Pastor Ray…
Good morning! I have something I want to play in a little bit, an anointed song. Thank you so much for coming and for tuning in. If there’s sometimes when you’re tuning in and you’re got nothing to tune in to, that’s being rectified. So sometimes it’s a little late coming on and you miss the best parts.
This morning, I saw this to kind of go along with a couple of things from the last few days. Psalm 23 is so familiar to us, but I found something from Charles Spurgeon. Something that he said about Psalm 23. I’ll read it out of the Amplified first. We know how it starts out.
1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
Over in Psalm 27, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock. 6 And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; have mercy and be gracious to me and answer me! 8 You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].” (vv. 3–8)
At the it says, “What would have become of us had we not believed?” That’s a good question. “that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”
Wait for. Hope for. And expect. Yesterday when we read that from Nehemiah and where Sanballat and those guys… The devil kept coming to him and saying, “Come on, let’s go over to Ono and meet there” and you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you remember how that went. First of all, they came four times and then they sent a false prophet with a prophecy that was false. So five times. But over that period of time, that wasn’t just like we read it here. One paragraph, two paragraphs… That was over a period of time where Nehemiah had to wait, expect the Lord continually. That was over a period of time, for sure. It doesn’t read like that, but we know that’s true. And even when that false word came to him, he had to recognize it for what it was and still stay in that higher place with Him. And then, everything was built. The walls are built. The Gates were put on. It was all finished. And those that came against him were weakened, because they knew that God came and worked for Nehemiah.
So I liked the part in Psalm 23 where it tells us just “Lie down.” It’s a command!
Anyway, here’s Charles Spurgeon. There are a couple of things he says about it.
“The Christian life has two elements. One is contemplative and the other is active.” And so one we’re in His presence, and two, we do something with the presence. We don’t just go, “We’re great. We’re blessed.” But we actually do something with His presence. Years ago, in the mid-nineties, Sand and I went to Canada three times. And they had this huge banner on the stage on the back wall. When you turned around to leave, there was a huge banner that was speaking about His presence. You can’t keep it. If you don’t give it away, you you’ll lose it. I mean, you don’t lose Him. You’ll lose that manifested presence that’s on you and coming through you if you don’t give it away. It’s just the way it works out.
Here he said, “First, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. What are those “green pastures” but the scriptures of truth—always fresh, always rich, and never exhausted. Sweet and full are the doctrines of the gospel; fit food for souls as tender grass is natural nutriment for sheep. When by faith, we are enabled to find rest in the promises, we are like the sheep that lie down in the midst of the pasture.”
We are sheep! We have a shepherd; that must mean we’re sheep. I like how he says that. It’s easy to read that, you know, you just think about a green pasture, but there’s more to it. “The second part of a vigorous Christian’s life consists in gracious activity. We not only think about, but we act. We’re not always lying down to feed, but our journeying onward toward perfection.”
It’s time to move more into the perfection of Him in us and through us.
It says “He leadeth me beside the still waters. What are these “still waters,” but the influences and graces of His blessed Spirit. His Spirit attends us in various operations, like waters—in the plural to cleanse, to refresh, to fertilize, to cherish. They are “still waters,” for the Holy Ghost, loves peace, and sounds no trumpet of ostentation in His operations…
“In sacred silence of the mind
My heaven, and there my God I find” …
Still waters run deep… That silence is golden indeed in which the Holy Spirit meets with the souls of his saints. Not to raging waves of strife, but to peaceful streams of holy love does the Spirit of God conduct the chosen sheep…Our Lord leads us beside these “still waters”; we could not go there of ourselves, we need His guidance, therefore is it said, “He leadeth me.”
Just as Martha’s busy serving and Mary’s quiet sitting were both acceptable to the Lord,” so contemplation and action are two sides of the same coin. A healthy Christian life needs both. Nathanael Hardy, a biblical scholar of an earlier generation, wrote: “Sitting Mary and stirring Martha are emblems of contemplation and action, and as they dwell in one house, so must these I one heart.” Contemplation is inward; action is outward. Inward contemplation that does not issue forth in outward action will become stagnant and lifeless, like the water in the Dead Sea, because it has no outlet. On the other hand, outward action that is not preceded by inward contemplation will be devoid of revelation.
Quietness is the incubator for the Spirit of revelation. Do you want to hear God better? Do you want to commune with Him more? Then trust the Good Shepherd and lie down in His green pastures and rest by His quiet waters.”
Pastor Ray continues…
I love it. Thank you, Lord. So just for a few minutes, Heather’s going to play this song. It is from 1994 from Canada. It’s one of my favorite songs, even though it’s over 20 some years old. So let’s just go ahead and we’ll lift Him up. It just lifts up His name. Jesus.
Pastor Ray…
We magnify your name this morning. We humble ourselves before you… we trust in you … rely upon you… love you … honor… you … magnify the name above every other name… we know every knee will bow and every tongue shall confess Jesus as Lord… we love you. We love your plans, your will your ideas, the power of your Holy Spirit. The comfort of your Spirit, the anointing that you’ve given and placed within each one of us as your children… children of the most high God… Thank you for what you’ve given unto us through your Son. And the power of the Holy Spirit to come and to live within us. We thank you. (tongues) open, open, open… thank you, Father… things are adding up… in you things are working out … things that were broken are being restored… Oh, restored, restored, restored… old things are being made… each day, every day… we lean on you… and trust in you, Lord… all of our hope, all of our future, all of the things that are to come …
♪ Oh, I’m with you, saith the Lord… My presence is in you … trust Me, lean into Me and see and hear… He is my strength. My strength is your strength. My help is your help … healing is yours… My healing is your healing… open that way… hahahaha… I already made a way… just follow Me… in My name… in the authority, I’ve given unto you… it will work out… I’ve already done the work… Oh, it will turn out right… It will turn out right… It will turn out right on time… I am in you with you working through you… ♪
I just see chapters. I see chapters and they’re written out in a book just like the chapters in the book of the Bible. But it’s the book of Acts that’s still “acting.” There are still chapters … still being written out in these days. 2021… I have anointed you, I’ve called you, I’ve given you the authority to move through every obstacle that’s tried to derail, stop, you from carrying out what I’ve called you to do… Do it, saith the Lord … do it in My strength, do it in My anointing, do it under the authority of the name of Jesus, which is above every obstacle… so keep pressing… so keep contending… so keep moving… so keep looking up … to see the way much more clearly than ever before… the way I’ve created My Word to work is it will always work… not just a little bit here or a little bit there, but all the way through … Oh, you are my sheep. I am your shepherd… I command you to move forward. I command you under the authority from heaven to step ahead… Oh, I have been faithful to you… See Me and walk free and stand in the victory… Shalom, Shalom, Shalom, nothing broken… Israel… Oh, that land, My land shall not be taken and shall not be destroyed … My people, My land… natural operations in place to protect My people, but there is also My supernatural protection… and it’s working and it will continually work… and the United States will continually stand with My land… every opposing word or voices shall come to nothing in Jesus’ name… strength, strength to Israel… strengthen Israel… strengthened My people… a sound of victory… victory is in Me… hallelujah…
I just saw some kind of … there are operations behind the scenes that no one knows about. There are heaven’s ways and heaven’s plans… heaven’s power… heaven’s revelation … heaven’s assignments … behind the scenes even the rockets will be moved away… Even the … attacks will be shut down… a complete and total turnaround in Jesus’ name… and Israel shall be more strong than ever before… and sounds of victory will be heard across the land… Oh, My protection, My healing in Jesus… the enemy…
I just heard this in my spirit. “The enemy always overplays his hand and goes too far. And that that he sows comes right back onto him. Now a turnaround and a reversal.” more and more countries will begin to stand with Israel… and every lie shall be revealed… many in the media will be absolutely turned upside down… we take authority over deception, deceiving ways, lies from the enemy in Jesus’ name and call them out. Call them for what they are. Deceiving plans and lies. No more! Stop in your maneuvers in Jesus’ name…
Pastor Ken…
Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. We worship you, Lord. Thank you for your presence, Lord… we honor you today. Lord, you are the risen king. You are the Lord of Lords and you surely will have the last say… ha ha on the devil… He always overplays his hand. And so we just say that over our lives, we say that over our church and churches and state and cities and nation and world… we say that God will have the final and last say, that He is on the move and He’s moving throughout the spiritual atmosphere.. moving throughout our lives and situations and circumstances… we declare and we release the hand of God in our political realm and arenas and in Washington and in Jerusalem and in Canada and in the various regions of this country and this world… Lord Jesus, we just release you in the name of Jesus in a fresh way. We call for your hand, we call for your plan, we call, Father, for the breakthrough and the next step and the next level of what you have prepared, even simultaneously with what the enemy is doing to bring about evil and cause harm and create trouble and rile things up in different ways. So too, Lord, in parallel and in a mightier way, you are moving, you are doing, you are awakening, you are readying, you are bringing alive the Church to a new place for a new day in a new generation and in a brand new way… in Jesus’ name, we just declare revival. We declare an awakening. We declare people coming to life to God in Jesus’ name. Almost like people coming out of a cocoon … They’re spreading their wings spiritually. They’re beginning to soar. They’re beginning to move people who have been in a COVID stupor and struggling in different ways for perhaps legitimate reasons. Lord, we just declare “rise, awake in Jesus’ name,” come to life, stretch forth your wings spiritually, begin to declare, begin to take steps, begin to move forward for it’s time… the timing of God is time released. And so we say it’s released in the name of Jesus. Oh my, Oh my … motion and movement and mobilization of the Church and of our lives now to do something great to do something mighty … to shine forth glory of God and the works of Jesus that He Himself prophesied while He walked the cities and the villages of Jerusalem … and the various areas that He lived… He said the works that I do, and even greater shall you do because I send forth the Holy Spirit. And so, Holy Spirit, we welcome you in this house and in this place and in our home or wherever we’re streaming this from this morning, we welcome you, Holy Spirit. And we just pray that you would have your way in Jesus’ name.
Now, can I just say when Pastor Ray was praying earlier and sharing earlier, I just sensed kind of over-arching, God is saying to us, “Get ready.” It’s time to prepare. Kind of like that famous message by TD Jakes years ago. Get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready … That was the message. Get ready. The Spirit of God is saying, “get ready. It’s time. And it’s a day and it’s a moment and it’s an hour to prepare.” Brother Hagin used to say always… and he wasn’t condemning anybody that had to get ready to receive healing when they were in the midst of a fight, but he was saying “A good time to get ready, a good time to prepare is before you need healing, before you need a breakthrough, before you need whatever you need from God.” Amen? And how do we get ready? Well, first and foremost, we pray. Not as a work but as a yieldedness as a worship to God.
And I was just thinking of this verse. And I’ve read this here before I think, but in Psalms 139:5, it says of God from the Passion translation, it says “of the Lord, our Father, you’ve gone into my future to prepare the way. And in kindness, you follow behind me to spare me from the harm of my past.” Isn’t that a good Father! He’s already gone ahead and made provision to spare you from even the harm of whatever you’ve gone through, whatever you have faced. Before He breathed you out of His mouth, before you were a glimmer of creativity in His eye, He went before you to prepare the way! Amen! To make provision, even for what you’ve been through in your past, no matter how traumatic or difficult that may have been. He is God, and He is all compassing and He is far beyond what we can put or wrap words around. Amen.
He has made provision. He is still the healer. He is still the great and lofty and mighty God who has gone ahead and will have the final and last say. He has a plan for your day. Today, Thursday! He has a plan for tomorrow. If He tarries, He has a plan for this next year. He has a plan for the Church. He has a plan for you, and it’s a plan of goodness and victory and blessing. Yes, even in the midst of a dark and difficult time, He wants us to shine. He wants us to flow with glory. And purpose and power and healing and provision and abundance. Amen. In Psalm 139, it says this. Verse 16, it says this… we’re talking about preparation. God is saying it’s time to prepare. It’s time to get ready. “Yes, there will be difficulties and challenges.” And Jesus himself said, challenges in this world, don’t be surprised about it, but then there’s a lot of good and a lot of blessing, a lot of restoration, a lot of purpose before us.
Psalm 139:16 says, “You saw who you created me to be before I became me, before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of my days you planned for me.” I always say to myself, when I read that, when I think of that, “What the heck am I stressing out about.” Goodness gracious. What am I freaking out about? He’s already got my days planned. It should be easy. I just need to learn to lean into Him and trust Him and rest in His promises and rest in His all encompassing father-newness. “Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book. Every single moment you are thinking of me, how precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly.” And that’s good. That’s our Heavenly Father. He’s not some far off aloof deity whose on a power trip. He’s a loving, generous kind, Heavenly Father. Yes, He’s God. And He is mighty and He will have His way in the last say, as they say. Hut He’s still our Heavenly Father. And He’s calling us to Him. Amen? Which is first and foremost how we prepare. It says “how precious and wonderful to consider that you cherish me constantly in your, every thought. Oh God, your desires toward me are more than the grains of the sand of every shore. When I wake each morning, you’re still with me. Oh God come…” And then it goes on to say, and basically defeat my enemies for me.
You know, one other thing I was just going to say is … Pastor Ray was talking about chapters. God has chapters and verses for your life, for the church, for our nation, for Israel … chapters and verses. It says right there, written down. And when we pray, when we yield in English, when we yield in the spirit… I heard one man who visited heaven said he understood when he was there, when he was conversing with Jesus at this one point that he understood just by osmosis, he had wisdom. He understood that when he prayed in the Spirit, he was praying chapters and verses and sentences from his book of destiny. And we do the same. We do the same for the church and for the plan of God. Amen. And so just let that just resonate in your spirit in your heart. Not only now, but as you go into your week and the month ahead. We’re praying chapters and verses and sentences in the plan of God. Amen? Amen! Thank you.
Pastor Ray…
In the King James version of Psalm 139 “thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect. And in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”
I love it. Like Ken said, “What the heck am I concerned about?” Well, to me, heck doesn’t mean hell, okay. Some people think it does. But hallelujah. We rest in you, Lord. We take that rest right now. We rest in you. You said in chapter 15 of John, if you dwell on me, I’m going to dwell on you. Live in me and I’ll live in you. I am the vine. You are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him bears much abundant fruit. However, apart from me cut off from vital union with me, you can do nothing. If you live in me, if you abide vitally united to me, and my words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts.” That’s the key, isn’t it? Just in our hearts. “Ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. When you produce much fruit, my Father is honored and glorified and you shall prove yourselves to be true followers of mine. I do not call you servants, slaves any longer for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I’ve called you my friends. Because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father I’ve revealed to you. Everything that I’ve learned from him…
How could we be stressed out?
“You’ve not chosen me, but I’ve chosen you. And I have appointed you. I have planted you that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing and that your fruit may be lasting. That may remain or abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name as presenting all that I am, He may give it to you. This is what I command you, that you love one another.”
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. So we do abide in you. We abide in you… Thank you, Father. Let’s just be still before Him just for a few minutes. [group silent]
Pastor Ray continues…
Hallelujah. He’s good, isn’t He? I love when it’s so still in here, you can hear the pews creaking. The scripture Pastor Ken when you read that from the Passion, I remember before I ever heard of the Passion, somebody sent me that. It’s right here. It’s on this note and I read it and someone’s like, “where did you find that?” I said, I didn’t find it. Someone sent it to me. But in the Amplified, this is how it says that also.
“You have beset me and you’ve shut me in behind and before, and you’ve laid your hand upon me. He’s with us, leading us. He said He would. We’re blessed, anointed. And we have a plan. It’s His plan. He said He’d show it to us. John says in the book of John, He’ll transmit it to us right into our hearts. Thank you for your plan and your will. We’re strong in you. We’re empowered by you by your Spirit. And we lift up this day, Thursday, we call it supernaturally blessed holy day, a good day in Jesus’ name. And everybody said together. Amen! So be it. Thanks for tuning in. Appreciate it. God bless you.
