SPEAKER_00: All right, somebody say, God's got you.
SPEAKER_00: God's got you.
SPEAKER_00: We are at the end.
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe it?
SPEAKER_00: We're at the end of the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying we'll never come back here, but we have been in the land of blue since before Christmas.
SPEAKER_00: This is just kind of a it's a cutesy way to say we're talking about sadness and depression, and it's the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: And we we've been to different places in the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember first we started at the Gate of Honesty?
SPEAKER_00: That's a smart place to start at the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: Um, we went to the uh shadowy forest of feelings.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes our feelings cause us to get depressed, to get discouraged, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00: We went into the valley of regret and we spent several weeks there.
SPEAKER_00: That's where, I mean, everybody's got regrets, and sometimes regrets haunt us and they they keep us down.
SPEAKER_00: Last week, I don't know if you remember, for those of you who were here, we scaled the cliff, the gusty cliff of opposition.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a precarious place to be because we encountered the red dragon of ridicule at the very top.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the things we said was the red dragon of ridicule talks a good game, but really he can't actually hurt you.
SPEAKER_00: You felt the red dragon of ridicule when you started to take a step toward Jesus and someone weighed in very negatively about that.
SPEAKER_00: Anytime you tried to step forward or do good or do what God wanted you to do, and somebody started to complain or whine or accuse you, that's the red dragon of ridicule.
SPEAKER_00: And it's sent to get you to stop.
SPEAKER_00: That's what it's about.
SPEAKER_00: And yet we just found, dude, if you just ignore him and just keep walking, you can walk right past him.
SPEAKER_00: And so we walked right past him, and now we are going to get to the highlands of confidence.
SPEAKER_00: This is my favorite place in the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: The highlands of confidence.
SPEAKER_00: When we get to the summit of confidence, we are now looking down over the entire land of blue, and we're accessing something with Jesus that despite all the reasons there are to be saddest, despite all the reasons there are to be depressed, we have got confidence in our God.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we're gonna talk about confidence for a couple minutes.
SPEAKER_00: I think we could talk about confidence from several different levels, okay?
SPEAKER_00: If we go into the valley right before the summit of confidence, there's confidence in self.
SPEAKER_00: This is the confidence, honestly, man, it's destined to disappoint you.
SPEAKER_00: Confidence in self.
SPEAKER_00: This is this is really the spirit of the world.
SPEAKER_00: It just says, I can do it no matter what happens.
SPEAKER_00: I'm enough, I can shepherd myself, I can take care of myself, I'm smart enough to do whatever needs to be done.
SPEAKER_00: That's confidence in self.
SPEAKER_00: But if we keep moving up the mountain, if we keep ascending the highlands, we will get to maybe what we could call godly self-confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Godly self-confidence is it recognizes it's not that I'm sufficient, but me and Jesus were enough to do whatever he's gifted me to do.
SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, it's not arrogant to say, you know, I know that I can actually do that and do it well with God because he's given me a certain amount of giftedness in that area I can do it.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you know, like God has gifted you to be able to think.
SPEAKER_00: Like you're a thinker, man.
SPEAKER_00: You can turn that thing on, and it's not arrogant, God made you that way.
SPEAKER_00: As long as you know, it's Jesus and I doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is causing me to do it, he's given me everything I need to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are great in the kitchen.
SPEAKER_00: You walk in the kitchen, and that's you're not, you're not being arrogant.
SPEAKER_00: You're just like, I know what to do here.
SPEAKER_00: I can do this.
SPEAKER_00: You go under, you go under the hood of a car, you're like, I know what to do here.
SPEAKER_00: And you're a solution.
SPEAKER_00: Like God made you a solution.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to have confidence with him.
SPEAKER_00: But then there's maybe one more level as we ascend the heights of confidence, and this is where we're gonna hang out today.
SPEAKER_00: This is we might call it Christ confidence, because in every other level, I'm saying, okay, either I've got this all on my own, which is ridiculous, or even I've got it with God because He's helping me at the height, at the height of the summit of confidence, we say, it's really not up me at all.
SPEAKER_00: God's got me.
SPEAKER_00: Forget all my stuff, forget what I'm good at or not good at.
SPEAKER_00: God has got me.
SPEAKER_00: And when we get to that place, we're now ready to absorb and live Psalm 23.
SPEAKER_00: Might be the most famous Psalm on earth.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Lord is my shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm gonna work very hard to convince you today that God has got you because he is your shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a few fewer people, but that means you have to be all the louder with the amens.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna tell you some good news today, and I want you to tell Jesus you appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: So here we go.
SPEAKER_00: Yahweh, verse one, Yahweh is my shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: I shall not want.
SPEAKER_00: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul, he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
SPEAKER_00: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you've anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows.
SPEAKER_00: Surely goodness and loving kindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
SPEAKER_00: Now that was beautiful, and that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: And and in the ancient Near East, like Israel wasn't the only people to talk about their God as their shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes kings were reviewed were referred to as shepherds.
SPEAKER_00: They were people that they were charged with taking care of the people.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus made sure that we knew when he arrived on earth that the real shepherd is him.
SPEAKER_00: This was always talking about Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's why he says in John chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 14, I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and my own know me.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the good shepherd, which means he takes responsibility personally for getting you and I where we're supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just do like suck on that for a second, like a little butterscotch.
SPEAKER_00: Suck on that thing.
SPEAKER_00: He takes responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: Just let go.
SPEAKER_00: He takes responsibility for getting you and I where we're supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: Because he knows the way.
SPEAKER_00: So let's start with a fear that probably all of us had makes us less confident sometimes.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the fear of running out.
SPEAKER_00: I'm afraid I'm gonna run out.
SPEAKER_00: And so those on the summit of confidence rest in God's number one provision for what they need.
SPEAKER_00: Provision for what they need.
SPEAKER_00: See, some people know I don't necessarily have everything I desire.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have everything that I necessarily could have.
SPEAKER_00: I don't necessarily know how long what I do have is going to last.
SPEAKER_00: But I do know this.
SPEAKER_00: Because I have a shepherd that is concerned for me, I always have everything that I need.
SPEAKER_00: I have everything that I need to serve him.
SPEAKER_00: I have everything that I need to obey him.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean I always like everything that I have.
SPEAKER_00: But whatever I have or don't have, because I have him, he says, You have enough to follow me and to do what I'm asking you to do in the moment that I'm asking you to do it.
SPEAKER_00: You have enough.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the problem for us is there's there's a low confidence lie that slips in.
SPEAKER_00: It creates low confidence in us.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, Well, you know, but you could have something else.
SPEAKER_00: What you need is something more, something different, or something else.
SPEAKER_00: And you could make a little list.
SPEAKER_00: You could say, What I really need, like I this is good, but what I really need is I need a little bit more success.
SPEAKER_00: Make your little list.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are the things you would put on this list?
SPEAKER_00: I need a little more fill in the blank.
SPEAKER_00: I need a little more success.
SPEAKER_00: I need a partner that gets me.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I need.
SPEAKER_00: I need to finally have a car that works the way I want it to work.
SPEAKER_00: I need finally, I need that people to recognize me for the skill and the talent that I have.
SPEAKER_00: They don't recognize me at work, they don't recognize me anywhere else.
SPEAKER_00: I need people to recognize if I had that, then I would be satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Then I could say, I shall not want.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us we might even be a little bit sad because we look at the past and we say, I shall not want when I kind of have a different past than I have because I don't like my past and I don't like what happened there.
SPEAKER_00: I want a different past.
SPEAKER_00: Or some say, I shall not want when I'm more healed in my body or more healed in my mind.
SPEAKER_00: I shall not want when.
SPEAKER_00: And my friends, I I get that we all have things that we want or wish were true, but Jesus is no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: If you're gonna walk in the highlands of confidence, if you're gonna attain to the summit of confidence, you've got to start here.
SPEAKER_00: I have everything I need because he is my shepherd and he knows what's good for me.
SPEAKER_00: He knows where I'm supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's say, for just for kicks, there's an 18th century physician, and he believes the best thing to do for people when they're sick is to do some bloodletting.
SPEAKER_00: Hey man, pop something open and start that thing gushing.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he knows.
SPEAKER_00: That's his best guess.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, this is what I think.
SPEAKER_00: But let's say that you and I could time travel him right up to the 21st century.
SPEAKER_00: If we could, he would say, you know, I thought that bloodletting was what I needed, but what I actually needed was some antibiotics.
SPEAKER_00: Turns out, turns out I needed antibiotics.
SPEAKER_00: We've all been through times and seasons where we thought one thing, but it turned out to be another.
SPEAKER_00: I thought I would just be numb forever, but the truth is I just needed to grieve honestly.
SPEAKER_00: That's what I needed.
SPEAKER_00: I thought that I really needed to control anything and everyone that wasn't getting things just right.
SPEAKER_00: I thought that turns out what I really needed was I needed to know somebody who is 100% in control of everything and always knows the wisest way.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need to be in control, I just need to know him.
SPEAKER_00: I thought I needed be the one, and this is where our self-confidence comes.
SPEAKER_00: I thought I needed be the one to always be right, to always be smart, to always be the strongest.
SPEAKER_00: Turns out, what I needed was a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: I needed someone who would take responsibility for me.
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm supposed to be mighty and awesome and always enough, and no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: God says, that's not the way.
SPEAKER_00: The way is you need a shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: And when you have a shepherd, you can have true confidence.
SPEAKER_00: Some of us, though, we're not we're not afraid of having too little.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid of making the wrong move.
SPEAKER_00: I'm afraid if I step over here, I'm gonna get bad stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Just like maybe before.
SPEAKER_00: If I step over here, I've been told what happens when I go that way, and I'm afraid I'm gonna do it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm afraid I'm gonna do it on accident, not even know, I'm just gonna drift and go the wrong way, or something bad's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: And for those, God gives us the confidence, here it is, of God's guidance, number two, when they don't know the way.
SPEAKER_00: Those on the summit of confidence rest in God's guidance when they don't know the way.
SPEAKER_00: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul, he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: We just don't know, we don't think about how sufficient Jesus is as a guide, how well he's doing.
SPEAKER_00: I was talking to a new friend this past week, and all they could really say was, I just feel lost.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just so lost, tears streaming down their face, I'm just so lost, I just don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I got here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just so lost.
SPEAKER_00: And what this new friend is finding out as they turn to Jesus, really for the very first time, is that you're never lost, really, when Jesus is your shepherd, because he always knows where you are.
SPEAKER_00: Even if you don't know where you are, that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: Because he knows where you are.
SPEAKER_00: See, some people they know I don't need to know the way always, because my God knows the way.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know that whatever you're up against right now, your God knows the way and he knows how to get you to the right place.
SPEAKER_00: He knows the way and he knows how to get you to the right place.
SPEAKER_00: Now we all we we we have we have different humans that we trust for this kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like most of us probably, I mean, you get on an airplane, you pay money, and you trust that the pilot is actually a pilot.
SPEAKER_00: And they know where you don't know where to go.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: You don't know how to get there.
SPEAKER_00: All you know is this is a pilot, and that pilot knows how to get me where I'm supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: Now, none of us like start knocking on the cabin door of the pilot, being like, um, why are you going this way?
SPEAKER_00: Like, you're not you're not, you know, you're not concerned about that.
SPEAKER_00: He's taken the wrong way.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't need to do that to our shepherd Jesus either.
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to say, Jesus, why are you going this way?
SPEAKER_00: Because he knows the way.
SPEAKER_00: Because he knows where to go, he knows what altitude to be at.
SPEAKER_00: He knows always how to calibrate things just right, get to get exactly where we're supposed to go.
SPEAKER_00: Now, we might not always like the way, true.
SPEAKER_00: We don't like the way, always, but Jesus still knows the way.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a promise we're always gonna like the way, it's that Jesus always knows the way.
SPEAKER_00: He restores my soul.
SPEAKER_00: This is the word Rahesh.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's soul, it's not just like your spirit person, it's all of life.
SPEAKER_00: It's your emotions, it's your mind, it's it's when you get frazzled.
SPEAKER_00: Anybody been frazzled recently?
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, man.
SPEAKER_00: I feel like it's easier to get frazzed frazzled for me in the winter.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if it's the vitamin D I'm missing something about it.
SPEAKER_00: It's easier to get frazzled.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, Jesus is a shepherd and he restores the soul.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we're we're looking we're looking at the world and being like, wow, chaos, disorder.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, if we could just get this in order.
SPEAKER_00: Or you're looking at your life, you're looking at your finances, you're looking at your kids, you're looking at your job.
SPEAKER_00: If I could just get this in order, yet Jesus restores our soul.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you some advice that uh a loving pastor gave me early on, and it stuck with me.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of trying to put the world in order, put the man in order, and the world will come into order.
SPEAKER_00: Instead of us out there trying to fix all this, no, no, no, there's chaos here.
SPEAKER_00: Bring this into order.
SPEAKER_00: Come to your Savior, give him all the things.
SPEAKER_00: Confess, I do not know the best way, I'm not my own guide, I do not know the best way or the right timings for the world.
SPEAKER_00: But you are God and you are my personal shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, put me back in order.
SPEAKER_00: As you as you study his word and and and verses leap out from the pages to you, he's speaking to you and he's calming you, and he says, baby, does he ever call you that?
SPEAKER_00: Baby.
SPEAKER_00: I got you, and I know the way.
SPEAKER_00: Sit and drink and chill and relax in this pasture.
SPEAKER_00: See, we access the pasture by knowing I need my soul restored by God.
SPEAKER_00: So put the man in order and the world will come back into order.
SPEAKER_00: That means, okay, so this week that means when something goes wrong, all right, or there's a surprise, or somebody changes the plan.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna like say, now we're doomed.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna spiral and be like, well, somebody changed it, so now the whole thing's out of control.
SPEAKER_00: No, God knew that was gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna trust Jesus, you are the restorer of my soul.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna trust you that it's all gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: Slap somebody, tell them it's all gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: It's all gonna be okay.
SPEAKER_00: He guides me into righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: He guides me into God's commands.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Here's God's commands, do those.
SPEAKER_00: Do those because those are the wisest way.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us that as a shepherd to keep us from pain.
SPEAKER_00: See, he knows where all the all the little pits are for sheep.
SPEAKER_00: He knows where there's a poisonous snake.
SPEAKER_00: He knows where all the things are and he says, No, no, no, just walk in my commands for righteousness, walk in the ways I've asked humans to go, and you'll be protected and you'll get to the right place.
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's what's even awesomer, in my view.
SPEAKER_00: Little sheep don't always see some of the things that are about to hurt them.
SPEAKER_00: Little sheep don't always understand how much temptation could be coming against them.
SPEAKER_00: They don't always really understand God has kept certain temptations from you because he knows they will wipe you out.
SPEAKER_00: And so in his mercy, he just keeps you from certain situations.
SPEAKER_00: He just keeps you from certain people, he keeps you from certain grievances, he keeps you from certain hurts because, like, that will crush them and that will get them so tempted into an area they'll just start right off the path and jump off a cliff.
SPEAKER_00: That's what they'll do.
SPEAKER_00: What are we saying?
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying it's important it's appropriate and important to praise our shepherd because he's kept you from stuff you don't even know that would have been your ruin.
SPEAKER_00: But he's a good shepherd, and so he just he led you in the paths of righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: You were getting off the path and he said, No, no, no, no, no, no, let's go.
SPEAKER_00: Over here.
SPEAKER_00: Off you go, keep going that way.
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes he uses circumstances, sometimes there's something we really wanted, and it didn't happen.
SPEAKER_00: And we're like, what the heck?
SPEAKER_00: And God's like, Well, you don't know what was down that path that would have ruined you.
SPEAKER_00: And so I see all things and I protected you from it.
SPEAKER_00: It looked like a disappointment, but it was actually me preserving the pasture for you so you could have a fruitful life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, some of us, the the trouble is, and I I've been here, uh I I suspect most have been here.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that God would be our shepherd.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that he would even direct us, but there's part of us that says, but you don't know what I did recently.
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what I did wrong.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not really in good standing right now.
SPEAKER_00: There's no reason God should keep guiding me.
SPEAKER_00: You know what he should do?
SPEAKER_00: He should just be silent for a while because of what I did wrong.
SPEAKER_00: He should just let me run into the snakes and let me run over the cliff.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, for his name's sake, for his name's sake, for his name's sake, he directs me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, not because I'm doing anything right at all, not because I've earned it, because I've been good this week.
SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, well, now I'll let you go the right way.
SPEAKER_00: He says, this is the kind of God I am.
SPEAKER_00: I am a faithful God.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna stop that just because you didn't obey.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep being me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be the faithful shepherd for my own namesake.
SPEAKER_00: No one's ever gonna be a say of God that he just gave up on somebody.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: Slap somebody, say, God don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: God don't quit.
SPEAKER_00: So those on the summit of confidence rest in God's presence in their darkest hours.
SPEAKER_00: Presence in the darkest hours.
SPEAKER_00: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff that comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: We've learned in the land of blue for sure.
SPEAKER_00: Life is filled with valleys.
SPEAKER_00: Life is filled with hard stuff.
SPEAKER_00: What Psalm 23, verse 4 reminds us is that though there are valleys, God's presence is the defining reality.
SPEAKER_00: God's presence is the core thing, God's presence is the main thing, God's presence is the thing.
SPEAKER_00: That's really going on.
SPEAKER_00: Even though I might, if I'm if I'm walking through the dark valley of the shadow of death, I may very well feel alone.
SPEAKER_00: This feels lonely.
SPEAKER_00: I don't feel like I've seen God at all.
SPEAKER_00: Where is he?
SPEAKER_00: He's with you.
SPEAKER_00: For I fear no evil, not because there is no evil, not because there's nothing really to be afraid of.
SPEAKER_00: I fear no evil because you are with me.
SPEAKER_00: That's why.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm not gonna worry about it because I'm not alone.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not lost.
SPEAKER_00: I haven't lost my way.
SPEAKER_00: God is smart, and God stays.
SPEAKER_00: God stays, dude.
SPEAKER_00: He's still there.
SPEAKER_00: I know you might feel like, no, I don't know if he is.
SPEAKER_00: No, he is.
SPEAKER_00: He's there.
SPEAKER_00: You might need to tune in the frequency a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: You might need not might not you might need to start coming to fears a whole lot more.
SPEAKER_00: But he is there for sure.
SPEAKER_00: This is why it's so important.
SPEAKER_00: We need to pay attention when it's a good day.
SPEAKER_00: We need to pay attention when the light is shining, when God is showing us stuff about his heart, when he's showing us in his word, when he's revealing through friends in a small group, this is what God is like, this is who I am.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't this awesome?
SPEAKER_00: Worship me for how cool and powerful and present I am.
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to that and then hold on to it and write it down because the dark days come.
SPEAKER_00: And it's in those moments.
SPEAKER_00: I've learned and many of you learn this.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, that's when you get that journal out.
SPEAKER_00: That's when it's time to review.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm in the dark now.
SPEAKER_00: I need to remember what I was shown in the light.
SPEAKER_00: Here's my light book.
SPEAKER_00: Here's all the things I wrote down.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a digital file, but it's the things you wrote down about God.
SPEAKER_00: And you're really, when you're doing that on a good day, you're you're telling future self, don't forget this.
SPEAKER_00: This is who God really is.
SPEAKER_00: Your brain's gonna get crazy for a second because it's gonna be so dark.
SPEAKER_00: And in darkness, you need to go look at what you wrote in the light.
SPEAKER_00: This is another reason you need phone-a-friend people for when it's really dark.
SPEAKER_00: No matter how mature you are, you never outgrow this.
SPEAKER_00: There needs to be some characters.
SPEAKER_00: I know you don't want to bother anybody, but baby, when you're in the deep valley of the dark shadow of death, that's when you're not bothering anybody, you're just phoning a friend and you're saying, I got a little bit of an emergency here.
SPEAKER_00: Can we get together?
SPEAKER_00: Can we have coffee?
SPEAKER_00: Can we just text or send audios back and forth?
SPEAKER_00: I'm in the dark, and I need you to tell me the truth.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to look at my circumstances and remind me what for some reason I'm blind to right now.
SPEAKER_00: I knew it once, but I need you to tell me now.
SPEAKER_00: Phone a friend, whoever it is that you know, they know Jesus, they know his ways, they know his word.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna phone a friend now.
SPEAKER_00: Versus what's the opposite of this?
SPEAKER_00: It's self-confidence.
SPEAKER_00: That's a problem that's gonna get in our way.
SPEAKER_00: And self-confidence, precious, really, you know this.
SPEAKER_00: It's just pride.
SPEAKER_00: It's just pride, and the Lord withdraws from pride, and we don't need any of that.
SPEAKER_00: So reach out for your own sake because Jesus says, I will be with you, but sometimes I'm with you through another person.
SPEAKER_00: It feels more tangible, and my words come through another person, and that's how I want to do it.
SPEAKER_00: His rod and his staff, they comfort me.
SPEAKER_00: These are these were real tools that a shepherd would have, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So a rod is like, I mean, it's a beat stick, and that's what it is.
SPEAKER_00: It's a stick for beating other animals.
SPEAKER_00: Predators are gonna attack the sheep.
SPEAKER_00: And so the shepherd comes along and says, What get away, get away from my sheep.
SPEAKER_00: Now we can access the beat stick of Jesus, the Jesus beat stick.
SPEAKER_00: We can access the Jesus beat stick by praying, God, show me truth.
SPEAKER_00: Show me truth.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's devils breaking in on me.
SPEAKER_00: But God, if you'll just give me the Holy Ghost beat stick, I will see what is true and they'll just have to flee.
SPEAKER_00: They won't be able to pull it over on me like they're trying to.
SPEAKER_00: And his staff.
SPEAKER_00: His staff is how he rescues us from he we just walk into the pit, grabs that staff, little hook, pulls us right back.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes God's the only prayer to pray in the deep valley of the dark shadow of death.
SPEAKER_00: The only prayer to pray is, Jesus, get me out.
SPEAKER_00: Dude, that's a powerful prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Just so you know, like that's a that's a secret prayer.
SPEAKER_00: We feel like it's too easy.
SPEAKER_00: We feel like I better figure my way out.
SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, you know, keep trying, but if you're slipping into self-confidence, that's not gonna work.
SPEAKER_00: Have Christ confidence and say, Lord, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: I just need you to get me out.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I get in here.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have a great plan.
SPEAKER_00: I just need you to come, you know exactly where I am.
SPEAKER_00: Come and get me out.
SPEAKER_00: Aren't you so glad?
SPEAKER_00: You don't have like a distant, like checks in kind of a savior.
SPEAKER_00: He's not like sometimes he comes around like, what are y'all doing over there?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, all right.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's an active savior watching you all the time.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of shepherd he is.
SPEAKER_00: He's always looking out for you.
SPEAKER_00: He's got that hook ready.
SPEAKER_00: I got him.
SPEAKER_00: That's who your God is.
SPEAKER_00: He's looking out for you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, something that's a little bit tough sometimes, and and many of you know this.
SPEAKER_00: When we're in the valley of the shadow of death, occasionally, sometimes it seems like a lot, we're in there in front of an audience.
SPEAKER_00: Other people are watching us and potentially perhaps ridiculing us.
SPEAKER_00: They're looking at us and they're saying, see how dumb they are?
SPEAKER_00: See what they did?
SPEAKER_00: I knew that's what they would do because that's the kind of dummy they are.
SPEAKER_00: That's their that's how they roll.
SPEAKER_00: And they've got all kinds of insults, they've got all kinds of judgments, they've got all kinds of things to say about your walk.
SPEAKER_00: The enemy is watching, and he's watching, hoping you fail.
SPEAKER_00: But there's good news because those on the summit of confidence can rest in God's number four defense in the face of their enemies.
SPEAKER_00: Defense in the face of their enemies.
SPEAKER_00: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
SPEAKER_00: You've anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows.
SPEAKER_00: And the low confidence lie comes to us and says, They're all gonna laugh at you.
SPEAKER_00: They're all gonna know that you were an imposter this whole time.
SPEAKER_00: We always knew it, and there it is.
SPEAKER_00: They're all gonna see it, they're all gonna know.
SPEAKER_00: And God says, I am well able, if you will keep your mouth shut, if you will let me defend you, I am well able to defend you and make them watch.
SPEAKER_00: If we will leave it in God's hand, if we will not try to be our own shepherd and just trust that he can do it.
SPEAKER_00: See, it what he's describing here in this part of the psalm is God is he's not only a shepherd, he's a host.
SPEAKER_00: He's a host at a banquet.
SPEAKER_00: Now, in the ancient Near East, if you came to somebody's home and you were gonna be a guest at their table, they're not just a nice person.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what the psalm is trying to describe.
SPEAKER_00: They're not just nice.
SPEAKER_00: They're not just gonna, oh, here's a glass of water.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what it is.
SPEAKER_00: When someone hosts you, they're taking a responsibility for you and saying, hey, sit at my table.
SPEAKER_00: You are safe here, you are welcome here, you are honored here, you're important here.
SPEAKER_00: Come sit at my own family table.
SPEAKER_00: You're wanted here.
SPEAKER_00: That's what God is saying about you.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever had somebody make you feel like they didn't want you?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, God does want you.
SPEAKER_00: And he's well able at the right time to demonstrate that he himself wants you, and it doesn't matter what they think.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just tolerate you at his table, he treats you like family.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the enemy's still going to accuse and he's going to talk and he's gonna mock, but the time will come as those are pay as those who have the patience to wait on God to bring about his defense.
SPEAKER_00: Oh dude, it's so much more worth it.
SPEAKER_00: That means we need to shut down the rant that we're gonna do on social media.
SPEAKER_00: That means we need to not get in there and defend ourselves and so everyone just knows, well, you know, I was right or I had the right motive, whatever it is.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying we we don't ever clarify the record.
SPEAKER_00: There is a point for that.
SPEAKER_00: But when people are just attacking you and saying all kinds of things, you don't need to be your own defender.
SPEAKER_00: Just let God do it.
SPEAKER_00: I've got a pastor friend who he when he when he was a youth pastor, he took a group of young people to the mall, and he's the kind of guy he dressed up like Moses.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so he's like in this robe and long beard.
SPEAKER_00: And and while he was there, he got a ticket for disrupting, it was like disrupting the peace.
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't, I couldn't clarify with him exactly what the charge was, but got a real ticket for disturbing the peace.
SPEAKER_00: So a cop finds him in the mall, excuse me, sees him dressed like Moses, whatever the kids were doing, I don't know, but he gets a ticket for playing Moses as a youth pastor in the mall.
SPEAKER_00: He goes to court, okay.
SPEAKER_00: The the officer is there, and the judge is there.
SPEAKER_00: The judge is looking over this case and he's like, Okay, so wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: This guy's here because he was dressed up like a Bible character, and you brought him in here.
SPEAKER_00: And he looks at the police officer and he says, He's on the good side.
SPEAKER_00: He's a youth pastor, he's on the good side, essentially saying, What are you doing?
SPEAKER_00: He defends my friend because God had a way of defending him.
SPEAKER_00: God had a way of publicly in front of your enemy, not enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Not that he's really an enemy, he's just he made an error, and God defended him right in front of him and the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: So, my friends, the Holy Spirit will give us courage and restraint, but we have to obey it.
SPEAKER_00: We have to roll with, we have to not want the last word in every conversation.
SPEAKER_00: We need to not be so doggone reactive.
SPEAKER_00: We need to wait on God's time when God is finally going to be the one who sets the score, sets the record straight.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the last one.
SPEAKER_00: Those on the summit of confidence rest in God's number five, persistence in pursuing them with favor.
SPEAKER_00: Persistence in pursuing pursuing them with favor.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 6, surely goodness and loving kindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will follow, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
SPEAKER_00: The low confidence lie, and you've heard this lie, I've heard this lie, is you know, you're about out of chances.
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, you just keep doing this.
SPEAKER_00: You just keep getting it wrong.
SPEAKER_00: The expiration date, if not already here, is just about here because you've used up all the grace.
SPEAKER_00: And that's a very human thing to think.
SPEAKER_00: But the shepherd Jesus says, I don't want you to think about me that way.
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is, from Jesus' perspective, goodness and kindness are going to follow you all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus doesn't quit on you.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't quit.
SPEAKER_00: Have you ever seen one of those movies where it's like a hunt movie?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so somebody's being chased, there's like a hunt going on, maybe like Predator or Jaws or something like that.
SPEAKER_00: There's there's a monster that's gonna try to get everybody.
SPEAKER_00: You know what that's like.
SPEAKER_00: There's also the inverse of that, and it's like a good hunt.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it's like a finding Nemo or a saving private Ryan.
SPEAKER_00: Like, if if the hunt happens, nobody dies.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, somebody gets saved.
SPEAKER_00: That's a good hunt.
SPEAKER_00: Check this out.
SPEAKER_00: Goodness and loving kindness will pursue me all the days of my life.
SPEAKER_00: God plays a little game with us, He hunts us down to bless us, and as soon as He wins, He does it again.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, okay, I'm gonna bless you.
SPEAKER_00: Now go away, I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna chase you down, I'm gonna follow you.
SPEAKER_00: My loving kindness is going to get you.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna pursue you all the days of your life.
SPEAKER_00: It's a good hunt in your direction because the Lord loves to just find you and bless you.
SPEAKER_00: I will dwell in the house of the Lord of Yahweh forever.
SPEAKER_00: I will dwell in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: This, do you want to know what the summit is, guys?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the summit.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the summit at the top of the land of blue as you're looking down.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what the summit is.
SPEAKER_00: The summit is saying, everything's gonna be okay, and then I'm going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Everything's gonna be okay, and then I'm going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: It the blue things happen, but they don't really matter in the scheme of things because really goodness and kindness are gonna follow me all the days of my life, and then I'm going to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Then I'll dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
SPEAKER_00: That's where I'm going.
SPEAKER_00: That's the deal.
SPEAKER_00: That's the deal he makes.
SPEAKER_00: That's what your shepherd does for you.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't just stop even with blessing you here.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, oh no, you ain't seen nothing yet.
SPEAKER_00: Watch this.
SPEAKER_00: We're about to go to heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Boom.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna blow your mind with how awesome I'm gonna be to you every single second of every second in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And that is the end of the land of blue.
SPEAKER_00: What is God trying to tell us?
SPEAKER_00: See, some of us are living not confident in God's kindness, in God's guidance, in God's love for us.
SPEAKER_00: And he's wanting us to exchange that.
SPEAKER_00: He wants us to get this down in our spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Your God, check this out.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, listen, this is who he is.
SPEAKER_00: Your God is going to be relentlessly good to you no matter what.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna keep on following you.
SPEAKER_00: If you get a hard heart, he's gonna try to soften it.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna keep going after you, chasing you down every day, saying, Let me love you.
SPEAKER_00: Now, he's already doing it.
SPEAKER_00: He's already doing it.
SPEAKER_00: What he wants from us is I want you to believe it.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to believe that's the story you need to tell yourself about what God is doing.
SPEAKER_00: He's trying to bless you and shepherd you and get you out of trouble and save you from bad stuff and bring you to dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Lord, that sounds good.
SPEAKER_00: Let's do that.
SPEAKER_00: I like that plan.
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you would do something in our hearts, renew our hearts, singe it into our hearts, reshape our hearts, circumcise our hearts, do whatever you've got to do to get us to have the default setting that God is a good shepherd and he's shepherding me in wise and good and faithful and kind and awesome and beautiful, wonderful, loving ways.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we know it, but we need to know it deeper.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right, folks, that's all the time we have, but thank you so much for listening to this sermon.
SPEAKER_00: If you got a lot out of this, feel free to share this with somebody who might need it.
SPEAKER_00: Also, there's a ton more content on our website, on our YouTube channel, on our Instagram channel, on our TikTok channel.
SPEAKER_00: Feel free to check all that kind of a thing out.
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you're interested in leadership type stuff, go ahead and check out another podcast or any other blogs or videos or anything over at BibleLeadership.com.
SPEAKER_00: And whatever else you do, make sure that you believe God for something big today.