Following The Shepherd Part 4 Of 6

Following the Shepherd

Ps 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

4 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.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. …NKJV

Review:

Luggage of Life

We need The Lord to help us lessen our burdens. If the lord is our Shepherd, we leave the burdens at his feet.

• A suitcase of guilt.

• A sack of discontent.

• A duffle bag of weariness

• A hanging bag of grief

• A backpack of doubt,

• A over night case of loneliness

• A trunk of fear

I shall not want: He takes us to the pasture of satisfaction supplying our needs

He restores my soul – Helping us to rest in green pastures and beside still waters.

I. Righteousness:

Ps 23:3… He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. NKJV

Illustration: God’s Big Party

God is planning a great big party, with an impressive guest list. All the “greats” will be there along with some of us.

• All the luggage of life must be checked at the door.

• Outside will be the resentment, frustration and the pain of life.

• No egos, nor power plays, nor self-centered behavior.

• Guilt, shame, and sorrow must be abandoned at the entrance.

• Disease, death and depression will only be part of the past.

• What we see daily here and now we will never see in this heavenly gathering.

• More important what we see now only in part we will see clearly.

• We will not see God just by faith

• We will not see Him through the eyes of Moses or Abraham.

• We will not see God through the sunsets

• The spring rains or any other part of His creation.

• We will not just know Him by His words

• Or by His works because we will see Him.

In fact the party is not for Him because He is the party.

• His voice is the music

• His goodness is the banquet

• His radiance is the light

• His love is the endless topic of discussion

In order to come to the party we have to be righteous.

• Not good

• Not decent,

• Nor a church attendant

• Or a taxpayer.

Citizens of Heaven are righteous.

• All of us occasionally do right.

• A few predominantly do right.

• But do any of us always do right?

Rom 3:12… Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one. TLB

Some feel they are better than others. They don’t hurt people, lead a good life and don’t break the rules. Comparing ourselves to “others” we might think we might look pretty righteous.

Ill Clean Room:

I would try to convince my mother of this. She would say mt room needed cleaning. So I would show he mt brothers room which was always very messy. I would say, see my room is cleaner than this room. Then she would walk me down the hall to show me her room. Her room was always perfect. Closet clean, under the bed clean, dresser dusted…

Her room was…right and my room was just… wrong. She would say,” This is what I mean by a clean room”

Jesus does the same with us today. He points to himself and says, “this is what I mean by righteous”

Ps 7:11…God is a righteous judge

Ps 11:7… For the LORD is righteous; He loves righteousness

Ps 112:3… his righteousness endures forever

Isa 45:21… A righteous God and a Savior

God is righteousness.

• His Judgment = Rom 2:5…when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

• His requirements = Rom 8:4…in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us

• His Acts = Dan 9:16… O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath

• In all he does = Dan 9:14… for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does;

1. God is never wrong

2. Never rendered a wrong decision

3. Experienced as wrong attitude

4. Taken the wrong path