Who is your Lord? Bill Johnson teaches from Psalm 23 and shares a powerful word on the Lordship of Jesus. It’s one thing for Jesus to be our Savior, it’s another thing for Jesus to be our Lord. Walking with Jesus as our Lord determines the way we face challenging circumstances, trials, and victories in our lives. Who is your Lord? Are you? Or is Jesus? Let Him lead you today, there is no safer place.
there are many who think they have
relational problems and they actually
have lordship problems
there are many who struggle with fear
and anxiety and it’s only the result of
the absence of lordship and I can I can
take any small problem and make it so
large in my mind that I forget who Jesus
is
but no problem is impressive
in the face of the one
who defeated everything on our behalf
[Music]
Psalms 23 verse 1. the Lord is my
shepherd I shall not want he makes me to
lie down in Green Pastures he leads me
besides Still Waters he restores my soul
he leads me in the paths of
righteousness for his namesake
yet even 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
you prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies you anoint my
head with oil my cup runs over
surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever
let me take the passion translation the
Lord is my best friend and my shepherd I
always have more than enough
he offers a resting place for me in his
luxurious love
his tracks take his tracks take me to an
oasis of Peace the quiet Brook of bliss
that’s where he restores and revives my
life
he opens before me Pathways to God’s
pleasure he leads me along in his
footsteps of righteousness so that I can
bring honor to his name
Lord even when your path takes me
through the valley of deepest Darkness
fear will never conquer me for you
already have
some of you are daydreaming I’m sure of
it let me read this again but even when
your path takes me through the valley of
deepest Darkness fear will never conquer
me for you already have
you remain close to me and Lead me
through it all the way your Authority is
my strength and my peace the comfort of
your love takes away my fear I’ll never
be lonely for you are near
listen to this phrase you become my
delicious feast even when my enemies
dare to fight
oh wow you become my delicious feast
even when my enemies dare to fight
you anoint me with the fragrance of your
Holy Spirit you give me all I can drink
of you until my heart overflows so why
should I fear the future for I am being
pursued only by your goodness and
unfailing love
then afterwards when my life is through
I’ll return to your glorious presence to
be forever with you
um
that was good
one more the Lord is my shepherd to feed
guide and shield me I shall not lack
he makes me lie down in fresh tender
Green Pastures he leads me besides still
in rustful waters
he refreshes and restores my life myself
he leads me in the paths of
righteousness which is uprightness and
right standing with him not for my
earning it but for his name’s sake
yes even though I walk through deep
sunless valleys shadow of death I will
fear no dread or evil for you are with
me you’re Rod to protect your staff to
guide they comfort me you prepare a
table before me in the presence of my
enemies you anoint my head with oil my
brimming cup runs over
surely our 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
this is just a
a glorious Psalm that needs to be
Revisited verse 1 says the Lord is my
shepherd I shall not want.
oftentimes for us
we don’t have a financial problem we
have a lordship problem
the issue of lordship the Lord is my
shepherd is where this begins and it
doesn’t ignore that there’s conflict
that there’s Warfare that there’s Devils
that there’s Darkness doesn’t ignore any
of that it just gives us an insight as
to how he takes us through that process
not for defeat not for fear not for
anxiety but for Triumph that his name
would be exalted and we will be
strengthened
the Lord is my shepherd I shall not
want.
we are the worst at diagnosing our own
problems our own circumstances and there
are many who think they have relational
problems and they actually have lordship
problems
there are many who struggle with fear
and anxiety and it’s only the result of
the absence of lordship
it’s if I and I can I can take any small
problem and make it so large in my mind
that I forget who Jesus is
but no problem is impressive no problem
looks big
in the face of the one
who defeated everything on our behalf
in the face of the Lord the Lord is my
shepherd I shall not want
sometimes the Lord Yokes us together
with people
maybe in a work context maybe it’s a
family upbringing could be any number of
things but he Yokes us together
and the uh when you’re yoked with
someone the Yoke only hurts when you try
to go a different direction than they’re
going
when you try to sit when they are
sitting you know it’s it’s the it’s the
fact the Lord is actually using the
circumstances around us to teach us to
walk like Jesus
and sometimes the pain we feel that we
are so certain is is somebody else’s
fault
is actually a lordship issue
yep we can go home now
the Lord is my shepherd the Lord the
master the ruler the wonderful gracious
father the benevolent kind uh caring
leader that we have he directs my life
and I’ll tell you I I’ll tell you my
greatest my greatest weakness over the
last 40 years it comes up I’m
embarrassed to say how often it has come
up my greatest weakness has been that I
assume that I know the will of God in a
matter
and and it’s it’s never I it’s never a
choice between you know something evil
and something good or something moral
versus immoral or honest versus
dishonesty that’s not it’s not the issue
those issues have long been settled
it’s the issue of doing the right thing
that God has directed or the right thing
hoping that he’ll bless it
a good thing
and he’s such a great father sometimes
he covers me you know he says yeah I’ll
cover you you know you just do something
you know in his name that he wasn’t a
part of but he goes yeah I was close
and and he’s just that he’s just that
kind of a father and I’m so thankful for
that because he’s he saved me out of a
bunch of dumb stuff but other times he
just leaves me hanging
and but it’s not it’s not like he’s not
like he’s punishing me it’s just like
son if you can feel the pain of the
moment you’re in it’ll help your memory
the next time you get in that situation
where you think you already know what I
want from you does that make sense to
anybody else I just feel like I already
know I saw him do this this and this
obviously this is what he wants and
that’s not always the case it’s that
assumption that gets me into trouble
I I receive a lot of encouragement
especially from David in his life I
think I think maybe his life is the one
that speaks to the me the most
uh of where there were times where maybe
he would forget to pray or or he sought
the Lord on the most obvious details uh
he would he would pray for things that I
wouldn’t even think to pray for I just
assume well this is what God wants and
it’s it’s he’s he’s Lord
he’s Lord he’s he’s the king of glory
he’s the Lord of all Lords he is my
savior he is my benevolent dictator
he is a kind and perfect father he’s
loving and he covers me and he empowers
me but he is Lord and it’s never to be
forgotten he is absolutely Lord and Lord
of all and every knee will bow
and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
that that moment that day is coming but
we have the privilege of doing it every
day of our life
and here he starts this Psalm by
describing the condition of a disciple
it doesn’t mean when it says I shall not
want it doesn’t mean that I’m not going
to have another need tomorrow doesn’t
mean I don’t have a difficult decision
to make doesn’t mean any of those things
it doesn’t mean if you have a problem in
your life then you then Jesus obviously
isn’t your Lord that’s the opposite in
this this home this Psalm is describing
how to how to live life in such a way
that regardless of your circumstances
you always come into a place of
breakthrough because Jesus is Lord
and he noticed in this Psalm he says for
my name’s sake every victory that you
and I experience
all of creation celebrates Jesus for
your Victory why because they see his
plan worked
the scripture says wherever two or three
of us are gathered in his name he is in
the midst well he’s already in me but
there’s an increased measure of presence
when we come together in his name so we
have two or three of us gathered in his
name Jesus stands in the midst all of
creation celebrates it because his plan
worked it was actually possible
to create something in people who are
born again the capacity for Unity that
only the father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit have known throughout all
eternity and all of creation looks at
that and said it worked and there’s this
celebration of who he is so when he says
for his namesake he’s actually
describing that it is imperative it is
vital that all of creation sees and
Witnesses the effect of his plan in fact
Romans chapter 8 talks about
all of creation groaning and travailing
we’ve got some good music going on
somewhere
is this the beauty of cell phones yes I
I one meeting I said you know somebody
needs to get the hell out of your core
so that when your phone rings it’s kind
of a moment of Celebration so that night
they had the Hallelujah Chorus on their
phone so
so the Lord
the Lord is looking for
for one simple thing it’s
our acknowledgment of his lordship
it’s not complicated
it may be hard
but it’s not complicated
Jesus is Lord
and in that place there is such Rich
fulfillment that is possible for you and
me to stand in the face of adversity
difficulty challenges whatever we might
be facing and say
because he’s my shepherd
I actually
am lacking nothing
and it’s in that context that we are
able to testify
of his goodness in our life the Lord is
my shepherd I shall not want
he makes me to lie down in Green
Pastures some of you need to be made to
lie down
made to lie down he he uh he leads me
besides still or Quiet Waters
um I had a phrase go through my mind
here a few weeks ago in in Sydney
see if this helps anyone
um
many of us struggle with guilt and shame
in equal measure to our over emphasis of
our own role in our conversion
many of us struggle with guilt and shame
in equal measure to our over emphasis of
our role in our own conversion
do we have a role yeah I chose him but
he first chose me
I love him but he first loved me I put
my faith in him but the faith was a gift
from God
and anytime we over emphasize we over
take responsibility
when in fact he’s looking to lead us
into a place of Abandonment and Trust
maturity is where I represent him well
in power and wisdom in love
but I remain as a child
I never grow out of dependency I only
grow deeper independency
the issue of lordship will be an issue
throughout all of eternity
but it’s never restrictive in a sense of
of punishment it’s never a restriction
in a sense of
confinement of who you were born to me
to be instead it’s a restriction so that
all your efforts can be put into who you
were designed to be
it’s it’s con it’s a controlled strength
if you will
it’s a directed strength a better term
directed strength and so the lordship of
Jesus is always with your Eternal
purpose my eternal purpose is always in
mind that we could stand fully
representing Jesus accurately I really
believe that before he returns there’s
going to be a generation not just in
individuals but a generation that
represent him well impurity
true holiness great power great wisdom
which automatically means there’s going
to be transformation of cities and
Nations as a result all right
so he makes me to lie down the Green
Pastures he leads me besides Still
Waters he restores my soul the word Soul
there now often times when we see the
word Soul we think in terms of mind will
and emotion which is legitimate but this
word is used it’s like 750 times in the
in the Bible and it’s often used to
describe us in our whole our whole
person Spirit soul and body everything
about it so when he says it restores my
soul it’s saying he restores me
completely everything about me becomes
healthy again
sign me up for that one that’s a good
one
he restores my soul he leads me in the
paths of righteousness for his name’s
sake there’s that phrase again even
though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death I will fear no evil for
you are with me here’s one of the most
important things I saw in that
particular season for me
I’ll be honest I was I was I was sick
and and I I kept waiting for that word
of the Lord I kept waiting for that that
thing that would clarify everything for
me and uh and it just it just didn’t
come his silence whenever he’s silent
it’s not punishment
it’s because he’s already spoken and
he’s his silence will help you to find
what he’s already said
it’s it’s not the silent treatment he’s
not like you and me giving each other
the silent treatment he’s he’s uh he’s a
gracious father so everything is out of
love everything is out of love
and um
and I was hoping to get you know that
word I was hoping that somebody would
call or somebody to write and and there
were a lot of things given to me it was
all wonderful but there was never that
breakthrough word that breakthrough
movement just didn’t come all there was
was sick
and
you know
I was in the hospital for a while
there’s two people with kidney
transplants that came in and left before
I did
yeah and there was a third person that
was there when I got there so they all
graduated before I did so I was there
for and I’m just praying I’m just
looking for that word I had great
friends come and pray for me talk with
me it was wonderful zero complaint but I
was looking for that breakthrough word
and it never came
what did come was overwhelming peace and
after I looked back and I could say two
things two things I came out of it
number one bold Faith stands on the
shoulders of quiet Trust
bold Faith stands on the shoulders of
quiet trust what he was looking for in
me was not the expression of bold Faith
he was looking for me the quiet Trust
he was trying to build something deeper
in me where I had been working to
illustrate demonstrate pursue bold Faith
he was looking to develop a rest in me
that it enabled or allowed for a quiet
trust to be the platform on which
another level of bold Faith would come
does that makes any sense I hope so but
here’s the here’s the main deal that I
wanted to mention to you this morning
as he says though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death I’ll fear
no evil because you’re with me
I fear no evil because you’re with me
I I came I came to the realization that
there are measures or manifestations of
his presence that you can only find in
the Valley of the shadow of death
[Music]
he manifests himself differently in
different contexts in different
situations and there’s an aspect of his
presence you can only find in that
context
why would he take you through the valley
of the shadow of death
Because he believes in the work he’s
done in you
he’s confident of the great work that
he’s that he’s done in each one of us
he’s confident enough that he can trust
us in perilous situations
if it wasn’t a true sufficient New
Creation that took place inside of our
hearts one we believed on the Lord Jesus
Christ if that were not a reality he
would never put us in that environment
because we’d be devoured devoured in a
heartbeat
but he enables us to go through those
situations he doesn’t create the evil he
doesn’t create the darkness but where he
wants to take us we walk through there
and I tell you what the longest way
through a trial is to try to do it apart
from the lordship of Jesus the quickest
way through a trial is what Jesus says
Lord
there’s only one shortcut Jesus is Lord
Jesus is Lord that’s how you go through
[Applause]
yeah I’m so glad that you watched this
video I do pray that it’s a great great
strength and encouragement to you and
I’ve got a verse that it really is My
Cry for all of us and it’s Psalms 20
it’s verse 4. may he grant you your
heart’s desire and fulfill all your
plans
that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that
this would be the season of rich rich
fulfillment
thanks for joining us