John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."







Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.





Psalm 23:1-6
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
I love to study about David, his whole life is a blessing to learn from. We learn from him as a boy in the pasture where he was a sheep herd. He tells us many experiences in form of Psalms. He would write it in form of songs, so he could praise our Almighty God in the congregation. David always made a point of praising the one and only God he served, publicly.
In the 23rd. Psalm David makes a point of saying that he recognizes God as his Pastor, his shepherd.
What does it mean to recognize God as ones shepherd?
1.       David says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes a declaration that he has the knowledge that in the same way as he, David, was watching his sheep, God was watching over him.

2.       He knows that is isn´t going to lack anything. His provider is watching over him.

3.       David says that God makes him lie down in green pastures. A shepherd knows that in order for a sheep not to become sick it needs to feed in green pastures. Sheep should not be lead to a pasture where it is already withered or maybe not healthy grass, this will put their health in danger.

4.       God always refreshes us with quiet waters. Does quiet waters means no problems? No, it means  that we can be confident and not dismayed, because we have the assurance that He cares for us.

5.       Verse three, David tells us of his experience of how God restores his soul. Restoring means to fix something that was broken or maybe not working probably. There are many reasons why a soul needs to be restored, experiences in life bring hurts; David went through a lot of battles in life, he needed restoration from his God.

6.       You and me have access to the same God, as David had, if we struggle, God will always be there for us as a truthful and faithful shepherd.

7.       David expresses it that God guides him in the path of righteousness, for His Name sake. And at this point, I would like to ask you to think of a moment where you can say: “I believe, God did guide me in the path of righteousness, for His Name sake”.

8.       Even if I do walk in the Valley of death, God is with me, this is the confidence David had. David´s son Absalom died when he was persecuting his own father David. David´s son died when he was a baby yet. David knew what it was to go through tough times. And David had always seen his God, guide him in the right path in spite of everything.
Are you and me at the point where we can say as David said; “I fear no evil, because I know God is with me”. David knew that God had a divine rod and staff which always did comfort him.  In his experience in life, David had seen God preparing a table before him in the presence of the enemy.
You and me have this same blessing, because in Christ Jesus our table is set as well before our enemy; devil. 
In Jo.1:12 we read that: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His Name”.  You and I have the right to become God´s children when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior in our lives.
Living with our God starts in the day that we come to Jesus and ask Him into our life. Jesus waits till we invite HIM. He will never pressure you or me, the Bible says in Revelation 3:20 that He knocks on the door and if we open it He will enter in. God is a respecter of person, He forces no one. He waits for you to invite Him, so that between Him and you may exist a loving relationship. The Bible also says that Jesus died when we sere still sinners. He loved us when we were far away from Him yet. He came to take our place on the cross.
Whatever David would do, he would first ask God, what He wanted him to do. God would tell him, and David would follow God´s instruction and he would have victory.  I want  to follow David´s example, how about you??
Me the peace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

 Antonina.

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Rev. Billy Graham