Trust in the Gardener

In this episode, we will discuss the necessity of trusting in the gardener, our Father God, and why depending on the vine, Jesus Christ, is of upmost importance in our daily walk. With our scripture focus coming from Psalms 80 & 81 and supporting scripture coming from John 15.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

If I could just get somebody to say thank you, God. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah. Oh yeah. No, we didn't been through it.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

What's going on, family? Welcome to another episode of Our Daily Bread. I'm your host, John Speaks, and may the praises and glory be to God as we take this time to study his word. Today, our topic is trust in the gardener. Our scripture focus will be coming from Psalms 80 and 81. But before we dive in, let us pray and read a scripture of reference. Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us the opportunity to build and grow a relationship with you. As we study your word today, God, I ask that you open our ears and our hearts to receive what you have for us. Fill us with your spirit, God. Let no interruption keep us from receiving your word. Let today's message impart a transformation in the hearers that you deem acceptable to your will. In Jesus' name. Amen. Now, before we begin, as I always say, grab something to take notes so you can go back and study this for yourselves. I wouldn't be a good steward if I told you to just take my word for it, alright? Alright then. Now I want to start off with the scripture coming from John 15, verse 1 through 2 in the New International Version. As Jesus was talking to his disciples, it reads, I'm the true vine, and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit. While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it will be even more fruitful. Family, do you know the significant anatomy of a vine and its branches? Well, if you don't, it's I had to look it up myself to get a better understanding of what Jesus meant. So I Googled it. And it says, if a branch is to be removed from the vine, it will lose the supply of life, get withered, and then die. Death. Now that's a message in itself. And I immediately thought to myself, I think I'd rather die to my flesh and desires than die in the spirit. I would rather give it all that I desire. You know what I'm saying? I'm giving it all up. I do that rather than deny the Holy Spirit and what he desires for me. Jesus is telling his disciples that he is the source of life. Just like he told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and 14. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. Family, Jesus is our source, the living water from which we will never, ever thirst again. Now, why would you want to be cut out from that? An eternal, unbreakable vine where you would never thirst again. But there's just a thought to guide us into the scripture we'll be focusing on today, y'all. First, we will be reading the 80th number of Psalms, verses 14 through 16 and 17 through 18. And later we'll jump to Psalms 81 and we'll do verses 6 through 16. And just for reference, these two numbers were written by a man named Asaph, a prophet in the lineage of Levi. He's a Levite, Levitical. Alright? So get ready to write some things down or type it up like I said earlier, because the word I received as I was studying, I had to write it down myself. And it was a strong word, brief, but strong. Psalms 80, 14 through 16 reads, Return to us, God Almighty. Look down from the heaven and see. Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the sun you have raised up for yourself. Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire. At your rebuke your people perish. Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire. Family. What did it say about the vine and the and the branches earlier? This don't sound like nothing but death to me. For Asaf to say this, the Israelites must have truly been suffering. But Asaf went on. Verses 17 and 18 read, Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. Then we will not turn away from you. Revive us, and we will call on your name. Now, now family, I don't know if Asaf knew of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, but this was prophetic to me. You cannot tell me the Lord does not answer prayers. That man said, Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself. You see, family, this psalm was a song, a lamenting prayer played to a tune, meaning it wasn't recited just once. And to add to that, it was recorded in history. How y'all think we're reading about it today? Somebody coming to tell me who did God raise up as his own and also sits at his right hand? You know, he ain't got to, don't worry about it. I got it. It ain't nobody but Jesus. Nobody but Jesus. Verse 16 said, the vine was cut down and burned with fire. So what did God do? He gave us a vine that was crucified for our iniquities and rose up again so that we may bear fruit of the Holy Spirit and never thirst again for all eternity. Can somebody say, Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. I know y'all like that. I like that song. I know y'all know it. If you ask me, that song needs to be recorded in history too. But seriously, family, we have to test our trust in the gardener. Asaf may not have lost faith in God, but they had not experienced or heard of the ransom that Jesus paid for our sins. They were literally facing repercussions of their own volitions. How many of us would fold under pressure if God made us answer for our sins personally? How would the world be if there was no ultimate sacrifice? What if we had no example in the form of man to show us what true love, joy, peace, kindness, self-control, goodness, patience, faithfulness, and gentleness looks like? No way to compare spiritual fruit to worldly fruit. No lie, we we probably would have nuked ourselves and the population would go from 8.3 billion to 8.3. Y'all asking, what's the point three? Well, that's just left what's left of little Billy, man. Poor Billy. But look, one reason I believe God gave us Christ is so that we would not lose faith in the gardener and perish, body and soul. Now I said that's what I believe. And I didn't say it's the reason, but a reason. We have to trust the gardener family. Now, let's jump to Psalms 81, 6 through 16. This is another psalm of Asaph, and at one certain point in this psalm, he says he heard an unknown voice, which stands out to me because he's a Levitical prophet, right? I'm asking myself, is this brother, is this this brother's first time hearing from God? But then I heard some say, I can sound like whatever I want, so I left it alone, y'all. But after Asaf says he heard an unknown voice, the scripture reads, I removed the burden from their shoulders. Their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you. I answered you out of a thundercloud. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Hear me, my people, and I will warn you. If you would only listen to me, Israel, you shall have no foreign God among you. You should not worship any God other than me. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will feel it. But my people would not listen to me. Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own devices. If my people will only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment will last forever. But you will be fed with the finest of wheat, with honey from the rock I will satisfy you. I want some of that honey, y'all, but family, this voice, Asa heard said, I gave them over to their stubborn hearts. How many of us have been told by God to move one way, but we end up going another? How many times has the Lord told you to be patient, but you went your own way? We be like, see, there's God's timing, but then there's my timing too. See, I'm guilty of it too, family. I foul. Matter of fact, I was impatient not too long ago. Being a single man can test your patience itself, but that's not an excuse. Y'all, I thought I was gonna test the day in waters, knowing the Lord has me in the building season. And do you know I came across a wonderful sister in Christ, a wonderful one. All she did was reaffirm everything the Lord has been speaking to me before I decided to step out in my own time and talk about humbling. I had to thank that sister for the reminder. The Lord used her to bring me right back in line, and I had to have enough trust to allow it to happen. You see, sometimes the desires of our hearts don't align with what the Father has for us in that moment, in that season, or even in that space. Jeremiah 17 and 9 KJV says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? I know we love Psalms 34 when it says that the Lord will give you the desires of your heart, but you gotta ask yourselves, family. What about when your desires are detrimental to what the Lord desires for you? What if what you're desiring is the very thing keeping you away from what God said is for you? Older siblings know. Your little brother or sister wants to go somewhere to play, but they've been cutting up all week. They done played everywhere they not supposed to all week, and they think mama's gonna say yes. No. But if you help me clean the house and fix your room, she might, she might change her mind. You just gotta do something right. But Travis Green had a different theological approach to Psalms 37 and 4. And it made more sense to me than anything I've heard. He said, God doesn't give you what you want, but what to want. Sometimes, family, we can find ourselves drifting away from God, desiring things of this world, things that carry no weight in the heavenly realm. Yet we done convinced ourselves that our desires are God's desires. And then we have the audacity to wonder why we go through things, why this or that had to happen, or why this person or people hurt us. It said I gave them over to their stubborn hearts. How much pointless hurt do you have to endure before you submit? How much self-sabotage are you willing to inflict on yourself before you finally submit it all over to God? And when I say it all, I mean your desires, your frustrations, your goals, your ambition, your heart, your life. There is so much scripture giving instruction, but you have to have a heart after God and a will to want to be who He claims you to be. Psalms 55 and 22. Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous be shaken. Proverbs 16 and 3. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. 1 Peter 5 and 7, cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Family, let not your hearts be stubborn, but desire God's will now and forever. Trust in the garden. Now let us pray. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for giving us your Son as a source of eternal life. Sometimes we find ourselves desiring things of this world, but today, God, we decree and declare our hearts, our minds, our spirits, our entire being belongs to you, God. No longer will we deny the things that you have set forth for us. For you knew us before we entered this world. Therefore you must know us better than we know ourselves. So fill us with your spirit, God. Allow us to be a living sacrifice for the glory of your kingdom and not our own praises. Continue to guide, shield, and protect us. Be an everlasting hedge of protection, O God. Lead us not into temptations of this world, but deliver us. Deliver us, God, so that we may be useful to you, so that we may also hear well done, and deliver us from ourselves, so that you will not have to give us over to our stubborn hearts, our own demise. Lord God, you deserve every praise and let every heart that received this message be transformed from old to new. In Jesus' name. Amen. That's it for this episode, family. If this message touched any of you, I just ask that you commit your life to Christ Jesus to receive all that the Lord has for you. Until next time, be blessed.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

If I could just get somebody to say thank you, God. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah. Oh yeah. No, we done been through it.