Adventures from the Farm, Part 3: Come on Over!

Hi, Victorious Living family, this is Christi Overton-Johnson, your host of more Victorious Living. And it is episode three from the farm, and let me tell you, I am having so much fun hanging out with the cows this morning. They're in the water behind me, they are beside me, and there's a little bitty one right there that is getting very curious, and I'm waiting for that calf to come close. I will tell you, if an alligator comes springing out that pond right there, you're going to see Christi hightailing it across this farmland here, and I've heard that you're supposed to zigzag, because I don't know if that's true, but that is what I will be doing. I will be zigzagging all over this field, because I've heard alligators can run fast straight, but they can't turn. So I'm going to just attempt to do that if I have to run. It is a beautiful day, it's a little windy, and lots of planes going by, and there's another one. Lots of mooing going on, birds are yacking, but I know how important it is for you to get out in nature. It's important for me too, and I forget, like I said in my first episode, you know, I get going so fast that I forget to appreciate the little things in life, like being able to hear an airplane, and see the clouds, and watch the cows eat. We just did a segment, if you haven't watched it, on chewing cud, and how that is very similar to how we're to meditate on the Word of God. Our first episode, we talked about trust, trusting God, and obeying Him, and stepping out and following Him, being strong and courageous, and that trusting Him, like this cloud, they're being moved, and formed, and fashioned, that God is doing the same thing in our life. You know, honestly, as I sit here in front of this beautiful scenery, I have no idea what we're going to talk about, but I know that God is always faithful, and He always leads us to something, and the main thing is I just wanted you to be able to sit out here and to know that I'm thinking about you, that our team is thinking about you, that you are the reason that we do everything that we do, and that is because God said that you're worth it.

You are worth our time, you're worth our efforts, you're worth the sacrifices that my husband makes to let me travel to prisons, and to do what I do. You are worth it to him, and you're worth it to me, and so I just want to thank you for watching, I want to thank you for inviting me into your space, and for our team, inviting Sheridan and others into your space. God has truly blessed me with an incredible team that I get to do life with, but I get to do this ministry with, and very selective of who we allow on our tablets, not our tablets, but our platform on the tablets, and who we invite in, because you have trusted us, and so if you are hearing someone speak like J.C. Almanza, it's because I've spent time with J.C., and J.C. is not a perfect man, but he's someone that I see, his heart is perfect towards God, and he's learning, and he's changing, and he's growing, and so that's why I bring him on, is not because he, or I, or anybody has it all together, but he's sincere in his walk, and the people that we bring on these spaces, the team members that you just met, Julie Seals, who's one of our newest team members, she is passionate about God, and sincere, and that's not to say we're never going to make a mistake, we're never going to write the wrong thing, or say the wrong thing, or maybe even interpret something wrong, but our heart is chasing after God, and as we chase after Him, we want to share what we learn with you, and the lessons that we're learning, and I tell you, we're learning them, because there is an adventure that you go on when you're with God, and the adventure is an adventure of growth, it's an adventure of walking with Him, and being led to places that are interesting, they're beyond your control, sometimes you don't think you fit in a place, but every place is beautiful with God, and every place can be beautiful, and that reminds me of a verse, so many times it talks about valleys of weeping being turned into valleys of blessing, the places of hardship that God takes ashes, and He turns them into beauty. And I've been able to see that in my walk with God that He's taken some of the most painful things. Even right now, like, I wanted to be on the go when I was in Florida. I've got like five days here. I was supposed to have gone to a Hall of Fame event for my water ski world to reconnect with people from water skiing. And I was too sick to go last night. I've got all these friends in Claremont that I want to be out seeing Central Florida.

And I can't go because I'm too sick. But God has taken that even and He's turned it into this beautiful blessing today of being able to sit in the field with you. And sit in the field with this beautiful scenery behind me and to watch the clouds and to hang out with all those cows. I was under that tree a while ago and cows just coming and sitting down and chewing their cud ten feet from me, twenty feet from me. And it's just beautiful. You know, it's interesting. I always just watch and listen. You know, right now I'm watching all these cows walking this way. There's one that's still hanging out on the other side of the fence. It's got its back turned to us and kind of ignoring all of us a little bit. But there's a group gathering under the shade. You know, I encourage you today if you've been just watching from afar like people being drawn to God. And people finding rest in the shadow of the Almighty. And you've been standing on the other side of the fence. And you've been watching from the other side of the fence. And you haven't decided to come through the gate, which Jesus says He's the gate. And to come and join the flock here, join the herd. I want to invite you today to come on over. Don't miss what God has for you. Don't isolate like that cow over there is isolated. And when you're in isolation, you're vulnerable. And I'm just encouraging you to come and find shelter. Come to the water that God has for you. Come to the shelter of the tree. Under there, there is shade. Check out this little one right here. Yeah, this one I love because he looks so different. There's a white one there. There's a black one. There's a brown one. And they're all beautiful.

Maybe today you're white. Maybe you're black. Maybe you're brown. There's beauty in a place for all of it. Look at this guy coming out in the water. They're just staring at us. And it's so beautiful. So beautiful. I'm sorry if I make y'all seasick. But there's a place for you. Don't stand on the other side of that fence like that dude. Come on over. Because God has something for you. So let me read. The verse Psalms 91 is coming up in my heart. And I've taught on Psalms 91 many times. But I'm looking over there at that shady tree. And I'm thinking about where the wind is. Let the wind go by. It's a cool breeze. The Bible in Psalms 91 said that those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. And as I am sitting out here in the sun, I know that when I get over there under that tree, do you see the shadow on the ground? There is protection there. There's protection there because there's a gathering. There's protection there because there's shade from the sun. There's rest there. And that's where these guys are moving.

These guys are making their way over there. And God is calling you to find rest today in the shadow of the Almighty. Let Him be your refuge and your place of safety. That's what it says in Psalms 91. Are you needing a refuge today? Are you tired of wandering in a dry desert, in a dry field? Are you tired of feeling alone? Are you tired of wandering around aimlessly? Come find rest in the shadow. The Bible says, Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. That's what Jesus says. Come to me and I will give you rest. Take upon me my burden for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That's what He says. and find rest in me if you will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty and to be in the shadow of the Almighty you got to be in the proximity of the Almighty like you can't be in the shadow of that tree unless you're up under that tree or near that tree and so God is calling you near to him today and he promises if you draw near to him he's gonna draw near to you if you seek him you'll find him if you rest in him and you live in the shelter now living is a place of abiding it's a place not where you run check in and run away is a place where you get a chair and you get a blanket or you get whatever and you sit and you stay and that is your home base my home base is God that's where everything that operates in my life where I operate from it is from a place of resting in him and abiding living in the shadow of the Almighty because it's there that you will find rest what is rest there are things going on all around here there's wind blowing there's clouds forming there's storms that have been happening lots of rain worried about those things because they're in a place of peace and that's where God says that you come to him and he will give

you peace that passes all understanding and he will give you rest there's a rest it says in Hebrews that God gives his people but it says be careful that you don't miss it rest doesn't mean you just go get in the bed and you do nothing rest is a place for your soul rest is a place of being in the midst of things but yet being in a calmness and that's what God's calling you to because you're in prison you can't find like most of the audience that is watching this is in jail or prison and you can't go run out to a field and find a place of quiet but God is giving you a rest of your soul your soul is your mind your will and your emotions God is giving you a rest in your spirit man where you can be around wind and chaos and all the different things but if you draw close to him and you find an abiding under the shadow of the Almighty and you live in him you're gonna find rest you're gonna find peace you're gonna find courage you're gonna find strength you're gonna find protection all the things that you need but it comes with your intentional choice just like this cow that's walking there it chose to come and to gather now I love it because this cow on the other side of the fence over there I don't know if you can see him he's right there he's now turned and he's seeing this group of cows by the tree and I believe he's gonna turn and he's gonna join them maybe that's you right now you're watching from afar and God is saying come live in the shadow of the Almighty and you'll find rest for your weary soul come think of that song it says always moving yeah he's moving come just as you are hear the Savior call come just as you are come and see come receive I cannot remember the last part and it sounds terrible I'm so congested but God is saying come and see he will rescue from you from every trap protect you from every deadly disease he will cover you you will find shelter in his wings his fateful promises will be your armor and your protection when you live in the shadow of the Almighty you don't have to dread you don't have to walk in fear you can just like those cows over there you can be at peace and I believe that God is calling you to a place of peace today if you make the Lord your refuge if you make the most high your shelter no evil

conquer you no evil of jail no evil of darkness will conquer you for he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go a solitary confinement that's to the yard that's everything and he will do that for your family too he will hold you up the angels are gonna hold you up these these last few lessons God's angel, God is sending his angels to approach you. You hear the water moving from the wind. It's like I said last time, you can't see the wind, but you can see the effect of it. And right now, some of you are like, God, I don't believe you're real because I can't see you. But look around you. Look at how God's orchestrating things. Look at how God's working in other people's lives. And God says, take notice of those things. Lay aside your unbelief and come and shelter in him. Because he will meet you there. If you truly want to seek God, if you are truly wanting to know truth, maybe you've been seeking truth your whole life, and you've tried different religions, and you're like, God, just show me. I'm asking God to reveal himself, to reveal his son Jesus to you, to reveal the unfathomable, unconditional, more unearnable love of God. And that as you respond to him, he's going to respond to you. He's already given you everything that you need for this life. He's already given you salvation. All you have to do is receive it. He's given you protection. He's given you these things. All you have to do is come and draw close and abide in the shelter of the Almighty. And when you do that, he will meet you there. So this one is short. I'm running out of things to say. Can you believe that?

My husband would not believe that because he says, I have a lot of words. I tell him, well, some of them are God-to-be-loved. So my daughter would tell me, says, Ann, your words are so wise. And my husband says, well, you speak as many as she does. Some of them are bound to land here and there. So anyway, I have an awesome husband. And I am so grateful that he's let me travel here to see, reconnect with friends. And lets me do the work I do in prisons. And I'm so thankful for you welcoming me into your space. If there's anything our ministry can do for you, pray with you for, please. A lot of you may not know this, but we have a correspondence program. And at the end of this video, there's going to be some slides. And those slides will show just how you can connect with us. We're having a lot of problems emailing. We thought we were going to kick that off. We had an email system. But that has proven to be a lot harder as an organization. It's easy if you're one-on-one. But when you have thousands of people reaching out and wanting you to set up accounts, it's not working for an organization. And we're trying to work that out. We're trying to get companies to work with us so that we can email thousands of people. It's just not working one-on-one. So thank you for your patience. If you do email us, sometimes we can open them. Sometimes we can't because it makes us sign up and put money on account. It's just, it's been weird. So, but please know if you write to us, we get them. And we respond to every letter that is written to us. So, send us your prayer request.

We just had a prayer answered. A young man just wrote. Praising God, we had prayed and prayed that his tablet would be found. And the tablet was found. So, brother, I am so happy for you. We've had people write, people who prayed for custody of their children and are now walking in that in the free world. People have been praying for families, members' hearts to soften. And when you write to us and you send us your prayer request, if you trace your hand like many of you have done, and we hang those hands up on the wall and people lay hands on them. Church groups come and get our prayer requests that we have extracted from your letters and put on prayer cards. And they're praying for you. So, send in your request. But if you've been having prayers answered, let us know. Because that encourages us. But we can then tell our prayer team. And that keeps them praying. So, those testimonies. Let your friends know about our ministry. And we want to walk this journey with you. We want to walk it with you. So, yeah, call our care team line if you are able to call. We do our best to answer those phone calls and pray with you. I'm not able to do that, but we have a team that's able to answer those phone calls. We have a lot of rules that we have to follow and keep some professional distance. You know, so that's why I can't pray. personally write to people, because if I do that, then I can get banned from going in to places.

So those are why some of our rules and the degrees of separation, but I want you to know that I see the letters. They are forwarded to me and extracted, like testimonies extracted and sent, prayer requests that are answered. They are rejoicing. You should see the text between all our team members just praising God and praying for you. So please know that we do see them and we are praying for you. My heart is to be able to go into prisons where you are and to do prison events, and so if I have those personal relationships through letter writing and through talking on the phone, I can't come, and so that's why I'm not able to do that. I know many of you send your testimonies in books and things like that. Please know that I do my best, but I have books like piled up that I'm just not able to read them all, so just know that as they come, I lay them there and I pray over them and as the Lord leads me to read and to pick them up, and that has happened many times. The Lord will highlight one and say, read it, and it will be just the perfect timing and connect me to someone that we're able to feature in the magazine or connect them with somebody. Just trust that I take those things seriously. So if you do send me things, I do my best, but I'm one person. But God bless y'all. Thank you for inviting us to your facilities, and thank you for listening, and I pray that as you take refuge and you take shelter in Christ and in His Word, in the last segment we talked about the Word, and we always talk about the Word, but it's importance and how you can chew on it, meditate on it, how it's going to nourish you. I just want to encourage you to do that today. May the Lord bless you, and may He keep you, and His face shine upon you, may He be gracious to you, and grant you His peace as you abide in Him. Father, I ask you to touch my family that's watching this, my brothers and sisters, in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank you for what we've been able to experience, Lord, the shade, the sun, the clouds, the wind, the birds, the water, the moss. Thank you. Thank you for the plains, for the wind, that we've been able to just be reminded that the Holy Spirit is blowing like this wind. Holy Spirit, blow into our places, into the crevices of our life. Expose things that need to be gone. Expose our hidden motives. Expose our fears. Father, look into us, be intimate with us, into us see, into me see. Lord, guide us, direct us, may the Word of God and the wind of God blow us to where you want us to be. May we look around us like this, water behind us, and we see the ripples of God in our life. Where you've been moving that we maybe we haven't recognized it, would you open our eyes to see that today? How you have formed and fashioned us and brought us to places like these clouds, Lord. How you have shaped and molded us and you have blown us to a place for a purpose. Lord, teach us and guide us. Make us and mold us. Heal us, Lord. I know there's some with colds like I have today, that their noses hurt, they're dry, their eyes are congested. Lord, I pray that you touch, you heal COVID, you touch the flu. Father, I know that there's many dealing with diabetes and I just pray for them, Lord, in the mighty name of Jesus. I think of even one of my children that is on the verge of diabetes, God, I just pray for wholeness and healing. You would level glucose, you would level those levels, the glucose levels, that you would make them steady and constant. That you would take the food that they are presented, God, and you would, Lord, the blessing

of food was to bless it and Lord, people bless it to give thanks for it, but also to pray that it wouldn't harm them, that it would bring healing to them and Lord, as they bless the food, maybe it's all they got, what's in commissary and it's not healthy, what they're being fed in prison or jail, God, but as they pray over it, Lord, that you would cause even the shebang things, the chips, Lord, to somehow nourish their body. That's all they got today and they're hungry. Lord, whatever it is, Lord, as they bless it, that they're able to take communion with whatever they're presented, some watered down lemonade and Kool-Aid or whatever it is and a piece of cracker or a shebang. But they could take, you're saying, they could take communion with that. Lord, as they take it in this, they make it holy and they pray over it and then they take it in remembrance of you. Just whatever it is, Lord, even something like baptism, they wanna be baptized, but they can't. Lord, to go in and let the water run over them in the shower, Lord. May they just listen to you and you reveal things to them and speak to them. May they be able to find a place like I have found today that's just quiet. And that's gonna be hard in jail and prison, but maybe it's a early morning in their bunk before the world's up. Maybe it's early morning in the bathroom. Maybe it's out on a compound somewhere. Father, would you send them friends, safe people that they can trust? Would you help them take the position of leadership

that you've been calling them to, to take the place of obedience? Lord, give them the strength and courage to step out in obedience. Lord, there's some that are fighting cancer right now. I pray that you touch them. There's some lady watching with breast cancer right now and I just pray that you touch her to know that she doesn't have to walk this journey alone, that you were with her, you were fighting for her. Father, someone's teeth are really hurting. Father, would you touch the infection that's in their mouth? And would you heal it in Jesus' name? Someone's hearing is going. Lord, would you open up their head, Lord, that they would hear a pop. Wow. Wow. Father, I couldn't have arranged that. Just as I say, hear the pop, there's a popping of a gun. Hear the pop, Lord. May they walk with you. Someone that has been knowing they're supposed to go speak to someone on your behalf, but they've been afraid. Father, help them to know, just like the cow's bringing out the word, just like I've been bringing up the word as you've been reminding it to me, that the Holy Spirit of God is going to speak through them,

that you're gonna bring it up and out. As long as we step out and trust you, God, that you show up. So I thank you that you've just popped someone's ears, you've just brought healing, you've just touched someone's diabetes, including my son Dalton's. Lord, you have healed some lady. Father, you're walking this journey. She's gonna have to walk the journey, you said, but you're with her and she's gonna be okay. There's someone whose family member is walking with, maybe it's your mother or your sister or your daughter or your wife has breast cancer. And right now, the Lord's saying, just pray for her and trust me, I've got her. And I will send the people that she needs. Father, you know that so many times we feel alone and we feel so tired and we feel so weary. And I thank you, Lord, that your word says that we can come to you, all who are weary and heavy laden, and you will give us rest. You promise, Lord, if we take shelter in the Almighty, that you will give us rest there. I love you and I praise you, God, and I thank you that you are so perfect in all your ways. In Jesus' name, amen. God bless you. I love you.

Pray that I get well, too. Thank you for watching our broadcast. Are you an incarcerated brother or sister who needs encouragement? Write to us at Victorious Living Correspondents, P.O. Box 2751 Greenville, North Carolina, 27836, or email us at hope at vlmag.org. To view Victorious Living Magazine in its entirety, please have your chaplain contact us at 352-478-2098, or email us through our website at vlmag.org. We are happy to provide our Victorious Living Magazine free of charge, in bulk, with or without staples.