Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000126S
|
00:00 (Breath Of Life Music)
00:05 #S066 - Stay Out Of The Comment Section (Part 1) 00:20 Nehemiah, chapter four and verse number one. 00:22 I just need to do a quick check. 00:24 How many of us need a word from the Lord today? 00:26 I just need to know where to aim. Amen. 00:29 Somebody already raised our hand. 00:30 I guess I don't need no word from the Lord. 00:31 Today he read Nehemiah Chapter four. 00:35 Hey, we're going to look together 00:36 at verse number one again. 00:38 When you find it, just say, Pastor, I'm there. 00:43 And this is for those who are in the construction zone. 00:47 And I want to say this specifically 00:50 because somebody is on the verge 00:52 of a miracle, 00:56 but before the miracle, there's going to be some pushback. 01:00 And I need you to know how to navigate that pushback 01:03 when it comes the amount of four in verse one, again, say, man, 01:08 the Bible says, but it happened. 01:10 But it so happened when Sand Ballard heard 01:14 that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious 01:18 and very indignant and mocked the Jews. 01:21 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria 01:25 and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? 01:28 Will they fortify themselves? 01:30 Will they offer sacrifices? 01:33 Will they complete it in a day? 01:35 Will they revive the stones from the heaps 01:38 of rubbish stones that are burned now until by 01:42 the Ammonites was beside him, and he said Whatever they build, 01:47 even if a fox goes upon it, 01:50 he will break down their stone wall 01:53 here all are here, our God, for we are despised, 01:57 turn their reproach on their own heads 02:00 and give them as plunder to the land of a captivity. 02:04 Do not cover their iniquities 02:06 and do not let their sin be blotted out from before you, 02:09 for they have provoked you to anger before the builders. 02:13 So we built the wall 02:15 and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height 02:20 for the people had a mind to what? 02:23 There is nothing impossible when people have a mind to work. 02:26 Are you all hear me today, friends? 02:28 The Bible says now what happened when Sand Valley 02:32 to by the Arabs, the Ammonites and the acid? 02:35 I heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored 02:39 and the gaps were beginning to be closed. 02:42 That they became very angry and all of them conspired 02:46 together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. 02:50 Nevertheless, we made our what 02:53 our prayer to God, and because of them 02:56 we set a watch against them day and night. 02:59 Then Judah said the strength of the laborers is falling 03:04 and there is so much rubbish that we are not able 03:07 to build the wall 03:09 and our adversary said they will never know 03:13 nor see anything till we come into their midst 03:16 and killed them and caused the work to cease. 03:19 And so it was when the Jews who dwelt near them came 03:23 that they told us ten times from whatever place you turn 03:26 they will be upon us. 03:28 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of 03:31 the wall at the openings, 03:33 and I set people, according to their families, 03:36 with their swords, their spears and their bows. 03:39 And I look in the rose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, 03:43 and to the rest of the people, do not be afraid of them. 03:46 Remember the Lord great. 03:48 And ask and fight for your brother, 03:51 your sons and your daughters, your wives and houses. 03:54 And it happened when our enemies heard that it was known to us 03:58 that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us 04:02 returned to the wall, every one to his work. 04:06 And so it was from that time on that half of the servants 04:10 worked at construction, while the other half held 04:13 the spears, the shields, the bows and wore armor. 04:17 And the leaders were behind all of the house of Judah. 04:21 And those who built on the wall and those who carried 04:24 burdens load it themselves 04:26 so that with one hand they worked at construction 04:29 and with another hand they held a weapon. 04:33 I I'm going to emphasize verse number two, 04:35 look at what they said. 04:37 And he spoke before his brother and the army of samarium 04:42 and said, What are these feeble Jews doing? 04:45 Well, they fortified themselves. 04:47 Will they offer sacrifices? 04:48 Will they complete it in a day? 04:51 Will they revive the stones from the heaps 04:53 of rubbish stones that are burned now? 04:57 Tobias, the ammonite was beside him 04:59 and said, Whatever they build, even if a fox goes upon it, 05:04 he will break down their stone wall. 05:07 Did they say it's for a little while? 05:09 I want to talk to you under the subject. 05:11 Stay out of the comment section. 05:15 Stay out of the comment section. 05:18 Let's pray together. 05:21 Father, would you grant strong 05:26 anointing for this message today? 05:30 Lord, I am praying 05:32 that you would move us from a place of paralysis 05:36 to a place of bold action for your glory. 05:40 And so, Father, we're asking 05:41 that your spirit would settle upon today's service. 05:45 Would you allow faith to be multiplied exponentially? 05:49 Would you hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone 05:52 might be seen, that Christ alone might be heard? 05:57 And at the end of our time 05:58 together, let Jesus alone be praised. 06:01 We pray this in the matches name of Jesus, our Lord, 06:04 let those who believe say together, amen and amen. 06:08 You may be seated 06:11 in the House of the Lord. 06:18 You know, friends, I have had the good fortune and misfortune 06:24 of leading a number of different building projects, 06:29 and I cannot explain 06:30 it, friends, but the more you do a building project, 06:34 the greater the difficulties ultimately become. 06:38 Is it contractors have a way of not keeping their word. 06:42 Supplies sometimes show up late. 06:46 Inspectors come and add frustration 06:49 so that times they're going to be delays in building. 06:54 There is going to be tension in building. 06:57 Building never goes smooth so that it takes more friends 07:02 than just a knowledge of how to build. 07:06 It takes a certain type of stomach to build. 07:11 There's got to be an inner resolve to be able to wield 07:14 the project to completion because building is never easy. 07:20 And the reason friends 07:21 there are so many incomplete structures in the church 07:26 is because we've underestimated the difficulty of building 07:31 the truth is that when you're watching others build, 07:34 it looks easy, but it doesn't get hard 07:37 until you enter the construction zone yourself. 07:41 And this message to date, friends, is not to suggest 07:45 that God makes building become easy, 07:48 but I need to announce to somebody today 07:51 that building is supposed to be hard. 07:55 In fact, some of us have entered the construction zone 07:59 in recent weeks, and you begin the process 08:02 of rebuilding some structures in your life. 08:05 And as you continue in this process, 08:08 I want to first prophesy, progress, 08:12 but I need you to also be aware of push back, 08:16 because the truth is that you cannot have progress 08:19 without some push back and see rebuilding your prayer. 08:24 Life is going to be hard. 08:26 Rebuilding academically. 08:28 It's going to be hard 08:30 rebuilding emotionally when you've been broken 08:33 is going to be hard. 08:35 Rebuilding your marriage is going to come with attacks. 08:39 In other words, when you experience 08:41 snags and challenges and delay in the process, 08:46 I don't want you to think that difficulty is an outlier. 08:50 It is simply the common tension that accompanies building. 08:54 Do I have a witness 08:55 that knows that building is always going to be hard 09:00 and see one of the things I want to say, when you build, 09:03 you've got to be careful about listening to people 09:06 that give edited testimonies. 09:10 In other words, there are some that when they testify, 09:13 they'll simply start with where they were 09:16 and where they are now, and they won't tell you 09:20 everything that happened in between it. 09:23 How many of us know 09:24 that sometimes when you testify in that way, 09:28 you make others feel inside, or because their journey is 09:32 never that clean? 09:33 But how many of us can testify that there are times 09:37 in your testimony where you wanted to give up? 09:40 There were times where you wanted to throw in the towel. 09:43 There were moments where you could not hear from God. 09:46 And I want to encourage us to be real in our testimonies. 09:50 Don't just test the lie. 09:52 I need you to testify. 09:53 You are not hearing me today. 09:55 In other words, it's kind of like this. 09:58 I don't know if you've ever watched on YouTube 10:00 some of those how to videos online. 10:04 So when you're trying to fix something, I'll look at a video 10:06 that says how to 10:08 change the facet or how to change the light fixture. 10:12 And the crazy thing is the 10:13 how to video will only be about 2 minutes, 10:17 but it's taking me 45 minutes in real time. 10:21 And the reason it takes so long in real time 10:24 is because in the video 10:26 they don't show the times where the parts don't fit. 10:29 They don't show the time where the screwdriver falls 10:32 behind the toilet. 10:33 What they do is they just do it with repetition 10:37 and they record the one that goes well. 10:40 In other words, they intent. 10:42 They only show you the thing that works out right. 10:45 In other words, they don't show you all the time. 10:47 They mess up. 10:49 And the reason that's important is 10:51 I need you to know that when you build spiritually, 10:54 there are none of us that gets it right on the first take. 10:58 In fact, the truth is that we have to keep doing it 11:01 until we get right. 11:03 But once you get right, don't just tell them about the time 11:06 it goes right. 11:07 You got to tell them about the flaws 11:09 and mistakes that happened along the way. 11:12 And I want to encourage somebody in the struggle to know, 11:15 because it may seem like you messed up more than most. 11:18 It may feel like you'll never get it together. 11:21 But when you look at somebody that looks clean spiritually, 11:25 they're just somebody that's had a bunch of takes 11:28 and they're now ready to be presented by Jesus 11:33 because there's nobody that gets it right. 11:35 The first time I got in the pastor today 11:38 and so let's go back in the word I promise 11:41 that I will not be long before you today. 11:43 I want you to stay in the Scriptures with me today 11:46 with Nehemiah. Chapter four and verse two. 11:48 The Bible says he spoke before the brethren 11:51 and the army of Samaria and said, What are these feeble 11:55 Jews doing? 11:56 Will they fortified themselves? 11:58 Will they offer sacrifices? 12:00 Will they complete it in a day? 12:02 Will they revive the stones from the rubbish 12:07 stone wounds that have been burned? 12:10 Now, friends, I need you to get that. 12:12 There are three critical lessons that we learn 12:15 from this juncture in Nehemiah as building process. 12:20 And the first thing that we learned 12:22 is that if you're going to build, you've got to stay out 12:26 of the comment section. 12:29 Okay. 12:31 See, I need us to know, friends, that you do yourself 12:34 a disservice when building by assuming that everyone is 12:39 going to celebrate your progress and your productivity. 12:44 In other words, friends as Nehemiah is making headway 12:48 in this journey, it begins to stir the suspicions 12:52 and the jealousies of the surrounding nations, 12:56 specifically the sand Ballard, the horror night guests, some of 13:00 the Arab and Tobias, the Ammonites, 13:04 and a part of their disdain family is 13:07 they don't see the value in what Nehemiah is building. 13:11 In other words, they see the stones as unsalvageable 13:15 and not worth the investment of their time. 13:18 In fact, they prophesied destruction to the point 13:22 that the wall cannot even handle the weight that a fox 13:26 is going to carry. 13:28 And friends, 13:29 this message is for anybody that will ever lead something. 13:33 Whether you lead a home, whether you lead a ministry, 13:38 whether you lead a company, or whether you have a vision 13:42 in your life, I need you to get that. 13:45 Most folk won't support 13:47 because they can't see the value in what you're building. 13:51 In other 13:52 words, they don't see the walls as valuable. 13:55 They see the walls as rubbish. 13:57 And beyond being able to be saved or use, 14:00 all they see is a pile of trash. 14:03 But Nehemiah, through faith, sees a pile of treasure. 14:08 And the truth is, friends, as you begin the building process, 14:11 there are going to be some that don't see the value 14:14 in trying to rebuild your prayer life. 14:17 There are going to be some that don't see the value 14:20 in trying to rebuild that marriage. 14:23 There are some peers that won't see the value 14:25 of trying to rebuild academically. 14:28 And I simply want to make one brief announcement 14:31 that what you're building has value. 14:37 And so Nehemiah is assailed 14:41 by these busybody Jews 14:45 who feel near my head 14:48 with the plotting of his adversary. 14:51 In fact, Ellen White says that there are Jews 14:54 that are living in these surrounding villages 14:57 who do not help Nehemiah do the work, but they begin 15:02 to become a burden by bringing all of these evil reports. 15:07 In other words, they distract the people 15:10 by adding to their awareness of what others think and the thing 15:14 I want to say to the church is that you need to be self aware. 15:18 You don't have to be others aware. 15:21 See how many of us know that you don't need to have 15:23 a knowledge of what everybody around you 15:27 has to actually think or say about you. 15:30 In other words, you got to be careful 15:33 about the type of information you are intentional 15:36 about gathering. 15:38 In other words, 15:39 if somebody is plotting to kill me, give me a heads up. 15:42 But if they just say, Pastor, they don't like you, 15:45 you can keep that to yourself. 15:48 You hear me? 15:49 And see what happens, friends, is they distract 15:52 the people by adding to their awareness. 15:56 In other words, I need somebody to get that. 15:59 Sometimes we allow outward opinions 16:02 to smother the inner vision that God gives. 16:05 But I'm at a place where I cannot allow an outward 16:09 opinion to overwhelm the vision that God has put inside of me. 16:15 And see, 16:16 I just want to pause to say to some young or aged person today 16:19 that you cannot live your life in fear of those who abide. 16:25 In the comment section 16:29 you see, there are some of us 16:31 that spend more time filtering your post 16:36 and editing your post and checking your post 16:40 than you actually do posting because you are so afraid 16:45 of those who live in the comment section 16:48 and see what you're going to notice in just a moment. 16:50 Friends, is that builders don't live 16:53 in the comment section. 16:57 Have you ever noticed this about Sand Ballard and Tobias? 17:01 And guess that when they see Nehemiah building, notice 17:06 that they don't begin building something themselves. 17:10 All they do is create a thread full of comments 17:14 about what Nehemiah is building 17:17 and see there are some like Sam Ballard, who live off 17:22 figuratively in the comment section of life 17:25 who never build anything for themselves. 17:29 They're just filled 17:30 with commentary about those that actually build. 17:34 I hear me today, friends. 17:36 In other words, I'm so sick and tired of church folk 17:40 who don't sing, 17:42 who have a 17:44 critique of every person that misses a note in the choir. 17:48 Oh, I'm tired of 17:50 y'all that don't try out for the team, 17:54 but you sit on the stage 17:55 in the gym booing those who are on the court. 17:58 I'm tired about those who don't minister in church, 18:02 but every statement begins what the church ought to be doing 18:07 and see. 18:08 The issue is you so deep in the comment section 18:11 that your shallow and the actions section 18:15 SC friends, this is a thing that's crazy. 18:17 All the energy they put into 18:20 trying to keep Nehemiah from building, 18:23 they could have put that energy into building their own walls, 18:27 building their own army, building their own kingdom. 18:31 But for a small person, it's easier to keep others 18:35 from building 18:37 than to begin the building. 18:38 Process yourself and see. 18:40 One of the things I want to say to you 18:42 young people today is that when you're trying to build, 18:45 you got to connect with builders and not commentators. 18:49 You got to build, connect with builders and not inspectors. 18:52 I need you to realize that friends, each week when I'm done 18:56 preaching, there's going to be somebody in the comments 18:59 that has something to say about what I'm wearing 19:02 that's going to have somebody that has something to say 19:04 about some statement taken out of context. 19:07 And they're going to build a whole doctrine around it. 19:10 They're going to be some 19:11 that have something to say about what I am. 19:14 I am not preaching, but I need you to know 19:16 I don't spend no time in the comments. 19:18 I'm going to spend my time building the Kingdom of God, 19:22 brick by brick and going line upon line. 19:26 You see, one of the greatest things 19:27 God ever did was He delivered me from people's opinions of me. 19:33 Okay? 19:34 In other words, I'm just trying to hear Jesus say, Well done, 19:39 good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord. 19:44 I hear me today, friends. 19:47 Listen, Chris. 19:48 I remember when I was a younger pastor, 19:49 I was preaching for my first week of prep 19:53 and I remember 19:54 at the end of that sermon I had preached my heart out. 19:56 Mark and a lady came to the door 19:59 and she says, Pastor, that's a good message. 20:02 But she says, You're so loud when you preach, 20:05 it makes my head hurt. 20:06 And and because I was young the next night when I preach, 20:10 I tone down the decibel. 20:11 I was a little amped up. It was my first time. 20:14 And so I brought it down a little bit. 20:16 And so then the next night she came to the door 20:18 and said, Pastor, that's a good message. 20:20 But she said, You move around so much when you preach it, 20:23 it just makes me dizzy and it's a distraction to the sermon. 20:27 And so the third night I was a little bit more demure 20:30 and I stayed a little bit more stationary 20:32 as she came at the end of the message. 20:34 As a pastor, that was a good message, but you sweat so much. 20:40 And I became 20:41 comfortable saying, Maybe I'm just not the one for you. 20:45 You are. Hear me today. 20:47 And is there anybody that's so comfortable with yourself 20:51 that you're okay announcing that I might not be 20:55 the one for you, but as long as I'm called by him, 21:01 I'm gonna be all right. 21:05 Are y'all hearing the word today, friends? 21:08 Now, again, I want to. 21:09 I don't want to be criticism averse. 21:11 I'm going to take what I can and learn from it. 21:13 So I'm going to eat the fish. 21:15 But any swallow in the bones, 21:17 all the vegetarians, all mad today are you? 21:20 Never swallow a bone in order to get the fish. 21:23 Are you hearing me today, friends? 21:26 And see what I want to say really quickly, beloved, 21:29 is that there are 21:29 some of us 21:30 who have made a home in the comment section of life now. 21:34 No, I'm not talking about my own life, people. 21:35 I'm from 21:37 the comment section of life because there are some that need 21:40 to recognize that commenting on them will never build. You 21:47 see, there are 21:48 some of us that find our strength in critique. 21:52 Some believe their spiritual grip gift is criticism. 21:56 Some have been anointed for voyeurism. 21:59 Your superpower is observation, and some of us have become 22:03 too enamored with the power of our own opinion. 22:07 Y'all might as well say amen to that. 22:09 See, I don't know if it's because we are an American Idol 22:12 culture that sits in judgment of those who do. 22:15 Or maybe it's the first 22:17 generation that sense, a commentary of those who play. 22:20 Or maybe we sit behind our tablets with keyboard 22:24 courage only, but never having the courage 22:27 to step in front and do anything and see my last problem 22:31 with the comment section. 22:32 It's not that you criticize those that do, but 22:35 I need you to know that visions die in the comments section. 22:40 Dreams rot in the comments section. 22:43 This began to boil in the comments section, 22:46 and the word to somebody today is Stop watching 22:50 others live, stop commenting on what others do 22:53 and act on what God has called you to do 22:58 in this age and for his glory. 23:01 Are y'all hear me today 23:02 friends? Thank you so much for joining us for The Breath 23:05 of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire 23:09 Snell. Now, we hope and pray that you have been blessed 23:12 by this third and last message 23:15 in the sermon series titled “The Construction Zone {EDM”. 23:20 So join us next week for part two of the message. 23:22 “Stay Out Of The Comments Section.” 23:25 You don't want to miss. 23:30 It's graduation season 23:31 and I want to say congrats to all of our recent graduates. 23:35 And though we're thankful for how God is blessing you, 23:38 the only problem is that we ask 18 or 19 year olds 23:41 to make decisions that affect the rest of their lives. 23:45 That's why I'm inviting you to join me for our 23:48 first ever Breath of life decision day. 23:51 It's a one day online conference on July the seventh. 23:55 I'm going to be joined by a number of individuals 23:58 are going to help 23:59 our young people make decisions about their future. 24:02 We're going to be discussing things like How to discover 24:05 your calling, doesn't HBCU put me at a disadvantage? 24:10 When do I need to pivot changing schools or majors 24:13 or how to dream big? 24:16 It's going to be held on July 7th from 10 a.m. 24:19 to 2:00 pm. 24:21 It's a free conference, 24:22 but we don't just want the kids to come. 24:24 We want the parents to come so that we can make these decisions 24:28 with God's tutelage as a village. 24:31 So again, that's going to be July the seventh from 10 a.m. 24:34 to 2:00 pm. 24:36 I need you to know it's going to be a great time of learning. 24:38 You're going to be equipped. 24:39 You're going to be given some tools 24:41 to make sure 24:42 that you land at the right place 24:43 and that you make the right choice. 24:46 I look forward to seeing you soon on decision day. 24:54 What's good family? 24:55 Did you think the revolution is over now? 24:58 We're just getting started. 25:00 Earlier this year, we made the decision 25:02 that we're not going to make any excuses for poor, spiritual 25:06 or physical health. 25:07 This leg of the journey we're not going to make any excuses 25:11 for not paying attention to our mental and emotional wealth. 25:15 I want to invite you to join me on a two week 25:18 mental health revival from July the seventh to the 19th. 25:23 We're going to be pouring into God's people 25:26 so that they will be able to prosper 25:28 in their mental wellness. 25:30 I'm going to be joined 25:31 by a number of mental health professionals, 25:33 Life coaches and pastors that are going to equip us 25:37 with some very powerful tools from July the seventh 25:41 through the 19th, 25:42 each Sunday at eight and Monday through Friday at six, 25:46 we're going to be learning how to deal with 25:48 things like guilt, 25:49 how to manage our stress, how to stay in balance, 25:53 and how to deal with difficult people. 25:55 Each morning, you're going to get a spiritual word 25:58 and then you're going to be led in some miracle conversations 26:02 that are going to leave you better 26:04 than when you first started. 26:06 So go ahead and mark the calendar, save the date 26:09 July 7th through the 19th, Sundays at eight, Monday 26:13 through Friday 26:14 at 6ami need you to know that we're going to gather hope 26:18 you're going to be equipped and encouraged as we continue 26:21 the journey of becoming ExcuseLess. 26:31 What's good family 26:40 breath of life is going to be coming to the West Coast. 26:44 We're excited that from July the 14th to July the 27th, 26:49 we're going to be hosting our third annual Hope 26:51 Rally under the theme Almost Home. 26:54 We're going to be meeting for those two weeks 26:56 in Long Beach, California. 26:59 We're going to be meeting each night, 27:00 except for Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00 pm. 27:04 It's an in-person meeting only, so you can't catch it online. 27:09 You've got to be in the house. 27:11 We're going to be joined a musical partnership by gospel 27:14 recording artist Smokey Norful, Jonathan 27:18 Nelson and Donnie McClurkin. 27:21 Each night, dinner is going to be served 27:24 and there's going to be 27:25 special programing for you and for your little ones. 27:28 It's going to be a high time in Zion, 27:31 where we're going to be preaching 27:32 the good news of Jesus Christ. 27:34 And we're going to be reminded that this world is not our home 27:38 again. 27:40 I look forward to seeing you in Long Beach, California, 27:42 from July the 14th to the 27th. 27:45 Make sure that you're planning to be there 27:47 and you bring somebody with you. 27:49 If you want more information, go to our website 27:52 at www.breathoflife.tv God bless. 27:56 I'll be seeing you this summer 28:05 (Breath Of Life Music) 28:25 {END} |
Revised 2024-06-29