Harbor Rock Tabernacle

There are times when our soul--our inner self--needs to be turned back to what is right and righteous. This need can be due to living in sin, yielding to temptation, or facing spiritual warfare. David had lived all three first-hand, so he spoke from experience about how this affects our soul. So in v. 3 of Psalm 23, he talks about the Lord's power to "restore" us so that we are walking in "paths of righteousness".

(Due to technical issues, the audio is less than ideal in the second half of the message.)

When we trust the Lord as our Shepherd, the second verse of Psalm 23 will be ideal and desirable. But if we are hesitant to yield to Him, and still want to have some control, there will be a chronic unsettledness in our lives. In this second study of the series "Living In God's Strength", we see that the Lord has to shut down our control and prompt us to rest in His provision. He will then refresh us spiritually and personally, feed us with His goodness, and always lead us to a place of greater strength.

In our new series on Psalm 23, we study the first verse, in which David establishes the awesome concept that the Lord is our Shepherd. But that also means that we are sheep, who are known to be dependent, somewhat unintelligent, stubborn, hesitant to listen and prone to wander away. So we need a Shepherd, and because the Lord is so gracious and faithful, we can confidently rely on Him for all we need. He claims us as His own, and then turns our negative attributes into powerfully positive ones.

Abraham's nephew Lot was someone who had been around Godly people and been helped by God. But instead of protecting himself against the pervasive depravity that was nearby in Sodom, Lot moved closer until he was fully integrated into the life of the city. He exhibited 5 steps of decline that we need to constantly guard ourselves against, because the devil is working hard to corrupt our culture. It is important that we fight this attack instead of conceding to compromise and negotiating with sin.

What started as stomach pain quickly became a life threatening situation that brought Lee Ison close to death. He and his wife Karen share the dramatic account which showed them great evidence of God's awesome, faithful, miraculous provision.

Would people describe you as an "encourager" or a "discourager"? This applies not just to our words, but our disposition and outlook on life. It will determine the type of impact we have on other people--whether we strengthen them personally and spiritually, or cause them to lose hope and feel defeated. In this study, we contrast the illogical "bad" report of the 10 Israelite spies with the ministry of encouragement that Barnabas had in the early church. Seeing the dramatic difference in the results of each one calls us to take intentional steps to be a constant source of encouragement.

Recent events in our country have shown that the enemy is making steady progress in normalizing what is abhorrent to the Lord and our faith. Quickly, minds are being conditioned to a "new normal". So as believers, we need a balance of being informed and wise, while also zealously motivated to influence people's lives for Christ. We need to be aware of all that is going on, and get a fresh passion for the calling we've been given. The focus must be on Jesus Christ Alone, and we must persevere even when we people don't give their hearts to Him.

When the apostle Paul wrote to Philemon to appeal for his friend Onesimus, he was careful to make his appeal out of love, not an demand of authority. He affirms that the spiritual transformation that had taken place in Onesimus now made him a brother to them both, which meant that he needed to be seen and treated differently. By reminding Philemon, and us, of the power of forgiveness, the Holy Spirit calls us to examine our relationships, to see where we repent, forgive and refresh each other.

The apostle Paul wrote a short, very personal letter to a friend he had led to faith in Jesus Christ. He appealed to Philemon to forgive a bondservant who had run away from him. With humility, Paul writes to him as a fellow worker and fellow soldier for the Gospel. It is because of Philemon's spiritual character and reputation as someone who is distinguished for his love and faith that Paul knows his appeal will be heard. Philemon's example as a source of "refreshing" sets a standard for us as believers, and causes us to ask important, direct questions to evaluate how much we are a person who strengthens and encourages others.

In Genesis 16, a woman named Hagar found herself in a very unfair situation. As the maidservant of Abram's wife Sarai, Hagar was the pawn in Sarai's faithless plan to supersede God's covenant. Hagar's situation teaches us to evaluate the spiritual climate around us. It also shows us that when our faith is being tested, the Lord will minister to us, especially when we go to the "springs and wells" of spiritual refreshing.