BESIDE STILL WATERS | Psalm 23:2-3 | Where He Leads Me | Philip Anthony Mitchell

welcome to the victory broadcast if this ministry has impacted you in any way please consider supporting the spread of the gospel by visiting us online and choosing the giving option that works best for you now we pray that this message will stir your heart and build your faith get ready to receive the word of god good morning victory family grace and peace to you wherever you're watching in the city of atlanta and cities around the country even in some pockets around the world we want to welcome all of you to our online gathering and we want to pause to say happy mother's day to all of the mothers in our church and all of the mothers across our city and in our nation happy mother's day to all the women out there that are either spiritual moms natural moms um god moms whatever mom stepmom whatever mom you are we want to say happy mother's day to you we know that it is um very important you know being a mother it's very hard it's time-consuming it's draining it's um but it's actually very rewarding as my kids are getting older i have found much joy in um being with my kids and raising them and seeing them grow and um yeah so happy mother's day to you guys thank you so much y'all give it up in the chats for our leading lady miss lena mitchell and all in the studio give it up for her um and uh just a couple quick shout outs before we jump into the proclamation of god's word first i want to give a special shout out to ms sharon mitchell uh the vessel through whom i came to happy is mother's day to you mom i love you so much um if it was not for your prayers and your guidance and your weapons and your spankings um and getting me in and out of legal trouble and getting me out of new york city and bruising your knees for me i would not be standing here today the man that i am so on behalf of just our family i just want to say happy mother's day to you my mom mother sharon uh i want to also say a very special happy mother's day to mother janie barlow who's our like elder mother of our church we're going to give it up for her right now in the chats mother barlow we love you so much um you are our official church mother of all mothers and uh thank you for being uh with us this entire journey uh seven eight years that we have been in existence um you are a staple in our community you are inspiration and a light to us all and we honor you today uh mother barlow if you're in the chats give mother barlow a shout out in chats and show her some love also too i want to give a special shout out uh to another mother uh i have all these different mothers uh a woman named mrs ruby who lives in north carolina goldsboro um she is the mother of our operations person uh miss rainer davis and miss ruby is a like a second mom to me and she watches these streams every single sunday from north carolina she's a faithful giver and supporter to our church and she is an encourager has a barnabas spirit so miss ruby i know you're watching this message i want to say happy mother's day uh to you and tell you that you mean a lot to me and i want to also speak to those who maybe today is not so much a joyful day there are people right now in this chat in our church and people watching me all across the country who have lost a mother she's not here for you to celebrate today there will be a empty space at a table at a restaurant and we know how difficult that can be i lost a parent when our church was three months old and i know the pain of having to bury someone you love and we know that today is not an easy day for a lot of us i definitely want to say that we are praying for all of you especially for one of our own senior leadership uh llewellyn dixon whose mother transitioned to be with the lord just a year ago around this time we know that these times can be difficult for brothers like him sisters like you and so we want to acknowledge that that we live a life of joys and sorrows um but we thank god that we serve what the scripture says the god of all comfort and uh my prayers that he will comfort every heart today that is grieving an empty chair at a table an empty chair at a restaurant and then lastly i want to say to my wife who i think he's probably one of the greatest mothers i've ever known she is a far better christian than i am her heart is definitely more pure than mine probably one of the most virtuous godliest patient wise hard-working women that i've ever known she changed my life she is a great mother to our children she disciples them she listens to them she cares for them our home would be a mess without her she is in some sense after the lord um probably the rock in our home and so i would be remiss if i didn't take the time to welcome or actually to honor the woman who just left this virtual platform my wife and your leading lady miss uh lena mitchell would y'all give it up for her in the chats or wherever you are in the studio yeah and shout out to all our spiritual moms those without biological children who still shepherd children a family it is week two of a brand new series that we have affectionately called besides still waters and we are on a four-week journey it may extend five weeks i'm kind of praying about that we are on a five four week potentially five week journey through the month of may um it's really a journey of encouragement and enlightenment i feel like it's needed right now in the season and my prayer is that it will be a blessing to you this series called besides still waters our text for this series as i said to you last week it is the most beloved passage in all of scripture it is the first passage i ever was made or taught to memorize as a young child uh for over 3000 years since it has been written it has brought comfort uh to so many afflicted and wary hearts of believers and even non-believers for thousands of years it has been spoken boldly by christian martyrs as they were put to death for the faith of the lord jesus christ men and women who gave their lives for the glory of jesus look right at me men and women who gave their lives so that you and i can enjoy the christian freedoms we have today that the word of god would be handed down to us it came down to us in blood the bible that we have these 66 documents that we have people fought to get this in our hands people died to put this and we we treat it so so flippantly it breaks my heart but but people actually like we we we we talk about suffering in the usa we haven't seen suffering in the u.s right we you know so we we got trolls who like to hop up on our ig and always got something to say like they know you personally and we we we our whole week will be ruined like that suffering we haven't seen suffering suffering is when they drag you out of your house and feed you to animals for sport and you don't run because you understand that this death is for the glory of jesus men women and children suffering is when they knock on your front door in countries in the east and drag husbands out of their home and decapitate them in front of their children decapitate kids and put their heads on poles alongside the street that's suffering for the name of jesus people who refuse to renounce the faith of the lord jesus christ and give blood for that and because of their sacrifice this bible has came down to us and some of these same martyrs was reciting this psalm as they were being put to death and given their hearts comfort in the face of the worst imaginable suffering i feel in my estimation this psalm is probably the perfect picture of the way the christian life is supposed to be lived in the way that it is and there is probably no other passage of scripture in all 66 documents that believers across the world and all manner of trouble lean on more than this passage of scripture 23rd psalm the writer i told you last week is david the greatest king of ancient israel the time is a very difficult season in his life we do not know theologians speculate maybe when he was on the run from absalom but we do know it was written in his older age he is looking over his shoulder it's good to do that every now and then look right at me every now and then it's good to pause and just reflect on how far god has brought you because we have a habit of getting entitled and and feeling as if god owes us something but every now and then it's good to stop and look over your shoulder and let the past bring you gratitude for the present and praise for the god who has brought you this far and in a season of difficulty tragedy or some type of law some type of hardship david he sits down in a very difficult season as an aged old king he's reflecting over his life how far the lord had brought him and in the midst of all his pain and his trouble and his suffering and whatever it is he was facing and we'll get to that more in detail next week he sits down and he writes these powerful powerful words the most powerful most loved most memorized passage in all of scripture these six verses he says the lord is my shepherd and because he is my shepherd in the hebrew i shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures here's where we get our sermon our series title from he leads me beside still waters from time to time we all need this he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake and yea do i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for you are with me it is your rod and your staff that comforts me you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you anoint my head with oil my cup it runneth over surely your goodness and your mercy those footsteps you hear behind you they're not condemnation and judgment those that's goodness and mercy behind you gosh those those those steps that we hear behind us that make us feel so nervous those steps are not condemnation and judgment romans tells us that in romans chapter eight that's not condemnation behind you that's not judgment behind you those those footsteps you hear behind you that's goodness and mercy like my two dogs chance and cece following you wherever you go for all the days of your life and my prayers that we all would make it and we all be able to say we shall dwell in the house of the lord for how long forever and i'll text for this particular message i'll text for this preaching presentation verses two and three he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside still waters where we got our series name from he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake i want to tag a title to these two verses where we're going to camp out today week one i talk to you about the good shepherd i want to talk to you in this message about where he leads me eternal god another wise father we thank you for the preservation of the word of god that you have given us through 40 different authors by inspiration of the holy spirit we thank you lord for these powerful six verses how they have brought comfort to believers the world over for three thousand years how it has been read at funerals and on the deathbed of your children as they stare down that tunnel into the unknown we thank you lord for david who penned this beautiful passage for us and what it means for us today father though our church is largely young maybe some of us cannot appreciate this yet we have not lived long enough to appreciate these verses i pray some way somehow spirit of the living god you will grant unto your sons and daughters some type of divine impartation some type of divine revelation that these six verses this series would not fall on the floor but it would resonate in the hearts of your children they would keep running back to with god in the middle of difficult seasons difficult times instead of surfing the internet god lord for a tweet that will run back to psalm 23 and find you there i pray father lord that you would draw us to yourself as the word is proclaimed in the mighty and majestic and matchless name of the lord jesus christ amen and amen where he leads me the family i want to say something to you that i think is very very critically important and it is more important to me in the fourth decade of my life talking to a church that is largely in the second and third decades of their life and what i want to tell you i think is one of the greatest tragedies i see in our society and especially among those who are young believers young people teenagers 20 year olds 30 year olds and even on up i think one of the most devastating and frustrating things that can happen to a person in this life is to live out one's days aimlessly with no real sense of proper direction if you've ever been lost driving somewhere or if you've ever been driving somewhere and your gps went out maybe you was in the country someplace and your gps goes out you kind of know what it feels like in that moment of fear or frustration or wanted to kind of just be driving around aimlessly with no real sense of where you're going if you've ever been lost for just a moment whether in a car or even in a season of your life you know what it feels like to kind of be living life or going down a road with no real sense of direction no real sense of where am i going it's kind of aimless living living without purpose living without any proper sense of direction you drive adrift kind of like guessing your route and whenever we drive a drift kind of guessing a route it's very easy to end up in places we did not intend to end up and its worst form this is akin to people coming down to the end of their lives and in a moment they have a revelation that i've missed the whole thing i've missed the whole point of life i've missed the whole point of why i was here why exist i miss purpose i miss everything i've i've been next to men jammed up in a situation in the hospital on a death bed and realized i've lived my whole life and i realized i've come down to the end of this life and i have completely missed it all together that is what it's akin to in its most worst form is when we have lived a life we've built businesses put together money status fame whatever you want and then come down to the very end and realize i've missed it that time i cannot get back those resources i cannot get back it is one of the most frustrating and one of the most tragic things to happen to people to live a life that is aimless a life of confusion a life with no purpose no sense of direction a life when people come down to the end and realize i miss the whole thing and a powerful dynamic that insulates against aimless living in any form in any form is this powerful dynamic of leadership and guidance leadership and guidance the 200 mentions of people in the bible as sheep in the scriptures by god almighty himself prophesies to those who are discerning that we all need guidance let me say this to you again family the 200 mentions in the scripture of you and i human beings as sheep unintelligent animals who don't know how to find their own way the 200 mentions of us as sheep prophesies to those who are discerning that we as human beings listen to me we need leadership and we need guidance if we don't think that we are fooling ourselves over 200 times god says in his word about human beings you are sheep and sheep if we've been around them study them had any knowledge about them they tell us that they need to be guided without guidance and leadership they will be damaged they will go astray they will kill themselves and guidance is a byproduct of leadership it is a byproduct of being led now in our society right now as i'm talking to you unfortunately there is a crisis in our society of leadership there is a crisis of leadership all across our society in every spectrum on every socio-economic status in every ethnic group there is a crisis of leadership there's a crisis of leadership in our government there's a crisis of leadership and america there's a crisis of leadership in politics all across our country there is a crisis in leadership you want evidence of that homes that have gone astray because of the lack of guidance teenagers that have gone astray because of the lack of guidance children who have gone astray because of the lack of guidance men and women who have gone astray because of the lack of guidance whole nations right now that are going astray because of a lack of guidance people as i'm talking to you right now maybe some of us even in this chat i'm gonna help you living lives you know what this feels like getting up going to work coming home eating going to sleep doing that over five days a week a month a year five years a decade with no real sense of direction guidance or purpose i know what it is to live 24 years of this life with no real sense of guidance direction and purpose and wake up on the other side of salvation and realize how foolish i was to think that i had any sense to know how to guide my own life like i was a good god and i was a good compass life has taught us that we are poor gods and we make bad compasses we are terrible gps's somebody in chats to say amen somebody who's a little bit older than 30 years old should probably say amen right so i know what it is to live 24 years of life with no real sense of guidance no real sense of direction no real sense of leadership and we could testify that that our nation right now the church right now is in a crisis for leadership from pulpits all across america we are in a crisis for leadership i've said this a hundred times and i'm gonna go to my graves and the greatest threat against christianity in america is the american pulpit not the devil not culture the american pulpit right now as i'm talking to you sheep are being led astray by cliff jumping sheep leading other sheep astray because whether it's in government or it's in our homes or even in the church we are suffering in this nation from a crisis of leadership people being led by foolish people people being led by ideology people being led by articles false religions bad politicians bad preachers bad pastors wolves and sheep's clothing people are being led astray led by their own opinion their own thoughts their own judgments and watch the human listen the scripture tells us something about human beings we are flawed we are frail we are sheep and the evidence of our past the hurt we've caused ourselves the hurt we've caused other people it testifies of this truth a good question to ask in this moment would be then who can we follow who can be trusted who knows the way who can we get behind and follow them confidently like they know where they're taking us david the king of israel leading a whole nation of people millions of people watch was wise enough watch this word this is a curse word in our generation and humble enough to recognize even though i am a king even though i got men under me and men under them even though i'm leading a nation of millions of people and have the favor of god upon me this is where we go wrong especially young people we think favor means i don't need guidance even though he was resting with favor he was humble enough and wise enough to recognize even though i am a king with children and subjects and a nation under me i myself as a king i need guidance i need leadership and he makes a decision to whom he will follow with this bold declaration that sets up the entire passage of psalm 23 the lord is my shepherd i.e therefore i am a sheep that's called acknowledgement and honesty i shall not warn in the hebrew because he is my shepherd i shall not want that is i have everything i need because he is a provider and if i don't have it i don't need it or he has not given it to me yet i do not have needs because i trust him to meet my needs not my wants but my needs so he makes this declaration the lord is my shepherd i.e this is code word for a tagline for the lord is my guide the lord is my gps he is my shepherd right and in this life look right at me look look look right at me in this life the scripture teaches us at the end of the day family i know some people don't get offended when i say this i know so you're gonna write me emails i don't really care i'm telling you right now according to the scriptures in this life there are really only two gods only two influences behind everything human beings are doing there there is no there was no gray there there is no some other option there are only two real guides in this life or two real influences in this life jesus talked about this plainly in john chapter 10 verse 8 he said then jesus said to them again most assuredly i say to you i am the door of the sheep all whoever came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them he says again i am the door if anyone if anyone if anyone enters by me he will be saved no other option for salvation no other pathway no other route no other religion to the father one round if anyone enters through me they shall be saved he didn't say multiple doors i am the definitive article in the greek i am vedor not a door the door if anyone enters through me he shall be saved and he will go in and out and find pasture the thief does not come except to steal kill and destroy i have come that they you and i those who have enough sense to grab hold of the gospel i have come that they may have life and they may have it more abundantly watch i am the good shepherd the good shepherd gives his sheep or gives life for his sheep he gives his life for the sheep but a hireling the enemy all of those who are being influenced by the enemy all of the people knock on our door with bad doctrine all of the people following google all of the influences behind all these false religions all of the demonic activity people with their crystal balls and their stones and their all these things that are leading people astray miss cleo your neighborhood psychic all these other people what are they all these other people but they are hirelings who are not the shepherd one who does not own the sheep they see the wolf coming and they leave the sheep and they flee and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them the hyaline flees because he or she is a heiling and does not care about the sheep but he says i am the good shepherd are you peeping the contrast in the text and i know my sheep and i am known by my own as the father knows me and even so i know my father i lay down my life for the sheep jesus says it's me the good shepherd and they are hirelings it's me the good shepherd and then there are hirelings it's me the doorway to eternal life purpose and heaven and then there are higher links the thief false doctrine is a thief false teaching is the thief bad teachers is a thief people being led by demonic influences there's a thief we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and all of the host of the devil that goes against god and influences people against god they're all hiring the thief watch they use sheep they abandon sheep they leave them bloodied and beat down there is only one good shepherd and then there are higher links there is one guide and then there is another guide and the questionnaire concerning the guy i have put my trust in you have put your trust in the question is where is he leading you and i where is he taking us where are we going on this journey as he is our shepherd david tells us he's taking us three places is right here in the text first the lord as a shepherd he leads his people to listen to me green pastures with an s plural i mean you got to read the bible for details he leads us to green pastures what is a pasture in that context that david is running he's remembering when he was a shepherd leading sheep to green pastures areas where he would lead sheep to that was lush and green and what was the purpose for david leading his sheep to those green luscious places look right at me the purpose for leading them there was for nourishment and for them to eat and for them to enjoy the pasture and for them to enjoy the green grass he led them there so that they can get watch a break from their travels i.e he led them there for provision wash this word and for rest he led them there for provision and for rest the scripture says the lord as a good shepherd he leads his people to green pastures places of provision and rest pastures for us represents watch this word places and opportunities where god gives us nourishment and rest there are places and opportunities where god gives us nourishment and rest places and opportunities watch where god provides for us and where he gives us rest this pastures is a metaphor for places where god leads us where he gives us nourishment and rest nourishment in the form of physical provision paying bills taking care of all our needs provision through mentors provision through community a church can be a pastor a new job can be a pastor a pacific city can be a pastor a good relationship with a mentor can be a pastor being listen these are pastors that he leads us to to give us nourishment and for some of you look right at us and to also give us rest this is a good word for all of my busybodies who don't know how to slow down you think being a machine and going 100 miles per hour seven days a week is holy it is ungodly that's why god even took a break on the sabbath he wants us to have rest he wants you to get sleep the bible even says he gives his beloved sleep some of us we sleep but we don't get no rest the mind is still going we're still tormented about all the things we worried about bills we got to pay these enemies this troll whatever the case may be as a good shepherd watch this he leads us to pastures places and opportunities that give us nourishment and rest but peep what david said in the text he don't just lead us there he makes you lie down there know what that sounds like to me he forcefully puts you on the floor to enjoy that nourishment and that rest why would he forcefully make you lie down because as sheep sometimes we don't have enough common sense or discernment to realize oh shoot i'm standing in a pasture because we operate so much in the flesh or we get offended so quick at my pastor my church we don't even realize oh shoot i got planted in a green pasture my church is a pasture i didn't even realize that when i left because i was hurt by some offense that i didn't deal with in my own heart or some job i left when i wasn't supposed to leave or some place i left when i wasn't supposed to leave because we are sheep oftentimes we don't have enough discernment to realize we're standing in the pasture you know why because sometimes what we call a pastor is not what god calls a pastor we think every pastor means no problems no worries we think everything is perfect god who's all wise he knows every pastor we're standing in and sometimes we'll run in them and run right out of them so fast because we love them this generation we're so ambitious we move so fast we want so much stuff we'll run right through a pasture and god gotta grab us like sheep and make us lay down in that passion you know he said eat hear you listen to too many podcasts where did i plant you eat here you're always trying to start something where did i plant you eat here you're always trying to leave where i planted you eat here and while you're eating take a break rest while you're in this passion that is enjoy what i'm giving you watch for this season enjoy what i'm giving you in this season he makes me to lie down in green pastures enjoy what i'm giving you in this season and notice the world pastures with an s because he'll lead you from one pasture to the next pasture to the next pasture watch and in between pastures they are always barren places if you've ever been to israel or some type of place where they heard sheep i know a lot of us don't know anything about that but they're they're barren places between pastures that is as they lead you from one pasture to the next you will pass through dry places and what we do foolishly is we abandon the shepherd in these dry places it's dry in the season prayer life is dry can't feel god's presence and we abandon him in these seasons but you got to know that he leads us to green pastures with a s he leads us from one pasture through a dry place to another pasture through a dry place to another pasture through a dry place to another pasture and if you look over your life or if you walk with god for any of my time you can testify of being a pastor i was in a dry season and he led me to a pasture i was in dry season i had no church home he led me to victory i had no friends i got community he'll lead you from one passion to a dry season to another pasture through a dry season through another passion through a bad divorce to another pastor sometimes a good relationship can be a pastor he'll lead you out of a bad relationship into a dry place of being single and you're feeling lonely and lead you into another great relationship he leads us from pasture to dry place to pasture but notice he says i'll make you lie down now this is very important because naturally we don't want to lay down and naturally sheep naturally sheep do not like to lay down they want to be on their feet all the time why because sheep are timid creatures they're very very afraid and because sheep are often afraid whenever they're afraid they battle fear and because of that they won't lay down watch this sheep are also very social creatures this is so powerful they don't like being by themselves all the time so whenever they're in a group if there's friction amongst the sheep they won't lay down gosh sheep also to pick up flies when they're moving around and it gets stuck in their coat and agitates them because they can't get the flies out so when they're being harassed by flies they don't like to lay down gosh and sheep are also very anxious about hunger they always want food they need to be nourished so anytime they feel hungry they won't lay down watch so in order for a shepherd to make sheep lay down he got to address four issues with all his sheep if he don't address these four issues the sheep will never fall down they'll never lay down he gotta dress freer friction flies and famine if he don't address these four things sheep don't lay down are you peeping the analogies in the text cause we are too like sheep we never take we don't never want to lay down in the pasture for nourishment and rest when we're dealing with fear friction flies and famine so as a good shepherd the lord has to drive away fear to help us to rest he has to resolve friction among sheep so that we can rest it's hard to rest when you got beef with people all around you you can't rest you're sleeping and you're worried about what they say and what they post and all this you can't rest when you got all this beef so the shepherd got to deal with beef you gotta calm your soul so you can rest so he gotta deal with fear he gotta deal with friction he gotta deal with flies demonic attacks all around me i hate flies i think they're the result of the floor no way god could have made these pests and said it was good right so he got to deal with flies around sheep and then he got deal with famine he got to feed them so he got to deal with their fear he got to deal with friction among sheep he got to deal with flies among sheep all around them he got to deal with famine so he got to drive away their fear he got to calm their soul he got to get rid of a demonic attacks and feed them properly and when sheep are dealing with fair friction flies and famine then they can lay down and get rest and the lord does all these things for us so he's a good shepherd he leads us to pastures green pastures places of nourishment and places of rest david says secondly the lord will lead us besides still waters plural um there is a park not that far from my house um sometimes when i'm going through very very difficult challenges i won't pray in my prayer room i would drive to this park i mean when i go through things that are extremely painful or difficult and uh in this park there is a walking trail and i walk along this trail and uh there is a gentle stream that runs alongside a section of the trail and and as i go to this park i go to this park sometimes to meet with god to pray to talk to him to love on him being his presence to cry and to share all my concerns and my burdens and my frustrations with him and when i come along the section where the water is i look down in the water it's glistening in the sun it's a very gentle stream it's not fast running water it's not stagnant and as i walk alongside that path near that water there's something about that gentle stream that just begins to calm all of my fears all of my anxieties all of my worries as i walk alongside that stream talking to god it almost seems like everything that doesn't matter begins to just fade away and i realized there in god's presence alongside that stream that that fear can't stay it's no match anxiety is no match in that moment worry is no match for that moment troubles is no match for that moment doctor's reports are no match for that moment enemies is no match for that moment man fill in the blank it's just no match for that moment everything just fades away as i walk alongside that gentle stream and in a sense this is where the shepherd leads us when our hearts are heavy if we let him he will lead us beside still waters now for some of us we we're so busy and there's so many of you dealing right now so much happiness so much fear so much anxiety so much worry you're s so look so many of us our soul is such in a bad place and if we would just follow the lord in honesty lord i am broken and i am in need i am weary and i'm tired and and when we get in his presence this besides still waters is a beautiful metaphor for the deepest part of god's presence where everything else fades away this is when i'm not asking him for stuff i'm not asking him to bless me with something this is when i just want to be with him for him and i just want to climb up on his lap like a child would climb up on the lap of a parent i just want to walk with him and hear his voice i just want to walk with him and he feels his arms around me i just want to feel his presence i'm going to go outside and look up in the sky and just feel his presence i want to hear the birds chirp i just want to be in a place where everything else fades away and the only thing that i sense and feel is not my fear it's not my anxieties not my worry it's not my needs it's not my enemies it's not the heaviness i've been carrying it's just the peace of the presence of almighty god a peace that does not come from the world it is a peace that passed all understanding there's a peace that drives away all fear all worry all like these things are no match for god's presence when we find ourselves by these still waters and look right at me if we just be honest how often do we need this and we don't allow him to lead us there how often are we making bad decisions because we tormented in our heart or we run into and fro and we won't slow down long enough for him to lead us there the busyness of this life the business of ministry and work and social media and all this stuff man it puts us in a place where we're running all the time we're wary and tired but we won't slow down long enough for the lord to lead us besides still waters we won't take a walk in the park with the lord and if you would allow him so many of you watching me i know you need this in your mind your heart he will lead you besides still waters plural different streams at different times he will send water in a dry place when you need it and what does that water do david tells us it what it restores the soul and if you be honest look right at me there's so many of you watching around you need your soul restored you're tired you're weary you're busy you're running you're ambitious you're to and fro and you've already ran ahead of the shepherd you're crying you lost strength and vitality and he says watch he restores the soul restoration in two forms one he will revive you and restore you he'll restore to you vitality life and strength and how often life puts us in a place where we need that and secondly this is a restoration from sin where we think wrong say wrong do wrong we stray from god in sin and that restoration puts us back in right fellowship with god man our backslidings are so grievous and our departures from god are so frequent and so many ways that we deserve to be separated from him period but the shepherd considers how his own honor is involved in keeping us close and this is really the major principle in him restoring us not that we deserve it but his but but but when he considers his own honor he brings us back i mean we listen we depart from god so often we depart from god for a boy we depart from god for some girl some pet of hips we depart from god for some new jobs we all we always are departing from him for something we get so busy that we need to spend no time we depart from so much our departures are so frequent and so grievous and the only reason he keep bringing us back is for his own honor and his love for us so he leads us besides still waters he will send water in a dry place and if you allow the shepherd every time you have need he will keep leading you besides still waters man some of you should just go take a part and sit down and stare at a gentle stream it'll transform the way that you feel and finally the lord leads his sheep into paths of righteousness watch paths of righteousness look right at me family i'm closing look right at me look right at me paths of righteousness look right at me this is important in this life there are many paths this life has no shortages of options for roads and paths look right at me there are pads that we create and paths that are created for us there are no shortages of paths in his life there are many roads and paths in this life ones that are presented and ones that we create marriage is a path a new friendship is a path a job opportunity is a path moving to a state is a path leaving a place as a path going to a new church is a path being with this person is a path getting with this mental is a all job building this business is a path i'm going to start that that's all these different there's no shortages of paths in this life look right at me i'm closing family there's no shortage of paths in this life right look right at me but the gamble of going down any path is that we really don't know where we're going to end up why because at the end of the day there's a huge limitation every time we choose a path there's a huge limitation when we choose a path you know what that limitation is you and i are not all-knowing oh my gosh so because of that any path we choose we really don't know where it's going i'm going to leave this job i'm going to leave this church i'm going because i feel like it that's a path you chose but at the end of the day you're not all knowing you really don't know where that path is going to lead you any path you choose you really don't know where it's going to lean you because you and i are limited in the fact that we are not all-knowing not so with the shepherd who is omniscient who knows the end from the beginning who is all-knowing watch who leads us in paths of righteousness because he's not limit he's not limited in knowledge consider how the dynamic of walking down paths change when the path you're walking down was chosen for you by the shepherd consider how the dynamic of walking down past change when the person you're following down these paths is the good shepherd and even deeper than that consider the paths we take specifically of righteousness past you and i could hardly even find righteousness our hearts are so evil and so wicked we couldn't find righteousness if it was right in front of us human beings are fleshly we're weak consider how many times we've done things and regretted it made mistakes i wish i have done that committed to sin it's hard for us to find the paths of righteousness the paths are right in the sight of god why because we're born in sin i didn't always choose the right paths not even as a christian can the lord be trusted to lead you down the right path there's some of you i know you're afraid to let the lord lead you i know because you're afraid he'll make you some missionary somewhere or he'll strip everything from you so we'd be so nervous to fully surrender and trust the shepherd we'll watch can he be trusted to lead you down the right path can he can why can i say that because he's not leading you for the sake of leading you he said he leads us in paths of righteousness watch this for his namesake preacher i don't get it he leads you in paths of righteousness down every right path for his namesake pastor philip i don't get it he leads us in paths of righteousness for his namesake therefore as he's choosing our paths his reputation for getting us where we need to go is on the line gosh and he's not about to ruin his reputation for you i so long as we allow him to be a good shepherd he will keep leading us down all the right paths we need to go down because his reputation is on the line there's a woman in the studio right now was here moved to another state and with no family here the lord led her back and sometimes we don't realize why the lord leads us here and leads us there because sometimes he don't always give us an explanation i never see a shepherd talking to a sheep and explaining them every place that they're going the onus is on the shepherd to lead and find the past and then the onus is on the sheep to just follow the shepherd he may not tell us what we're going to encounter on those paths some of those paths are longer than others some of those paths are more dangerous than others some of those paths there are times when there's times where paths are are are good and the sun is shining there's times when paths where it's cloudy and it's dark and it's foggy and we can't see there's times when the road is smooth and there's times when that road is rough there's times when it's downhill and we're running and having fun and there's times when it's uphill and it's worked and it seemed like lord where are you but we can trust the shepherd because we know that matter what path he's leading us down whether it's painful whether it bring tears whether it bring joy laughter or even a measure of pain and sacrifice he's leading us down that path for his name's sake for his glory for your good and his glory he could be trusted even when you can't feel him he could be trusted even when you don't understand he could be trusted even when you don't have an explanation he could be trusted ours is to follow his is to lead i remember um when my wife and i was graduating from bible college everybody in bible college seemed like they had a a job or some kind of opportunity i'm going here to be a youth pastor i'm taking over this ministry my dad has a church i'm taking over my dad's church and there i am with my wife like yo where where are we going no idea where we going no definitive word from the lord and we're like a month out from graduating bible college and i remember saying helena let's fast for this month turn our plates down and turn off the tv and let's just see god for where we need to be and i remember in that month of fasting it was may 2010 during that phase the lord spoke to me about the city of atlanta now watch there is no way in my own estimation i would have came to this city because when i was in a season of debauchery in my former life this was a city i came to to play and to do evil and wickedness so i had memories in the city that were not pleasing and i want no parts of the city for the bad decisions i made here the people i hurt here the things i did here the stuff i sold here all the stuff i didn't want to be in the city and i don't like heat i want to go to the north i wanted to go someplace in that dc maryland new jersey new york area that area where i'm from the northeast where the gospel is not assumed where people are not really playing church where they either love god or they don't they're not everybody it's not the bible belt where everybody thinks they're christian because they're moral i wanted to go play a place where i thought it was really dark and i mean i mean i'm a hard dude like i'm i got rough edges pray for me my wife is still helping me work out some some i don't know what to call it i got some stuff i gotta and i want to be in a place where it's rough and ghetto i want to be where they don't know jesus and i'm standing in the middle of the block preaching the gospel in a park and building a church in the middle of queens or something and the lord said no i'm sending you to the deep south where you don't like the heat where you did dirt in that city where you never wanted to be that's the path of righteousness i've chosen for you and grudgingly not willingly i'm a human being grudgingly i packed up my family emptied my bank account 25 hundred dollars was all we had left got to ride a truck and put my wife and my kids on a truck and drove to atlanta and got here with nothing no bank account no money no friends no job we pulled up in atlanta with nothing had to find a place for us to live find a job build friends in a place i did not want to be but this was the path he chose for me and as i look over my shoulder i realized the good shepherd knew exactly what he was doing i thought the north was dark no the bible belt is dark the bible belt needs heart called gospel preaching the bible belt needs a loud mouth like philip anthony mitchell the bible belt needs a place where a man will stand up and tell the truth even if he gets persecuted for it the bible belt needs that a place where we're steeped in perversion and massed in religion the bible belt needs somebody's not afraid to back down won't compromise don't care about reputation from people or the masses don't need the applause of men and it's here in this hot tropical weather where i did not want to be the lord has blessed my life has built a church out of nothing i get to do life with people i love i'm in the studio with people i love i'm spreading the gospel with people i love we've reached thousands of people multiplied thousands of disciples god has given me great relationships through my work here in atlanta i have relations with great men and women all across the country have favor and open doors all across the country i don't have to brag or put everything on social media i have dynamic relationships all born out of my ministry here in atlanta doors that opened for me relationships i have rooms i've sat and i don't got no business being in people i got on my phone right now i got no business knowing because of my ministry here in atlanta people watching me all around the country you never know who's watching you who will reach out to you one day i don't gotta put everything on i don't gotta put a picture with me where everybody i know on social media the lord has blessed my life my wife my children the work of my hands and a pathwatch i would not have chosen for myself but he leads me and you in the past of righteousness and look did i always want to be on this path somebody look right at me you know many times i try to quit this path you know many times i try to quit pastoring you know many times i want to give up you know many times i've been hurt scarred betrayed you know me knives i took in my back you know many times i said lord i can't do this another day how many times i want to walk away turn the church over to the elders you know many times i want to go back to new york how many times have we tried to jump off the paths that god has chosen for us not staying on it long enough to see where it will take us yeah the job is difficult yeah you don't like it yeah the work is heavy yes you can't see yes foggy yeah i don't like what i'm doing but it's not about what you like it's about following the paths of righteousness for his namesake long enough to see what he will do if he just stay on the path look right at me the lord god almighty is a good shepherd he loves you and if you let him he will guide you over and over and over again to what green pastures through barren and dry places to another green pasture if you let him he will lead you besides still waters through dry places to other streams of living water restoring your soul and if you let him he will lead you down paths of righteousness for his namesake that will lead you into the best life possible and ultimately if you stay on them into fulfilling the plans and purposes that you have for his life for he has for your life you don't you're not all knowing which one is easier look right at me to jump in your car and try to get to a state 500 miles from here with no gps that you've never been to you don't do that but which one is easy to punch in the coordinates and just follow at the next light make a right go down four miles get off at this exit make a left right here stay right here traffic ahead danger ahead alternate route do you want to stay in this room i got an option for you isn't it much easier to just follow the gps of the holy spirit the lord our good shepherd even when that root is not pretty my prayer for you is that you would let him lead you and guide you as a good shepherd to green pastures besides still waters and to paths of righteousness for his name's sake for your good and first glory because he loves you and he cares for you as his sheep that's my prayer for you father in the name of jesus i pray for all these sheep under the sound of my voice i pray god wherever they are right now in the season whatever path they're on whatever barren place they're in whatever good place they're in wherever they are father god i pray in the name of jesus that you help them to get a revelation that you are a good shepherd and father god i pray that they would trust you with leadership and guidance and i pray god lord that as they trust you would lead them father to green pastures and through barren places and back to green pastures where they could be nourished and find rest i pray you would lead them beside still waters where they would constantly be restored in their soul and father because there are so many paths our good decisions make paths bad decisions make paths you create path all these different paths father i pray that you would lead them in the paths of righteousness for your name's sake and father i pray specifically for people who are on paths that you put them on that they want to jump off because it's difficult give them the strength to keep going even if they're wary i have them to trust you and where you're taking them i pray this over them your sheep in the mighty and majestic and matchless name of the lord jesus christ amen and amen and amen family uh i want to say happy mother's day again to all of our mothers who are watching and just pray today you will take a moment to honor your mother whether that's a text message a phone call a letter or take her out to lunch or dinner if she's with you and for those of you who mom is not here show love to another mom or we pray for you that you'll find strength and encouragement today to all my brothers and sisters uh i just want to encourage you um to continue to be just faithful in this season uh to stay connected to all of our virtual platforms stay connected to everything we have availed to you our social media platforms this platform our virtual groups man jump in one of those even for these last even if you jump in just for the series i'm challenging so many of you watching me we about to go on break from our groups in the summer we got just a couple weeks left even if you jump in just to discuss these last three messages or four messages you could jump in today and talk about these messages just jump in just for the month of may before we go on breaking june to everybody else who are faithfully supporting our church you're being faithful when you're giving all that thank you so much from the bottom of my heart it means everything to me that you're helping us to stay alive and to operate in this difficult season i pray and i'm praying i'm doing all that i can to try to be a good shepherd to you in this difficult season i will give anything to be with you in the room hug you whole you touch you pray for you lay hands on you i shed tears over you i love you and i miss you you mean everything to me and if you are a guest a friend searching for a church home i mean maybe you hear my voice and say that's where i want to be we invite you to be a part of our family even if it's all be it virtual keep logging onto the stream and let us lead you in gospel preaching and becoming a good a better disciple of the lord jesus christ family on this sunday this mother's day whether you get out or stay in the house i just pray that you would have a blessed day our emcee is coming behind me to share some words with you and we're going to hang out in the chat for a few minutes and love on each other the lord is a good shepherd he wants to lead you and guide you to green pastures besides still waters and paths of righteousness for his namesake i pray he will do that for you in jesus name i love you i see you next week for part three of besides still waters thank you for listening to the victory broadcast we pray that message was a blessing to you if you have a story or testimony to share we want to hear all about it send us an email to share victorychurchatl.org or visit us online under share thanks for listening go in peace

Channel: Victory Church

Views: 1,188

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Id: nOzVdfbJ5Gw

Length: 63min 33sec (3813 seconds)

Published: Mon May 10 2021