, let's make room for romance. And even some of you are 50, you wanna write that down because you haven't figured it out yet. Okay. 00:02:48.645 --> 00:03:09.545 How about this one though, family? Oh my gosh. And if you're not your hand isn't up, you're the person in the family that's breaking everyone's heart. I mean, we all have, you know, just family members that we love, that we we care for. And here's the thing, man, if your family hasn't broken your heart, you're either really, really young or really, really blessed. 00:03:09.785 --> 00:03:22.850 Because the older you get, the weirder you realize your family is. Amen? And so, you know, but family members, right, that that familial bond is supposed to be so strong, but it can break our hearts, man. It can be our kids. It can be our spouse. 00:03:22.930 --> 00:03:31.890 It can be our parents. It can be an aunt or an uncle, but, it can devastate your heart. How how about this one? This is one of my favorite things not to watch, the news. Right? 00:03:32.645 --> 00:03:46.725 I mean, the news just breaks your heart on a regular basis. Mean, how many of you guys have ever found yourself either looking at your phone or watching a screen, and you're like, I can't believe someone did that? Right? It just you're just like, oh my gosh. Is everybody getting weirder, or are we just getting better at recording it? 00:03:46.725 --> 00:03:53.970 You know? I don't know. But how about this next one? This next one's really, really hard to get over. Last week, was honored. 00:03:53.970 --> 00:04:08.585 Pastor Fredo lost his mom, Holly, and I love her. I wanna honor her. But they asked me to to do her funeral. And the whole time while I'm talking, right, I'm I'm looking at pastor Fredo, who's who's a great man and a great pastor. Right? 00:04:08.585 --> 00:04:23.920 But you don't you don't wanna do your own mom's funeral. And then I'm watching him sit next to his dad. I mean, death is just one of those things that I don't know how you get over that. I don't know how you process loving someone for years with everything that you have and then saying goodbye. Now here's the thing. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:37.095 We're all, at some point, gonna have to do that. So how do you how do you get over that kind of broken heart? How about this next one? This is important this week. Many people are voting in California for the future of our state, local cities. 00:04:37.095 --> 00:04:44.110 Right? Politics. It's it's a really, really ugly business, but it's an important business. It matters. It affects our lives. 00:04:45.550 --> 00:04:56.590 I got to talk to my son this week because he gets to pay his own car registration, and that was so fun to explain all the fees. Isn't that fun? He's like, what are all these things? I'm like, communism, son. That's what that is. 00:04:57.275 --> 00:05:07.115 Communism. Welcome to California. You know? So if you wanna teach your kid about politics, just let them pay their fees. Can I get an amen? 00:05:07.435 --> 00:05:22.660 But let's talk about how to recover from a broken heart. K? Because at some point in time, you're gonna you're gonna need this. And the problem is oftentimes we experience a broken heart and we have no training on how to deal with one. So let's talk about the first thing that we need to do. 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:49.290 From the book of Nehemiah, his heart is deeply broken, almost unrecoverable, and not from any of the things that I've mentioned, but something very, very unique to him. So to recover from a broken heart, I need to recognize the ruins. Years ago, I had a pastor tell me when the horse is dead, dismount. Some of you guys, man, you know, you just wanna ride that dead horse. You're like, come on, Lord. 00:05:49.290 --> 00:06:02.915 Resurrect him. When the horse is dead, dismount. And so some of you are pursuing a friendship that's dead. You're pursuing a relationship that's dead. You know? 00:06:02.915 --> 00:06:22.925 And and when we chase this and we can waste years on something that we know is going nowhere, when the horse is dead, dismount and move on. Learn what you can and grow. But the first thing you've got to do, one of the number one stages of grief is denial. Recognize the ruins. Nehemiah chapter one verses one through two. 00:06:23.005 --> 00:06:39.310 These are the memoirs of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah. Now listen to this. If some of you are like, don't what a memoir is. A memoir is an autobiographical autobiography, but it's not your whole life. So you could write a memoir that's an autobiography of your life in high school. 00:06:39.790 --> 00:07:06.790 You could write a memoir, an autobiography of your years in college. You could write a memoir of your life from COVID 2020 to 2021. Right? So it's not everything that happened in your life, but it's a very, very specific season in your life that shaped you. So what Nehemiah is saying is this was a pivotal moment in my life where God did an unusual work in me. 00:07:07.510 --> 00:07:25.645 Let me ask you, on your deathbed as you reflect on your life, I wonder what moments will be memoirs. What seasons will be sensational. Right? Because not all of life is amazing, but there are moments in life where you're like, my gosh, that was so incredible. That was so momentous. 00:07:25.645 --> 00:07:50.435 That was so impactful. What if you're in one of those moments right now and you don't even realize it? It was in late autumn, Nememiah says, in the month of Kislev and you're like, when is that? Somewhere between late November and early December. The Jewish calendar is different than ours and their calendar is based upon the moon and its cycle, and so that's why it's hard for me to say exactly when this was. 00:07:50.995 --> 00:08:00.675 In the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes reign. K. That's a mouthful. Amen? I want you to underline this in your Bibles. 00:08:00.675 --> 00:08:17.655 This is really important. I was at the Fortress Of Sousa. Now you might read through Nehemiah and miss this. Nehemiah is totally safe, totally secure, totally taken care of. In his world, in his life, all the walls are standing. 00:08:18.375 --> 00:08:40.760 Everything is going great. But what he's going to find out is the walls that surround his people are not so great. Matter of fact, they're non existent. So he's in a fortress and he finds out his people are in a mess. Verse two, Hanani, one of my brothers came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:58.510 This what he says, I asked him about the Jews who had returned there from captivity. So let's pause. What happened? God warned the people of Israel over and over again. If you don't stop sinning, I'm gonna remove my blessing and protection over you and you will be conquered and sold into slavery. 00:08:59.150 --> 00:09:13.785 And that's what happened. The Babylonians came, they were conquered, they were destroyed. Literally, the city walls were torn down. I mean, the best and brightest and most beautiful Jews in Jerusalem were sold, murdered, sent off. It was absolutely a mess. 00:09:14.105 --> 00:09:33.350 But over time in Babylon Jews there, many of them are famous, Nehemiah is one. Some some more famous ones are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, if you know your Bibles. There's another one named Daniel. They did very well there, and the Lord really, really blessed them. And so out of slavery, the Lord still blessed them. 00:09:33.350 --> 00:09:56.830 And I just wanna say that to some of you right now, you feel like you're a slave. Look, you might be going through a tragedy right now, but it's the very thing that God's going to do to set you to the place that he has for you. And many of us we wanna go straight to the top, but God's gotta take us through the bottom to get us where we need to be. And they were saying about how things were going in Jerusalem. Now, how many of you guys have ever asked somebody, how are you? 00:09:56.830 --> 00:10:10.475 And that was the wrong question to ask. Right? Like at Christmas, don't ask your grandma how she is. Well, where you wanna start, with my toe or my shoulder? But we've all said that, hey, how how's it going? 00:10:10.555 --> 00:10:22.680 And had a family member or friend just lose it. Maybe it's been at church. How are you? And instantly you realize they don't need a hug, they need a prayer. Nehemiah one three, his life is about to change forever. 00:10:22.680 --> 00:10:30.680 So things are going great. He's in a fortress. Everything's fantastic. Verse three. Then they said to me, things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. 00:10:30.680 --> 00:10:42.565 So some were allowed to go back home and rebuild their capital and rebuild their city. Listen to what he says. They are in great trouble and disgrace. Think about this. Raise your hand for your parent. 00:10:43.765 --> 00:11:02.120 And you say, how's so and so? How's Johnny doing at college? He's in great trouble and disgrace. I just prayed with a dad yesterday who had to go pick his daughter up from college, not because she graduated, but because she wasn't making it. They literally feel like her life's in danger. 00:11:03.535 --> 00:11:23.640 They've turned their whole life around because instantly they realize something's not okay. And this is the moment where Nehemiah in all his comfort with all his privilege has his heart broken for his people. Listen to what they say. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down. Now that means nothing to you and I. 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:42.025 But I want you to imagine living in Riverside or whatever city or town you live in and you got no front door. How many of you are gonna sleep well without a front door? K. You're gonna be nervous all night because anybody at any time can do what? Walk right through your front door. 00:11:42.665 --> 00:11:52.390 And that's what a wall was in the ancient world. If you didn't have a wall, you didn't have a front door. You didn't have a lock. You had no means of protection. K. 00:11:52.390 --> 00:12:06.455 They had no surveillance. They didn't have, you know, satellites in the air. They couldn't track armies from other cities and other places. Literally, you could be destroyed in an instant an instant without a wall of protection. So here's what he hears. 00:12:07.015 --> 00:12:34.165 The people that you love, the people that you care about, God's people are totally vulnerable. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down and the gates have been destroyed by fire. So not only does your house not have a front door, it doesn't even have windows. And you don't have any wood to close those openings. So every night you go to sleep, you take the risk of what? 00:12:34.405 --> 00:12:51.860 Being robbed, murdered, or worse. To recover from a broken heart, I need to, this is important, give my permission my myself permission to feel the loss. Guys, we gotta learn to feel. Can I get an amen? You're like, I do feel. 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:58.005 I feel angry. Okay. That's one emotion. That's one emotion. But we have to learn to express how we feel. 00:12:58.005 --> 00:13:07.205 Nehemiah one four, look at this. When I heard this, I sat down and wept. This is a man of God. This is a strong man. This is an incredible man. 00:13:07.205 --> 00:13:19.520 Man, I want you to see, he wept. He sat down and he wept. In fact, for days I mourned. I fasted and I prayed to the God of heaven. Alright. 00:13:19.520 --> 00:13:37.315 I picked on the men. Ladies, all my true crime fans can't go to bed at night because you watch every story where someone gets kidnapped. Ladies, this is huge. I actually talked about this on my podcast a couple weeks ago. This is not something I came up with. 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:47.460 I heard a therapist say this and I was like, oh my gosh. This is me. K? Look at this. Overthinking is often a sign of under feeling. 00:13:49.585 --> 00:13:57.105 So what we try to do is think our ways out of heartache. Heartache, you know what? It doesn't work that way. Sometimes you just gotta cry. You know what? 00:13:57.105 --> 00:14:06.400 A good snot cry. Can I get an amen? An ugly cry. If you're a beautiful crier, you're not crying. No one's pretty when they cry. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:20.445 But here's the thing, you wanna you wanna recover from a broken heart? Let your heart feel the loss. We all have disappointment. We all have loss. Sometimes it's the death of a loved one. 00:14:20.445 --> 00:14:37.420 Sometimes it's the death of a dream. John eleven thirty five, the shortest verse in the Bible, but maybe the most profound. Then Jesus wept. Do you know why he was crying? Because he lost one of his best friends Lazarus. 00:14:37.420 --> 00:15:02.780 Now here's the thing, he knew he was gonna raise him from the dead, but he still cried because death hurts. So if Jesus cried men, that's what you need to do. Ladies, if you can't sleep at night, maybe what you need is a good cry. Get all the girlfriends together and just let the snot loose. Let it out. 00:15:03.020 --> 00:15:31.860 I want you to underline your bibles, four days I wept, four days I mourned. It's important that you get in touch with how you feel. Couple of weeks ago my wife had a tough day And so in my office, I have a feeling pillow and it has 84 different feelings. And so I picked her up from work, drove her home, had the pillow on the front seat of the car And she said, what is that for? I said, that's gonna help us feel. 00:15:32.660 --> 00:15:42.740 And by us, I mean you. So I handed her the pillow and she said, I feel annoyed. That was the feeling that she had. I said, good start. Good start. 00:15:43.755 --> 00:15:53.355 But we're gonna keep going. I literally just gave it to her. I want you to hold this. It's colorful like the rainbow and just pick something. Okay. 00:15:53.835 --> 00:16:00.980 To recover from a broken heart, I need to. This is important. Turn my pain into prayer. K. Some of us aren't good at crying. 00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:11.595 Some of us have had a decade of weeping. It's time to move on. It's time to stop rehashing the past. It didn't go your way. You suffered extreme loss. 00:16:11.595 --> 00:16:30.800 It wasn't fair. Listen, you're never going to take command of your life when you continue to stay in the past. Nehemiah one five through six. Look at this. Then I said, oh Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love. 00:16:30.800 --> 00:17:02.210 So he turns the attention off him and he turns it to the one who can really change things. With those who love him and obey his commands. Underline verse six. Listen to my prayer. If you ever just wanna do a study in your bible, just underline the amount of times, especially in the book of Psalms, where it's not just that a prayer was prayed, but that the prayer began with Lord listen to my prayer. 00:17:05.225 --> 00:17:25.280 And it's important. Look what he says, verse six. Listen to my prayer, look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. Now this is important. Parents, one of the ways you know your kids really want something is when they repeatedly ask for it. 00:17:26.320 --> 00:17:43.575 That's how you discern something that really, really matters. And here's the thing, many of you as parents can give more to your kids than they need and that's actually the problem with culture. You see when you're poor, parenting is easy. Nope. What do you want me to do? 00:17:43.575 --> 00:17:59.510 Rob a bank? Nope. But actually when you get a little money, you're saying no to someone you love because you don't think it's good for them and that's really really difficult. And that's how God is. He could he could give you everything. 00:17:59.590 --> 00:18:14.495 Think about whatever your broken heart is right now, he could fix it. He could fix it. And some of you are mad about that. But for whatever reason he's not. Because as a good father, it's not just good for him to always say yes to every request. 00:18:14.495 --> 00:18:33.810 So what Nehemiah is saying is, Lord, please listen to my prayer and hear me pray it over and over and over again. Okay. Here's what I want you to do. Here's how you turn your pain into prayer. You invite God's power into whatever's broken. 00:18:35.025 --> 00:18:48.625 Look, I'm sorry your marriage is broken. I'm sorry your finance is broken. I'm sorry you lost a loved one. I'm sorry you lost a dream. I I I don't know what I I I can't imagine the pain and the suffering that you are going through. 00:18:49.980 --> 00:19:02.620 But here's the thing. Sometimes we have to be broken so the light can get in. Do you understand that? We have to be broken so the light can get in. Psalms fifty one seventeen. 00:19:02.620 --> 00:19:12.335 Look at this. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. Some of like, why would God wanna break me? I'm already broken. He doesn't wanna break you in the ways that you're already broken. 00:19:12.335 --> 00:19:32.650 He wants to break you spiritually so his light can penetrate your heart. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, oh God. Listen, some of you today, you want God to hear your prayer. God wants you to hear him. 00:19:33.825 --> 00:19:53.270 The way that he invades your life is through brokenness. It's through our pain. That's how let me some of you, you're praying for family members, you're praying for friends, they're never coming to church until something's broken. Their marriage, their kids, their their health, their finances. Look, people don't run to God until they feel like they need God. 00:19:54.710 --> 00:20:15.330 And sometimes, unfortunately for us, the blessings of God are the very things that keep us from God. Sometimes it takes a broken heart to allow the light in. John twelve thirty six says this, put your trust in the light. This is Jesus. Listen to me. 00:20:15.330 --> 00:20:39.715 I I don't wanna scare you, but I wanna warn you. Put your trust in the light while there's still time. While there's still time. I don't know how much time you have to get your life right with God. But let's turn this pain that you're experiencing into a prayer and let's invite God and his light into our darkness. 00:20:40.195 --> 00:21:00.345 And you can do that today. It doesn't matter how much you know about God. It doesn't matter how much you know about your bible. You you might have stumbled upon this sermon just just literally scrolling at night. But here's the thing, when we give as much of what we understand to God with as much of ourselves as we understand to him, he'll take that. 00:21:00.905 --> 00:21:22.020 He'll accept wherever you are because God says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. And if you're ready for that, I wanna encourage you to do that. Next, to recover from a broken heart, I need to pray with the power of personal repentance. This is huge. Nehemiah chapter one verses six through seven. 00:21:22.020 --> 00:21:31.595 So he's broken hearted. He's overwhelmed. He cries out to God in prayer. But here's the thing, he doesn't start making demands. He doesn't start shouting at God. 00:21:32.075 --> 00:21:45.080 Look at what he starts with verse six. I confess. I confess. Couple of weeks ago, I confessed to you guys. I feel like God challenged me on Good Friday that I'd lost my love for him. 00:21:45.080 --> 00:22:03.285 That I'd I'd I'd become overwhelmed with all kinds of things. I confessed that in front of about 40,000 people. When's the last time you confessed in front of one person? Nehemiah says, I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family. 00:22:03.925 --> 00:22:14.980 Look, you want Here's the thing. Some of you are so upset at the direction that your family is going. Change the direction of your family. Make a change. Stop trying to keep up with everybody else. 00:22:16.020 --> 00:22:29.515 Quit trying to have your kids in everything and go everywhere. Here's the one thing your kids need for life more than anything else. They need to know God and how to call upon him when they desperately need him. Amen? That's what they need. 00:22:33.275 --> 00:22:48.100 He says, we have sinned terribly. Just let's just let's just unpack that word, terribly. Like, sometimes I talk to Christians and I'm like, so are you a sinner? Like, yeah. Occasionally, you know, I love people too much. 00:22:51.175 --> 00:22:57.495 You know what my challenge is? I just work all the time. Wow. You're just like Jesus. Thank you for sharing. 00:22:58.215 --> 00:23:18.020 He said, we have sinned terribly. So what's happened? He lives in Babylon in a beautiful fortress, in a city that's gorgeous. The wealthiest city on earth at that time, totally protected, totally about himself. His job is to taste the food for the king. 00:23:19.945 --> 00:23:34.220 Does anybody remember that on your high school equivalency test? I mean, I would love I would love to be the food taster for Trump because I think he eats good. Not the McDonald's stuff, but the other stuff. You know what I'm saying? Can you imagine that's your job? 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:41.660 Yeah. That's not good enough. You know? I mean, that's it it did have some some downsides. You know? 00:23:41.660 --> 00:23:51.425 Like, if somebody tried to poison the king, we found out by you dying, if you had that job. Okay. I'm just saying we all would have signed up for that our senior in high school. Right? Food tester? 00:23:51.425 --> 00:24:06.960 Awesome. Number look at verse seven. We've sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, the decrees, and the regulations. What do these three big words mean? Look, there's a way to live your life when you love God. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:40.450 And some of you, you claim to love God but you live like you hate him. And what Nehemiah is saying is, I just gotta confess that I have not been following anything you have challenged me to do, commanded me to do, decreed for me to do. I've been so wrapped up in me, I forgot you. The regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. To recover from a broken heart, this is important, I gotta pray God's promises. 00:24:42.015 --> 00:24:52.335 What do you do when your life is falling apart? What do you what do you do when your life is a mess? You pray the promises. It's so important. What has God promised you? 00:24:52.655 --> 00:25:05.340 Look at Nehemiah chapter one verses eight through 10. Look at verse eight. Please remember what you told your servant Moses. Again, is he arrogant? Is he shouting at God? 00:25:05.340 --> 00:25:18.565 Is he yelling at God? He said, hey, please remember. Please remember this. So what he's asking God to do is to remember the promises that God gave. Please God remember this. 00:25:18.645 --> 00:25:30.400 Please remember what you told your servant Moses. If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nation. So why is he in Babylon? Why is Jerusalem burned down? Why is it destroyed? 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:47.035 Why is it a mess? Because the people of Israel went their own way. And this is what many many Christians do today. We claim to follow God in our hearts but we deny him every single day with our lives. And here's the thing you need to know about God, he is consistent. 00:25:47.115 --> 00:26:06.225 If you go your own way, he will let you go. It's why Jesus says in John fourteen six, I'm the way, the truth and the life. He's the way. He's the way. I was surfing last week and this guy came up to me, introduced himself. 00:26:06.225 --> 00:26:15.905 His name was Kevin. I'm terrible at remembering names. So I have to come up with ways to remember your names. You don't ask me how I remember your name because it's probably not complimentary. I'm just gonna tell you. 00:26:17.320 --> 00:26:34.785 My wife just dies laughing in my phone, the little nicknames that I give people to remember their names. But when you gotta remember 50,000 people, come talk to me. And so I'm like, how on earth am I gonna remember this guy's name? And so he just tells me, you know, it's just always amazing to me that people think they're theologians. He's like, you know, you don't have to go to church to talk to God. 00:26:35.665 --> 00:26:41.345 His name's Kevin. So you know what I call him now? Home Alone. That's what I call him. Home Alone. 00:26:41.425 --> 00:26:50.820 I'll never forget his name because he doesn't go to church. He's what? Home Alone. He doesn't like that I call him that but I don't care. I'm like, hey home alone. 00:26:51.140 --> 00:27:01.140 And you know what I told him? You're right. You don't have to go to church to talk to God but you do have to go to church to follow God. Why? Because Jesus said, I'm the way. 00:27:02.035 --> 00:27:10.435 I'm the way. And the way is not at home on your couch. That's not the way. The way is to follow him. So pray for home alone. 00:27:10.435 --> 00:27:28.600 Can I get an amen? I hope he watches this. Okay. Verse nine, but if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth. Here's what God is saying, no matter how far away you have ran to me, if you'll turn back, I'll welcome you back. 00:27:31.575 --> 00:27:46.600 Can you imagine if I was God? All those people trying to get into heaven, I'd be like. I know. Talk to the hand, man. I'm saying, you're not getting in here. 00:27:46.600 --> 00:28:16.430 This is my house. Man, the Lord is so much better than any of us. No matter how many times we've ruined his house, defiled his house, cursed his house, he always welcomes his children back. And Nehemiah is reminding God, I know we're bad kids, but you said in your word that if we repented and turned back around, you'd let us back in. Look at this. 00:28:16.430 --> 00:28:48.820 I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored. There's only one reason there's an Israel today, and it isn't their jets, and it isn't their missiles, and it isn't their tech. It's their unique relationship with God and his faithfulness to them. That's the only reason. Verse 10, the people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 00:28:49.700 --> 00:29:03.785 Pray the promises. Here's the good news. Even if you've been unfaithful, he will always remain faithful. The Bible says because he cannot deny himself. Come back to God today. 00:29:05.065 --> 00:29:21.510 Parents, when you raise your kids, they're gonna make mistakes, they're gonna sin. They're gonna lie to you. And if you don't think they've ever lied, it just means they're really good at it. Teach your kids that when they're far from God, they need to run to him not from him. Amen? 00:29:21.510 --> 00:29:56.645 Run back to God because he will welcome you back. I was at Hunter Park two weeks ago and there was a guy, I don't remember his name. I don't, but I remember his story. Great young man that was a part of Sandals Church in the early two thousands, beautiful wife, great kids, loving family, got into drugs, lost his marriage, lost his mind, lost his family. You know what he told me two weeks ago at Sandals Church? 00:29:57.365 --> 00:30:21.780 He said, thank you for building a church I can always come back to when I remember what's right. Amen? That's that's the kind of church I want us to be. No matter how far people are from God, we always welcome them back. I ran into a guy that left Sandals maybe ten years ago, not so happy with me. 00:30:21.780 --> 00:30:35.035 I know that's hard for you guys to believe. But can I just be honest? I didn't handle him in the best way. And as pastors, you know, sometimes we make mistakes. Don't It's just hard for guys to believe it. 00:30:35.035 --> 00:30:56.265 Sometimes I get a little frustrated, And I say things, you know, that are a little edgy, not nice. And here's the thing that that, you know, nobody likes to get told off by anybody, but when it's your pastor, that really hurts. You know what I said? He came back to church and I said, look, I said, please forgive me. And I said I said, know this. 00:30:56.265 --> 00:31:11.160 You're always welcome here. Even you and your wife. We'll gladly welcome you back because this is a place for people who are far from God to reconnect with him. And we just hugged each other and cried. It was a beautiful beautiful thing. 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:20.735 Pray the promises. No one is too far from God and that includes me. Amen? Psalm eighteen thirty. God's way is perfect. 00:31:21.055 --> 00:31:31.135 You know what way yours isn't? Perfect. Somebody needs to write that down. God's way is perfect. All the Lord's promises prove true. 00:31:32.335 --> 00:31:44.540 All of them. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. Look, your marriage is a mess, look to God. Find a Christian counselor that looks to God. Surround yourself with friends that look to God. 00:31:44.540 --> 00:32:05.440 Put your kids in relationships with people that look to God because God is the one that can protect us. God is the one that loves us. Whenever I pray over somebody that's having surgery, here's what I pray every time someone is under anesthesia. I say, you may be asleep, but God will not be. Amen? 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:23.305 He will not be affected by this anesthesia, and he is closer to you than the surgeon's hands. Trust in that. To recover from a broken heart, This is huge. I need to pursue God's heart for my life. Look, how many of guys ever had something that didn't go your way? 00:32:23.305 --> 00:32:42.170 Raise your hands. Cave your hands on up, you're a liar. We all we all have things that don't go our way. Here's the thing, you can spend your whole life asking God to heal your heart and the things that you don't like in your life, but here's the way that you heal your heart. You align your heart with his. 00:32:43.735 --> 00:32:53.815 Look man, we're all gonna face disappointment. We're all gonna face discouragement. We're all gonna have loss. Every single one of us will have a wall somewhere that is torn down. That's life. 00:32:54.535 --> 00:33:11.425 Here's what we gotta do. We gotta entrust our hearts to him. We gotta entrust our hearts to the one who never fails. My wife's got me watching this TV show called Madison. Yeah. 00:33:11.745 --> 00:33:27.340 Oh. She didn't warn me. It's horrible. I cry in every episode because I have a heart. But here's the thing that breaks my heart for this woman. 00:33:27.580 --> 00:33:31.980 I'm gonna run the show for you. She lost her husband. Sorry. Don't watch it. She lost her husband. 00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:48.575 Here's the thing that breaks my heart for this character. It's an amazing show. Is he was her world. And as powerful as your love is, you will have to say goodbye. Don't give to someone what only belongs to God. 00:33:50.175 --> 00:34:11.345 Because there's no recovering from that. If you make your children your God, if you make your family your God, if you make your husband, your wife, your job, your money, your God, it will betray you and it will leave you. Only God will stay faithful to you. Nehemiah one eleven. Oh Lord, please hear my prayer. 00:34:11.505 --> 00:34:28.620 Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. I want you to look at this subtle shift here. It's no longer about him and his heart. It's about God and God's heart. Please, he says, grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. 00:34:29.340 --> 00:34:46.585 Look at this, put into his heart. See, it's no longer about Nememiah's heart. It's about the king's heart. Please put into his heart to be kind to me. And he says in those days, I was the king's cup bearer. 00:34:48.585 --> 00:35:12.305 Listen to me. You wanna get your life right today? Give your heart to God. Acts thirteen twenty two. But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. 00:35:12.625 --> 00:35:27.350 He will do everything I want him to do. Listen to this. Israel's first king was Saul, but his life became about himself. And God said, don't want a king that's all about him. I want a king that's about me. 00:35:27.350 --> 00:35:47.630 And he found a man named David, not a perfect man, but a man who was all about God. And listen to me, he used David to do great mighty things. You wanna change your life? You wanna change your story? You wanna write a memoir that your children and your children's children children's will read? 00:35:47.630 --> 00:36:11.445 Give your heart to God and follow him and build the wall that he's calling you to rebuild. Proverbs three, five and six. Trust in the Lord with what? All your heart and do not depend on your under understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take. 00:36:12.565 --> 00:36:28.700 This is why some of you guys are so confused. You wanna know which way to go? It's not left, it's not right, it's not up, it's not down. The first step is to give God your heart. And once he has your heart, then he'll show you the way. 00:36:30.495 --> 00:36:38.815 Let's stop. Let's pause. And let's give God our hearts. So that in this series, he'll rebuild the walls. Amen. 00:36:39.055 --> 00:36:58.190 The walls of our marriages, the walls around our kids, the walls around our families, the walls around our finances, the walls around our loss. Let us feel safe again in the hands of God. But in order for us to do that, we have to first give him our heart. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray in the name of Jesus. 00:37:00.155 --> 00:37:33.441 God, just like Nehemiah, let us have a broken heart for the spiritual walls that have fallen around us in our marriage, in our kids, in our priorities, and in our finances. And let us right now in this moment, not worry about the way or the direction, but let us worry about our heart. God, you commanded us to trust you with all of our heart and we do that right now just like Nehemiah did. God help us rebuild our lives upon your foundation. We pray this in Jesus name and all God's people said, amen.