(crowd cheering) - Hi, Saddleback Church. So good to see all of you. I have missed being with you. Preaching to a camera
is certainly different from talking to a bunch of friends. I'm so glad that we are together today. As Pastor Rick said, if you haven't already done it, take out your message notes. We are in the second message
on building a better future. Last week, Pastor Tom started this series, and if you did not get
to hear his message, I wanna to encourage you go online and watch that message sometime today. It was called "The First
Steps to a Restart" and it really sets the tone, the direction of where
we're headed in the series. Now, for most of this series, we'll be talking about
the steps we can take, the things that we can do, to build toward a future. But in my message today, I wanna take a minute and look at the things that
God is doing behind the scenes. What God was doing behind the
scenes in Ezra and Nehemiah and what God is doing behind
the scenes in your life. His often unseen work. Now, before I get into that,
before we get into Nehemiah, there are a couple of
verses I want us to look at that really set the tone
for where we're headed. And the first one is from
1 Thessalonians 5:23. And this reveals to us, God's heart. His desire for you. The Bible says this, it's a
prayer for you, it's a blessing. It says, "May the God who gives us peace, make you holy in every way
and keep your whole being, spirit, soul, and body. Spirit, soul, and body. Keep it all free from every fault at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ." You see it's God's
desire to bring wholeness to your entire person,
spirit, soul, and body. It's not enough, for him, it's not enough just for you to get saved so now you can go to heaven someday, but have to spend the rest of your life just trying to figure it out
and find your way through. God wants to restore wholeness
to every part of your person. And he says, it's spirit, soul, and body. He puts them in that order because he works from the inside out. The spirit and the soul are not the same. And I'm gonna talk about
that distinction here in a few minutes. But let's look also at this verse from first Corinthians chapter 10. It says, "These things happen to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the fulfillment
of the ages has come." Now he says these things happen to them. So what are these things and who are them that he's talking about? Well, he's referring to the
accounts from the Old Testament, the histories of God's people. He says, yes, they're true,
yes, they're histories, but they are actually examples for us. They are warnings for us and how to live and how to avoid going
the wrong direction. So when we look at, in
historical book of scripture, like the book of Nehemiah we always wanna look
for the eternal truth. How does it apply to our life today? What is God saying to us? What is he saying to me? And Ezra and Nehemiah are historic books. These events happened. But we also wanna ask,
what's this eternal truth? What's this example that
we can find in how to live? What is the warning that we
can find in these passages? Now let me give you a little background, a little history of
what led up where we are in the book of Nehemiah. God's people had been held
captive for 70 years in Babylon. Now what caused them to go into captivity in the first place? Well, there were two
things that caused it. The first was that they were no longer putting
God first in their lives. Instead they had begun to worship the gods of the culture around them and were living by the values
of the world around them. And the second thing they did was that they began to hold
their fellow Israelites in slavery because of unpaid debts. They refused to forgive
the debts of their brothers and God warned them and
said, "You must let go." But they refused to let go. And so we read this verse, look here on the screen in Jeremiah 34. God says this. He says, "You have not proclaimed freedom
for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim freedom
for you, freedom to fall." And so God sent the Babylonians in, they broke down the city
walls, they burned the gates, they destroyed the temple, and they took the people
into captivity for 70 years just as God had warned
them was going to happen. And now finally, after
70 years of captivity, the people were permitted
to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. And that's what we read
about in the book of Ezra. And shortly after that, a few years after the
temple has been rebuilt, now Nehemiah shows up on the scene. In fact, in the old, in the Hebrew Bible, Ezra and Nehemiah are one book, it's called Ezra Nehemiah because they tell one complete story. So after the temple has been built, now Nehemiah shows up on the scene to rebuild the walls and
the gates of the city. So here's what I want us to consider as we look at this account,
this historic account, as we look for the eternal truth. Is that both Ezra and Nehemiah
are historical accounts but they are also pictures of
the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. In fact Ezra's name means helper. And Nehemiah's name means comforter. Both of those are names of the Holy Spirit that
we find in scripture. So in Ezra, the temple is rebuilt, worship is restored, the relationship of the people
with God has been restored. And it's a picture of the Holy Spirit restoring, rebuilding the
temple of the inner man, the inner person, your spirit, and taking up residency in you at that moment of salvation when you give your life to Christ. The Holy Spirit comes in, the Bible says, and he inhabits you. Listen, when you give your life to Jesus and you ask him to come into your heart, that does not mean that you now have this
little tiny Jewish man living inside of you. (congregation laughs) It's the Holy Spirit. It's the spirit of God who
comes in, brings new life, restores the relationship
with God and the temple of the inner person has
now been put back together. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says this, "Don't you know that you
yourselves are God's temple, and that God's Spirit lives in you?" So rebuilding the temple in Ezra, is the picture of
restoring the relationship between you and God. But now when we come to Nehemiah, the Temple's rebuilt, but the city still lies in ruins. The walls are broken down
and the gates it says have been burned with fire. And I see this as a picture
of believers whose spirit, the dwelling place of
God, in the inner person, that's been renewed at
salvation, but their soul, which is their mind, emotions, and will. In their mind, emotions, and
will, they're still broken. Several years ago, I was
out running some errands. And I was at a store waiting
to pay for something, I'm waiting in a long line. And there was a guy up in front of me who turned around and must've
been a part of the church, 'cause he waved at me and said, "Hey, Pastor Baddy." And I said, "Hey, hi, how
are you doing?" you know, and the guy behind me
tapped me on the shoulder and he goes, "So you're a pastor, huh?" And I'm thinking, "Okay, here we go. This is gonna be fun." I said, "Yeah, I'm a pastor." And he said, "Can I talk
to you for a minute?" I said, "Sure." So we stepped outside, I
said, "What can I do for you?" He said, "Pastor, I gave my life to Jesus when I was a boy, but my life is a wreck." And he began to tell me his
story of failed relationships and poor decisions and the
brokenness of his life. And as he was talking to me, I thought, I can't tell you how
many people I've talked with as a pastor who had
the same kind of a story where the spirit, the inner person has been restored to God but in the city of their soul,
in the rest of their life, there's just so many signs of brokenness. In their mind, their emotions, and will, they still have so far to go. They know they're saved but there's so much
brokenness around them. In their minds they can't think clearly. They're always struggling with doubt, with second guessing, impure thoughts. There's no sound mindedness. And in their emotions, they have no peace. They seem actually almost
unable to carry on meaningful, loving relationships, 'cause there's just so much
rubble and hurt from the past that keeps getting in the way. And in the area of their
will, they feel powerless. They lack self-control to
say no to the wrong things. They just slip back into
old ways all the time. There's just so many reminders everywhere. Like this man, of the
failures of their past. It's like the rubble
leftover from a lost battle. And they can't get a clear vision of the future that God
has intended for them. Because whenever they try to
look out toward the future all they see is just more of the past. This man was saying, "I've
just made too many mistakes. There are too many broken pieces." And if his story sounds
anything like yours today, I want to assure you that
it is the heart of God as we just read in scripture. It is God's desire for you to restore a whole
complete person for you. Spirit, soul, and body. Not just the temple, not just his relationship with you but your relationship with yourself. I wanna look at that first
Thessalonians passage again in the message paraphrase. It says, "May God himself make you holy and whole," put you together, "spirit, soul, and body." You see it's one thing to have
your relationship restored with the Lord. It is an entirely other thing to have your person restored to you. And that's what Nehemiah
represents for us. That Nehemiah comes to rebuild the walls and the gates of the city. Now, Pastor Tom last week
was telling us the purpose of gates or of walls in
these Old Testament cities. The walls were not there
just for decoration. The walls served a purpose. They provided identity
and security for a city. You could see the city on a hill because of the walls around it. They provided boundaries and security for the people who live there. Without the walls in place, the city was defenseless, vulnerable to attack from enemies from any direction at any time. So the walls defined a city. The gates of the city
actually served two purposes. First, the gates they controlled
who got in and what got in but they were not just
for ingress and egress. The other role that the gates of these Old Testament cities served was that the gates were
places of authority. The gates were the places where the city fathers met for council. The gates of the cities were where legal procedures occurred. Where marriages and the sales
of property were recorded. That's what happened in the city gates. So when the gates were in place, they provided safety and
orderly entrance into the city, so the rest of the
world couldn't just come and go as it pleased. But with the gates in place, the people were also in
charge of their own destiny and they could make wise decisions. They could control
relationships with one another and with the world around them. Now in the city of the soul, the walls represent your identity, your boundaries, the
defenses for your mind, your will, and your emotions, and the gates in the city of the soul, determine who gets in, what gets in, and how decisions are made. When your gates are in place, you have authority over
your own life and destiny. The gates are what give you self-control. The Bible says this in 2 Timothy 1:7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind." And as I sat in that verse, I realized that he's addressing in that the mind, emotions, and the will. It says he's given us a spirit
of power, that's your will. Because power is energy under control. And you might have all kinds
of energy in your life, but if your life is out of control, you don't have any power. So that power is addressing your will. He says, he's given us a spirit of love, so that is our emotions. And he's given us a sound mind. That is your thinking and
decision-making capacity. So now when we come to
Nehemiah chapter two. I know that was a long introduction, but when we come to Nehemiah chapter two, we find that Nehemiah, though he was a Jew living in captivity, he actually had been blessed by God and had been promoted to
the position of counselor to the king of Persia. Which is modern day Iran. Persia at the time was the
dominant power of that day. And they were the ones now who
had defeated the Babylonians and they were holding the people captive. Nehemiah was the counselor to that king. And so one day Nehemiah went to the king and he asked permission
to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city. And the king agreed. So Nehemiah was sent by the king to accomplish this task
of restoring the city. And the king gave Nehemiah
letters of authority that he could show to
the enemies in the area. He also gave him the promise of provision of all the materials he was going to need. And he gave them the
protection of his army, to make sure that they were kept safe. And I'm gonna talk about those three things also in a minute, but let's go to the text. Nehemiah chapter two,
starting in verse 11. It's here on the screens. Nehemiah is writing, it's
like he's writing journal. He says, "I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three
days, I set out by night." Everybody say by night, - [Congregation] By night - By night, he says, "I set out by night with a few men. I had not told anyone what
my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on, By night," everyone say by night, - [Congregation] By night - "By night I went out
through the Valley Gate toward the Serpent Well and the Dung Gate, examining
the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down and its gates which had been destroyed by fire. And then I moved on toward the Fountain
Gate and the King's Pool but there was not enough room
for my mount to get through." There was just so much rubble. He couldn't get the horse through. "So I went up the valley by night." Everyone say, - [Congregation] By night - "By night, examining the wall. And finally I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. The officials did not
know where I had gone or what I was doing because
as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests
or nobles or officials or any others who would
be doing the work." Three times, Nehemiah emphasizes that
he went out by night to survey the damage in
the walls and the gates. And just as the Nehemiah was working under cover of darkness, even so the spirit of God
works in the dark times, the dark night of your soul. He is already at work. In fact, you can write this down. My God works in the dark. My God works in the dark. In the darkest hour of your life. Just as God was at work bringing light into the
darkness of creation, he is at work to bring
light into the darkness of whatever circumstance
you find yourself in. You may not be able to see it yet but he is working in the dark. It is in the dark times that
the Holy Spirit is preparing for a new work in your life. He is surveying the damage but just because you
can't see what he's doing that does not mean that
God is not at work. The Bible says this in
first Corinthians two it says "No eye has seen,
and no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed
it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches,
he surveys all things, even the deep things of God." And so often the Holy Spirit
is searching our hearts in those dark times. That's when he's active. Now Nehemiah says, he says, "Yet I had said nothing to those who would be doing the work." So the people knew that Nehemiah was there but they didn't know why. They were aware of his presence but they were not aware of his plans, because he hadn't told anybody
yet what he was going to do. If you are in a dark night
of your soul right now and it seems like God
is not doing anything, and it seems like nothing
is getting better, be assured that the spirit of God is already at work in your life. He has surveyed the damage. He can see everything about your life. He sees every broken place
in the city of your soul, in that wall. He sees every wound, every disappointment, every compromise and failure. He sees every weakness and every loss that you've experienced, and he is determined to rebuild you, to restore and to fortify you once again. Remember Nehemiah's name means comforter. And to comfort does not
mean just to pat somebody on the back and say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, poor you." That's pity, that's not comfort. To comfort, write this down in your notes, to comfort means to fortify with renewed strength. To fortify, with renewed strength. And God is determined to fortify
you with renewed strength through the presence and
power of the comforter the Holy Spirit in your life. He will not do it for you,
he will do it with you. As we're about to see it
requires our cooperation. Because after surveying
the walls and the gates, Nehemiah now reveals
his plan to the people. In verse 17 he says, "You see
the trouble that we are in." I love that he says we. He doesn't say you. He enters into their pain and takes it as though it's his own. He says, "You see the
trouble that we are in, Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and we will no longer be in disgrace." And then the people respond. I love their response in the
King James version, it says, "And they said, "let
us rise up and build." So they strengthen their
hands for this good work." Nehemiah says, "Come let us rebuild." He doesn't say, "Look, just
sit down, take it easy, and I'll do everything for you." And neither does he say, "What's
the matter with you people? Why can't you get your act
together and clean this mess up so I can come here and live comfortably?" Instead he invites the people into a partnership with
himself and with one another. He calls the people to
do the work together under his direction. And that's why it's so important for us, to have a church family and a small group that we can do life with and build a future together. He says, "Come let us rebuild." It's because healing happens in community. The restoring of your person happens in relationship with others. And the people respond to, they said, "Yes, let us rise up and build." And it says, "And they strengthened their
hands for this purpose." Now, what does that mean
to strengthen your hands and how do you do that? How do I strengthen my hands? Well, to strengthen your hands, what it means is they
encouraged themselves. So how do I do that? How do I instill courage into myself? How do I strengthen my
hands for this good work? Well it's quite simple. I strengthen my hands by
confessing God's word over my life. I strengthen my hands, I encourage myself by confessing
God's word over my life. You see to confess means
just to say the same thing that God says about you. So let me give you an example of how you can confess
God's word over your life. We're gonna look at one
of the favorite verses of Saddleback Church. We probably hear this verse
in almost every sermon here. Some of you have it on
your refrigerator at home. It's Jeremiah 29:11. God is speaking. He says, "For I know the
plans that I have for you, declares the Lord," The plans I have for you. Turn to the person next to you and say "He's talking about you." "He's talking about you." He says, "I know the
plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Now here's how you can
confess that over yourself. And it's really quite simple. This is how you say what
God is saying about you. You personalize it and
you pray it back to God. I wrote that in your notes. You personalize it and
you pray it back to God. So here's what that verse would look like if I were to personalize
it and pray it back to him I would say it this way. It's here on the screen. "For I know the plans that
you have for me, Lord, plans to prosper me, not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future." I want us to read that together out loud. Let's confess that over ourselves. Read it with me, "for I know the plans
you have for me, Lord, plans to prosper me, not to harm me, plans to
give me hope and a future." Now turn to another person and say, "Now he's talking about me." "He's talking about me." In fact, let's read it
again as a confession, "For I know the plans
you have for me, Lord, plans to prosper me, not to harm me, plans to give me a hope and a future." When you personalize and
pray scripture back to God, it instills courage, strength. It strengthens your hands for the task, for whatever challenge that you're facing. Now in the coming weeks, we're going to look at
how they rebuilt the walls and the gates. We're gonna talk about
the materials they used, who did the building, how long it took, and the opposition that
the people experienced. But let me just say this. This was a quick work. They didn't have time to just
clear out all of the debris and then go out and quarry new stones and move them into the city
and start all over again. Instead, what we find is that they used the
rubble to rebuild the walls. They used the rubble to rebuild the walls. And in the same way God will take the rubble and
the debris from your past and use it to fortify
you with renewed strength and build you up for the future
that he has planned for you. So write this down, "In the city of the soul, the walls are built out of
the rubble of the past." "The walls are built out
of the rubble of the past." That means all of your
brokenness, every heartache, every disappointment and failure, every abuse or betrayal
that you have experienced, God will use it all to fortify you and to rebuild the city of your soul and to restore self-control and healthy emotions and
sound mindedness to you. The Bible says this in Romans 8:28. "We know that God causes
everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according
to his purpose for them." The Bible says he makes all
things beautiful in their time. And as we often say here at Saddleback, your greatest ministry will
come out of your deepest hurts. God will restore all of that to put your person back together again. So we're gonna be talking a lot about this in the coming weeks and you don't wanna
miss any of this series. So what about the gates? What about the gates? Remember the gates control
who gets into the city, what gets into the city,
and how decisions are made. And Nehemiah tells us that the
gates of the city were made of enormous timbers that
came from the king's forest. And any builder will tell you if you're gonna build a
gate like this, a city gate, those timbers must be straight and true. So what are the gates in the
city of the soul made of? "In the city of the soul, the gates are built out
of timbers of truth." "The gates are built out
of timbers of truth." It's the truth of the word of God, because it's the truth of God's word that will keep out the lies. It is the truth of God's word
that will counter any doubts. It is the truth of God's word that defeats the enemy's
schemes and his temptations. It is the truth of God's
word that can keep you from poor choices and decisions. Jesus said in John 8:32, "You will know the truth and
the truth will set you free." If you want freedom in your life, you will find it in the
timbers of truth of God's word. And just as the outsiders
could only enter a city through the gates, even so
in the city of the soul, every thought, every doubt,
every idea, every decision, every relationship that
you're involved in, must pass through the
authority of scripture. Ask yourself, how does
this stand up to the truth? What law has God already put
in place about this issue? Is this thought or this idea true? Is it aligned with his word? Is it consistent with
God's way of thinking? So when thoughts and doubts
and fears and accusations, those self-accusations. When memories, my goodness, when memories come and
try to disrupt and intrude on the orderly conduct of your life, you ask, "Wait a minute, how does this stand up to
the truth of the word of God? How does it match up
with the mind of Christ?" And if it fails the truth
test, don't let it in. Close the gate. Don't entertain that thought anymore. Now let me get practical with this and show you how this works. I put in your notes, that's why they're so crowded there. I know there's not much room to write. But I put in your notes a list of common lies that
assault the city of our souls and some of those timbers of truth that we can use to shut those gates. So I'm gonna read those lies and then I want us to read the timbers of truth aloud together. So here's the first lie
that so commonly assaults the city of our souls, "You're worthless." But let's read this
timber of truth together. "Jesus loves me and gave his life for me." Listen, when that lie, you're worthless, tries to
enter the city of your soul, you take this timber of truth, "No Jesus loves me, and
he gave his life for me," and you use that like a gate to shut that lie out of your life. You may think you're worthless but God says, "No, you're priceless. Jesus gave his life for you." What about this lie? "You're unforgivable." That's like the man I was talking to in the store that
day, you're unforgivable. Well, here's the timber of truth. Let's read it together. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and
will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Or what about this lie? "You will always be this way." And have you ever hear that one? Oh, you're always going to be this way. Well, here's the timber of truth. Let's read it together. "Anyone who belongs to Christ
has become a new person. The old life has gone,
a new life has begun." Does anybody here belong to Christ? Well, then this is about you. He says anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone and
the new life has begun. Or what about this lie? "Who do you think you are?" Well, let's read this truth together. "How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are." When that lie comes to you and says, "Well, who do you think you are?" Here's your answer. "I'm a child of God, that's who I am, because that is the timber
of truth in my life." What about this lie? "It's hopeless." Let's read this timber together. "He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion." Or this lie, "You're useless." Well, here's the truth. Let's read it. "I can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me." Here's another lie. "God doesn't love you,"
but here's the truth. "I will never leave you, I will never abandon you." Here's one more lie that
assaults the city of our souls. "God doesn't care." Well, here's the truth. Let's read it. "Cast all your care upon
him for he cares for you." These are truths to build your life on. These are truths you can
use to restore the gates of the city of your soul. To protect yourself from lies
and accusations and doubts. We have to do what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:5. It says, "You take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." So you bring every thought
to the word of God. And here's the rule. Write this down. "If it doesn't stand true,
don't let it through. If it doesn't stand true,
don't let it through." It is the word of God that
repels the lies of the enemy. It is the word of God
that gives us the ability to stand against temptation. It's the only thing Jesus
used when he was accosted and tempted by the devil. He said it is written. It is written. It is written. So we must know what is written in order to have our gates put in place. Jesus said the Holy Spirit
will bring to your remembrance the things he said but he can't bring it to your remembrance if you haven't first put it into your mind and your heart to begin with. And that's why it's so important for us to be people of the word, to read it, to memorize it, to meditate on it, to devour it, to get into the word and
to get the word into you. Why? Because when you know the truth
the truth will set you free. He says, "Let us rise up and build." Do you need an uprising
in your life right now? This is a call to make a decision, to rise above the rubble
and debris of a broken past and to join with brothers
and sisters in Christ under the direction, the
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and to start rebuilding a future. It is the will of your heavenly king. We've read it in scripture. He wants to restore you
spirit, soul, and body. So you no longer have to live vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. No longer vulnerable to taunts and lies. You no longer have to live in fear. And the people said, "Let
us rise up and build," and so they strengthen their
hands for this good work. And just as the people knew that the king had approved all of this, the king had given them permission. The king had given them
letters of authority. We read that earlier in Nehemiah two he'd given them letters
of authority to present to their enemies, who
would try to oppose them. He had given them a promise
of all the materials they would need to do the work, he had given them a community
of people to build with. He had given them an
army for their protection and he had given them a leader, Nehemiah. And in the same way, your
king has given you permission. This is his will for you life, to restore you spirit, soul, and body. He has given you letters
of authority in his word. He's given you the promise of provision of all the materials that you
will need to do this work. Look at these two verses on the screen. I ran out of room on your page. (congregation laughs) Philippians 4:19 says "And my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in
glory, by Christ Jesus." And this verse, 2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who called us by his
own glory and goodness." How do we get that knowledge of him? It's here in his word. So he's given us permission, authority, he's given us provision, he's
also given us his angels. Look at this verse from Hebrews one "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who
will inherit salvation?" He's also given you a
community of brothers and sisters in your church
family, and in your small group. Look here, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, "Therefore encourage one
another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing." We must do it in the community of faith. And he's also given us the leadership of the Holy Spirit who lives in you. You stand on the authority
of the word of God. As the Apostle Paul said, "Forgetting what lies in the past and looking forward
building toward the future that God has intended for us." And based on his promises
and based on his authority we can walk in confidence and assurance that what he has started,
he will complete, if we will participate with him and join in this process. He says, "Let us rise up and build." It is an invitation to partnership. So here's your last fill in. God will not do it without me but I cannot do it without him. God is not going to force this on you. You're welcome to live
however you wanna live. He won't do it for you,
he'll do it with you. I cannot, God will not do it without me, but I cannot do it without him. Jesus said, apart from me,
you can and do nothing. So let me close by reading once again, this passage from 1
Thessalonians chapter five, "May God himself, the God who makes
everything holy and whole may he make you holy and whole, complete, put you together, spirit, soul, and body, and keep you fit for the coming
of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you
is completely dependable. If he said it, he'll do it." Let's pray together. Would you bow your heads with me? Father we are so thankful, for the strength that we
can find in your word, that you cared enough about us that you left us with
this testimony of truth and that you left us with a
comforter, your Holy Spirit, to direct the work of
putting our lives together. Lord, we thank you for your promise that you will restore
spirit, soul, and body. And so today, Lord, we commit to you, in fact in your own heart right now, you can just pray this prayer. Say, Lord, yes, I will rise up and build. I will join you in this
process of restoration so that I can be like a city on a hill for the glory of God. And if you you've never
opened your life to Christ. Remember this all starts with
the rebuilding of the temple, the restoration of the
relationship between you and God. If you've never opened
your life to Christ, I invite you to just pray
in your own heart right now. Just say, Lord Jesus, I
don't understand all of this, but I need you to be my king. I want this to happen in my life. I want the temple of the Holy
Spirit to be restored in me. So right now, as much as I know how, I give my life to you and I ask you, forgive me of my sins. May your Holy Spirit come
and live in my heart. And now put me on this pathway, toward the rebuilding
of the city of my soul. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
