FTGC#14-HERE'S WHY THIS MAY BE THE GREATEST OF ALL THE CHAPTERS OF THE WHOLE BIBLE!

wow i can't believe another week has gone by and i get to share with you and if you want to grab your bibles we're in psalm 23 as you see on the screen but psalm 23 among the 52 greatest chapters in the bible might be the greatest of the greatest probably in the english-speaking world nearly everyone in the world that speaks english has heard of the 23rd psalm it's the psalm that church kids start memorizing when they're little tiny sunday school attenders it's also the psalm that as a pastor for over 30 years was the first place i went to when i had to go to the hospital bedside of a dying saint so what's amazing is the 23rd psalm is something children know about because they can so relate to the lord is my shepherd it's something that adults think about especially as death is approaching but more important than little kids and adults and dying uh old age people the 23rd psalm is the part of the bible that most describes what jesus is doing right now in my life and in your life it's well look at the sight jesus is all i need now this is week 14 as we cover the 23rd psalm and remember that back up i touch the screen on the way by see where we are week 14. now we're in the midst of eight weeks looking at the psalms and so i won't repeat again the historical context in the geographic context but what i want you to see right here is that these three psalms 22 23 and 24 are part of a a wonderful grouping that explains jesus in the past died on the cross for my sins jesus nets 22 jesus 24 is coming as the glorious king and that's the second coming of christ that's him coming as judge to restore his kingdom on the earth but between 22 and 24 where we are today the good shepherd the shepherd of my soul is living in me and through me let me explain that as we go through this psalm 23 1 depending on what version of the bible the new international new american english standard or the king james new king james basically the first verse is universally the same that's why this psalm is so well known because no matter how you translate it always comes out the same way in every version of the bible but the lord is my shepherd and then i lack nothing i shall not want i will not be in need very clearly the lord is my shepherd and and look at this reminder jesus who is the lord who's my shepherd is all i need when i have jesus i don't lack anything when i have jesus i don't have to fear i don't have to worry i don't have to be alarmed as we'll see from the life of the sheep now i've spent over 30 years of my life as a pastor and as a pastor in this next slide i always put this verse at the bottom of every letter i wrote so for over 30 years all the thousands of letters all of my staff members had to type and and print off and have me sign whether it was for every visitor or whether it was for some business matter of the church always hebrews 13 20 and verse 21 we're always at the bottom of the letter that ties with this psalm do you see this chart you remember this chart the the triad the three-part look at jesus christ he's the good shepherd in 22 that dies for us he's the great shepherd in 23 that lives for us and he's the chief shepherd in 24 that's coming in glory now the psalm 22 verse is i am the good shepherd and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep that's john 10 11. the first peter 5 4 verse is about when the great shepherd the chief shepherd appears the lord of glory and that's what we're going to see next time and by the way that's going to be an unbelievable look at how psalm 24 and revelation 6 to 19 all tied together but listen to this the good shepherd in psalm 22 is the creator who came to save his fallen creatures the great shepherd in psalm 23 is jesus ever living for us who know him today but psalm 24 and by the way he our redeemer ever lives to make intercession for us but our judge the judge of all the earth is coming in glorious power and that's revelation 6 onward so basically we're looking at every dimension of the life of jesus christ in these three psalms but the central kind of most wide spread part of christ's life once we're saved until we get to heaven he is this psalm 23 wondrous shepherd of our lives he is my savior the moment i bow in in faith confessing my sins and asking him he becomes my shepherd all the way through life and he is going to be my king as i as i serve him in heaven as he reigns over the perfect universe the cross is where he accomplished my salvation being the shepherd and guiding me with his staff the crook of his staff all the way through and then the crown that he offers for the future as we in glory live with him my past is under his grace but every moment of the present it's all about following him as my good shepherd how do you do that that's what we're going to see in this study first of all do you remember those those three in the past he was the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep in the present now this is the verse right here that i put on every every letter thousands of my whole pastoral ministry let me read it to you it's my favorite verse if you've ever gotten a note from me or a card or even a lot of times uh even online when i send emails i add this now may the god of peace that's one of god's he's called the god of grace the god of peace the god of hope one of his names he is the god of peace who brought up our lord jesus from the dead so god raised the son from death into life that's what we just celebrated uh by the way we just went through the week between palm sunday and easter now we're from easter sunday on and we are celebrating what that verse says that that god the god of peace brought up our lord jesus from the dead but who is he he is the great shepherd of the sheep and through the blood of the everlasting covenant that's where he gave himself for me he shed his blood to forgive my sins look what jesus wants to do that's why i add verse 21 make you complete it's interesting word that's the word equip it's the word to mend us to set broken bones to to make us back to the way he designed us to be the fall and sin and and our broken lives are mended by the cross by salvation and and jesus makes us complete we're finally once we get saved we're everything he wants us to be if we allow him to live through us because it's not me but remember what paul said it's not i but christ living out through me so look at this he wants to make us complete in every good work you and i ephesians 2 8 9 were created for good works to do his will remember that's the essence of life not my will but christ's will how do we know that working in us what is well pleasing i have a little motto every church ever pastored the byline on the bulletin and on the sign and on the advertisements was always pleasing god and making disciples of jesus christ individually we please god collectively the purpose we have as a church make disciples of jesus christ look at that verse he wants to work in us what is well pleasing in his sight he's always watching through jesus christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen so that's the that's the psalm 23 tie and then psalm 24 and when the chief shepherd see great shepherd good shepherd chief shepherd appears that's the second coming of christ his coming in glory you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away so this is what we're looking at in psalm 22 23 and 24. now each day of this week i have spent each day this week studying sheep and writing down everything i could find so let's jump into that okay i studied psalm 23 and started writing down all this stuff number one psalm 23 is like two other passages in the bible first corinthians 13 and the sermon on the mount are monosyllabic primarily mostly one-syllable words psalm 23 is one of the most simple communications in the structure of the hebrew language and in the translation into the english language it's so easy to understand just like the greatest of these is love the great love chapter first corinthians 13 and just like jesus teaching the sermon on the mount he was teaching and we're going to cover in a few weeks that great passage of scripture but in that amazing message jesus taught peasant farmer poor people and they understood because he used simple words just like in the 23rd psalm well the next thing that i saw this week as i studied is three thousand years ago david wrote these words the lord is my shepherd two thousand years ago jesus said the one david was talking about that's me i'm the good shepherd today the the day after easter 2021 shepherds all over the world have changed very little sheep have changed even less but look at this the lord he hasn't changed at all and what we're going to see is david communicates that he realized the lord was the shepherd and he was the sheep so i wrote in my notes i wrote back up there i am like a sheep and we're going to study i found so many ways that i relate to sheep and i i want you to think about it and in the primary way this 23rd chapter that i've marked up in my bible and i hope you're going to mark up this week if you're following the normal pattern of our study i'm kind of launching what you're going to do all week long and by the way i look at you all as my small group bonnie and i are actually on the road where we film three classes each day and get the notes and get the material and get the teaching and and send them out to students that are actually studying with us but you are my small group and i look at you all as kind of like my little tie back to everything that was normal all the years i was a pastor when i was a pastor i used to meet with my bible and my little journal i have it right here this is one i share with you this is one that i'm been writing and typing in all these notes from studying the 23rd psalm but for all the years that i was pastoring i always had a small group that were kind of like the group that was going through life together with me and and sometimes it was couples uh bonnie and i used to host small groups in our home and then as the churches kind of got much larger we started hosting small groups at the church uh we had all these couples bible studies that that we would work together with and then for the last three four years before bonnie and i launched into being missionaries i had 10 small groups of men that i went through the bible with for two years this study actually what you're doing is what i did for all those years those final years of my pastoral work with 10 small groups 30 men and and we did christian life together we met every week year round we we studied the very same passage that's why there's 52 of them because it was a year-long study and it was so good we did it a second time and memorized verses we all journaled and we brought our journals to the study we all wrote those application prayers and we prayed those prayers in the hearing of one another as accountability of where god was working why because we're like sheep what does that mean i am like a sheep sheep are the most mentioned animals in the bible and that slide does not want to stay on the screen and so i'll back up to it over 600 times sheep are mentioned in the bible we know so much about sheep but here's just a summary an ancient shepherd was active in every phase of a sheep's life from its birth when the shepherd served as the midwife to its death when that shepherd devised the swiftest and most painless death possible the shepherd provided the food he would gently pull thorns from the fleece and thistles from the paws he painlessly would shear the wool from its body and even gently set the leg bones when they were broken why are we like sheep it may be however because sheep are the most helpless animals known in all of zoology they're always losing their way almost every known animal can perform but we've never seen a trained sheep have you you can have a trained dog a trained cat farm animals everything that we catch and trap can perform for our amusement with the exception of sheep perhaps the lord considered the utter helplessness of humanity and just shook his head and said we'll call them all sheep now that's what one author said by the way all my little things i've found as i studied all week i put quotes around us you know that there are many many resources the philip keller was a shepherd and he wrote a whole book about sheep and don baker wrote one of course macarthur and swindoll and and all kinds of people have written but i'm showing you the cream of everything i found uh here's what one of my favorite authors wrote he wrote seven characteristics of sheep number one they're utterly helpless a sheep can't find food it can't find water it can't find its way home if you leave him alone he can't find his way out he has to be led number two sheep are among the most tender of creatures i read about a place that that constantly was butchering sheep and one of the butchers says i've never seen a sheep as we skinned it that wasn't covered with black and blue marks what he compared a sheep to is a walking peach that everything it bumped into bruised it and half of a sheep's life it's bleeding because it's it's hurt and the other half it's bleeding because it's helpless and lost number three sheep are extremely vulnerable they can't protect themselves in any way and they can't even tell what they should eat not eat when they're out grazing if a shepherd does not go through and remove all the dangerous poisonous weeds the sheep will eat them and get sick and be laying on the ground very sick number four sheep are about the dirtiest animals because they can't cleanse themselves and they're a walk they walk around with a giant sponge that soaks up everything that it gets near their wool sheep are mindless they they absolutely will follow whatever's in front of them and if one sheep cuts off the path all the sheep behind it will follow and and miss where the shepherd's taking everyone that's just how mindless they are they have the greatest need of cleansing this author said number seven because they're one of the few animals totally incapable of self-cleansing you ever watched a cat licking itself you ever watched a dog licking itself and cleaning have you ever watched animals as they rub against things and and kind of take care of their pests with their you know flapping the like the horse's tail sheep are totally incapable of self-cleansing and most sheep if left to their own become a huge walking mud pile filled with thistles and burrs and mud and just pitiful helpless well those bring us to some lessons look at jesus remember in the old testament introduced himself to moses said i am that i am and his ineffable name his personal name is actually in hebrew which actually reads from this direction to this direction it would be a yeah yeah i am that i am in the new testament jesus takes that old testament personal name of god and adds descriptors he says in john these are all in john by the way and we'll talk about them when we get to the gospel of john but i am the bread of life john 6 i am the light of the world john 8 i am the door of the sheep and i am the good shepherd look two out of seven a third of all jesus personal names have to do with us as his sheep he said on the doorway the way you get into my fold is through me and i'm your protector and your guard and your guide i'm your good shepherd john 10 11 and verse 14. i give my life for the sheep and that's why he is the resurrection in life he's the way we follow the truth we believe and the life we live and that's especially what we're going to see in this uh incredible look at the 23rd psalm our good shepherd jesus is the great i am the great tie to the old testament and by the way a little you know lesson here there is no letter j in the hebrew language so it's the word jehovah is a wonderful english word but it's a an english form of the hebrew yahweh yahweh is actually the hebrew pronunciation remember yahweh is the personal name of the lord in hebrews so if we're speaking about hebrew there aren't any jays in hebrew you know like jerusalem that's english form it's yerushalam they don't have a j so the names of the lord are yahweh raha that means jehovah is our shepherd the lord our shepherd yahweh and it's not jehovah jireh there's no jay in hebrew it's yahweh yerah the lord our provider shalom our peace rafa our healer and see this is all the ways god has revealed himself but look at this psalm 23 kind of the encompassing one the lord who is our righteousness and our victory and the one who's ever with us the way we relate to him is he's our shepherd so i just want you to think about that well the lesson of psalm 23 now grab your bible and let me read to you this amazing greatest chapter of all probably in the whole bible out of the 1189 chapters the most well known says this the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures he leads me beside the still waters he restores my soul he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake yea though i walk through the valley the shadow of death i will fear no evil for you are with me notice the the change from the third person he verse two he verse two he he but now in verse four you david said see there's something about knowing the lord at a distance he but david said that's not enough you need to know him up close and personal that's what salvation is by the way jesus died for the sins of the world anybody can say that they can read that but christianity is he gave himself for me he is my savior and you verse 4 you uh were with me your rod and your staff they comfort me you i experience you lord verse five you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies now look at this you anoint my head with oil that's going to be fun i had more amazing time studying that and you know for us anointing our head with oil some people thought is that gel you know is that you know formula for my hair no no it's so much more than that for remember this is talking about as a sheep when do sheep get anointed by shepherds see that's going to be fun but here here is um the end of verse 5 kind of the theme i want to get to my cup runs over see the whole conclusion after this whole list of making me lie down leading restoring leading me walking me and protecting and preparing and anointing leads me to the psalm 23 life what is the psalm 23 life my cup overflows my life is overflowing i don't want i'm not in need i i i'm able to lie down and i'm restored and i'm walking in righteousness and i'm not afraid and i know the lord is with me and i'm calm in the presence of my enemies and i'm healthy he's anointed me my head so look at the slide psalm 23 living is the type of life that god calls us to live each of us must ask is the cup of my life overflowing today by the way this were we're standing on the mount of beatitudes looking across the sea of galilee in fact i could talk about this all day you're aware jesus taught the sermon on the mount and right over here is where the prodigal son went he went to the other side this is where jesus went and the demonized man was on the other side of the sea of galilee but we'll cover those in future lessons ahead let's think about sheep the strange thing about sheep is because of the very makeup it's almost impossible for them to lie down in those green pastures unless four requirements are met number one they have to be free of all fear a sheep cannot put its head down the grass unless it's not afraid something is going to jump up and and get it and harm it so free from fear free from friction with other sheep see the shepherd has to separate the kind of the combatant sheep that are you know pushing and fighting for the grat they have to be spaced so they don't fight once they they get calm and unfearful and no friction they'll start eating but they won't eat if they're sick see they have to be free from sickness and they have to be free they have to eat enough to be free from hunger a sheep can actually get its whole day's supply if it's just plowing through the pasture with nothing going on but the problem is the shepherd has to constantly be helping the sheep to stay focused on feeding and getting to that lying down so they can ruminate let's talk about that only the cup of a peaceful sheep can overflow where does peacefulness come from well look at this isaiah wrote this you this is the lord we'll keep him in perfect peace did you know perfect piece is actually the word shalom shalom it's just the doubling of the word that's how god emphasizes things he either doubles it or triples it do you want to know what real peace is it's peace peace perfect peace shalom shalom how do you get shalom shalom whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you do you know why most people are anxious these days let me give you a little visual because their mind has stayed on this oh you can see what's on my phone my wonderful wife i wasn't talking about that picture i was talking about they're spending all their time on their phone i mean either they're texting or instagramming or youtubing or snapping or facebooking or whatever or emailing or texting or talking or playing games and when they do that all the time you know what happens they say i didn't have time to read my bible today one time bonnie and i were invited to the launch of about a hundred um next generation missionaries heading off to the second largest country in the world and one of the darkest countries in the world that has over a million deities and darkness and spiritual warfare and they asked me to address them just before they got on the airplane all these couples going to penetrate this country they were young they were in their 30s they were fully supported they were launching and they said come and challenge them i said what do you want me to challenge them on they said well now this was just about five years ago they said well all of them are about 30 and most of them have never read the whole bible all the way through i said what they're full-time career missionaries they're heading to the darkest spot on earth almost they said well they grew up in the iphone generation they said we want you to challenge them to get in the word so the first thing i did is i said get a piece of paper and i had them all get a piece of paper and and i said write on that piece of paper how long you spend every day you know with all the normals you know instagram facebook snapchat um texting playing games watching playing video games and and all the other games and and just put how much time you on the average you know 20 minutes here 30 minutes there whatever and i said and then and i wrote this number in front of them if you can read my writing that's 72. i said it takes 72 hours to read the whole bible out loud if you're in sixth grade and i looked out on them i said every one of you are far from sixth grade you're much smarter than any sixth grader it only takes 72 hours for you as a little kid to read the bible out loud can you imagine how much faster you can read it silently i said now how many of you have read the whole bible the whole bible cover to cover in your lifetime raise your hand less than half raise their hand i said now get your little piece of paper look at your your time and i looked at them i mean some of them were spending an hour on facebook and half hour on pinterest and i don't know how long on instagram i mean they opened their day in instagram and you know what i mean it adds up and then many of them were still messaging and facebooking at night and and checking the scores or watching the game or whatever on their phone did you know their their electronic time was in the hours and i said take your little sheet of paper and take a little time from all those divisions you know a little facebook time little instagram time a little texting time little gaming time little movie time little netflix time little you know prime this and disney plus that and i said and find how much time you want to invest with god look at the slide to stay your mind on your good shepherd see the amount of time we spend in the word shows how much we trust him if i trust god his word is more important than the latest everything financial news or sports news or fashion news or friend news okay i'm meddling i'll stop there by the way the end of the conference they turned in their slips of paper and all of them all of them made a holy sacred vow to the lord to at least spend 15 minutes a day that's the minimum to read the bible through in a year some of them said 30 minutes a day read the bible through twice some of them actually said i'm gonna i've taken from all those in fact i've quit some of those lines on my electronic world and i'm gonna spend an hour just getting through the word to catch up by the way me personally i was challenged when i was 19 years old i'd only read the bible through once and i did it because someone paid me a hundred dollars to go to camp if i'd read the whole bible and i sat down that's how i know it takes 72 hours because i just sat at hasla high school and read it in the library uh you know i asked my teacher can i go to the library can i go to the library can i go to the library and i just read the whole bible to earn a hundred dollars and then i got to bible school and i was so convicted that i was going to spend the rest of my life teaching this book and i'd only read it through once so i started at age 19 reading the bible through once a month by the way to read it through once a month you just spend 72 hours a month you know what i did i didn't have the iphone to cut out or the laptop i cut out going to every basketball game every soccer game you know i went to every kind of sporting thing and i had long dates and all these things and i just i used to read a whole pile of magazines every month you know life magazine national geographic popular mechanics popular science all these different magazines and i cut everything out until i had two hours and 20 minutes free every day to read the bible and i read the bible through once a month for over three years until i far exceeded my age because i was told you'll never be able to teach the bible to you've read it through at least once for every year you are old so i had read it once at 19 i had read it 31 times by the time i turned 20. i had read it 43 times by the time and you understand by the time those 3 and a half years were over well let's get back number two only sheep who are refreshed can overflow now look this this is the judean wilderness where david this is not far from bethlehem this is what it looks like does that look like green pastures uh-huh during rainy season but most of the year is not raining season and sheep really have to search to find a little grass here and there and shepherds have to be leading them but look what we have john 7 jesus made a promise if anyone thirsts you want to be refreshed come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his heart will flow rivers of living water you know what jesus said if you'll spend time with me my holy spirit will well up in your life and you'll be like a river of life-giving water as with most animals sheep are made up of 70 water this is typical this is a sheepfold in the judean wilderness very much probably david walked by that it's that old water is vital for them to live but there's only three ways that a sheep in israel can get healthy in life-giving water drawing water from a deep well having water stilled in a running stream by the way a sheep cannot go into a river or it will float like a bobber and then sink like lead weight because it's just a big sponge so a shepherd if they got near a river had to make a little little drinking station where they could just drink without being swept away those you know deep wells sheep can't get to and it takes a long time to to bucket the water running streams are dangerous look at this the primary method is do laden grasses now think about this mark 1 35 now in the morning having risen a long while before daylight he that's the good shepherd himself jesus went out and departed to a solitary place in their prayed think about the universal teaching in the scripture about refreshment eating manna and getting alone with the lord jesus example the bible characters example and all the great christian biographies all have something in common look at this it is in the quiet early hours of the morning jesus communed with this heavenly father it's also in those times at the start of each day he waits for us look at this to come for feeding renewing refreshing into quieter souls remember what it says in revelation 3 do you remember what jesus said he said behold i stand at the door and what i'm knocking what is he doing jesus is waiting to come in he said in revelation 3 and have a meal with us when does jesus want to have a meal with you whenever you'll invite him in what's the best time to do it well for me at the very beginning of my day because if i'm not careful my day evaporates and so i choose to start my day working on my verses that i have on my phone reading my bible praying writing in my journal to start each day now look back at the slide our quiet times each morning are much more than an old-fashioned custom a lot of people think oh that's old fashioned that's for the old-timers no they are the habit of saints of old whose lives reflect the lord powerfully in life and ministry and by the way when you read the biographies of the great men and the great women of god who have gone before us most in their biographies will attribute their growth spiritually to these quiet times with the lord at the start of each day it's the example of jesus and it's example of david he said early will i seek thee continue jesus wants to restore my soul he doesn't just want to refresh me and feed me he wants to restore me because only the lives of a restored sheep can overflow what would make a sheep not restored well look at this and and i'm quoting for another one of these shepherds one of the dreadful situations of sheep is to be cast i've never even heard of this this refers to being on its back with its feet flailing and able to regain its balance to stand this often happens when she try and find a spot that's too comfortable and they kind of tumble down into a depression and their feet are up in the air or when they eat too much and they actually do that and they tip over or they're wool they're too shaggy and untrimmed and they stumble and roll down an embankment so that's called being cast look what david says why art thou cast down o my soul you know i don't usually well probably the older i get i will but i it's not normal for me to stumble and be with you know i can't get up you know i've fallen and can't get up like that advertisement physically but emotionally look at this this is our real problem why are you cast down oh my soul your emotions your feelings why are you disquieted within me hope in god a cast sheep is a very pathetic sight and so is a cast believer who are have lost their footing spiritually lying on its back its feet in the air it flays frantically struggling to stand up it can't succeed it will bleed for a little for help but generally it just lies there lashing about frightened and frustrated that describes a great many believers lives do you know what hebrews says the book of hebrews hebrews 12 1 therefore we also since we are surrounded by so greater cloud of witnesses get rid of anything that casts you down every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let's go through the christian life in with endurance in the race that set before us this is what one of the sheep ologists wrote when when the fleece becomes very long and heavily matted with mud manure burrs and other debris it's much easier for that sheep to become cast it's weighed down with its own wool this is what i wrote in my journal join me in asking jesus to show us how to lay aside anything that impedes our walk with christ now you can measure how you're doing spiritually by how hungry you are for this book which is more important this or this which do you seek first the kingdom of god or entertainment amusement fun keeping up poking tagging insta-ing whatever what do you seek first the lord says seek ye first kingdom of god what keeps us from doing that look at this verse anything that that keeps us from seeking him first we should lay aside and avoid because it's ensnaring join me this this is you wanna know what this week did to me i started asking jesus and new and afresh to show me what i needed to lay aside that has become we're in this coveted time did you know that during this covert time netflix and hulu and prime video and disney plus and hbo max and you name it peacock i don't even know all these streaming services have become best friends with the world they shouldn't be our best friends as believers we should lay aside anything that impedes seeking first the kingdom of god number four jesus wants to anoint my head with oil because only the lives of healthy sheep look what it says in verse 5. you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies that means i can put my head down to grass and eat because i'm unafraid because you're the one i'm trusting and because you anoint my head with oil and that's why my cup can overflow this is what i wrote my journal ask jesus to keep me healthy every day ask jesus to keep you healthy every day let's talk about spiritual health he anoints my head with oil what does that mean if sheep are not checked they develop infections the most common is what we see in the old testament it's called a blemished if you read the old testament and you should be reading the old testament you should read the bible through at least once a year just to hear everything god has to say you should invest 15 minutes a day 15 minutes a day to read the whole bible through and just read it just to just to get a scope and sequence and understanding and hear the lord's voice but when you read the old testament it's always bring me an unblemished lamb what is that well the blemishes were what we would today called scabs they were communicable infectious skin disorders that left unchecked would just totally disable the sheep the face of the sheep is where the scab starts and it's transmitted to other sheep as they rub their heads which they do all the time remember they're bumping and jostling the most common other ailment is of the head and it's also attacking their head it's called the nose fly now look at this again this is my in my journal in application to me today the world of sin our flesh and the devil usually attacks our heads our minds first the first place a sheep gets sick is somewhere in its head and face either these nose flies are laying larva in its eyes and nose and horrible infection or these scabs start forming and it's just gross now think about it ancient and modern shepherds have made an oil with sulfur and spices that repels the flies it prevents eggs from being laid and it calms the sheep in the summer the fly season and it's also a medicine that that heals all these scabs and makes them not transmittable so that's that's shepherding that's what oil in your head was medical attention have you received medical attention as the shepherd anoints his sheep pouring oil over their heads rubbing their wounds anointing their noses something wonderful takes place an anointed sheep's whole personality changes they're not irritable with the other sheep they're not frustrated about being you know getting to the grass first they're not hostile and fighting they focus on feeding and growing all they have to do is have this this health treatment by their good shepherd what would that be to us are you thinking what is oil a picture of in the old testament the holy yeah the holy spirit now think about that the nose flies the christian life are catalogued in galatians 5. now that's a key chapter they're called the works of the flesh 17 works of the flesh are named adultery fornication and cleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred contention jealousies outbursts of wrath selfish ambitions dissensions heresies envies murders drunkenness and revelries wow now think about this most believers shun nine of those you heard words that you would never have anything to do of we're proud we don't do them but the other eight reflect the irritations of the flesh in our social relationships of which most of us are guilty hatred contentions being jealous uh saying i lost my temper when you actually found it selfish ambitions think of ourselves first dissensions disagreeing with people not properly understanding the word of god envying others those are all common and these pests are constantly buzzing around us and within us and they're they're causing harassment we can swat at them we can run from them we can hide from them we can pretend they're not there but we can't eliminate them they create guilt and anxiety within us hostility without the only solution is found in another in the lord my irritable personality must be exchanged for another's personality do you know what the fruit of the spirit is i call it a personality transplant when i say not i but christ how how does that happen when i empty myself of self and say no and ask to be filled with the holy spirit think about that the fruit of the spirit is actually a list of christ personality traits when the holy spirit runs our lives the nine evidences are called the fruit of the spirit they come right after the fruit of the flesh same chapter galatians five they're called love and joy and peace and long suffering kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentile gentleness and self-control the holy spirit pours that oil of his love on the nose fly of strife and brings peace he pours his oil on the of joy over the nose fly of my envy of others and brings me peace he pours his oil of peace over my nose fly of disputes and brings peace to my life see that's what the lord offers to us now think about it the holy spirit wants to replace my personality with christ i just have to invite him and ask him and surrender to him that's what it means to walk in the spirit my best illustration that that resonates in my mind that's clears to me is a glove you can go to walmart and you can go and you can look at the glove section and you can get a gardener's glove or a golfer's glove or a baseball player's glove or a you know skateboarders glove or whatever kind of glove you want and if you have that glove and just throw it on the table nothing happens until that glove is filled with a hand now by the way you can get a gardening glove and put it on your hand and you won't become a gardener but a gardening glove with the hand of the gardener in it becomes able to do gardening or golfing or baseball or whatever kind of person it's not me filling my life i am like the glove and the holy spirit fills me and he changes my personality just like filling the glove he fills my life it's dramatic life-changing and overflowing there's always enough anointing left over for others the overflowing cup is meant to be shared the anointed head is for me god wants to heal me of my sins that so easily beset me and all the frailties of my flesh but once i get healed the over overflowing cup is to overflow to others we're supposed to be overflowing into the lives of everyone around us the people that know us that live with us that are our roommates that are married to us that that were their parents or were their children or were their fellow members of the body of christ in the long term should see a decreasing frequency of me being sinful and an increasing frequency of me looking and acting like christ that's the spirit-filled life next slide is a cup of your life overflowing today that's the bottom line of our whole study if not have you bowed your head before the good shepherd and ask him to oil you with the spirit of god yet today think about that at salvation we received all of the holy spirit but he doesn't have all of us for him to fill us and control us are two vastly different conditions the shepherd could carry gallons of all this oil but until it's applied the sheep don't get healed it's the application that matters i love all these pictures by the way there's a website it's called bible places dot com it's an old friend of mine uh i met him in israel todd boland is his name his website has a picture of everything you've ever heard of in the bible and he lets all of us use his pictures in teaching and there's the shepherd and there's the flock and the shepherd is going to look them over feel them and apply the oil to them to be safe from all wounds and pests and diseases and dangers sheep learn to trustingly pass under the rod of their shepherd and as he moves the rod in his hands over their their wool he checks and cleans and protects them you must bow your infected head for his daily inspection and cleansing it comes right here in the word when we bow before the lord and say speak to me your servant is listening change my life that's what our application prayers are all about secondly you must bow your rebellious will for periodic cleansing to purge the taint of sin it says in second corinthians 7 1 we're to purge ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness and the fear of god what that means is saying lord search me know me by the way that's psalm 139 we're going to study in a few weeks you must bow look at this last one and ask to be filled by god's spirit again moment by moment day by day i don't know about you but i'm kind of like an old tire i have a leak somewhere in the rim or the stem and i have to keep getting refilled all the time and that's what the lord wants to do so all this stuff we're supposed to be recording in our journal and that's what i did and here's my journal okay i titled remember every week we're supposed to do this this is week 14 we're doing psalm 23 i titled the psalm every day i kind of thought of different titles jesus is my shepherd was one day jesus is all i need was another day my great shepherd never lives to feed and lead me safely home that's when i tied up hebrews 13. here's my summary psalm 23 is david's summary of his heart's desire remember he was the man after god's own heart he wasn't perfect he was just focused and sheep are the most mentioned animal in the bible we're called sheep of his pastures sheep are weak and defenseless and helpless and utterly dependent on their shepherd and jesus wants to shepherd us that's first part of verse 1 and satisfy us and rest us and lead us and restore us you know as he wants to do all this all we have to do is agree with him and invite it jesus said i won't leave you alone at death instead i'll come just for you if a believer dies you know where jesus was at that moment he comes to lead them personally through the valley of the shadow of death that's what he promised you can see that if you read hebrews 9 26 and 27 and verse 4 of psalm 23 he wants to protect and comfort and calm and empower and bless and take us home with him that's my summary here are the lessons i belong to the lord i'm in his flock he's my shepherd that i want to follow trust and obey only following him brings satisfaction god never says we won't suffer once but i will be like paul content in whatever state i find myself lord you are my shepherd number two teach me not to want teach me to trust to rest to understand your shepherding verse two lord i know i need to rest i need to be vulnerable i need to feel your provision of green pastures make me lie down lead me instead of my own way i want to follow you until the waters of life are still from verse 3 i said lord you can reset my heart and my mind back to peace and joy and hope you can restore my emotions to tranquility when i follow you my path leads into deeper and purer and fuller right living right thinking right doing i can live for the glory of your name my soul needs your reset your restoration that only you can do i want to follow your pathway all i do i want to do in your name can you tell this was a great week i mean this this this is probably the greatest chapter for the christian life that i know of in the whole bible out of 1189 chapters psalm 23 kind of sums it all up lord death is coming that's verse 4 the valley is dark but if i follow you there's nothing to fear i want to trust feel know and believe your presence is with me right now so that when the dark valley comes i'm really sure of it use your rod to correct and protect me use your staff to guide and lead and feed me your comfort is what i seek lord death's shadow gets closer every day keep me closer to you following you trusting you listening to you and understanding your way and timing your best keep me from fearing evil that's the most repeated negative prohibition fear not don't fear because your presence that leads me and guides me just a couple more lord rest me and trust lord let me rest and trust enough to eat at your table as i feel the presence of my enemies pour your power on me fill my life to overflow me lord i want to sit and eat and fellowship with you even when surrounded by my enemies some of you the lord might call to go to the ends of the earth and you're going to be living in a secular country or an antagonistic country an islamic country or all alone in some huge city and look at this i want to sit and eat and fellowship even when surrounded by enemies i invite and ask your powerful anointing to fill my cup the holy spirit to fill my cup overflowing with blessings last one lord i'm followed by your wagons of goodness somebody i read this week said that wagons of goodness and mercy every day help me stop and enjoy those gifts from you each day maybe by neglecting little entertainment to have time to do that thanks for the place you're preparing i want to dwell with you forever in jesus name amen lord your promised goodness and mercy are always following me each day teach me to stop and drink them daily i want to long for and rest in the truth by the way i just kept packing these in because like you there's so much here here's my prayer and i'll pray it because you're my small group so you can see what the lord's doing in my life lord you want to shepherd me if only i will follow you you offer complete satisfaction and rest for my soul i ask for your leading and restoration of my weary and often troubled soul only you can deal with all my mental physical emotional and spiritual needs lead me down your righteous path stay close to me all the way i so need your protection and comfort calm my troubled heart because i need your anointing power over every part of my life thank you for loading me with blessings all my days and i'm looking forward to living in your house with you forever amen real quick as i said a couple of weeks ago the lord's prayer parallels the 23rd psalm if we focus on our shepherd and follow him letting him lead us he's all we want and he cleanses us and his rod and staff protects us and all we think about is his kingdom and power and glory forever there's an amazing parallel between the simplicity of the 23rd psalm and the lord's prayer jesus is all i need now that's a title or it can become your life's direction and desire i hope this week your time in the word your time journaling will grow as you take and kind of put other things secondary two requests i have find someone this week with whom you can share your findings tell them i'm in the greatest of the there are 52 great chapters this is the best one of all it's so simple it's monosyllabic and and all of a sudden i'm seeing what it means that the lord is my shepherd that's one thing number two pray for us it's increasingly difficult for me to go on in in all the the pressures of ministry without spending time getting ready to meet with the lord every day and then to look forward to my small group with you so pray for us and some of you might think of adopting us as the missionary that you pray for this is our prayer card take a screenshot of that and and you know put it in your your photos or something to remember this is my wonderful wife she's sitting right over there in the studio uh recording me we we've already done our whole day of teaching classes and now we're doing this this is our small group time that we want to keep with you because we need to be accountable to you that we're we're spending time in the word and loving and seeking the lord and we need your prayers for us and i'd also like to thank you many of you i know it because i get notes from our headquarters in oklahoma that many of you that are in this small group actually are supporting us and i just like to and bonnie joins me and saying thank you from the bottom of our hearts i looked on google maps today i got a notice of two or three people that sent in a monthly support gift and and they actually included their address and one of them lives right between vancouver and calgary in british columbia right on the side of a mountain google maps had a picture of of where they lived another one lived in london that the name of their street name of your street if you're watching was a beautiful like wanderer's way but google maps showed me that it was just this little tiny brick your apartment and all this stuff on the other side construction and kind of a falling down building and in another one was so far out in the country in missouri that google had not even sent their their google van by it said no picture available thank you to every one of you you three from today and all of you that pray for us pray for all that god wants to do through us because you're upholding us by your prayers and you're going with us by your support next week psalm 24 let's spend this week in psalm 23 to live the best life possible jesus is all i need and come to the place where you can say that jesus is all you need in your life god bless you as you go through psalm 23 this week you

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Id: Ey6QdRpxMaU

Length: 65min 11sec (3911 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 05 2021