WEBVTT 00:00:01.419 --> 00:00:04.440 Sharing good news of great joy to all people. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:11.500 Elation Church. This is week number six in our 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:15.419 series where we're talking about names. What 00:00:15.419 --> 00:00:19.879 are names about, anyway? I've entitled the series, 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.500 Hello, My Name is God, but there are three things 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:27.820 that we talk about that are encompassed in names. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:32.659 The first one is identity. Each one of us have 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:36.079 a name, right? We go by that name. That's how 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:39.479 we're identified or distinguished from other 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:43.640 people is by our names. And I've shared this 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.700 with you. For those who haven't been here, you 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:49.979 might not know this, but my official name in 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:54.359 the state of South Carolina is No Name Forrest, 00:00:54.380 --> 00:00:57.380 for those of you who haven't been with us. You're 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.380 like, how could you be No Name Forrest? my parents 00:01:00.380 --> 00:01:04.099 didn't name me before we left the hospital and 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:07.379 the hospital sent in the records no name forest 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:11.859 unnamed forest and then when i tried to play 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:14.659 junior high football i had to get a south carolina 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:18.620 estate birth certificate when it came in it had 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.920 no name forest on it so i couldn't play the first 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:24.319 two or three games of my junior high football 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:29.420 career which was amazing by the way I was a defensive 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:33.099 back, not a guard or a center like you look at 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:34.579 me today. You'd think I was a guard or a center. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:38.180 I was a defensive back. I caught punts. I was 00:01:38.180 --> 00:01:42.640 a running back, defensive back. But anyway, I 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.420 was no -name Forrest, and I had to get my real 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:48.260 name put on my birth certificate before they 00:01:48.260 --> 00:01:54.439 would let me play. So to this day, my South Carolina 00:01:54.439 --> 00:01:57.159 state birth certificate has an asterisk on it. 00:01:57.870 --> 00:02:00.890 Because my name's been changed. My official name 00:02:00.890 --> 00:02:03.170 is no name, Forrest, but for the first 10, 11 00:02:03.170 --> 00:02:05.930 years of my life, I guess that's what I was, 00:02:05.950 --> 00:02:09.449 but then I changed it to Jeffrey Dean Forrest. 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:14.469 I go by my middle name, Dean, and I spelled Jeffrey's 00:02:14.469 --> 00:02:18.229 name different with a G instead of a J because 00:02:18.229 --> 00:02:21.449 I didn't want people calling him Junior, even 00:02:21.449 --> 00:02:24.330 though he's Jeffrey and I'm Jeffrey. But I go 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:28.360 by Dean. One other name. that became my name 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:32.939 when I was nine years old is that I am a Christian. 00:02:33.659 --> 00:02:36.800 That is my identity. It's not just something 00:02:36.800 --> 00:02:41.120 added on. It's just as much my identity as Jeffrey 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.639 Dean Forrest and no name Forrest. Christian is 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:48.379 just as important as those. Everybody say identity. 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:55.479 But names also signify relationship. We have 00:02:55.479 --> 00:02:59.009 a lot of names. If you think about it, right? 00:03:00.530 --> 00:03:05.650 My mom always called me her baby. Even when I 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:07.569 was like 50 years old and she was introducing 00:03:07.569 --> 00:03:09.729 me to other people, she would say, this is my 00:03:09.729 --> 00:03:16.169 baby. I was bigger than her, you know. This is 00:03:16.169 --> 00:03:20.530 my baby. And sometimes she would say, Dean. Sometimes 00:03:20.530 --> 00:03:22.349 she wouldn't. She would just say, this is my 00:03:22.349 --> 00:03:26.580 baby. Because I was the youngest of four. Any 00:03:26.580 --> 00:03:31.000 other young people in their family, you're the 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:34.000 youngest, right? So maybe you experienced that 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.500 growing up. My dad never introduced me as his 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:41.840 baby. My dad introduced me as this is my son. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.620 And then I became a husband in 1984. Again, and 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:51.659 I got married. I became a husband, but she doesn't 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:53.620 call me husband, even though that's one of my 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:57.610 names, right? She calls me honey most of the 00:03:57.610 --> 00:04:02.229 time if I've been good. Now, if I've done something 00:04:02.229 --> 00:04:04.610 wrong or if I've messed up, how many of you know 00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:08.229 that probably happens a lot? You know, sometimes 00:04:08.229 --> 00:04:10.889 she doesn't call me honey. Sometimes I won't 00:04:10.889 --> 00:04:14.569 tell you why she calls me. Anyway, I'm a father. 00:04:14.650 --> 00:04:22.170 I became a father in January of 92. Yeah, 92. 00:04:23.610 --> 00:04:27.519 Jeffrey was born. But he doesn't call me father. 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:30.240 He never has called me old father because we 00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:35.060 don't live in the UK. He called me daddy for 00:04:35.060 --> 00:04:38.120 the long part of his life growing up, and then 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:41.300 we dropped the Y on the end. He calls me dad. 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:45.459 Those are my names. I'm also, when I think about 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:50.019 these types of names, I also am an uncle. I'm 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:56.949 a great uncle. I am a nephew. See, we have a 00:04:56.949 --> 00:05:00.230 lot of names, a lot of relationship names. And 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:02.889 as I tell you those names, you find out that 00:05:02.889 --> 00:05:07.689 I've got, you know, my mom and my dad had multiple 00:05:07.689 --> 00:05:09.949 siblings. I mean, see how much you can find out? 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:12.449 Because if they would have been an only child, 00:05:12.610 --> 00:05:18.389 then I wouldn't have an uncle or an aunt. I have 00:05:18.389 --> 00:05:21.009 nieces and nephews, so that means I've got brothers 00:05:21.009 --> 00:05:24.279 and sisters and they have children. So you learn 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:28.019 a lot about me just by knowing my names. But 00:05:28.019 --> 00:05:32.560 names also signify activity. Everybody say identity, 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:38.720 relationship, activity. I've got a lot of names 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:42.459 that I've gone by. I was a student for a long 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.120 time. I've got to count up the years and tell 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.199 you how many years I've been a student. I was 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:52.939 a cook when I was in high school. Over one summer, 00:05:53.079 --> 00:05:57.519 I was a salesman for multiple businesses. I've 00:05:57.519 --> 00:05:59.160 been a sound man. I've actually been paid for 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:02.399 that. I was a custodian where I was a trainer 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:07.160 and a coordinator. I've been a janitor. Again, 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.199 I had some contracts where we would go clean 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.120 offices after the business closed in the afternoon. 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:16.040 We'd go three times a week and clean. I was a 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:17.680 screen printer. I had my own screen printing 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:21.019 business, making screens. doing t -shirts and 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:23.300 things like that. I was an A &R director for 00:06:23.300 --> 00:06:27.519 Mark V Records. I was a vice president of state 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:30.259 and national organizations, a music director 00:06:30.259 --> 00:06:32.939 for state and national organizations, an event 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:36.860 planner. I planned events all over the place 00:06:36.860 --> 00:06:41.220 in the United States. I've been a crusade director. 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:45.639 We had 31, like, area -wide crusades. I've directed 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:51.569 a couple of those. J .T.'s dad directed a lot 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:54.730 of those. He worked with our ministry. I've been 00:06:54.730 --> 00:06:57.730 the president of state and national organizations, 00:06:58.230 --> 00:07:01.790 non -profit corporation. I've been a worship 00:07:01.790 --> 00:07:05.750 leader. And again, my claim to fame of a worship 00:07:05.750 --> 00:07:08.170 leader is I led worship in the Ryman Auditorium. 00:07:09.910 --> 00:07:12.329 I think that's a big deal. Obviously, you don't. 00:07:13.389 --> 00:07:17.310 It's a historical place, right? I've been a conference 00:07:17.310 --> 00:07:21.670 director. We ran a conference for 21 years. I've 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:26.410 been a camp director. We ran some camps. An evangelist, 00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:32.029 a chaplain, preacher, a pastor. When you hear 00:07:32.029 --> 00:07:35.589 these names, you find out a lot about me. Like 00:07:35.589 --> 00:07:38.050 we just met today, right? But now you know more 00:07:38.050 --> 00:07:40.250 about me than you did by me just saying, hi, 00:07:40.250 --> 00:07:42.509 my name's Dean. And you figuring out that I'm 00:07:42.509 --> 00:07:45.430 the pastor. You find out a lot about my past. 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:47.939 And the things that I've done, the things that 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:51.019 I'm qualified to do, the things that, you know, 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:54.480 I was trained to do. I've shared with you over 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:59.939 29 names, but I'm only one person. And, you know, 00:07:59.980 --> 00:08:01.939 obviously we're not just talking about me. That's 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:06.000 not why we're here today, right? But we're looking 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.779 at the names that God has given us in Scripture 00:08:09.779 --> 00:08:15.620 so that we can know more about who He is And 00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:19.680 what he does and what he wants to do. So in his 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.779 names we find his identity. Everybody say Yahweh. 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:27.040 Yahweh is his name that his people are supposed 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.860 to know him by. Is what we found out in week 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:33.919 number one. So identity and then relationship. 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.000 Some of his names have to do with the relationship 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:42.970 he wants to be in with us. And then some of his 00:08:42.970 --> 00:08:45.990 names represent the activity that he does, what 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:53.870 he wants to do in us and for us. Okay? And here's 00:08:53.870 --> 00:08:57.590 our verse. Here's our foundation verse for this 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:01.049 series. Psalm 910 says, And those who know your 00:09:01.049 --> 00:09:03.950 name, everybody say God's name. Those who know 00:09:03.950 --> 00:09:10.259 your name will put their trust in you. Now that 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:13.879 Hebrew word that's translated trust is also translated 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:18.779 confidence. Everybody say confidence. So what 00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:22.000 this is telling us is that when we know who God 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:27.200 is, when we know his name, then we can put our 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:31.240 trust and we can put our confidence in him. Everybody 00:09:31.240 --> 00:09:33.820 say faith. That's another word for that, right? 00:09:34.299 --> 00:09:38.340 To have trust and confidence. So when we find 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.779 out who he is, what he wants to do, what kind 00:09:41.779 --> 00:09:44.639 of relationship he wants to be in with us, we 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:47.320 have to know it before we can put our trust in 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:51.860 it. Does that make sense? We have to know who 00:09:51.860 --> 00:09:55.059 he is and what he wants to do before we can put 00:09:55.059 --> 00:10:01.919 our faith in him to be that or to do that. This 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:07.080 is important. It's not just simple. Because I 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:09.080 went so many years of my life not understanding 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:11.440 this. And I hope you're understanding it and 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.379 not just listening to a bunch of religious gibberish. 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:18.620 I hope you're taking hold of it, what I'm saying. 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:24.240 Because when we have confidence and trust and 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:27.919 faith in who God is and what He wants to do and 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:33.440 who He wants to be in our lives, then we know 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:36.399 this. It's like... He's not going to forsake 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:44.139 us. He's not going to turn His back on us. He's 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:47.700 not going to let us down when we seek Him based 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:55.059 on who He is. Are you with me? Elbow the person 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:56.799 beside you and say, at least smile about it. 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:02.799 At least smile just a little bit. So, hello, 00:11:02.860 --> 00:11:06.289 my name is God. This week, We're going to look 00:11:06.289 --> 00:11:11.950 at one of God's names, Yahweh. We can say Ra, 00:11:12.149 --> 00:11:16.889 or we can say Ra 'al, which is the... If you 00:11:16.889 --> 00:11:20.549 look it up in Hebrew, and you look up the phonetic 00:11:20.549 --> 00:11:24.409 way to say it, it's Ra 'al. Now, you might hear 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:27.549 me say Ra, because that's just when I look at 00:11:27.549 --> 00:11:31.210 it. All right? In English, it's saying it, but 00:11:31.210 --> 00:11:35.740 in Hebrew saying it, you would say Ra 'al. Yahweh 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:41.899 Ra 'al. Does anyone know what that means? Don't 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:44.600 shout it out, just if you think you don't know. 00:11:45.419 --> 00:11:48.919 Okay? So today, when we find out who God is, 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:53.240 what He wants to do, then we can put our confidence, 00:11:53.539 --> 00:12:00.480 our faith, our trust in Him to be that for us. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.970 You probably know this. The Lord is my shepherd. 00:12:06.049 --> 00:12:11.629 Ra 'al. The Lord is my shepherd. And when you 00:12:11.629 --> 00:12:14.629 look up the word Ra 'al, you also see in the 00:12:14.629 --> 00:12:16.470 Strong's Concordance. Anybody know what I'm talking 00:12:16.470 --> 00:12:19.370 about? Because you can look up the Hebrew words 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:21.629 in the Old Testament, Greek words in the New 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:23.649 Testament, and then you can look at definitions 00:12:23.649 --> 00:12:27.710 for the words. You can also construct this definition. 00:12:28.710 --> 00:12:35.080 My friend who rules over me. My friend who rules 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:39.899 over me. This tells us that God's a good shepherd. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.259 There's probably been some shepherds in the history 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:46.639 that weren't very good to their sheep. You think 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:50.139 so? Might be some shepherds who are mean to their 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:53.980 sheep. I mean, every time I talk about God being 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:57.759 a shepherd and talk about us being sheep, I remember... 00:12:58.279 --> 00:13:01.059 what happened to me in Romania. I was in Romania 00:13:01.059 --> 00:13:04.480 on a mission trip and we were going to minister 00:13:04.480 --> 00:13:08.840 at a women's prison in Romania. On the way there, 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:12.720 we were in a van and the driver could not speak 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.720 English at all and there was about four or five 00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.220 of us in the back who could not speak Romanian 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:23.620 at all. And all of a sudden, we stop. The reason 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:25.600 why we stop is because we're on a little two 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:29.799 -lane road. And there are sheep everywhere. Everywhere. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:34.299 In the road, there was a small house. Beside 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:38.399 the road, they were all in the yard of this lady's 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:40.139 yard. The reason why I say lady is because she 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:45.559 came outside with a broom. I'm telling you, most 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:50.100 people in Romania have never mowed their lawns 00:13:50.100 --> 00:13:56.019 in the area that I was in. Never. But this lady 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.419 was taking care of her place. She had flowers, 00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:03.720 things like that. Very odd to see where I was. 00:14:04.620 --> 00:14:07.580 And those sheep were like all in her flowers 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:11.399 and stuff. She's out there with a broom, swinging 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.340 that broom at those sheep. And the sheep are 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:18.620 just like, they don't know where to go. They're 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:20.500 trying to get away from the broom, but they don't 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:22.620 understand that they need to leave her yard. 00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:25.429 Because she don't want them in their yard. So 00:14:25.429 --> 00:14:29.289 we just sat there. The driver of the van was 00:14:29.289 --> 00:14:32.029 blowing the horn. Sheep right in front of the 00:14:32.029 --> 00:14:41.309 van. It's like, don't you realize a loud noise 00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:43.850 probably means that you need to get out of the 00:14:43.850 --> 00:14:45.990 way of the big white thing that's making the 00:14:45.990 --> 00:14:52.519 loud noise. But the sheep, they didn't. We sat 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.080 there a little while, just watching all this 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:00.039 unfold. Then all of a sudden, a man walked beside 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.360 the house. He came out from behind the house. 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:06.220 He walked through the middle of the sheep. He 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:09.879 wasn't screaming. He just walked through the 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:12.539 sheep. And as he walked through the lady's yard 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.399 and across the road, all those sheep just lined 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:20.139 up right behind this guy and just followed him. 00:15:21.350 --> 00:15:24.210 See, they didn't know the van. They didn't know 00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:27.190 the lady with the broom. But they knew the shepherd. 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:31.830 And they followed him. He didn't have to scream. 00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:35.970 I mean, we didn't have air conditioning on. The 00:15:35.970 --> 00:15:38.009 windows were open. He wasn't saying, okay, sheep, 00:15:38.190 --> 00:15:41.450 it's time to go. I mean, no, he wasn't. Let's 00:15:41.450 --> 00:15:43.850 go, sheep. Come on, sheep. He wasn't screaming. 00:15:45.870 --> 00:15:48.649 He just walked through. And they followed him 00:15:48.649 --> 00:15:50.759 and off through the... All through the field 00:15:50.759 --> 00:16:00.960 they went. God is our good shepherd. Everybody 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:04.580 say good shepherd. It doesn't say Yahweh good. 00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:11.879 But we know from that word there's a friend connection. 00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:20.720 So he's our friend who rules over us. One of 00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:23.220 the places we find this in Scripture is the 23rd 00:16:23.220 --> 00:16:26.159 Psalm. Has anyone ever read the 23rd Psalm before? 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.679 Or memorized the 23rd Psalm? It's very familiar, 00:16:29.779 --> 00:16:36.419 right? But I want you to get a picture to set 00:16:36.419 --> 00:16:39.840 up what we're going to talk about. Because the 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:43.440 actual Hebrew tells us that this was a psalm 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:50.070 written by David. Who is David? He's the king, 00:16:50.330 --> 00:16:55.789 right? But he's also known for being a shepherd 00:16:55.789 --> 00:17:00.129 boy. So I want you to think about this. One day, 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:03.470 as David was taking care of his dad's sheep, 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:07.289 the Holy Spirit began to show him something. 00:17:08.529 --> 00:17:11.009 The Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit began to 00:17:11.009 --> 00:17:18.400 show him that God, Yahweh, is his shepherd. Now 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:21.259 he's shepherding sheep, but all of a sudden it's 00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:26.160 just like, revelation. Everybody say revelation. 00:17:27.019 --> 00:17:30.000 All of a sudden it hit his heart. It hit his 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:33.779 mind. It did not come as an imagination that 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:37.700 he decided to write about. No, this is God's 00:17:37.700 --> 00:17:42.960 word. Everybody say God breathed. God inspired. 00:17:45.069 --> 00:17:46.930 And all of a sudden, he had one of those aha 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:51.049 moments. Have you ever had an aha moment looking 00:17:51.049 --> 00:17:56.670 into the Word of God? Wow. So he's sitting there 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:59.809 taking care of his sheep. And the Holy Spirit 00:17:59.809 --> 00:18:06.849 begins to unpack the truth of who God is to David. 00:18:08.849 --> 00:18:14.369 See, with Yahweh as your shepherd, You have so 00:18:14.369 --> 00:18:22.990 many things to receive by faith from God. Notice 00:18:22.990 --> 00:18:28.450 I said you have to receive them. Just like we've 00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:32.890 talked about before, God is our Savior. Do you 00:18:32.890 --> 00:18:36.750 think God's big enough to save everybody? Do 00:18:36.750 --> 00:18:39.869 you know that everybody's not saved? And everybody's 00:18:39.869 --> 00:18:42.759 not going to be saved? Is it because God did 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:46.640 not want to save them? Some of you are thinking 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:51.099 way too hard on this. It's not God's will that 00:18:51.099 --> 00:18:54.619 any should perish. That's what he said. It's 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:59.119 not my will that any should perish. So there 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:04.539 has to be a faith connection. We're saved by 00:19:04.539 --> 00:19:08.259 grace, by God's work, through Jesus on the cross. 00:19:09.409 --> 00:19:12.970 We're saved by grace through... Somebody help 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:16.930 me. Faith. Everybody say faith. That means we 00:19:16.930 --> 00:19:19.470 have a part in it. We have to hear it. We have 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:23.549 to wholeheartedly believe it. We have to take 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:31.130 hold of it by faith. Right? Don't ever let this 00:19:31.130 --> 00:19:34.990 get old. I've heard him say that before. Here 00:19:34.990 --> 00:19:39.990 it goes again. I'm going to ask you if you have 00:19:39.990 --> 00:19:42.529 received all it means for God to be your shepherd 00:19:42.529 --> 00:19:46.410 if you are experiencing that by faith. Because 00:19:46.410 --> 00:19:49.069 you can, just like you can experience salvation 00:19:49.069 --> 00:19:51.890 by faith, that's the way it works for everything. 00:19:54.849 --> 00:20:00.710 Hello? So don't tell me, well, you know, God 00:20:00.710 --> 00:20:03.109 hasn't been a good shepherd for me all the time 00:20:03.109 --> 00:20:09.839 in my experience. Well, Are you receiving Him 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:14.019 as your shepherd? Are you yielding to Him as 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:18.259 your shepherd? Are you believing that He's going 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:20.519 to do for you what a shepherd does for his sheep? 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:25.059 Are you connecting with that? If you're not, 00:20:25.259 --> 00:20:27.819 then don't blame God for not experiencing it. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.440 Hello? That applies to all these names of God 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.319 that we're talking about. Here we go. Let's go 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:41.259 through it. The Lord is my shepherd. Everybody 00:20:41.259 --> 00:20:45.519 say, the Lord is my shepherd. You might have 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:49.519 memorized it as, I shall not want. Who memorized 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.160 it that way? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:54.099 not want. Have you ever thought about what you're 00:20:54.099 --> 00:20:58.400 saying when you say that? Have you ever really 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:00.740 thought about it? Or is it just something that 00:21:00.740 --> 00:21:03.259 you memorize without really thinking about everything 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:08.970 that entails? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall 00:21:08.970 --> 00:21:13.029 not want. What does it mean to want? It means 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:16.690 that you lack or you need something. There's 00:21:16.690 --> 00:21:18.690 something that you don't have that you need. 00:21:20.470 --> 00:21:23.369 And if the Lord is your shepherd, you have all 00:21:23.369 --> 00:21:28.750 that you need. You can believe him to provide 00:21:28.750 --> 00:21:31.390 all that you need for every circumstance that 00:21:31.390 --> 00:21:37.039 you face. By faith. Or you can say, well, I don't 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.740 believe that. Guess what? If you don't believe 00:21:39.740 --> 00:21:43.839 it, you won't experience it. But is this what 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:47.420 the Bible says? The Lord is my shepherd. I have 00:21:47.420 --> 00:21:49.880 all that I need. Now, I didn't look up every 00:21:49.880 --> 00:21:53.059 Hebrew word and define every Hebrew word. Well, 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.759 I did look them up, but I didn't put them up 00:21:55.759 --> 00:22:00.000 here and try to massacre trying to speak Hebrew. 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:05.829 Okay? But I looked up all these things that the 00:22:05.829 --> 00:22:08.130 Lord our shepherd, all these things that it says 00:22:08.130 --> 00:22:10.430 that He is in the original language, which is 00:22:10.430 --> 00:22:12.529 the way the original hearers would have heard 00:22:12.529 --> 00:22:17.170 it. So let's take a look at that. With Yahweh 00:22:17.170 --> 00:22:26.769 as my shepherd, I never lack. I never want. I 00:22:26.769 --> 00:22:33.900 never fail. That's all part of the Word. There's 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:38.140 another one. I never lessen, which means I never 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:48.599 decrease. Somebody say, wow. I mean, that's what 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:53.339 a shepherd does for his sheep. A good shepherd 00:22:53.339 --> 00:23:02.339 makes sure that his sheep don't go hungry. That's 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:07.720 part of being a good shepherd. That his sheep 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:10.180 are going to succeed in their day and what's 00:23:10.180 --> 00:23:16.640 going on. That they don't fail. I mean, this 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:19.859 is what the Bible says. I know some of you are 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:21.700 looking at it like a new gate. Like, Dean, what 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:24.500 are you talking about? No. I mean, I'm just telling 00:23:24.500 --> 00:23:30.579 you what the Bible says. You can trust him. When 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:33.839 you know who He is and what He wants to do and 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.740 who He wants to be, then we can trust Him to 00:23:37.740 --> 00:23:40.819 be that. And you might say, well, in my experience, 00:23:40.839 --> 00:23:43.279 I've got a lot of lack and wants and a lot of 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:46.579 failure. Well, you've got to trust God that He 00:23:46.579 --> 00:23:54.720 is your shepherd. Let's keep going. Well, let's 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.940 read 2 Peter. I read this a lot. But it reminds 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:00.640 us of the same thing. By his divine power, God 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:05.240 has given us everything we need for living a 00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:08.759 godly life. We have received all this by coming 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:11.740 to know him, the one who called us to himself 00:24:11.740 --> 00:24:15.000 by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:18.880 And because of his glory and excellence, he has 00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:22.599 given us great and precious promises. And part 00:24:22.599 --> 00:24:25.450 of that is wrapped up in who he is, right? These 00:24:25.450 --> 00:24:28.730 are the promises that enable you to share his 00:24:28.730 --> 00:24:31.630 divine nature and escape the world's corruption 00:24:31.630 --> 00:24:35.750 caused by human desires. That's where the corruption 00:24:35.750 --> 00:24:40.490 comes from. He lets... Okay, I'm back to Psalm 00:24:40.490 --> 00:24:48.190 23. All right. Verse 2. He lets me rest in green 00:24:48.190 --> 00:24:53.029 meadows. He leads me beside peaceful streams. 00:24:56.009 --> 00:24:59.390 That's what a good shepherd does. That's what 00:24:59.390 --> 00:25:02.390 a good shepherd wants to do for his sheep and 00:25:02.390 --> 00:25:05.089 does for his sheep. Now, an earthly shepherd 00:25:05.089 --> 00:25:07.490 might not have the ability or the power or the 00:25:07.490 --> 00:25:10.509 resources to accomplish this, but I'm telling 00:25:10.509 --> 00:25:17.930 you, God can do everything. He's almighty. The 00:25:17.930 --> 00:25:20.230 earth is the Lord's and the fullness there is. 00:25:20.789 --> 00:25:23.890 Also, the whole galaxy is His. He created it. 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:29.490 It's all His. He doesn't lack. So because He 00:25:29.490 --> 00:25:32.930 doesn't lack, back to verse 1, then we don't 00:25:32.930 --> 00:25:37.289 lack because He doesn't lack. He lets me rest 00:25:37.289 --> 00:25:39.730 in green meadows and leads me beside peaceful 00:25:39.730 --> 00:25:48.890 streams. So, when we trust and have confidence 00:25:48.890 --> 00:25:54.869 in God being our shepherd, we can have rest. 00:25:55.599 --> 00:26:06.119 And peace. We can have rest. And peace. How many 00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:07.960 people in the room have times in their life where. 00:26:09.480 --> 00:26:11.960 I'm just wore out. I need some rest. And I'm 00:26:11.960 --> 00:26:14.299 not finding any rest. Anybody? That should be 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:20.859 about all of us. Huh? Just worked all night last 00:26:20.859 --> 00:26:23.819 night. And came to church this morning. before 00:26:23.819 --> 00:26:27.000 you go home and crash. And you're sitting up 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:28.859 in your seat so you don't fall asleep right now. 00:26:29.240 --> 00:26:36.319 And drinking coffee. When you put your confidence 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:41.500 and trust and faith in God to be Yahweh Ra 'al, 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.819 the Lord your shepherd, one thing a shepherd 00:26:44.819 --> 00:26:48.640 does is he gives rest and peace to his sheep. 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:56.680 So we need to take hold of that. If we don't 00:26:56.680 --> 00:26:58.779 have peace, we need to take hold of that. If 00:26:58.779 --> 00:27:00.619 we don't have rest, we need to take hold of that. 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:07.200 Because God can give us supernatural rest, not 00:27:07.200 --> 00:27:10.660 natural rest, not just natural rest. He can give 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:16.420 us supernatural rest and refreshing and peace. 00:27:18.319 --> 00:27:25.440 He renews my strength. He renews my strength. 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:33.779 Does anybody feel weak sometimes? Well, Yahweh 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:39.220 Ra 'al will renew your strength. He'll renew 00:27:39.220 --> 00:27:41.920 it. I mean, y 'all are looking at me like, I 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:44.680 don't know if I can take hold of this or not. 00:27:45.380 --> 00:27:50.920 I want you to take hold of it. God wants you 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:58.970 to take hold of it. God wants you to not be locked 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:03.450 in to the natural so much that you miss the supernatural 00:28:03.450 --> 00:28:11.309 or the spiritual. See, He can renew your strength 00:28:11.309 --> 00:28:13.630 in ways... See, you might think the only way 00:28:13.630 --> 00:28:17.089 your strength can be renewed, the only way you 00:28:17.089 --> 00:28:19.210 can have rest and peace is to go on vacation 00:28:19.210 --> 00:28:23.650 and go sit in a chair under an umbrella and just 00:28:23.650 --> 00:28:26.640 stare at the ocean and not work. not have responsibilities. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:38.339 That's natural. Our good shepherd can do some 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:40.839 supernatural things in your life if you will 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:49.119 allow him to. He renews my strength. We talk 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.539 about this a lot, but Isaiah 40, 31 says this, 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:55.210 but those who trust have confidence. In God. 00:28:57.250 --> 00:29:02.829 We'll find new strength. That's part of having 00:29:02.829 --> 00:29:05.289 faith in God. Confidence in God. Trust in God. 00:29:07.289 --> 00:29:11.450 Those who trust. Those who wait upon the Lord. 00:29:11.549 --> 00:29:15.089 Those who trust in. The picture of this Hebrew 00:29:15.089 --> 00:29:19.750 word is. That we bind together with Yahweh. With 00:29:19.750 --> 00:29:28.200 expectation. When you bind together with Yahweh, 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:32.779 with expectation, you can find the strength that 00:29:32.779 --> 00:29:39.279 you need. Hallelujah. Joel 3 .10, we don't quote 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:46.880 Joel much. Let the weak say, I am strong. When 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:50.440 you look up those words, in the Hebrew it means, 00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:53.720 let the weak say, I'm a champion. Let the weak 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:56.660 say, I am mighty. Let the weak say, I am strong. 00:29:59.539 --> 00:30:01.359 Look to the person beside you and say, what have 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:08.859 you been saying? What have you been saying? Huh? 00:30:10.759 --> 00:30:21.559 Come on. What have you been saying? You know? 00:30:21.880 --> 00:30:24.039 If you talk about your failure and talk about 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:32.119 your weakness, you're not tapping in to who God 00:30:32.119 --> 00:30:35.299 is and what He wants to do, who He wants to be. 00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:39.660 So with Yahweh as my shepherd, my strength is 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:48.559 renewed. My strength is renewed. I'm getting 00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:53.640 happy just talking about it. Verse 3, he renews 00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:58.119 my strength. He guides me along right paths, 00:30:58.480 --> 00:31:03.359 bringing honor to his name. That's what a good 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:06.380 shepherd does for his sheep. And God's a good 00:31:06.380 --> 00:31:11.380 shepherd. So he guides me along right paths to 00:31:11.380 --> 00:31:15.160 bring honor to his name. With Yahweh as my shepherd, 00:31:15.299 --> 00:31:20.309 he keeps me on the right track. Now that means 00:31:20.309 --> 00:31:23.769 I'm in fellowship and in communication with Him 00:31:23.769 --> 00:31:27.450 in such a way that He is leading me. I'm being 00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:33.690 led by the Holy Spirit in my life. Look to the 00:31:33.690 --> 00:31:38.710 person beside you and say, you can be led. Or 00:31:38.710 --> 00:31:44.089 you can do your own thing. Those sheep in Romania 00:31:44.089 --> 00:31:47.269 could have followed the shepherd or turned and 00:31:47.269 --> 00:31:51.759 walked off on their own. He didn't force them 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:56.119 to. He didn't make them follow. They could have 00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:58.279 went their own way, but they didn't because they 00:31:58.279 --> 00:32:00.420 knew they had a good shepherd who was going to 00:32:00.420 --> 00:32:03.339 take them to their lunch today and to their dinner 00:32:03.339 --> 00:32:07.259 and to their safety and to their rest. They wanted 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:10.220 to follow him because they trusted him. They 00:32:10.220 --> 00:32:12.500 didn't trust the lady on the porch. They didn't 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:15.220 trust the big white van. They trusted the shepherd. 00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:19.460 So they followed him. And if we really trust 00:32:19.460 --> 00:32:27.079 God, if we really have faith in God, then we 00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:30.839 want to follow Him. We want to be led by Him, 00:32:30.940 --> 00:32:38.299 led by His Spirit in our decisions, in every 00:32:38.299 --> 00:32:43.279 area of our life. And when we do that, He's going 00:32:43.279 --> 00:32:48.849 to keep us on the right track. There's been times 00:32:48.849 --> 00:32:51.230 in my life where I went my own way and I have 00:32:51.230 --> 00:32:55.230 not been on the right track. Can anybody look 00:32:55.230 --> 00:32:58.029 back and see that happen in your life at times? 00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:01.349 You go your own way, you get on the wrong track, 00:33:01.690 --> 00:33:04.730 and then you're like, shouldn't have done that. 00:33:06.829 --> 00:33:15.960 It was bumpy and fearful and worrisome. But when 00:33:15.960 --> 00:33:18.119 Yahweh is our shepherd, He keeps you on the right 00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:21.460 track where you can flourish, where you can succeed. 00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:26.059 And when you look up those words, He guides me 00:33:26.059 --> 00:33:31.180 along the right paths. When you look up those 00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:33.920 Hebrew words, you find even the word prosperity 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:36.539 in here. I don't like to put the word prosperity 00:33:36.539 --> 00:33:38.940 on the screen a lot because prosperity has a 00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:41.619 bad name. But that says that you will prosper, 00:33:41.700 --> 00:33:45.240 you will be in prosperity when... The Lord is 00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:52.720 your shepherd. And guess what? When you flourish 00:33:52.720 --> 00:33:57.720 and when you succeed and you don't take credit 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:04.259 for it, hello? Because there's been some things 00:34:04.259 --> 00:34:07.000 that God did in my life. I mean, you know, I 00:34:07.000 --> 00:34:08.840 hate to be up here and be the bad guy, but there's 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:13.989 been some times. When I talked a lot about my 00:34:13.989 --> 00:34:20.010 accomplishments and left out that, you know, 00:34:20.030 --> 00:34:28.210 God did it. God did it. But with Yahweh as your 00:34:28.210 --> 00:34:31.489 shepherd, He will keep you on track where you 00:34:31.489 --> 00:34:34.429 can flourish, where you can succeed, and then 00:34:34.429 --> 00:34:36.570 you can tell everybody about it. Hey, God did 00:34:36.570 --> 00:34:41.750 this. It'll bring glory and honor to Him when 00:34:41.750 --> 00:34:45.409 we start testifying of the amazing supernatural 00:34:45.409 --> 00:34:49.269 things that God has done in our lives. It's going 00:34:49.269 --> 00:34:52.610 to bring glory and honor to Him. Y 'all are listening 00:34:52.610 --> 00:34:59.610 real slow today. Verse 4. Even when I walk through 00:34:59.610 --> 00:35:07.000 the darkest valley... Has anyone been... through 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:11.900 some dark valleys in your life. Some dark days. 00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:17.480 Some dark times. The good thing is we're going 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:19.260 to walk through them. We're not going to live 00:35:19.260 --> 00:35:22.139 in them. You can choose to live in it if you 00:35:22.139 --> 00:35:28.880 want to, but I'm saying keep on walking. Some 00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:31.639 people are locked up. Some people enter into 00:35:31.639 --> 00:35:34.460 a dark valley and then they stay there the rest 00:35:34.460 --> 00:35:41.329 of their life. But this doesn't say, even when 00:35:41.329 --> 00:35:44.349 I live in the darkest valley. It says, even when 00:35:44.349 --> 00:35:47.889 I walk through the darkest valley. Keep on walking. 00:35:50.050 --> 00:35:52.389 When I walk through the darkest valley, I will 00:35:52.389 --> 00:35:59.690 not be afraid. For you, my good shepherd, are 00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:04.730 close beside me. When I'm walking through this, 00:36:04.889 --> 00:36:08.329 I know that you're right here with me. Every 00:36:08.329 --> 00:36:13.389 day is not a bed of roses. Every day is not perfect. 00:36:13.510 --> 00:36:19.449 We live in a fallen, broken world. We face trouble. 00:36:21.070 --> 00:36:27.050 We face pressure. Tribulation. Do I have to tell 00:36:27.050 --> 00:36:29.989 you that again? Some of you weren't here. So, 00:36:29.989 --> 00:36:32.909 I want to remind you of a series that we did 00:36:32.909 --> 00:36:38.519 where we discovered a very... Amazing verse that 00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:43.340 Jesus has says, in this world, you will have 00:36:43.340 --> 00:36:47.139 tribulation. Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement, 00:36:47.300 --> 00:36:51.719 right? I just appreciate that so much. Just gives 00:36:51.719 --> 00:36:55.659 me warm fuzzies all on the inside. In this world, 00:36:55.719 --> 00:36:58.920 I'm going to face tribulation. That word tribulation 00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:05.880 is also translated trouble, pressure. In this 00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:07.539 world, we're going to face some of that. In this 00:37:07.539 --> 00:37:10.139 world, we're going to face some dark valleys. 00:37:14.739 --> 00:37:17.099 But Jesus said, in this world, you're going to 00:37:17.099 --> 00:37:19.860 face pressure and trouble. But then he said, 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:26.099 but be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Look 00:37:26.099 --> 00:37:27.539 to the person beside you and remind them, that 00:37:27.539 --> 00:37:29.400 means cheer up, buttercup. Go ahead and say, 00:37:29.440 --> 00:37:34.119 cheer up, buttercup. Cheer up. Right in the middle 00:37:34.119 --> 00:37:37.320 of the pressure. It doesn't say after it's over 00:37:37.320 --> 00:37:40.320 and after it's alleviated and after you've gone 00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:43.920 through it. No, he said, be of good cheer in 00:37:43.920 --> 00:37:52.179 it. You might say, that's impossible. How can 00:37:52.179 --> 00:37:55.539 I be of good cheer in the middle of pressure 00:37:55.539 --> 00:37:59.440 and in the middle of trouble? How can I do that? 00:38:00.199 --> 00:38:05.440 But Jesus went on to tell you. He says, in this 00:38:05.440 --> 00:38:08.719 world, you will have tribulation, but be of good 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:14.780 cheer, because I have overcome the world. See, 00:38:14.980 --> 00:38:18.679 when we walk through some dark valleys in our 00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:23.019 lives, we're not overcome by what we're feeling, 00:38:23.139 --> 00:38:25.219 by what we're seeing, by what we're thinking. 00:38:25.780 --> 00:38:31.219 We're not overcome. We will not be afraid. No 00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:41.070 fear here. No fear. Why? Because you're close 00:38:41.070 --> 00:38:50.989 beside me. Now, if you're not believing God to 00:38:50.989 --> 00:38:54.389 be your shepherd and to be close beside you in 00:38:54.389 --> 00:38:56.969 the middle of it, then you might think that you're 00:38:56.969 --> 00:38:59.849 just all alone. And guess what? You won't experience. 00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:03.960 What God wants you to experience unless you're 00:39:03.960 --> 00:39:10.719 by faith receiving Him as your shepherd. I know 00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:15.699 that we sit there and we go, I didn't know that 00:39:15.699 --> 00:39:19.340 this had to do with me responding. I thought, 00:39:19.500 --> 00:39:22.219 you know, I just always thought, well, you know, 00:39:22.219 --> 00:39:24.860 if God wants to be my shepherd today, He will, 00:39:24.980 --> 00:39:29.860 but if not, I'm on my own. Isn't that the way 00:39:29.860 --> 00:39:32.730 we've lived? Our lives? Are we living our lives 00:39:32.730 --> 00:39:39.309 now? And we look and we say, well, God, you say 00:39:39.309 --> 00:39:41.570 that you're the Lord, you're my shepherd, and 00:39:41.570 --> 00:39:43.469 the preacher's talking about you being a good 00:39:43.469 --> 00:39:45.369 shepherd, but I'm not seeing that evidence in 00:39:45.369 --> 00:39:48.570 my life. So why are you holding out on me, God? 00:39:51.289 --> 00:39:54.429 Well, you've got to hear it. And then what do 00:39:54.429 --> 00:40:00.289 you have to do? Wholeheartedly believe it. To 00:40:00.289 --> 00:40:02.309 the point where you have trust and confidence 00:40:02.309 --> 00:40:05.269 in that's who God is and what He wants to do. 00:40:07.809 --> 00:40:12.969 And then you act on it. First way I know to act 00:40:12.969 --> 00:40:16.010 is start saying, in the middle, when I'm walking 00:40:16.010 --> 00:40:18.789 through the darkest valley, when I'm walking 00:40:18.789 --> 00:40:21.690 through this difficult situation, I need to start 00:40:21.690 --> 00:40:25.650 saying, I will not be afraid. I know there's 00:40:25.650 --> 00:40:27.809 opportunities for me to take hold of fear right 00:40:27.809 --> 00:40:30.329 now, but I'm not taking hold of fear because 00:40:30.329 --> 00:40:34.289 fear doesn't come from God. So I'm not taking 00:40:34.289 --> 00:40:38.510 hold of it. I'm not going to experience everything 00:40:38.510 --> 00:40:43.130 this dark valley is throwing at me. No, I know 00:40:43.130 --> 00:40:46.449 I'm walking with Jesus and I'm walking with Yahweh 00:40:46.449 --> 00:40:48.730 who is my shepherd right through the middle of 00:40:48.730 --> 00:40:51.989 this. So the first act you need to do is start. 00:40:53.289 --> 00:40:57.170 confessing the Word of God, the promises of God. 00:41:00.710 --> 00:41:07.369 And when you do, all of a sudden, there's going 00:41:07.369 --> 00:41:09.289 to be something supernatural that happens on 00:41:09.289 --> 00:41:12.130 the inside of you. And even though you're in 00:41:12.130 --> 00:41:16.670 the dark valley, you're going to start experiencing 00:41:16.670 --> 00:41:27.170 peace and joy. Security. That's what you'll start 00:41:27.170 --> 00:41:32.409 experiencing. But it's going to take some work 00:41:32.409 --> 00:41:37.949 on your part. This is not just easy believism. 00:41:38.030 --> 00:41:47.670 It takes work. Hebrews 13 .5 I will never leave 00:41:47.670 --> 00:41:52.139 you. I will never forsake you. That's just one 00:41:52.139 --> 00:41:55.659 of the many instances that truth is in the Word. 00:41:57.159 --> 00:41:59.719 And you dig into it more. I will be with you 00:41:59.719 --> 00:42:02.719 at all times. I will never fail you. I will never 00:42:02.719 --> 00:42:08.699 abandon you. That's what that means. Somebody 00:42:08.699 --> 00:42:12.760 say, that's my God. He's going to always be with 00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:16.420 me. He's never going to fail me. He's never going 00:42:16.420 --> 00:42:23.420 to abandon me. That's my God. With Yahweh as 00:42:23.420 --> 00:42:28.639 my shepherd, I'm never alone. And because he's 00:42:28.639 --> 00:42:34.900 with me, I will never fear. Some of you need 00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:40.059 to start saying this. God is my shepherd. I'm 00:42:40.059 --> 00:42:43.619 never alone. The good shepherd's with me, so 00:42:43.619 --> 00:42:48.059 I'll never fear. Do you believe it's possible 00:42:48.059 --> 00:42:53.349 to never fear? I'm telling you it's possible. 00:42:54.530 --> 00:42:58.309 God is telling you it's possible. I'm just a 00:42:58.309 --> 00:43:02.949 delivery boy for the news from God. Read all 00:43:02.949 --> 00:43:10.730 about it. I'm never alone, so I will never fear. 00:43:13.550 --> 00:43:17.949 That evil is going to come upon me or overtake 00:43:17.949 --> 00:43:24.130 me. I'm never going to fear that. Because God's 00:43:24.130 --> 00:43:32.949 my shepherd. God's my shepherd. Your rod and 00:43:32.949 --> 00:43:39.590 your staff protect me and comfort me. Everybody 00:43:39.590 --> 00:43:44.769 say protection. Everybody say comfort. Your rod 00:43:44.769 --> 00:43:47.769 and your staff protect me and comfort me. With 00:43:47.769 --> 00:43:50.809 Yahweh as my shepherd, I'm protected and I'm 00:43:50.809 --> 00:43:53.699 comforted. That's what a good shepherd does for 00:43:53.699 --> 00:43:58.039 his sheep. And you can easily say yes to that, 00:43:58.159 --> 00:44:01.179 but that's what God wants to do for you. He wants 00:44:01.179 --> 00:44:10.900 to protect you and comfort you. The rod, shebet. 00:44:12.320 --> 00:44:14.219 I don't know why I put the Hebrew in for the 00:44:14.219 --> 00:44:17.820 rod and the staff, but your rod and your staff, 00:44:18.079 --> 00:44:21.769 shebet. The rod is a stick. It's a stick for 00:44:21.769 --> 00:44:26.030 fighting or punishing or fending off attackers. 00:44:27.429 --> 00:44:29.630 How many of you know we're in a spiritual battle? 00:44:30.309 --> 00:44:32.650 We live our lives every day in a spiritual battle. 00:44:34.349 --> 00:44:37.650 And we know that God is our shepherd and God 00:44:37.650 --> 00:44:42.210 has a rod. And that's for fighting off and punishing 00:44:42.210 --> 00:44:46.389 our enemies, fending off our attackers. And it's 00:44:46.389 --> 00:44:50.800 also for rioting. I found that interesting. That 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:56.280 word rod is used for riding and walking and ruling. 00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:07.039 So there's authority attached to this rod. Your 00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:15.079 rod and your staff. See, I told you I didn't 00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:18.639 need to try to pronounce all that stuff. Your 00:45:18.639 --> 00:45:24.980 staff. What's staff? It's a support. Signifies 00:45:24.980 --> 00:45:35.739 what a person leans on for a support. So, God, 00:45:35.800 --> 00:45:42.420 your word and your spirit protect me and comfort 00:45:42.420 --> 00:45:53.199 me, support me. Rod and staff. Verse 5. You prepare 00:45:53.199 --> 00:45:58.539 a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. 00:46:03.099 --> 00:46:05.440 There's one thing to prepare a feast. There's 00:46:05.440 --> 00:46:08.280 another thing to prepare a feast in the presence 00:46:08.280 --> 00:46:14.980 of your enemies. You honor me by anointing my 00:46:14.980 --> 00:46:20.869 head with oil. Listen, my cup, It's three -fourths 00:46:20.869 --> 00:46:27.230 full. Quarter full. Got a few little mercy drops 00:46:27.230 --> 00:46:33.070 in it. I love that old hymn. Every time I hear 00:46:33.070 --> 00:46:35.849 somebody singing, I say, mercy drops? Really? 00:46:40.409 --> 00:46:43.110 Mercy's flooding. It's not just little drops. 00:46:47.500 --> 00:46:51.480 My cup overflows. Everybody say overflows. Overflows 00:46:51.480 --> 00:46:57.039 with blessings. This can be your experience. 00:46:59.800 --> 00:47:07.219 God wants this to be your experience. Listen, 00:47:07.360 --> 00:47:10.980 God is with you. God is for you. And God will 00:47:10.980 --> 00:47:14.880 vindicate you in the presence of those who wish 00:47:14.880 --> 00:47:21.010 to harm you. When you look to him as your shepherd. 00:47:26.789 --> 00:47:33.630 Just let me sit there a minute. Because sometimes 00:47:33.630 --> 00:47:36.949 we get in situations where we think we've got 00:47:36.949 --> 00:47:41.849 to vindicate ourselves. Has anybody ever been 00:47:41.849 --> 00:47:45.630 in a situation like that before? When God's your 00:47:45.630 --> 00:47:51.199 shepherd, he will vindicate you. right in front 00:47:51.199 --> 00:47:54.460 of people who wish to harm you, He will vindicate 00:47:54.460 --> 00:47:59.760 you. But you have to trust Him to do that. You 00:47:59.760 --> 00:48:02.400 have to trust Him to do that. In David's day, 00:48:02.579 --> 00:48:07.199 if he desired to honor someone, he would prepare 00:48:07.199 --> 00:48:10.099 a formal meal, he would anoint the guest's head 00:48:10.099 --> 00:48:13.940 with oil, and make sure they had everything they 00:48:13.940 --> 00:48:26.809 needed. With Yahweh as my shepherd, I am honored. 00:48:28.590 --> 00:48:34.250 I am anointed. I am blessed. And I am satisfied. 00:48:38.730 --> 00:48:41.269 I even want you to say this one with me. With 00:48:41.269 --> 00:48:46.650 Yahweh as my shepherd, I am honored. I am anointed. 00:48:47.250 --> 00:48:55.559 I am blessed. I am satisfied. Keep saying it 00:48:55.559 --> 00:49:02.619 until you see it. Because Jesus said to say it, 00:49:02.639 --> 00:49:04.639 say it, say it, and then you'll have what you 00:49:04.639 --> 00:49:16.039 said. Verse 6. Surely, your goodness... You're 00:49:16.039 --> 00:49:18.760 my good shepherd, so... Surely, your goodness 00:49:18.760 --> 00:49:26.590 and unfailing love will pursue me. Have you ever 00:49:26.590 --> 00:49:32.070 took hold of this? Have you ever took hold of 00:49:32.070 --> 00:49:35.030 the fact that God wants you to see His goodness 00:49:35.030 --> 00:49:40.730 and unfailing love running you down, pursuing 00:49:40.730 --> 00:49:48.550 you, always coming towards you? All the days 00:49:48.550 --> 00:49:53.630 of my life. And I will live in the house of the 00:49:53.630 --> 00:50:04.719 Lord forever. with Yahweh as my shepherd, I continually 00:50:04.719 --> 00:50:08.900 experience it. Why do I continually experience 00:50:08.900 --> 00:50:12.280 these things? Because they're chasing me down. 00:50:17.219 --> 00:50:20.119 If you will have confidence and trust that God 00:50:20.119 --> 00:50:22.960 is your good shepherd, there's going to be some 00:50:22.960 --> 00:50:26.159 things running you down. And you're going to 00:50:26.159 --> 00:50:30.610 continually experience these things. God's goodness. 00:50:31.170 --> 00:50:36.809 God's mercy. God's love. And his manifested presence. 00:50:40.190 --> 00:50:45.909 Continually. That's what God wants us to experience. 00:50:48.170 --> 00:50:54.809 We have to receive it. By faith. His name is 00:50:54.809 --> 00:51:03.190 Yahweh. Raw. Yahweh Ra 'o. And if you'll seek 00:51:03.190 --> 00:51:06.230 Him, you know what His name is, you know what 00:51:06.230 --> 00:51:08.250 He wants to do, you know what His promises are 00:51:08.250 --> 00:51:12.289 connected to His name. Now, you might not have 00:51:12.289 --> 00:51:14.769 known that before today, but now that you know 00:51:14.769 --> 00:51:19.230 it, and it's been explained to you, you have 00:51:19.230 --> 00:51:25.369 the opportunity to put your trust in Him. I can't 00:51:25.369 --> 00:51:28.820 make you. I can't... put trust and confidence 00:51:28.820 --> 00:51:34.179 in Him for you. But I can tell you what He wants 00:51:34.179 --> 00:51:36.940 to do for you and who He wants to be in your 00:51:36.940 --> 00:51:42.340 life. It's up to you to take hold of it, to wholeheartedly 00:51:42.340 --> 00:51:47.380 believe it, to receive it, to keep speaking and 00:51:47.380 --> 00:51:50.400 align with it, even when you don't see it with 00:51:50.400 --> 00:51:58.280 your eyes yet. It's up to you. Because I know 00:51:58.280 --> 00:52:02.239 something. I know that God's not going to forsake 00:52:02.239 --> 00:52:04.820 you. He's not going to turn His back on you when 00:52:04.820 --> 00:52:11.480 you seek Him. He's not going to do it. You might 00:52:11.480 --> 00:52:15.179 say, I tried that for like 10 seconds and I didn't 00:52:15.179 --> 00:52:25.710 see a result. To God a day is like a thousand 00:52:25.710 --> 00:52:31.630 years and a thousand years like a day. But I 00:52:31.630 --> 00:52:35.269 tell you something, if you'll put your faith 00:52:35.269 --> 00:52:40.949 in God, really put your faith in God, if you're 00:52:40.949 --> 00:52:43.969 genuinely putting your faith in God and you're 00:52:43.969 --> 00:52:46.730 speaking according to His promise and according 00:52:46.730 --> 00:52:49.869 to who He is and according to what His Word says 00:52:49.869 --> 00:52:52.639 and you're seeking Him, with all of your heart, 00:52:52.699 --> 00:52:59.380 and you are consistent in this, there's going 00:52:59.380 --> 00:53:03.280 to come a point where what's happening around 00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:12.840 you isn't affecting you. Instead of your life 00:53:12.840 --> 00:53:14.840 being like a roller coaster of ups and downs, 00:53:15.139 --> 00:53:21.570 it's going to be like a drag strip. It doesn't 00:53:21.570 --> 00:53:23.170 mean you're not going to have any pressures or 00:53:23.170 --> 00:53:25.110 trouble. It means that the pressure and trouble 00:53:25.110 --> 00:53:27.329 aren't going to take you on a roller coaster 00:53:27.329 --> 00:53:36.409 ride every day. That's where you can be. That's 00:53:36.409 --> 00:53:48.289 where God wants you. Hallelujah. John 10, 11, 00:53:48.469 --> 00:53:51.239 he says, I'm the good shepherd. This is Jesus 00:53:51.239 --> 00:53:56.519 talking now. And the good shepherd sacrifices 00:53:56.519 --> 00:54:00.599 his life for the sheep. Here's how much God loves 00:54:00.599 --> 00:54:08.659 you. Died for you. I was dead in my trespasses 00:54:08.659 --> 00:54:13.860 and sin. The Bible says all of us have sinned 00:54:13.860 --> 00:54:16.000 and fallen short of the glory of God. Every single 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:18.889 one of us have messed up. Look to the person 00:54:18.889 --> 00:54:21.469 beside you and say, don't forget, you've messed 00:54:21.469 --> 00:54:28.329 up. Big time. We've all fallen short of the glory 00:54:28.329 --> 00:54:31.269 of God. The Bible says the wages or the paycheck 00:54:31.269 --> 00:54:36.690 for that sin is death. We all deserve spiritual 00:54:36.690 --> 00:54:40.909 death. If we get what we deserve, we get spiritual 00:54:40.909 --> 00:54:46.190 death. But God and His great love and mercy. 00:54:47.820 --> 00:54:54.380 Even while we were still sinners, Jesus came 00:54:54.380 --> 00:55:00.559 and died for us. I deserve to die for my sin. 00:55:02.699 --> 00:55:06.099 The eternal Son of God said, I will die for your 00:55:06.099 --> 00:55:09.539 sin in your place. He stretched out his arms 00:55:09.539 --> 00:55:16.239 and he died for you on a cross. Then he says 00:55:16.239 --> 00:55:20.889 this. It says, if you will believe in me, you 00:55:20.889 --> 00:55:27.449 won't perish. You won't have to experience eternal 00:55:27.449 --> 00:55:30.210 spiritual death and be separated from me forever. 00:55:30.889 --> 00:55:34.929 If you believe in me, I've got a gift for you. 00:55:36.789 --> 00:55:42.809 That gift is eternal life. And how do we receive 00:55:42.809 --> 00:55:46.969 that gift? Some people think that we receive 00:55:46.969 --> 00:55:50.510 that gift by being dipped Dr. Sprinkle, baptized. 00:55:53.250 --> 00:55:55.469 We can talk about all those different forms, 00:55:55.510 --> 00:56:03.289 but I tell you, none of those things give you 00:56:03.289 --> 00:56:08.829 the gift of eternal life. None of them. Some 00:56:08.829 --> 00:56:11.789 people think you get that gift of eternal life 00:56:11.789 --> 00:56:15.070 by joining a church somewhere. As long as you 00:56:15.070 --> 00:56:16.590 join the church, your name's on the roll of the 00:56:16.590 --> 00:56:17.989 church, you're good, you're going to heaven. 00:56:20.170 --> 00:56:23.210 Here's the deal. God's not looking at church 00:56:23.210 --> 00:56:24.969 rolls to see who comes to heaven. He's looking 00:56:24.969 --> 00:56:28.710 in the Lamb's Book of Life. It's recorded in 00:56:28.710 --> 00:56:30.829 heaven. How do you get your name in that Lamb's 00:56:30.829 --> 00:56:35.369 Book of Life in heaven? By believing in Jesus. 00:56:35.789 --> 00:56:41.510 Putting your faith in Jesus. The Bible says if 00:56:41.510 --> 00:56:46.210 we confess our sin, He's faithful, and He's just, 00:56:46.349 --> 00:56:51.530 and He will forgive us and wash us clean. The 00:56:51.530 --> 00:56:56.389 Bible says, with the heart we believe, with the 00:56:56.389 --> 00:57:01.309 mouth confession is made unto salvation. We have 00:57:01.309 --> 00:57:06.030 to agree with it. We have to say it. So we confess, 00:57:06.170 --> 00:57:09.469 and then the Bible says this, if you call on 00:57:09.469 --> 00:57:15.659 the name of the Lord, you'll be saved. That word 00:57:15.659 --> 00:57:17.559 Lord is a title. It's going to be one of our 00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:21.019 names in coming up weeks. Names for God. One 00:57:21.019 --> 00:57:25.280 of God's names is Lord. And there's different 00:57:25.280 --> 00:57:29.559 Greek and Hebrew words that are defined in our 00:57:29.559 --> 00:57:32.699 English Bibles. All is Lord. They're close, but 00:57:32.699 --> 00:57:34.400 they have little bit differences of meaning. 00:57:36.280 --> 00:57:38.539 So here's my question. Have you ever called on 00:57:38.539 --> 00:57:43.039 the name of the Lord? Lord means that He's your 00:57:43.039 --> 00:57:46.179 master, your boss. Just like in this good shepherd, 00:57:46.280 --> 00:57:49.280 your friend who is going to rule over you, so 00:57:49.280 --> 00:57:53.559 you give your life to him. Has there ever been 00:57:53.559 --> 00:57:57.239 a time before today that you've said, Jesus, 00:57:57.300 --> 00:57:59.739 up until today, my life's just been all about 00:57:59.739 --> 00:58:04.260 me. But from now on, I want my life to be about 00:58:04.260 --> 00:58:08.079 you. I want to live for you. I want to know you. 00:58:08.539 --> 00:58:12.639 Jesus, be my Lord. I confess you as my Lord. 00:58:14.800 --> 00:58:20.500 Has that ever happened? If it hasn't, I've got 00:58:20.500 --> 00:58:25.659 some great news for you. You can do that today. 00:58:27.539 --> 00:58:31.960 The Bible says today is the day of salvation. 00:58:33.179 --> 00:58:37.880 It's always today. It's always now. If you would, 00:58:37.900 --> 00:58:39.280 I want everybody to bow your head and close your 00:58:39.280 --> 00:58:42.630 eyes. And if you've never... said those things 00:58:42.630 --> 00:58:44.750 to God and you would like to say those things 00:58:44.750 --> 00:58:46.869 to Him now, I want to ask you to pray with me. 00:58:47.849 --> 00:58:50.630 It's not about repeating words after me. It's 00:58:50.630 --> 00:58:55.070 about the words that I'm leading you in. It's 00:58:55.070 --> 00:58:57.409 about them being personally from you to God. 00:58:58.110 --> 00:59:00.110 I'm just putting in the words what I just said 00:59:00.110 --> 00:59:06.190 to help you formalize a prayer. So if that's 00:59:06.190 --> 00:59:07.989 what you want today, I ask you to pray with me. 00:59:10.030 --> 00:59:11.710 I prayed a prayer that went like this, and I've 00:59:11.710 --> 00:59:14.070 never been the same since. Jesus, tell them, 00:59:14.070 --> 00:59:16.670 Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Tell 00:59:16.670 --> 00:59:19.550 them that. I believe you died on the cross for 00:59:19.550 --> 00:59:24.530 me, for my sin and my place. I believe you rose 00:59:24.530 --> 00:59:27.329 again from the grave, just like the Bible says. 00:59:29.070 --> 00:59:32.690 I realize today that I'm a sinner. I broke your 00:59:32.690 --> 00:59:38.909 rules. I ask you to forgive me. Wash me clean. 00:59:41.860 --> 00:59:45.280 Jesus, up until today, my life's just been about 00:59:45.280 --> 00:59:50.500 me. But from now on, I want my life to be about 00:59:50.500 --> 00:59:56.300 you. I surrender all that I am to you. Jesus, 00:59:56.400 --> 01:00:05.260 be my Lord. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank 01:00:05.260 --> 01:00:07.340 you for washing me clean. Thank you for sending 01:00:07.340 --> 01:00:09.559 your Holy Spirit to be with me and in me. Thank 01:00:09.559 --> 01:00:13.889 you. Thank you for giving me your gift of eternal 01:00:13.889 --> 01:00:18.590 life. This online worship experience was brought 01:00:18.590 --> 01:00:21.210 to you by the friends and partners of Elation 01:00:21.210 --> 01:00:21.409 Church.