All right, open up your Bibles this morning to First Peter, chapter 2. We’re in the sermon series called First Peter; we’re just looking through this book. We’re going to topically walk through this book of First Peter. And again I want to remind you that every week, I want you to read along with me, so you can probably guess next Sunday I’m probably going to talk about something out of First Peter three. So read First Peter one, First Peter two but especially First Peter three this week, so that when I come on here on Sunday, you’ve already read it; you’ve already thought about it. God’s already spoken to you out of First Peter three. And so this morning we’re going to look at First Peter two. And I want to talk to you about a topic that Doug tells on what we talked about last Sunday.
Last Sunday we talked about getting our joy back. This glorious indescribable joy, that is possible despite our circumstances. No matter what our circumstances, we can walk with this glorious indescribable joy that God gives us. And one of the ways that we keep that joy – and I got a lot of response for me this week, and I appreciate the encouraging emails, the encouraging phone calls, conversations we had about the miracle. I heard many, many miracles around the church this week, about people getting their joy back, walking out, getting away from their depression, the darkness that had kind of overwhelmed them.
One of the ways that you keep that joy is by dealing with insecurities. This morning I want to talk to you about freedom from insecurity. If we were all honest in this room, all of us have probably wrestled at time to time maybe wrestling now with the idea of insecurity. And when Peter was writing this letter to the churches throughout Asia, several churches read this letter; he was writing this letter to a group of people who were literally in exile. Many of them were very poor. They all felt like they were the least of society, they were looked down upon, they were tormented in many cases, persecuted in many cases, they were living under a 90% tax rate.
Now think about that just for a minute. Ninety percent of the money of the money they made went to the government, to the military, to the Roman government, to the local governments. So it’s hard for me to complain. I don’t know how it would feel like to earn a dollar and get to spend a dime of it. But this is what the reality of these people. They were poor, they were exiled, they were looked down upon, they were considered outcasts in their culture because they had decided to follow Christ. And so you can imagine they were probably wrestling with a lot of insecurities, because what they what they believed about, being a Christ follower, they were victorious people. They were supposed to be the victorious ones. And they were but their circumstances told them something else.
I want us to really confront this in our culture today, okay? I want to – I’m going to touch on some things that I want you to really wrestle with. Your circumstances do not determine your ability to be victorious. Listen, circumstances change everyday. What I’m talking about today is an internal strength, an inside-out strength. You sang that song this morning. I love it. It’s one of my favorite songs right now, “Inside-out”, because we tend to focus on everything on the exterior while ignoring the condition of our heart. When God says no that’s the backwards. I want you to focus on the inner formation of your heart and let me take care of the circumstances. Do you believe that this morning?
One of the big issues in our hearts is insecurity. And so Paul is writing to them to remind them who they are. He says, “Listen, I know your circumstances are a mess. I know you feel like slaves and exiles and I know you feel like you’re the outcast of your culture. But I got good news for you.” Listen to what he says; First Peter two, verse nine, “But you are a chosen people. A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…” I’ll stop here for a second. I think a lot of us feel like stray dog sometimes. You know a dog without a collar? Let me just say this to you. You belong to God. Like you put a collar on you r dog, to say that’s your dog, God says, “I want to put a seal on your forehead of the Holy Spirit. I’m going to seal you with my Holy Spirit, like a seal on your forehead to remind you – as a reminder you belong to Me.” That‘s good news this morning, by the way. You belong to God. We belong to Him. He has adopted in a legal way in Heaven. It’s been done. He says that, “You may declare the praises of Him, who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” So it was God who reached His hand into the darkness, pulled us out of the darkness to light that we live in today. And He says, “Once you were not a people but now you are, the people of God. Once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
Dear friends I urge you, New Life listen, I urge you. As aliens and strangers in this world to abstain from sinful desires; desires which war against your soul. He says, “Listen, we’re just aliens and strangers.” That is a fact. This is not our home. I love that old hymn we sang this morning. The things of this world grow strangely dim. The things of this world grow strangely dim, when we live like this, when we see ourselves as aliens and strangers.
Now skip down to verse eighteen, because Paul now begins to address another group of people called slaves. Now this passage of scripture that I’m about to read is really misunderstood by a lot of people. A lot of people believe that Paul and Peter were both endorsing slavery, and that’s not true. Slavery that we’re going to read about here was different form the slavery that we’re familiar with here in the United States. What happened in the United States with African slaves is awful. It is an awful stain on our history as a country and I’m ashamed and embarrassed that our country ever embraced capturing people against their will and bringing them to our country and making them to work as slaves. That’s awful. Nowhere in the bible is that ever, ever, ever not condemned. Scripture is very clear about this.
Paul is now about to talk to slaves. But slaves in this culture were different. It’s true that the Roman army had captured people and made them slaves, that’s true. There were a group of people that were captured against their will. But the slaves that Paul is primarily talking to here are people who were working their way to citizenship. Indentured servants, which were called slaves, surely they were called slaves, but they had a plan to get out of their slavery, by working their way; for five to seven years of work. And after they work their work after that length of time, they then became formal citizens of the country in which they were living. So he’s not talking about people who were captured against their will. You get that now? You understand? These are people who are working their way towards citizenship. Listen to what he says, verse 18, “Slaves submit yourselves to your masters with all respect. And not only to those who are good and considered a good boss...” in other words, don’t just submit to the good bosses, but also to those who are harsh. Now don’t raise your hand, but how many of you have worked for somebody that might be a little harsh. Don’t raise your hand, for you might be sitting near them. There might a new life for you and not know it. So don’t go, “I know one!”
All right, verse 19, for it is commendable of a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering. And notice this – please look at this again. There will be times in all of our lives when bad things happen to us that are not just. And all of this – you probably have all experienced this. It’s very painful to have something said about you, maybe you got demoted, maybe you’re fired, maybe something bad to you and it was unjust. And he says now, “Listen how are you going to get them to respond when that happens. You‘re a Christ follower now. You’re a holy nation now. You’re a royal priesthood.” He just said that to us. “You’re a people belonging to God.” Now something bad happens to you. It’s not your fault but you’re being accused of it. How then are you supposed to respond?
Listen he tells us here, he says, “You’re as commendable bears a part of the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.” But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and then do it, but if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. In other words, if you mess up and get fired, there’s nothing commendable about that. You need to get fired. If you mess up, if you violated the rules at your work and get fired, then don’t do it again and get about another job and be better. He said, “But sometimes bad things are going to happen to good people. And it’s commendable before God to respond in the right way. To this you recall because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps.” Now this is just very good theology but it’s not taught very well. It’s not taught very often. Nobody wants to stand in front of a very big group of people and say, “Hey listen, I just want to tell you the truth; sometimes you’re going to get treated unjustly. And the way you respond to it is what God is really watching.” God hear people say, “Where was God. Why did God abandon me? Where was God when I got fired? Where was God when I got treated unjustly?” He was right there and he was watching our hearts. He was watching the way we respond to those things because that’s what God is most interested in is the formation of our character. Not necessarily our circumstances, although he cares about all of that. But he’s more concerned about the formation of our character. That’s primary to God.
I want to talk to you what insecurity is because the word “insecure” means unstable, uncertain, lacking confidence, shaky and unsound. People walk around as insecure people, they lack confidence. Everything around them seems to be shaky, unsure and unsound. Their emotions are always out of control. A secure people, listen to the word “secure”, having full command to rule, to be without anxiety and free from care. These are people, that no matter how bad the storm is outside the boat, these are people that are sound asleep at the bottom of the boat. It doesn’t matter if the water is smooth outside or the storms are ranging. These are people who are just unshakable. Have you u ever been around people like that? Like they have ice water in their veins, they just cannot be shaken. They cannot – no matter what happens it seems like they’re steady.
I’m married to a woman like that. Pam is the most steady person I’ve ever met in my life, literally. We have gone through some of the biggest traumas and crisis and Pam is just steady on the inside, she’s just unshakable. And I tell you it has great strength for me, because when I go home, there’s not a lot of drama at our house.
When I go home things are steady, my house is peaceful because Pam has wrestled through these insecurities as a young woman and now she’s a strong woman. You can’t rattle her. I’m telling you, you can’t rattle Pam. I have seen things said to her, about her, or people do things, she’s just steady on the inside. You can’t shake her. Try as you might, but she’s just steady, steady, steady, because there’s this security that God’s given her. I’m telling you, I like being around people like that.
Here’s what you say – have you ever heard people say, “They’re the same every time you’re around them.” That’s a good quality, to be around somebody they’re kind of the same person every time you’re around them. You know no matter what’s happening, they’re just the same steady, dependable, steadfast person on the inside. That’s security.
Can I tell you, when insecurity normally attacks us? I tell you when it attacks me, so I think it applies to you too. Any time there’s any kind of change in your life, like any kind of transition, any kind of change, the enemy will attack you. Any kind of major changes in your life will open up the door for the enemy to come and attack you with these insecurities. So I want to tell you how to spot an secure person today, all right?
How do you spot someone who is secure? All right number one, I want you to write this down because I want you to consider this about yourself. At the end of this talk today, I want you to ask yourself, “Am I a person on the inside who that’s secure with who I am?”
Number one, secure people don’t always have to be the smartest person in the room. And this is a big test for all of us. And a lot of you work with people in family situations even in church situations, when you realize that you’re not the smartest person in the room, it’s a test of whether or not you’re secure.
Are you okay with somebody else having the better idea? Are you okay with sitting in a meeting or being in a group of people and someone else coming up with the brilliant idea that you were supposed to come up with? Is it okay if the team wins but you don’t? Is it okay for you to have a bad game, but the team win? I know people that would rather have a great game and lose than to play poorly and win.
And this is the test of whether or not we’re secure with how God made us, who we are. Do you have to have constant affirmation from other people? Do you believe that at any moment the position, the title, the status that you have right now could be taken away from you by someone smarter. See I really wrestled with this as a young man growing up. I’ve told you about my background. I’m so grateful about my heritage, but when I got into college, I don’t have the credentials, the resume that everybody else has. I really didn’t. And then when I got out of college and went into the work force, I realized I only have the credentials everybody else has. Then I became a pastor. I don’t have a Bible School degree. I’ve never been to seminary. And so I wrestle with this; “God why am I – I’m under qualified and it’s going to be apparent. God, I’m going to have to pose, because at some point it’s going to be apparent to everyone else what I know about myself. I’m not qualified.”
So I wrestled through that and got all that thought figured out and then I became the pastor in New Life church. Bam! I’m like, “Lord, did that search committee really do their homework? I answered all their questions but I don’t – do they really want me?”
I remember standing up here, I mean that first Sunday -- I remember some of you were here that first Sunday, those three Sundays I had to preach. I had that little sign around my neck, “Will preach for food” kind of thing. The most awful thing – I hope none of you ever have to do that and get voted on. Think about getting voted on. Think about that Monday where – I said, “Pam, we got to get out of town. I don’t want to be here on the day – what if I don’t get voted in?” All of these insecurities, I was shocked! And what was coming up in my heart because I dealt with all these stuff before, I thought. Here it is again. Any transition, any change, anything that shifts in your life will reveal the level of security you have or not.
Here’s number two, secure people trust God for a promotion. All of us have this fear, or many of us have this fear. I won’t say all of us; many of us struggle with the fear of being overlooked. And so what happens is the lie that the enemy said, here’s the lie, the subtle whisper of the enemy, “If you don’t promote yourself, no one else is going to promote you. If you don’t raise the banner for yourself, if you don’t hype yourself, no one else is going to pay attention to you.”
I’m around people all the time that literally after about half an hour, I want to stop them and say, “You know you probably need to get yourself a cortisone shot on the right arm for patting yourself on the back so much.” You been around someone like that? They can any moment their shoulder’s going to go out the joint for patting themselves on the back so much. I just want to stop them and say, “Listen, would you take a deep breath? Would you stop promoting yourself? Would you just stop talking so much about yourself? And trust God that He sees you, He knows you, He formed you. He is the One that gave you those spiritual gifts.”
See here’s what we believe, we know we have spiritual gift, we’re convinced God doesn’t know how to use them on us. In other words, He knows how to build the car; he just doesn’t know how to drive it. He can build humans; He just doesn’t know what to do with them once He makes them. I’ll tell you something, He knows what to do. He knows how you’re formed and you -- we have got to stop promoting ourselves.
There are people on Facebook and Twitter that drive me nuts! With how they impressed they are with themselves. Listen, I’m okay with being confident. I think you need confidence and you need to know who you are. That’s fine with that. But do you really trust God for the promotion? Because listen, if you appoint yourself then you must sustain yourself. If God appoints you, then God will sustain you. If God births the baby God will raise the baby.
All right listen to this, Proverbs 27:2, I love this. This is where I stop people and say, “Hey…” Proverbs 27:2 “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth. Someone else and not your own lips.” You know why nobody’s bragging on you? Because you keep beating him to the punch.
Number three; secure people are steady in the face of criticism. I’ll tell you the test. Everybody’s loving on you. Everybody’s saying great things about you, so you seem to appear secure. Now somebody criticized you though. Someone point out a flaw. See how quick you are to defend yourself. See there’s a difference.
I had a really wise mentor, Jimmy Evans actually told me this; there were some leadership things, there were some things said about me in the media one time, few years ago. And I just wanted to just lash out and put the record straight! Jimmy said – I called Jimmy, that’s what I do; I pray, talk to Jesus and I normally call Jimmy, in that order.
I say okay – that’s Jimmy – I need to know something. I’m wanting to set the record straight. I just want to say it like it is and let the chips fall where they may, because I’m tired of being criticized for something I didn’t do. And Jimmy just pauses, let’s me vent, you know. I just needed to vent. I just needed to tell somebody to the strength that I felt it. He listened and he said, “Brady …”, some of the wisest words I’ve ever heard, he said, “Brady, there’s a difference between being defensive and being a defender.” He says, “Is this is just about your reputation or is this about defending the people that you’re called to pastor.” I said, “You want to know the honest truth?” He goes, “Yes, is there another kind of truth?” Ever heard that phrase “the honest truth”? Well let’s hear it. If it’s not honest it’s not the truth. It kind of drives me nuts for people say that. No, I want the dishonest truth.
He said, “Brady…” – I said that, “Jimmy it’s really just me wanting to protect the reputation, I think because the church is fine. The church is fine. It’s about me.” He gets it, “Then don’t say anything. If it’s about the health of your church, you step out there and defend because that’s what shepherds do. Shepherds defend people from wolves. If this is about your reputation, you need to trust God with that.” Oh man, this is not what I wanted to hear but it was pretty good.
So with that, let me ask you a question, are you defensive or are you a defender. If it’s about the health of your family, if this is about the health of something that you have the right to defend, you need to defend yourself. If it’s just about your reputation, listen, I’m a dead man. My reputation died when I accepted Christ. I have no reputation except Him. I’m not trying to build a Brady Boyd brand. I’m not trying to be known for anything. I won’t make a big fuss about Jesus. Let’s point people toward Christ and get out of the way. How about that? That would be nice, wouldn’t it? So how do you – are you afraid of people? Because that is ultimately what defensive people are saying; I’m afraid of what you believe about me.
Listen to the message Proverbs 29:25, “The fear of human opinion disables. Trusting in God protects you from that.” The fear of human opinion, it will disable you, it will destroy you, it will cause you to be reactionary with everything you say. You’re just reacting; reacting. It’s a sign that there’s something going on in your heart. It’s a sign that there’s an issue that needs to be settled. Did God put you there? Then let God defend your reputation. Amen.
All right, let me tell you the root. So in my journey to uncover what the root of this is, the Lord took me to First Peter 2. And in verse 23, as we read this, Peter is telling this group of people, listen, let me tell you what the root of your insecurity is; the real root. Let me read this to you verse 23; “When they hurled …” he’s talking about Christ here. Christ is your model, right? Our model. “And when they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate.” And this is what Pastor Jimmy was telling me. He said, “Hey Brady, you’re going to get insulted. By the way when you took the job at New Life Church you had this big old bulls eye just painted all over your chest and if you’re not going to be a big boy about it, then let somebody else do it. But you’re a big target for people to criticize.” He said that, “So when they hurl their insults at you, you’re going to have either decide to be defensive or be a defender when necessary.”
So Jesus is my model, right? Christ is my model. Christ is who I’m trying to emulate. I’m trying to be a Christ-follower, a disciple, a learner from Jesus. When they hurl their insults at Him, He didn’t retaliate, and they were slapping Him, beating Him, spitting at Him, mocking Him, and ultimately murdered Him. He still did not retaliate. In fact, remember what the Roman soldier said to Him, “Hey if you’re the Christ why don’t You call in some angels to rescue You?” Jesus hung there and did not retaliate.
When He suffered, He made no threats. Instead He – listen here’s the root, here it is. This is the big passage; “…instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so we might die to sin and live for righteousness; “By His wounds you have been healed.” Now this is Peter talking. Peter is quoting the prophecy from Isaiah. And Isaiah it says, “By His wounds you will be healed”, because Isaiah was looking forward to the Cross. Peter’s looking back at the Cross and says, “By His wounds you have been healed.” Isaiah says, “…you will be healed.” Peter says, “…you have been healed.” It’s been done.
Verse 25, “For you were like sheep going astray, but now…”, listen to this, this is so poetic I love this, “… but now you have returned to the Shepherd and the Overseer of your souls.” Verse 23; listen to what he says, “… He did not retaliate…” I’m going to ask you questions, this is a really good question; how quick do you want to respond, retaliate and set the record straight? I have another wise man who said, “Brady, it’s amazing what a night’s sleep – one night of sleep and one quiet time will do for your response.”
Can I give you some really practical advice? Before you reply on Facebook, before you type that email at work to set the record straight about yourself – you know what I’m talking about. And by the way emails are the worst, the worst way to deal with conflict. The worst! Can I say that again? Emails are the worst way; it’s the most passive, aggressive, cowardly thing to do. It’s a cowardly thing to do to not – to send an email when you’re face to – because you’re not – you know what? This is the truth. You’re afraid to go talk to him face to face. So don’t retaliate. Sleep, go to bed, sleep. Have some quiet time. Sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaya; just something spiritual. Then notice how your anger has now diminished, your perspective will probably change and you won’t feel the need to write that nasty email, and, and, and most importantly you will salvage the friendship, and that’s what we’re after, right?
Then verse 23, the last part of that it says, “... entrusted to Him who judges justly.” You what I find what most people have? I call it the Jonah Syndrome. You know what Jonah did; Jonah got on a boat finally, ended up in Nineveh, went to Nineveh and he said exactly what God told him to say; “Repent our judgment’s coming. Repent or the judgment of God is coming.” Well to his surprise Nineveh repented.
Here’s what Jonah does. Read the story. I think it’s chapter five of Jonah. He goes up to the top of the hill and looks down on the city waiting for the fiery brim stones to hit the town. Instead the people down there are putting sack cloth and ashes on, they’re repenting, they’re asking God to change their hearts.
And Jonah has this conversation with God; “See God I knew. I knew it. I knew you were going to have mercy on this people and not do what you said you would do. I did my part. I came and told this people to repent, now where’s the judgment?” I call that the Jonah Syndrome. People have. They want justice! At all cost! God make this right, right now! How dare they repent? They deserve punishment, and then they can have mercy.
I was thinking this week; I have an older sister who’s sometimes in here. You might see her. She’s at New Life. And then I have a younger brother. And so as growing up we were very close in age. You remember how – be honest now, do you remember how good it felt for them to get punished? Do you know you’re that person? You were the one putting your ear to the door and listening – POW! Hit him again. Hit him again. POW! Justice! They deserve that. Of course when you’re getting punished, if you saw them laughing behind you, behind your mom, you remember how furious you felt.
Listen, I’ll say this, here’s what he said, “He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.” The problem with that phrase is it’s probably not going to happen in the timeline that you want. In fact it may not even happen ‘til the end of the age. Some of you are so mad at God for not bringing things to justice. When God says listen, “All things are already under My feet. Christ is Lord. And at the end of the age, everything is going to be set right.” So why don’t you pray for mercy over people because we mean mercy. Instead of praying for justice, because by the way you ask – if you ask for justice on other people, guess who else gets justice? We get it.
Listen, I kind of want mercy, don’t you? I want grace. I want somebody to help me. I don’t want justice all the time, I want grace. So that they get grace, I get grace. If you ask justice, you get justice. Justice has already been determined. It’s going to happen. Just take a deep breath. And He says, “By His wounds you have been healed.”
Can I ask you a question this morning? This is a really personal question; do you want to hurt people? Did you wake up this morning looking for somebody to hurt? Like I can’t wait to get to New Life; I want to find somebody out there in the foyer that looks kind of vulnerable and I’m just going to hurt them. Man, I’m going to put a wound on them, and it will take years to get over what I’m going to do this morning. I mean, I got some good criticism. I haven’t given anybody in a while. I’m just looking for the right target. Did you wake up doing that this morning? Everybody – nobody in this room. If you did you’re evil. Really, honestly. That’s my definition of evil.
An evil person is someone who wants to hurt people. That’s an evil person. That’s bigger issues. Those are big issues. And there are evil people who woke up this morning wanting to hurt people, that‘s why we have police officers, right? They take care of those people. But most of us, 99.9% of us in this crowd we didn’t wake up doing that. When we hurt people, it had to happen. We don’t want to hurt people, we hurt people. You know why? Hurt people, hurt people. You don’t want hurt people, but you’re hurting people. I don’t want to hurt people but people are getting hurt. Why does that happen? Because hurt people, hurt people. And so this is why – this is what Peter was saying. Deal with the wound in your heart, deal with it. Ask God to heal you of that sense of justice. God you haven’t set it right. That person hurt me. I haven’t seen justice yet. It causes us to be insecure, it’s hurting us. Let it go. Take a deep breath. Lord give me faith today to relieve – here’s your prayer, “Lord give me faith today to believe that You‘re going to set things right at the end. Even if the things are not set right now, it will be set right, and now Lord, heal me.”
So in my process, when I realize I’m hurt I was wounded. I don’t want to be this insecure person. Listen to what he says, that very last thing he says, that in verse 25, “…the Shepherd and the Overseer of you r souls.” You wan to get free today? Listen, you walk out of here and keep your insecurity. If you like that then you live with it, all right? But I’m telling you something, if you want to be a steady, unshakable person who does not lash out, retaliate, who’s not defensive, who’s somebody that even in the face of the sharpest criticism, they’re just steady, and unshakable, they’re sound.
Would you want to be that person? The person that every time you’re around them they’re the same person, there’s this joy in them. Their joy is always there. It’s not fake. It’s not plastic. It’s not just giddy happiness. It is unshakable joy that cannot be taken away from them. Let me tell you how to get there. You have to see yourself as a sheep; you have to see God as your Shepherd. And He’s good at it, He’s a good shepherd. He’s really good at this. He’s brilliant at being a shepherd. We’re just not good at being sheep. He’s great at being a shepherd. He’s the perfect shepherd. He’s the best Shepherd. There’s not a shepherd ever as good as Him. We’re just not good at being sheep.
And so this morning we got to settle this issue, if you want to be a secure person, you got to know, God – you know what a good shepherd does? A good shepherd never takes his eyes off the sheep. A good shepherd always takes his sheep to green pastures. A good shepherd always makes sure that that sheep are beside still water, so that they could have water and nourishment. A good shepherd is somebody who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death and we don’t have to fear any evil because His rod, His staff protects us and He prepares a banquet, a feast in the presence of our enemies. He anoints our head with oil. If you can live like that nothing around d is going to shake you up because I got a good shepherd. The best shepherd, the perfect shepherd, the strongest shepherd, the smartest shepherd is overseeing my soul.
I wake up everyday, I’m praying this more and more as I get older; “Lord I just want to be a good sheep today. I’m grateful that Your hand is on me. You are leading me today. And no matter happens, see now circumstances can change, I can look over the fence of the pasture and see the world going to pieces, that doesn’t rattle me, because the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not be in want.”
I want to read this out loud. Let’s read together the 23rd Psalm, and before we read it, I want you to ask yourself, do you believe this? Do you believe what you’re about to read? Listen, is it not only true about other people, but is it true about you? Is it true about God? What we’re about to read – I’m asking you a question, we’re about to read the 23rd Psalm and as we read it I want you to ask yourself a question, “Is that true about me and is this true about God?” Can I say that again? We’re going to read the 23rd Psalm. As we read it, will you ask yourself these questions, “Is this true about me? Is this true about God?”
All right now listen, if it is, if the answers are yes and yes, you’ll walk out of here today free from this insecurity that’s robbing you of joy right now. And it is robbing you of joy. It will rob your joy. You cannot be a person of joy, if you are insecure about who you are. If what we’re about to read is true though about me and you; and what we’re about to read is true about God, then this settles a lot of issues, doesn’t it? It’ll cause you not to retaliate. It’ll cause you to take a deep breath because he’s the Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls. So don’t read this unless you mean it, all right? We’re going to read it out loud together. We’re going to read through it together, okay? Don’t read it unless you mean it.
Psalm 23, read it out loud with me; “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. And even though I walk through of the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Now if you believe that, say Amen. Amen. Let me ask you a question “Is that true about you? Is that just good thoughts, happy thoughts? Or is that true? Is it true today, right now? Yes, it’s true. The Lord is my Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd, you cannot imagine how many times when I want to retaliate, when I want to lash out, when I want to set the record straight, I say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Something happens in the inside of my heart. It just settles it. And I smile and wave because I know that to be true. I’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and I didn’t fear any evil.
He was with us. He’s with us, wasn’t He? Come on Church, we’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death. We didn’t fear any evil because He was with us, right? So what are you afraid of? What’s causing you to be unsettled right now? Come on. Harder days than that have already happened here. We walked through the valley of the shadow of death together. Our hearts, our lives were welded together. What are you afraid of? Who cares what anybody says? Who cares? The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not be in want. He’s the One that leads me beside quiet waters. He’s the One that takes me to new pastures. He’s with me.
No fear at the Boyd house. No fussing at the Boyd house. I don’t know what’s going on at your house, but me in my house; we’re just going to be sheep. We’re going to be easy to lead. We’re going to be better sheep. I want to become really good at being a sheep. That’s my ambition. Do you want to know what my ambitions are? That’s it. You can put that on my tombstone if you want, “Here lies a good sheep.” Seriously, that’s fine with me. Brady Boyd, here lies a good sheep. He was pretty good at being a sheep. Can I pray for you this morning?
I want you to pray that prayer; “Lord I want to be better at being a sheep. I want to be really good at being led by God. I want to be easy to lead. Lord settle this warring. Come on; secure people or people of peace.” Settle the war that’s in your heart. Declare a treaty today. Declare a truce today with the war that’s going on in your heart. You know what a war is? A war is – you think it’s with other people but it’s not with other people. Our enemies are not flesh and blood. You think you’re fussing with other people, you’re not. You’re at war with the real enemy who wants to destroy your soul. So settle the war today. You look at the enemy and say, “The Lord, Yahweh is my shepherd.” You stare the enemy in the face and say, “Yahweh! The Lord, the Risen Christ is my Shepherd!” And if He’s not your Shepherd, here let me tell you how to do it. It’s very simple; “Father in heaven I am a sinner I need a Savior. Christ died for my sins, I believe that. Christ is Lord of my life, I want to follow you.” Then you’ve become a sheep, like that. Just like that, that easy.
So let’s pray together, “Father we pray right now in Jesus’ name, that you’d help us to settle this war that’s going on in our heart. Let us be a people of peace. Let us just be a people of peace. Lord let us be steadfast, unmovable, unshakable, sound. Lord let us rule without anxiety and without care. Let us have full command of ourselves by the help of the Holy Spirit. We are people of peace. We are the sheep of Your pasture. You are the Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
