Good morning and welcome to Fresh Mercy Podcast, where God's mercy is fresh for you each and every morning. Hallelujah. Good morning. We are back with another episode of Fresh Mercy Podcast, and we have another guest. Thank you, Jesus. For those who don't know, which I know everyone knows, this is our brother John Skodatsu Ashley, Skopapusu, Kakujani, Yufi from New York City. John is one of the beautiful men of God, a part of the New York church. He gave his life to the Lord, he serves the Lord, and he is a major testimony to the world. And we thank God for him. And John reposted our video so many times, we said we have to bring him on the podcast. That's the trick. Bottom line, you want to get on? Repost. That's it. That's the trick. You will get on. You'll put us up every time. But Frankie never reposted us. How did he get on? Favoritism. Favoritism. No, we brought John on because he's a beautiful man of God. He has a word from the Lord. And like we learn, uh well, not we learn, but John Zaro started something with the podcast. I love you, Jay-Z. Whoever comes on as a guest, they read the beautiful scripture that inspired Fresh Mercy Podcast. So, John, when you're ready, read the scripture and get into the word of God. Amen. God bless you guys. Lamentations 3, verses 22 to 23. The faithful love of the Lord never ends. Hallelujah. His mercy never ceases. Thank you, Jesus. Great is his faithfulness. His mercies begin afresh each morning. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Every time I hear it, I get excited. Wait, how crazy is that? Thank you, Jesus. What a scripture. I thank God for the opportunity, Chachez. I thank God for Vinny, for Donnie. They're always giving me opportunities to preach and the B use and the Bible studies in church. I thank God for the opportunity. Thank you, men. And Caches, I really do love the podcast. Since you guys started it, I've been a fan, since I've been watching. I uh don't just reposte it to get on. Well, it worked. Whatever you want to do. No, but Chachez, I thank God for the Deacons and the Fresh Version podcast, I thank God for the opportunity. So let's get into it. I want to share about a very famous chapter in the Bible. In the New Testament, you would say the most famous chapter is John Drew 16. If you had to go into Old Testament, Donnie, you would say it's Psalms 23. Yes, the most quotable. It has to be one of the most quotable. I agree. It's one of the most famous chapters in the whole entire Bible. I agree. So let's get into it. Let's read Psalms 23, verse 1. David is speaking. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. But what does that mean? The shepherd. Right. The Lord is my shepherd. What's David saying? The king of Israel, the mighty warrior, King David, is talking about a shepherd. What does that mean? But before David was the king of Israel, he was a shepherd. Yes, he was. And I seen something. I was doing studying. You know, it was always the youngest son who was the shepherd of the father's sheep. I didn't know that. No, I did not know that. I didn't know that either. I found that recently. David was the youngest son, so he was the shepherd of his father's sheep. Very good. So a shepherd's a big job. It's not easy thing to do to be the shepherd. No, no. It's a big responsibility. So the shepherd has to make sure he takes care of the sheep. He gotta make sure he takes them to water to drink. He gotta take them to grass to eat. It's not an easy thing. He really has to watch over them and take care of them and make sure that he provides for them. You know what else the shepherd does? The shepherd has a rod and a staff. And it makes sure the f the take the sheep, like where to go. Like if there's a hole over there, the sheep follow him. He's gonna don't go that way. You hit the sheep, come this way. Follow me. He directs him. He directs the sheep. He directs the sheep where not to go. If there's an animal coming towards you, like an enemy animal that might hurt the sheep, he hits the animal, get out of here. He holds the sheep. He's the leader and they follow his voice. They know his voice. So they follow him. What else a shepherd does? There's many things. A shepherd, uh sheep, when it gets too hot for it, and it has the wool and the wool keeps growing. Yeah. So the shepherd has to shear the wool. Takes off the wool. Cleave Don't, it gets in his eyes. He can't, it's he gets too heavy, he can't walk. So the shepherd has to make sure, Deacon Donnie, that he takes care of him, that he that he trims off the wool, that he makes sure where he goes, where he does, he's he shears him. He shears him so he can be healthy, be perfect. You ever see those videos on TikTok? I love it. I can watch it one in a roll. But see, now it's easy, they got the little tour. Back then, full is probably hard. Hey, now it's a buzzer. It wasn't a buzzer. You're right. Another thing a shepherd did was pour oil on the sheep's head to make sure nothing happens to them. If they get a little rash, no bugs go in it, nothing happens, so don't get irritated. They had to do a lot. If one of the sheep gets lost, they have to go find it. We see uh Jesus saying in the book of Luke. Jesus is giving a parable. Wouldn't he leave the 99 to go get the one? Yes. So he he has to go get the sheep. It's not easy being the shepherd. It it's a lot of work. So David knows exactly what a shepherd does. Very good. And think about the sheep too. The sheep does it right now. I can't be a shepherd, Vinny. You know I'm gonna go take care of these sheep. Time they won't l they won't listen. They won't listen to me. Yeah, no, it's not it's not something you can just like uh all right, go, I'll even watch the sheep. No, you just can't take it on. No, the sheep know the shepherd's voice, they trust him because they know he takes care of them, he provides for them, he takes them to the water. If something's coming, he hits it, he takes out of the way. It's not an overnight job. It's not an overnight job. He raised these sheep. These sheep know his voice. Very good. It's not an easy thing to be a shepherd. So we see a shepherd leads them to the grass to eat, leads them to the water, to the still water. He anoints their heads with oil, he does a lot for them. It's not an easy thing, uh, Vinny. Yeah. It's a you really gotta show that you love these sheep. If you don't love the sheep, you're not gonna take care of them. Right? You're not gonna provide for them. Very good. If you don't love them, you're not gonna care for them. You would if you don't love them, you're never gonna take his uh shed a little world. He's good. Yeah, you're not gonna be in the world. It's not that bad. You would never do it. Okay, so we know a shepherd does that. But we have any scriptures backing up that David did this as a shepherd. Do we have any scriptures? Look what it says in 1 Samuel 17, verses 34 to 36. David is talking to King Saul that convinced him to fight Goliath. Yeah. Saul to want to let them do. He's a little punk kid to fight the giant. Yeah. How's he gonna do that? But look what David said. But David persisted. I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats, he said. When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club, and I rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and it's club and club it to debt. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pig in Philistine too. For he has the foul, the armies of the living God. Very good. But he's a kid. We think of David as the mighty warrior, the king of Israel, the king, but he was a shepherd. So when David says, The Lord is my shepherd, he knows exactly what that means. Hallelujah. He knows exactly what that means to do. Very good. So now that we know this, can we read Psalms 23 the whole chapter? Yes. Let's read it. The whole chapter, six verses. Come on. The Lord is my shepherd. Hallelujah. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside steel waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of debt, I will fear no evil. Hallelujah. 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 anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely the goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord. Hallelujah. Ever. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. So when David said this, he means this from the bottom of his heart. Because he knew what it meant to take care of sheep and how to really do it. He said, Well, God is my shepherd that takes care of me. The Lord is the shepherd. He's in control. He's the sheep. He's not worried about the sheep's not worried about when David was a shepherd. What are they gonna do? He knows David's in control. David's gonna provide for him. David's gonna take care of him. So that's what David is saying. The Lord's his shepherd. He don't gotta worry. He don't gotta fear. That's it. He's gonna provide. Amen. Maybe you're saying this was a long time ago, John. This was three, four thousand years ago. Maybe, maybe that don't apply today. But you know what Jesus says? Hey, we're not sheep. We don't have sheep. We don't sheep. When was the last time you saw a sheep? There's an old testament verse. But look what Jesus says in John 10, 11. This is one of the seven I am statements. I am the good shepherd. Hallelujah! The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Thank you, Jesus. Jesus is the good shepherd. So I made all these points about sheep and about shepherds just to get to this point. Whoever's watching, the Lord is your shepherd. Thank you, Jesus. Whatever you're going through, whatever you're facing, whatever problem, whatever disease, whatever situation, he's in control, he's gonna provide for you. He'll anoint your head with oil, he'll glead you the green pastures. Hallelujah. Whatever you're going through, whatever you're facing, just remember the Lord is your shepherd. You don't have to fear no evil. You don't gotta worry about nothing, Deacon Vinny. No, we don't. Because God is the good shepherd. Amen. Amen. Takes care of us. And Deacon Donnie showed me something many years ago on that scripture that the Pharisees and religious leaders were bad shepherds. Yes, they were. They wants to take care of the people. It was prophesied in the Old Testament about how bad they were. They would scatter the sheep. Yep. It would kill the sheep rather than to protect them. They didn't take care of them well. They were wolves in sheep's clothing. Very good. Very good. Where wolves are supposed to be far from sheep. The Pharisees, religious leaders, were the wolves trying to take care of the sheep. Very good. They were destroying them. Jesus came and said, I am the good shepherd. Amen. And this doesn't just apply at that time, it applies today, like John said. Because Jesus is alive. Amen. He is not dead. He is risen, and he is our good shepherd. Maybe today you feel like you strayed away like a sheep. Maybe you feel that you're not by the still waters. Maybe you feel you're not in the green pastures. Maybe you feel that you're not being comforted. Well, it's time to ask Jesus, Jesus, be my shepherd. Amen. Be the good shepherd that you promised to be. And then all of us could all say what David said. The Lord is my shepherd. Amen. Praise the Lord. Uh, John, give a closing to the people and pray the day out for God's people. Amen. As I've been reading this, I've been reading the Psalms 23 since about a week, and it's really encouraging me. Whatever I'm going through, I'm just praying, Lord, you're my shepherd, take care of it. Amen. Lord, you are in control. So I want to tell you guys that. Whatever you're going through, any situation, when you pray in the morning, like you're reading, you're watching this uh podcast, pray. Lord, you're my shepherd, take control. Lord, you're the provider. You're a lucky, you're the healer. So with that, let's pray. Thank you, Devla. I thank you because you are my shepherd. I thank you because you are not just a shepherd. You are the good shepherd, Lord. Thank you. And whatever I'm going through, whatever I'm facing, you are in control. I'm a sheep. I don't know nothing. I don't know how to do anything. You are in control of everything, Devla. You are in control of the food I eat, of the places I go, of what I say, of what I do. You're the good shepherd, and you will watch over me. You will let nothing bad happen to me. You will provide for me and bless me like you always do. Bless everybody who's watching, Devla. Provide for the day and take care of them and show them how you are the good shepherd. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, I gotta say something. I don't know. Well, the I have nothing to add. I just thank the Lord, John. Awesome. God bless you for coming, sharing. That beautiful word. Thank you. That is awesome. The Lord is your shepherd. Amen. You shall not want. For the French French podcast, we love you guys. God bless.