Do Not Be Cut Down Psalm 23:1

Before we move on to verse 2, I wanted to share this excerpt from "A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23" by W. Phillip Keller

Psalm 23 NLT
A psalm of David.

1The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.

"I have become increasingly aware of one thing ... It is ... the Master in people's lives who makes the difference in their destiny. Despite an unparalleled wealth in material assets we are outstandingly insecure and unsure of ourselves and well nigh bankrupt in spiritual values. Always men are searching for safety beyond themselves. They are restless, unsettled, covetous, greedy for more -- wanting this and that, yet never really satisfied in spirit. 

By contrast the simple Christian, the humble person, the Shepherd's sheep can stand up proudly and boast. 
"The Lord is my Shepherd -- I shall not want." 
I am completely satisfied with His management of my life. Why? Because He is the sheepman to whom no trouble is too great as He cares for His flock. He is the Rancher who is outstanding because of His fondness for sheep -- who loves them for their own sake as well as His personal pleasure in them. He will, if necessary, be on the job twenty-four hours a day to see that they are properly provided for in every detail. Above all, He is very jealous of His name and high reputation as “The Good Shepherd.” 
He is the owner who delights in His flock. For Him there is no greater reward, no deeper satisfaction, than that of seeing His sheep contented, well fed, safe and flourishing under His care. This is indeed His very 'life.' He gives all He has to it. He literally lays Himself out for those who are His. 
He will go to no end of trouble and labor to supply them with the finest grazing, the richest pasturage, ample winter feed, and clean water. He will spare Himself no pains to provide shelter from storms, protection from ruthless enemies and the diseases and parasites to which sheep are so susceptible. 
No wonder Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd -- the Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." And again, "I am come that ye might have life and that ye might have it more abundantly." 
From early dawn until late at night this utterly self-less Shepherd is alert to the welfare of His flock. For the diligent sheepman rises early and goes out first thing every morning without fail to look over his flock. It is the initial, intimate contact of the day. With a practiced, searching, sympathetic eye he examines the sheep to see that they are fit and content and able to be on their feet. In an instant he can tell if they have been molested during the night -- whether any are ill or if there are some which require special attention. 
Repeatedly throughout the day he casts his eye over the flock to make sure that all is well. 
Nor even at night is he oblivious to their needs. He sleeps as it were 'with one eye and both ears open' ready at the least sign of trouble to leap up and protect his own. 
This is a sublime picture of the care given to those whose lives are under Christ's control. He knows all about their lives from morning to night. 
"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits -- even the God of our salvation. "He that keepeth thee will not slumber or sleep." In spite of having such a master and owner, the fact remains that some Christians are still not content with His control. They are somewhat dissatisfied, always feeling that somehow the grass beyond the fence must be a little greener. These are carnal Christians -- one might almost call them 'fence crawlers' or 'half Christians' who want the best of both worlds. 
I once owned an ewe whose conduct exactly typified this sort of person. She was one of the most attractive sheep that ever belonged to me. Her body was beautifully proportioned. She had a strong constitution and an excellent coat of wool. Her head was clean, alert, well-set with bright eyes. She bore sturdy lambs that matured rapidly. But in spite of all these attractive attributes she had one pronounced fault. 
She was restless -- discontented -- a fence crawler. 
So much so that I came to call her 'Mrs. Gad-about.' 
This one ewe produced more problems for me than almost all the rest of the flock combined. 
No matter what field or pasture the sheep were in, she would search all along the fences or shoreline (we lived by the sea) looking for a loophole she could crawl through and start to feed on the other side. 
It was not that she lacked pasturage. My fields were my joy and delight. No sheep in the district had better grazing. 
With 'Mrs. Gad-about' it as an ingrained habit. She was simply never contented with things as they were. Often when she had forced her way through some such spot in a fence or found a way through the end of the wire at low tide on the beaches, she would end up feeding on bare, brown, burned-up pasturage of a most inferior sort. 
But she never learned her lesson and continued to fence crawl time after time. 
Now it would have been bad enough if she was the only one that did this. It was a sufficient problem to find her and bring her back. But the further point was that she taught her lambs the same tricks. They simply followed her example and soon were as skilled at escaping as their mother. 
Even worse, however, was the example she set the other sheep. In a short time she began to lead others through the same holes and over the same dangerous paths down by the sea. 
After putting up with her perverseness for a summer, I finally came to the conclusion that to save the rest of the flock from being unsettled, she would have to go. ... it was a difficult decision ... I loved her in the same way I loved the rest. Her strength and beauty and alertness were a delight to the eye. 
But one morning, I took the killing knife in hand and butchered her. It was the only solution to the dilemma. 
She was a sheep, who in spite of all that I had done to give her the very best care -- still wanted something else. 
She is not the one who said, 'The Lord is my Shepherd -- I shall not want.' 
It is a solemn warning to the carnal Christians - the backslider - the one who wants the best of both worlds. 
Sometimes in short order they can be cut down."

Something to think about.

Blessings, Cecilia

2 Corinthians 5 All means ALL!

6Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7for we walk by faith, not by sight— 8we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Paul reminds us of four important aspects in these verses.

"for we walk by faith, not by sight". Remember Doubting Thomas? Remembered throughout history as the one who wouldn't believe unless he saw Jesus! 

What about you? 

"I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."

Me too! I'm tired of the pain this old retched body produces! 

"our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."

Is that your ambition, to be pleasing to Him?

"10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

All means all! This is the scariest part! Our deeds will be shown for all to see, whether good or bad! I've done bad things in my lifetime and I am ashamed of them, but I hold on to His promise that;

Psalm 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

So I hold on to my faith in Jesus Christ! I hold on the His promise!

What about you?

Blessings, David 

Scripture blog; http://stanfordsancutaryscripturestudies.blogspot.com

Are your eyes fixed on Jesus?

Heb2:2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes
on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for
our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy
[of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding
the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing
His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].

There are many things that can distract the believer from what God has for

them to do. It is also so easy to get caught up in the business of life as

well. Pride and selfishness are 2 of the major causes of sin. Jesus went to

the cross for us, disregarded the shame, all because of love. Jesus is my

best friend, though many times, He is a better friend to me than I am to

Him. My heart is to share Jesus with everyone I come in contact with and

many times I fall short. For the believer, if we truly believe that hell is

as bad as the Bible says, we would not want our worst enemies to go.

Brethren, we MUST keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, and let our world know that

Jesus loves them and so do we, especially those we don't want to.

Douglas 

All I Need Psalm 23:1b

Psalm 23 NLT
1b I have all that I need.

David is not talking about material needs. It's a relationship with his God that gives him this complete satisfaction in his life. Paul tells us in Philippines 4:12 "I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

The "secret" is being satisfied with what you have because you know God is providing exactly what you need. It's the "daily bread" He gives us. 

If you are content with your relationship with Jesus, if you are content with the knowledge of your salvation, you have all you need. As a good shepherd will not allow his sheep to suffer and will provide for the flocks need, Jesus as our Good Shepherd will not allow us as His flock to go without our basic needs. That knowledge should be comforting to us. That knowledge should give us peace. 

There a popular saying going around "Whoever dies with the most stuff wins". I don't find that humorous, I find it sad. I don't know what you win, but I know what you loose. With that mentality in life, your future is most certainly death, an eternal death that has no life. I would much rather live this life with nothing to gain an eternal life with Jesus. That is a life with everything. 

Blessings, Cecilia

2 Corinthians 5 Thank Him for the pledge!

The Temporal and Eternal

      1For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

Why do we groan daily? Because we are mortal and live where the rust and moth decay things. 

Ever since we moved a year ago we have done nothing but work on our home, whipping it into shape getting it to our liking. It seems like one project after another. Never ceasing. One thing we noticed with all the trees is, if we stopped maintaining our home, everything mortal, mother nature would take over and swallow it up with life. The trees here send out roots and they continually sprout saplings engulfing everything! It is really evident when we drive to another town as you notice some homes being swallowed up by life, by nature. It makes me wonder. What happened to the owner, did they pass away?

So indeed, in this house we groan, we continually work to be clothed! I can't wait to go to heaven and see what Jesus has prepared for us! 

But we have a pledge from God! He gave us the Spirit! So rejoice in everything you do, thank Him for your provisions, thank Him for getting you through the day, thank Him for the rest your weary bones receive at night. Thank Him for the pledge! Don't forget, Jesus is preparing a place for you, where rust and moth don't exist! What a place it will be! Holy Spirit, guide this decaying body through this day!

Blessings, David

Scripture blog; http://stanfordsancutaryscripturestudies.blogspot.com

A Shepherd And His Sheep. Psalm 23:1a

Psalm 23 NLT
A psalm of David. 
1 The LORD is my shepherd

David, who is king of Israel at the time of writing this declares "The LORD is his shepherd". David knew what it was to be a shepherd. He had spent many nights alone with his flock in the hills surrounding Bethlehem. He had time to reflect on who God is and the importance of Him in his life. 

The anthology of God as our shepherd first appears in Genesis and is carried through the New Testament. 

A shepherd was considered one of the lowest "jobs" available. There was no glamour involved, no chance of advancement. Yet it was a very important and dangerous job. Sheep are very stupid animals. That doesn't say much for us as "the sheep" does it? Sheep are fearful, timid, stubborn, and instinctively go with the herd. They require meticulous care and endless attention. They cannot find food or water on their own. If one lamb runs off a cliff the rest will follow. If unprotected, wolves will kill them all because they don't have the sense to run. If they fall down, they cannot get back up without the shepherds help. Without a good shepherd, willing to sacrifice his own life for their well being, the sheep will die. 

Oh, wait, that DOES sound exactly like us and our need for a Savior doesn't it?

Blessings, Cecilia

2 Corinthians 4 Will you speak to others about Jesus today?

      13But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE,” we also believe, therefore we also speak, 14knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you. 15For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.

      16Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Do you also believe, therefore you also speak?

"knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus"! What a promise!

"grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God." Abound the glory of God!

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. As we grow older we realize we can't do the things we use to do. We are proof our outer man is decaying!

Everything you see around you is temporal, it is going to burn up! 

Store up your unseen riches in heaven. 

Will you speak to others about Jesus today?

Blessings, David 

Scripture blog; http://stanfordsancutaryscripturestudies.blogspot.com