Sermon

Shepherd - Kingdom Peace with Pastor Marci Glisson

Anchor Faith Church

Open publisher episode ↗

Publisher transcript

Transcript

View source ↗
  1. Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast

  2. from St. Augustine, FL.

  3. Now enjoy this message. Psalms 23 Psalms 23.

  4. You know, we know and have been taught here at Anchor Faith

  5. Church that you know, God is a king and we are here as

  6. citizens, come on, and ambassadors in his Kingdom,

  7. Amen. And so we know the facet of God

  8. as King. We know through Scripture, you

  9. know, the Bible calls Godfather Father God.

  10. We know that God is King of the Kingdom, Amen.

  11. But we can also see another facet of God, or, you know, the

  12. nature of God by looking at what the Scripture says is that he is

  13. the shepherd. He's the shepherd, Amen.

  14. So in these next two Wednesday nights coming up, we're going to

  15. be discussing him, looking at the side of him as the shepherd.

  16. Amen. And and looking at some of the

  17. benefits that he talks about with him being our shepherd.

  18. Hallelujah. You know, Pastor actually

  19. brought up a scripture on Sunday concerning the shepherd, and it

  20. just seems like these last few weeks there's been some things

  21. about the sheep hear the shepherd's voice.

  22. We've been talking about this in prayer as well, how important it

  23. is that we are hearing his voice in this day and in this hour

  24. that we are living so that no other voice we will follow.

  25. So we won't follow a stranger's voice, something that sounds

  26. strange, right? And so, you know, in looking and

  27. Psalms 23, let's read it, it says this, the Lord is my

  28. shepherd, the Lord's my shepherd.

  29. Is he your shepherd? He's my shepherd.

  30. He's my king, but he's my shepherd as well.

  31. Hallelujah. And we see here it says I'm

  32. going to be reading out of the amplified.

  33. It says the Lord is my shepherd to feed, to guide and to shield

  34. me. Say my shepherd guides me.

  35. Come on. He feeds me and he Shields me.

  36. Hallelujah. He guides me.

  37. He feeds me and he Shields me. Oh, Hallelujah.

  38. Glory to God. You know, we've talking about

  39. that Iron Dome over Israel. It's like a big shield, isn't

  40. it? Hallelujah.

  41. That's able to penetrate all those fiery missiles that are

  42. coming at them. And he lets us know as our

  43. shepherd, Come on, there is a shield about us.

  44. We know that Scripture talks about this, but he is a shield

  45. so that when all the fiery darts come on, all the things that are

  46. being said, whatever the circumstances are that are just

  47. coming to bombard you one after another after another, He says,

  48. don't worry, I'm your shepherd. Come on, I I am a shield about

  49. you. Glory to God.

  50. I'll be your shield. Come on.

  51. I'll be your shield on the front side.

  52. I'll be your shield on the backside.

  53. Come on. So no matter what, I've got you

  54. covered. Hallelujah.

  55. Because he is a great shepherd. Glory to God.

  56. Glory to God. So He's here to feed us exactly

  57. what we need to be fed. He's here to guide us and lead

  58. us exactly where we need to go, exactly where we need to go,

  59. Hallelujah. And he is that shield about us,

  60. Hallelujah. And then he goes on to say, and

  61. I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green

  62. pastures. Hallelujah, glory to God.

  63. He leads me besides still and quiet waters.

  64. He refreshes and restores my soul.

  65. Hallelujah, He restores life. He leads me in paths of

  66. righteousness. You know why?

  67. For His name's sake. For his name's sake.

  68. So that his name can be glorified.

  69. Hallelujah. And lifted high and lifted up.

  70. Glory to God. Even though I walk through the

  71. sunless valley of the shadow of death.

  72. What does he say? I will fear no evil.

  73. You know why? Because he's with us.

  74. Come on, He's with us. Glory to God.

  75. He is in US. Come on, He's upon us.

  76. Glory to God. He's surrounding us.

  77. Listen, there's nowhere we can't be that he is not.

  78. He is with us. Glory to God, He's with us.

  79. Hallelujah, He says this. You are with me.

  80. Your rod protects me and your staff guides me.

  81. They comfort and console me. You prepare a table before me in

  82. the presence of my enemies. You have anointed and refreshed

  83. my head with oil. Glory to God, Hallelujah.

  84. We're going to get into that later, probably next week.

  85. My cup overflows. Shirley.

  86. Goodness and mercy and unfailed love shall follow me all the

  87. days of my life, and I shall dwell forever throughout all my

  88. days in the house and in the presence of the Lord.

  89. Come on, that is something to shout about.

  90. Glory to God. Hallelujah, the Lord is my

  91. shepherd. Hallelujah, glory to God.

  92. Oh, thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.

  93. Whoa, I could just laugh. I could just laugh.

  94. Glory to God, Hallelujah. I'm excited that He's my

  95. shepherd. Hallelujah.

  96. I'm excited that I'm reminded when I read through His word

  97. that He is my shepherd. Glory to God.

  98. John, chapter 10. I believe this is where Pastor

    John 10 chapter mention

  99. came out of on Sunday, but I want to read verses one through

  100. 15. And are they amplified?

  101. It says this, I assure you, and most solemnly say to you, he who

  102. does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up

  103. from some other place, come on. This is saying, listen, there's

  104. only one way. Come on, There's only one way to

  105. the shepherd. There's only one way through the

  106. Kingdom of God, and that is by him.

  107. This is what he's saying here, the door into the sheepfold.

  108. But if you climb up from some other place on the Stonewall,

  109. that one is a thief and a robber.

  110. Come on, there's not going to be anybody in the Kingdom

  111. illegally. It's not going to happen.

  112. Mama's not going to get you in unless you confess Jesus Christ

  113. as your Lord. Grandmama's not going to get you

  114. in and smuggle you in by her, Her grace and her whatever.

  115. No, there's only one way in, and it's if you confess Him as your

  116. Lord. Come on as your shepherd.

  117. Glory to God, Hallelujah. Glory to God, Hallelujah.

  118. Where was I verse 2? But he who enters by the door is

  119. the shepherd of the sheep. Hallelujah, the protector and

  120. provider. The protector and provider, the

  121. doorkeeper opens the gate for this man and the sheep.

  122. What? Hear the voice?

  123. Hear his voice and pay attention to it.

  124. Hallelujah. Say pay attention.

  125. Come on, pay attention. Isn't that what you tell your

  126. kids after you've said stuff several times?

  127. Come on now, pay attention to what I am saying.

  128. Hear my voice and pay attention to it, He's saying and knowing

  129. that they listen. He calls his own sheep by name.

  130. That's personal. And he leads them out to

  131. pasture. Hallelujah.

  132. Say he knows my name. He knows my name.

  133. Come on. He knows my name.

  134. Come on. I wish I could sing it like

  135. Tasha Cobb. He knows our name.

  136. We're in the sheepfold. And you ought to be thankful

  137. that he knows your name. Let me get to my place.

  138. And then he says this. He calls his own sheep by name

  139. and leads them out to pasture. And when he has bought brought

  140. all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the

  141. sheep follow him, because they know his voice and recognize his

  142. call. They will never follow a

  143. stranger but will run away from him because they do not know the

  144. voice of strangers. Jesus used this figure of speech

  145. with them but they didn't understand what he was talking

  146. about. South Jesus said again, I assure

  147. you and most solemnly say to you, I am the door for the sheep

  148. leading to life and all who come before me as false Messiahs self

  149. appointed leaders are thieves and robbers, but the true sheep

  150. did not hear them. I am the door.

  151. Anyone who enters through me will be saved and will live

  152. forever, and we'll go in and out freely and find pasture.

  153. Listen to what he says. Spiritual security.

  154. The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy.

  155. But I came that you may have life and have it to an

  156. abundance, to the full, till it overflows.

  157. Here he is saying this. I am the Good Shepherd,

  158. Hallelujah, I am the Good Shepherd.

  159. Say he's a Good Shepherd. Oh, he is a Good Shepherd.

  160. Glory to God, the Good Shepherd. And he lays down his own life

  161. for his sheep. But hired man who merely just

  162. serves for wages, who is neither the shepherd nor the owner of

  163. the sheep, when he sees a wolf come and deserts the flock, runs

  164. away, and the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them.

  165. The man runs because he is a hired hand who serves only for

  166. wages and is not concerned about the safety of the sheep.

  167. But I am the Good Shepherd, and I know without any doubt those

  168. who are mine, my own and my own no me, and have a deep personal

  169. relationship with me, even as the Father knows me.

  170. I know the Father and lay down my very own life, sacrificing it

  171. for the benefit of the sheep. Hallelujah.

  172. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, Hallelujah, that laid his life

  173. down for us so that we can walk and be LED into those green

  174. pastures. Hallelujah.

  175. Be fed properly. That's what a green pasture

  176. represents. Be fed properly and taken care

  177. of, nourished properly, Hallelujah.

  178. Given everything we need to be able to sustain life because he

  179. is a Good Shepherd and he's never going to lead us to a

  180. pasture that's not going to feed us, that's not going to take

  181. care of us. Hallelujah.

  182. Now look at Matthew 935 through 38.

  183. It says this. And Jesus went about in all the

  184. cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching

  185. the gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every

  186. disease among the people. But when he saw the multitude,

  187. he was what moved with compassion on them, because they

  188. fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep, having no

  189. shepherd, So then sayeth he unto his disciples, The harvest truly

  190. is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

  191. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that He will send

  192. forth laborers into his harvest. You know how good of a great

  193. shepherd Jesus is that He knew that when He left, you would

  194. still need a shepherd in your life, in the earth, in the earth

  195. to lead you, to feed you, to help guide you into all truth.

  196. And you know what he said? And Jeremiah 315, it says this.

  197. I will give you spiritual shepherds after my own heart and

  198. in the final time who will feed you with knowledge,

  199. understanding and judgement. You see how good He is that He

  200. knew that the sheep were scattered.

  201. They're everywhere and that when he left that they would still

  202. need a shepherd to take care of them in the natural.

  203. Even though he is our spiritual shepherd, Hallelujah, this is

  204. how good he is that he said you still need a shepherd in the

  205. earth. Not one of us are to be without

  206. a shepherd in our life, someone to care for us, to lead us, to

  207. guide us into knowledge, into the truth, into understanding,

  208. into the judgement that is to come if we do not call on this

  209. Great Shepherd. Amen.

  210. So he left you pastors after his own heart to make sure that they

  211. would feed you the knowledge that you needed.

  212. Hallelujah. So you are.

  213. I want to say thank you that you honored us as pastors this past

  214. Sunday. I want to say thank you for all

  215. the cards and the gifts and the love.

  216. And thank you that you honor all the pastors on staff, Pastor

  217. Mike and Angie, Pastor Vanessa, Pastor Chase and Alyssa.

  218. Because when there is honor there, knowing that they are

  219. shepherds over our soul in the earth and that God ordained

  220. that, you're going to then be able to receive from that.

  221. But if you don't honor it and you don't think you need it,

  222. well then actually you're saying to Jesus, who was the great

  223. shepherd that said we needed a shepherd in the earth.

  224. You're saying that towards him. And Pastor Tim and Bridget,

  225. Let's go to first Peter chapter 5, First Peter chapter 5 and

    1 Peter 5 chapter mention 1 Peter 5 chapter mention

  226. verses one through 4, it says. Therefore, I strongly urge the

  227. elders among you pastors, spiritual leaders of the church,

  228. as a fellow elder and as an eyewitness called to testify of

  229. the sufferings as Christ as well as one who shares in the glory

  230. that is to be revealed. Shepherd and guide and protect

  231. the flock of God among you. You see that this is what He's

  232. telling us as ministers to do. Shepherd the flock, guide the

  233. flock, protect the flock among you, exercising oversight, not

  234. under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the

  235. will of God, and not motivated for shameful gain, but with

  236. wholehearted enthusiasm, not lording it over those assigned

  237. to your care. Do not be arrogant or

  238. overbearing, but be examples of Christian living to the flock.

  239. Set a pattern of integrity for your congregation and when the

  240. chief shepherd so he's what's in one scripture called the Good

  241. Shepherd. Now he's called the chief

  242. shepherd Hallelujah. So when the chief shepherd

  243. Christ appears, you will receive the conquerors unfading crown of

  244. glory Hallelujah, glory to God. So there is a crown of glory

  245. waiting for us who have talked and walked and lived before the

  246. congregation exactly how they should be in the earth.

  247. Psalms 100 and verse 30. Excuse me, no, go to Acts 20.

  248. I skipped that. Acts 20.

  249. I'm just laying a foundation because I I think it important

  250. that you see all through Scripture where he talks about

  251. the shepherd. Verse 28 through 30.

  252. It says take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the

  253. whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as

  254. overseers to shepherd. Look at the same thing that

  255. Jesus that Jesus as the Good Shepherd says that he would do.

  256. He lets those know that are overseeing you.

  257. How they should be the shepherd should tend, should feed, and

  258. should guide the Church of God, which he bought with his own

  259. blood. And I know that after I am gone,

  260. false teachers, ferocious wolves will come in among you, not

  261. sparing the flock. Even from among your own selves.

  262. Men are going to arise speaking perverse and distorted things to

  263. draw you away, or to draw away the disciples after themselves

  264. as their followers. You see that?

  265. That's why it's so important that you're in a sheepfold and

  266. that you have a shepherd over your soul so that you can be in

  267. that covering and under that protection.

  268. So that when the wolf or false teacher or false prophet tries

  269. to come in, no, the shepherd can see them come on a mile away,

  270. can sniff them out and deal with them so that they do not affect

  271. the fold. Hallelujah, Psalms 103 says

  272. this. Acknowledge that the Lord is

  273. God. He made us, and we are His.

  274. We are His people, the sheep of his pasture.

  275. Hallelujah, we're the sheep of his pasture.

  276. So let's look at how the shepherd leads us.

  277. OK, look at how the Shepherd leads us here.

  278. As he says, the Lord is your shepherd, what you shall not

  279. want, and that is want for anything.

  280. The Lord is your shepherd, and you shall not want for anything,

  281. because He's your shepherd. You shall not want for anything,

  282. for any good thing. You shall not want because He is

  283. your shepherd. Look at Psalms 34, nine through

  284. 10. Oh, reverently fear the Lord,

  285. you, his Saints, believers, holy ones.

  286. For to those that fear Him, there is no want.

  287. For those who fear Him, there is no want.

  288. Hallelujah. For those who fear Him there is

  289. no want, no lack for any good thing, no want.

  290. If you fear Him, if you fear Him, verse 10 says the Young

  291. Lions lack food and grow hungry, but they who seek the Lord will

  292. not lack any good thing. Those who seek the Lord will not

  293. lack any good thing. Hallelujah.

  294. You know why? Because He is a Good Shepherd.

  295. Hallelujah, glory to God. Look at Luke 1231 through 32.

  296. It says this. But seek the Kingdom of God, and

  297. all these things shall be added to you.

  298. Do not fear little flock, for it is your Father's Say good, good

  299. pleasure. Come on to give you the Kingdom,

  300. and that is everything. Come on within the Kingdom that

  301. you have been promised and that you inherit from Him as heirs of

  302. salvation. Glory to God, glory to God.

  303. So if we fear Him and if we seek Him, come on and His Kingdom

  304. first, guess what? There is nothing, no good thing

  305. that He is going to withhold from us, Hallelujah, because He

  306. is a Good Shepherd and He takes care of his sheep.

  307. Hallelujah, he takes care of his sheep.

  308. Romans 832 It says For he who did not spare his own son, but

  309. delivered him up for all of us, how shall he not with Him also

  310. freely give us all things, All things.

  311. He's freely going to give us all things, Hallelujah.

  312. All things. Y'all are not even acting

  313. excited. Are there some things?

  314. Come on, whatever, I'll get up here and dance myself because I

  315. know what's happening here. Glory to God.

  316. So He is a Good Shepherd and He doesn't want us to want for

  317. anything. Hallelujah, glory to God, and He

  318. has given us freely all things. And then he goes on to say now

  319. #2 He lets me lie down in green pastures.

  320. He lets me lay down in green pastures.

  321. What does this mean? It also means rest.

  322. Just as Pastor April had auction as singing that song that we

  323. would lay in pastures. Come on and rest in Him, glory

  324. to God, rest in Him. Just enjoy what he's done for

  325. you. Rest in Him and his good

  326. pleasures. Come on and what he has done for

  327. you. And so he says, here he rests.

  328. Or what else does he say? He leads me beside still and

  329. quiet waters. Hallelujah, still and quiet

  330. waters. Hallelujah, still and quiet

  331. waters. Just think about that.

  332. Just think, close your eyes. Just think that maybe you're up

  333. in the mountains somewhere. Beautiful mountains and you're

  334. down in the valley and you see a stream going through and you're

  335. walking, taking a nature bath. That's what I call it, walking

  336. in the outdoors, not a nature bath like that.

  337. You're naked. So don't.

  338. Don't imagine that in your mind. If it was up to my grandchildren

  339. and you know, son, they would be butt naked all the time.

  340. But anyway, got y'all off sidetracked.

  341. OK, so you're walking down, you see a quiet little stream down

  342. in the valley and you just hear the trickle, right?

  343. The calming. You're not.

  344. Maybe you're hearing the birds chirping, but then you're also

  345. hearing the calming, peaceful trickle of that Stillwater just

  346. trickling along. And isn't that what we call kind

  347. of like tranquility, right? You know, he created nature and

  348. everything in it. And he said because he created

  349. that, we're without excuse even by the creation of nature.

  350. And so it's good for you to get out sometimes and enjoy nature

  351. because it reminds you. It will remind you of him.

  352. He created it, Hallelujah. So he lets us lay down in green

  353. pastures. I remember driving, you know,

  354. we've driven places and I think it was actually one time when we

  355. were driving up to East Coast camp.

  356. And in Virginia, they have these rolling hills in some places and

  357. big, old pastures, and you just see the beautiful green pastures

  358. and, you know, see flowers. And I've always wanted him to

  359. stop so that I could run out, jump the fence that was in the

  360. earlier days and lay just in the middle of that field in that the

  361. middle of that green pastures. Has anyone ever been tempted to

  362. do that or have done that? Raise your hand.

  363. Yeah. Why do you have that desire to

  364. do it? Because of this right here.

  365. He makes us lie down in green pastures.

  366. Come on. He wants us to be able to rest

  367. in him, to lie down in him and enjoy everything that he has

  368. done for us. Amen.

  369. So let's look at this in Matthew 11 and 28 and verse 29.

  370. It says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, burdened.

  371. I love the way the amplifies reading this by religious

  372. rituals that provide no peace. Do you know even in spirit

  373. filled Kingdom teaching, faith, teaching churches that people

  374. can take on a ritualistic service that you have to back up

  375. and say, hey, am I working this in the flesh or am I working

  376. this in rest and peace and come on.

  377. Because especially for those that are bent with that

  378. personality that are, you know, those that are workers, if

  379. you're bent with that personality, you can easily do

  380. it in the flesh and even get caught up.

  381. Even though you're spirit filled, even though you know

  382. this is not of works, your flesh will always want to take that on

  383. and it can become religious and ritualistic in your life.

  384. That's why you always have to back up and say, am I doing this

  385. because I just love God and because he's a Good Shepherd,

  386. and because in Him there is rest and I don't have to work this

  387. thing, I can rest in Him and flow with him.

  388. And that's what grace is about, flowing in the rhythms of grace

  389. in your life through every season and tapping into it so we

  390. all could. You know, isn't that what

  391. Galatians says? Who so easily bewitched you?

  392. You started this thing out in the Spirit.

  393. You were doing this by the spirit, but you got called up

  394. into doing it through the flesh. You see what I'm saying?

  395. So he doesn't want us doing that because it's going to burn us

  396. out. That's what it says.

  397. It's going to keep us burning down or like we're we're never,

  398. it's like a, a hamster on that wheel.

  399. You're working, running that wheel, but you're never getting

  400. anywhere. That means you're doing it in

  401. the flesh and you're not doing it in his rest.

  402. You see that? So he says, come on, all who are

  403. weary, heavy, burdened by religious rituals that provide

  404. no peace, and I will give you what rest, refreshing your souls

  405. with salvation. Verse 29 take my yoke upon you

  406. and learn from me. Well, you know what he's saying.

  407. Learn how to lay down in those green pastures.

  408. Learn how to take a minute to what we call smell the roses.

  409. You see what I'm saying? And so he says, listen.

  410. Learn from me, following me as my disciples, for I am gentle

  411. and humble in heart and you will find rest.

  412. Listen to what it says, renewal and blessed quiet for your

  413. souls. This is how you know you're

  414. resting in God is when your mind is in control.

  415. You have soul control that you're in rest because you've

  416. actually learned how to quiet your mind.

  417. You're not letting all the thoughts, all the concerns, all

  418. the processing, all the things that just keep you wound up in

  419. your mind. I mean, it is like you're wound

  420. up tight, like one of those little top things or whatever

  421. you're, you want. You're wound up in your mind and

  422. that is why you actually have no peace.

  423. When he says we're going to see that he is the Prince of Peace.

  424. And so we have to ask ourselves, why is there no peace?

  425. When he says he is my Good Shepherd, He's going to lead me

  426. into rest. He's going to lead me into

  427. quiet, still waters. He is going to be there to give

  428. rest to my soul. Hallelujah.

  429. So Psalms 91 one says this. Those who live in the shelter of

  430. the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

  431. There is no reason why you should not be at rest period,

  432. period there. You should be at rest no matter

  433. what's going on. Our spirit should be at rest.

  434. There should be peace for our soul.

  435. We should be at rest internally. That is a promise from our Good

  436. Shepherd. Rest, resting in him.

  437. Hallelujah. Glory to God and the way that

  438. it's going to be found as if we come to Him and if we allow

  439. ourselves to be up underneath what the shelter of the most

  440. high, that's that protection again.

  441. So when you're up underneath that shelter, you're being

  442. protected from everything that is going to try to cause unrest

  443. within you, right? You you hear of how they call

  444. when something's going on into other countries, they're in

  445. unrest because wars are all kinds of things are going on.

  446. But we can be up underneath the shadow of the Good Shepherd.

  447. Come on in the midst of all kinds of things that's going on,

  448. all the wars, all the things in the natural and you know, things

  449. that may be warring that you're struggling with or things that

  450. are happening. But if you'll get up underneath,

  451. come on the shadow of the Almighty, if you'll let him be

  452. the Good Shepherd to you, you'll find rest in the midst of those

  453. things, right? Hallelujah.

  454. And it's important, as He says here, He lets me lie down and

  455. green pastures. That means it's OK to rest your

  456. physical body. Your body will actually let you

  457. know when you need to rest it because the spirit man is alive

  458. and ready to run. As long as you are feeding it

  459. properly and as long as you're taking care of your spirit man,

  460. it's always ready, willing to go, to run, to do.

  461. And then if you tap into the supernatural, the anointing can

  462. keep you running. The anointing can keep you

  463. running, but your physical body will eventually not be able to

  464. outlast the anointing. Or you know, you're ready to run

  465. because your body can get physically tired because your

  466. body is not glorified yet and it needs the rest physically,

  467. right? And so we have to rest our body.

  468. That's what he's talking about. Lie down in this green pasture a

  469. minute. It's OK Roll around, chew on

  470. some grass with a straw hanging out your mouth.

  471. Smell the flowers right? Rest for a moment in me.

  472. Let your body physically rest. Jesus rested.

  473. Let it rest so that then during that time of rest I can refresh

  474. you and your soul. He says even when you sleep, his

  475. spirit can speak to you and refresh you and you can wake up

  476. with a download because your spirit is alive.

  477. It's always alive unto God. Hallelujah, and give you exactly

  478. what you need. So and we must be those that

  479. know how to rest up in enter into his rest through him

  480. Hebrews chapter 4 verses one through 10.

    Hebrews 4 chapter mention

  481. Therefore, since a promise remains, listen to this Hebrews,

  482. since a promise, this is a promise remains of entering into

  483. what? His rest.

  484. This is a promise. Praise God that we get to enter

  485. into his rest and just rest in Him.

  486. Every single time there's something going on, just go on

  487. and rest in Him. Don't let all the things

  488. overtake you or whatever the case may be.

  489. Just go and just say, you know what?

  490. I'm just going to walk out my backyard and listen to the birds

  491. chirp for just a minute and I'm going to rest in him.

  492. I'm going to sit. And just rest in Him and just

  493. remind yourself that He is your Good Shepherd, Hallelujah, and

  494. let Him bring you the rest you need.

  495. Now look, look what it says though in Hebrews chapter one

  496. through 10. It says, Since a promise remains

  497. of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to

  498. have come short of it, So you can come short of entering into

  499. His rest, right? For indeed the gospel was

  500. preached to us as well as to them.

  501. But the word which they heard, This is why you will not enter

  502. into rest. I don't care how many times you

  503. come to church. I don't care how many

  504. conferences you listen to, how many YouTube things you listen

  505. to, you can still not have true rest from God if you don't enter

  506. into it. Listen to why it says because

  507. they heard. That did not profit them because

  508. they did not mix their faith in with those who heard.

  509. So you can hear what to do all day long.

  510. You can hear that He is your Good Shepherd and He wants to do

  511. all these things for you. But listen, unless you actually

  512. put your faith to it, you won't enter into the rest.

  513. That, He says, is a promise for every single one of us.

  514. He says it's a promise to us, but we have to mix our faith

  515. with it. That's with everything that he

  516. says, every promise that belongs to us.

  517. We have to mix our faith with what we have heard.

  518. What does that mean? We have to believe it.

  519. We have to receive it. We have to act upon it.

  520. We have to do it. And the way you do it is say,

  521. you know what? I'm going to sit on my back

  522. porch. I'm going to listen to the birds

  523. and I'm going to say thank you, Lord, You are my Good Shepherd.

  524. I believe that you are my Good Shepherd.

  525. Hallelujah. I believe that you said I will

  526. not want. So this bill I don't really care

  527. about because you said I will not want for any good thing.

  528. Here it is. You take care of it.

  529. I don't have to worry about it. I'm in covenant with you.

  530. I am actually believing that when I tithe, you will rebuke

  531. the devourer. Come on, all of these things, I

  532. believe it. I'm acting lean upon it and you

  533. know what? I'm mixing my faith to enter

  534. into that rest Hallelujah. So we must be people that

  535. believe because it doesn't matter that we're hearing, we

  536. have to believe. It says For we who have believed

  537. do verse 3. For we who have believed do

  538. enter that rest, as he has said I, so I swore in my wrath, they

  539. shall not enter my rest. Although the works were finished

  540. from the foundations of the world.

  541. For he who spoken in a certain place of the 7th day in this

  542. way, and God rested on the 7th day from all of his works, and

  543. again in this place they shall not enter my rest.

  544. Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those

  545. whom it was first preached did not enter because of

  546. disobedience. There's another reason why they

  547. don't enter into rest, because they're actually simply just

  548. disobeying what they've heard. Again, he designates a certain

  549. day saying in David today after such a long time as it has been

  550. said today, if you will hear my voice, there it is again, if

  551. you'll hear my voice, if we'll listen to the Shepherd's voice,

  552. if we'll just yield to his voice and the time and the situation

  553. of whatever it is that do not harden your heart.

  554. But what is he saying in the midst of you that could possibly

  555. be offended because of somebody else that just said something

  556. about you? Don't harden your heart to what

  557. His voice is saying. This is what it's saying.

  558. Don't harden your heart to what you know the word is saying in

  559. the midst of your situation. Don't back bite or or or lash

  560. out at your husband or your spouse because that's not love.

  561. And in that moment, you get to choose.

  562. Am I going to enter into the promise of rest in my marriage

  563. or whatever the case may be? And the way I'm going to do that

  564. is I must obey what I'm hearing His voice say in the midst of

  565. the situation. Because if you don't, there will

  566. be no rest. And we know there'll be no peace

  567. in your home. You'll constantly be this

  568. because you're not listening to His voice and mixing your faith

  569. with what He says in the midst of the thing that you're going

  570. through. That's just how it is.

  571. It's what it says today. Don't harden your heart.

  572. For if Joshua had given them rest, then he would have not

  573. afterward have spoken to another day.

  574. There remains therefore rest, listen, rest for the people of

  575. God. For he who has entered his rest

  576. has himself also ceased from his works, as God did from his.

  577. See that Hallelujah, glory to God.

  578. Let me read verse three out of the Amplified of Hebrews.

  579. It says this For we who believe, that is, we who personally trust

  580. and confidently rely on God, enter that rest so we have His

  581. inner peace now, because we are confident in our salvation and

  582. ensured of His power. Just as he said, as I had swore

  583. an oath in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.

  584. This he said, although his works were completed from the

  585. foundations of the world, waiting for all who would

  586. believe. Do you believe that He's the

  587. Good Shepherd? Hallelujah #3 He leads us beside

  588. still and quiet waters. Still in quiet waters.

  589. Literally serenity. Think of this tranquility,

  590. right? Peace.

  591. This is what he's talking about. This ought to be ongoing in your

  592. life. You can have tranquility.

  593. You can have peace. Come on, you can have serenity

  594. in the midst of every situation, but you have to activate it.

  595. You have to activate and say, I just need you to be my shepherd

  596. today in this situation. I need you to be my shepherd

  597. today. And He'll do it every single

  598. time. Hallelujah.

  599. So He'll lead you. Look at that, He'll lead you.

  600. That again goes back to the sheep hearing the shepherd's

  601. voice. He's going to lead us into a

  602. place of peace in the midst of whatever we're going through.

  603. If we'll say, Lord, I need you to be my Good Shepherd and I

  604. need you to lead me into that place of peace about this

  605. situation. You know what he's going to do?

  606. He's going to lead you straight there, straight there to peace,

  607. straight there to tranquility, straight there to serenity, that

  608. in the midst of whatever chaos is going on in your life, if you

  609. say, Lord, you're my Good Shepherd, I just need you to

  610. lead me into peace about this situation.

  611. And he's going to lead you right there.

  612. And therefore you can be at, what did he say?

  613. Perfect peace, perfect peace trusted in Him that He is the

  614. Good Shepherd. He's going to lead me.

  615. He has never LED me astray. Come on.

  616. He's never forsaken me in the midst of situations.

  617. That's what you've got to continue to call on that every

  618. time, Father. You have led me to a place of

  619. peace in the midst of the situation.

  620. John 14 One, do not let your hearts be troubled, afraid,

  621. cowardly. Believe confidently in God and

  622. trust in Him. Have faith, hold on to it, rely

  623. on it and keep going on. Hallelujah.

  624. Keep going on. Believe also in me, Hallelujah.

  625. He does not want our hearts troubled at all.

  626. Again, He wants to lead us into peace in every situation.

  627. You know, follow peace. That's what Pastor Angie means

  628. when she always says that follow peace.

  629. What are we saying? The Good Shepherd is going to

  630. lead us into a place of peace in this scenario or this situation.

  631. Amen. Hallelujah, glory to God.

  632. Look at John 1427. It says peace.

  633. I leave with you. My perfect peace I give to you.

  634. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

  635. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.

  636. Let my perfect peace calm you. Here's those calm still waters.

  637. Let my perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you

  638. courage and strength for every challenge.

  639. Glory to God, we get ourselves in some places of challenge,

  640. don't we? We get ourselves in some places

  641. that we need courage to be able to say, Lord, come on, I I'm not

  642. going to let my heart be troubled about this situation.

  643. I'm going to need your peace. I'm going to need courage Come

  644. on in the midst of this because I want to be upset about it.

  645. I want to get anxious about it. I want to get stirred up about

  646. it. But you know what?

  647. The Lord is my shepherd. I've always listened to his

  648. voice, I always will listen to his voice, and he's going to

  649. lead me into peace in this situation.

  650. So Shepard, lead Hallelujah and bring strength for whatever is

  651. the challenge that's going on in the situation.

  652. And we know we can do that also through prayer.

  653. Philippians 4-6 and nine, don't be anxious or worried about

  654. anything. You mean anything, anything,

  655. anything. Just as he said.

  656. I don't even want you to want for any good thing.

  657. I don't want you to have to worry about anything.

  658. Don't be anxious about it. Don't be worried about it, just

  659. ask me as your Good Shepherd to help you in the midst of it.

  660. Come on, He says this, but in everything, in every

  661. circumstance, in every situation, by prayer and

  662. petition with Thanksgiving to continue.

  663. Make your specific request known to God.

  664. I love that specific. He cares about every detail in

  665. your life. He cares about the specifics

  666. that you're going through because he's a Good Shepherd and

  667. he wants to take care of you and lead you properly in the midst

  668. of whatever circumstance and situation is going on.

  669. And he does not want you to have to be anxious.

  670. He does not want you to have to be worried.

  671. He does not want you to have to doubt.

  672. He doesn't want you to have to fear.

  673. He doesn't want any of that for you.

  674. He only wants peace. He only wants you to walk in

  675. that perfect peace. And we can do that through

  676. again, making our specific request known to God and the

  677. peace of God, the peace. Listen to what this peace does,

  678. which reassures the heart. He wants to reassure your heart.

  679. Listen, you don't have to stress about this.

  680. You don't have to be worried about this.

  681. You don't have to be troubled about this.

  682. Don't fear anything because he's a Good Shepherd.

  683. He doesn't want us to fear any good thing.

  684. He doesn't want us to fear anything.

  685. He doesn't want us to fear, man. He doesn't want us to fear

  686. anything. Anything, anything, Hallelujah.

  687. Who reassures your heart that that peace which transcends all

  688. understanding, that peace which stands guard over your heart and

  689. your mind. Again, your mind can be still.

  690. You need to start say speaking to your mind and say peace be

  691. still to it. Like he stood up and said it to

  692. the raging storms of the sea. Some of you that have that rage

  693. going on in your mind, that's always going, going, going,

  694. going, going, going in your mind.

  695. You need to say in the name of Jesus, peace, be still to your

  696. own mind, to your own mind. Finally, believers, whatsoever

  697. is true, whatsoever is honorable, worthy of respect,

  698. whatever is right, confirmed by listen to this God's Word,

  699. whatever is pure, because we know that the world is calling

  700. what is evil good and good evil. So it's got to be confirmed by

  701. the Word. That's what you are to meditate

  702. on and to think on. Come on the Word of God, that

  703. will prove everything. It's the truth, right?

  704. In the midst of people calling good evil and evil good, all the

  705. things that are going on now, where was I at?

  706. Stand guard over your hearts, your minds, in Christ Jesus, in

  707. your believers, whatever's true, whatever's honorable respect,

  708. whatever's right confirmed by God's Word, whatever is pure and

  709. wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings you peace.

  710. You can watch things, you can listen to things, you can put

  711. things in your ears and in front of your eyes that will not bring

  712. you peace in the natural. So what are you watching?

  713. What are you thinking on? What are you listening to?

  714. What are you meditating on? What are you allowing to go in

  715. your eye gate, your ear gate that is helping not bring peace

  716. to you? Are you listening to crazy

  717. thoughts and crazy things that people are saying to just bring

  718. fear into you? I want to think on and I want to

  719. listen to and I want to only meditate on His Word because

  720. people that have their opinions also have a spirit about them.

  721. And I don't want to hear their opinion on something if it's not

  722. in line with God's Word and it's not coming from the right

  723. spirit. I don't care if they're a

  724. psychologist, a doctor, because a doctor can come in with their

  725. own fear. You're getting ready to die and

  726. are you going to take hold of that?

  727. Because it's sure not going to bring you peace.

  728. You see what I'm saying? So what are we listening to?

  729. Some of the things we're listening to, agitating us, not

  730. bringing peace to the situation, but just stirring up more

  731. thoughts that you're having now to take captive.

  732. So guard. Guard your mind, guard your

  733. hearts, guard your ears and what you're allowing to be put in

  734. you. Hallelujah.

  735. So whatever is lovely brings peace, whatever is admirable and

  736. of good repute, repute if there is any excellence, if there is

  737. anything worthy of praise. Think continually on these

  738. things. Center your mind on them, listen

  739. to that. Center your mind on them and

  740. implant them in your heart. Hallelujah.

  741. The things which you have learned and received and heard

  742. and seen in me. Practice these things in daily

  743. life and the God who is the source of peace and well-being

  744. will be with you. Hallelujah.

  745. Aren't you thankful that He'll be with us and that He will

  746. bring peace in every situation in our life?

  747. But we have a responsibility. Amen.

  748. To be able to call on the Good Shepherd and say Shepherd, lead.

  749. Come on, Shepherd, guide me. Do these things in and through

  750. me in this situation that I'm going through.

  751. Come on, let's bow our heads. Father, we just thank you so

  752. much for your word. Thank you so much for listening

  753. to this message. If you want more, subscribe to

  754. our message podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify and

  755. SoundCloud. Rating and leaving a comment

  756. will go a long way with helping our messages get better

  757. circulation. If you'd enjoy watching our

  758. weekend messages, visit youtube.com/anchor Faith.

  759. We'd love it if you'd subscribe, leave a comment or a like on the

  760. messages. If you'd like to find out more

  761. information about us and how we're influencing the world and

  762. help support the work we're doing by giving, just visit

  763. anchorfaith.com.