The Green Pastures And Still Waters The Shepherd Will Provide

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.