March 11, 2025 • 61 mins
Join us as we dig into Psalm 103 and explore the beautiful themes of gratitude, compassion, and the richness of praises that we can offer in our daily lives. In this episode, Kim is once again joined by Charity DeGonia, Laurel Wike, and Chalee Brown and they share their personal reflections on how the timely messages found in this Psalm resonate with their own experiences of faith. You will hear discussions on God’s unwavering love and mercy, and how these elements transform the way we engage with both our Creator and those around us.
We navigate through verses that speak of God’s compassion, His grace in forgetting our sins, and the promise of His love that spans generations. By reflecting on the foundational truth that we are dust yet cherished, the conversation reveals how acknowledgment of this relationship fosters deeper gratitude and a sense of community. This episode is not merely about dissecting Scripture, but becomes an invitation to practice thanksgiving in tangible ways that renew our spirits and strengthen bonds.
As we conclude with a transition into Psalm 23, we challenge you to embrace the invitation to deepen your relationship with God through consistent prayer and reflection. This exploration beckons you to set aside distractions, making room for a personal encounter with the Good Shepherd. It's a reminder that the most important appointment you can have is one with God. Prepare to be inspired, challenged, and encouraged in your walk of faith! Subscribe, share your thoughts, and let’s continue to rise up together.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kim McIntire (00:08):
Hey everyone, welcome to the it's Time to Rise
Up podcast.
I'm your host, Kim McIntyre.
We know there are so manythings you can do with your time
, so thank you for choosing tospend your time listening today.
We pray you are encouraged andblessed by what is shared.
If you're not familiar with ourshow, please check out our
website at itstimetoriseuporg,where you'll find our social
(00:30):
media links and for our podcastplatforms, you'll find us on
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podcast.
We humbly ask you to subscribe,leave a comment, a thumbs up or
, even better, a five-starreview on Apple Podcast.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
I'm honored to welcome backthree previous guests Chae Lee
(00:54):
Brown, laurel Weick and CharityDegonia.
Welcome, friends, I'm excitedfor Class 4.
Yes, we are too, yeah, so we'regoing to jump right in.
Today.
We left off with Psalm 103.
We introduced the key wordsgive thanks and praise.
We applied those to the firstsix verses of that chapter and
(01:17):
we ask all of you listeners togo through the rest of that
chapter, giving thanks andpraising God, as you read
through that passage.
So today we're just going toshare a few more of our
responses from that very, veryrich text.
So grab your Bible, get ready.
We're going to pick it up atverse 7, which is where we left
(01:39):
off last time.
God made his ways known to Moses, his deeds to the people of
Israel.
The Lord is compassionate andgracious, slow to anger,
abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, norwill he harbor his anger forever
.
He does not treat us as oursins deserve or repay us
(02:02):
according to our iniquities, foras high as the heavens are
above the earth, so great is hislove for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from thewest, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion onhis children, so the Lord has
compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed
(02:25):
.
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are likegrass.
He flourishes like a flower ofthe field.
The wind blows over it and it'sgone, and its place remembers
it no more.
But from everlasting toeverlasting, the Lord's love is
with those who fear Him and Hisrighteousness with their
(02:48):
children's children, with thosewho keep His covenant and
remember to obey His precepts.
The Lord has established Histhrone in heaven and His kingdom
rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you, hisangels, you mighty ones who do
His bidding, who obey His word.
Praise the Lord, you, hisangels, you mighty ones who do
His bidding, who obey His word.
Praise the Lord all Hisheavenly hosts, you servants who
(03:12):
do His will.
Praise the Lord all His works,everywhere in His dominion.
Praise the Lord, o my soul, wow, thank you.
Jesus, oh my soul, wow, thankyou, jesus, for your word.
That's just my thanks rightthere.
Thank you for your word, jesus.
Ladies, what do we want toshare in response to this today?
Chalee Brown (03:34):
I think a foundation of all of this is
just in verse 7, he revealsHimself and I'm so thankful for
that.
And you know, as he revealsHimself, who he reveals Himself
to be, is then how we praise Himand this text is just so rich
in verse 8 that he's graciousand compassionate, slow to anger
and rich in love.
(03:55):
In verse 10, he doesn't dealwith us or repay us as our sins
deserve, and you know so oftenthat can be taken as a license
to sin, as our sins deserve, andyou know so often that can be
taken as a license to sin.
But when you look at verse 11and verse 17, it talks about His
unfailing love being with thosewho fear Him, which is a theme
that's come up a lot in thispodcast, and you know, if we
(04:17):
fear Him, we're not going to useHis grace as a license to sin.
And he is worthy of that awe andreverence and of a life lived
in purity.
I'm thankful for theopportunity to live, the
empowerment to live a life inpurity.
That's so true To our holy God,that's so true, so good.
I just want to piggyback alittle bit your verse 8 that you
(04:39):
pulled about Him being slow toanger and abounding in love, and
then I tied that in with verse14, for he knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dustand I think, you know, sometimes
I have a stronger personalityand sometimes in circumstances I
can be expected to lead, and sopersonally, I just love.
(04:59):
My thanks to the Lord.
Is that, with God that I canfollow Him.
When I'm weak, he's strong.
You know, I don't have to pave away for myself.
The Lord has paved the way, andhe kind of gave me a mental
picture of a child, like in thesnow, going, you know, going
behind their father, right, andso of course their father's
(05:22):
footsteps are going to be biggerthan theirs and that child is
not having to trudge through thesnow and figure it out.
He can actually hop fromfootstep to footstep and so, not
having to figure it all out onmy own and know that through the
example of Christ that he gaveus on earth and through God
speaking to me in my personaltime, like I don't have to pave
(05:42):
the way, god is doing that forme.
So I love just getting to sighin that and say you know what
God will lead in this I lovethat Absolutely.
Laurel Wike (05:51):
Absolutely.
You ladies pulled a lot ofthings that God had really
spoken to me too.
So we're just going to be someof these verses.
But in verse 8, god really justshowed me that this is His kind
and tender, that he's kind andtenderhearted, that he's patient
with us and so like when itsays that he's compassionate,
grace and abounding in love.
And then he comes over to verse10, and you know you hit that
(06:14):
dealt with our sins.
But honestly, we as parentsdeal with our kids' sins right,
and not only does—it's not likewe always give them punishment,
but we're disciplining them toshow them what's right.
And this is where God just saidhey, I'm going to show you
where to go.
Like you're talking, and I justam so thankful for a God that
(06:36):
is merciful and compassionateenough to love me, enough to
stay with me and show me Like,lead me in that path, and I'm
just so thankful for that.
And then, in verse 12, heremoved all of my sins so I
don't have to live with any moreguilt.
That's not of him.
Yeah.
You know, and so it says fromthe east to the west right, it's
(07:00):
gone.
Yeah, there's absolutelynothing that I have to worry
about with any of it, not theguilt, not the shame, because
that goes too when we give it toHim.
And then you touched on thedust.
I was, for some reason Godstopped me there and I found
there's a Hebrew word for dust.
That means form or frame, butthere's a homonym that means to
be in distress.
(07:20):
So literally, this text saysthat God is sympathetic to our
difficulties.
That's what it means that heremembers we came from death.
He remembers, he's sympatheticof our difficulties and our
frustrations because of the wayhe knows we're formed.
And so I just praise Him thathe understands me to my deepest
core.
Kim McIntire (07:38):
Yeah, so much to thank Him for so much so good,
yeah, I haven't done this, butit just occurred to me.
I should just like make a listof every single thing that I
could thank God for, just fromPsalm 103.
Because I bet it would be quitelong.
I never counted.
(07:59):
You know what I mean when I'mjournaling.
I've never actually numberedall the things, but so much to
thank Him for Any other thoughtsfrom Psalm 103?
.
Laurel Wike (08:08):
Well, when you said that I looked down at my Bible
and I remember the first time wedid this, I went through with
one color of the thanks and adifferent color of the praise.
Oh cool.
So that it shows, like you canphysically see it in my Bible,
that it's like the difference,it changes.
But then when we were talkingabout it last time, you're like,
hey, that's a thanks and apraise, and then God went.
Oh yeah.
Kim McIntire (08:26):
Yeah, that's so good.
That comment just makes me soexcited that you're one of the
teachers.
Chalee Brown (08:33):
Yes, that's awesome, you know, I love it so
good.
On the praise side, verse 17and 18 really popped out the
steadfast love of the Lord, fromeverlasting to everlasting, on
those who fear Him, and Hisrighteousness to children's
children.
Amen To those who keep Hiscovenant and remember to do His
commandments.
Obviously, all of us here aremothers, yeah, and I just love
(08:55):
that.
God keeps His Word.
Laurel Wike (08:56):
His Word is upstanding.
Chalee Brown (08:59):
Yeah, and when I choose to be in covenant, not
only does he keep that covenant,but it actually pours out on
other people.
It's true, pours out on mychildren.
And you know, I remember yearsago I'd heard this and it always
really stuck with me that this,it's just a little silly story.
This little boy was trying tocomprehend, like asking Jesus in
(09:19):
your heart, right, and so, ashe's talking through it with his
mom, he's trying to understand.
And finally he just said, well,god's way bigger than me, so if
he's in my heart, isn't hegoing to show?
Oh, I love it.
And it was just so, like I justnever forgot that.
And I just thought, you know,not just towards our kids but I
thought how amazing is God'sglory right, and it can't be
(09:40):
contained.
And I just picture, like likeI've been in the presence of the
Lord, I'm filled, full of thejoy of the Lord, and I go to a
coffee shop or I go somewhereand just the joy of the Lord and
God's graciousness is pouringout on other people.
How awesome for the Lord thathe is pouring out His goodness
(10:05):
on somebody who didn't evenspend time with the Lord that
morning.
That person is getting thebenefits of just how amazing he
is, that he's so big and he justspills out everywhere.
And so when I saw that aboutthe generations and I thought
about my kids, I thought but man, it's kind of like what Charity
spoke to on the last podcast.
It's kind of like what Charityspoke to on the last podcast.
You know, as far as like itreally depends, you know you
(10:26):
really put yourself aroundpeople that you know you're
encouraging them and you'remaking an impact, you know.
It just kind of spoke to that alittle bit, but that's kind of
what jumped out at me.
Kim McIntire (10:35):
That's a declare.
By the way, which I know we'vealready talked about, that verse
is a declare, yes, because thatis the truth of God's Word, and
when we speak that it's doneRight.
His Word will not return void,yeah.
So thank you, lord, for thattruth.
Any other thoughts, ladies?
Chalee Brown (10:55):
I just love that visual image I'm just gonna you
know he's bigger than me.
Oh, he shall.
Yes, yeah, Taking that one hometonight.
Kim McIntire (11:03):
Thank you, lord.
So very good.
Well, we hope that ourlisteners have enjoyed spending
time in Psalm 103.
And we pray that it has justgrown in you, in your heart, a
deeper desire to give thanks toGod and to praise Him, because
(11:23):
in that you will grow to deeperplaces in your relationship with
Him.
So that really concludes thetime that we're going to spend
in Psalm 103.
But we are getting ready totransition into our next lesson,
which will be Psalm 23, whichis a very familiar psalm to most
(11:46):
people.
A lot of people think of it asa funeral psalm.
We're going to find some newperspective from that today.
Would you settle yourself?
Would you just be still beforethe Lord?
We are in the studio and we gointo worship.
When we ask the listeners tojoin us, let's just say hands
(12:10):
are lifted, hearts are raisedand we aren't singing into the
microphone, but we are singingfrom our hearts.
So we would ask you just enterin to worship today with us.
Song (12:43):
The Lord is my shepherd.
There's nothing I need.
You lead me to the safestplaces.
You lead me to the safestplaces To walk in the meadow and
lie by the stream.
You meet me in the quiet places.
Charity DeGonia (13:07):
You meet me in the quiet places, your goodness
and your mercy Will follow meAll the days of my life, all the
days of my life, and I'll dwellin your house for eternity.
(13:31):
I'll be there by your side.
I'll be there by your side.
Song (13:46):
Though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, I
don't have to fear no evil, forI know that you are with me With
oil of blessing.
You covered my head, you filledme to overflowing.
(14:09):
My cup is overflowing.
Charity DeGonia (14:15):
Your goodness and your mercy will follow me
All the days of my life, all thedays of my life, all the days
of my life, and I'll dwell inyour house for eternity.
I'll be there by your side.
(14:38):
I'll be there by your side Allthe days of my life, all the
days of my life.
Song (15:13):
You prepare a table before me, right in front of my
enemies.
You're the shepherd of my soul.
You lead me in the rightdirection, my comfort and my
protection.
Charity DeGonia (15:32):
You're the shepherd of my soul.
You'll be a table before me,right in front of my soul.
You lead me in my rightdirection.
(15:55):
My comfort and my protection.
You're the shepherd of my soul.
Your goodness and your mercywill follow me All the days of
my life, all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in your house
(16:23):
for eternity.
I'll be there by your side.
I'll be there by your side Allthe days of my life, all the
days of my life.
I'll be there by your side, allthe days of my life.
Chalee Brown (17:02):
Lord, we come to you in the name of Jesus.
We thank you that your word isliving and active, god, that it
pierces our souls.
God, that it brings healing,that it brings wisdom, that it
brings truth, that it bringsunderstanding.
God, we ask that you wouldglorify your name in our
(17:24):
understanding.
Father, as we seek you throughyour word, as the listeners seek
you through your word that youwould be lifted up.
We know that as Jesus is liftedup, you will draw all men to
yourself.
So, father, we ask that youwould do that tonight, and we
thank you that we get togetherto think on your word and be
(17:44):
transformed by it.
And it's in the name of theLord, jesus Christ, that we pray
.
Amen, amen.
Kim McIntire (17:50):
Amen.
Psalm 23 is such a relationaltext and I would encourage all
of our listeners to read John,chapter 10, verses 1 through 5,
which is about the good shepherdand hearing the good shepherd's
(18:10):
voice.
These two marry beautifully,they just are beautifully knit
together.
But what I want to talk about,before we go into that scripture
, is the value of relationship,because I feel that's so
foundational to this model ofJesus the Good Shepherd.
(18:33):
So we're human, so weunderstand human relationship,
and as we're just around thistable with our coffee cups and
we're just, you know, here assisters, let's talk about the
value of relationship.
What makes relationship arelationship valuable?
Laurel Wike (18:57):
Oh, there's lots Like where do I start on my list
?
But honestly I think somethingthat's huge is that it's mutual,
like it's mutual, like it's notone-sided.
We all have people that we'vehad in our lives before where
they come, and they only comewhen they want something.
But a good relationship is onethat's mutual.
You know that they're alwaysthere for you and vice versa,
that you can be there for them.
Chalee Brown (19:18):
That's good, and so to go with that, I would say
I put down that it's life-giving.
Yeah, that good and not justlife-giving one side of it.
Now there are situations whereyou are pouring into somebody,
like as a mentor, You'rementoring them, but overall just
life-giving in their speech,just in the way that you treat
(19:38):
each other.
Yeah, I like that.
Laurel Wike (19:41):
It's very mutual, but I'm going to piggyback on
that that life-giving is whatChrist calls us to when we're
encouraging one another.
Chalee Brown (19:47):
Yeah, it's true, and obviously trust and a
foundation of all of that.
Laurel Wike (19:53):
Yes, yeah, humility , I think, is big.
You know, if you can come withhumility to one another or have
humility with somebody and hey,you hurt me, or hey, I didn't
like this, or I didn'tunderstand what you said, and
come in a way like I know that Ican trust them well enough that
I can come and tell them thisand it will be, you know, not
received with a defensive spirit, exactly, exactly.
Chalee Brown (20:17):
Transparency and being vulnerable, somebody that
I can emotionally relax around.
There's no striving.
There's no striving, there's no.
You know, we know that as womentoo, we can fall into this.
There's no competitiveness.
There's no comparing, there'sno, and it kind of goes back to
(20:38):
like when you're lifting eachother up, like if that's your
focus, then you're not going tohave that stuff Right.
Kim McIntire (20:42):
You know Right what about communication?
I mean, some of what you guyshave said really is about
communication.
Yeah, right.
Chalee Brown (20:55):
I think communicating to or listening to
truly hear what the otherperson's saying, not just
waiting your turn to talk andyou can always tell in a
relationship when someone'struly there to hear what you're
saying rather than just waitingfor their turn.
Kim McIntire (21:13):
Yeah, because there's listening, and there's
listening with the heart,there's listening to know, right
.
So in some relationships youcan just tell when the person's
asking you a question they wantto be in the know more than they
want to be in tune with yourheart.
And so those really valuablerelationships are people that
(21:37):
they just want to know yourheart and there's not really an
agenda or a motive, right.
It's truly just a care for youas a person.
Chalee Brown (21:47):
That's good and not having any preconceived
ideas, like when you said askingto know something, maybe to
know information, but like ifI'm talking to Charity and I'm
asking her something, I don'talready have something in my
mind about where I think sheshould go or what I think her
intentions are or what hermotives are.
I think that that is a bigthing too not putting things on
other people, but actually liketo speak to what you said,
(22:09):
listening to see what theirheart is on whatever you're
talking about.
Kim McIntire (22:14):
Yeah, that's good.
What about?
Laurel Wike (22:15):
time, that's a big one.
Yeah, I mean, if you're notgoing to spend time with someone
, then you don't have arelationship, right?
Whether it's time communicating, time listening time just
together to have coffee orwhatever.
There is no relationship withouttime and I honestly think that
time I define time differently.
(22:36):
You know Time sending a quicktext can be valuable, but truly
being intentional with your timeto be present, kind of like the
listening thing that you'retalking about, like just
removing distractions and sayingthis is the time that I'm going
to spend talking to you, aboutlistening, you know, to your
heart, like you're saying, butit does take that removing
(22:59):
everything else that's happeningin that time that you're going
to give to that person.
I know that I feel morevaluable when somebody's talking
to me or listening to me andthey're not on their phones, you
know, or there's nothing elsegoing on that's distracting them
, or you know that's when I feelvalued.
Kim McIntire (23:15):
Yeah, don't you love.
I've had this happen a fewtimes and I feel just like you,
so valued.
I love it when I'm with someoneand they're like, oh, hang on a
second, let me silence my phone, and then they put it away.
And you're just literally,because that's so rare in our
culture that someone willsilence their phone and put it
away for the hour that you'rewith them.
(23:35):
And when someone does that, I'mlike, wow, I can tell
automatically I'm valued by thatperson because they don't want
distractions in our timetogether.
And so all of these things thatwe've shared listening time,
mutuality, trust I'm forgettingsome, grace, grace All of these
(23:59):
are so important to havevaluable relationship.
Important to have valuablerelationship.
How much more so should thesefactors be true in our
relationship with our Creator.
God and I'm just going to reallychallenge our listeners.
And, yeah, how often are wewilling to silence or power off
(24:28):
our phone to be listening andpresent with the Lord?
How many times are we willingto give time to our Creator on a
consistent basis?
This isn't legalism.
(24:49):
We would never call it legalismif we made a daily appointment
to talk to our husband, but howquick are we to say it's
legalism if we have anappointment with God every day
that we refuse to haveinterrupted?
Right, because it's thatimportant?
So it's all about the pursuit ofa relationship and it's not
like this requirement or a law,it's like this is a valuable
(25:13):
part, the most valuable part ofmy life is my relationship with
the Lord, my communion with Him.
I won't compromise listening.
I won't compromise trust.
I want the Lord to trust mebecause I know I can trust Him.
I want the Lord to know he hasmy attention.
(25:34):
I want the Lord to know that mylove for Him is mutual.
It's not just Him loving me, Iwant to love Him in return.
Yeah, all of these things andmore make up a valuable
relationship with the GoodShepherd, and so we really want
(25:57):
to just impress upon listenersthat to walk in a relationship
of fellowship and intimacy whereyou hear the Lord will require
time and attention and listening.
They are non-negotiables,actually, and the reason I can
(26:20):
say this is because I did it theother way for so so long I did
it with distraction, lack offocus, lack of attention, lack
of time of focus, lack ofattention, lack of time.
I would not trade what I knownow about the Lord for anything
on this earth.
You know, anyone want to speakinto this time element,
(26:42):
listening element that we'retalking about now.
Chalee Brown (26:45):
Yeah, well, just you said this one specific word
and I just wanted to take it onestep further, just for the
listeners and for us, because Iknow when this person said it, I
was just like wow, yeah, that'sso obvious.
When you said the wordappointment, I know that we have
a leader in our life that theyactually will use that to people
(27:06):
Like this is an appointment onmy calendar, like it literally
sounds like it's a meeting thathas been planned that they will
not like they make it just asimportant as like if they had a
work meeting, and so just totake it to that level of not
just like casually saying, okay,I have time with the Lord, you
know an appointment, but likeactually making it to that level
(27:26):
of urgency that we say like,and not even having to explain
yourself, you know, I think justit's so important to us that we
would put it on that level.
That just really— that's reallypowerful.
Yeah, that just really hit mewhenever he shared that.
Laurel Wike (27:40):
Yeah, Well, when you started this and started
Abide and things, I liked thetime, you know, of learning or
whatever.
But then I think, when we gotto Psalm 23, that's when it
transformed.
Like I love this time, you know, like you know you have that
best friend, you cannot wait tobe with, you're like I have so
(28:01):
much fun with them and they pourinto me and all the things that
we love and value and feelvalued about.
But then when we dive intoGod's word and he meets us there
, then that time with himbecomes just as exciting.
We desire it just as much as wedesire our dates with our
friends, you know.
Or our date with our husbandsand you know.
I also heard somebody saysomething that they make
appointments with their kids,you know.
They block that time out andman, how important that is for
(28:24):
not just God, you know, not justour family.
Like everything that we value,it has to be an appointment.
Kim McIntire (28:31):
My daughter and I have a Monday appointment every
week, unless she's out of townor I am, or one of us is sick,
and it's every Monday at 11 am,until it's time to pick up
Phoenix from school.
And it's a non-negotiable andit's one reason our relationship
has grown to be what it is nowis because the priority of time.
(28:53):
So, as we just go through thistext, our prayer for listeners
is if you are not already inrelationship and relationship is
different from believing inJesus it really is.
So there are people who believein Jesus and go to church, and
(29:16):
that's great.
But then there are people whobelieve in Jesus and follow
Jesus and pursue Him inrelationship.
That's so much better.
That's the next level andthat's what we're praying over
our listeners.
So, as we go through this psalm,charity's going to read Psalm
23 aloud for us, but at thispoint we've introduced six key
(29:37):
words Know, lord.
What do you want me to know?
Obey, holy Spirit, is thereconviction in this chapter?
Are you convicting me of sin,that I need to confess and
repent of Confess?
No, obey, I skipped one.
Sorry, obey, lord, what are youcalling me to?
(29:58):
Obey, declare, what truth can Ideclare over my life?
And then giving thanks andpraising.
At this point, in Abide.
I encourage students to beusing all of those key words,
but not in an overwhelming way.
They're tools.
These words are just.
They're intended to connectyour mind and heart to the Word
(30:19):
through response.
So, but at this point, when weget to this chapter, we're
really trying to apply those keywords and we'll be sharing
those at the end, as we'veresponded to the Lord through
this psalm.
So, charity, will you go aheadand lead us out?
Laurel Wike (30:33):
Yeah, the Lord is my shepherd.
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life.
He leads me along the rightpaths.
For His name's sake, even whenI go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
(30:54):
.
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful lovewill pursue me all the days of
my life, and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord as long as I
live.
And I will dwell in the houseof the Lord as long as I live.
Kim McIntire (31:12):
Amen, amen.
So, being guided just by thosekey words, what responses to the
Lord do we have from our heart?
Chalee Brown (31:22):
today, I'll start with no, yeah.
And there were several thingsthat jumped out at me down in
verse 6, where it says Surelyyour goodness and unfailing love
will pursue me all the days ofmy life, and I love that and
think about that a lot.
But one thing that really stoodout to me uniquely this time
(31:43):
was that that means today.
You know it's pursuing me,goodness and mercy are pursuing
me today, and I can say thatevery day.
And you know it's easy to thinkabout that in the days where
things are going well.
Yeah, but think about Psalm 91,15, where it says I will be
with you in trouble, and Hisgoodness and His mercy are still
(32:06):
pursuing us on those days thatfeel like days of trouble and he
says call to me and I willanswer you.
I will rescue you and you willhonor Me in the days of trouble.
But then also in verse 3, itsays he restores my soul.
And that little sentence spokeso much to me.
(32:26):
I have a friend who is anaturopath and she talks about
how we are a spirit, we have asoul and we live in a body and
that all three of those thingshave to be working in tandem for
optimum health.
And you know, if we flash backto where we were in Psalm 103,
we saw in, I think, verse 3 or 5, it says you forgive all my
(32:47):
sins, you heal all my diseases,right.
So forgiving sins is like oursoul, like, I mean, our spirit,
right, like justification inthat moment you heal all my
diseases, it's my body.
And then here we have in Psalm23, you restore my soul which
I've heard described as yoursoul is your mind, your will,
your intellect, your emotion.
(33:08):
And then that ties us back toColossians 3, where we started,
on week one in Abide, that, aswe, you know, set our minds on
the realities of heaven.
Then we are partnering with Godfor our soul, our mind, our
will, our intellect and ouremotions to be restored.
Kim McIntire (33:27):
Powerful, powerful .
Chalee Brown (33:31):
Awesome, good, powerful, yeah, awesome, I know.
On obey, I'll jump over to obey.
Um, it says he leads me inpaths of righteousness, but
here's was the kicker for me forhis name's sake, and you know a
prayer that's been on my heartfor however many months this has
been.
God actually spoke this to meat Rise Up 2024.
(33:52):
Come on, shout out for prayerconference.
Yes, so that was back in Augustand there was actually a word
spoken to the group and beforethe word was spoken, god spoke
this to me directly and I wroteit in my journal.
He just removed the dross, yeah.
And then there was a wordspoken that literally lined up
(34:14):
with that.
And you know, if God calls meto be refined, it's not going to
feel good, it's not alwaysgoing to feel good?
No, Right.
We don't get to pick how Godrefines us, and so you know, I
may look back, I may bemisunderstood, it may affect my
pride, it may not feel good, itmay.
(34:36):
You know.
There's so many things, butwhat the part that jumped out at
me is is God glorified.
So that's where you know it'slike you know what.
It doesn't matter if I'm beingmisunderstood in this season or
it doesn't matter if this doesnot feel good.
Right, come on.
Is God being glorified?
It's good, and that is whathe's challenging me to obey in
this.
Kim McIntire (34:56):
Obey yeah.
Laurel Wike (34:57):
That's awesome.
Kim McIntire (34:57):
That's a strong call to obedience.
Yeah, it really is, yeah.
Laurel Wike (35:02):
So I'm going to go with like a declare I know
that's not really in order, buttoday, no, it says, even when I
go through the darkest valley, Ifear no danger, for you're with
me.
And so it was kind of a confessdeclare Lord, I'm sorry that I
(35:23):
don't go to you the first timethat I hit darkness and just
struggle.
You know like sometimes we wantto be like angry about it and
we want to go talk to our friendabout it or whatever.
And really this is where thatrelationship piece comes in,
where God wants, god pursues us,and in here he's telling us to
pursue him and then he's sayingI'm with you, stop swearing.
Chalee Brown (35:44):
Hello.
Laurel Wike (35:45):
So and there's been a lot that has happened in my
life and God is so good toredeem my story and he's still
working on it and I can't waittill the end of it.
But, man, sometimes it's soeasy to jump to that fear and so
that was like, okay, lord, I'mnot coming to you in that fear.
That was my confess.
And then I declare I am goingto not fear because I'm not
(36:09):
doing this alone.
You're walking with me becauseI am pursuing Him and because he
is my best friend, because heis shepherding, he's guiding me
through of this, so I don't haveanything to fear.
Why would I do that?
Chalee Brown (36:23):
That's so good, yeah, and along the same lines
with confessing, talking aboutfear in verse one, you know
where it says the Lord is myshepherd, I have everything I
need, like, how often do weconfess the opposite of that and
that's my confession is Lord.
I have said I don't haveeverything I need.
And you know, thinking aboutthe feeding of the 5,000 in the
(36:49):
story, the disciples focused onwhat they didn't have, but the
little boy focused on what hedid have.
Oh good, that is good.
Thanks was given for it, and itwas multiplied, and what was
initially insufficient becamesufficient.
And so that's my confession,but it also becomes my
declaration of I have everythingI need, yeah also becomes my
(37:14):
declaration of I have everythingI need.
Yeah, you know, the declarationI actually wrote down and wanted
to share is, you know, in theend it could just stand all by
itself as a declaration right,surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of mylife and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever, thatI choose to see the goodness of
God.
You know, I feel like we talkedabout this in another episode
(37:36):
that the world, laurel, I thinkyou spoke to this that you know,
things can just be so negative.
It's like what do we not haveright?
What do we lack in?
And I think about theIsraelites and how God was with
them.
He was providing miraculously.
And what does the scripture say?
It says they were grumbling,you know.
(37:58):
So it's a choice.
So I choose to say thatgoodness and mercy will follow
me, that you anoint my head withoil, that my cup overflows, you
know.
And yeah, just looking at thegoodness of the Lord versus the
complaining that I could go to.
Kim McIntire (38:16):
And Shaylee, I think one reason people struggle
with the declare like, forexample, what you just said
because that declare is veryconcise, right?
So it's very easy to rein thatin Right.
But I think a lot of people getstuck in this place and this is
what I really want to challengelisteners with.
Declaring something that youdon't feel doesn't make it a lie
(38:40):
.
Chalee Brown (38:40):
Yes.
Kim McIntire (38:42):
Yeah, right, absolutely, because you may not
feel that scripture emotionally,but truthfully that's
irrelevant.
Right, because it's God's Word.
Yeah, and so what should behappening is, as we declare
God's Word and as we chooseGod's Word, the feelings
(39:04):
eventually shift.
Chalee Brown (39:06):
Yeah, that's good Right.
Kim McIntire (39:08):
And so I know.
For a long time I used tolisten to Joyce Meyer like every
day no, I'm not kidding Likefor a long time I used to listen
to Joyce Meyer like every dayno, I'm not kidding.
Like a decade ago I listened toJoyce Meyer almost every day on
TV and I remember her sayingyou're not a hypocrite or a liar
if you're speaking truth youdon't feel, because if it's
God's truth, that's a reality,that's not a lie.
(39:31):
How you feel is irrelevant, andI love the boldness of that.
You know to just tell people,say things you don't feel and
see what a difference it makes.
Yeah, surely goodness and mercywill follow me all the days of
my life.
Yeah, end of story.
Right, yes, satan, right, andmaybe let him know that.
(39:52):
Right, because he's lying to usall the time.
And it's time that we startspeaking truth to the enemy,
because that's what Jesus didwhen he came against him.
He spoke truth right back, andthat devil had to flee, right,
yeah, took more than once though, right, yeah, he kept doing it.
Yeah, by the third time thedevil's gone.
(40:17):
So I don't know.
I just really wanted to.
Just when you were saying that,I was like you say that with
such a bold confidence, but it'sbecause you practice declaring
yeah, that if it's new to you,it's not going to feel
comfortable at first.
Chalee Brown (40:24):
Right, so to speak to that a little bit.
I think that you know, theenemy really twists.
God gave us emotion, twists.
God gave us emotion, right, godgave us that.
And the enemy can really twistit to say, well, okay, I'm going
to base my day off how I feeltoday.
Well, that's not what God gaveus.
And I think about the Psalms,and how many Psalms.
It started in a place of justemotional despair.
(40:47):
And what did David or Solomonor whoever is writing that Psalm
, what did they do?
And what did David or Solomonor whoever is writing that psalm
, what did they do?
They spoke to their spirit andthey said get up, know that the
goodness of the Lord is here.
So I mean just the realness andthe rawness of like seeing that
in the psalms and being likeyou know what?
There's a spiritual giant.
You know, and just you know wecan get control of our emotions
(41:10):
and they don't have to rule us.
But God has given them to usfor a reason and they can be
used for good.
Kim McIntire (41:17):
Yeah, it's true.
Yeah, it's very true, wow.
Laurel Wike (41:21):
Other thoughts.
I'm just going to throw athanks and praise in there,
because we haven't hit that awhole lot.
But at the end of verse four itsays your rod and your staff.
They comfort me.
I studied a little bit of theshepherd, right, and I know we
do that a little bit, talkingabout this too and John 10 hits
on it.
But the rod and the staff isthe authority, and that's the
authority that God gives us towalk in, and sometimes we don't
(41:44):
remember that we have thatauthority that God has given us
to.
So you know, through all ofthese things, he's saying I'm
your shepherd and you haveaccess to that authority.
And I'm like thank you, god,that you have given us access
and I can access.
It's an easy access too, right,he's right there, and so I just
think I'm so thankful for thatauthority.
But then when he comforts me,he's not just comforting me and
(42:06):
giving me a pat on the back, hegives me strength and peace, man
, that only comes from Him,right.
So I'm just so grateful forthat that he's not just walking
with me, he's giving meauthority and peace, so true.
Chalee Brown (42:22):
Yeah, that's really good.
Kim McIntire (42:23):
My praise and thanks is I'm so thankful the
Lord guides me and gives me rest.
He leads me, restores anddirects and protects me, anoints
me, and His goodness and mercyoverflows.
It's up to me to receive itright.
Open hand, open heart unto theLord.
(42:44):
He's pouring it out.
I have to decide whether Ireceive it or not, so that means
being in agreement with Him.
So that's my praise and mythanks that all through Psalm 23
, we see who God is, but we alsosee what he does, and it's
beautiful.
Any thoughts before we moveinto prayer practice?
Chalee Brown (43:04):
Yeah, just talking about resting and rest is
actually my word for this yearand really enjoying that word.
But it's interesting Again.
We've talked about beforereading in different
translations and this verse 2,where one translation New Living
(43:27):
says he lets me rest in greenmeadows, says he lets me rest in
green meadows but ESV, which ismore of a word for word, is he
makes me lie down in greenpastures.
And you know, sometimes we needthat, we need that little like
nope.
We're doing this right now.
You know, and I've heard itsaid, that if you don't make
time for rest you'll have tomake time for sickness.
(43:49):
And you know, Sabbath is God'sgift to us and our culture
doesn't embrace that.
Well, but when we look at thefruit of not embracing it, His
gift to us, it's destruction inour lives.
You know, it's true, and so Iam embracing that and that's
(44:11):
actually my.
My obey is to lie down in greenpastures.
You know, we often think oflike God is going to tell me to
do this hard thing or this hardthing, but sometimes he's like,
hey, just chill out for a minute.
Laurel Wike (44:24):
Yeah for sure.
My favorite one is the PassionVersion, which I'm going to read
in just a second.
But that one says he offers aresting place, and then that, to
me, goes back to what Kim wassaying is we have to embrace it.
It's an obedience, right.
He's saying here, it is for you, are you going to do it?
Are you going to take it?
Are you going to obey?
Yeah, go ahead, charity, allright.
(44:46):
So this is the passion version,and this was one of the first
times that I started looking atdifferent versions, and this one
spoke to my soul, where I wasjust like, oh my gosh, this is
where God connected me to Hisheart in a way that I'm not just
looking for a father like.
(45:07):
He's more than that, and you'llhear that here.
It says Yahweh, which I thinkmost everybody knows.
That's the breath, that's theair in our lungs.
Right, he's my best friend andmy shepherd.
I always have more than enough.
He offers a resting place for mein His luxurious love.
(45:29):
His tracks take me to an oasisof peace near the quiet brook of
bliss.
That's where he restores mysoul and revives my life.
He opens before me the rightpath and he leads me along in
His footsteps of righteousness,so that I can bring honor to His
(45:50):
name, Even when your path takesme through the valley of
deepest darkness.
Fear will never conquer me,because you already have your
authority, is my strength and mypeace.
The comfort of your love takesaway my fear.
I'll never be lonely, for youare near.
You become my delicious feast.
(46:12):
Even when my enemies dare tofight, you anoint me with the
fragrance of the Holy Spirit.
You give me all I can drinkuntil my cup overflows.
So why would I fear the future?
Only goodness and tender lovepursue me all the days of my
life.
Then afterward, when my life isthrough, I'll return to your
(46:35):
glorious presence to forever bewith you.
Kim McIntire (46:41):
And if that's not an invitation to relationship, I
do not know what is.
And our encouragement, this isCharity, shaley Laurel's heart
as well.
Be in relationship with yourCreator, give Him time, be
(47:02):
encouraged by Him, let Him holdyou accountable.
That's healthy, that's a gift.
To be accountable to ourCreator.
Give Him time to listen and letHim speak.
Be present as he is presentwith you.
(47:23):
Don't be distracted by all thecares in the world.
The most important appointmentis your appointment with God,
and we can all attest to this.
It has radically changed ourlives.
I've watched you guys over thepast couple of years and it's
(47:48):
incredibly humbling that theLord has allowed me to even do
this journey with you, becauseyou all have said I've learned
so much.
But the truth is I've learnedso much as, I quote, teach and
pour out.
But you guys have taught andpoured out to me, and that's the
beauty of community andsisterhood.
(48:10):
And so, listeners, we are sograteful that you're part of
this community of Abide, but ifyou are anywhere close to the
Joplin area, when there isanother session open and just
continue to look back at ourwebsite, we would invite you to
join an in-person class.
But until then, stick with uson Abide on the podcast.
(48:36):
We're going to talk about theprayer practice now.
This is a little trickier to doin the studio because when we
do it in class, we're practicinglistening to the Lord, which
requires period of silence,patience, and so together we
would just pray with a partnerand we would listen to the Holy
(48:58):
Spirit and, as the Lord wouldspeak to us, we would pray over
our prayer partner and then theywould do the same for us.
What are some experiences thatyou guys had when we did that?
Does anyone want to share?
Go ahead, shailene.
Chalee Brown (49:13):
I think that for me, a big component that the
Lord had to kind of stop me inmy tracks was in humility, and I
kind of have just a littlestory with it.
Again, back to the.
I'm telling you guys, it'sreally powerful, if you have a
chance to go to Rise Up 2025, bethere.
So this actually happened atRise Up 2024.
(49:35):
And it was really short, it wasnot a huge interaction and that
was kind of the point of it.
I had walked up to the altar andI had been in prayer and I was
just on my way back from thealtar and a leader that I highly
respect was nearby and as Iwalked by she stopped me and she
said she had a word for me andshe literally spoke one.
(50:01):
I think she spoke like one shortsentence and what really
impacted me with that, incombination with what Kim had
been teaching us with listeningto the Lord, is the humility of
like not trying to speak allthis grand wisdom, just speak
(50:22):
what the Lord is saying, and so,just that she could, like stop
me in that moment, speak thatone sentence or whatever, let it
be and not add to it, becausethat's what she felt.
That really impacted me.
And then being in our setting,you know, with Kim in the Abide
class, I think just the Lordreally honored that me stepping
(50:43):
back and saying, lord, I onlywant to speak what you have.
So I know that when we willpray for somebody at the end,
that was another kind ofcomponent and we were all kind
of praying and we would justkind of jump in as the Lord
spoke and just to be able to say, okay, I'm just speaking this
one short phrase that the HolySpirit just spoke, and then I'm
pausing, and then maybe in a fewminutes he gave me something
(51:05):
else, but being okay with thatand leaving it there because
that really was the word fromthe Lord.
So that I was my biggesttakeaway from just growing in
this prayer practice.
Kim McIntire (51:17):
Amen, and also being okay with silence, right,
because I would just be likesometimes the Lord speaks very
directly, sometimes he's silentand that's okay.
It's still important to pressin and listen Anyone else?
Laurel Wike (51:36):
Yeah.
So when we were doing this withyour Bide group and like what
Chaley was talking about we prayover, I was not bold in my
prayers.
I was actually very much like Idon't know what to say.
I kept thinking I don't knowwhat words or whatever.
And so when we did this listenthe first time and we prayed, I
was trying to listen and so Igot literally one word that kept
(52:00):
coming and I was like, okay, isthat you, lord?
And then somebody else spokethe exact same word and I was
like, okay, that's confirmation,when somebody else is speaking
a word, that you are.
So again, you know I'm listeningand I finally had the boldness
to speak out and somebody else,almost the exact same time, said
the same thing.
So there's no way that you know,it was like it was just the
(52:22):
Holy Spirit and the power of theHoly Spirit.
And so then you gain that holyconfidence of God is giving that
to me, knowing that I need thatyou know, to speak in that
boldness and to listen and toknow that I'm hearing His voice.
Sometimes it's easier to hearHis voice when we're in His Word
.
You know, it was easier for meat first to hear it in His Word
because I'm like that isrelational and it's personal.
(52:43):
But then when we're prayingover somebody else and then I
will never forget praying oversomebody at church and I heard
something that wasn't reallywhat I thought was applicable
and when we got done she waslike that's exactly what it was
and her healing came.
So that was the first time thatI had prayed over somebody and
I'll never forget it becausethat was where God met me and I
(53:05):
was listening to what he saidand I had the boldness to speak.
Kim McIntire (53:08):
What I was hearing and I love that you had been
practicing.
Laurel Wike (53:12):
Yes, listening.
Kim McIntire (53:14):
Because when you're practicing the listening
is when you get very good athearing.
But when you're not practicingthe listening, I hear so many
people say the Lord just doesn'tspeak to me.
How do you hear from the Lordall the time?
This is how I hear from theLord.
First, in the Word.
Time in the Word I will sayevery day.
It's not a legalism thing forme, it's a desire from my heart.
(53:35):
Second, by just being quiet andletting him talk.
A lot of people just don't wantto take time to be silent for
five minutes, but wow, if you'lldo that and let it increase
over time, sometimes, though,he'll speak in 30 seconds.
I don't have to wait fiveminutes.
So anyway anybody else before wejust go?
Chalee Brown (53:54):
Yeah, I'll just share a story of a time where I
was sitting with two other womenand we were listening and I was
actually in a season where Ihad kind of walked through some
things and was coming to a placewhere I felt like there was
going to be some resolution inthis situation and the church
(54:17):
had been in a 21-day fast and Iwas like at the end of the
21-day fast, I am taking action,like I know what I am going to
do, right, I'm like, unless theLord says something else, right,
but I really felt at peace andI didn't feel like the Lord was
going to say something else.
So it's day 21, sitting withthese ladies and neither of them
(54:41):
really knew the situation, andthey got the same word.
One got the word timing andanother one got the word no time
limit and I was like, oh, dangit, because I just knew in that
moment I was like the Lord waslike you're so cute that you
have your plans, but that's notmy plan.
(55:02):
I'm like, really, you had towait till day 21?
Like I'm going to do thistomorrow, right?
But I think that also justreally speaks to you.
Know, many are the plans in aman's heart but the counsel of
the Lord, it will stand.
And if we are willing to wait,like because I really thought
(55:22):
like I had a peace about what Iwas going to do, I'd prayed
about it, like, but I gave theLord time and I'm so thankful
for Churchwide Fasts, but hespoke, and he spoke so clearly
and I just knew and I was likeokay, okay, and I think that's
part of the beauty of justtaking those times.
I mean, what a gift to have acircle of friends, that this is
(55:46):
what we do for fun.
It is.
We talked about that on thedrive over Our fun is ministry
yeah.
Important on the drive over.
Our fun is ministry, yeah, so Ijust wanted to bring one more
thing back around really quickly, because I know for me to
digest this.
I'm just kind of speaking tothe listeners.
I love that you're using theword prayer practice, right,
(56:06):
because you know it'sinteresting.
We were just in Psalm 23, andhere we're talking about the
shepherd right and a shepherd,shepherd, sheep right.
So then another part of thescripture it says the sheep know
my voice, right?
So, as you talk about this in aprayer practice, I just want to
speak to anybody who'sstruggling with that, who, like,
(56:28):
might be thinking about thingsabout the Lord as, like you know
, they feel embarrassed or theyfeel awkward or they feel like,
oh, I'm less spiritual because,whatever these are practices,
these are things that, like, weall can have a weakness in if
we're not practicing them.
So I just wanted to take awaythat element of like that the
Lord just comes over us on dayone and, just like you know, we
(56:50):
have a part in that.
You know, the Bible says that weco-labor with the Lord, and so
I just wanted to speak to thefact that, like it doesn't take
away from the spiritual side ofit, like that you're saying that
it is a practice, Right, Ithink it's just walking with the
Lord, abiding with the Lord andgrowing from glory to glory.
Laurel Wike (57:07):
Absolutely Well, and I think it's Hebrews where
he talks about the discipline,and we don't like the word
discipline, but I mean, youthink about running a 5K.
You can't get off the couch andrun a 5K in the same day.
It's the same thing with arelationship.
I'm not best friends with thatperson because I met them today.
It's because I'm spending timeand I'm learning about them, and
(57:28):
so it's the same thing with ourprayer.
It's the communication that welearn how to communicate with
people.
Not everybody's the same,you're right.
So it's exactly what you'retalking about.
We're practicing and we'redisciplining ourselves.
It's not legalism, it's love,it's a love language, it's a
desire, it's a pursuit of Him,because he pursues us, but we're
(57:50):
learning from Him, and thatdiscipline is that race that we
run to get there.
Kim McIntire (57:56):
Yeah, and it's really driven by love.
Yeah, and we just want everyoneto be able to grasp it so they
can experience the joy of it.
Oh yeah.
Because there is joy in Hispresence.
There is fullness of joy, psalm1611, one of my favorite verses
At His right hand there arepleasures forevermore.
(58:17):
So when I taught this in class,we were praying with partners,
listening and being still so.
I would encourage all thelisteners to sit in silence this
week.
Get alone with the Lord, if youaren't already doing that.
Listening is part of therelationship.
Listen to His voice through HisWord, listen to His voice
(58:41):
through silence, and then bedelighted by what he speaks.
Even if it's difficult things,there's purpose and the purpose
is always going to be good.
So any other thoughts before wepray?
Ladies, okay, we're ready topray.
Father.
God, thank you for thisopportunity to just pour over
(59:05):
the pages of Scripture to gleantruth and encouragement, hope,
strength from your Word.
You are the good shepherd.
We pray that every listenerwill come into a personal,
intimate relationship with you.
(59:26):
God.
We ask right now, through thepower of your Holy Spirit, god,
that you would stir up hearts tospend time with you, that there
would be many God appointmentson calendars this week and in
the coming weeks.
Lord of 2025.
We pray for our listeners tohear your voice speak, as they
(59:48):
set aside time for silence.
God, we pray that your namewould be honored and glorified
through this podcast.
Lord, filter our words, thatonly what the Spirit would speak
would be heard by the listeners.
We love you.
(01:00:08):
We love you, lord.
We praise your name.
We thank you that you speak.
Speak to us, us speak throughus.
Help us abide in you as youabide in us.
For apart from you, father, wecan do nothing, and it is in the
(01:00:31):
holy and powerful name of KingJesus that we pray.
Amen.
Thank you, ladies, for beinghere again for Abide.
Thank you for listening today.
Be sure to check us out on ourwebsite at itstimetoriseuporg,
(01:00:52):
where you will find our socialmedia links.
Time to rise uporg, where youwill find our social media links
.
May the grace and peace of ourLord Jesus Christ be with you in
Jesus mighty name.
Hey everyone, welcome to the it's Time to Rise
Up podcast.
I'm your host, Kim McIntyre.
We know there are so manythings you can do with your time
, so thank you for choosing tospend your time listening today.
We pray you are encouraged andblessed by what is shared.
If you're not familiar with ourshow, please check out our
website at itstimetoriseuporg,where you'll find our social
(00:30):
media links and for our podcastplatforms, you'll find us on
YouTube, apple Podcasts, spotifyand anywhere else you find your
podcast.
We humbly ask you to subscribe,leave a comment, a thumbs up or
, even better, a five-starreview on Apple Podcast.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
I'm honored to welcome backthree previous guests Chae Lee
(00:54):
Brown, laurel Weick and CharityDegonia.
Welcome, friends, I'm excitedfor Class 4.
Yes, we are too, yeah, so we'regoing to jump right in.
Today.
We left off with Psalm 103.
We introduced the key wordsgive thanks and praise.
We applied those to the firstsix verses of that chapter and
(01:17):
we ask all of you listeners togo through the rest of that
chapter, giving thanks andpraising God, as you read
through that passage.
So today we're just going toshare a few more of our
responses from that very, veryrich text.
So grab your Bible, get ready.
We're going to pick it up atverse 7, which is where we left
(01:39):
off last time.
God made his ways known to Moses, his deeds to the people of
Israel.
The Lord is compassionate andgracious, slow to anger,
abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, norwill he harbor his anger forever
.
He does not treat us as oursins deserve or repay us
(02:02):
according to our iniquities, foras high as the heavens are
above the earth, so great is hislove for those who fear him.
As far as the east is from thewest, so far has he removed our
transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion onhis children, so the Lord has
compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed
(02:25):
.
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are likegrass.
He flourishes like a flower ofthe field.
The wind blows over it and it'sgone, and its place remembers
it no more.
But from everlasting toeverlasting, the Lord's love is
with those who fear Him and Hisrighteousness with their
(02:48):
children's children, with thosewho keep His covenant and
remember to obey His precepts.
The Lord has established Histhrone in heaven and His kingdom
rules over all.
Praise the Lord, you, hisangels, you mighty ones who do
His bidding, who obey His word.
Praise the Lord, you, hisangels, you mighty ones who do
His bidding, who obey His word.
Praise the Lord all Hisheavenly hosts, you servants who
(03:12):
do His will.
Praise the Lord all His works,everywhere in His dominion.
Praise the Lord, o my soul, wow, thank you.
Jesus, oh my soul, wow, thankyou, jesus, for your word.
That's just my thanks rightthere.
Thank you for your word, jesus.
Ladies, what do we want toshare in response to this today?
Chalee Brown (03:34):
I think a foundation of all of this is
just in verse 7, he revealsHimself and I'm so thankful for
that.
And you know, as he revealsHimself, who he reveals Himself
to be, is then how we praise Himand this text is just so rich
in verse 8 that he's graciousand compassionate, slow to anger
and rich in love.
(03:55):
In verse 10, he doesn't dealwith us or repay us as our sins
deserve, and you know so oftenthat can be taken as a license
to sin, as our sins deserve, andyou know so often that can be
taken as a license to sin.
But when you look at verse 11and verse 17, it talks about His
unfailing love being with thosewho fear Him, which is a theme
that's come up a lot in thispodcast, and you know, if we
(04:17):
fear Him, we're not going to useHis grace as a license to sin.
And he is worthy of that awe andreverence and of a life lived
in purity.
I'm thankful for theopportunity to live, the
empowerment to live a life inpurity.
That's so true To our holy God,that's so true, so good.
I just want to piggyback alittle bit your verse 8 that you
(04:39):
pulled about Him being slow toanger and abounding in love, and
then I tied that in with verse14, for he knows our frame.
He remembers that we are dustand I think, you know, sometimes
I have a stronger personalityand sometimes in circumstances I
can be expected to lead, and sopersonally, I just love.
(04:59):
My thanks to the Lord.
Is that, with God that I canfollow Him.
When I'm weak, he's strong.
You know, I don't have to pave away for myself.
The Lord has paved the way, andhe kind of gave me a mental
picture of a child, like in thesnow, going, you know, going
behind their father, right, andso of course their father's
(05:22):
footsteps are going to be biggerthan theirs and that child is
not having to trudge through thesnow and figure it out.
He can actually hop fromfootstep to footstep and so, not
having to figure it all out onmy own and know that through the
example of Christ that he gaveus on earth and through God
speaking to me in my personaltime, like I don't have to pave
(05:42):
the way, god is doing that forme.
So I love just getting to sighin that and say you know what
God will lead in this I lovethat Absolutely.
Laurel Wike (05:51):
Absolutely.
You ladies pulled a lot ofthings that God had really
spoken to me too.
So we're just going to be someof these verses.
But in verse 8, god really justshowed me that this is His kind
and tender, that he's kind andtenderhearted, that he's patient
with us and so like when itsays that he's compassionate,
grace and abounding in love.
And then he comes over to verse10, and you know you hit that
(06:14):
dealt with our sins.
But honestly, we as parentsdeal with our kids' sins right,
and not only does—it's not likewe always give them punishment,
but we're disciplining them toshow them what's right.
And this is where God just saidhey, I'm going to show you
where to go.
Like you're talking, and I justam so thankful for a God that
(06:36):
is merciful and compassionateenough to love me, enough to
stay with me and show me Like,lead me in that path, and I'm
just so thankful for that.
And then, in verse 12, heremoved all of my sins so I
don't have to live with any moreguilt.
That's not of him.
Yeah.
You know, and so it says fromthe east to the west right, it's
(07:00):
gone.
Yeah, there's absolutelynothing that I have to worry
about with any of it, not theguilt, not the shame, because
that goes too when we give it toHim.
And then you touched on thedust.
I was, for some reason Godstopped me there and I found
there's a Hebrew word for dust.
That means form or frame, butthere's a homonym that means to
be in distress.
(07:20):
So literally, this text saysthat God is sympathetic to our
difficulties.
That's what it means that heremembers we came from death.
He remembers, he's sympatheticof our difficulties and our
frustrations because of the wayhe knows we're formed.
And so I just praise Him thathe understands me to my deepest
core.
Kim McIntire (07:38):
Yeah, so much to thank Him for so much so good,
yeah, I haven't done this, butit just occurred to me.
I should just like make a listof every single thing that I
could thank God for, just fromPsalm 103.
Because I bet it would be quitelong.
I never counted.
(07:59):
You know what I mean when I'mjournaling.
I've never actually numberedall the things, but so much to
thank Him for Any other thoughtsfrom Psalm 103?
.
Laurel Wike (08:08):
Well, when you said that I looked down at my Bible
and I remember the first time wedid this, I went through with
one color of the thanks and adifferent color of the praise.
Oh cool.
So that it shows, like you canphysically see it in my Bible,
that it's like the difference,it changes.
But then when we were talkingabout it last time, you're like,
hey, that's a thanks and apraise, and then God went.
Oh yeah.
Kim McIntire (08:26):
Yeah, that's so good.
That comment just makes me soexcited that you're one of the
teachers.
Chalee Brown (08:33):
Yes, that's awesome, you know, I love it so
good.
On the praise side, verse 17and 18 really popped out the
steadfast love of the Lord, fromeverlasting to everlasting, on
those who fear Him, and Hisrighteousness to children's
children.
Amen To those who keep Hiscovenant and remember to do His
commandments.
Obviously, all of us here aremothers, yeah, and I just love
(08:55):
that.
God keeps His Word.
Laurel Wike (08:56):
His Word is upstanding.
Chalee Brown (08:59):
Yeah, and when I choose to be in covenant, not
only does he keep that covenant,but it actually pours out on
other people.
It's true, pours out on mychildren.
And you know, I remember yearsago I'd heard this and it always
really stuck with me that this,it's just a little silly story.
This little boy was trying tocomprehend, like asking Jesus in
(09:19):
your heart, right, and so, ashe's talking through it with his
mom, he's trying to understand.
And finally he just said, well,god's way bigger than me, so if
he's in my heart, isn't hegoing to show?
Oh, I love it.
And it was just so, like I justnever forgot that.
And I just thought, you know,not just towards our kids but I
thought how amazing is God'sglory right, and it can't be
(09:40):
contained.
And I just picture, like likeI've been in the presence of the
Lord, I'm filled, full of thejoy of the Lord, and I go to a
coffee shop or I go somewhereand just the joy of the Lord and
God's graciousness is pouringout on other people.
How awesome for the Lord thathe is pouring out His goodness
(10:05):
on somebody who didn't evenspend time with the Lord that
morning.
That person is getting thebenefits of just how amazing he
is, that he's so big and he justspills out everywhere.
And so when I saw that aboutthe generations and I thought
about my kids, I thought but man, it's kind of like what Charity
spoke to on the last podcast.
It's kind of like what Charityspoke to on the last podcast.
You know, as far as like itreally depends, you know you
(10:26):
really put yourself aroundpeople that you know you're
encouraging them and you'remaking an impact, you know.
It just kind of spoke to that alittle bit, but that's kind of
what jumped out at me.
Kim McIntire (10:35):
That's a declare.
By the way, which I know we'vealready talked about, that verse
is a declare, yes, because thatis the truth of God's Word, and
when we speak that it's doneRight.
His Word will not return void,yeah.
So thank you, lord, for thattruth.
Any other thoughts, ladies?
Chalee Brown (10:55):
I just love that visual image I'm just gonna you
know he's bigger than me.
Oh, he shall.
Yes, yeah, Taking that one hometonight.
Kim McIntire (11:03):
Thank you, lord.
So very good.
Well, we hope that ourlisteners have enjoyed spending
time in Psalm 103.
And we pray that it has justgrown in you, in your heart, a
deeper desire to give thanks toGod and to praise Him, because
(11:23):
in that you will grow to deeperplaces in your relationship with
Him.
So that really concludes thetime that we're going to spend
in Psalm 103.
But we are getting ready totransition into our next lesson,
which will be Psalm 23, whichis a very familiar psalm to most
(11:46):
people.
A lot of people think of it asa funeral psalm.
We're going to find some newperspective from that today.
Would you settle yourself?
Would you just be still beforethe Lord?
We are in the studio and we gointo worship.
When we ask the listeners tojoin us, let's just say hands
(12:10):
are lifted, hearts are raisedand we aren't singing into the
microphone, but we are singingfrom our hearts.
So we would ask you just enterin to worship today with us.
Song (12:43):
The Lord is my shepherd.
There's nothing I need.
You lead me to the safestplaces.
You lead me to the safestplaces To walk in the meadow and
lie by the stream.
You meet me in the quiet places.
Charity DeGonia (13:07):
You meet me in the quiet places, your goodness
and your mercy Will follow meAll the days of my life, all the
days of my life, and I'll dwellin your house for eternity.
(13:31):
I'll be there by your side.
I'll be there by your side.
Song (13:46):
Though I walk through the valley, the shadow of death, I
don't have to fear no evil, forI know that you are with me With
oil of blessing.
You covered my head, you filledme to overflowing.
(14:09):
My cup is overflowing.
Charity DeGonia (14:15):
Your goodness and your mercy will follow me
All the days of my life, all thedays of my life, all the days
of my life, and I'll dwell inyour house for eternity.
I'll be there by your side.
(14:38):
I'll be there by your side Allthe days of my life, all the
days of my life.
Song (15:13):
You prepare a table before me, right in front of my
enemies.
You're the shepherd of my soul.
You lead me in the rightdirection, my comfort and my
protection.
Charity DeGonia (15:32):
You're the shepherd of my soul.
You'll be a table before me,right in front of my soul.
You lead me in my rightdirection.
(15:55):
My comfort and my protection.
You're the shepherd of my soul.
Your goodness and your mercywill follow me All the days of
my life, all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in your house
(16:23):
for eternity.
I'll be there by your side.
I'll be there by your side Allthe days of my life, all the
days of my life.
I'll be there by your side, allthe days of my life.
Chalee Brown (17:02):
Lord, we come to you in the name of Jesus.
We thank you that your word isliving and active, god, that it
pierces our souls.
God, that it brings healing,that it brings wisdom, that it
brings truth, that it bringsunderstanding.
God, we ask that you wouldglorify your name in our
(17:24):
understanding.
Father, as we seek you throughyour word, as the listeners seek
you through your word that youwould be lifted up.
We know that as Jesus is liftedup, you will draw all men to
yourself.
So, father, we ask that youwould do that tonight, and we
thank you that we get togetherto think on your word and be
(17:44):
transformed by it.
And it's in the name of theLord, jesus Christ, that we pray
.
Amen, amen.
Kim McIntire (17:50):
Amen.
Psalm 23 is such a relationaltext and I would encourage all
of our listeners to read John,chapter 10, verses 1 through 5,
which is about the good shepherdand hearing the good shepherd's
(18:10):
voice.
These two marry beautifully,they just are beautifully knit
together.
But what I want to talk about,before we go into that scripture
, is the value of relationship,because I feel that's so
foundational to this model ofJesus the Good Shepherd.
(18:33):
So we're human, so weunderstand human relationship,
and as we're just around thistable with our coffee cups and
we're just, you know, here assisters, let's talk about the
value of relationship.
What makes relationship arelationship valuable?
Laurel Wike (18:57):
Oh, there's lots Like where do I start on my list
?
But honestly I think somethingthat's huge is that it's mutual,
like it's mutual, like it's notone-sided.
We all have people that we'vehad in our lives before where
they come, and they only comewhen they want something.
But a good relationship is onethat's mutual.
You know that they're alwaysthere for you and vice versa,
that you can be there for them.
Chalee Brown (19:18):
That's good, and so to go with that, I would say
I put down that it's life-giving.
Yeah, that good and not justlife-giving one side of it.
Now there are situations whereyou are pouring into somebody,
like as a mentor, You'rementoring them, but overall just
life-giving in their speech,just in the way that you treat
(19:38):
each other.
Yeah, I like that.
Laurel Wike (19:41):
It's very mutual, but I'm going to piggyback on
that that life-giving is whatChrist calls us to when we're
encouraging one another.
Chalee Brown (19:47):
Yeah, it's true, and obviously trust and a
foundation of all of that.
Laurel Wike (19:53):
Yes, yeah, humility , I think, is big.
You know, if you can come withhumility to one another or have
humility with somebody and hey,you hurt me, or hey, I didn't
like this, or I didn'tunderstand what you said, and
come in a way like I know that Ican trust them well enough that
I can come and tell them thisand it will be, you know, not
received with a defensive spirit, exactly, exactly.
Chalee Brown (20:17):
Transparency and being vulnerable, somebody that
I can emotionally relax around.
There's no striving.
There's no striving, there's no.
You know, we know that as womentoo, we can fall into this.
There's no competitiveness.
There's no comparing, there'sno, and it kind of goes back to
(20:38):
like when you're lifting eachother up, like if that's your
focus, then you're not going tohave that stuff Right.
Kim McIntire (20:42):
You know Right what about communication?
I mean, some of what you guyshave said really is about
communication.
Yeah, right.
Chalee Brown (20:55):
I think communicating to or listening to
truly hear what the otherperson's saying, not just
waiting your turn to talk andyou can always tell in a
relationship when someone'struly there to hear what you're
saying rather than just waitingfor their turn.
Kim McIntire (21:13):
Yeah, because there's listening, and there's
listening with the heart,there's listening to know, right
.
So in some relationships youcan just tell when the person's
asking you a question they wantto be in the know more than they
want to be in tune with yourheart.
And so those really valuablerelationships are people that
(21:37):
they just want to know yourheart and there's not really an
agenda or a motive, right.
It's truly just a care for youas a person.
Chalee Brown (21:47):
That's good and not having any preconceived
ideas, like when you said askingto know something, maybe to
know information, but like ifI'm talking to Charity and I'm
asking her something, I don'talready have something in my
mind about where I think sheshould go or what I think her
intentions are or what hermotives are.
I think that that is a bigthing too not putting things on
other people, but actually liketo speak to what you said,
(22:09):
listening to see what theirheart is on whatever you're
talking about.
Kim McIntire (22:14):
Yeah, that's good.
What about?
Laurel Wike (22:15):
time, that's a big one.
Yeah, I mean, if you're notgoing to spend time with someone
, then you don't have arelationship, right?
Whether it's time communicating, time listening time just
together to have coffee orwhatever.
There is no relationship withouttime and I honestly think that
time I define time differently.
(22:36):
You know Time sending a quicktext can be valuable, but truly
being intentional with your timeto be present, kind of like the
listening thing that you'retalking about, like just
removing distractions and sayingthis is the time that I'm going
to spend talking to you, aboutlistening, you know, to your
heart, like you're saying, butit does take that removing
(22:59):
everything else that's happeningin that time that you're going
to give to that person.
I know that I feel morevaluable when somebody's talking
to me or listening to me andthey're not on their phones, you
know, or there's nothing elsegoing on that's distracting them
, or you know that's when I feelvalued.
Kim McIntire (23:15):
Yeah, don't you love.
I've had this happen a fewtimes and I feel just like you,
so valued.
I love it when I'm with someoneand they're like, oh, hang on a
second, let me silence my phone, and then they put it away.
And you're just literally,because that's so rare in our
culture that someone willsilence their phone and put it
away for the hour that you'rewith them.
(23:35):
And when someone does that, I'mlike, wow, I can tell
automatically I'm valued by thatperson because they don't want
distractions in our timetogether.
And so all of these things thatwe've shared listening time,
mutuality, trust I'm forgettingsome, grace, grace All of these
(23:59):
are so important to havevaluable relationship.
Important to have valuablerelationship.
How much more so should thesefactors be true in our
relationship with our Creator.
God and I'm just going to reallychallenge our listeners.
And, yeah, how often are wewilling to silence or power off
(24:28):
our phone to be listening andpresent with the Lord?
How many times are we willingto give time to our Creator on a
consistent basis?
This isn't legalism.
(24:49):
We would never call it legalismif we made a daily appointment
to talk to our husband, but howquick are we to say it's
legalism if we have anappointment with God every day
that we refuse to haveinterrupted?
Right, because it's thatimportant?
So it's all about the pursuit ofa relationship and it's not
like this requirement or a law,it's like this is a valuable
(25:13):
part, the most valuable part ofmy life is my relationship with
the Lord, my communion with Him.
I won't compromise listening.
I won't compromise trust.
I want the Lord to trust mebecause I know I can trust Him.
I want the Lord to know he hasmy attention.
(25:34):
I want the Lord to know that mylove for Him is mutual.
It's not just Him loving me, Iwant to love Him in return.
Yeah, all of these things andmore make up a valuable
relationship with the GoodShepherd, and so we really want
(25:57):
to just impress upon listenersthat to walk in a relationship
of fellowship and intimacy whereyou hear the Lord will require
time and attention and listening.
They are non-negotiables,actually, and the reason I can
(26:20):
say this is because I did it theother way for so so long I did
it with distraction, lack offocus, lack of attention, lack
of time of focus, lack ofattention, lack of time.
I would not trade what I knownow about the Lord for anything
on this earth.
You know, anyone want to speakinto this time element,
(26:42):
listening element that we'retalking about now.
Chalee Brown (26:45):
Yeah, well, just you said this one specific word
and I just wanted to take it onestep further, just for the
listeners and for us, because Iknow when this person said it, I
was just like wow, yeah, that'sso obvious.
When you said the wordappointment, I know that we have
a leader in our life that theyactually will use that to people
(27:06):
Like this is an appointment onmy calendar, like it literally
sounds like it's a meeting thathas been planned that they will
not like they make it just asimportant as like if they had a
work meeting, and so just totake it to that level of not
just like casually saying, okay,I have time with the Lord, you
know an appointment, but likeactually making it to that level
(27:26):
of urgency that we say like,and not even having to explain
yourself, you know, I think justit's so important to us that we
would put it on that level.
That just really— that's reallypowerful.
Yeah, that just really hit mewhenever he shared that.
Laurel Wike (27:40):
Yeah, Well, when you started this and started
Abide and things, I liked thetime, you know, of learning or
whatever.
But then I think, when we gotto Psalm 23, that's when it
transformed.
Like I love this time, you know, like you know you have that
best friend, you cannot wait tobe with, you're like I have so
(28:01):
much fun with them and they pourinto me and all the things that
we love and value and feelvalued about.
But then when we dive intoGod's word and he meets us there
, then that time with himbecomes just as exciting.
We desire it just as much as wedesire our dates with our
friends, you know.
Or our date with our husbandsand you know.
I also heard somebody saysomething that they make
appointments with their kids,you know.
They block that time out andman, how important that is for
(28:24):
not just God, you know, not justour family.
Like everything that we value,it has to be an appointment.
Kim McIntire (28:31):
My daughter and I have a Monday appointment every
week, unless she's out of townor I am, or one of us is sick,
and it's every Monday at 11 am,until it's time to pick up
Phoenix from school.
And it's a non-negotiable andit's one reason our relationship
has grown to be what it is nowis because the priority of time.
(28:53):
So, as we just go through thistext, our prayer for listeners
is if you are not already inrelationship and relationship is
different from believing inJesus it really is.
So there are people who believein Jesus and go to church, and
(29:16):
that's great.
But then there are people whobelieve in Jesus and follow
Jesus and pursue Him inrelationship.
That's so much better.
That's the next level andthat's what we're praying over
our listeners.
So, as we go through this psalm,charity's going to read Psalm
23 aloud for us, but at thispoint we've introduced six key
(29:37):
words Know, lord.
What do you want me to know?
Obey, holy Spirit, is thereconviction in this chapter?
Are you convicting me of sin,that I need to confess and
repent of Confess?
No, obey, I skipped one.
Sorry, obey, lord, what are youcalling me to?
(29:58):
Obey, declare, what truth can Ideclare over my life?
And then giving thanks andpraising.
At this point, in Abide.
I encourage students to beusing all of those key words,
but not in an overwhelming way.
They're tools.
These words are just.
They're intended to connectyour mind and heart to the Word
(30:19):
through response.
So, but at this point, when weget to this chapter, we're
really trying to apply those keywords and we'll be sharing
those at the end, as we'veresponded to the Lord through
this psalm.
So, charity, will you go aheadand lead us out?
Laurel Wike (30:33):
Yeah, the Lord is my shepherd.
I have what I need.
He lets me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my life.
He leads me along the rightpaths.
For His name's sake, even whenI go through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
(30:54):
.
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Only goodness and faithful lovewill pursue me all the days of
my life, and I will dwell in thehouse of the Lord as long as I
live.
And I will dwell in the houseof the Lord as long as I live.
Kim McIntire (31:12):
Amen, amen.
So, being guided just by thosekey words, what responses to the
Lord do we have from our heart?
Chalee Brown (31:22):
today, I'll start with no, yeah.
And there were several thingsthat jumped out at me down in
verse 6, where it says Surelyyour goodness and unfailing love
will pursue me all the days ofmy life, and I love that and
think about that a lot.
But one thing that really stoodout to me uniquely this time
(31:43):
was that that means today.
You know it's pursuing me,goodness and mercy are pursuing
me today, and I can say thatevery day.
And you know it's easy to thinkabout that in the days where
things are going well.
Yeah, but think about Psalm 91,15, where it says I will be
with you in trouble, and Hisgoodness and His mercy are still
(32:06):
pursuing us on those days thatfeel like days of trouble and he
says call to me and I willanswer you.
I will rescue you and you willhonor Me in the days of trouble.
But then also in verse 3, itsays he restores my soul.
And that little sentence spokeso much to me.
(32:26):
I have a friend who is anaturopath and she talks about
how we are a spirit, we have asoul and we live in a body and
that all three of those thingshave to be working in tandem for
optimum health.
And you know, if we flash backto where we were in Psalm 103,
we saw in, I think, verse 3 or 5, it says you forgive all my
(32:47):
sins, you heal all my diseases,right.
So forgiving sins is like oursoul, like, I mean, our spirit,
right, like justification inthat moment you heal all my
diseases, it's my body.
And then here we have in Psalm23, you restore my soul which
I've heard described as yoursoul is your mind, your will,
your intellect, your emotion.
(33:08):
And then that ties us back toColossians 3, where we started,
on week one in Abide, that, aswe, you know, set our minds on
the realities of heaven.
Then we are partnering with Godfor our soul, our mind, our
will, our intellect and ouremotions to be restored.
Kim McIntire (33:27):
Powerful, powerful .
Chalee Brown (33:31):
Awesome, good, powerful, yeah, awesome, I know.
On obey, I'll jump over to obey.
Um, it says he leads me inpaths of righteousness, but
here's was the kicker for me forhis name's sake, and you know a
prayer that's been on my heartfor however many months this has
been.
God actually spoke this to meat Rise Up 2024.
(33:52):
Come on, shout out for prayerconference.
Yes, so that was back in Augustand there was actually a word
spoken to the group and beforethe word was spoken, god spoke
this to me directly and I wroteit in my journal.
He just removed the dross, yeah.
And then there was a wordspoken that literally lined up
(34:14):
with that.
And you know, if God calls meto be refined, it's not going to
feel good, it's not alwaysgoing to feel good?
No, Right.
We don't get to pick how Godrefines us, and so you know, I
may look back, I may bemisunderstood, it may affect my
pride, it may not feel good, itmay.
(34:36):
You know.
There's so many things, butwhat the part that jumped out at
me is is God glorified.
So that's where you know it'slike you know what.
It doesn't matter if I'm beingmisunderstood in this season or
it doesn't matter if this doesnot feel good.
Right, come on.
Is God being glorified?
It's good, and that is whathe's challenging me to obey in
this.
Kim McIntire (34:56):
Obey yeah.
Laurel Wike (34:57):
That's awesome.
Kim McIntire (34:57):
That's a strong call to obedience.
Yeah, it really is, yeah.
Laurel Wike (35:02):
So I'm going to go with like a declare I know
that's not really in order, buttoday, no, it says, even when I
go through the darkest valley, Ifear no danger, for you're with
me.
And so it was kind of a confessdeclare Lord, I'm sorry that I
(35:23):
don't go to you the first timethat I hit darkness and just
struggle.
You know like sometimes we wantto be like angry about it and
we want to go talk to our friendabout it or whatever.
And really this is where thatrelationship piece comes in,
where God wants, god pursues us,and in here he's telling us to
pursue him and then he's sayingI'm with you, stop swearing.
Chalee Brown (35:44):
Hello.
Laurel Wike (35:45):
So and there's been a lot that has happened in my
life and God is so good toredeem my story and he's still
working on it and I can't waittill the end of it.
But, man, sometimes it's soeasy to jump to that fear and so
that was like, okay, lord, I'mnot coming to you in that fear.
That was my confess.
And then I declare I am goingto not fear because I'm not
(36:09):
doing this alone.
You're walking with me becauseI am pursuing Him and because he
is my best friend, because heis shepherding, he's guiding me
through of this, so I don't haveanything to fear.
Why would I do that?
Chalee Brown (36:23):
That's so good, yeah, and along the same lines
with confessing, talking aboutfear in verse one, you know
where it says the Lord is myshepherd, I have everything I
need, like, how often do weconfess the opposite of that and
that's my confession is Lord.
I have said I don't haveeverything I need.
And you know, thinking aboutthe feeding of the 5,000 in the
(36:49):
story, the disciples focused onwhat they didn't have, but the
little boy focused on what hedid have.
Oh good, that is good.
Thanks was given for it, and itwas multiplied, and what was
initially insufficient becamesufficient.
And so that's my confession,but it also becomes my
declaration of I have everythingI need, yeah also becomes my
(37:14):
declaration of I have everythingI need.
Yeah, you know, the declarationI actually wrote down and wanted
to share is, you know, in theend it could just stand all by
itself as a declaration right,surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of mylife and I shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever, thatI choose to see the goodness of
God.
You know, I feel like we talkedabout this in another episode
(37:36):
that the world, laurel, I thinkyou spoke to this that you know,
things can just be so negative.
It's like what do we not haveright?
What do we lack in?
And I think about theIsraelites and how God was with
them.
He was providing miraculously.
And what does the scripture say?
It says they were grumbling,you know.
(37:58):
So it's a choice.
So I choose to say thatgoodness and mercy will follow
me, that you anoint my head withoil, that my cup overflows, you
know.
And yeah, just looking at thegoodness of the Lord versus the
complaining that I could go to.
Kim McIntire (38:16):
And Shaylee, I think one reason people struggle
with the declare like, forexample, what you just said
because that declare is veryconcise, right?
So it's very easy to rein thatin Right.
But I think a lot of people getstuck in this place and this is
what I really want to challengelisteners with.
Declaring something that youdon't feel doesn't make it a lie
(38:40):
.
Chalee Brown (38:40):
Yes.
Kim McIntire (38:42):
Yeah, right, absolutely, because you may not
feel that scripture emotionally,but truthfully that's
irrelevant.
Right, because it's God's Word.
Yeah, and so what should behappening is, as we declare
God's Word and as we chooseGod's Word, the feelings
(39:04):
eventually shift.
Chalee Brown (39:06):
Yeah, that's good Right.
Kim McIntire (39:08):
And so I know.
For a long time I used tolisten to Joyce Meyer like every
day no, I'm not kidding Likefor a long time I used to listen
to Joyce Meyer like every dayno, I'm not kidding.
Like a decade ago I listened toJoyce Meyer almost every day on
TV and I remember her sayingyou're not a hypocrite or a liar
if you're speaking truth youdon't feel, because if it's
God's truth, that's a reality,that's not a lie.
(39:31):
How you feel is irrelevant, andI love the boldness of that.
You know to just tell people,say things you don't feel and
see what a difference it makes.
Yeah, surely goodness and mercywill follow me all the days of
my life.
Yeah, end of story.
Right, yes, satan, right, andmaybe let him know that.
(39:52):
Right, because he's lying to usall the time.
And it's time that we startspeaking truth to the enemy,
because that's what Jesus didwhen he came against him.
He spoke truth right back, andthat devil had to flee, right,
yeah, took more than once though, right, yeah, he kept doing it.
Yeah, by the third time thedevil's gone.
(40:17):
So I don't know.
I just really wanted to.
Just when you were saying that,I was like you say that with
such a bold confidence, but it'sbecause you practice declaring
yeah, that if it's new to you,it's not going to feel
comfortable at first.
Chalee Brown (40:24):
Right, so to speak to that a little bit.
I think that you know, theenemy really twists.
God gave us emotion, twists.
God gave us emotion, right, godgave us that.
And the enemy can really twistit to say, well, okay, I'm going
to base my day off how I feeltoday.
Well, that's not what God gaveus.
And I think about the Psalms,and how many Psalms.
It started in a place of justemotional despair.
(40:47):
And what did David or Solomonor whoever is writing that Psalm
, what did they do?
And what did David or Solomonor whoever is writing that psalm
, what did they do?
They spoke to their spirit andthey said get up, know that the
goodness of the Lord is here.
So I mean just the realness andthe rawness of like seeing that
in the psalms and being likeyou know what?
There's a spiritual giant.
You know, and just you know wecan get control of our emotions
(41:10):
and they don't have to rule us.
But God has given them to usfor a reason and they can be
used for good.
Kim McIntire (41:17):
Yeah, it's true.
Yeah, it's very true, wow.
Laurel Wike (41:21):
Other thoughts.
I'm just going to throw athanks and praise in there,
because we haven't hit that awhole lot.
But at the end of verse four itsays your rod and your staff.
They comfort me.
I studied a little bit of theshepherd, right, and I know we
do that a little bit, talkingabout this too and John 10 hits
on it.
But the rod and the staff isthe authority, and that's the
authority that God gives us towalk in, and sometimes we don't
(41:44):
remember that we have thatauthority that God has given us
to.
So you know, through all ofthese things, he's saying I'm
your shepherd and you haveaccess to that authority.
And I'm like thank you, god,that you have given us access
and I can access.
It's an easy access too, right,he's right there, and so I just
think I'm so thankful for thatauthority.
But then when he comforts me,he's not just comforting me and
(42:06):
giving me a pat on the back, hegives me strength and peace, man
, that only comes from Him,right.
So I'm just so grateful forthat that he's not just walking
with me, he's giving meauthority and peace, so true.
Chalee Brown (42:22):
Yeah, that's really good.
Kim McIntire (42:23):
My praise and thanks is I'm so thankful the
Lord guides me and gives me rest.
He leads me, restores anddirects and protects me, anoints
me, and His goodness and mercyoverflows.
It's up to me to receive itright.
Open hand, open heart unto theLord.
(42:44):
He's pouring it out.
I have to decide whether Ireceive it or not, so that means
being in agreement with Him.
So that's my praise and mythanks that all through Psalm 23
, we see who God is, but we alsosee what he does, and it's
beautiful.
Any thoughts before we moveinto prayer practice?
Chalee Brown (43:04):
Yeah, just talking about resting and rest is
actually my word for this yearand really enjoying that word.
But it's interesting Again.
We've talked about beforereading in different
translations and this verse 2,where one translation New Living
(43:27):
says he lets me rest in greenmeadows, says he lets me rest in
green meadows but ESV, which ismore of a word for word, is he
makes me lie down in greenpastures.
And you know, sometimes we needthat, we need that little like
nope.
We're doing this right now.
You know, and I've heard itsaid, that if you don't make
time for rest you'll have tomake time for sickness.
(43:49):
And you know, Sabbath is God'sgift to us and our culture
doesn't embrace that.
Well, but when we look at thefruit of not embracing it, His
gift to us, it's destruction inour lives.
You know, it's true, and so Iam embracing that and that's
(44:11):
actually my.
My obey is to lie down in greenpastures.
You know, we often think oflike God is going to tell me to
do this hard thing or this hardthing, but sometimes he's like,
hey, just chill out for a minute.
Laurel Wike (44:24):
Yeah for sure.
My favorite one is the PassionVersion, which I'm going to read
in just a second.
But that one says he offers aresting place, and then that, to
me, goes back to what Kim wassaying is we have to embrace it.
It's an obedience, right.
He's saying here, it is for you, are you going to do it?
Are you going to take it?
Are you going to obey?
Yeah, go ahead, charity, allright.
(44:46):
So this is the passion version,and this was one of the first
times that I started looking atdifferent versions, and this one
spoke to my soul, where I wasjust like, oh my gosh, this is
where God connected me to Hisheart in a way that I'm not just
looking for a father like.
(45:07):
He's more than that, and you'llhear that here.
It says Yahweh, which I thinkmost everybody knows.
That's the breath, that's theair in our lungs.
Right, he's my best friend andmy shepherd.
I always have more than enough.
He offers a resting place for mein His luxurious love.
(45:29):
His tracks take me to an oasisof peace near the quiet brook of
bliss.
That's where he restores mysoul and revives my life.
He opens before me the rightpath and he leads me along in
His footsteps of righteousness,so that I can bring honor to His
(45:50):
name, Even when your path takesme through the valley of
deepest darkness.
Fear will never conquer me,because you already have your
authority, is my strength and mypeace.
The comfort of your love takesaway my fear.
I'll never be lonely, for youare near.
You become my delicious feast.
(46:12):
Even when my enemies dare tofight, you anoint me with the
fragrance of the Holy Spirit.
You give me all I can drinkuntil my cup overflows.
So why would I fear the future?
Only goodness and tender lovepursue me all the days of my
life.
Then afterward, when my life isthrough, I'll return to your
(46:35):
glorious presence to forever bewith you.
Kim McIntire (46:41):
And if that's not an invitation to relationship, I
do not know what is.
And our encouragement, this isCharity, shaley Laurel's heart
as well.
Be in relationship with yourCreator, give Him time, be
(47:02):
encouraged by Him, let Him holdyou accountable.
That's healthy, that's a gift.
To be accountable to ourCreator.
Give Him time to listen and letHim speak.
Be present as he is presentwith you.
(47:23):
Don't be distracted by all thecares in the world.
The most important appointmentis your appointment with God,
and we can all attest to this.
It has radically changed ourlives.
I've watched you guys over thepast couple of years and it's
(47:48):
incredibly humbling that theLord has allowed me to even do
this journey with you, becauseyou all have said I've learned
so much.
But the truth is I've learnedso much as, I quote, teach and
pour out.
But you guys have taught andpoured out to me, and that's the
beauty of community andsisterhood.
(48:10):
And so, listeners, we are sograteful that you're part of
this community of Abide, but ifyou are anywhere close to the
Joplin area, when there isanother session open and just
continue to look back at ourwebsite, we would invite you to
join an in-person class.
But until then, stick with uson Abide on the podcast.
(48:36):
We're going to talk about theprayer practice now.
This is a little trickier to doin the studio because when we
do it in class, we're practicinglistening to the Lord, which
requires period of silence,patience, and so together we
would just pray with a partnerand we would listen to the Holy
(48:58):
Spirit and, as the Lord wouldspeak to us, we would pray over
our prayer partner and then theywould do the same for us.
What are some experiences thatyou guys had when we did that?
Does anyone want to share?
Go ahead, shailene.
Chalee Brown (49:13):
I think that for me, a big component that the
Lord had to kind of stop me inmy tracks was in humility, and I
kind of have just a littlestory with it.
Again, back to the.
I'm telling you guys, it'sreally powerful, if you have a
chance to go to Rise Up 2025, bethere.
So this actually happened atRise Up 2024.
(49:35):
And it was really short, it wasnot a huge interaction and that
was kind of the point of it.
I had walked up to the altar andI had been in prayer and I was
just on my way back from thealtar and a leader that I highly
respect was nearby and as Iwalked by she stopped me and she
said she had a word for me andshe literally spoke one.
(50:01):
I think she spoke like one shortsentence and what really
impacted me with that, incombination with what Kim had
been teaching us with listeningto the Lord, is the humility of
like not trying to speak allthis grand wisdom, just speak
(50:22):
what the Lord is saying, and so,just that she could, like stop
me in that moment, speak thatone sentence or whatever, let it
be and not add to it, becausethat's what she felt.
That really impacted me.
And then being in our setting,you know, with Kim in the Abide
class, I think just the Lordreally honored that me stepping
(50:43):
back and saying, lord, I onlywant to speak what you have.
So I know that when we willpray for somebody at the end,
that was another kind ofcomponent and we were all kind
of praying and we would justkind of jump in as the Lord
spoke and just to be able to say, okay, I'm just speaking this
one short phrase that the HolySpirit just spoke, and then I'm
pausing, and then maybe in a fewminutes he gave me something
(51:05):
else, but being okay with thatand leaving it there because
that really was the word fromthe Lord.
So that I was my biggesttakeaway from just growing in
this prayer practice.
Kim McIntire (51:17):
Amen, and also being okay with silence, right,
because I would just be likesometimes the Lord speaks very
directly, sometimes he's silentand that's okay.
It's still important to pressin and listen Anyone else?
Laurel Wike (51:36):
Yeah.
So when we were doing this withyour Bide group and like what
Chaley was talking about we prayover, I was not bold in my
prayers.
I was actually very much like Idon't know what to say.
I kept thinking I don't knowwhat words or whatever.
And so when we did this listenthe first time and we prayed, I
was trying to listen and so Igot literally one word that kept
(52:00):
coming and I was like, okay, isthat you, lord?
And then somebody else spokethe exact same word and I was
like, okay, that's confirmation,when somebody else is speaking
a word, that you are.
So again, you know I'm listeningand I finally had the boldness
to speak out and somebody else,almost the exact same time, said
the same thing.
So there's no way that you know,it was like it was just the
(52:22):
Holy Spirit and the power of theHoly Spirit.
And so then you gain that holyconfidence of God is giving that
to me, knowing that I need thatyou know, to speak in that
boldness and to listen and toknow that I'm hearing His voice.
Sometimes it's easier to hearHis voice when we're in His Word
.
You know, it was easier for meat first to hear it in His Word
because I'm like that isrelational and it's personal.
(52:43):
But then when we're prayingover somebody else and then I
will never forget praying oversomebody at church and I heard
something that wasn't reallywhat I thought was applicable
and when we got done she waslike that's exactly what it was
and her healing came.
So that was the first time thatI had prayed over somebody and
I'll never forget it becausethat was where God met me and I
(53:05):
was listening to what he saidand I had the boldness to speak.
Kim McIntire (53:08):
What I was hearing and I love that you had been
practicing.
Laurel Wike (53:12):
Yes, listening.
Kim McIntire (53:14):
Because when you're practicing the listening
is when you get very good athearing.
But when you're not practicingthe listening, I hear so many
people say the Lord just doesn'tspeak to me.
How do you hear from the Lordall the time?
This is how I hear from theLord.
First, in the Word.
Time in the Word I will sayevery day.
It's not a legalism thing forme, it's a desire from my heart.
(53:35):
Second, by just being quiet andletting him talk.
A lot of people just don't wantto take time to be silent for
five minutes, but wow, if you'lldo that and let it increase
over time, sometimes, though,he'll speak in 30 seconds.
I don't have to wait fiveminutes.
So anyway anybody else before wejust go?
Chalee Brown (53:54):
Yeah, I'll just share a story of a time where I
was sitting with two other womenand we were listening and I was
actually in a season where Ihad kind of walked through some
things and was coming to a placewhere I felt like there was
going to be some resolution inthis situation and the church
(54:17):
had been in a 21-day fast and Iwas like at the end of the
21-day fast, I am taking action,like I know what I am going to
do, right, I'm like, unless theLord says something else, right,
but I really felt at peace andI didn't feel like the Lord was
going to say something else.
So it's day 21, sitting withthese ladies and neither of them
(54:41):
really knew the situation, andthey got the same word.
One got the word timing andanother one got the word no time
limit and I was like, oh, dangit, because I just knew in that
moment I was like the Lord waslike you're so cute that you
have your plans, but that's notmy plan.
(55:02):
I'm like, really, you had towait till day 21?
Like I'm going to do thistomorrow, right?
But I think that also justreally speaks to you.
Know, many are the plans in aman's heart but the counsel of
the Lord, it will stand.
And if we are willing to wait,like because I really thought
(55:22):
like I had a peace about what Iwas going to do, I'd prayed
about it, like, but I gave theLord time and I'm so thankful
for Churchwide Fasts, but hespoke, and he spoke so clearly
and I just knew and I was likeokay, okay, and I think that's
part of the beauty of justtaking those times.
I mean, what a gift to have acircle of friends, that this is
(55:46):
what we do for fun.
It is.
We talked about that on thedrive over Our fun is ministry
yeah.
Important on the drive over.
Our fun is ministry, yeah, so Ijust wanted to bring one more
thing back around really quickly, because I know for me to
digest this.
I'm just kind of speaking tothe listeners.
I love that you're using theword prayer practice, right,
(56:06):
because you know it'sinteresting.
We were just in Psalm 23, andhere we're talking about the
shepherd right and a shepherd,shepherd, sheep right.
So then another part of thescripture it says the sheep know
my voice, right?
So, as you talk about this in aprayer practice, I just want to
speak to anybody who'sstruggling with that, who, like,
(56:28):
might be thinking about thingsabout the Lord as, like you know
, they feel embarrassed or theyfeel awkward or they feel like,
oh, I'm less spiritual because,whatever these are practices,
these are things that, like, weall can have a weakness in if
we're not practicing them.
So I just wanted to take awaythat element of like that the
Lord just comes over us on dayone and, just like you know, we
(56:50):
have a part in that.
You know, the Bible says that weco-labor with the Lord, and so
I just wanted to speak to thefact that, like it doesn't take
away from the spiritual side ofit, like that you're saying that
it is a practice, Right, Ithink it's just walking with the
Lord, abiding with the Lord andgrowing from glory to glory.
Laurel Wike (57:07):
Absolutely Well, and I think it's Hebrews where
he talks about the discipline,and we don't like the word
discipline, but I mean, youthink about running a 5K.
You can't get off the couch andrun a 5K in the same day.
It's the same thing with arelationship.
I'm not best friends with thatperson because I met them today.
It's because I'm spending timeand I'm learning about them, and
(57:28):
so it's the same thing with ourprayer.
It's the communication that welearn how to communicate with
people.
Not everybody's the same,you're right.
So it's exactly what you'retalking about.
We're practicing and we'redisciplining ourselves.
It's not legalism, it's love,it's a love language, it's a
desire, it's a pursuit of Him,because he pursues us, but we're
(57:50):
learning from Him, and thatdiscipline is that race that we
run to get there.
Kim McIntire (57:56):
Yeah, and it's really driven by love.
Yeah, and we just want everyoneto be able to grasp it so they
can experience the joy of it.
Oh yeah.
Because there is joy in Hispresence.
There is fullness of joy, psalm1611, one of my favorite verses
At His right hand there arepleasures forevermore.
(58:17):
So when I taught this in class,we were praying with partners,
listening and being still so.
I would encourage all thelisteners to sit in silence this
week.
Get alone with the Lord, if youaren't already doing that.
Listening is part of therelationship.
Listen to His voice through HisWord, listen to His voice
(58:41):
through silence, and then bedelighted by what he speaks.
Even if it's difficult things,there's purpose and the purpose
is always going to be good.
So any other thoughts before wepray?
Ladies, okay, we're ready topray.
Father.
God, thank you for thisopportunity to just pour over
(59:05):
the pages of Scripture to gleantruth and encouragement, hope,
strength from your Word.
You are the good shepherd.
We pray that every listenerwill come into a personal,
intimate relationship with you.
(59:26):
God.
We ask right now, through thepower of your Holy Spirit, god,
that you would stir up hearts tospend time with you, that there
would be many God appointmentson calendars this week and in
the coming weeks.
Lord of 2025.
We pray for our listeners tohear your voice speak, as they
(59:48):
set aside time for silence.
God, we pray that your namewould be honored and glorified
through this podcast.
Lord, filter our words, thatonly what the Spirit would speak
would be heard by the listeners.
We love you.
(01:00:08):
We love you, lord.
We praise your name.
We thank you that you speak.
Speak to us, us speak throughus.
Help us abide in you as youabide in us.
For apart from you, father, wecan do nothing, and it is in the
(01:00:31):
holy and powerful name of KingJesus that we pray.
Amen.
Thank you, ladies, for beinghere again for Abide.
Thank you for listening today.
Be sure to check us out on ourwebsite at itstimetoriseuporg,
(01:00:52):
where you will find our socialmedia links.
Time to rise uporg, where youwill find our social media links
.
May the grace and peace of ourLord Jesus Christ be with you in
Jesus mighty name.
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