I heard news that 2 single women who were serving as missionaries in Cameroon had died. Their brakes Failed on a mountain road, they went over the cliff and died. One was a nurse; one was doctor. Both women were both 80 plus years old! Then there was an article in Readers Digest where it talked about a couple who made key investments and now get to spend there early retirement years in Florida collecting sea shells, shuffle board, and spending afternoons on their new boat. Then comes the question, which one of these is a tragedy? What a truth. It is not that it’s wrong to retire or make wise investments. I need ask myself what is my life for and when will I be done serving the Lord Jesus Christ? The answer was pretty clear, my life is for whatever God wants it to be and I will never be done trying to serve, please, glorify, and take delight in Him. I was not made to take a seat and do nothing one day. I was created for good works and what God has started in me God will take to its completion. What God gives is to do whatever, go wherever, and give it everything, every time. "Only one life twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last!" My dear friends let us make this life count, not just last. By Peder Eide
The Green Pastures and Still Waters the Shepherd will provide
Psalm 23:2
What are our two greatest needs? They are Food and Drink. How does the Shepherd meet our needs? It is through Relationship.
A former president spoke of four freedoms that we need. As sheep of our loving Lord, we must have four freedoms if we are going to lie down and enjoy life. These freedoms are Freedom from fears, Freedom from tension and fighting, Freedom from stress and Freedom from hunger and thirst. We read in our verse for this day, “He makes me to lie down. There is a desire here to be able to lie down. I want us to look at six things that come from this verse for us to follow.
I. We need to have Desire to be holy. As I was reading Exodus this last week, it said that when something became holy any one that touched that thing would become holy. EX 29:37 “Make atonement for the altar every day for seven days. After that, the altar will be exceedingly holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.” If you touch Jesus you are to be holy. The songwriter wrote, “Take time to be holy.” We are to lie down in green pastures to feed on His word to be holy. Imagine for a moment that Jesus has just completed his three years of training with the disciples. He has been crucified and is now commissioning the twelve to go into the world and disciple the nations. Now imagine him also making this statement to them. "Dear brothers, it is now time for you to share what you have learned from me. However, as you share with others be sure that you keep what I taught you separate from your work life. The principles I have shared with you only apply in situations outside your work life. Do not make them fit into this context. The miracles you saw in me can only be done in certain situations outside work life. Keep this in mind when thinking about praying for the sick or the lost. These truths will not work in the marketplace." Sound unreasonable! This is the attitude of many in our world today. The spiritual does not mix with the everyday world of the workplace. "What happens on Monday has no relationship to what takes place on Sunday," they say. These are the thoughts expressed so much in our day and time, although they are not expressed in such direct terms. Let’s think more about this idea. When Jesus came to earth, how did He come? He came as a carpenter. He was a man given to work with his hands and to provide an honest service to his fellow man. He did not come as a priest, although He was both a King and a Priest. When it came time to recruit those for whom the Church would be founded, He chose twelve men from the workplace, a fisherman, a tax collector, a doctor, and so on. They all came from the workplace. Jesus called them all from the marketplace of life. Was this only an accident that Jesus called men and women from the marketplace to play such a vital role in His mission? I think not. Today we need to embrace your work life as a holy calling.
The mad rush of today demands that we take time to be holy. A quiet time can only come as we take time to lie down in green pastures. A song goes like this: Jesus calls us from the worship of the vain world’s golden store, from each idol that would keep us, saying Christian love me more.”
II. We need to have a desire to love. God loves us just as we are and will do His best to save us. A shepherd back n David’s time would fix his coat so that if he found a lamb that was having trouble keeping up he could pick it up and tuck it in his coat to carry it. Jesus is here to help carry us when we have trouble walking in life. IS40:11 “He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.”
Weapons That Blind by Jim Liebelt “Recently, I read a report on the Internet written by Lisa Small. Her report is titled, “Blinding Laser Weapons” and documents the development and use of laser weapons that are designed to blind soldiers on the field of battle. She writes, “Although most countries play down the power of their lasers to blind on the battlefield, China, for one, has made no pretense of this potential use of its 73-pound, battery-powered ZM-87 Portable Laser Disturber. Although the Chinese system is not as portable as several of the American prototypes, its desired effect is the same: to injure or dizzy the eyes of an enemy combatant, in order to cause the enemy to lose combat ability or to suppress the enemy’s observation and sighting operations.” I guess I’ve never really thought much about the tactics of war, but it makes a lot of sense that a soldier doesn’t have to be destroyed in order to be rendered useless. Using today’s technologies, soldiers can be taken out of the battle by being blinded through the use of laser weapons. The Scriptures are clear that Satan is our enemy and is in the business of trying to destroy believers. But, perhaps like the tactics of modern warfare, today Satan doesn’t have to get rid of us to take us out of the battle. It may only take a strategy of blinding us. Anything that keeps us from pursuing our relationship with Christ and from serving Him can be used by Satan to blind us and keep us from being effective Christ-followers. When we lose balance in our lives good things like career, school, busyness, friends, hobbies, internet and even ministry can turn into weapons to be used against us and blind us from sincere and pure devotion to Jesus. Today, spend some time reflecting on the schemes Satan might use in your life to blind you in order to take you out of the battle. Protect yourself from Satan’s weapons. Put on the armor of God and stand firm.” Do we love Jesus as we should?
III. We must have a desire to be disciplined. When a shepherd wants a sheep to follow he will carry a little lamb and the mother will follow. “Suffering sweetens hearts as frost does some fruits. Storms fiber the moral life as winds do the Maine coast oak trees. So it is that disappointments stir the appetite for spiritual things.” Reisner A good parent will use the rod of correction to help better the life of a child. In the same way our heavenly Father will use discipline to help us have a better life. The Bible says that those that God loves He will use discipline. A story comes from the pages of shepherd’s care of a wayward sheep. A person found a shepherd taking food to the sheepfold to feed a sick sheep. He asked what was wrong with the sheep when he found the sheep had a broken leg. How did this happen he asked. The shepherd said he broke its leg. The sheep kept straying from the way it should go. He broke its leg so the sheep had to be laid up and have the shepherd care. After the leg was healed he did not wonder away any more. PS 119:67, 71 “I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word. The suffering you sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your principles.” A visitor went to a French hospital where he found one patient that was not outside with the others enjoying the fresh air. He found that the man had lost both feet and could not walk. He told he was sorry he had lost both feet as a casualty of war. “Do not pity me. I offered my life to my country, but she only took my two feet.” Have you given your all for Christ?
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart: Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen. If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God.
IV. We must have a desire to have assurance. For a sheep to lie down he must be aware of safety. 1 PT 5:8 “Be careful the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour.” PH 3:2 “Beware of dogs, beware of evil worker. MT 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, they are greedy wolves.” There are lions, dogs and wolves out to destroy us. A roar of a lion, bark of a dog or howl of a wolf will cause the sheep to crowd together and bleat. We need to know that the lion can roar, the dogs can bark and the wolves may howl but we have Shepherd that helps us to lie down. PS 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
V. We must have desire to be satisfied. There is story I read of a shepherd who lead his cows out for one hour in the morning and in the evening and the sheep were lying down because they were eating from a luscious field of green grass up to their knees. There was another shepherd who left his cows out all day and yet when he was ready to bring them in they were standing up. They were in the midst of a field barren ground with little grass. That is a picture of God’s care in contrast to Satan’s care. Augustine wrote, “O God! You have made us for Yourself and our souls are restless, searching, until they find their rest in You.”
VI. We must have a Desire to be taken care of. We cannot find green pastures without the Shepherd leading us. There are meadows of His Grace. 2 CO. 9:8 “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”
“Because you are my Shepherd, I commit my needs to You. Provide green pastures for me to lie in, Lead me beside still waters. Restore my soul when I’m empty, Lead me in right paths for your name’s sake. Be with me in danger when I walk, through the valley of the shadow of death. Deliver me from evil, and protect me with Your rod and staff. Prepare a table to feed me, so my enemies can see Your provision. Anoint me with the oil of Your healing; Let me drink from the full cup of Your provision. Surely goodness and mercy will always follow me, and I will live with You forever. Are you banqueting or starving? The choice is yours today.
