My Shepherd

My ladies and I are now reading "Quiet Confidence for a Woman's Heart" by Elizabeth George. This is a study of Psalm 23. In Chapter 1 Elizabeth George looks at Psalm 23:1a - "The LORD is my shepherd".

Over the next few days we will look more closely at this verse and the various meanings of "Shepherd". In Hebrew "the LORD is my Shepherd" is translated Jehovah-Rohi.

Today we will look at scriptures about Shepherd to lay the ground work for our discussion.

John 10:14-16 (NIV) "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

Psalm 77:20 (NIV) You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron

Psalm 78:52 (NIV) But he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the desert.


Psalm 79:13 (NIV) Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will praise you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praises

Psalm 80:1 (NIV) Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

<!--[endif]-->Hebrews 13:20 (NIV) May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

<!--[endif]-->1 Peter 2:25 (NIV) For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.


1 Peter 5:4 (NIV) And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

Tomorrow we will look at the first of two meanings of Shepherd, Jehovah-Rohi.

1. 
   to feed
   
2. to lead

Let's pray. Father, we thank You that You are our Great Shepherd, our Jehoval Rohi. We thank You that You take care of us. Thank You for all that You do in us individually and corporately. in Jesus' Name, amen.

Blessings,

God's Wings

I received this story not to long ago and thought it was a beautiful illustration of Psalms 91:4. I wanted to share it with all of you. I am not sure who the author is. May you find refuge under God's wings!


"After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park , forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live."

'He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge..'(Psalm 91:4)

Blessings,

Happy Birthday Daughter!

Fifteen years ago today, my firstborn, a daughter, was born. What a joyous day that was! My husband and I had waited five years to have our first child. We wanted a girl first since there were all boys on my husband's side of the family. Of course we dressed her in all the frilly clothes and fixed her hair just so. Ever since she was born we would pray that God would help her to grow and develop as He created her. And grow she did! All through elementary school she was one of the tallest in her class. Of course she passed me several years ago. One time she told me to stop praying that prayer. I never did stop.

My daughter is a great all around young lady. She is involved in sports - volleyball and basketball. This spring she is wanting to play softball because she wants the tri-athlete award. This year in basketball she has played on the JV team and sub on the Varsity team. She is a fantastic basketball player. She is tough and gets in there and plays hard. The faces she makes while playing is quite comical. She does good in school, although she struggles a bit more in math. More important than sports, she loves Jesus! She has a tender heart and is sensitive to the Spirit. This past Friday, her Ipod was stolen at school and she was very upset. We have been praying all weekend for the person who took it and that he/she would return it. Last night at church, as she was praying about it, she felt like God told her it would all be okay. She is thanking God ahead of time for the return of her Ipod. She serves in our children's ministries as a helper and and as one of many greeters that we have. She willingly steps in whenever she is needed to help, i.e. nursery. She is a blessing to our church, but moreso to me and her dad.

She is a delightful young lady and we are very thankful for her. She is our precious gift and we tell her that every day. She has much potential. Lord, help me to help her be all that she can be for Your Kingdom!

Happy 15th birthday baby girl! We love you!

Blessings,

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! May we all share the love of God to those around us - not just today, but every day!

For God so loVed the world,

That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosoever
Believeth In Him
Should Not Perrish
But have Everlasting life."

John 3:16

Blessings,

Happy Birthday Son!

Twelve years ago today, my son was born. It was such a joyous day! He was born on a Friday just after 12 Noon. He was a big baby too. He was our second child and what a difference the second child makes. And boys are so different from girls. Today he stands a lot taller than me and even his older sister. Dad is next. Of course he is loving that!

My son is such a great all around kid. He is involved in sports - football and basketball right now. He does really good in school. He is such a funny kid, always trying to make everyone around him laugh. And the most important thing is that he loves Jesus. He is always praying for sick people. A couple of months ago our children's pastor's dad was critically sick. During altar time on a Sunday night, he came to me and said he wanted to stand in for Missy's dad. He also will pray for other kids his age if they go forward for prayer.

He is our precious gift and we tell him that every day. He has purpose. He has potential. Lord, help me to help him be all he can be for Your Kingdom!

Happy 12th birthday son! We love you!

Blessings,

Follow Me Day 4

Welcome back to Follow Me!

On Day 1 we talked about the definition of Follow and read several scriptures where Jesus said “Follow Me”.

On Day 2 we talked about imitating Jesus by doing the Will of the Father. I want to stress again that doing life is not about us but rather it is all about Jesus. We must be willing.

On Day 3 we talked about two other ways to imitate Jesus. The first was imitating Jesus by being a giver. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved us that He gave. God is a giver and He is looking for people to be givers. We should be known as givers. Secondly we imitate Jesus by being obedient. Obedience is not always easy as it wars with our flesh. We seen in the scriptures that obeying God’s commandments shows our love for Him and we are blessed if we hear the Word of God and obey it.

Today we are going to talk about another way to imitate Jesus by walking in unity. This past weekend my husband and I attended a worship conference. And let me tell you it was so very good. The presence of God in the place was filled to overflowing! During the conference, I attended a class taught by Pastor Bob Collins of the World Outreach Worship Center about unity. He did a fantastic job teaching this class.

He entitled the class: Unity – The Power of Being One

Psalm 133:1How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! NIV

John 17:21-23 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Here it is in the Message:
John 17:20-23 20-23I'm praying not only for them But also for those who will believe in me Because of them and their witness about me. The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind— Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, So they'll be as unified and together as we are— I in them and you in me. Then they'll be mature in this oneness, And give the godless world evidence That you've sent me and loved them In the same way you've loved me.

Below is what Pastor Collins shared with us in class:

“In John 17 the unity that Jesus prayed for us. The Son of God expected, desired, wanted the Body of Christ, His Body, to display before the world such a measure of this that it would change their lives and very motives for existence.

Just like us, Jesus had bad days. There were days when people took up stones to throw at him (John 8:58-59; John 10:31) and they wanted to throw Jesus off a hill (Luke 4:28-30). But Jesus endured all of this and survived the physical abuse, the emotional abuse and the spiritual battle that He was exposed to. He endured because:

• He was in unity with the Father
• He was in unity with the Spirit
• He was in unity with Himself.

Jesus was completely secure in knowing who He was, where He came from, what His calling was, what His goal was, and that He was one with the Father. It was unity which allowed Him to operate in an environment that was contrary and in opposition to His nature. It was unity which created an atmosphere for things to happen that were miraculous. If we are to walk the way He walked, talk the way He talked, and survive the way He survived, we must also be in unity.”

Pastor Collins shared many, many more scriptures on unity. He shared the importance of a transformed church is to have everyone in unity.

Throughout the rest of the conference, we heard a lot about unity. My ears perked up because Lysa TerKeurst said that when God is speaking, we will hear it confirmed in other resources. This weekend, the word “unity” was spoken over and over by different speakers.

I thought about my church and the importance for people to work in unity; the importance to lay aside gossip and division and other nonsense and focus on unity. God is speaking to the Body of Christ and He is saying to us that having unity is crucial to seeing miracles happen, lives to be changed, and much more.

Let’s all strive to imitate Jesus by working in unity at our churches, our homes, our jobs, our families.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word to us about unity and the example we see in Jesus as He was in unity with You, the Spirit and Himself. We see in scriptures what He was able to do because of that unity. Help us, Father, especially in these last days, to strive to work in unity in every area. Help us to lay aside gossip, division and other nonsense that is not pleasing to You and take hold of unity. We long to see You work through us to touch the world around us. We thank You Father. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Blessings,

Worship First

Yesterday I started reading the Book of Job. Wow! Job! I think most of us are familiar with Job and all that he went through.

The Bible says that Job was “…blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” vs. 1. Job had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. He was a very wealthy man with thousands of different animals like sheep, camels, oxen, and donkey. He had a large number of servants. At the end of verse 3 the Bible says that Job was the “greatest man among all the people of the East.”

Then we listen in on a conversation between the LORD and satan.

7 The LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it." 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." 9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. 10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." 12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

In one day’s time, one ordinary day, Job was faced with four servants coming to him with a message of destruction. The Bible says that before one servant finished speaking that another servant came with a message of destruction. This happened four times with the fourth message about the death of his ten children.

Have you been at this place? Where something bad happens on top of another bad thing? Perhaps your heat stopped working and then your pipe is leaking and then you get a bill in the mail and then…

Several years ago now my husband and I went through a season like this with our vehicles. We had two vehicles. My husband’s truck was being worked on for over six months at this time. So we were down to one vehicle. My car then died. Somehow we were able to purchase a used van. We only had it a couple of weeks before it died – on the way back from a family reunion. I can remember sitting in the van crying while it poured rain outside. My husband and his father were looking at the van (in the rain) trying to get it to work but to no avail. My mother-in-law asked why I was crying that everything would work out. I remember thinking you do not know what we have gone through with our cars and here we are again! Well we got through that crisis and our next vehicle went out too.

For one month we went week to week not knowing what we were going to drive. I worked a job a little distance away so I needed a way to work. Thankfully, God had heard our cry and had spoken to three different people about lending a vehicle to us. The fourth week a couple in our church gave, yes gave a full-size van to us. We called it the good ole’ gospel van. We drove it for some time before purchasing a car for me. By this time my husband’s truck was fixed. After purchasing my car, we gave the van to a couple we knew who needed a vehicle.

What struck me about Job was in one ordinary day he had four servants come him bring bad news. And what was his response? In Job 1:20-22 it says:

20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. [c] The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

He worshipped! He did not sit down and cry about all that had happened to him. He worshipped! Now as I read this chapter I thought back to the season where we had all the vehicle trouble. I did have a crying bout and probably more than one. And I did a lot of praying and crying out to God. But when it first happened, did I worship? No, I didn’t.

I don’t know what you are going through, what you are facing, what things have come to you one right after the other. But I want to encourage you to do as Job did and worship. Will it be easy to worship? Our flesh will fight against it. But we should push through all that and worship God for who He is. He is the great I Am!

Let’s pray. Father, thank You for all that You do for us. Thank You for your protection and your provision. In times when we feel like things are coming at us from all angles, help us to remember to stop and worship You first. Our flesh may want to fight against it, but we recognize that worship is what we need to do. You are the great I Am! We give You praise!

Blessings,