How to FOLLOW God's Leading: The Rod & Staff // Good Shepherd Series (Part 4) // Pastor Drew

The Lord is my

shall not want

me by

till my fears are gone. Though I walk

through the valley

of the shadow of death, I know you are

with me, my father,

my friend.

Your goodness and mercy

will follow me all of my days.

I know by your waterers I'm safe.

>> Amen.

How are we doing?

How are we doing? We're doing all right.

It's moments like this. It's worship

encounters like this that just have me

long for heaven so much more.

It's it's that glimpse. It's that touch

of heaven that I know that we aren't

living in the full thing. Uh yet for

those of us who have the Lord living in

our hearts, I praise him that this life

that we experience is the closest thing

we will ever experience to hell. Amen.

Amen. But here's the here's the scary

part. If you don't have Christ in your

life, this life is the closest thing

you'll ever experience to heaven.

And that these touches that call our

souls back to our creator.

Keep these, bookmark these so that you

remember our design, our function, and

how we are created to live, which is

which is where we're pointing as we're

getting ready. Easter's coming up in

just a couple weeks, guys. Who's ready

for Easter? Come on.

We are doing a uh as we're going through

the good shepherd, Psalm 23. We're doing

a challenge called Love into the Light.

We saw that Jesus lived on mission for

the 40 days as he got ready for his

sacrifice. And so we want to live on

mission in the same way. So we've got

this love into the light challenge. And

that is to identify your one. This is

someone who is far from God but close to

me. And then what am I going to do? I'm

going to pray for them daily. Love them

intentionally. Share with them what

God's done in my life. Just a simple

witness. Hey, this is what God's done.

and then invite them to join with you on

Sunday on Easter Sunday so that every

single one of us would be able to have

someone that we see God move in them

because of what he has done in us and us

just giving an opportunity and an open

door. There's not a single person in

this room that is in here without

someone else doing this for them. And

then we've got a keychain. If you guys

saw the keychain board out there, what

you'll do is once you identify your one,

you write their name on a keychain just

outside there. And you can keep doing

this even after Easter. You can keep

doing this. But uh what we'll what we'll

do is you write their name. You put it

on the the side, the dark side. Here,

I'll go your side. Here you go. Put it

on the left side, the dark side. And

then when they come, if they make a

decision or if they go if they move away

and they go to another church somewhere

else, that is okay. We're still going to

go, hey, God has moved them from

darkness into light, and love is the

avenue that he does it in. So, I want to

continue to encourage us in that. Keep

going. And we see as we're talking about

shephering, we see that one of the key

ways that Jesus actually highlights for

us, how we are supposed to uh uh

stand with the lost is he says, "Do it

like the shepherd that has a hundred

sheep." And he counts and he gets to 99.

And there's one.

Will he not leave the 99?

to go after the one. Is it not worth it

to identify

in your life, in your sphere of

influence, who God may have given you a

blessing for you to give to someone

else. And what an incredible blessing

that is to see God use us to give hope,

life, purpose in the spirit to them.

Amen. Amen. So, what I'm going to do, we

got one of our challenges for this

series is we've got a card. If you don't

have it yet, I we should still have a

couple more on the back there in the

give boxes. This is a memorization card

for Psalm 23 so that we all can try to

memorize this together. And I want to

test this out today. So, we're going to

throw Psalm 23 up on the screen. But for

this whole series, we're going to stand

and we're going to read. If you're

trying to memorize this, would you just

with me close your eyes and do your

best? Okay, the people that aren't

trying that are reading it from the

screen, they can help guide us a little

bit. Okay, so let's stand up. Let's see

how well we can do. I'm going to do my

best. You do your best with me and we're

going to read through this or memorize

this together.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not

want. He makes me lie down in green

pastures. He leads me beside still

waters. He restores my soul. He leads me

in paths of righteousness for his name's

sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I will fear no

evil, for you are with me. Your rod and

your staff, they comfort me. You prepare

a table before me in the presence of my

enemies.

You You anoint my head with oil. My cup

overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow

me all the days of my life. And I shall

dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There we go. Amen, guys. Thank you so

much. Thanks for helping me out there.

my brain was moving ahead and uh I've

been working on this. I did better than

that at home. So, thank you for your

grace. Uh so, we're going through one of

as we're talking through this this poem,

this song that is written, we've talked

about how the Lord is the shepherd and

we are the silly, dumb, simple sheep.

How he provides for us. Last week we

talked about how he moves us through the

valley, that he leads us through hard

things. Today I'm talking about the rod

in the staff. We're talking about how

God sometimes leads us to hard things.

And how

do I follow God? How do I follow God's

leading? That's what this is all about.

How do I actually seek the Lord in this?

So, this is highlighted in Psalm 23:3

Psalms 23:3

and 4. And we've got these two key

sections. You guys can underline these

or highlight these in your Bible. This

is what we're talking about. We're

talking about how he leads me in paths

of righteousness for his name's sake.

Your rod

and your staff,

they comfort me.

Now, keep in mind in this in this time,

we are still in the valley. Uh, but

there was uh there's there's a time, if

I'm honest, guys, who who here enjoys

the weather that we've been having. It's

very un unlike March, but it is very

much like Nebraska to be who knows

what's coming tomorrow, right? My kids

yesterday were in their swimsuits

with a hose jumping on the trampoline

trying to keep cool cuz it was 96

degrees outside.

Insane.

My mother-in-law comes over. She drops

off my nephew or she was coming to pick

him up and and uh we're like, "Man,

isn't it hot out there?" And guess what

she says? She says, "I don't even think

it's hot." And I'm like, "De, stop."

She's like, "I'm serious. I don't even I

think it's beautiful. I'm not like it's

not too hot for me. And I'm like, are

are you crazy? And then when she left,

you don't even know about this. When she

left, the kids were like, did Nana

actually think it wasn't hot? Because

like it's hot out there. It's like and

and I said, you guys ever said something

and then realized like, oh wow, I think

I what I just said was a little bit

deeper than what I just said. You ever

done that? I said, yeah, I mean, she

feels it because we all experience the

same heat. We just don't all experience

the same misery.

>> I'm gonna go pray for a second, kids.

Right. I'm complaining ABOUT THE HEAT.

AND SHE'S LIKE, "THIS is great. I love

it. This is amazing." And and the

reality is IS WE ALL WALK through

valleys.

We all experience hard things. We don't

all experience the same level of misery.

How I steward the season I am in is

going to determine how long I stay in it

and how much I learn and grow from it.

So it's important for us to know that

not every season, not every valley is

actually from the enemy.

Because guess who the shepherd is that

walks the sheep through the valley to

the mountaintop?

It's the good shepherd.

And so when we talk about his rod and

his staff, it actually is this picture

of the two classic instruments that

you'd see a shepherd use. And you have

first of all the big shepherd staff. And

typically uh the one that I've had I we

don't even know where it is right now.

It was here, now it's not. But imagine

the shepherd staff with me right now.

Okay, we are we we use our imagination

here. So the shepherd staff, it

typically was about the height of the

shepherd themselves, but could be a

little bit longer, could be a little bit

higher depending on the shepherd and the

needs that they had. And so you have

this shepherd staff that has this crook

at the end, this curl at the end. And

really what the purpose of this staff

was was for this gentle guidance and

correction.

It represents God's guidance and his

correction. Oftentimes, his this gentle

leadership. You'll see this in in all

sorts of different ancient history about

how people viewed a good leader. Even

Pharaoh, you'll see pictures and of of

Pharaoh painted on the side of tombs

that have uh him holding a shepherd's

staff. They didn't do a ton of hurting.

He certainly wasn't a shepherd. And they

called it something a little bit

different, but the same idea is like, I

care for my people. My people are

blessed because of the way I lead them.

That's the pres. That's the idea that

the shepherd is supposed to be

presenting. And this the shepherds would

carry this staff really just like as an

extension of their own person.

The vast majority of the time it's the

it's the piece used more than any other

uh tool that they had that they kept

with them. And they didn't keep much

because they were moving a lot. And so

they kept it. It was a walking stick for

them, but really it was they'd they'd

use it oftentimes if they're walking on

a a path that's steep and I know that

little B peep sheep over here is a is is

prone to walking off on its own and I'm

going I know what's over there. I know

that there's a cliff edge right there.

What the shepherd will do is just kind

of reach out his staff and place it on

the outside of the sheep just to kind of

like, hey, just stay inside here. just

stay focused where you need to go.

Sometimes the sheep, these little ones

that he loves the most or the ones that

he's had or or are just come coming out

of sickness or something like that,

sometimes he'll even just walk as

they're walking and just place his staff

on just for like a point of contact like

walking arm in arm with someone. And

it's this extension. Every once in a

while, a sheep needs a little bit more

than just it sitting on its side. Every

once in a while a sheep is starting to

get misled, is starting to there will be

poisonous ivy and clovers that they got

to stay away from. And so sometimes the

shepherd will grab and use the hook the

crook of the the the staff and kind of

just loop it right around their neck and

then gently guide them and walk them to

where they need to go because they're

not seeing where they need to be going.

And it's this gentle guidance

and course correction. And I need this

all the time. The Lord gives this to me

all the time. It's the most frequent

thing that he does. It's, "Hey, look at

that. Do you see that? Do you see that

person? Do you feel that thing in your

heart? Do you know that burden that

you're bearing? That's actually

something that you're supposed to you're

supposed to be doing something with

that. I just want to guide you in this.

I want to minister to you in this." Yes.

go over to sometimes we don't it doesn't

even feel that spiritual but suddenly I

find myself in a place where God's using

me and I'm like how I got here did not

feel spiritual I just wanted to go to a

different coffee shop today and I

thought it was kind of fleshly like you

know what I don't like their coffee as

much as this one today I'm going over

here I got they got my favorite ice

drink and they got my favorite hot drink

so I'm going over here and God's like

actually I'm doing a good thing in that

it feels very natural but God's got a

plan and he's working through it and

that's is gentle guidance,

the constant whispers.

We talked about this a series ago is as

God often times he will he will very

rarely push you in a direction that he

wants you to go. He will sometimes shout

loud enough so that I can't ignore it.

But ve most often God is always if I'm

listening, he's whispering. He's always

speaking. He's always guiding. Then you

have what's less common, what people

recognize less that shepherds have is

called the rod.

And the rod would be worn at the hip of

the shepherd. And it was a shorter stick

that was used for discipline

and protection.

And he would use this. And it's

different. It's not for the misled

sheep. It's for the sheep that are

rebelling. It's for the sheep that are

going astray. It's and it's for urgent

matters. Same type of thing. If a sheep

is going after some poisonous stuff or

he knows that, hey, the wolves, the

coyotes, they like to hang out over in

this area. You're hanging out by the

caves. You better stop. I see something.

And he'll he'll launch it and he'll

chuck it and he'll hit it'll hit the

sheep. It'll hurt. It'll bruise them.

IT'S PAINFUL. IT'S NO fun if the sheep

is he'll have these like U's, the big

the big U's that are older that know

what they're doing and they'll push

around these younger sheep and they'll

headbutt them and he'll come over and

he'll go stop it.

Right? And a gentle, hey, I need you to

chill out ain't going to do it for those

ones, right? If he tries to hook it hook

them with his staff on their neck,

that's going to get ripped out of his

hand. And so instead, he's got to come

in with some discipline.

Here's the thing. We We don't always

love the discipline of the Lord.

Yet, it's essential.

Proverbs talks about this a lot.

Proverbs talks about this when it says

Proverbs 3 11-12 and uh 22:15. It says,

"My son, do not despise the Lord's

discipline." DOES GOD DISCIPLINE US?

>> YES, he does. Sometimes I think the

image we get of God is more of the teddy

bear in the sky than the God who's

actually the shepherd who's actually

guiding us. This is why I think it's

such an important picture to fully

understand why God as a shepherd helps

us to understand who he is. Do not

despise the Lord's discipline or be

weary or tired of his reproof, his

correction. For the Lord reproves th

those whom he loves.

As a father, the son in whom he

delights. Proverbs 22:15 says it this

Proverbs 22:15

way. Folly, foolishness is bound up in

the heart of a child, but the rod of

discipline drives it far from him. This

is not when it says he who spares the

rod hates his child. This is not

literally saying beat your kid with a

stick. It's saying as a shepherd

protects with the rod and disciplines

with the rod. So, we also need to guide

and correct and discipline our children.

Not because I want them to do things the

way I want them done. That's not what it

is. It's because I love you. And there's

not a single child in this world that

needs to get taught how to rebel. Any

parents in the room can amen that with

me?

>> You don't GOT TO TEACH A child how to

disobey. You got to teach them how to

live wisely. You got to teach them how

to discipline them, how to be a

disciplined person, how to discipline

themselves. You got to teach them how to

walk in the light. You got to teach them

HOW TO FORGIVE. YOU GOT TO TEACH THEM

HOW TO SHARE. YOU GOT TO TEACH THEM HOW

to give grace. You got to teach them HOW

TO BE KIND WHEN OTHER PEOPLE AREN'T. YOU

GOT TO TEACH THEM HOW TO RECOVER FROM it

when people aren't being kind and NOT

JUST GO BACK AT THEM WITH ANOTHER FIST.

RIGHT? The reality is we are all the

same way. My default reaction is never

the wise reaction. I need to receive the

Lord's guidance, his discipline, his

correction. And also the rod was used

for protection.

In the same way that the shepherd could

throw this, he could do the same thing.

And they got so good at this out there.

You get so good at chucking this and see

I see something that's dangerous over

there. I'm going to stop that thing. I'm

gonna hit it. It's not going to kill it,

but it's going to certainly deter it

from coming over, right? Whether it's a

wolf, whether it's a bear, whatever,

whatever it may be, it's maybe like not

worth it. Okay? But then there's a third

item that the shepherd would carry, and

it was the sling. And it was used only

for protection and for destruction. This

is why David was so good at a sling and

a stone. It wasn't he just like got this

idea of having this like what if I get a

rock, I put it in like some rope and I

and I just like throw it really hard,

right? He was really skilled at this.

David knew naturally he could kill and

defeat Goliath if God gave him the

opportunity to. And God used the gifts

that David had to be able to do what God

wanted to be done. Amen. And so in the

same way, the shepherd never uses the

sling on the sheep, only on the wolves.

He only uses it on the enemy. If the

Lord, if I feel some pain from the Lord,

I got to go, what are you teaching me?

Not why are you doing this, God? I can't

stand it. I reject you. I'm mad about

it. I got to learn to receive the

discipline. Hebrews puts it this way in

Hebrews 12:1. For the moment all

Hebrews 12:1

discipline seems painful and miserable

rather than pleasant, but later it

yields the peaceful fruit of

righteousness to those who have been

trained by it. I learn to follow God

because he disciplines me, because he

corrects me, because he convicts me. In

fact, receiving that discipline is a

sign of salvation.

It's a sign that I have his spirit

within me, that he is guiding me. I'll

tell you what, when I was in in high

school and I played uh football a little

bit, not much freshman, sophomore year,

and I remember sophomore year, I was

going and I was competing and I was wide

receiver and I don't remember what the

correction I was getting, but I remember

this coach, he was hard. He was hard and

he COME ON, YOU GOT TO TURN HERE, GO

HARD, CATCH IT. AND I REMEMBER WE were

doing a tennis ball drill. With a tennis

ball, if you're a receiver, you got to

catch the ball really gently, really

light. You got to have soft hands,

strong hands at the same time. He's

trying to teach us that. And I don't

remember what I was doing, but I I I

wasn't going all in. I don't know if I

didn't go all the way with the route

that he was asking me to do. I don't

know if I was dropping and just like

whatever. And I didn't I didn't care.

But I remember in that moment, he never

yelled at me again.

And I remember in that moment I found my

butt on the bench.

And I remember I stopped getting

coached. And at that moment I really

wanted to be yelled at. All of a sudden.

All of a sudden I really wanted his

coaching. All of a sudden I really

wanted that discipline. All of a sudden

I really wanted to be seen. But he goes,

"He doesn't care enough. He's not trying

enough. He's not doing it. He's just I'm

I'm going to focus on these guys who are

actually ready to be coached." And I

wasn't.

and that taught me a lot about how to be

coached and how to grow and how to

learn. But that's where if I don't have

the Lord's discipline, if I don't have

any convictions that he's been putting

on my heart, I got to question how much

I'm actually being led, by the shepherd.

So, this is Can we get Can we get Psalm

uh 23 or four and five back up there? Uh

three and four. The key verses for

today. Uh Psalm 23 it says uh he leads

me in paths of righteousness for his

name's sake. Your rod and your staff

they comfort me.

I don't know if you've ever looked at

psalms from an artistic point of view or

just from a spiritual point of view. If

you are a a ling a a a teacher, if you

like art, if you like poetry, read the

Psalms from this point of view. Because

the what happens is not grammatically

but linguistically, you see from the

kayazm that we talked about last week

that the act the emphasis of this is not

the rod and the staff. The emphasis of

this is the comfort.

It's not going, "Oh, I learned to be

okay with your discipline." It's like,

"Oh, I covet that." That is what makes

me comfortable. I've learned to be

comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I've learned to be okay and to love the

coaching and the teaching and the

shephering and the guiding that you

bring me because your rod and your

staff, they comfort me.

See, when I follow the shepherd,

my valley can now become someone else's

victory.

and he leads me in places that he's

going to then ask me to lead someone

else through it. And I'll be able to say

just like we heard today, I beat cancer.

Someone else will be in this room is

going,

I need that.

I need that. I know I can. I know we got

testimonies. We got crazy testimonies in

this room. Guys, do not hold your

testimony too tight to your chest.

So then the ultimate question is your

rod and your staff, they come for me.

That's cool, Pastor Drew. But how do I

know where God's leading? This is one of

the biggest questions I get. I get this

all the time. And this passage is one of

the best passages I find to be able to

highlight where do how do I determine

where God's leading? I find it's less

about finding the right answer and it's

more about asking the right questions.

Amen. So we go to the Lord and in the

because he leads in unexpected ways to

unexpected places and the people who

receive the most discipline and

correction are the people who are most

loved and the people who are called to

lead. And so this is where like I want

his voice. I want him to be near. I want

that staff to always be guiding me. I

want to be sensitive to it so that I

don't have to face the rod, right? I

don't I and I want to learn in that way.

So here's the questions that I find.

What we see first of all is it says he

leads me in paths of

>> righteousness.

So my first question is where does

righteousness lead?

How do I know this? How do I know where

righteousness leads? How do I know what

the guidance of this is? It's from his

word. Am I obeying God? Am I living a

life of holiness? in my what what

presses me in to be more like him and

less like my flesh just wants to settle

into.

Where is righteousness leading? Matthew

Matthew 5:6

5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger

in thirst for righteousness, for they

will be filled."

Proverbs 16:7 says, "A man whose ways

Proverbs 16:7

please the Lord,

he makes even his enemies be at peace

with them. Paths of righteousness lead

to a restored soul."

The reality is is that the first

question I got to ask is, is this

something that's going to actually is

this a path of righteousness

that is having me in my process? is the

prayer I pray every day. God, help me to

be more like you today than I was

yesterday,

tomorrow more than today because I've

already messed up. Right? It's this

constant. What's going to lead me in the

path of righteousness? Now, here's the

key thing. The path of righteousness

is not exclusively the harder path, but

it's often the harder path. It is most

frequently because scripture calls it

the narrow gate,

the path less taken.

Everybody else wants to take the easy

way and I'm going to take the way of

righteousness.

Now, here's the problem.

Hard does not equal bad, but it doesn't

necessarily mean good. So, it means I've

got to listen to my shepherd. I've got

to follow in this in a path of

righteousness that may be really, really

difficult, but I can guarantee. I can't

guarantee exactly where it's going to

lead. I can't guarantee everything about

it, but I can guarantee that it's going

to be good. Romans 8:28 says, "God does

Romans 8:28

all works all things for the good of

those who love them." Romans 5 2-5 says,

"I rejoice in my tribulations, in my

trials. I rejoice in my hard times, for

they bring about perseverance, and

perseverance, proven character, and

proven character, hope, and hope does

not disappoint." James 1:es 2-4 says, "I

count it all joy, my brothers, when I

encounter trials of various kinds."

I learned that hardship doesn't mean bad

when I'm walking through. I'm not going

to pursue it just for my own sake. But

if God's leading into it or if I find

myself in it, then there's something

good he wants to bring from it.

Whether it is him that led me there or

whether it's my sin that got me there,

God's got a lesson for me right here. So

my first question has to be, what leads

to righteousness? And then here's the

reality. Hard paths lead to lush

pastures.

The valley leads to the pasture. Hard

paths lead to lust pastures. This is uh

Brook Filer in his book in his book

Walking the Bible says this. It says

because the place is demanding,

it builds character.

When I'm in a place that's destructive,

it builds interdependence.

When because it's isolating, it builds

community.

Because it's the desert,

it builds nations. God always works in

the hard seasons. He's working in the

difficult things to build things that no

lush pasture can ever give you. I don't

strengthen my body by resting my body. I

strengthen my body by exerting it and

meeting the end of where it's at and

trying to push a little bit further.

That is where I find strength. In the

same way, that's where I find myself in

the father where I go, okay, I feel like

this church planting was like that. I

was like, this is this is my faith. This

is what I've got. I've got this level of

faith. And God's like, yeah, but your

answer is right over there. And so I'm

like, God, I trust in you. You're good.

You're awesome. You're awesome. OKAY,

WE'RE SCREWED. WE'RE DONE. OH, YOU DID

IT. OH MY GOODNESS. GOD, YOU DID IT.

RIGHT. AND THEN I COME BACK AND I'M

LIKE, HALLELUJAH. He's good. Okay,

there's a potential problem coming up.

It's all right. Don't worry, God's made

it through. Okay, now. Okay, we're

toast. WE'RE TOAST. OH, HE SHOWED UP. OH

MY GOODNESS. RIGHT. LIKE, AND I

CONSTANTLY I'M MET at the end of myself

and just on the other side of it is

where I find his salvation when it's

extended past where I can be. So, the

first question is, does it where

righteousness is leading? And then the

second is, does it give God glory?

You lead me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake,

not mine.

Now, this is a hard hard reality for

many people to come to, but it's kind of

like if you were to live by a if you

were living in a desert and you could

set up home right beside the only

stream, the only river in that area or

IF YOU GO, "WHY? WHY DOES IT NEED ME TO

BE OVER THERE? HUH? Why do Why do I NEED

TO BE CLOSE TO THE RIVER? WHY DO I GOTA

I I'M GONNA BE WHERE I WANT TO BE? IT

JUST WANTS MY ATTENTION. IT JUST WANTS

ME TO COME BY. IT JUST SAYS THAT I'M NOT

GOOD ENOUGH. SAYS THAT IF I'M over here,

I'M GOING TO SET UP SHOP RIGHT OVER HERE

INSTEAD. We do that.

We go. WE SAY, "YOU ARE OUR PROVISION.

He is our salvation. He is where life

is. He is where goodness is. He is where

redemption is. He is where grace is."

AND WE SAY, "NO, WHY DO YOU WANT WHY?

WHY IS IT FOR YOUR GLORY, NOT MINE?

SEE, if I got a decision in front of me

and it's for my glory or for my comfort,

it's probably leading me in the wrong

direction. And it certainly is leading

me for the wrong reasons.

Here's something interesting. Sheep,

there's this shepherds would deal with

something that they'd always have to

keep their eyes out for. And it wasn't

just the wolves and the enemies coming

in. It was the fact that sheep when

they're looking for a comfortable spot.

You make me lie down in green pastures.

Once they're full, once they're fed,

once they're at peace, they'll try to

find comfort. And when they find that

comfort, they'll lay down. But sheep are

helpless, y'all. Sheep are dumb, guys.

They are just absolutely they they

cannot survive on their own. And so, as

they search for comfort, they'll lay

down, they'll get stuck on their side,

and then they kick and flail about, and

they end up on their back. And they

don't bleep.

They don't shout.

They can't roll over.

They don't wink at the sheep next to

them. Hey, can you headbutt me and just

spin me right back over?

The sheep walk by and they're like, "Oo,

stinks to be you." Because they got all

this digestive enzymes and gases and

it'll build up and they will literally

die and then explode or they'll

dehydrate. or the other animals, the

enemies around know exactly that's what

happens and they'll go they'll be

looking for sheep legs sticking up in

the air and THEN THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING.

I KNOW MY NEXT MEAL and it'll be so easy

to get to. The problem with it's called

cast sheep and the shepherds are always

having to look and they'll come to them

and they'll have lost the feeling in

their legs and they have to like help

them be able to get back up on their

feet and come on come on you got this

and get the feeling back in. Then the

problem, the reason that all happened is

because they were seeking their own

comfort instead of the leading of the

shepherd. When we're seeking our best,

when we're seeking our comfort, it may

not always be the wrong decision, but it

certainly is the wrong motivation.

It's going to lead to me getting stuck.

>> God may lead you into a place. He may be

saying, "I want to I want to make you so

wealthy. I want to make you so

prosperous. I want to make everything

that your hand touches to be blessed

so that you can be a blessing."

>> Right? And that may you may be like, I

accept that blessing. Come on. I want

that type of calling. That's what I

want, Lord. Yes. Bring it on. So that

you may be a blessing. It's for someone

else's sake, not just for you, not just

for your comfort. And the reality is is

if I see it as he just wants to make me

happy and making me lie down in green

pastures, I'm going to find myself

rolled over and cast and stuck and I'm

actually dying.

Where does righteousness lead? Does it

give God glory? Because the path of

God's glory is the path of my purpose.

I will find my life. I will find my

purpose only when I am near to his

presence and when I'm seeking his

benefit, not mine.

And then lastly, my last question is, am

I listening?

But as you write this down, I want you

to put in parenthesis or put comma right

after it truly.

Am I really listening?

Because sometimes I'm listening for God

to give me this answer.

I'm listening for him to say, "I've got

a comfortable next step for you." I'm

listening to see that he's going to

affirm this idea that I have. And

instead of just listening and seeking

him. How do I listen to him? How do I

know the voice of God? His word is first

and foremost.

I find it in who who he is. I find it in

his word. I find it in his counsel. I go

to spiritual leaders and people around

me that will pray with me and that will

guide me and when I can't trust my own

self I go to other people where are you

seeing and I'm going to trust in you

that you are doing that that you don't

have a bias in this would you give so I

go to his word I go to his counsel and I

go to history I go to what has God been

saying what has God already been doing

if he's working in one direction in my

life in all these ways and then I

suddenly go oh but look at that thing

over there that looks really cool. That

looks really good.

History and the story, his story that he

is building for me is probably not

pointing in that direction. It probably

can be a little bit more steady right

here. Am I listening? I know. I found if

you're listening, he has an ability to

speak that's greater than my inability

to hear. But I got to listen hard

sometimes. He wants us to seek him. He

wants us to pursue him. He wants us to

trust in him. And this is, if we can

stand up, this is what's amazing. Uh

John chapter 10 talks about this. He

John 10 · chapter mention

says, "When he, the shepherd, has

brought out all his own, he goes on

ahead of them, and his sheep follow

him." The sheep follow their shepherd

because they know his voice. But they

will never follow a stranger. In fact,

they'll run away from him because they

don't recognize a stranger's voice.

Because shephering was so lonely,

shepherds would often combine their

herds and go all and and be in the

wilderness together. And there's a few

groups of shepherds that would be

hanging out. But at any point in time,

they could and they could call. They

could give a command. They'd call and

their sheep from this massive herd of

thousands of sheep suddenly would begin

to separate themselves from the rest.

And they would begin to follow this

command. and his sheep would follow him

because they go, "I'm not know about

that guy. I'M NOT SO SURE OVER THERE.

He's led me to green pastures. He's led

me to still waters. This shepherd, this

shepherdist has led me in ways that I

can trust." That's what that that's what

the sheep see that in the same way I can

go to the great shepherd

and I can trust in him. But do I know

his voice?

Because there's a lot of voices. I got a

lot of things, thoughts and ideas and

emotions and problems going on in my

head. I got a lot of voices. I got a lot

of opinions. I got a lot of outside

pressure going on into to me. And I've

got to learn how to hear his voice. This

is why I don't believe it's possible. I

do know you can't hear the voice of God.

God will speak to you directly for this

moment that you have right now. And he

can speak to you so clearly in a way

that'll lead you for the rest of your

life. But the only way that I know it's

his voice if it if it aligns with his

word.

If you want to regularly hear the voice

of God, I got to learn what he sounds

like from the word.

>> I got to learn to hear his voice so that

as he calls out in the midst of all the

other noises, I go, I

know where I'm going. I know who's

leading me now. I know how to I know how

to follow because I'm seeking. Is

righteousness leading in that direction?

Does it give glory to God? And am I

listening? Listening to his word,

listening to his counsel, and listening

to his story, the history of who he is.

So, this is what I got. If we're

following God, if his rod and his staff

comforts us, want to know what it does?

It doesn't enslave us.

It frees us.

>> Oh, now I know WHERE TO GO. NOW I KNOW

WHAT to do. It's the like it's it's

trying to run a track race and you don't

even have a starting line, let alone the

lanes that you're going in. See, his his

guidance, his instruction, his

boundaries HAVE ME GO, "YES, I KNOW

WHERE TO GO." SO, WHAT I WANT TO DO, I

WANT TO FIRST CHALLENGE US IN a couple

different areas. First I want to say if

you see if you know the leading of God

THEN GO

WITH ABANDON GO WITH FULL FAITH IN HIM.

HIS ROD AND HIS STAFF THEY COMFORT ME.

They free me. They cause me to live in a

freedom in a in a faith in where he's

leading. Second

I may need to submit to his guidance.

Maybe there's some areas of conviction

that God's been putting in your heart

and in your life and you need to align

and he's been moving from come on just a

gentle rest on the outside of your hip

to be able to guide you. You're

resisting. You're not moving. So he

turns and he kind of hooks your neck.

Come on. Trust me. Trust me. NO.

MAYBE YOU'VE GOT THE ROD ALREADY.

Maybe it's coming.

Maybe you got the consequences of your

own actions and you fell off the side of

the cliff on your own and you got a

broken leg.

Maybe you already got got maybe the

enemy came in and got a big bite out of

you. Maybe I don't know what it is. But

guess what? The shepherd is still going.

I will bring you in. I will heal you. I

will help you. I will lead you. I And so

our our question is, will I submit? Will

I submit to his guidance? I accept the

journey you have for me, God. I'm

willing to bear the burden that you have

given me.

I'm willing to walk in the blessing and

the difficulty of what you have called

me to walk in of the place that I am

standing in right now. Whether it's

diagnosis, whether it's a reality of of

pain, whether it's a reality of your

story, whatever it may be, I'm willing

to walk according to where you're

leading. Submit to his guidance. And

then lastly, Psalm 139:23-24.

Psalms 139:23–24

I love this. This is it. If you go, I

don't really know what God's doing in

me. I don't really know what he's

saying. I don't I don't feel this rod,

this staff. That's cool, but I'm not

understanding really what's happening.

This is David's prayer. Search me, oh

God.

AND KNOW MY HEART.

How many times we go to God, we go like,

you know my heart, God, don't worry.

Like, I'm good. I'm justified. You know

my heart. Guess what it's saying here?

Know my heart. Try me and know my

thoughts. See if there's any grievous

way in me. When he sees in my heart, he

sees that it's not good. He sees that

it's full of pride. He sees that even in

my good intentions, I have bad motives,

right? He sees that I'm still selfish.

He sees that I've got all THIS ISSUE.

OH, HE KNOWS MY HEART. YEAH, that's the

problem. That's the problem. He knows my

heart. So, I invite him in. See, search

me, God. Look inside of me. Search my

emotions. Search my thoughts. Search all

of the things internally that are inside

of me that no one else knows. And see if

there's any way that grieavves you that

YOU GO, "OH, WHY? WHY DO YOU LIVE THIS

WAY? Why are you believing this lie?

What why are you STANDING IN THIS? WHY

ARE YOU HOLDING ON TO THIS TEMPTATION?

WHY ARE YOU NOT LETTING GO OF THIS THIS

PERSON OR THIS relationship whatever me

and then lead me in the way everlasting?

And the prayer today is for conviction.

the prayer today

because what we see is as a good parent

and a good shepherd,

his discipline, his judgment, hardship

from God is actually an expression of

his love. The harshest judgments we ever

see within scripture of the way that God

leads even with the exile of 70 years

are for teaching a lesson that is that

last for generations. He actually is

doing it out of love. Lord, would you

please correct me? Would you please

guide me? Would you please

discipline, seek the things, find the

things inside of me that need

correcting? And I accept your

correction.

And I want to challenge us into this.

And we can respond however you need to

respond. Whether you're saying, "God, I

need to go. I need to run with where

you've called me to go. I need to submit

to his guidance. I need to actually say

yes to this or I need to ask for him to

convict me and I need to search my

heart. Lastly, Isaiah 53:6 says this. I

Isaiah 53:6

believe this for some of us in the room.

We're going to close with this.

All as all we like sheep have gone

astray. We have turned every single one

of us to our own way. And the Lord has

laid on

him all of us.

We like sheep. And the Lord has laid on

him

1500 years before, sorry, Isaiah 700

years before the Christ, before Jesus

ever came, there's this promise

that the one who will take the iniquity

who was laid on him, my sin, my

inability to follow my mess, my mistake,

and he's going to take my scars. He's

going to take my sickness. He's going to

take me and place me on his back. AND

HE'S GOING TO CARRY ME OUT BECAUSE OF

his love, because of his care. HE'S

GOING TO GUIDE ME. HE'S GOING TO

DISCIPLINE ME. And he will walk with me.

This is the type of father that we have.

The good shepherd that says, "I will lay

my life down for you." That is what I

believe some of you in this room are

here for. The reason you're here in this

very moment is because God's saying the

conviction, yes, all of that will come.

What I want is I want your yes right

now. I want your yes. I want your follow

me. I want your I give you all of it.

And if that's you, would you just throw

your hand up? Throw your hand up if

that's Come on. I see you. You're not

alone. I see you. Come on. That is it. I

just want your yes is what he's saying.

Give me your yes. Come on. That is it.

Let's go. Come on. Come on. Can we give

A HAND? COME ON. GOD'S MOVING. I see it.

I see it. Can we get our prayer team? If

you keep your hand up. I want to get our

prayer team. For our prayer team, I

don't even know if we got a Do we got a

prayer lantern? There we go. Good. Let's

go. Let's get our prayer team. Keep your

hand up. If that's you, I just want to

make sure that you know you're not

alone. You don't have to do this by

yourself. You don't have to walk in this

alone. We got right up here as well.

Adriana right here. We got If we can get

There we go. Perfect. There. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, we got Anybody else?

Are we missing right back here? Haley,

can we help get uh get Mike? You hang

out with Jeff. Adrian, there we go. Ola,

you got Haley. Perfect. What I want to

do, this is our yes. This is our yes to

him. Heavenly Father, I pray in the

mighty name of Jesus, we submit to your

guidance. We ask for your conviction.

We say yes. You are our shepherd. You

are ours. We are yours. In the mighty

name of Jesus, would you lead us? Would

you guide us? Would you direct us,

Father God? And then we will go. We will

go with everything in our being. We'll

go with the faith in you, not a faith in

ourselves, with a fear for what you

have. And for fear of disobeying you,

not a fear of what anybody else will

think, not a fear of our own benefit and

our own comfort. Lord, we will go in the

mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Amen. Come on, can we give a hand for

the word of the Lord?

>> Hey, thanks so much for watching today's

message. Our prayer is more than the

words that were spoken in the message

that you would remember the things that

God spoke to your heart.

>> Yeah. And no matter what it was that God

spoke to you, I know that part of your

journey is other people being in a

community because we are better

together. So if you made a decision to

follow Jesus today, would you click the

link below and fill out the form? This

is going to help us so that we can

celebrate with you and equip you with

some tools so that your next steps are

great steps.

>> Yeah. Thanks so much for watching. We're

praying for you. We're cheering you on.

We believe that the best days are ahead

of you.