A Light in the Darkness (Spiritual Lessons with Joanne)

Transcript

Urban City Podcasts.

Hello, you’re listening to spiritual lessons with Joanne on the Urban City Podcast Network. Thank you guys so much for joining us today.

We are so excited that you have decided to come back and join us today. We’re going to be studying Psalm 27 and I’m so excited about Psalm 27. I remember when I first started reading this, it had to be about 2006-2007 when I started studying and reading Psalm 27 over and over and over and I got it in my spirit and it is a beautiful psalm of David.

It’s a cry out to God from David and I’m so excited to share it with you today. So I want to pray with us and I’m asking that you please go get your swords, get your bibles and come on and join me today, amen Psalm 27. Father God, we thank you so much for another opportunity to share your word with your people, to share your word with my brothers and my sisters.

God I pray that something will be said that will open our hearts more, that will change our minds, that will help us to seek your face, that will help us to have a hunger and a thirst for more and more of you, that will give us a desire to have a close and intimate relationship with you, that it will give us a desire to not want to wait until Sunday or Wednesday to hear what the preacher has to say, but to build our relationship with you ourselves. God we love you so much and we thank you again for another opportunity. We thank you for your love, your grace and your mercy and I pray Holy Spirit that you will come have your way in this podcast right now in the name of Jesus.

We pray, amen, amen. I’m so excited that you guys are here. I hope that you have grabbed your bibles and that you’re going to read along with me.

I’m reading the book of Psalm 27, Psalm 27 and again this is a Psalm of David and it says it’s an exuberant declaration of faith, right? A declaration of faith, faith is a substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen, you have faith and stuff that you don’t even see but you believe that God is going to do what you’re asking him to do, right? So this is a exuberant declaration of faith from David and again I’m reading from the New King James Version and then we’ll come back after we read, we’ll come back and kind of go through and try to break down a bit of what it’s saying, okay? The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes they stumbled and fell, though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war may rise against me and this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret place of his tabernacle he shall hide me. He shall set me high upon a rock, and now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle.

I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. Hero Lord, when I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me and answer me. When you said, seek my face, my heart said to you, your face Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help, do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me, teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me in a smooth path because of my enemies, do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence.

I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord.

That is just such a powerful, powerful psalm to me, and I’m telling you back in 2006 and 2007, I was reading this every day, every day until I almost got it memorized by heart. I know all of most of the verses except towards the end, but I’m telling you this psalm is what got me through some tough, tough times, and I’m telling you my life sometimes, I tell my children my life, our lives feels like a soap opera for the things that we’ve gone through, for the things that we’ve had to believe God for just about six years ago. We were homeless.

A lot of people don’t know that story about us, but we were homeless. And my daughter in her little young age, and she would always say we were homeless. And I’m like, girl, we’re not homeless.

Don’t you tell nobody that? And she said she was like, why this woman won’t most say that we homeless? Why she won’t? Why won’t she believe that we’re homeless? When we were living in a hotel, we didn’t have a home, so many things that happened. My mom had passed. I’d lost the relationship, and it was just really, really heavy.

It was a tough time, but God saw us through. We were for six months, we were homeless for six months in a hotel, living from day to day, just figuring it out. But God covered us.

He protected us, and he kept us. And today, I believe that my children walked all or they stand stronger because of that experience, you know, not a pleasant experience, but we learned so much about each other. We learned how to take care of each other, to watch out for each other from that experience.

The Lord is my light and my salvation. As we walk through this journey called life, there are so many times that we may walk through dark days. We may go through things that just feel like they are too heavy.

It’s too much. Lord, if one more thing happened, I’m just saying, I’ll make it. I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Lord, if one more thing happened, you probably want to take me on out of here, but the Lord is my light in dark places. He is our light. He is our peace.

He is that still small voice that we need to be still and listen for. He is our light and he is our salvation. Our salvation is not found in going to church, even though it’s good for us to come together.

As a congregation, it’s good for us to come together. As a group of believers, it’s good for us to come together and encourage each other and learn together and, you know, share our testimonies with each other. But the Lord is our light and he is our salvation.

We find our salvation in him by believing on his Son that he sent to die on the cross for us. Amen? He’s our light and he is our salvation. In the message Bible, it says, light space zest.

That’s God. So with him on my side, I’m fearless, afraid of nothing and no one. With God on our side, we should fear no man.

There’s a scripture in this Bible. I might try to find it while we’re on here, but it says, do not be afraid of men and their faces. A lot of times when we’re standing before people and we’re talking to people and we’re looking at the faces and we let those faces scare us and we let those faces make us feel inferior.

But it said, do not be afraid of men or their faces, right? We should fear no one or no thing. When Vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, those bullies and tough fall and tufts fall flat on their face. Now I’m just kind of reading it from the message Bible, but it says, when my enemies came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.

They fall flat on their faces. Why? Because the Lord is my light and He’s my salvation. He is my strength.

He is the strength of my life. And we should fear no one or no thing. Fear not for God is with us wherever we go, even when the wicked come against us, even when they try to tear us down, even when they try to make us look bad.

The Lord is our light and He is our salvation and we shall not fear. He is the strength of our lives. Amen.

Though the army shouldn’t camp against us, our hearts shall not fear. Though people throw rocks and hide their hands, though people do things that are just not right. You got people who will do whatever they got to do to get what they want and hurt whoever is in the way.

A lot of times is not even about you when somebody does something crazy or stupid or something that hurts you. You end up losing their life or end up getting hurt because somebody was trying to hurt one person and end up hurting a whole bunch of other people that were just caught in the crossfire. Though enemies shall encamp against us, we shall not fear.

Though war may rise against us. In this one thing, we should be confident. This one thing, we should be confident.

One thing I have desired of the Lord and that I will seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Dwelling in the house of the Lord and I’ve been talking about abiding. Since I read John chapter 15, I’m telling you that thing changed my life.

When I realize all I got to do is stay connected. Now, it’s not a simple thing to stay connected because it takes work. Stay connected to God.

You got to read His word. You got to make time to spend time with Him. You got to get up early or stay up late, whatever it takes to get still, get quiet and get in His presence and allow Him to restore you, allow Him to give you those deep breaths that you need to take to release the cares and the worries of the day.

Dwelling in the house of the Lord, dwelling in His presence. The house of the Lord is not just a church. We are the church, the people.

We are the church. We are the bride, right? But dwelling in the house of the Lord is dwelling in His presence, right? Dwelling in the presence of God. And that takes work.

That takes us making time. That takes us intentional, being intentional about spending time with God. Amen.

That we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing, to live with Him in His house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate His beauty.

I’ll study at His feet. That’s from the message Bible. Study at His feet.

There’s a song Tasha Cobb sings, she says, and I’ll be seated at your feet to worship at your feet. I’ll be right here at your feet forever. I love that song, seated at the feet of Jesus, studying His word, waiting on Him, allowing Him to cleanse us, wash us, changes from the inside out.

Verse 5 in the message Bible says, that’s the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world. The perfect getaway far from the buzz of traffic in the presence of God is the only quiet, secure place in this noisy world. And it’s loud everywhere.

I tell my children, if I had a superpower, it would be my hearing because I hear everything and everything is like is like super loud. And when they come home and I’m watching TV and it’s on five, they’re like, well, how can you hear that? I hear everything and everything is loud. But in His presence, at His feet is the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world.

That is the perfect getaway far from the buzz of traffic. Find your place. I was met with one of my friends today and she told me the bathroom is her secret place.

That’s where she goes and that’s where she can be settled and be calm and spend time with God and hear from God and just be quiet and still. And even if you got 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, take time to sit quiet and sit still and be in the presence of God seated at His feet. Verse 6, God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down.

You’re always going to have people who are trying to bring you down or pull you down or make you feel like you’re not as good as they are or make you feel like you’re not good as you think you are, whatever it is. But God holds you head and shoulders above anybody that’s trying to bring any negative energy to you. All we have to do is really and truly remember to look to God.

We have to remember to remember God. I have to remind myself a lot that Joey and remember, remember God to remember his word. Remember what he said to you specifically.

Remember what he’s brought you through. Remember what he’s done for you. Remember that he loves you and he’s always there, always there.

And all you have to do is call and he comes right away. Even when you can’t feel him, he’s working in the background. Even when you can’t see him, he’s working in the background.

He never stops working ever. Amen. Verse 6, again, God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down.

I’m headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof. Already I’m singing God’s songs. I’m making music to him.

Already we’re singing his praises for the things that he has done for us. Even if you say, you say, God had done that for me. Are you alive? Are you awake? When you open your mouth to speak, can you speak? Can you hear? Can you walk? Can you talk? God has done enough.

Because we are here. Some people did not wake up this morning. Some people who did wake up couldn’t get out of the bed.

Some people who got out of the bed could not see, could not speak, could not hear. God has blessed you real good. And for that, you owe him a thank you.

Psalms 100 says, enter into his presence with the password. Thank you. Thanking him.

Raising our voice with praise. Singing God’s songs. Even when I can’t see it you’re working.

Even when I don’t feel it you’re working. You’ll never stop. You’ll never stop working.

Singing praises to him for the things that he has done. And even if he doesn’t do anything else, thanking him for who he is, for his protection, for his peace. Amen.

Verse 7, through 9 it says, listen, God I’m calling at the top of my lungs. Be good to me. Answer me when my heart whispered, seek God.

My whole being replied. I’m seeking him. Don’t hide from me now.

Right? You’ve always been right there for me. Don’t turn your back on me now. This is David talking to God.

Don’t throw me out. Don’t abandon me. You’ve always kept the door open.

Always. He’s always kept us. He’s always been right there.

He said in his word, he’d never leave us and he’d never forsake us. Right? And this part here says, my father and my mother walked out on me, walked out and left me. But God took me in.

In the New King James Version again, it says, when my father and my mother forsake me. Let me find it here. Let me get back to it.

It says, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. Sometimes we have mothers. Sometimes we have fathers and, you know, maybe they just weren’t meant to be mothers and fathers.

Who knows? But God is everything that we need. Sometimes I feel like there are so many people who have daddy issues. I had daddy issues, you know, there’s so many of us who have daddy issues, but God wants us to look to him as our heavenly father, our heavenly father, and to know that he is everything that we need.

A lot of times I’m walking around. Sometimes I miss my mom. I miss my dad.

You know, sometimes I just need a hug and I don’t know where somebody will come and I’m getting hugs all day. Getting hugs all day. I remember this one time I was one morning I got up and I wanted some toast and, you know, I was like, I’m just gonna make some toast.

But I love jelly with my toast. And I looked at the refrigerator. I didn’t have any jelly.

I’m like, ah, and I may have told this story before. I don’t know, but it just affected me so much because it just showed me that even the smallest thing God, God, it matters to God because it matters to us. So I didn’t get my toast.

I left and I had a meeting with one of my older, older ladies, one of my mature ladies. I love her to death. Miss Lucille Green, Dr. Lucille Green.

So I went to her house. We talked for a bit. And then she’s, I got ready to go and she said, well, baby, I don’t let nobody leave my house without giving them something.

And she opened the door to her pantry and immediately my eyes saw dark canned jelly. And I just started crying. And she was like, baby, what’s wrong? I was like, God loves me.

He loves me. Even the smallest things that are important to me, they’re important to him. And he provides even the smallest things, whatever that is important to you is important to God.

And he wants to show you just how important you are to him, right? When my father and my mother walked out and left me, God took me in. Point me down your highway, God. Direct me along a well-lighted street.

Show my enemies who side your own. Don’t throw me to the dogs. Those liars who are out to get me feeling the air with their treats.

I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God. Take heart.

Don’t quit. I’ll say it again. Stay with God.

And again, in the New King James version, it said, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart. Wait on the Lord.

Be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say on the Lord. God loves us so much.

He cares for us so much. And everything that’s important to us is important to him because we’re important to him. He wants to be a part of our everyday lives, not just when something bad happens, but when good things happen, invite a man.

Celebrate with him. Celebrate him. Praise him.

Give him the glory. Give him the honor. Give him the praise.

Sing a new song to him. Last night I was watching a movie, the Jesus, what is it called? The Jesus Revolution. And some music was playing and God gave me a song.

And I’m not ready to share it, but it was called Freedom. Freedom song. I think I don’t know.

But sing a new song to God. Make up your own song. He loves it.

And he didn’t say you have to have the best voice in the world. He said, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. A joyful noise.

Noise. If your heart is full of joy. There’s an old song.

They said, this joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away. But when God gives you joy, nobody can take that joy away. There’s a difference in happiness and joy because you can be happy one minute and somebody come in that you don’t like and they change your whole attitude.

But when you got joy, when you have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in your heart, the joy of the Lord is your strength. And you can laugh your way out of anything. So last thing I was saying, I was talking with a guy and he told me about this person who was, they had told him that he was dying.

There was nothing else he could do. He was in the hospital. The doctor said there was nothing else they could do for him.

So he told them to give him, bring some funny movies in there for him to watch. And he laughed and laughed and laughed himself back to health. Laughter is good for the soul.

Joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? Amen. Amen.

Father God, we thank you so much for today. We thank you so much for this time that you’ve given us to share your word. God, we just thank you for your joy.

We thank you for your love. We thank you for your presence. You’re an amazing God.

And God, we just thank you for being who you are. You are an amazing God. You love us.

You protect us. You cover us. You lead us.

You guide us. And God for that, we say thank you. Thank you God.

Thank you God. For your grace, your mercy, for your love. We’ll be so careful, Lord, to give you all the glory, to give you all the honor, and give you all the praise in Jesus name.

Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, my people.

You have been listening to spiritual lessons with Joanne on the Urban City Podcast Network. Urban City Podcast.