Lay it Down (written sermon & video) by Pastor Don

I am so glad I got to transcribe this excellent sermon, it is so very important for us all to think about this. Pastor Don was so passionate in teaching this that I am including the video of his sermon if you have 30 minutes to listen to it. I recommend you skip over about 2 minutes at the beginning so you don't have to hear that hum. I hope you can watch the video. I have included the written transcript, slightly edited for easier reading in case you don't want to watch the video. Remember three dots ... means a pause. And what is written in brackets [ ] is what the congregation says.

Lay it Down

But today I want to talk to you about lay it all down...  I said, lay it all down. [amen] I had been asking the Lord about a message all week, and I had some wonderful ideas. I had some good stuff. But this kept reverberating and I kept thinking, well that's not what I'm supposed to minister on. And so, last night when I went to sleep, I was pretty sure that I had come up with something that would work but I spoke to the Lord and I said, "But Lord, I need you to give it to me exactly the way you want." And I went to bed and I left it with Him. This morning when I woke up, my wife...looks at the mirror, and Mrs. Moore, would you just  stand and tell them what the mirror said? [laughter] And so, it looked like lay, lay pie all dimensions to her. But in the dark as I wrote it with the bar of soap, it said, lay it all down. [laughter] And, [more laughter]... need a translation here. Talking about tongues and interpretations, right. [laughter] This is mirror and interpretations. So I wrote that on the mirror. So what I'm giving you is what, after I went back to bed and laid down, the Lord gave me/ And then this morning I went and sat at my table and wrote down the scriptures, that will get this across over to you. 

In life we all, and that's all of us, we all have desires and things that we want, and things that we need. And quite often, we will make certain choices as we pick the things that we want and the things that we need. And then for a while we commit them to God, and then out of habit we...uncommit them to God and take them back. Come on, right?  Haven't you ever done that? And so, we, we have these practices that our flesh leads us to of depositing certain things with God, and then taking them back. You know, we will say, well, I'm committed. And we stay committed to the Lord for whatever reason for a purpose and a time. 

We'll be committed to getting our bodies healthy and we will work out for three weeks, and then at the end of the three weeks, when we've lost two or three pounds, we're starting to look good, we get busy going back to the same old habit that, come on now... anybody here?  [amen]  And so what we do is we pick back up our bad habits, and then we, you know, it's hard.  I can understand to a certain extent. It's hard not to be 23, and 119 pounds and love yourself. Because there are very few, most of the 119 pound 23 year olds are wackos. [laughter] Sorry. [more laughter]... Because they are so enamored with themselves and their physical bodies that they have taken back upon themselves the things that are not of value. The things that will not last. 

And so, when we get out of proportion because we pick up things from the world, amen, we pick up the things from the world, or we pick up things from the back corners of the closets of our mind, or we pick up the habits and the training that the world has set us to. We find that we get to a place where we didn't take that and we go run to the altar of the Lord and we lay that on the altar, and say, "Jesus, you have it. You've got it. I'm laying it all down." But then as we turn to walk away, a part of us reaches back, lays hold to it, and drags it along with us as we pretend that we have laid it all down. And we just bring it with us until eventually it rises up again and we are, as the Bible says, we're back where we started. Or we are in worse shape. Amen. And so, then our condition is worse. 

My heart goes out to people that have bad flesh habits, and then they want to change those habits and then get hooked back in deeper than they were before. Come on now, amen.  And so we have to get to a place that when we look at this thing of laying it down. We have to just deposit some things with God, and not pick them up again. One of my favorite verses of scripture says, "Cast your cares upon the Lord." 

Now casting your cares, I'm a fisherman. I love to fish. And when you take your fishing rod, and you cast it, you are throwing it far away from you... [amen] Is that not right? You are casting it, you are throwing it far away from you. The only difference is that Jesus is saying, after you throw it far away from you, cut the line. [laughter]... He is saying, cast your cares upon the Lord, because He cares for you, but, if we throw it out there and keep the lines connected, come on somebody...I'm helping you now. I'm helping me. If you cast it out there and keep the line connected, guess what...you are leaving yourself in position to reel it in again. [yes] And when you reel it in again, no telling what's coming up. [whew] 

I felt like I was in a movie last year. My wife and I were out fishing and you know, I had a good bite, and whatever, whatever, and I'm reeling and it's very heavy. It's a very heavy thing. I mean, it's really heavy. It was so heavy that it was pulling the boat against the anchor. Cause I had a very strong line. I have 40 pound test on. I was trying to catch a monster. [laughter] I was looking for Moby Dick. If he was out there, he's in the boat. You know what I mean? He was not getting away. But I reeled in, and as I kept reeling, I kept reeling in, it got so heavy that I began to lift it and fight it and lift it. I knew at that point it wasn't a fish, cause a fish runs and tries to move. And this was just dead weight coming up. And as the dead weight came up, I had pulled up the electrical line that runs across the Hudson River. [laughter]  [oh my goodness!]...  I hope nobody from Central Hudson's listening to this. [laughter] But that cable was huge. It was huge and it had wire and rubber and all things. And as I looked I realized that my hook was embedded in part of it. And I had to make a decision. Yes, it was one of my favorite hooks. One of my favorite lures. But it was connected to thousands of wattage of death, pure death. [laughter] Pure blow up the boat and my wife at the same time. [laughter]... Right, so, I had to do what? I had to reach over, grab my fishing knife and do what? Cut the line! I had to lay it down. I had to cut it and lay that thing back into the river from whence it came...

There's some stuff in our worlds that are like that wire. We will fight very hard to raise it up off of the bottom of the muck and mire of sin and destruction. And we'll pull it and we will fight at it and we'll try to get it, get it up. There's some stuff in our minds that is just wrong thinking, that is the thinking of destruction and death, but we just get so locked on it. There's some emotions that are just down in here, of resentment and hate and disgust, that we're just reeling it in, we're just reeling it in. There's some stuff that we reel in, and it is death!...We need to lay it down! Cut the line before we explode! [yes, yes, amen]  Somebody say, amen.  [amen]  I hate to get so dramatic. But sometime maybe if I get dramatic somebody will get a picture. Wait a minute! I need to lay that down. I need to separate myself from it for it reeks of disaster. [yes]...

Go to the book of Acts, Chapter 2...I was looking at a research study on fear...many years ago, and this really surprised and shocked me...they said, that there are many things that people fear...And to my surprise, I thought that the number one thing would be fear of death, or fear of divorce or separation, or fear of abandonment...I was sort of looking for those things. But it said that the number one most fearful experience for people is the fear of public speaking....Yeah, that's what it said. Cathy, you couldn't possibly know anything about  that. [laughter] I mean, she'll talk to anybody anywhere.  She's a great salesperson.  So she has overcome her fear of speaking. Amen....But there are others of you that are listening right now, that the thought of being up here in my place and speaking to people, I've seen people perspire when I say to them, you have a Word, why don't you bring it?...And the little drop of perspiration will start, just start right there, and a little twitch will start in their left eye, and start twitching, and their eye...[laughter]  And I realize that they start grinding their hands, that, you know to speak, wait a minute I'll sing, I'll dance, I'll burp my kid, but don't ask me to come up here and speak in public.  And it said, fear of speaking. 

One guy that had that fear just like that was the Apostle Peter.... Peter was a fisherman. He thought of himself as not a very intelligent person. But he also realized that he was a sinful man. I said, he also realized he was a sinful man. [amen] You know, God wants to help you, but you're going to have to get to the first place which is the truth. The truth is, that you have sinful desires. So, when Jesus preaches from Peter's boat, Peter doesn't get up on the boat and make a public speech. He just goes over privately to Jesus and says, do me a favor, get out of my boat, get away from me, I'm a sinful man. So he could discern holiness from evil and he could discern that Jesus was special and that he (Peter) had sin. But one thing we don't see is, it takes a long time before we realize that Peter, the fisherman, the uneducated dude, becomes a public speaker because he reaches into a place where he's willing to lay himself down in order to achieve the purpose of God. 

Look at it here in Acts, Chapter 2, verse 14. They'd just received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it says, "But Peter," It almost kind of implies that he was an exception to the rule, for it says, "But Peter." It wouldn't be as astonishing if it had said, John. Because John traveled with a prophet. John was around a prophet. He knew something about speaking to people. He knew something about being in the presence of important and powerful people.  So John had some experience with that, but not this fisherman, for it says, "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice..." Whose voice did he raise?  [his voice] His voice. He found something that was important enough to be said, that his fear of public speaking was overcome by the urgency of the moment. He wasn't concerned about himself, or he didn't even take the time to consider is my tie on right? Is my shirt correct? Do I have on the right apparel? Or do I look good? Honey, is my hair to the right side or the left side?  It doesn't say he was concerned about his appearance. He wasn't concerned about his education. He wasn't concerned about anything. He was under the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. And he was able to lay himself down and just go with the flow. 

And it says, he opened his mouth. He "raised his voice and he said, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.  For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.  But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:..."  And then he begins to preach to the people...and explain to them that they are witnessing with their own eyes an outpouring of the power of God. It could not have happened if Peter wasn't willing to lay himself down.  

Go to Acts, Chapter 4...In Acts, Chapter 4, we see these same two men, Peter and John of whom I spoke previously, and they are in a difficult situation. It says in verse 1, "Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.  And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.  However, many of those who heard the word..." did what?  [believed]  "...believed; and the number of men..." now remember, no man, the married guys, you know, you don't go to a convention and not take your wife. So we know that if there's 5,000 men, you know, you got another 5,000 women and children.  Amen?  So in this period of time, the, the numbers exceeded that. In verse 5, "And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander..." And all of these, and so forth.  Now look at verse 7, "And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, "By what power or by what name have you done this?"  Once again we see, "...Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:  If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well..."  Remember they just participated in a healing of this guy, and he says, "let it be known..." in verse 10..."to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole." [glory]  Now, I'm, I'm not preaching on this, but I want you to look at verse 13 cause that keeps us within the context of of where we're going.  "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus.  And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it."  Lord have mercy! 

What I'm trying to say to you is, if we would learn how to lay down self, the boldness of Jesus Christ will come upon us, and we can be used as great vessels by Him. But we're going to have to lay down some of our stuff. We're going to have to lay down our egos and some of our attitudes, in order to what?  Pick up that which is greater. The greater reward is available to us if we're going to learn how to do what? Lay down ourselves. More people in the church would witness and would witness boldly, if they could get out of themselves. If they could get past the fact of always worrying about what are they going to think about me? What are they going to say about me?  I would mention Jesus on my job, but, you know, they may not eat lunch with me. A, they might not call me to go bowling. And so forth, and so on. And so what happens is, we've got to learn how to lay self down and realize that God, the only instrument and weapon that He has on the earth is you...[amen]  You are His hands. You are His eyes. You are a part of His body. He is waiting for you to lay you down.  Lord have mercy, I got a whole lot of "you’s" in here.  He is waiting for you to lay you down, so that you can become an instrument in His hand. [hallelujah] And He said, He will give us the boldness if we'd just make that commitment, that same commitment that Peter and John made, which was, "Lord, I'm willing to lay myself down." 

You in Romans 12"1-2 it says, "be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God."  In other words, we have to... out of our old willpower, you have to just face some stuff. The reality is that you do have a free will. You can spit in the eye of God, if you can reach that far....I thought that was funny, but never mind. But you can do that. You can neglect God.  You can walk away from God. You can walk away from the people of God. You can walk away from yourself. You can do all of that because you do have a free will. And don't believe these people that say that God has already predetermined your will. God may know what you're doing. But he hasn't predetermined what you're going to do. He is basing the fact that He knows what you're going to do upon the fact that He can see across time.  [that's right]  But since you can't you're making a choice in time. [yes] Did I go too fast?  You got that? You're making a choice in time...and therefore you don't see the possibilities and the ramifications. That's why we have to learn to trust on God's will...

So Peter and John are in this situation where now the authorities are marshalling themselves against them so, let's see what else happens here. In verse 18, "So they called them..." that's Peter and John, "and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to listen to God, you judge."  And then they hit them hard.  "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."  [thank you Lord]  "So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done."...

We need to realize something, if you get your will intact, and if you will lay yourself down, the glory that is on the other side of your embarrassment is well worth it...[clapping]  There's glory waiting for you on the other side. It's well worth it. We just have to learn to do the proper, listen to me, we have to learn to do the proper thing concerning people and prayer...You know barging into your dentist's office and saying to the secretary across the desk, you know, come over here, I'm going to pray for you, you heathen,  [laughter]  is thoroughly ineffective evangelism. [laughter]...Even if you feel led, you'd better check whose leading you. [hey!, yeah that's the truth]  ... Cause taking people hostile captive will never win them to the Lord. [teach pastor] Attacking them will never win them to the Lord.  [amen]  And if you're not careful, you will be judging them...and you can't win people that you put negative judgment on, to the Lord. So, why don't we just ask...You feel led to pray...Why don't you ask. There's nothing wrong with leaning over the secretary's desk and say, "How are you doing?" She says, "Fine." You know. "Would you like some prayer?"  And she says, "No, I'd like you to pay your bill on time." [laughter]...Lord have mercy! 

Let's move right along. Moving right along. Go to verse 41, Chapter 2. Go to, I've got Acts Chapter 2, 41...Two - 41. What am I trying to say? I'm saying that if you will lay yourself down, you will lose your fear of public speaking. You will lose your fear of people. You will lose your fear of authorities in the world. You won't be afraid of anyone. And therefore you will be able to speak boldly about Christ, or to boldly defend yourself. You shouldn't be afraid of a judge. He is an elected official. [hallelujah]  I said, "You shouldn't be afraid of him, he's an elected official." He's been put there in place by your tax dollars. He is an employee of yours. You shouldn't be afraid of a schoolteacher or a principal. They make their living off of you. You should not be afraid of anyone in public office for they are supposed to be servants, even though they try to lord over us. You should be able to walk into anyone's office and let them know who you are in the Lord. In a polite and and wonderful manner. 

Your doctor has information, but your doctor is not God. You should remind him that your God is involved in the medical business as well and that your God will guide his hands.  Your God will set the correct prescriptions. Your God will determine your healing time and the process by which your deliverance shall come. [amen] Don't be afraid of him, talk to him in order that they might what? 

Remember that you are a saint and therefore that they have to also, you know, it's like that Jewish, that Jewish thing. Remember in the city they have picture of a hotdog, and there's a guy holding the hotdog, and, and he says...who remembers it? [Hebrew National] Hebrew National hotdogs, and it said, "But we answer to a higher authority."  [laughter]  You, you need to be like that hotdog. Hotdoggitt.  [laughter] You need to answer to a higher authority. 

Come on, let's look at this verse, of 41.  How many of you are there?  [there]  Alright, in Acts 2, 41 it says, "Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.  Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles."  Watch this.  "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,"  Come on, let's read verse 47 together, come on. "praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." 

You see, God will also take away your fear of poverty...if you will lay it down. If you will bless the Lord, by giving Him authority over your finances, your fear of poverty can be lifted off of you. You can come before the Lord and you can hand your checkbook. I brought my checkbook today. You all want to see it? This is my checkbook...I will never be poor again...This, this is my checkbook. God will always give me... listen, God will always give me the ability to write my bills...and mail them. With the fullest confidence that what? There's enough money in here to cover them...Now, if you can't do that, you need to get your house in order. Because you should always have abundance coming in so that you can meet what you need to have done. What did the early apostles have? It says they had no fear of lack, no fear of poverty. They came together and they were willing to put everything into...I know the church isn't ready for that now. But guess what, as persecution increases, as the economic pressure that Jesus said is coming on the earth does, trust me, you're going to bring a potato, you, going to bring an onion, you're going to bring a slab of, slab of bacon or beef or whatever, you going to bring some  potato chips, and you going to bring a piece of pie, and then you're going bring some apples and some fruit, you're going to bring all the little bit you have, and bring it into the House, and we're sure enough going to get greasy [yeah]... 

Well, I know right now you don't want to share. But some of us are going to go fishing and bring the fish out of necessity because that's what's coming on the earth. [thank you Lord]  The Day of the Lord is coming. You can't stop it. And when it gets real, we're going to do that. We're going to look like the church in the book of Acts. We're going to bring what little bit we have, because we will have no fear of poverty, cause we're going to lay our wealth down. We're going to lay it down. Everything I have belongs not to me, but belongs to the Lord. And it's for His use. And that's why I'm abundantly blessed...I said, that's why I'm abundantly blessed. [hallelujah]  Because I've laid it down before Him, I've put it at His altar of His feet. 

Hannah laid her womb, her womb could produce no children, but what did she do? She laid her empty womb before the Lord, and what did He do? He filled it. She lost her fear of barrenness, because she laid it down and gave it to the Lord. What about Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus? They weren't traditional Christians, no, they were Jews sitting in positions of power and authority. But after they came to Jesus, after they heard what He said, they were willing to lay down their tradition. They were willing to lay down the way that they thought. They were willing to lay down their denominational thinking. Because, why? They knew if they laid it down, He would give them eternal life. And then look at Jairus. He is the High, not he High priest, but he's the priest in the Temple, and the Temple had not yet accepted Jesus as a miracle worker. They didn't accept Him as a healer.  But Jairus says, "My daughter is sick. My daughter is sick unto death."  He laid down his rigid thinking, and he laid down his prejudice against this vagabond of a preacher man, who's wandering all over the country, and he said, "I don't care  what the authorities say.  I don't care what these people say.  I'm laying down my prejudice cause Jesus is here.  I'm going to go get Jesus." ... 

Isn't this an incredible sermon?  The video is below.

Have a blessed day!

Heather 

23rd Psalm by Ed Gabler

Team teaching on May 23. After Vicki shared with us about eating at the Kings' Table, then Dr. Ed (our affectionate name for him) spoke. He and Vicki did not tell each other what they were going to teach about. And both teachings meshed perfectly.

Dr. Ed spoke about our relationship with God. He told us that when he was five years old someone gave him a record about David and Goliath. He wore that record out. David knew about sheep. He knew that they were stupid, had bad habits, got off on the wrong path, were prone to wander. Sometimes a shepherd with a wayward sheep had to break the sheep's legs, and then the shepherd would bind up the wound and carry the sheep around on his shoulders, cementing a relationship with the sheep. When the sheep was healed, he stayed near the shepherd. Shepherds protected the sheep from dangers. We are like wandering sheep who have gone astray.

We looked at some shepherd verses:

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way;  and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

We can wander, but God restores us because of the Lamb of God (Jesus.)

1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

John 10:14-16 (Jesus speaking) I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Jesus laid down His life for us.

Matthew 26:31 (Jesus speaking) Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘ I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.

Zechariah 23:7 “ Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the Man who is My Companion,” says the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 40:10-11 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom,  and gently lead those who are with young.

We love that image!

Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Then we looked in detail at the 23rd Psalm.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Notice it is not "A" lord, but THE LORD. The One true God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three in one, trinity. Genesis 1:26  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

It says, "Let Us..." in creation, it says "Us" for all three aspects of the trinity were present at creation.

Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Like God, man can reason, have cognitive thought and actions based on that reason, and come to right conclusions. We reason with the Word.

Notice that it is MY shepherd, not A shepherd, this denotes a personal relationship with God.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Most people think that God meets all our needs and wants. But not all of our wants are according to God's Word. For example, David wanted Bathsheba. Dr. Ed told us that we should WANT to NOT sin, because Jesus poured Himself out for our sins.

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Big difference between needs and wants. Nothing is impossible with God for He owns all.

Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

God can supply all our needs.

Psalm 23:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

Notice, He has us lie down in PASTURES, not LO DEBARS (wilderness - see Vicki's teaching). These pastures are green with life, and He gives us life more abundantly. HE is our green pasture, and all our needs are met in HIM.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Still waters are calm, peaceful, tranquil, and that is what we get when we give our lives to Him.  We get rest, peace, restoration of everything that was lost.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

John 10:7-11 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

This is exactly what Jesus did - put down HIS LIFE for the SHEEP (us).

Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 

God has a reputation and He wants His reputation to be good, to bring glory and honor to Him. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. God wants us to check our paths to make sure we are within His path of righteousness for us. He wants us to stay in position to lead others to the pasture, so that we all become His sheep.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through 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. 

Notice it is the SHADOW of death, not the real things. Dr. Ed told us about a mom and her sons at the funeral of the grandmother. The people mourn, missing the grandmother, but the grandmother is with God, and is very ok.

If you are run over by a huge truck's shadow you are ok, for it is just a shadow with no ability to hurt you.

Death is a shadow, we may miss the person for awhile, but only for an instant in the scheme of eternity. Jesus defeated death, and He has the keys.  Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

Notice, it says that we are to fear no evil, for He has us. We are also to WALK THROUGH the valley, not camp there. God is with us, we are not alone. God is with us every step of the way.

God uses his rod and staff for many purposes. The rod  can be used to instruct or correct us. It grows us, and is not meant to hurt us. With the rod he can beat away the enemy and protect us. Sometimes God's correction is a Word, or a time out. It is the correction of a loving parent who wants to help to encourage us and grow us up. The staff leads and guides the sheep, and can provide comfort. Children who are raised correctly will not fear correction by their parents. Dr. Ed told us that the rod is the Word of God and the staff is the Spirit.

Hebrews 13:5-6  Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

John 10:28-29 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

That "them" includes ourselves. When we are in the eternal security of the Lord's Pasture, and no one can snatch us out of God's hand. Of course, if we choose to wander out we can suffer the consequences, but we can always repent and go back to the safety of His pasture. God will never leave or forsake us.

Dr. Ed told us of the Cherokee Indian youth right of passage, where they are sent out to the woods to sit on a stump, blindfolded and told not to talk or move from the stump all night. The noises of the night and the fear can touch the youth, but they sit there bravely. When morning comes and they take off their blindfolds, the first sight they see is that their father was sitting right next to them all night protecting them.

God is like that with us, ever watchful and with us, even when we step out of His perfect will for us.

Psalm 150:6  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

We need to realize that discipline helps us to grow in the way that God wants us to grow, and we will ultimately praise the Lord for godly discipline. But discipline is not rampant violence, but appropriately administered discipline can stop us from making wrong choices.

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Even when satan is trying to take away our joy, God is still there, and taking care of us and we can still have joy. No matter what our enemies try to do to disrupt our lives, God still takes care of us.

Psalm 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

God prepares a table to help us overcome anything that the devil can throw at them.

In ancient days when a King was put into his office, the prophet would anoint the king with oil, a full anointing. Also sheep had little pests that would bother their eyes, and a sheep could not be contented with the pests nibbling at him, so the shepherd would put oil on the sheep's head to repel the pests.  When we stay in our calling, and allow the anointing to flow through us our cup runs over to bless others. In nomadic tribes, the leader was required to pour out three cups of drink for the visitor, no questions asked. If he liked the visitor and wanted them to stay when he poured the third cup he would pour and keep pouring so that the cup overflows, as a sign of welcome. God is overflowing our cups.

When we stand before the throne of judgment God is going to ask us, "Did you do what you were called to do?" He is not going to ask what we did, but is more concerned with doing what God wants us to do. Do your calling. Let God take over, don't try to do things in your own strength.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Eternal mercy. Isaiah 43:10-13 “You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, and there was no foreign god among you; therefore you are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “that I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

The goodness and mercy of God is equal to the love of God.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

God loves everyone, even the wicked. Jesus died for everyone, but we have to make the choice to believe in Him or not. If we choose to believe in Him, then we have everlasting life. If not, then we perish. God does care about us, and He also will not force us to choose Him, our choice has to be freely made.

Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.

Dr. Ed was telling us that when bad things happen to us, sometimes it is not the devil doing it to us, but our own behavior and actions. So often when bad things happen, we blame God, but the problem does not stem from God. God gave dominion of the earth to Adam and Eve, and by their disobedience (their own choice) they turned that dominion over to satan. God allows us to learn from our error, but God does limit what satan can do. For example in the case of Job, God told satan exactly what was permitted and what wasn't permitted in the testing of Job. God is a God of justice, and He will permit satan to sift us, but will limit what can be done. God longs to be compassionate.

Psalm 23 is a revelation of the love of God for us, it is a revelation of the Father's heart.

Isaiah 30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.

God loves us with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."

God is drawing us to him with lovingkindness. He is reaching out to Israel and to His people, and He wants us to dwell in His house forever.

1 John 5:9-13 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

God is faithful. Psalm 23 shows us that a relationship with God is not a burden.

We need to realize how much our Shepherd loves us, and the only weapon the devil has to work with is our ears and our eyes. Stay under the anointing of God, and satan has no place to reach us. Stay in the shepherd's fold.

Hoping you enjoy this teaching, it is sometimes a wonderful thing to look at a familiar passage of scripture in greater detail.

Have a happy 4th of July.

Heather

Covenant Faithfulness by Vicki Gabler

I am going to try and catch up on Friday Bible studies, this one happened on May 23, and was an awesome study. First Vicki spoke, then her husband taught. The studies fit together beautifully.

2 Samuel 9:1  Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

Vicki asked, why does David want to show kindness to Saul's household?

1 Samuel 20:14-16 And you shall not only show me the kindness of the LORD while I still live, that I may not die; but you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever, no, not when the LORD has cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.” So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “Let the LORD require it at the hand of David’s enemies.”

Jonathan (Saul's son) and David made a covenant, a covenant of faithfulness. They were good friends. There were no qualifications, not riches or favors, just an agreement.

God wants to keep covenant with us. He wants to do something good for us, for Adam's family for Jesus' sake.

2 Samuel 9:2-3 And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”  He said, “At your service!” Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show the kindness of God?” And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is lame in his feet.”

This would be Jonathan's son, Saul's grandson.

2 Samuel 4:4 Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame. His name was Mephibosheth.

Why was the nurse running? When Saul and Jonathan died in battle, according to custom, the new king often executed all the family members of that dynasty. That would prevent those family members from trying to retake the throne. When the nurse fell, Mephibosheth became crippled, but the nurse preserved his life.

2 Samuel 9:4 So the king (David) said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

Lo Debar is a barren place, no pasture land, a wasteland. And Mephibosheth hid in that place, not wanting the king to find him.

We were once like that, when we were sinners, and had no idea that God could show kindness to us, that He would change our lives for good. God wanted to lavish us with his blessings and love, to put us on a higher plane with Jesus, to never go back to the world and to that barrenness of Lo Debar.

2 Samuel 9:6 Now when Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?” And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

Mephibosheth was afraid of King David.

2 Samuel 9:7 So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

Do not fear. God tells us that in regard to Jesus, that we do not have to fear. Jesus spoke that often, FEAR NOT. He wants to release people from fear. And Mephibosheth will eat bread at David's table continually. This was to honor Mephibosheth and his inheritance.

God has extends a similar invitation to us.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Come just as you are, even crippled with sin.

Isaiah 1:18  “ Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

God will make us clean and pure and good enough to eat at His table.

2 Samuel 9:8 Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?”

Dogs were considered worthless in that time - and a dead dog even more worthless. Dogs were not always popular, and to be called a dog at that time was a terrible insult.

It reminded Vicki of the song "Who am I that a King would bleed and die for me." We were dead dogs before Jesus. God made us accepted in the Beloved, sons and daughters of God. Members of the Royal Household of God.

2 Samuel 9:9-10 And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, “I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

David provided for Mephibosheth, but Mephibosheth had to maintain his family and servants, so with Ziba, the sons and servants it was 36 people that he had to provide for.

2 Samuel 9:11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.” “As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.”

He would be treated as royalty - eating at the King's table.

Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

God has filled us with good things, come and dine, come to the table. (Vicki held up her Bible and said here is the table.) And we can eat all we want, a banquet of the Word of God. We can stuff ourselves and not feel too full or suffer consequences.

Revelation 3:20  Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

Dine with Jesus, eat the Word of God - the ultimate in SOUL FOOD. We want an overly fed Spirit that is fat and flourishing.  God wants to make us fat and healthy like Christ, and we do not want to go back and eat out of the World's Garbage cans.

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

2 Samuel 9:11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.” “As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at my table like one of the king’s sons.”

In obedience to King David, Mephibosheth is to eat at His table. God wants us in obedience to eat at His table as one of His children. We are adopted by God through Jesus.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore,“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”

God is our father, and we are His sons and daughters.

Ephesians 1:3-6  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

God has predestined us to be adopted.

Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

Abba means "Daddy."

Galatians 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

2 Samuel 9:12-13 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.

Mephibosheth came out of Lo Debar, and ended up in Jerusalem, from the pits to beautiful places.

We will eat continually at the King's table We are saints-- not dogs, forever, throughout all eternity, continually. We are in the New Jerusalem, not a dark world.

Then Dr. Ed, Vicki's husband shared a word. I will share that tomorrow.

Praying your night is blessed.

Heather

Graduation Pictures

Well, this has been an action packed week. My middle son graduated from High School on Friday, and Friday night to Saturday morning was at a school based party, which I had the pleasure of helping out with - I got up at 4 to drive an hour there to help with breakfast and clean up. So, I haven't had much time to post this weekend.

Edward, the proud graduate.

We had front row seats, from left to right, myself, Katherine, Christopher, and Ed's girlfriend Kelly. Hint for photographers, if you want your son to look toward's you and the camera with a smile on his face, bring girlfriend to celebration.

Getting his diploma.

Celebrataion!!!!!!, they also had confetti poppers, but that went so fast that we didn't capture it on camera.

Then there was the all night party. I came upon a scene of over a hundred tired teens waiting for the sunrise.

Found Edward and Kelly coming down from the mountain where they were waiting for the sunrise, you can see how tired they were.

Sunrise on the mountain.

Breakfast and some of the adults that stayed all night to supervise.

Waiting for the bus to transport them back to the school.

A good night, a great graduation, and I can't believe that in a few months college for two of my three. Sigh, they grow so fast.

Heather

Pentecost by Pastor Don

This is a closed captioned text of a sermon preached by Pastor Don. Remember, what is in brackets [ ] is what the congregation said, and three dots ... means a pause. I hope you enjoy:

***
Amongst us we have Christians that that want to honor the Sabbath, not realizing that Hebrews points us to the completion of the work of Christ, and therefore every day is a Sabbath now. What day is a good day to sin? [laughter] What day is a good day to forget about the Lord? [none] None. So every day now is holy. Every day is counted as blessed and holy. But we can look back in the scriptures and get significance of it. It is true that the Gentile Church worships on Sunday. But the reality is that the Sabbath begins when?  Actually, Friday night. And so Friday night was the time that the Jewish Church worshipped...the day begins at night, and so they did that. We end up with a Sunday Morning worship time because, over the years, with the Gentile Church recognizing that Christ rose on a Sunday morning, then the Gentile church began to worship on Sunday morning.  

Now what is the reality? The reality is you could start the Church of Monday if you choose. God will receive your praise on a Monday. You could have the Church of the Holy Tuesday. And you could start it at three in the afternoon, or three in the morning and God would still be blessed and praised. But we need to understand that the Sabbath is given to us by God as a historical symbol of what his intention is in the full completion of this reconciliation with man to God. And that reconciliation is that there is nothing that we are going to do in the earth that is not going to require the covering hand of God. And therefore, in all things, we should rest in Him... I hope you're getting that. We are to rest in God. All our work, our completed work, will be in Him. Not in ourselves. I mean we're all smart and we know some stuff, but the reality is we must learn daily that every day is a holy day. Every day is a Sabbath day. Every day we should rest and trust in God, to complete everything in our lives...  Everything in our lives. 

And so, this journey that the Jews went on, with the Sabbath rest, began with God saying to them, that on the Sabbath, after the sixth day, going into the seventh day, you are to make it holy. You're supposed to right now. He wanted the Jews to begin thinking, ahhh, a day of rest in the Lord. A day of giving thanks to God. So it became a picture of what we're supposed to do. Now God expanded upon it and so let's see what He does with it because we want to get to Pentecost here. 

Leviticus 25, in verse 2 He says, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:" Now who's He speaking to? [Moses] No, He's speaking to the Children of Israel through Moses.  Alright. Now, right there you have an out. How many of you are Gentile descendants?  Alright, He isn't talking directly to you....because... I've got to give people time to think about that. If you as a Gentile are going to take everything in the Old Covenant, in the Tanakah, everything in the Old Testament, and apply it to yourself, in the in the New Testament,  you are in serious trouble. The reason is, the Jews couldn't keep the Law, so why would you, a Gentile, try and keep it?...Jesus said the Law was fulfilled. Well, if He fulfilled it, then it means it's completed and therefore under the New Testament, we are under a new covenant. 

The Blood of Jesus provided for us a new covenant. Therefore, in the commands of the Lord, we understand the Law, we know that the Law is the root upon which we stand, we know it is the tree, it is the trunk, it is the solid foundation, the giving of the Law. But when Christ came, we are now going into the period where the Father said, "I will write my laws upon their hearts and upon their minds." And He says, "Each man shall know me."  That's the period we're coming into. As we move through that period, who is our teacher? Jesus, the Christ, He is the teacher and He made it very clear, that it's almost impossible to keep the Law. We don't have examples of people that kept the Law, and earned righteousness and salvation by the keeping of the Law....We know Jesus did. Hallelujah! And when He completed keeping the Law, He completed and kept it for us. Alright? 

So all of you that want to keep the old Law, in all of it's Jewish aspects, you want to have church on Friday night, and you want to keep all of that, wonderful, have at it. Go for it.  But if you, Paul says very clearly in Galatians, if you're going to try and do that, then you're going to have to keep all of it....Alright? So what the Gentiles have done is, gone through and set up denominations where we're going to keep the ones that we know how to keep, that we want to keep. And then the other ones we don't want to keep, we won't keep them.  So let's just be clear about that.  What you want to do is you want to keep the Law as established by Christ for the New Testament for the New Covenant. Which means that we do honor all of the Jewish laws, and we pay homage and respect to them, but at the same time, we are honoring a greater, the fulfillment of it. It's fulfilled, it's completed, and therefore we move on and we maintain the keeping of the Law, of the Love of God...You guys ok with that?  Alright. 

So when you think of this, the Jews couldn't keep it. How many of you gave a tithe of dill, mint, and cumin?...Not any? You didn't do that did you? Ok, how many housewives in here, gave a feather to their husband, so that he could get all of the yeast out of the house, all of the leaven out of the house?  ...Didn't do that did you?...Huh?...Okay. So if you are going to keep all of the law, you have to keep all of it. Six hundred and sixty plus laws.  Most of us don't even know them. [laughter] Let alone going to keep them. [laughter]  Okay, so, when we're going to be Levitical priests, we have to be careful. You are not Levitical priests, let's leave that to those who are still trying to gain Heaven by keeping of the Jewish laws. Everybody got that? Do you understand that? 

Now, we should as Gentiles, keep our eyes upon the Feast Holidays of God.  And we want to keep our eyes on those because Christ is manifested in each of those holidays. And Christ told us that we're going to celebrate those through out all of the eons. So we need to know those now. We need to know what Tabernacles is, we need to know what Pentecost is, we need to know what Atonement is, the Day of Atonement, we need to know what those are, because those are going to be kept forever. We're going to always keep those.  And so God has given those to us to point us to Christ. To give us a clear picture of how to get to Christ. And the Sabbath is just like that. The Sabbath was a day to point us back to the fact that God's working in our lives, He's working over everything we have. Okay?  Any questions so far?  You guys got that? 

How many of you know the names of your grandparents? ... How many of you know the names of your great grandparents? How many of you know the history of your parents and your great grandparents? Good, what does that help you to do? That helps you to learn how to live your life...It gives you more information on how to live your life. Therefore, as Christians, our roots are all Jewish. We need to understand Jewish things in order that  we can know our future and in order that we can understand our present. When Jesus returns for the rapture, it's going to be according to Jewish traditions. It's going to fit right in with Jewish prophesies. It's going to fulfill all of those, and the second coming of the Lord, is going to be based upon what? What is in the Old Covenant. So we need to understand these things...the culmination of the History of Israel, the prophesies concerning the outcome of the World situation is all coming to us in the Old Covenant. It's coming to us from Old Testament prophesies. Therefore we have to have an understanding to it.

But as a Gentile Church we don't, I mean my great grandfather's Jewish, but I don't have to adhere to the Law of Moses... in it's detail. I have to attain to it the way Jesus said. And Jesus says, what are the greatest of the Laws? He says, love God, love God and love your neighbor, and treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself. So He says, that's what we have to keep. And so that's what was given to the new, emerging New Testament Church, that that's the law that we have to keep. But we should be aware that there was a law concerning the washing of hands. We should be aware that there was a law concerning working on the Sabbath and what not. What was acceptable work and what wasn't. We should understand why they're waiting for Elijah in the Passover meal. We should understand what unleavened bread is about and why Matzoh is pierced and burnt. We should understand the breaking of the bread, and the giving of that. We should understand that baptism is the Mikvah, which comes to us from Judaism, and is not some new Christian thing. We need to know all of that stuff. Okay? And so, we don't want to abandon our Jewish roots, but we need to understand it, and we will see Christ in all of it. 

Now, look at it in Leviticus 25 verse 2, it says, it says, "I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD." Number, verse 3, "Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall..." what? "prune your vineyard, and gather it's fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD.  You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard.  What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine for it is a year of rest for the land.  And the sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you; for you, your male and female servants, your hired man, and the stranger who dwells with you, for your livestock and the beasts that are in your land--all its produce shall be for food.  And you shall count..." Watch this now, are you ready?  "...seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years..." How many years is that?  [49]  Seven times seven, 49.  "...and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years.  Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee..." Can you say Jubilee? [Jubilee]  "...Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.  [cheering] "And you shall consecrate..." What year is consecrated?  "...you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim..." what? [liberty] "...liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants.  It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.  That fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine.  For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field.  In this year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession.  And if  you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not..." do what? [oppress one another] "...you shall not oppress one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor, and according to the number of years of crops..." and so forth and so on, it goes on.  Now look what He says the promises in verse 18. Verse 18, "So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgments, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety.  Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill, and dwell there in safety.  And if you say, "What shall we eat in the seventh year..." You guys ready?  "...since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?"  Notice what God promises, "Then I will command My blessing."  Say command the blessing. [command the blessing]  Command the blessing.  [command the blessing]  "Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough..." for how many years? [three years]  Whoo-hoo-hu.  "And you shall sow in the eighth year, and eat old produce until the ninth year; until its produce comes in, you shall eat of the old harvest."  My goodness! 

So here's what you have. In the seventh year, you don't plant. You leave your fields alone.  You leave it alone. But in the sixth year God promises you that He's going to make the sixth year so abundant that you're going to have a surplus of food so great that it will get you through the seventh year, in which you didn't produce. The land then will be laid fallow, it won't be worked or tilled, it will drink in the nutrients that come from the snow, the rain, the years and all like that. And it will give the land rest so that the land can continue to be fruitful. 

You see, there is sin that you do in private, and then there's sin that you do publicly. And so they were brazen about the fact that even though they were told in the seventh year to leave it fallow, it becomes public sin because everybody can walk by your field and know you plowed that field this year. So the Jews brazenly refused to keep it, and they piled up for themselves, 490 years of slavery....That's why they had to sojourn in places like Assyria and Babylon. They had to do seventy years of captivity in Babylon because they didn't keep the law. And God says, if you don't keep it, He says I won't protect you. I won't keep your enemies, if you won't honor Me in this way. 

So God is looking to take... and you're no different than the Jews...most American's don't tithe. Barely 2% of Americans tithe. And then what do we have in America? Financial disaster. We have the body of Christ living from paycheck to paycheck. Complaining that the tithe is only because somebody wants to get your money. God doesn't want to get your money. God wants to do what? Command a blessing for you. But if you won't keep His Law, then He's not bound to protect your income. He's not bound to protect your excess or your lack. So, we have to understand that when a pastor tries to encourage people to give tithes and offerings, it's in your best interest to do so because then God supernaturally has to enter into your financial arena and fight for you. 

His Word says, He has to come if you keep His Sabbath law, He has to come and command a blessing for you. Now, you're a Gentile, you don't have to keep the Jewish law if you don't want to. But if you enter into covenant with God and choose to do so... I mean, you guys don't have to go and get circumcised, you can just enter into the covenant now, but in the old days, all the guys would have to go and get circumcised, the women would have to change their ways and learn the Law and everything. But it's the commanded blessing. It's commanded by God, that if you meet Him, by keeping His law, He will command a blessing for you. But if you don't want to do it...hey!....it's okay.  No problem.  You don't, you don't have to do it. 

The Jews did not keep the Jubilee. They were commanded to do so, they were His Servants, they were in a covenant agreement with Him, they signed the package. It wasn't like God came down from Heaven and said, "You're going to serve me or die." He said, "What do you want to do? I can do this for you, and this for you, and this for you if you'll do this and this for me." And the Jews signed the deal. They said, yeah, we're going to do it. We'll keep the Jubilee, we'll keep the Pentecost, every 50th year we will honor you. Well how will you honor Me? We will set the captives free. Anyone that is a slave in the 50th year, he will be loosed from slavery.  Anyone that is oppressed and has been forced to be a hired servant, on the fiftieth, he's going to go free. Everyone's going to go free. Along with that, his children go free, his wife goes free. It's done. 

Anyone that due to banking or a pledge or a sale has lost the property that belonged in the family. Listen to me carefully. You got to get this. When God has them conquer the land of Canaan, they divide it up, and every family got land. Every family had their parcel of land, that came all the way from the Mosaic conquest, Joshua's conquest. And everybody got a big chunk. So everybody has enough land to live on. If you, due to your foolishness, sell that land or it is taken from you for debt, in the 50th year, your inheritance has to be returned to you. [hallelujah] 

Jesus is the fulfillment of Pentecost. He sets the captive free, He comes at Pentecost by the Holy Spirit, to do what? To instill to people that those that have been oppressed and in bondage, you are now set free. The power that satan had over your mind and over your body is now broken, and you are loosed to do what? Return to your inheritance. To take back everything the devil has stolen from you. Get it back in the Name of Jesus, he cannot hold it. Jesus is our Jubilee. You don't have to wait until the 50th year. You can do it now!  At the moment of His revelation of the truth of who He is in your life. He is our Jubilee.  You can go get it back now! [glory] Glory be to God! Don't mess with me, I'll start to preach.  [laughter] 

And all debts are forgiven. The Jew, by law, by Jewish law, if he loaned something to another Jew, he couldn't charge interest. How dare you loan something to another Christian and