Wisdom 25.28
June 14, 2017 1 Comment
“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” – Proverbs 25:28 NKJV
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit for many reasons; one of which is our own benefit.
The Lord’s Day 6-11-17
June 11, 2017 1 Comment
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright. Save Lord! May the King answer us when we call.” – Psalm 20:7-9 NKJV
Trust reflects a confidence placed in something or someone. Do you trust God today? He has been, is now, and always will be faithful to those who trust Him.
Psalm 23-Dwelling Forever
June 10, 2017 1 Comment
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23:6b NKJV
“Where will you live forever? In the house of the Lord. If His house is your “forever house”, what does that make this earthly house? You got it! Short-term housing. This is not our home. ‘Our homeland is in heaven’ (Phil. 3:20).”
– Max Lucado, “Traveling Light”
“….what is referred to by “house” is the family or household or flock of the Good Shepherd. The sheep is so deeply satisfied with the flock to which it belongs, with the ownership of this particular shepherd, that it has no wish to change whatever.”
– W. Phillip Keller, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good…
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23 NKJV
Psalm 23-Goodness and Mercy
June 9, 2017 1 Comment
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” – Psalm 23:6a NKJV
“Our moods may shift, but God doesn’t. Our minds may change, but God doesn’t. Our devotion may falter, but God never does. Even if we are faithless, he is faithful, for he cannot betray himself (2 Timothy 2:13). He is a sure God. And because he is a sure God, we can state confidently, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.’”
– Max Lucado, “Traveling Light”
“He looks on my life in tenderness, for He loves me deeply. He sees the long years during which His goodness and mercy have followed me without slackening. He longs to see some measure of that same goodness and mercy not only passed on to others by me but also passed back to Him with joy.”
– W. Phillip Keller, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”
The path of rich abundance…
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” – Psalm 23:1-6a NKJV
Psalm 23-My Cup Runs Over
June 8, 2017 1 Comment
“You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” – Psalm 23:5b NKJV
“So we, like sheep get wounded. And we, like sheep have a shepherd. Remember the words we read? ‘We belong to Him; we are his people, the sheep he tends’ (Ps. 100:3). He will do for you what the shepherd does for the sheep.”
– Max Lucado, “Traveling Light”
“In a sense we are a stiff-necked lot, and were it not for Christ’s continuing compassion and concern for us, most of us would be beyond hope or help. Sometimes I am quite sure Christ comes to us and applies the oil of His own Spirit to our minds in spite of our own objections. Were this not so, where would most of us be? Surely every gracious thought that enters my mind had its origin in Him.”
– W. Phillip Keller, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”
Consider the precious oil of the Good Shepherd…
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.” – Psalm 23:1-5 NKJV
Psalm 23-A Preprared Table
June 7, 2017 2 Comments
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” – Psalm 23:5a NKJV
“What if your Shepherd did for you what the shepherd did for his flock? Suppose He dealt with your enemy, the devil, and prepared for you a safe place of nourishment? What would you say if I told you he has done exactly that?”
– Max Lucado, “Traveling Light”
“It is not always apparent to us what tremendous personal cost it has been for Christ to prepare the table for His own. Just as the lonely, personal privation of the sheepman who prepares the summer range for his flock entails sacrifice, so the lonely agony of Gethsemane, of Pilate’s hall, of Calvary, have cost my Master so much. When I come to the Lord’s Table and partake of the communion service which is a feast of thanksgiving for His love and care, do I fully appreciate what it has cost Him to prepare this table for me?”
– W. Phillip Keller, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23″
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” – Psalm 23:1-5a NKJV
Psalm 23-You are with Me
June 6, 2017 1 Comment
“For you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4b NKJV
“Just as for the sheep of David’s day there was comfort and consolation in seeing the rod in the shepherd’s skillful hands, so in our day there is great assurance in our own hearts as we contemplate the power, veracity, and potent authority vested in God’s Word. For, in fact, the Scriptures are His rod. They are the extension of His mind and will and intentions to mortal man.”
– W. Phillip Keller, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”
“Rather than turn to the other sheep, David turned to the Shepherd. Rather than stare at the problems, he stared at the rod and staff. Because he knew where to look, David was able to say, ‘I will fear no evil’.”
– Max Lucado, “Traveling Light”
Perhaps your circumstances seem overwhelming. If so, look where David looked; to the Shepherd and remember how skilled He is.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:1-4 NKJV
