With the Lord as our Shepherd; we can rely on Him to be our protector—guiding us through each season of life! | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000
#Christian;Talk Show;Series
#Good Shepherd
#Jesus
#Heavenly Father
#Protection
#Provision
#Trust God
#Complete in Christ
#Love of God
#Voice of God
#Relationship with God
#Bianca Olthoff
#Cathe Laurie
#Cheryl Salem
#Robyn Wilkerson
#Laurie Crouch
#Hebrews 13:5
#John 10:10
#Romans 8:14
#Psalm 23
Closed captions
Show Timecode
Better Together | Better Together | Episode 236 | May 16, 2021
- - The Lord is our shepherd.
- 00:00:00.790 --> 00:00:02.525
- He promises to take care of each one of us
- 00:00:02.525 --> 00:00:04.761
- like a good shepherd tends to his sheep.
- 00:00:04.761 --> 00:00:07.430
- Today, we're learning how to depend on him,
- 00:00:07.430 --> 00:00:09.432
- for guidance and protection, come on and join us.
- 00:00:09.432 --> 00:00:12.368
- (joyful music)
- 00:00:12.735 --> 00:00:38.761
- - So, today, I want to talk about Jesus as our shepherd,
- 00:00:39.896 --> 00:00:44.067
- our good shepherd.
- 00:00:44.067 --> 00:00:45.335
- So in John, Jesus says I am the good shepherd.
- 00:00:45.335 --> 00:00:47.437
- And then in Psalm 23,
- 00:00:47.437 --> 00:00:49.272
- we have David writing this beautiful song about
- 00:00:49.272 --> 00:00:51.975
- the Lord being our shepherd.
- 00:00:51.975 --> 00:00:53.443
- And that he leads us to still waters,
- 00:00:53.443 --> 00:00:55.712
- and it's this beautiful visual.
- 00:00:55.712 --> 00:00:57.514
- But I'm a Southern California girl, in fact,
- 00:00:57.514 --> 00:01:00.083
- I was raised in Los Angeles, now I live in Orange County.
- 00:01:00.083 --> 00:01:01.918
- The idea of a shepherd just feels very foreign to me.
- 00:01:01.918 --> 00:01:04.721
- But growing up, and now understanding
- 00:01:04.721 --> 00:01:07.790
- the role of a good father.
- 00:01:07.790 --> 00:01:09.792
- And I know that that might be lost for a lot of people.
- 00:01:09.792 --> 00:01:12.929
- So, for those that don't have a great relationship
- 00:01:12.929 --> 00:01:14.664
- with their dad
- 00:01:14.664 --> 00:01:16.199
- I think that this restores the beauty of a protector.
- 00:01:16.199 --> 00:01:19.402
- And so David takes us on this journey
- 00:01:19.402 --> 00:01:21.237
- of God being our great protector.
- 00:01:21.237 --> 00:01:23.606
- The Hebrew word is Jehovah-Raah, and I love, I love that.
- 00:01:23.606 --> 00:01:27.744
- And now as a parent, I'm a step parent
- 00:01:27.744 --> 00:01:29.379
- to two kids, two teenagers.
- 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:31.080
- Pray for me because teenagers,
- 00:01:31.080 --> 00:01:32.815
- you just need an extra dose of grace in that season.
- 00:01:32.815 --> 00:01:35.985
- Because some days I don't think I'm saved.
- 00:01:35.985 --> 00:01:38.121
- But this idea of Jesus being our good shepherd
- 00:01:39.022 --> 00:01:41.324
- and him being our protector and learning from my parents,
- 00:01:41.324 --> 00:01:44.861
- learning now as a parent that we get to play this role
- 00:01:44.861 --> 00:01:48.331
- and the greater understanding that we have
- 00:01:48.331 --> 00:01:49.566
- of Jesus as our good shepherd.
- 00:01:49.566 --> 00:01:51.234
- I think that that manifests itself
- 00:01:51.234 --> 00:01:52.902
- in how we raise our children
- 00:01:52.902 --> 00:01:54.470
- or how we serve at church or how we serve our community.
- 00:01:54.470 --> 00:01:56.206
- So I'm interested where have you seen Jesus
- 00:01:56.206 --> 00:01:59.943
- show up as your mentor, as your guide, as your protector?
- 00:01:59.943 --> 00:02:04.147
- - I would go all the way back to when I was a young girl
- 00:02:04.147 --> 00:02:07.417
- and first married, and I married Greg when I was 18.
- 00:02:07.417 --> 00:02:10.220
- And my parents were not thrilled with us getting married.
- 00:02:10.220 --> 00:02:14.424
- Because Greg didn't look like he had
- 00:02:14.424 --> 00:02:16.392
- the greatest prospects at the time.
- 00:02:16.392 --> 00:02:18.161
- (Crouch laughing)
- 00:02:18.161 --> 00:02:19.395
- - And did he have this long hair?
- 00:02:19.395 --> 00:02:20.330
- - He had his long hair.
- 00:02:20.330 --> 00:02:22.031
- His mother had been married divorced seven times.
- 00:02:22.031 --> 00:02:25.134
- My parents were very, very cautious.
- 00:02:25.134 --> 00:02:27.370
- And here I was this young girl dating Greg at 16, 17.
- 00:02:27.370 --> 00:02:31.474
- Anyway, we got married.
- 00:02:31.474 --> 00:02:32.909
- My parents did come to the wedding to pay for the wedding.
- 00:02:32.909 --> 00:02:36.312
- But after that I determined,
- 00:02:36.312 --> 00:02:37.947
- I would never look to my mom and dad for financial support.
- 00:02:37.947 --> 00:02:42.819
- And boy did we have some lean days in those early days,
- 00:02:42.819 --> 00:02:46.089
- we really struggled.
- 00:02:46.089 --> 00:02:47.857
- And it was during those days that I saw when
- 00:02:47.857 --> 00:02:51.995
- we had so little, that Jesus was everything.
- 00:02:51.995 --> 00:02:55.732
- And when I think of a shepherd
- 00:02:55.732 --> 00:02:57.000
- I think of how He is everything to us.
- 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:58.901
- He is our guide, he directs us.
- 00:02:58.901 --> 00:03:02.105
- He protects us, he heals us.
- 00:03:02.105 --> 00:03:04.841
- He's with us in the hardest times.
- 00:03:04.841 --> 00:03:07.377
- But for me in those early days, I saw him as my provider.
- 00:03:07.377 --> 00:03:12.181
- And I never ever had to go to my mom and dad for anything.
- 00:03:12.181 --> 00:03:17.453
- Jesus provided everything we needed.
- 00:03:18.254 --> 00:03:19.689
- And it would be so funny at the end of the week,
- 00:03:19.689 --> 00:03:22.258
- there wouldn't be two cans of beans
- 00:03:22.258 --> 00:03:24.227
- in that cupboard.
- 00:03:24.227 --> 00:03:25.862
- Everything, I budgeted everything, $20 a week for groceries.
- 00:03:25.862 --> 00:03:28.831
- And we had so little, but by the end of the week,
- 00:03:28.831 --> 00:03:31.934
- we had just enough.
- 00:03:31.934 --> 00:03:33.436
- And when things got really lean,
- 00:03:33.436 --> 00:03:35.538
- the Lord would drop an art job in Greg's lap.
- 00:03:35.538 --> 00:03:38.508
- Cause Greg was an artist,
- 00:03:38.508 --> 00:03:39.742
- he could design some graphics for somebody.
- 00:03:39.742 --> 00:03:41.878
- And just moment by moment, I sought God being
- 00:03:41.878 --> 00:03:44.681
- provider and guide, and I will never trade those early days
- 00:03:44.681 --> 00:03:49.419
- for anything in all the world.
- 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:50.953
- I am so grateful.
- 00:03:50.953 --> 00:03:52.522
- I learned those lessons then.
- 00:03:52.522 --> 00:03:53.923
- Because I believe even today, it's easy to,
- 00:03:53.923 --> 00:03:58.094
- look at your bank account or your savings or your,
- 00:03:58.094 --> 00:04:00.763
- the church or responsibilities that you have.
- 00:04:00.763 --> 00:04:03.232
- And how God has blessed you over the years.
- 00:04:03.232 --> 00:04:06.269
- And we're never to look at those things as
- 00:04:06.269 --> 00:04:08.705
- those are the things that are providing for me,
- 00:04:08.705 --> 00:04:10.506
- it's always the Lord, so grateful for that.
- 00:04:10.506 --> 00:04:12.942
- - I love that.
- 00:04:12.942 --> 00:04:13.876
- I love that, Jesus,
- 00:04:13.876 --> 00:04:16.012
- when when David says, "The Lord is my shepherd",
- 00:04:16.012 --> 00:04:19.315
- the one who is present, he's the one with me right now.
- 00:04:19.315 --> 00:04:23.519
- And that when he says, "I shall not want",
- 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:26.055
- That doesn't necessarily say,
- 00:04:26.055 --> 00:04:29.492
- I'm in no need, but it talks about God's supply.
- 00:04:29.492 --> 00:04:33.463
- I shall not want, that means I have everything in him.
- 00:04:33.463 --> 00:04:37.166
- That it's the greatest asset that I could possibly have
- 00:04:37.166 --> 00:04:40.503
- is that I'm completely at a supply
- 00:04:40.503 --> 00:04:42.939
- for everything that I need.
- 00:04:42.939 --> 00:04:45.141
- So that I don't lack anything,
- 00:04:45.141 --> 00:04:46.509
- and if I don't have it now,
- 00:04:46.509 --> 00:04:48.010
- God's timing is always perfect for what I do lack.
- 00:04:48.010 --> 00:04:50.780
- And that I shall not want.
- 00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:52.882
- - And sometimes, it's moment by moment.
- 00:04:52.882 --> 00:04:54.684
- - Exactly. - I mean,
- 00:04:54.684 --> 00:04:56.152
- When he really becomes your shepherd, he's with you always.
- 00:04:56.152 --> 00:04:58.821
- And that is something that we tend to
- 00:04:58.821 --> 00:05:01.724
- spend a little time with him here,
- 00:05:01.724 --> 00:05:02.992
- spend a little time with them there.
- 00:05:02.992 --> 00:05:04.193
- But as shepherd, he never leaves us.
- 00:05:04.193 --> 00:05:06.496
- He never forsakes us.
- 00:05:06.496 --> 00:05:08.164
- I love that scripture where it says,
- 00:05:08.164 --> 00:05:09.699
- he never leaves us, never forsakes us.
- 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:11.834
- In the Greek, it means that
- 00:05:11.834 --> 00:05:13.035
- he doesn't ever turn his back on us.
- 00:05:13.035 --> 00:05:15.705
- He doesn't go to sleep with us,
- 00:05:15.705 --> 00:05:17.673
- and turn his back on us, like our roommate.
- 00:05:17.673 --> 00:05:19.542
- He's always a lover, he's always protecting.
- 00:05:19.542 --> 00:05:22.111
- He's always going to be with us.
- 00:05:22.111 --> 00:05:23.980
- And those of you who know my life,
- 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:26.349
- every moment, not just every day,
- 00:05:26.349 --> 00:05:29.118
- every moment there are times he walked me through grief,
- 00:05:29.118 --> 00:05:32.155
- through cancer, through all kinds of different sicknesses.
- 00:05:32.155 --> 00:05:35.191
- And he never leaves us.
- 00:05:35.191 --> 00:05:36.993
- Even when it looks like he's abandoned us,
- 00:05:36.993 --> 00:05:40.596
- it's actually when he's there with us the most.
- 00:05:40.596 --> 00:05:43.699
- And yet nobody, when people look at your life,
- 00:05:43.699 --> 00:05:46.302
- sometimes they can't see that.
- 00:05:46.302 --> 00:05:48.004
- But you know.
- 00:05:48.004 --> 00:05:49.472
- You know, that shepherd is that
- 00:05:49.472 --> 00:05:52.008
- staff's reaching out there and grabbing you
- 00:05:52.008 --> 00:05:53.810
- when you're trying to wander off,
- 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:55.478
- he's pulling you back close.
- 00:05:55.478 --> 00:05:57.613
- Sometimes he'll grab that back leg
- 00:05:57.613 --> 00:05:59.215
- to say you wander off again?
- 00:05:59.215 --> 00:06:01.083
- (all laughing)
- 00:06:01.083 --> 00:06:02.919
- I don't need you wandering.
- 00:06:02.919 --> 00:06:04.220
- I need you close.
- 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:05.455
- And that takes me to that John 10:10,
- 00:06:05.455 --> 00:06:08.024
- where it talks about the intimacy of the shepherd,
- 00:06:08.024 --> 00:06:11.127
- with the sheep, the sheep know his voice.
- 00:06:11.127 --> 00:06:14.063
- So that puts it on me, to know is to listen to him.
- 00:06:14.063 --> 00:06:17.867
- People say, I don't know if that was God or the devil.
- 00:06:17.867 --> 00:06:19.635
- Really?
- 00:06:19.635 --> 00:06:20.870
- You don't know if it was the one who loves you
- 00:06:20.870 --> 00:06:22.472
- more than anything in the world,
- 00:06:22.472 --> 00:06:23.673
- or the one who hate you, more than,
- 00:06:23.673 --> 00:06:25.374
- that tells me you don't spend enough time with the shepherd.
- 00:06:25.374 --> 00:06:28.644
- Because when you spend time with the shepherd,
- 00:06:28.644 --> 00:06:30.480
- you know what he sounds like, and he will walk you through.
- 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.549
- He walks you through the hardest times,
- 00:06:33.549 --> 00:06:35.618
- not just the good ones. - Absolutely.
- 00:06:35.618 --> 00:06:38.020
- - And it does in the now.
- 00:06:38.020 --> 00:06:40.723
- God's real in the now.
- 00:06:40.723 --> 00:06:43.459
- I was coming to be with Laurie, I added an event.
- 00:06:43.459 --> 00:06:48.865
- And my husband was going to come,
- 00:06:49.599 --> 00:06:51.234
- and we were actually packed.
- 00:06:51.234 --> 00:06:53.703
- And I woke up that morning and I turned to him
- 00:06:53.703 --> 00:06:57.840
- and we had been on the phone with them.
- 00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:00.142
- And there was no reason in the natural for me,
- 00:07:00.142 --> 00:07:05.381
- you know what I'm saying?
- 00:07:05.948 --> 00:07:07.016
- In the natural.
- 00:07:07.016 --> 00:07:08.518
- And I turned to him, I said, do you know Rich,
- 00:07:08.518 --> 00:07:11.454
- I think you ought to go see the kids.
- 00:07:12.288 --> 00:07:14.657
- And he was looking at me like, what are you talking about?
- 00:07:14.657 --> 00:07:19.595
- And I'm going with you, he said.
- 00:07:19.595 --> 00:07:22.265
- And I said, I think you ought to go see the kids.
- 00:07:22.265 --> 00:07:25.868
- And he looked at me again and I'm not like this,
- 00:07:25.868 --> 00:07:28.671
- cause I'm into the plan.
- 00:07:28.671 --> 00:07:31.073
- I got to go with the plan and,
- 00:07:31.073 --> 00:07:34.610
- - Not spontaneous. - No.
- 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:36.812
- And he said, really?
- 00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:40.149
- And he said, okay.
- 00:07:40.149 --> 00:07:42.585
- And so he went and got on the airplane.
- 00:07:42.585 --> 00:07:45.755
- And long story short, while he was on the airplane,
- 00:07:45.755 --> 00:07:51.027
- circumstances unfolded, in my children's life.
- 00:07:51.928 --> 00:07:55.932
- Were unforeseen, it so happened that my son called me.
- 00:07:55.932 --> 00:08:02.371
- And he was in a moment where he needed his dad.
- 00:08:03.272 --> 00:08:09.412
- - Oh, wow.
- 00:08:09.712 --> 00:08:11.180
- - And literally, when I tell you this,
- 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:14.417
- he impossibly, he broke down in tears, my 40 year old kid.
- 00:08:15.585 --> 00:08:21.591
- And he said, mom, dad is going to be here?
- 00:08:22.491 --> 00:08:28.731
- And when my husband got off the airplane,
- 00:08:29.632 --> 00:08:34.370
- my kid couldn't believe it.
- 00:08:34.370 --> 00:08:36.038
- And he said, dad, you're not really here.
- 00:08:36.038 --> 00:08:41.277
- And my husband had to take video
- 00:08:41.911 --> 00:08:43.746
- on the phone and say, look, I'm in the airport.
- 00:08:43.746 --> 00:08:47.817
- And he took the rent car, drove straight to his house,
- 00:08:47.817 --> 00:08:51.087
- and kid fell in his arms.
- 00:08:51.087 --> 00:08:55.191
- Now, why am I telling you that story?
- 00:08:55.191 --> 00:08:58.494
- Because the Holy spirit knew,
- 00:08:58.494 --> 00:09:01.664
- that my son just needed his dad.
- 00:09:02.298 --> 00:09:05.468
- Now, all that was about the fact,
- 00:09:05.468 --> 00:09:08.638
- that God cares for us in our moment,
- 00:09:08.638 --> 00:09:13.876
- when we need, he's our shepherd.
- 00:09:14.510 --> 00:09:17.313
- And you know, I think sometimes we forget
- 00:09:18.214 --> 00:09:22.284
- that God cares about the small things.
- 00:09:23.119 --> 00:09:24.887
- Now that was not life and death for my son.
- 00:09:24.887 --> 00:09:28.858
- But in that moment, it was to him.
- 00:09:28.858 --> 00:09:32.862
- It was to him.
- 00:09:32.862 --> 00:09:34.664
- And I'm so grateful that I can count on him
- 00:09:34.664 --> 00:09:38.067
- and we can hear the Holy spirit,
- 00:09:38.067 --> 00:09:41.604
- because we're led of despair.
- 00:09:41.604 --> 00:09:43.606
- I love the verse for all who are led by the spirit of God
- 00:09:43.606 --> 00:09:48.844
- are sons of God, Romans 8:14.
- 00:09:49.478 --> 00:09:54.116
- And it's alive in us.
- 00:09:54.617 --> 00:09:55.985
- This spirit is alive in us.
- 00:09:55.985 --> 00:09:58.988
- - But sometimes, we don't want to hear,
- 00:09:58.988 --> 00:10:02.458
- what he's thinking off. - Here we go.
- 00:10:02.458 --> 00:10:04.794
- - Sometimes we have our own plan, and our own idea.
- 00:10:04.794 --> 00:10:10.032
- I can think back 40 years ago,
- 00:10:10.666 --> 00:10:11.934
- when I first finished my Miss America year,
- 00:10:11.934 --> 00:10:13.969
- I went to Hollywood.
- 00:10:13.969 --> 00:10:15.371
- Everything was falling perfectly into place.
- 00:10:15.371 --> 00:10:18.007
- And I got offered the host of Entertainment Tonight.
- 00:10:18.007 --> 00:10:21.010
- It was the first year of Entertainment Tonight.
- 00:10:21.010 --> 00:10:22.678
- And they offered me the host job.
- 00:10:22.678 --> 00:10:24.180
- And I mean everything up until then was so easy to say no.
- 00:10:24.180 --> 00:10:27.917
- - I know, it's kind of a big deal.
- 00:10:27.917 --> 00:10:29.952
- - But now she's on Better Together.
- 00:10:29.952 --> 00:10:32.521
- - So happy to be, here.
- 00:10:33.022 --> 00:10:34.857
- - And the truth is there were many the things
- 00:10:34.857 --> 00:10:36.959
- that were offered, you know,
- 00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:38.327
- I don't even have to worry about that.
- 00:10:38.327 --> 00:10:39.395
- No, no, no.
- 00:10:39.395 --> 00:10:40.930
- But this I'm like, wait a minute, I can be myself,
- 00:10:40.930 --> 00:10:42.698
- I can still preach on the weekends.
- 00:10:42.698 --> 00:10:43.966
- I can still, this is a great thing God.
- 00:10:43.966 --> 00:10:45.668
- So I'm working my shepherd.
- 00:10:45.668 --> 00:10:47.870
- Father, I know this is the right thing for me.
- 00:10:47.870 --> 00:10:50.206
- Will help you be glorified.
- 00:10:50.206 --> 00:10:51.941
- I was working him.
- 00:10:51.941 --> 00:10:54.443
- And eventually I stopped talking,
- 00:10:54.443 --> 00:10:56.245
- which I think is the biggest issue with prayer.
- 00:10:56.245 --> 00:10:58.547
- Is we talk too much, we don't listen enough.
- 00:10:58.547 --> 00:11:00.750
- Cause the shepherd wants to talk to us.
- 00:11:00.750 --> 00:11:03.385
- And I finally stopped talking,
- 00:11:03.385 --> 00:11:05.387
- and he made one sentence to me
- 00:11:05.387 --> 00:11:07.656
- that changed my direction my future
- 00:11:07.656 --> 00:11:09.892
- and my life, 41 years later.
- 00:11:09.892 --> 00:11:12.728
- He said before they become like you,
- 00:11:12.728 --> 00:11:16.532
- you will become like them.
- 00:11:16.532 --> 00:11:19.301
- Shepherd. - Yeah.
- 00:11:19.802 --> 00:11:21.437
- - It looked right, I wanted to do it.
- 00:11:21.437 --> 00:11:24.173
- There are times the shepherd will tell you
- 00:11:24.173 --> 00:11:25.941
- things that you don't want to hear,
- 00:11:25.941 --> 00:11:28.077
- but he's protecting you.
- 00:11:28.077 --> 00:11:30.246
- He's surrounding you.
- 00:11:30.246 --> 00:11:31.714
- He knows about us, what we don't even know.
- 00:11:31.714 --> 00:11:34.450
- I thought I'd survived the whole Miss America year,
- 00:11:34.450 --> 00:11:36.519
- and I had not sinned, yeah, I can do this.
- 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.355
- You know, but God was like, no you can't, you can't.
- 00:11:40.422 --> 00:11:42.792
- Because you will be infiltrated with the whole culture
- 00:11:42.792 --> 00:11:47.062
- and you won't be able to do it at that time, at that moment.
- 00:11:47.062 --> 00:11:51.100
- 41 years later, I hear that in my head.
- 00:11:51.967 --> 00:11:54.103
- Thank God he protected me
- 00:11:54.103 --> 00:11:56.305
- because I was thinking I was big enough witness
- 00:11:56.305 --> 00:11:59.441
- to change everybody I met.
- 00:11:59.441 --> 00:12:02.077
- And sometimes people will change you before you change them.
- 00:12:02.077 --> 00:12:06.448
- And the shepherd will protect you.
- 00:12:06.448 --> 00:12:08.584
- - So the ability to hear our shepherd's voice.
- 00:12:08.584 --> 00:12:10.786
- That sensitivity to God, what are you talking to me
- 00:12:10.786 --> 00:12:13.289
- to do right now, is going to be so vitally important.
- 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:16.826
- And the reason why these stories matter
- 00:12:16.826 --> 00:12:18.594
- is because so many people are facing financial instability,
- 00:12:18.594 --> 00:12:22.064
- relational issues, because the pandemic has separated
- 00:12:22.064 --> 00:12:24.900
- brought a lot of stuff to the surface.
- 00:12:24.900 --> 00:12:27.203
- We talk about the longterm effects
- 00:12:27.203 --> 00:12:29.004
- of what separation has done
- 00:12:29.004 --> 00:12:30.272
- within the church and outside of the church.
- 00:12:30.272 --> 00:12:31.907
- So my husband and I are church planters,
- 00:12:31.907 --> 00:12:33.576
- and listening to these stories and testimonies is powerful.
- 00:12:33.576 --> 00:12:36.445
- And I don't want people to think, oh well,
- 00:12:36.445 --> 00:12:38.280
- these are just stories that happened to you.
- 00:12:38.280 --> 00:12:39.949
- These are testimonies of like the Lord did it for us here.
- 00:12:39.949 --> 00:12:43.319
- The Lord is going to do it for you there.
- 00:12:43.319 --> 00:12:45.421
- He is faithful.
- 00:12:45.421 --> 00:12:46.488
- He is a shepherd.
- 00:12:46.488 --> 00:12:47.356
- If you look at Psalm 23,
- 00:12:47.356 --> 00:12:48.891
- just the attributes of a nature of a good shepherd
- 00:12:48.891 --> 00:12:51.093
- who loves us, wants to pour into us.
- 00:12:51.093 --> 00:12:52.862
- In this pandemic year,
- 00:12:52.862 --> 00:12:54.830
- my husband and I church planted now just two years ago.
- 00:12:54.830 --> 00:12:57.867
- So, - It's good timing.
- 00:12:57.867 --> 00:12:59.935
- - Yes, so we had only been,
- 00:12:59.935 --> 00:13:02.104
- we had only met together for a year,
- 00:13:02.104 --> 00:13:03.939
- and we finally were gathering our footing,
- 00:13:03.939 --> 00:13:06.242
- and then the pandemic happened.
- 00:13:06.242 --> 00:13:07.943
- And in that moment I needed to know,
- 00:13:07.943 --> 00:13:10.112
- not just read, not sing, not write,
- 00:13:10.112 --> 00:13:13.182
- the Lord is my shepherd or my guide.
- 00:13:13.182 --> 00:13:14.984
- We straight up needed a guide.
- 00:13:14.984 --> 00:13:16.452
- 'Cause we felt lost.
- 00:13:16.452 --> 00:13:18.220
- We were like, where do we go?
- 00:13:18.220 --> 00:13:19.488
- (mumbles) Church of Israel.
- 00:13:19.488 --> 00:13:20.556
- At least they had a tent.
- 00:13:20.556 --> 00:13:21.757
- We had nothing.
- 00:13:21.757 --> 00:13:22.925
- We had absolutely nothing.
- 00:13:22.925 --> 00:13:24.393
- And God met us so faithfully, it's so good.
- 00:13:24.393 --> 00:13:26.896
- So for people that are like coming out
- 00:13:26.896 --> 00:13:28.497
- of a really crazy season, really tumultuous season,
- 00:13:28.497 --> 00:13:31.066
- to hear that God will provide financially,
- 00:13:31.066 --> 00:13:33.068
- that God would provide relationally,
- 00:13:33.068 --> 00:13:34.236
- that God will provide intuitively
- 00:13:34.236 --> 00:13:35.905
- through the power of his spirit.
- 00:13:35.905 --> 00:13:37.473
- This is what I want people to hold onto
- 00:13:37.473 --> 00:13:39.041
- and know and remember.
- 00:13:39.041 --> 00:13:40.476
- That this doesn't just happen for holy Uber, pastors.
- 00:13:40.476 --> 00:13:43.779
- And the spirit of God is wooing us, beckoning us,
- 00:13:43.779 --> 00:13:46.682
- talking to us now.
- 00:13:46.682 --> 00:13:48.017
- To guide us now, to lead us now.
- 00:13:48.017 --> 00:13:50.019
- And that's the importance that I want people to hold onto.
- 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.521
- If he did it for David, he did it for the New Testament,
- 00:13:52.521 --> 00:13:55.591
- the church of the New Testament.
- 00:13:55.591 --> 00:13:56.558
- He's going to do it today.
- 00:13:56.558 --> 00:13:57.927
- He has not left us, he's not forsaken us.
- 00:13:57.927 --> 00:14:00.062
- He will guide us to still waters.
- 00:14:00.062 --> 00:14:01.530
- He will anoint us,
- 00:14:01.530 --> 00:14:03.065
- he will set a table before us in the presence of our enemy.
- 00:14:03.065 --> 00:14:04.967
- And he will not let us go.
- 00:14:04.967 --> 00:14:06.168
- - No. - Absolutely.
- 00:14:06.168 --> 00:14:07.603
- - I love what Laurie said earlier, that he is my shepherd.
- 00:14:07.603 --> 00:14:10.506
- (Robyn laughs)
- 00:14:10.506 --> 00:14:11.907
- I think sometimes we feel like
- 00:14:11.907 --> 00:14:13.842
- God is busy with the important people.
- 00:14:13.842 --> 00:14:15.844
- God is busy doing big things.
- 00:14:15.844 --> 00:14:17.880
- And my little life doesn't matter.
- 00:14:17.880 --> 00:14:19.815
- That he's not aware of it.
- 00:14:19.815 --> 00:14:20.916
- But there are times when
- 00:14:20.916 --> 00:14:22.918
- we go through those seasons of
- 00:14:22.918 --> 00:14:25.354
- the valley of the shadow of death.
- 00:14:25.354 --> 00:14:27.623
- Where you need to know he is your shepherd,
- 00:14:27.623 --> 00:14:31.760
- and that he is present with you.
- 00:14:31.760 --> 00:14:34.096
- And he is walking with you.
- 00:14:34.096 --> 00:14:35.597
- And this song, there are so many times
- 00:14:35.597 --> 00:14:38.467
- in the middle of the night where I couldn't sleep
- 00:14:38.467 --> 00:14:41.136
- where I had to refocus my thoughts,
- 00:14:41.136 --> 00:14:43.505
- because the enemy is right there,
- 00:14:43.505 --> 00:14:45.240
- with every fear, every worry, every what if, every if only,
- 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:49.645
- and it can overwhelm you and just tie you up.
- 00:14:49.645 --> 00:14:53.315
- In the middle of the night,
- 00:14:53.315 --> 00:14:54.550
- I will oftentimes go back to this song,
- 00:14:54.550 --> 00:14:57.086
- in the dark I'll lift my arms up,
- 00:14:57.086 --> 00:14:59.888
- and just stretch out, the Lord is my shepherd,
- 00:14:59.888 --> 00:15:05.127
- I shall not want.
- 00:15:05.561 --> 00:15:06.261
- And he provide and guides and protects and never leaves us.
- 00:15:07.463 --> 00:15:11.133
- It's so true, but we,
- 00:15:11.133 --> 00:15:12.368
- we do need to have that intimacy with him.
- 00:15:12.368 --> 00:15:15.471
- Not just a book, somebody else wrote,
- 00:15:15.471 --> 00:15:17.406
- not just a story somebody else lived.
- 00:15:17.406 --> 00:15:19.775
- But our own testimony,
- 00:15:19.775 --> 00:15:21.577
- of his being a faithful shepherd to us.
- 00:15:21.577 --> 00:15:24.646
- - I love that,
- 00:15:24.646 --> 00:15:25.814
- that a shepherd doesn't drive from behind.
- 00:15:25.814 --> 00:15:29.051
- He calls. - Yeah.
- 00:15:29.551 --> 00:15:31.286
- - He calls to come.
- 00:15:31.286 --> 00:15:32.554
- He calls, you know, and I don't know about you,
- 00:15:32.554 --> 00:15:34.890
- but I've seen videos of shepherds and hundreds of sheep.
- 00:15:34.890 --> 00:15:38.961
- And when the shepherds get together,
- 00:15:38.961 --> 00:15:41.163
- to talk or hang out for a minute,
- 00:15:41.163 --> 00:15:43.198
- the sheep just all intermingled together.
- 00:15:43.198 --> 00:15:47.403
- And I don't know if you've ever seen it or not,
- 00:15:47.403 --> 00:15:49.371
- but when those shepherds separate and stop talking
- 00:15:49.371 --> 00:15:53.442
- those sheep just go to their shepherds.
- 00:15:53.442 --> 00:15:57.279
- And it's just, - To know his voice.
- 00:15:57.279 --> 00:15:59.648
- - Because they know his voice.
- 00:15:59.648 --> 00:16:01.083
- So what that says to me is that,
- 00:16:01.083 --> 00:16:02.985
- if Jesus is calling us forward,
- 00:16:02.985 --> 00:16:05.554
- then he's walking through everything in front of us.
- 00:16:05.554 --> 00:16:08.357
- And so our future is our friend.
- 00:16:08.357 --> 00:16:11.293
- Because Jesus has been there.
- 00:16:11.293 --> 00:16:12.861
- Jesus is calling us, come over here.
- 00:16:12.861 --> 00:16:16.231
- You know, then the one,
- 00:16:16.231 --> 00:16:17.666
- and he holds us to his bosom.
- 00:16:17.666 --> 00:16:19.468
- Because I think becoming sheep, if there's a shepherd,
- 00:16:19.468 --> 00:16:23.005
- then there's sheep, so we're hopefully all sheep.
- 00:16:23.005 --> 00:16:26.041
- If you're a renewed, and you are a believer in Christ
- 00:16:26.041 --> 00:16:28.277
- you're a sheep.
- 00:16:28.277 --> 00:16:29.545
- If you're not, you're a goat, or a wolf.
- 00:16:29.545 --> 00:16:32.548
- - Right. - Right?
- 00:16:32.548 --> 00:16:33.816
- That's kind of what the Bible separates.
- 00:16:33.816 --> 00:16:35.818
- - But the sheep, he,
- 00:16:35.818 --> 00:16:37.853
- tends to them, and they're feeble.
- 00:16:37.853 --> 00:16:40.589
- - Vulnerable. - And vulnerable.
- 00:16:40.589 --> 00:16:42.491
- And they are foolish.
- 00:16:42.491 --> 00:16:43.725
- And he's got their heart, you know.
- 00:16:43.725 --> 00:16:46.261
- He's got the heart for his sheep,
- 00:16:46.261 --> 00:16:48.097
- which is so beautiful to me.
- 00:16:48.097 --> 00:16:50.632
- Because anytime we're hurting or lost, he's right there.
- 00:16:50.632 --> 00:16:55.971
- And then he just holds us, you know?
- 00:16:56.772 --> 00:16:58.073
- And if we can feel that embrace of God,
- 00:16:58.073 --> 00:17:00.175
- - And true sheep are not afraid to follow the shepherd.
- 00:17:00.175 --> 00:17:03.345
- Without having to have a plan, or an explanation.
- 00:17:03.345 --> 00:17:08.283
- I think a lot of fear had to be dealt with
- 00:17:08.283 --> 00:17:12.054
- over all these last months that we've gone through.
- 00:17:12.054 --> 00:17:15.390
- And I think a lot of sheep have come up
- 00:17:15.390 --> 00:17:17.459
- to realize, the only thing I can trust, is my shepherd.
- 00:17:17.459 --> 00:17:21.797
- The only thing, I don't trust my emotions,
- 00:17:21.797 --> 00:17:24.032
- I don't trust my mind.
- 00:17:24.032 --> 00:17:25.400
- I don't even trust the information that's coming at me,
- 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.936
- but I can trust my shepherd.
- 00:17:27.936 --> 00:17:29.605
- My shepherd knows what I can't possibly know.
- 00:17:29.605 --> 00:17:33.108
- He can lead me where I can't possibly go.
- 00:17:33.108 --> 00:17:36.111
- He is in front of me, always saying,
- 00:17:36.111 --> 00:17:39.148
- okay this is a safe place, come this way.
- 00:17:39.148 --> 00:17:41.984
- But it still comes back to us.
- 00:17:41.984 --> 00:17:44.186
- Do we trust the voice of the shepherd?
- 00:17:44.186 --> 00:17:46.722
- If we know him, really know him,
- 00:17:46.722 --> 00:17:49.191
- not religious, but relationship.
- 00:17:49.191 --> 00:17:52.394
- If we know him, we trust him.
- 00:17:52.394 --> 00:17:54.196
- - I haven't had this thought until just this moment.
- 00:17:54.196 --> 00:17:57.132
- But we're talking about shepherds,
- 00:17:57.132 --> 00:17:58.967
- and we're talking about a word
- 00:17:58.967 --> 00:18:00.502
- that I haven't thought of in years, shepherding.
- 00:18:00.502 --> 00:18:04.673
- And there was a time, - In the '70s.
- 00:18:04.673 --> 00:18:06.942
- - A long time ago, where that word got thrown around.
- 00:18:06.942 --> 00:18:11.513
- And one of our ideas here today is
- 00:18:11.513 --> 00:18:14.750
- we were asking the question, how do you know,
- 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:19.054
- how do you hear God's voice?
- 00:18:19.054 --> 00:18:21.590
- And I'm a pastor,
- 00:18:21.590 --> 00:18:23.692
- and I've had the privilege to be a christian a long time.
- 00:18:23.692 --> 00:18:26.962
- And I think it's a good idea that we want to talk about.
- 00:18:26.962 --> 00:18:31.567
- How do you know?
- 00:18:31.567 --> 00:18:32.968
- And the idea for maybe somebody
- 00:18:32.968 --> 00:18:34.870
- who's listening to us today is,
- 00:18:34.870 --> 00:18:36.972
- that idea of shepherding was, sometimes got mixed up.
- 00:18:36.972 --> 00:18:41.810
- Because sometimes there were pastors or leaders,
- 00:18:41.810 --> 00:18:45.214
- even cell group leaders, who became self appointed,
- 00:18:45.214 --> 00:18:50.519
- and the term shepherding,
- 00:18:51.086 --> 00:18:52.287
- was they became a shepherd over people.
- 00:18:52.287 --> 00:18:56.091
- And I think it's important that we talk about the idea that
- 00:18:56.091 --> 00:18:59.928
- there are ways to hear the voice of God.
- 00:18:59.928 --> 00:19:03.198
- And the very first most important way, is to read the Bible.
- 00:19:03.198 --> 00:19:09.638
- - Listen to his word.
- 00:19:10.138 --> 00:19:11.840
- - We often, sometimes I get very surprised
- 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:16.745
- and maybe even shocked,
- 00:19:16.745 --> 00:19:18.747
- that I have people that I see often in church,
- 00:19:18.747 --> 00:19:22.951
- they serve in church, they give.
- 00:19:22.951 --> 00:19:25.687
- And I get surprised, because I'll be in conversation
- 00:19:25.687 --> 00:19:30.425
- and they'll come up with ideas,
- 00:19:30.425 --> 00:19:32.728
- and I'll think to myself, oh my,
- 00:19:32.728 --> 00:19:35.397
- dear, you have not read the Bible.
- 00:19:35.397 --> 00:19:39.968
- And I'll even have conversations,
- 00:19:39.968 --> 00:19:42.704
- where I'll have someone asked me to pray with them.
- 00:19:42.704 --> 00:19:45.641
- And it'll be things like, you know,
- 00:19:45.641 --> 00:19:48.844
- I am asking the Lord to pray with me about,
- 00:19:48.844 --> 00:19:52.281
- and then fill in the blank.
- 00:19:52.281 --> 00:19:54.383
- And it will be so far away, from what the scripture teaches
- 00:19:54.383 --> 00:20:00.088
- about something like,
- 00:20:00.589 --> 00:20:03.392
- And it'll be so far off God's word,
- 00:20:03.392 --> 00:20:06.595
- that I'll know you can't be praying about that married man,
- 00:20:06.595 --> 00:20:11.933
- being your boyfriend because that violates God's word.
- 00:20:13.035 --> 00:20:16.505
- So the very first thing that we know about
- 00:20:16.505 --> 00:20:18.807
- how to hear God's word, how to hear God's will,
- 00:20:18.807 --> 00:20:22.377
- is to read the Bible.
- 00:20:22.377 --> 00:20:24.446
- And I just want to just make that point.
- 00:20:24.446 --> 00:20:27.249
- That we can hear God's spirit,
- 00:20:27.249 --> 00:20:30.952
- if we will just simply start by reading his word.
- 00:20:30.952 --> 00:20:34.589
- - The very word Ruah, is the breadth of God.
- 00:20:35.524 --> 00:20:39.561
- And so, so many times we think about the breadth of God
- 00:20:39.561 --> 00:20:42.564
- as if he's a mighty blowing wind,
- 00:20:42.564 --> 00:20:45.067
- but yet the breadth of God is his word ever so close to us
- 00:20:45.067 --> 00:20:49.271
- we feel his breath.
- 00:20:49.271 --> 00:20:51.373
- And when I feel his breath and I'm so intimate with him
- 00:20:51.373 --> 00:20:55.410
- that I know when he breathes on me.
- 00:20:55.410 --> 00:20:57.779
- Just not blow, but (sighs)
- 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:00.882
- the breadth of God.
- 00:21:00.882 --> 00:21:02.417
- And that is the word of God, ever speaking to my spirit,
- 00:21:02.417 --> 00:21:06.521
- calling me forth, to come out of the mess.
- 00:21:06.521 --> 00:21:10.492
- And come and be with me.
- 00:21:10.492 --> 00:21:11.693
- I think that's the greatest thing
- 00:21:11.693 --> 00:21:13.729
- that I've learned over 40 years,
- 00:21:13.729 --> 00:21:15.364
- is how to just be with God,
- 00:21:15.364 --> 00:21:17.933
- and not think that my doing for him is pleasing to him,
- 00:21:17.933 --> 00:21:23.171
- but my being with him.
- 00:21:23.672 --> 00:21:25.440
- He is my shepherd I shall not lack because I am with him.
- 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:29.678
- So how can I lack any good thing, when I am with him.
- 00:21:29.678 --> 00:21:33.482
- - Yes. - That's right?
- 00:21:33.482 --> 00:21:34.750
- - But if I step away from him, it's like
- 00:21:34.750 --> 00:21:35.984
- come over here shepherd.
- 00:21:35.984 --> 00:21:37.619
- I'm over here, I need you to,
- 00:21:37.619 --> 00:21:39.321
- he's like, well, I'm over here.
- 00:21:39.321 --> 00:21:41.790
- So you need to come back over here.
- 00:21:41.790 --> 00:21:43.392
- If you want to feel my breath.
- 00:21:43.392 --> 00:21:45.494
- Open your Bible,
- 00:21:45.494 --> 00:21:46.795
- and start reading and let God speak to you.
- 00:21:46.795 --> 00:21:48.563
- And then that still small voice of the Holy Spirit
- 00:21:48.563 --> 00:21:50.966
- that just, you know, that you know, that you know.
- 00:21:50.966 --> 00:21:55.070
- He saying, don't do that, or do this.
- 00:21:55.070 --> 00:21:57.906
- And so many times we're always looking,
- 00:21:57.906 --> 00:22:00.041
- the older you get, the more you hear
- 00:22:00.041 --> 00:22:01.843
- God tell you don't do things.
- 00:22:01.843 --> 00:22:03.912
- When you're younger, you're looking for God
- 00:22:03.912 --> 00:22:05.280
- to tell you what to do.
- 00:22:05.280 --> 00:22:07.282
- The older I get, the more I hear him tell me what not to do.
- 00:22:07.282 --> 00:22:10.919
- - And that's why it's so important that,
- 00:22:11.787 --> 00:22:13.255
- as you talk about hearing the shepherd's voice,
- 00:22:13.255 --> 00:22:14.890
- that we're able to hear all that he has to say in this book.
- 00:22:14.890 --> 00:22:18.927
- That we're not just picking and choosing
- 00:22:18.927 --> 00:22:21.096
- our favorite promises and assurances, and God is for me,
- 00:22:21.096 --> 00:22:25.233
- and he's never against me,
- 00:22:25.233 --> 00:22:26.568
- and that he's gonna provide.
- 00:22:26.568 --> 00:22:27.903
- All of the things that we want to hear.
- 00:22:27.903 --> 00:22:30.405
- But we're not hearing his warnings,
- 00:22:30.405 --> 00:22:33.442
- that we're not hearing the conviction of of the Holy spirit,
- 00:22:33.442 --> 00:22:35.911
- over sin in our lives,
- 00:22:35.911 --> 00:22:37.179
- that we don't understand the full counsel of God,
- 00:22:37.179 --> 00:22:39.648
- because we have picked and chosen, you know.
- 00:22:39.648 --> 00:22:41.917
- And it's just like, you know,
- 00:22:41.917 --> 00:22:43.418
- kids when they want to eat just candy.
- 00:22:43.418 --> 00:22:45.687
- They just want to have candy,
- 00:22:45.687 --> 00:22:46.688
- we just came out of Easter,
- 00:22:46.688 --> 00:22:47.889
- and I can bear witnesses to this,
- 00:22:47.889 --> 00:22:49.157
- and my grandchildren they were just like
- 00:22:49.157 --> 00:22:50.892
- candy, candy, candy all day long.
- 00:22:50.892 --> 00:22:52.961
- But to read the word of God,
- 00:22:52.961 --> 00:22:54.796
- - Right? - Systematically,
- 00:22:54.796 --> 00:22:56.465
- daily feeding yourself,
- 00:22:56.465 --> 00:22:57.999
- hearing his voice daily, this is the lie detector.
- 00:22:57.999 --> 00:23:01.236
- This is where we're going to be able to tell
- 00:23:01.236 --> 00:23:02.671
- the voice of the enemy from the voice of truth.
- 00:23:02.671 --> 00:23:05.507
- Is if we are faithful to abide in his word,
- 00:23:05.507 --> 00:23:08.410
- which is his voice.
- 00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:10.178
- And that's how we know the shepherd's voice.
- 00:23:10.178 --> 00:23:12.380
- - So good.
- 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:13.615
- - And then praying in the Holy ghost too.
- 00:23:13.615 --> 00:23:15.517
- Praying in the Holy ghost, and as Corinthians tells us
- 00:23:15.517 --> 00:23:18.119
- then ask for the interpretation.
- 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:20.088
- It's not just praying in the Holy ghost,
- 00:23:20.088 --> 00:23:21.756
- which edifies us and helps us and strengthened us,
- 00:23:21.756 --> 00:23:24.326
- and scientists proven it even
- 00:23:24.326 --> 00:23:26.094
- makes us feel better about ourselves,
- 00:23:26.094 --> 00:23:28.029
- when we pray in the Holy ghost.
- 00:23:28.029 --> 00:23:29.264
- But then asking him to interpret.
- 00:23:29.264 --> 00:23:31.566
- Give me the interpretation
- 00:23:31.566 --> 00:23:33.034
- of what I just prayed, according to Corinthians,
- 00:23:33.034 --> 00:23:35.403
- so that I can hear, and my mind can be edified.
- 00:23:35.403 --> 00:23:38.840
- So that I can know what I'm praying.
- 00:23:38.840 --> 00:23:42.043
- He wants to speak to us in so many ways,
- 00:23:42.043 --> 00:23:45.514
- but we run so far away, and he's not going to shout.
- 00:23:45.514 --> 00:23:50.752
- He's a little tiny, small voice.
- 00:23:51.386 --> 00:23:53.755
- And (mumbles) tells us that the word of God is alive,
- 00:23:53.755 --> 00:23:57.926
- and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.
- 00:23:57.926 --> 00:24:00.562
- And it's able to divide asunder between soul and spirit.
- 00:24:00.562 --> 00:24:04.599
- And it's a discerner of the thoughts
- 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:06.768
- and the intents of the heart.
- 00:24:06.768 --> 00:24:08.803
- And that's why we need his word, that to know what's right.
- 00:24:08.803 --> 00:24:12.407
- - That word there in the Greek is "diastimos",
- 00:24:12.407 --> 00:24:15.076
- it means it cuts both ways.
- 00:24:15.076 --> 00:24:16.811
- It means his mouth then my mouth.
- 00:24:16.811 --> 00:24:18.547
- So when I say what he says,
- 00:24:18.547 --> 00:24:21.283
- now it cuts both ways inside of me.
- 00:24:21.283 --> 00:24:24.252
- Now I'm proclaiming, professing, praying what he said.
- 00:24:24.252 --> 00:24:27.956
- And now I can really hear him,
- 00:24:27.956 --> 00:24:29.424
- because I audibly hear him through my own voice.
- 00:24:29.424 --> 00:24:32.694
- When I read his word
- 00:24:32.694 --> 00:24:33.995
- - I love it, let's put this into practice.
- 00:24:33.995 --> 00:24:35.330
- Let's ask for the good shepherd
- 00:24:35.330 --> 00:24:37.198
- to reveal himself to us through his word.
- 00:24:37.198 --> 00:24:39.834
- And that the good shepherd would give us
- 00:24:39.834 --> 00:24:41.536
- a hunger and a desire to dive into his word,
- 00:24:41.536 --> 00:24:44.172
- to know and hear his voice.
- 00:24:44.172 --> 00:24:45.974
- Will you join me in prayer ladies.
- 00:24:45.974 --> 00:24:47.576
- Heavenly father, we come before you.
- 00:24:47.576 --> 00:24:48.743
- And we thank you in advance
- 00:24:48.743 --> 00:24:50.011
- for the work that you were going to do
- 00:24:50.011 --> 00:24:51.246
- in the hearts, the lives in the minds,
- 00:24:51.246 --> 00:24:53.315
- of people that are watching right now.
- 00:24:53.315 --> 00:24:55.016
- I pray good shepherd, that we so know your voice.
- 00:24:55.016 --> 00:24:58.119
- We get so close to it, is that breath
- 00:24:58.119 --> 00:25:00.155
- that we feel on our face God.
- 00:25:00.155 --> 00:25:01.890
- I pray that there was a hunger to dive into your word,
- 00:25:01.890 --> 00:25:04.859
- and not just a hunger to dive into your word,
- 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:06.494
- but that your spirit will illuminate the words
- 00:25:06.494 --> 00:25:08.663
- that we can apply it to our lives.
- 00:25:08.663 --> 00:25:10.665
- May it not just be black letters on white pages,
- 00:25:10.665 --> 00:25:13.101
- but may it be active and alive,
- 00:25:13.101 --> 00:25:15.136
- like your word says sharper than a two-edged sword
- 00:25:15.136 --> 00:25:17.806
- to pierce bone and marrow.
- 00:25:17.806 --> 00:25:19.207
- So we're asking for that revelation down from heaven God,
- 00:25:19.207 --> 00:25:22.611
- as we read your word, that we know you, that we hear you,
- 00:25:22.611 --> 00:25:25.647
- that we discover you.
- 00:25:25.647 --> 00:25:27.115
- And most importantly, that we learn to love you.
- 00:25:27.115 --> 00:25:29.150
- We give you all honor all glory, and all praise,
- 00:25:29.150 --> 00:25:31.620
- our good, good shepherd and Jesus name,
- 00:25:31.620 --> 00:25:34.289
- amen.
- 00:25:34.289 --> 00:25:35.123
- - Amen. - Amen.
- 00:25:35.123 --> 00:25:37.025
- - [Announcer] Connect with us on social media
- 00:25:37.926 --> 00:25:39.494
- and let us know how our team can pray for you.
- 00:25:39.494 --> 00:25:42.297
- (upbeat music)
- 00:25:42.297 --> 00:25:43.865
- Up next on, Better Together.
- 00:25:43.865 --> 00:25:45.600
- - No one can deny a testimony.
- 00:25:45.600 --> 00:25:47.802
- And so you can deny miracles,
- 00:25:47.802 --> 00:25:49.504
- you can deny that there is a God,
- 00:25:49.504 --> 00:25:51.206
- but you cannot deny a testimony.
- 00:25:51.206 --> 00:25:53.475
- - [Announcer] Watch Better Together,
- 00:25:53.475 --> 00:25:54.909
- weekdays and Tuesday nights right here on TBN.
- 00:25:54.909 --> 00:25:54.909