Your Most Important Spiritual Goal of 2023

Come to the table of Psalm 23

Welcome to the beginning. You are here for the beginning of the Holy Ground Life Blog! Not only that, we are all entering a brand new year. It is now the year 2023. I have no idea how that makes you feel. Although, I can hear someone say, “OLD!” Right there with you, friend.

We have been riding the waves of some exciting times. Doesn’t it feel like the spiritual waters are rising all over the earth: dark waters and clear waters alike. Light is getting lighter and the dark is getting darker. I thank God everyday for my Light and Life, Jesus Christ. He is our perfect place of refuge.

In the Hebrew Calendar it is not the year 2023. It is the Year 5783. This is the calendar of God’s covenanted children and He calls them holy, chosen, and treasured (Deuteronomy 7:6) As I looked at those numbers I felt a desire to add them up. 5+7+8+3= 23

There it is. The number 23 again.

And then another 23 was spoken to me. While in deep prayer, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart, “This is the year of the Table of Psalm 23”. 

Like so many, I truly love Psalm 23. The Holy Spirit walks me through it almost every day. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” There is always some sort of “want” that has clinged to me and He reminds me to rest and release it. Psalm 23 is a beautiful reminder of the Lord’s guidance, His gift of holiness, His protection, and His provision.

But this was different. It sounded like a stern warning. The impression I got was that the following years will be affected by our choice, this year, to spend time at the Master’s table. We need to hear from Him in an intimate way and truly KNOW Him as the days on earth get spiritually darker. 

The quiet choices we make this year will be reflected loudly in our lives in the years following.

What is this table David describes to us in his 23rd psalm?

The most important and beautiful part of the Master’s table is its intimacy. It is prepared for only two people, you and your good Shepherd, Jesus (John 10:11). You have been expected and you are known. He has walked with you and now He has prepared this place for a deeper relationship with Him. All your questions are answered here. You are truly seen and He is seen more clearly by you.

The Master’s table is not an encounter for the new believer.

You have already blazed some trails with Jesus. This is a table set for two friends who have had some easy and difficult journeys together.

As a new believer, you heard His voice in the beautiful green pasture of salvation in Psalm 23:2. You learned about Him, His gentleness and humility, and He brought you a deep breath of freedom. There was joy in His holiness. You began to walk with Him on “paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). You learned the authority of His name and the power of His promises.

Then the path dropped down. The path grew narrow and dark forcing you to follow close behind Him. You were covered by darkness and disappointment as you walked through life’s valleys. You were harassed by the enemy’s accusations whispering from the borders of the path. It seemed like Jesus had left you because you didn’t feel Him or see Him. When you tripped on the path, the strange voice in the darkness hissed, “You never get it right.” And on the other side of the path, a whisper in the darkness, “You should be leading.”  

But He was there ahead of you. When you reached out for promises you could not see in the natural, you found His robe of righteousness. As you held it tightly, it washed you with mercy with each step forward. It was hard to believe He loved you as much as He told you. You followed behind Him in reverence and praise. Then the glorious light of dawn flooded the path once again and you pressed forward.

Now, you have come to the table He has prepared beforehand (Psalm 23:5). The Master’s table is where you stop moving and rest. It is a new experience where both you and your Savior will be seated. 

You are face to face when you sit at the table of Psalm 23.

Here, you are not the woman or man heavy with the issue that made you unclean, clinging at the feet of Jesus for a miracle.

Nothing can be hidden here at the table. It is a place of honest confession. It is a place of exposing what you carried on the previous path. When the path was broken, you picked up some of the pieces and carried them. A heavy load of questions and unbelief are now revealed. He takes them from you as you release them.

In addition, He asks you to take off your sandals just as Moses was instructed in Exodus 3:5. Sandals that you have made to protect yourself from pain. Strapped with unforgiveness and bitterness they are protecting you from the thorns released by others. You unlatch them in His presence in obedience. By faith you forgive them. It must be done.

The table of Psalm 23 is holy ground. Holy ground is not a place on earth. It is not a holy cathedral, a place where earthly miracles take place, or God’s beautiful creation in the wilderness. 

Holy ground is the position of your heart toward Jesus Christ.

The table is set in your heart. It is set in the place where your choices are made, your soul. It is a place of deep prayer.

And Jesus holds both of your hands, ready to make those choices with you.

It is time to go deeper and release.

Love like you have never experienced fills the atmosphere. Perfect love. Accepting love. A good Father’s love. It is so much deeper than human love.

Your choice to empty it all has created a vacuum and the Love of God is filling the space. You could sit at this table for eternity and not come to fully understand or experience the fullness of this love. It seems to go on forever below you, behind you, to the sides of you, and above you. It knows no end. Nothing can separate you from it. Nothing you could do could increase it. You are hungry to be filled and you are.

You bow your head and surrender.

We hear the Lord speak: “This is the year I AM calling you to let the full revelation of My love for you increase everyday. Let My love continually nourish you.” Any evil that may come across your day will be swept aside and overcome with the immeasurable, flooding love of Yahweh.

If every earthly thing you ever dreamed of came to pass this year, every dream, wish, or goal, and then at the end of the year you breathed your last breath here and your first breath in heaven, you wouldn’t take any of it. The career, the position, the million dollars, the spouse, the house, the car, the ministry, the company etc. would all be left on earth. 

But what you will take is time at the table with Jesus; where He is known and you are known by Him.

When you lift your head after worshiping Him and thanking Him for all He has done, all He has healed, all He has forgiven, you might notice a small, broken jar in front of you.

It is intricately designed with rich colors and gold and clay: a work of art.

Out of it flows perfumed oil and the scent is uniquely yours. Rich warm notes combined with spices and flowers. Everything in you calms in response to the scent.

Jesus collects the oil and lets it pool in His nail-scarred hands. He takes a long inhale and, as He exhales, He pours the oil over your head: the oil and His breath cover you. 

The anointing oil flows down your entire being. It fills your inner man, your heart. It radiates through your spirit. It travels out of your center. It flows from your hands and from your words. 

It is your unique anointing. There is no one else who has it. Like your flesh’s fingerprint, it is imprinted on your spirit. It can never be taken from you.

When you share with others your relationship with Jesus, this anointing flows. There is no end to its flow. It is eternal.

In every labour of love you do for the King of kings the impulse comes from this anointing and not a sense of duty.

The broken jar is a representation of the excellence you possess in your natural life. The table is the moment you begin to deeply trust Jesus with your life. You had to bring the beautiful alabaster jar of your abilities to this table and let it crack open. A jar that cannot be put back together again and returned to your possession. Once it has broken open it can never be closed again. 

Your natural leadership, natural creativity, natural intelligence, natural kindness, natural humility, natural talents, natural abilities- as beautiful as they are- have been given to Jesus here at the table like a sacrifice. The table within your heart has transformed into a holy altar.

Your anointing oil holds more value than the jar and yet the beauty of your natural giftings are now infused into the oil.

The oil cannot be separated from you. 

It is now in constant flow released, spiritually, forever. 

You do not need to make it flow.

It comes from a choice made at the table.

When you open your eyes Jesus’ arms are raised in worship to the Father. His face is wet with tears. It is the most perfect surrender you have ever seen. You study His worship in wonder. It is sacred and intimate. It is explosive and gentle at the same time. It is like studying the sun. It is Spirit and Truth. His hands lower and they hold a chalice. He places it on the table.

It is filled perfectly to the brim. He explains to you it is filled with His work. It is His righteousness. His life payment. 

You sense that so much is at stake. It is too sacred. It is there to pay for your weakness, your sin. It seems that you should also add your own sacrifice. It seems too easy.

Jesus speaks, “You cannot pour your life into this cup. It is filled with mine. You cannot add a holier work to the cup. I have added enough. There is no room left. It is finished” then He adds with a smile, “This is the new covenant. All you need to do is drink.”

Here at the table, with the cup of His salvation between you, you have a choice. Will you join your life, your body, and soul to the Truth He poured out? Will you partake and be joined through the cup of His sacrifice? Will you understand the true meaning of the cup of His new covenant? Will you believe that the debt is paid? (Romans 8) Will you believe God no longer sees your guilt? Not only that, will this be the year where you no longer see your shame? His blood washes it all from your life.

Once you drink, the peace in Jesus is now in you.

REST goes through your spirit, soul, and body. You have peace with God.

The only work, here at the Master’s table, is to believe in the One He sent (John 6:29). 

This year, will you make His new covenant cup your most important study?

Through learning, He washes your perspective on everything. Your perspective rises above the earth.

He invites you to remain here.

You choose to remain.

This year, more than ever, there will be many different voices near the Master’s table. At first you want to make them out. You cannot see them. You look for them. They sound familiar, like home. They sound like playmates from a long time ago. The darkness is deep. Farther away from the table there are more voices and they overlap. It is hard to hear them all. There is a pressure, an anxiety to make sense of it all. 

“You should…”

“You’re suppose to…”

“Not enough…”

“If only”

“Could be better”

“You can be anything”

“True peace is over there”

“They will love you over there”

This year, while you sit down at the table of Psalm 23, you are going to need to discern what you are truly listening to. 

The voices you hear in your heart that are strange will go opposite of the word of God. They are statements that often point you to your past. They will belittle you and accuse you. They will stir up fear. They make you afraid of what will come and they all come from darkness.

This year you have a simple choice to make: Will you sit at the table of Psalm 23 with Jesus and rest? Will you fully focus on the cup of His covenant and His words?

The fruit of this choice will be peace and life and a deeper knowledge of Him.

Will you listen to all the voices surrounding the table and try to make sense of them all? Will you be constantly using your intellect to categorize what is good and what is bad? The fruit of this choice will set you in an atmosphere of anxiety and shallow breath, looking into the darkness with a sense of protection and a sense of danger.

But Jesus’ voice always sounds like this:

He is not interested in your religion. He is interested in you.

There will be dark nights at the table and in those times you will hold tightly to His hands and be still, and His grace will flow through you. Even in troubled times He will give you the grace to not be troubled.

The accusations will spit at you from the darkness and you will refute them with the truth you learn from Him. There will be glorious mornings and you will still have to remember to remain with Him.

The fruit that will come from living joined to Jesus on holy ground will be beautiful. You are known and He is known by you. Every choice you make comes from this place. It is an abundant and enjoyable life joined to Jesus. 

In every circumstance see yourself at His table and listen and learn.

Your highest calling is to recognize His Presence is always with you.

Thank you, friends.

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Until next time, blessings over you in everything,

Teresa.