hello and welcome everyone.

I am Pastor Sheri Morris speaking to you from Saldana, Alaska and I want to sincerely welcome you to, today is a good day to have a good day. Joining me today is my brother David Ansel and this year,

we are honored once again to take you through the Bible,

through this, it's going to be great. Yes. A daily devotional. Yes. And we're going to take you through the Bible this year, so it's going to be a powerful time. Amen, I'm so happy to have all of you joining us today.

It's a wonderful time. Amen. And the word of God. Amen.

I hope that some of you who joined us yesterday, day one, are back today and just let people know. Yeah. This is something that is going to change your life. Praise God. And we are going to just have the time of our life. Amen. Walking through this. We love doing this, don't we, Dave? This is one of our favorite things we have done. We have done this devotional a couple of years ago together

and it was just so powerful and so many lives were changed and people saved. And that's what it's all about is when people give their hearts to Jesus to me.

That's the most important thing in all the world.

And it's just an honor to be able to talk about Jesus anyway. Yes, it is. Amen. So it's going to be good. Dave, why don't you say a prayer and we'll get our day started. And get your notebooks out. Amen. Get your Bible. Get your cup of coffee. And let's get ready to have a Bible study this morning. Amen. Amen. All right.

Heavenly Father. Thank you, Lord. I thank you, God, today for this time in your word. Thank you, Jesus. Father, I ask that you hide it in our heart so we might not sin against you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Father, for each and every one that is with us today. Thank you, Lord.

God, just let your Holy Spirit-- Yes, Lord. Penetrate the room or the car or wherever they might be, Father.

Let them know, Father, that you are always with us. You will never leave us or forsake us. Father, open up your word in a way that you've never opened to be poured to us. As we go through your word this year, God, let it become alive. Yes, Lord. In the mighty name of Jesus, I pray. Hallelujah. Amen.

Today is a good day. Today is a good day. To have a good day. Amen.

Wow. And no matter where you might be viewing from, it might be your morning. It may be your evening. Maybe your night. But today is a good day. Have a good day. And how we're doing this, we're just on a one-year Bible program.

And I'm just going to be giving you a Old Testament and a New Testament.

And Pastor Sherry is going to be walking you through the psalm of the day. And I will be taking you through the proverbs of the day. So if you're ready and you've got your pens and paper and you're ready to take notes and be a studier of the Bible,

here we go. Here we go. You're in Genesis. You'll be reading in Genesis starting at chapter 3, verses 1 through chapter 4, verse 26.

And in the New Testament, Matthew, you're now in chapter 2,

starting in verse 13, reading through chapter 3 to verse 6.

And today, Pastor is going to take us into the second chapter of Psalms verses

Amen. So we're going to do-- I'm going to just do verses 1 and 2, and then I'll do a comment about those verses.

The Bible says,

Psalm chapter 2, verse 1, why are the nations restless and the peoples plotting in vain?

The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, let's tear their shackles apart and throw their ropes away from us. So I'm going to go into the commentary. This is Perry Stone's Bible commentary.

The Hebrew word translated heathen here, which is--

I believe that that one is probably specifically in the New King James Version, where he says, why do the heathen rage? We're talking about the nations. Why are the nations restless?

Here is the Hebrew word, is goyim, and is often transferred as the nations, as nations,

specifically non-Jewish nations of Gentiles, especially those surrounding Israel.

Later among the Hebrews, the word Gentile-- listen to this--

synonymous with the word goyim, note that the people imagine a vain thing. The Hebrew word translated as imagine is haga, which was the same word yesterday when we read in Psalm 1, chapter 1, verse 2, for meditating on a thought.

The nations surrounding Israel were meditating on how to destroy God's anointed.

The word used anointed here is mashiach,

which is a word used to identify the Messiah.

So now we're going to move on down to verse 5 and 6.

And then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them in his fury, saying, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. I will announce the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have fathered you. So David captured the stronghold of Zion in Samuel, 2 Samuel, chapter 5 and 7, the largest of the southern hills where the city of the Jebusites were built.

And it was located outside the southern wall of the old city of Jerusalem.

Later, David constructed a tent on Mount Zion. And you can read that in 1 Chronicles, chapter 15, 1, bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and housing the sacred article inside the tent he prepared, as in 1 Chronicles, chapter 16, 1. Thus God had set his king upon the holy hill of Zion. Amen. In verse 7, this verse is quoted twice, one in Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 5, and also in Hebrews, chapter 5, verse 5. And we will read it again.

The Bible says, I will announce the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have fathered you.

So notice the word son is used to identify the Messiah as Christ was called the Son of God. You can see that in Matthew, chapter 8, verses 29. Also in 1433, Matthew 27, verse 54. Mark, chapter 1, verse 1. Mark, chapter 3, verse 11. And Luke, chapter 1, verse 35. The term begotten is also used from a Hebrew word meaning to give birth to a child. And used in the New Testament when Jesus is called the only begotten of the Father in John, chapter 1, verse 14. The phrase only begotten refers to only born.

So now we're going to go into verse 8. And the Bible says, ask it of me, and I will certainly give the nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession. Now when the Messiah comes, we're going to read here,

King, when Messiah becomes king and sets his throne in Jerusalem,

he will be king over all the earth and all the nations will be under his dominion. Thus, he will inherit the heathen Gentile nations. Now we're going to go to verse 9. "You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall shatter them like earthen ware."

So the promise of the Messiah here is with a rod of iron is found in both the Testaments in Isaiah, chapter 11, verse 4. "The rod is the words of the Messiah's mouth that slay the wicked." So the rod is considered his mouth. The same imagery is used in Revelation, chapter 19, verse

where his mouth, Christ, will smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron. So here, David says that the Messiah will break them in pieces like a clay vessels that is smashed with a rod.

This refers to breaking the power-- I like this. This refers to breaking the power, the influence, and the will of the nations causing them to submit to the Messiah. Now let's go down to verse 10.

"Now when you kings use insight, let yourselves be instructed, you judges of the earth." And then it goes on to verse 11. We'll go ahead and read down. "Serve the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling." So verses 10 and 11, "Wisdom and instruction should be basis for all decisions made among leaders."

Verse 11, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

And you can read that also in Psalm chapter 111, verse 10. The Hebrew word translated as rejoice here is G-I-Y-L. And means to spin around with emotion or to spin in a circle. Rejoice. Reminds me of the songs when we sing, "This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." Means to jump up and spin around. "When we come worship the Lord, you don't have to sit quiet. You can give all your praise. You can worship God with your body, soul, mind, and spirit. And you can just get with it. Amen?" That's right. "Praise the Lord. In the Hebrew thought to rejoice does not simply mean to be happy in the Lord. Rejoicing is accompanied by response, such as shouting, spinning, or even dancing." Can I hear an amen out there? So one more, and we're going to go. The Bible says in verse 12, "Kiss the son that he not be angry and you perish on the way. For his wrath may be kindled quickly. How blessed are all those who take refuge in him," which I think is powerful. So the son here is the King Messiah, the begotten son, and the one who rules with a rod of iron. Kiss is customary in ancient times to kiss a close friend on the cheek, or kiss the ring or hand of the king or leader as a sign of great honor. Those who will not honor Christ in the millennium will experience forms of judgments on their nations. And you can read that in Zechariah chapter 14, verses 17 and 18. All right, Dave, that was a lot. Wow.

But you got a lot. You might have to go back and watch this.

Isn't that amazing how each and every verse is so powerful? Praise the Lord. One at a time. So it's a wonderful thank you, Pastor, for that. I'm going to be taking you into Proverbs chapter 1, verses 7 through 9. I love these verses. OK. I want to hear them. I want to hear them. So starting in verse 7, "The fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

Verse 8, "My child, listen when your father corrects you,

and don't neglect your mother's instruction, what you learn from them will crown you with grace

and be a chain of honor around your neck." Amen. Now, there's so much to be said about this. But in Perry Stone's commentary, "The foundation stone of all wisdom is to fear the Lord.

Those who fear the Lord follow his instruction." Praise God.

Now, I remember growing up, I asked my father,

because I didn't understand what the fear of the Lord was. And I needed to be simply broke down for me. And what he said to me has lasted for my lifetime.

And simply what he said, "If you don't understand, fear of the Lord."

He said, "Son,

to fear the Lord is to hate sin like God hates sin."

Now, why does God hate sin? I know.

Because the wages of sin is death. Separate you. And it separates you from the love of God.

And so as you take hold of this scripture verse today, the fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge.

There's a reason why God wants you to get his word in your heart and grow an understanding of his word, because he means to bless you in everything that you do. And sin will keep the blessing from you.

So stay in the word and let God guide you each and every day of your life and live in the blessing of the Lord. We must learn to fear the Lord is the first step of your life.

Gain wisdom. Get into the word. Stay into the word.

Learn how much God loves you. And as you go through his word, you're going to fall in love with him. Praise God. Amen.

Amen. Amen. I love that. I love that. So Dave, we're going to go into devotion. Are you ready? I'm ready. I'm ready, too. Ready, set, go. We're going to talk about being safe.

And this is a really good scripture. Psalm 91 verses 1 through 4. Do you want to read it? Love to.

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This I declare about the Lord. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety. He is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and your protection. Amen. Amen. Amen. I've been doing a study on The Secret Place, which I love.

There's a great book out there, The Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorgi, which is just really powerful if you need to get that book if you haven't.

But throughout the Bible, we find references to the secret place of God. And there's a physical and spiritual protection and provision, David, in this place. So this isn't a place you must--

you're going to just march up to God and say, I'm here. Let me in.

You only gain access to God's secrets by spending time with him, by building a close relationship with him.

It's so good, David. So the psalmist declares that his dwelling is in the secret place under the shadow of the Almighty.

Amen. Praise God, Dave.

Amen.

He declares that the Lord is his refuge. Amen. And for those who have made him their refuge, there is nothing to fear.

I'm going to look up a scripture, David, and I'll let you-- I know. It's so good. A statement that was. For those who have made him their refuge, there is nothing to fear.

In Romans chapter 8 verses 38 and 39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,

nor any powers, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God." Isn't that so good? That is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

The Bible speaks so clearly about when you pray.

The Bible says to go into your room. Yes. And when you do that, to shut your door.

And pray to your father who is in the secret place. And your father who sees in secret will reward you. That's what the Bible says. So we're talking about a place that you're setting your time apart every day to spend time with him. And when you do, he loves it. He's already waiting for you. Yes. And David, I was thinking about this not too long ago, is that when you plan a date to do something that was someone

and they cancel it,

sometimes it's so disappointing.

Sometimes that happens. I mean, some people get stood up, but not a lot. But I feel like sometimes God is waiting for us in that secret place. And sometimes he feels stood up because he's just waiting for us. And when we make time, we take a pattern out of our day saying, I'm going to go spend time with the Lord, he's waiting there. He's already in the secret place. He's already there. So you just go to that secret place. You shut the door and say, I'm here. I'm ready to spend time with you, which is so, so powerful. Yes.

The secret place is not meant to be a place of visitation. It's meant to be a place of habitation. Amen.

We're meant to live in the shadow of the Almighty.

We are meant to dwell in his rest.

Many Christians have either ignored the existence of this place or have counted the cost too high. Yeah, come on. If you want to live in the shadow of the Almighty, if you want to dwell in the secret place, you have to set yourself apart. That's it. Once you enter into this place, you will know that the price was ever so worth it. Yeah, that's the truth, Dave.

Being set apart, it's not always easy to be set apart because you have to make time to be with the Lord.

You give up other things a lot of times just to spend time with him. But if you want to be set apart to be used for a service, you have to make time to be with the Lord.

And so it's a price worth it. The Bible says to take up your cross and follow me. That's right. And a lot of people want to just--

they think that ministry or living for God is going to be easy and simple.

And if it doesn't feel good all the time, then maybe I'm out of the will of God or I'm this or that. And so I might be speaking to someone out there. I don't know. But when you take that time and say, Father, I'm going to give my life to you for a specific ministry as well,

you have to recognize that Jesus said,

you're going to have to pick up your cross just like I picked up the cross. But he made the decision in the Garden of Gethsemane. That's where he made the decision because he asked the Lord three times, could you take this cup?

And God said, you have to take the cup. This is something that you're going to have to do. So I believe he took everything on there in the Garden, just like the scapegoat where the priests had to lay all the sins on the head of the scapegoat. I believe that all the sins of the world were really placed on Jesus then. And I believe he had to make that decision at that moment. That's what I feel.

There was a time that I was in Israel at a time. And I was in the Garden of Gethsemane. And I could see the Eastern Gate where Jesus was going to return. You can see it because it's in the middle is the Kidron Valley. And you can see the Eastern Gate. And the Lord really spoke to me. He said, will you take up the cross? Will you follow me no matter the cost? Will you do it? And then I got scared because I thought, what's going to happen?

Because we know as being a ministry all of our life, we see the good, the bad, the ugly. But we still have to make a decision. We're going to serve God. We're not going to quit.

And so if Jesus decided to quit whenever he was on his way, when he was being beaten or when he was put in the pit, or on the way to the cross, or if he even got to the cross and they were getting ready to put that first nail in his hand. I mean, to me, the whipping post was probably a really bad,

where he was wounded and whipped for us. So I just believe that we have to make a decision no matter the cost. We can't give up. We have to keep pressing in. Especially in the day that we live today,

it's not going to always be convenient. Serving God is not convenient for you sometimes. But it should be the best thing and a privilege to serve the Lord God Almighty. So make a decision. I'm going to pick up the cross. I'm going to follow him. And that's what we're going to do. Amen. So let's go into Psalm chapter 91, verses 9 through 10, Dave.

OK, this describes the protection given here.

If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the most high your shelter,

no evil will conquer you. Amen. No plague will come near your home. Praise the name of Jesus.

See how the scripture is? And you can declare the word of God. You get the word of God inside of you, and you're feeling something that might be going on inside. You might be feeling afraid, which is a spirit, right? We talked about that. When you're fearful, we only need to fear God, not anything else. But once we come to a place, he says, if you make the Lord-- and you could say, God, I have made you my refuge.

I have made you. You are my high tower. I run to you, and I'm safe, Lord. That's what your word says. And then you say, God, you said that no evil will conquer me, and no plague will come near my home. So when you pray over yourself, you plead the blood of Jesus, and you just say, Lord, no sickness, no disease, no infirmity. Come nigh my dwelling. I plead the blood of Jesus. And I thank you, God, that you are my hiding place, that you are a place I can go. You are a refuge. You are a strong tower where I can run. So good, Dave. It's so powerful.

So today, Dave, we're getting ready to close and end this day.

Today's a good day to have a good day. And knowing that his mercies are fresh and new every single morning, if you haven't received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, today's the day, Dave. You want to lead him into a nice prayer? And the Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one can go to the Father except through him. That's right.

And if you're just joining,

and this is new to you, and you're like, what are they talking about?

Who is this Jesus?

Come on. Who is this Jesus?

And why do I need to ask him to come into my heart?

Well, we're going to be talking about this over and over all year long because we don't know when you might be joining us. But to make the decision to ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart,

he's going to make you a new person. Amen. And the book-- New creation. That he gives us. Yes. The Bible is going to come alive to you. So what might be a foreign language to you, he will reveal through his spirit once you invite him to come into your heart and make him in the Lord and master of your life. Amen. So first of all, I'd like to pray. Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for being a place of refuge, a shelter for me. I don't want to just visit the place of your shelter. I want to abide there, mighty God, to stay there, cover me with your wings, keep me close to you in Jesus' name.

Now, if you want to commit your heart to Jesus Christ today, it's as simple. The Bible says, "Whosoever believes in me shall not perish but have everlasting life." If you want to have everlasting life, if you want the Bible to come alive, just say these simple prayer with me today and let your life be changed by the power of Jesus. Amen. Just say this prayer. Heavenly Father, I believe that your son died for me.

Father, I ask that you come into my heart, change me today, make me a new person.

Father, I will follow you all the days of my life. I thank you for the wonderful gift of Jesus.

Amen.

Now, if you've said that prayer with us,

the angels of heaven are rejoicing right now over you. We're rejoicing over you. We're so thankful that you are now a part of the kingdom of God. Praise God. Well, today's a good day. Yes, it is. To have a good day. And we're going to have a good day. And if you've received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you just changed your eternal destiny. That's right. Because there's only two places to go, heaven or hell. And when you choose Jesus, you choose heaven. Amen. Amen. Get into the Word with us. Stay in the Word with us. Praise God. And we'll see you on the other side. Amen. Praise God. God bless you. Be blessed.