The Twelve Disciples - Philip (Part One)

by Jilene Scherenske

Each of the disciples had their own very distinct personality.  Sometimes I believe it is harder for us to put ourselves in their shoes if we don’t have a similar personality, yet, if we are going to learn all the lessons God wants for us to see, that is exactly what we must do.  So here, in Philip’s case, I find myself struggling a bit to see all that God wants me to see because my personality is much different than Philip’s.  

Philip’s Background

Philip’s name means “lover of horses”.  Some think he may have been named after Philip of Macedon whose son, Alexander the Great, left a lasting Greek influence in northern Galilee.  Or perhaps he was named after Philip the Tetrarch, who had raised Philip’s hometown to the status of a city.  Philip the Tetrarch was governor of four provinces during the time of John the Baptist and was brother to the Herod who was governor over Galilee (Luke 3:1).  At any rate, the name Philip was Greek though he was Jewish.  Since Alexander the Great’s vast conquests, Greek influence was very prevalent and many of the Jews had adopted some of its cultures, customs, and even language.  Those Jews were called Hellenists.  We know he must have had a Jewish name, but for some reason, scripture never uses it.  

His hometown is Bethsaida which was also Andrew and Peter’s hometown (John 1:44).  It is most probable that the three were long time friends.  It is also probable that he was a fisherman since that was the chief industry of that location.  But beyond that surmising, we have the incident in John 21 were Peter announced that he was going fishing.  In verse 2-3 it says: There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. ...  Commentators believe that Philip was one of the other two thus making him a fisherman.  We also know that he was searching the scriptures for the Messiah, as were Peter, Nathanael, and Andrew.  

Let us take a quick look at his personality.  From the events written in scripture we can surmise that he was a black-and-white man, analytical, needed to mull over the facts, always weighed the pros and cons at length.  He kept within his own boundaries of behavior, made careful calculation, sometimes he was indecisive.  He NEVER made snap decisions!  He was a data person – it had to be make sense on paper; practical minded, never visionary.  This kind of personality tends to be pessimistic, narrowly focused, cynical, thinking firstly about why things could not be done rather than finding ways to do them.  Sounds like just the kind of man Jesus needed, right?  In our estimation we would think not, but Jesus always saw the potential in every man.

Jesus wasn’t looking for grandness when He chose His disciples.His only requirement was availability.Philip was that.All these disciples, crude as they were, demonstrated to the world what God’s power working in a soul can do.I cannot think of one disciple who had any great talent which readied them to be a disciple.If anything, it was just the opposite.But through God’s power they worked miracles; through God’s power they brought the gospel to the world!It was almost as if Jesus purposely picked the lowest form of men just so that He could shine through them!What does that say to us?It speaks loudly to each of us that if we will but have a willing heart of availability, He can do above and beyond what we think or even dream of in our lives – all for His glory.We have not yet seen what He can do through us.It tells us that we don’t need to fear to step out in faith because it is He Who supplies the nerve, the gumption, the strength, the words, and anything else that is needed.Look what He did through Philip!

Disconnected: Your Teenager Is Losing Social Skills

by Christian Garcia

Parents, is this your frustration? Whether it’s out to eat, at the dinner table, or sitting on the couch, your teenager is always on their cellphone. It drives you crazy.

And for sure, you’d like to limit their digital frenzies, but you think, “I wouldn’t want to harm their social life.” Unfortunately, it seems few parents consider that their teenager’s excessive smartphone usage is actually damaging their social life!

”It turns out that the people who reported spending the most time on social media — more than two hours a day — had twice the odds of perceived social isolation than those who said they spent a half hour per day or less on those sites. And people who visited social media platforms most frequently, 58 visits per week or more, had more than three times the odds of perceived social isolation than those who visited fewer than nine times per week.”1

Online communication is extremely appealing for teenagers because 1) it offers freedom from their physical limitations, and 2) they can surround themselves with people who think like them. For a generation struggling with identity crisis, those benefits seem like great plusses. Unfortunately, teenagers are lonelier than ever, and it’s because their face-to-face interaction is nonexistent.

Be very careful with how free you allow your kids to handle their social media habits. By filling their minds with the thoughts and opinions of others, they tend to leave very little space for their walk with God and real, life-giving relationships.

How Can I Help My Teen’s Social Skills?

• -  Consider a set time of day where screen-time is off limits. Use this time to engage your teenagers or to encourage them to build stronger connections with someone face-to-face.

• -  Teach your children to have Quiet Time (Bible reading and prayer) while they’re young. The more distant we are from God, the less vibrant our relationships become.

• -  Challenge their thinking. Have you ever considered how much small talk we have with each other? Very rarely do matters of eternal value come up. But these are the very things that bind hearts closer together. Challenge your teenager to go beyond the trivia of life and start talking of things that have real value.

  1 Katherine Hobson, National Public Radio, Feeling Lonely? Too Much Time On Social Media May Be Why, https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/06/518362255/feeling-lonely- too-much-time-on-social-media-may-be-why

The Fellowship of the Fisherman

by Joshua Rhoades

Luke 5:7 And they beckoned unto [their] partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. 

I read this passage and a word jumped out at me and caused me to start to think. “Partner”, this word can be described as a collaborator. It can be further described as an associate in an activity or endeavor or sphere of common interest; especially one in which the associates both participate in the profits or benefits. These men found themselves in need of help from others. These men found it helpful even needful to have partners in their calling as professional fishermen. The task grew larger than they were able to continue with effectively.

            First of all, I see their signaling. They called, they beckoned to their partners that were in another ship other than their own. The word “beckoned” means to signal, to communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs. What is the first thing you or I would have done? We would made lots of noise to let everyone know what you had gotten a hold of. That is because we are not seasoned fisherman. These men knew their trade and knew it well. With experience in this field, they knew that other ships were fishing in the same area. They didn’t sound the battle cry and take selfies to post on social media. They used non-verbal forms of communication to express their desire to help. Do we have the wisdom to do the same? Do we have the wisdom to know that it is ok to ask for help from the brethren? Do we have the experience in our walk with the Lord to communicate with each other appropriately in each situation?

            Secondly, I see the sharing in the burden and task at hand. The word “partner” is used in this verse. The definition is “sharing in, participating in, an associate in an activity or endeavor or sphere of common interest; especially one in which the associates both participate in the profits or benefits.” When one shares in something, one becomes vested in that endeavor. I remember our Gospel Tent Crusades in Guyana were blessed a large part because we “beckoned” to sister churches to come and partner with us in the evangelistic efforts. The communities around us are watching how churches treat each other. Cities around our country are watching if and when there is sharing in working together. I am reminded of Galatians 6:2 which states “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Much of the mission work accomplished around the world is because of churches sharing and partnering for the Gospel to be taken to the ends of the world. For these fisherman to beckon to their partners who were also fishing, tells me that each boat was aware of other boats trying to do the same thing and that is catch fish! Guess who reaped the joy of bringing the nets of fish forth? Every single fisherman and boat that responded to being beckoned to for help. When we beckon for help in the ministry, others are blessed as well. Who has benefited because of partnering with you in their walk with the Lord? What harvest is being reaped because of your enablement of their work in the field, in the boat, here at home or in countries around the world? Whose burden are you sharing? Whose load is lighter because of yoking up with you? 

            Lastly, the text states “come and help them”. I see the seizing that took place. Here in Luke 5:7, the word “help” means to seize, apprehend, arrest, to give help or assistance; be of service. The help that was requested in having an active and full participation. Every time I hear or read the word “seizing”, I think of the U. S. Border Patrol agents or our U.S. Coast Guard seizing illegal contraband that is being attempted to be smuggled into our borders. This help is an effort that distinctly handles a situation, to give chase and strenuous effort which results in great accomplishment. This word help teaches me that the party that requests assistance is strengthened by my response to their beckoning of me. Who has been blessed because you came to their assistance? Who has used wisdom and experience in contacting you in asking for help? Verse 7 closes with both ships being filled, so that they began to sink, not that they did sink, only began. Today, think of who is being “helped” by you. Are both of your ships filled? Are they filled so that “they begin to sink”? 

            I believe that if we would be looking actively in the Word of God for the Holy Spirit to be “signaling” us, we would grow in our sharing of the “great multitude of fishes”. It would be because we have “seized”, we have chosen to help. May one learn to realize that both parties are blessed when one beckons us to help. May we seize/help in grabbing hold of more nets that great harvest of the goodness of God may be reaped. Times may have changed, but the task has not. 

The Kindness of God

by John O’Malley

2 Samuel 9:1–3 And David said... Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him?

Friendship. It is a word that soothes the soul and stirs the heart. It is a word evokes memories that are dear. It is a word that elicits emotions that run deep. It is the one word that offers unconditional acceptance, uncompromising affirmation, and affection.

Friendship was a word David knew. The word was personified in Jonathan, the son of the former king and his arch nemesis, Saul. While other monarchs sought to eliminate the family of the former royalty, it was not so with David. David loved Jonathan. David’s motivation was pure. He wanted to extend kindness to any of the family of Saul. David’s seeking Saul’s family was intended to be an act of mercy, not malice. 

David asked of his servants if there any left of Saul’s house to whom he could show kindness. Of the many word meanings of shew, one synonym stands out. It is the word accomplish. David wanted to accomplish kindness in memory of his friend, Jonathan. 

The average Bible reader knows this story well. It is the story of Mephibosheth. It is a story replete with divine nuances and types. The story is illustrative of God’s love, grace, and adoption in the course of His redemptive path and plan for mankind. 

Yet what captures my heart is not the primary nor secondary meanings in this  passage. Rather, it is a simple statement in verse three.  “And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him?”

David resolved in his heart that he would show the kindness of God to someone of the house of Saul. Yes, I know, the house of Saul. His mind could have been a file cabinet filled with folders of bitterness, bruises, blisters, and bad memories. Yet his heart was a vessel of compassion looking for another vessel into whom he could pour himself in the memory of his friendship with Jonathan. David saw himself as an agent of kindness working for God. He could have sought out someone who would have easily been on anyone’s enemy list; but he didn’t. Instead, in memory of his friend and in devotion to his God, he sought to show divine kindness to anyone of Saul’s house. David saw himself as God’s agent of kindness. 

Is there someone around you who needs to see the kindness of God today? Someone who needs you, on God’s behalf, to go the extra mile, invest no matter the cost, and sacrifice what’s dear, just to display the kindness of God?

The verse is clear. David showed God’s kindness that day. Will you show God’s kindness this day?

The Future’s Construction

by Candace Beane

I am convinced that God gives us special people in our lives to rescue us, and my hero was my Grandpa Oliver. Even though he died as poor as he came into this world, he didn’t die without investments in eternity! He wasn’t a preacher, but he helped many by just walking alongside them. He didn’t have teeth, but he had a contagious joy. And he didn’t have a spotless past, but he brightened the future for countless others. When I was young, he was my entire world.  

I have already shared three earlier writings from around the time he passed. This is another journal from around that time. It speaks of a great loss that my grandpa himself went through. Losing a son. 

The Future’s Construction 

            Rain had not fallen since Monday, and the forecast for the rest of the week appeared clear. Delighted with the pleasant cooperation of the elements, three generations of men ascended weatherworn rungs to their occupational task. Balancing on corrupt shingles and bare planks, Freddy and Leon discussed the remedy for the dilapidated rooftop; as Paul stood agilely on the peak, Teddy poised himself on the roof’s slope, both soaking up the beams of the sun. Teddy looked lovingly on his powerful father and short yet sturdy grandfather — he loved them so much! Paul glanced over at his older brother and followed his gaze to the two men, 

“Whatcha thinking, Teddy?”  

            Teddy, turning his head slightly, without taking his eyes off of the planning duo, “Just thinking about the future, and how Dad is gonna need someone to take care of him when he gets up in age.”

            Silence fell. Both boys were deep in thought; Paul broke the silence, “It’s hard to imagine him getting older, but I guess we will all just pitch in to take care of him.”

Almost too eager to get the words out, Teddy stated, “I’ll be the one to take care of him, I’ll make sure that he and mom are happy and well looked after!”

            That night after the day’s work was over and the crew had retired to their beds, Teddy’s brain tumor caused yet another devastating seizure that ravished his body! All construction ceased as the lives of the men were wholly wrapped up in the concern for Teddy. The rain beat hard upon the hospital’s windows, as the youth that had constructed his future around the care of his one day, aged father, lay in a hospital bed fighting for his own future! Unfortunately, several months later, he lost that battle! 

            The rain had ceased, but the beating sound of only three hammers created a dreary melody that caused the hammer holder’s heart to ache and their eyes to well up with tears. The only consolation that kept their tears at bay was the promise of their heavenly reunion. 

Who Do You Hate?

by John O’Malley

Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

This verse seems hard to assimilate. We know the times that Christ instructed us to love each other as believers as well as our neighbors. However, here we have Christ issuing a warning to followers. If you are coming to Christ for service, your love for Him must be so fervent that all others loves will seem as hatred.

However, most people I have spoken to considering God’s call for the ministry have expressed a concern over how others around them may feel if they respond to God’s call. They say, “Well, I would go but my Dad and Mom…” Or “I would go but my Siblings…” Or “I would go but I wanted to do ___________ with my life.” 

Your coming for His service is voluntary. However, there is one requirement: you must love Him more than anyone you know, anything you wanted to do, and anywhere you ever wanted to go! Does this describe your love of Christ? Are you amongst those that will claim your desire to serve him and yet will juggle their life’s loves to keep yourself, your friends, and family happy? Are you amongst those that seek to please your spouse as your chief priority only to abandon Christ?

Is your love for Christ so earnest that all other loves can only be valued as hatred? If not, adjust your relationships to people, places, and things so He is your chief love!

What are you filling your Jerusalem with?

by John O’Malley

Acts 5:28    Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?   and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.   

Peter and the other apostles had been commanded not to teach, preach, or do anything in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet their hearts were convinced that obedience to God overrode the will and wants of men. The closing verse in this chapter indicates that they ceased not preach and teach.   

However, let us focus on the phrase, “behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” We too are commanded to reach our Jerusalem with news of His resurrection. Yet how many times have we filled the Jerusalem of our homes, work, and community with news of everything else but His resurrection? We are more apt to fill our Jerusalem with earthly delights instead of eternal doctrine.   

It seems we inform the Jerusalem of our homes, work, and community of the evening news with its hopelessness, rather than the hope of the resurrection. We have spoken more of the weather than His work. We have spoken more of sports than we have of His salvation. Hence, our Jerusalems are being filled with everything but doctrine.   

If the world assessed your life this day, would they say, “He is a regular kind of guy, religious but not too pushy? Our goal is to fill our Jerusalems with doctrine not with delights.  What did you fill the Jerusalem of your home, work, and community with in the last week, Eternal Doctrine or Earthly Delights? 

Fear is the Thief of Faith

by John O’Malley

Psalms 56:3   What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

The Psalmist’s words must be a reminder to us. When fear knocks at our heart’s door, we must increase our trust in Him. He made this promise to himself while in a time of confidence. It was a reminder to himself, a reassurance to his heart, and a rejoinder to heed.

I am reminded that fear takes away my opportunity to please God. My heart’s desire is to please God. I must eschew fear by my confidence in His ability.

Found of Him in Peace

by John O’Malley

2 Peter 3:14   Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.  

In 1999, Our society spent much time discussing the Y2K computer bug. Many a believer was swept into the mania of the moment. Nationally-known teachers (which many have heaped to themselves having itching ears) created a panic amongst God’s people, strangely enough. 

This verse cuts to the very heart of the matter. Peter began this chapter stirring our minds to God’s overall plan for time. He, in our thought for this day, tells us to be diligent, to be found of Him in peace, purity and with proper testimony.   

Every believer must compare his behavior with the Bible. Our behavior in light of His return requires a diligent pursuit of peace. Were Christ return today, would He find you in peace or a panic? Would He find you in purity or spotted? Would He find you with a testimony that is blameless or blamable? In all diligence, make these your priority. 

How would He find you today? 

A Cast-Down Believer?

by John O’Malley

Psalm 42:6   O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore, will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.   

Have you ever seen a person in the throes of despair? His back is slumped. His shoulders are heavy. His eyes seem to be focused on a distant object in another world. His head is held up only by his hands which seem to be powerless. Truly this is the picture of a person who is cast down. Yet should this ever be the picture of a believer?   

In our focal verse, the Psalmist speaks of a soul of a believer that is like the one described above. It seems oxymoronic; a believer, cast down. Yet this is the state that describes many a believer today.    

The Psalmist could not rationalize why his soul would be cast down since he was a child of God. He turned to God and forced himself to remember times three times when God's power was clearly manifested in his life. He identified them for us by naming the places. He lists the land of Jordan, the land of the Hermonites and the hill Mizar. 

These places are where David experienced God's power, protection, and provision. These were the times where David experienced God's riches, rewards, and righteousness. These were situations where David experienced God's grace, goodness, and gifts.    

Is your soul cast down? Why?   

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Four

by Amanda Baker

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Four

Since storms in life are something we must all face, finding the “CALM” in the midst of the storm is so vital. “CALM” in the storm can be found by calling on the Lord first, acknowledging that God allowed the storm for your good and for His glory, leaning on Him in the midst of the storm, and finally, minimizing the negatives of the storm and maximizing the lesson learned through the storm. There have been times in my life that I have faced the storm and have reacted in a very negative way. I spent my time asking why and being bitter that life is not fair. There is no “CALM” in a storm when we focus on the negatives and all that we don’t like about it. No one is volunteering to go through stormy times in life, but I believe that Bible clearly speaks of somuch good that is meant for us in the storm if we will only recognize that good and focus on it. When I was in college, my grandmother passed away. I was devastated. She was one of my favorite people in the whole world. At the time of her death, I had been reading and studying Psalm 119 in my personal devotions. It felt like the winds and waves on the sea of life had really kicked up, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to weather this storm. The Lord showed me a wonderful truth in Psalm 119:71 – “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” I remember lying in my bed in my dorm room crying and thinking, “How can this affliction be good for me?” It was in the days and weeks that followed that I began to see the Lord work in my heart and teach me in the midst of this storm. I still hurt at the loss of someone very dear to me, but the Lord began to teach me about His peace and about His all-sufficient grace in my life. He brought a storm to my life that forced me to look to Him. That is what the storms of life should do for us. They should direct us to the

loving, caring Heavenly Father who desires to teach us in the midst of these storms. Psalm 119:68 reminds us of His goodness in our lives – “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.” The storms of life as good for us, and He desires to teach us in the midst of those storms. If we miss the lesson He has for us in the storm, how can we do what He has called us to do effectively? Sometimes the storms accent our weakness so that He can manifest His strength in our lives. Paul put it this way in II Corinthians 12:9-10: “And he [Christ] said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” God’s grace is ALWAYS sufficient for the storm. He never gives us more or less grace than we need for the storms of today. We don’t have to store up the grace for another day. He gives us exactly what we need for that day, and then He magnifies Himself in our weakness. Paul was able to say that he could glory in the storms of life because it pointed others to God’s grace and strength in those
storms. What is your focus in the storm? Is it the negatives of all that has happened to you?
Or have you seen the lessons that the Lord is trying to teach you in your weakness in the midst of the storm? It is a conscious choice to trust God and focus on that which He is trying to teach you. Psalm 118:24 illustrates this choice for us: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Will you rejoice in the storm by maximizing the lessons that the Lord wants to teach you today?

Finding “CALM” in the storm doesn’t mean that there will be a sudden end to the storm. It just means that you will be able to weather the storm with God’s grace and His strength. He will bring you through. He promises to never, ever leave us nor forsake us (Hebrew 13:5). Will you trust Him today and find “CALM” in the midst of your storm?

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Three

by Amanda Baker

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Three

We have been looking at finding the “CALM” in the midst of the storms of life. So far, we have looked at the need we have to call on the Lord first and to acknowledge that God allowed the storm for our good and for His glory. Today let’s take another step in finding the “CALM” in the storm – we must lean on Him in the midst of the storm. Storms bring with them fierce winds that would seek to blow us off course, to look for something or someone to hold on to

while we weather the gale force winds and the driving rain. Scripture is clear that there isn’t anything or anyone more dependable to lean on and hold to in the storms of life than the Lord Jesus Christ. Oftentimes in the midst of the storm, I find myself trying to figure out how to work out the problem on my own. I seek my own wisdom in how to handle the problem, but that is not the right way to face the winds of the storm. Proverbs 3:5-6 clearly tell us to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” My leaning must be on the Lord and not on my own understanding. He desires to help me in the midst of the storm. In fact, the Psalmist makes this clear in Psalm 61:1-4: “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.” Leaning on the Lord in the storm is what He desires. The Psalmist is crying out to the Lord here “from the ends of the earth” with an overwhelmed heart. Christ promises to be our rock, shelter, strong tower, tabernacle, and much more. He wants us to come to Him and lean on His strength in the storm. The storms are so much more overwhelming when we try to face the winds on our own. It is interesting to note that the Psalmist often couples this idea of leaning on the Lord with times of prayer. The two go hand in hand. Why not just trust Him in the midst of your storm? Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” God’s Word never tells us to fix the storm. It just points us to call on Him, trust Him, and lean on Him as He takes us through the storm. Will you lean on the Lord as He leads you to the “CALM” in your storm today?

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Two

by Amanda Baker

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part Two
As we continue with this idea of finding “CALM” in the storm, let us consider another truth – Finding “CALM” in the storm requires you to acknowledge that God allowed this storm for your good AND for His glory. This truth can be a tough one to get your arms around at times. There are a few parts to this statement that we need to consider as we seek “CALM” in the storm.

First, we have to acknowledge that God allowed this storm. There is so much talk in our society about the “bad” things that are happening all around us and to us. Granted, the world is full of evil that all traces back to the original sin of Adam and Eve. But Scripture supports the truth that not all “bad” things, as we would call them, are allowed in our lives as punishment. The Psalmist writes the following in Psalm 119:75: “I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.” If the storms of life are all bad for us, this verse is contradictory because the Psalmist saw the affliction in his life as the Lord’s demonstration of His faithfulness.

Secondly, we must acknowledge that God allowed this storm for your good. Admittedly, none of us would volunteer for a storm in our lives, but God sometimes brings those storms in our lives to show us how good He is. Again, the Psalmist states in Psalm 84:11 – “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” I often go to this verse to remind myself that everything the Lord sends my way is good for me because He promises not to withhold good from those are seeking to walk with Him. That leads to the conclusion that the storm in my life must be for my good!

Lastly, we must acknowledge that God allowed this storm for your good AND for His glory. As believers, we must realize that God’s ultimate purpose in creating us was to bring glory to Him. Revelation 4:11 – “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” So even in the storm, we must seek to give Him glory for what He is doing in our lives.

The storms of life should help us see His working in us if we are seeking to see it. Sometimes it is necessary to follow the Psalmist’s admonition and just “be still and know that He is God” (Psalm 46:10). He is in control, and not only in control, but He is working His master plan that is for your good and ultimately for His glory. How are you doing at finding “CALM” in your storm?

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part One

by Amanda Baker

How to Find the CALM in the Storm: Part One

Storms in life are not unique to any one person. In fact, someone has rightfully said that at any given time in life, we are in a storm, coming out of a storm, or getting ready to enter another storm in life. The Lord promised us that storms would be part of life in I Peter 4:12 - “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” So the presence of storms in our lives should not surprise us as Christians. However much of our lives are consumed with dealing with the stormy times of life. The real question that every Christian must deal with is this - how do you find calm in the midst of the storm?

I believe that the Bible is full of passages that can be our “CALM” in the storms of life. Over the next several blog posts, I want to share with you some thoughts the Lord has impressed on me about just that - Finding the “CALM” in the Storm. Here is an overview of those thoughts.

1. Call on the Lord first.

2. Acknowledge that God allowed this storm for your good and ultimately for His glory.

3. Lean on Him as He takes you through the storm.

4. Minimize the negatives of the storm while you maximize the lessons God has for you as

   you weather the storm.

Let’s begin with what I believe to be a foundational truth for each of us as we look for the “CALM” in the storm - Call on the Lord first! Sadly, as twenty-first century believers, we so quickly overlook this very important resource in the storms of life. We run to social media to ask others to pray for us (which is a blessing, don’t get me wrong), but many times we are asking others to do for us what we have yet to do for ourselves. I believe that we will more easily find the “CALM” in the storm if we will personally begin by crying out to the One Who has the ability to do something about the storm.

There are several passages that remind us of these truths. Below are just a few that have been a comfort and even a conviction to me concerning calling on the Lord first.
Jeremiah 33:3 - Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Psalm 55:16-17 - As for me, I will call upon God; And the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: And he shall hear my voice.
Psalm 86:6-7 - Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: For thou wilt answer me. Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

These passages and many others like them speak for themselves. Our God wants us to call on Him when we are in the storms of life. The question is do you see prayer as the first resource

or the last resort when the winds of life whip up around you? “CALM” in the storm must begin with calling on the Lord first!

Psalm 23:6b

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the twelfth, and last, in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations.  

Psalm 23:6b

“ ….. and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

After experiencing the tender and compassionate, wise and generous, loving care of the shepherd, the flock are completely content, content with their master and content with their life, having gained complete confidence in this master.  They no longer have any thoughts of wandering.  The sheep have now experienced the full gamut of life’s cycle.  They began in the green pastures and still waters of the home ranch.  Then they traveled up through the mountain passes onto the high plateaus of the summer range.  Fall, with its storms has driven the flock back to the safety of the home ranch to spend the long winter.  It is a home coming of sorts.

In his days of shepherding, Phillip Keller had a neighbor who was not a good shepherd.  Keller describes his sheep as sickly.  They would stand huddled at the fence, their tails to the storm, facing the lush fields upon which his sheep were grazing.  They were poor, abused, neglected creatures with a heartless owner.  They only knew great suffering at all times, their bodies were wracked with the diseases that we have mentioned in past lessons.  Tormented by those diseases, they were so weak they could hardly stand.  They would huddle at the fence line, starving, longing for the grass and the care of Keller, the good shepherd.  If they could find a way, they would sneak into his pastures and feast on his grass, but this proved disastrous because their sickly bodies could not tolerate the richness of his grass.  One day Keller found three of them in his pasture lying helpless and unable to stand.  He took them over to their owner, who uncaringly quickly slit their necks.  This is a vivid picture of how satan behaves.  He never cares for anyone; he only seeks to steal them away from God and, after a life of misery, eventually kills them.  

Jesus told us in John 10 that He is the door to the sheepfold.  “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9  Only by Him can one enter in and be fed.  The neighbor’s poor sheep had not entered into Keller’s pasture through the right gate.  They tried to get in on their own, by their own means.  Had they been able to come in through the right gate, the good shepherd’s gate, they would have been cared for and brought back to health.  Every day we rub shoulders with people who are on the wrong side of the fence.  Discontent, starving, sickly, dying people who desperately need to find Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Who will cure all their diseases, pour His love into them, care for all their needs.  For these forsaken sheep/unbelievers we must consider what we look like to them.  What is my impact on them?  Does my life portray a life that is completely satisfied with my Jesus and His provisions for me?  Do I reflect contentment and joy wherever I go?  Does my joy make them envious of what I have?  Thirsty for what I have?  Do they see Jesus in me?  Does my conversation with them lead to Jesus?  Do they look over the fence that separates us from them and long for what we have in Jesus?

The phrase we are considering here speaks of dwelling in God’s house forever.  I think we tend to think this only relates to heaven but let us consider a different application first.  Being in the house of the Lord speaks to me of two things:  worship and service.  Is there ever a time when I should not be worshipping the Lord?  We tend to think of worship in terms of church services.  Yes, that is definitely a time to worship God.  But what about our daily time with Him in His Word?  Is that not to be a time of worship also?  Do you think of that time as worship?  How would your devotional time change if you saw it as worship?  To me that signals an intimate time, a serious time, a time of praising God for Who He is, a time of humbling myself before Almighty God, confessing sin, a time of focusing completely and solely on Him and Who He is, a time of thanking Him for ALL that He has done for me.  But worship should not be limited to church services or even that plus our daily time with Him.  We ought to then step out into our day – whatever that means – and keep on worshipping Him.  We are dwelling with Him in His house at all times, every moment at home in His Presence.  Therefore, my entire life, every single movement of my limbs, every word I speak, every thought I think, ought to display an awareness of His Presence, yielding to the Spirit’s control so that I am continually worshipping Him by pleasing Him.  No matter how busy and pressed upon by difficult things, or how laid back our life is, He desperately wants us to worship Him throughout our day.  We do that by passing all things before Him, bathing all things in prayer, having a continual conversation with Him throughout the day.  You may think this is impossible, but this I know, if we ask for this mindset – a continual awareness of His Presence and a yielding to Him - He will give it to us little by little.  It ought to be our goal.  

One more thought on worshipping.  Several times the Bible speaks of worshipping in the beauty of holiness.  1Ch 16:29 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.  Ps 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.  Ps 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.  Ps 99:5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.  It is the only way we can worship our holy God.  Therefore, we must make sure that we come to Him with clean hands and a clean heart.  Every time we approach God, we need to humble ourselves and confess our sin and beg for forgiveness, and if we see no sin, ask Him to reveal it to us.  Then, and then only, are we truly ready to worship.

Mt 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.  Jesus states here that we are both to worship and then to serve.  I see this as the second component of dwelling in the house of the Lord.  We must go forth from our private moments of worship, and in the spirit of worship then serve God.  To me serving God means that I allow the Holy Spirit to have control of my life.  If He has control of me, then I will automatically serve God and serve Him in the right spirit so that He gets all the glory.  The Spirit will direct me into whatever service God has for me.  He will give me the health, the energy, the wisdom, the courage, whatever I need He will give me so that I am serving God as He wants me to.   

“…and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”  Forever!  What a blessing to be permanently fixed in the presence of Jesus!  We have learned that sheep desire to have their goodly shepherd in their view at all times.  That gives the sheep security and peacefulness.  Is this how we feel about Jesus?  Or do we sometimes wish to hide something from Him?  Jesus is everything to us.  This psalm has taught us that.  It has also taught us that we need Him – at all times and in all situations.  Should He blink, we would be in grave danger!  His presence guarantees that we will be safe and secure, that we will have green pastures to feed upon, that there will be still and clean waters from which to drink, that there will be fresh fields, freedom from fear, freedom from pests and diseases of the soul; there will be calm, quietness and contentment which ends in great joy.  We have the Holy Spirit living within us.  He will make His presence known to us if we will let Him.  Pray that God will make you sensitive to realize His continual presence and to respond to it.  As we learn to live in harmony with our Shepherd we will discover a life that is beyond satisfied!  An abundant life!  

Ps 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Ps 89:15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

Pr 16:15 In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.

Isa 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Ps 36:7-9 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.

Ps 73:24-26 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

There is yet one thing more to consider.  It is the thing that typically comes to mind first when we read this phrase, “and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”  Of course, I am speaking of heaven!  It is the ultimate end for believers.  We have no idea what heaven will be like in all of its splendor.  We can try to imagine it, but we will not come close to its reality.  Have you ever really looked forward to something and discovered that in your great anticipation your expectations exceeded what the reality became?  I have.  I have looked forward to something so much, only to have my expectations dashed because it did not prove to be as wonderful as I had anticipated.  Heaven will never be like that!  Our expectations will never exceed its awesomeness!  This psalm has given us so much encouragement for this life…so much awareness of the blessings our Shepherd gives us in this life.  Now it ends with heaven – the greatest encouragement of all!  We can endure anything if we will keep the end in sight – heaven – a forever eternal time of feasting on the fellowship of face to face contact with Jesus!  Wow!  What more can I say?  I am speechless!

Application

Let us go back and remember the poorly cared for sheep/unbelievers, whose master/shepherd is satan.  When unbelievers look upon you do they see a believer who is feasting on the Word of God so much so that your every attitude and action is an example of godliness that makes the unbeliever long after what you have?  May it be so.  Are you this example to your family so that your children long to be as close to Jesus as you are?  So that when they grow up they will desire to be just like you in their faith and even more so?  Or are they looking forward to being out on their own so they can leave this religious stuff behind?  Every time you walk out your door does the sweet smell of Jesus go with you?  Never fake, always genuine because you have spent time with Him and are allowing Him to control your life?  Are you ready then to show the unbelieving sheep how to enter by the right gate?

How is your worship?  Is it limited to just certain times, or is it a continual practice?  Beg God to make it a constant practice.  Do you enter your day of worship considering your sins and then confessing them?  Worship cannot happen if sins are harbored.  Do you take the time to praise God for Who He is every morning?  Do you adore Him?  Thank Him for all He has done for you?

How are you serving God?  Does your worship lead you to want to serve Him?  Are you willing to do whatever He directs you to do?  Wait for Him – make sure what you do is what His will is for you.  Then seek to serve Him with all of your heart.

Are you encouraged by the fact that Jesus is with you every single nano moment of the day?  How does that awareness affect you?  How often do you thank and praise Him for His Presence?  

Are you looking forward to heaven?  Ashamedly, there have been times in my life when I asked God to spare my life a bit longer because I was not ready to go to heaven.  I wanted the enjoyment of seeing my girls married, of seeing grandchildren and watch them grow.  No matter what stage we are in life, heaven should be what we anticipate the most. If you are thinking like I once was, then ask God to give you a joy of looking forward to heaven and He will!

Psalm 23:6a

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the eleventh in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations.  

Psalm 23:6a

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”

After all the care the shepherd has given the sheep, they now know that they are secure in that care and in his love.

So, we, having received of the Lord gifts galore, mercies unending, love unfathomable, can now know for sure, without a doubt that that love and care will continue with us until the day we die.  He is a good God, He cannot be otherwise for His love is perfect, His kindness to us is perfect.  As mature children we can look back and see that everything that crossed our life was there for us to grow closer to Him.  He told Abraham, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Gen 15:1  Truly, we have now learned that He is indeed all we need and so much more – He is our Reward!  We are in a privileged position.  We are His children, His adopted children!  Goodness and mercy will be what we have come to expect from our great Father.  

But are you indeed secure in this fact?  If right now finances are plenty, health is good, relationships are wonderful, and friends abound it is pretty easy to say, “Yes, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God will see to it that goodness and mercy will be mine the remainder of my life here on earth.”  But if you are currently facing a crisis or some form of difficulty, that promise may be harder to claim.  God may have brought something in your life that has you in a tailspin.  You cannot imagine how any good can come from this.  You are distraught, not knowing how you can live one more day.  You have no idea what your next step should be.  

I love this poem.  It has more than once been such a comfort in my life.  

Lean Hard

Child of My love, lean hard,

And let Me feel the presence of thy care.

I know thy burden, child: made no proportion

In its weight to thine unaided strength;

For even as I laid it on, I said,

“I shall be near, and while she leans on Me,

This burden shall be Mine, not hers:

So shall I keep My child within the circling arms

Of Mine own love.”  Here lay it down, nor fear

To impose it on a shoulder which upholds

The government of worlds.  Yet closer come,

Thou art not near enough, I would embrace thy care.

Thou lovest Me?  I know it.  Doubt not then:

But loving Me, LEAN HARD.  

Unknown author

Here God calls you “child of my love”.  That is what you are!  Then He asks you to lean hard, lean hard on Him.  He is the One Who sustains our universe, the universe that He created.  Is He not then, qualified to carry your burdens?  In this poem God says that He Himself gave you this trial fully knowing that you were completely unable to carry it.  But He also knew that if you would but take the burden to Him and then wait upon Him to fix it, everything will be alright.  And not just alright but will actually turn out for your good.  He begs you to allow Him to care for you, to allow Him to carry this burden.  

So, in a time of crisis how do we do this?  By simply calling out to Him.  There is no special formula, it is simply acknowledging that you are utterly helpless, as are sheep, to fix the situation.  Tell Him exactly how you feel about it all.  You may even find that you have to tell Him that you do not have the strength to turn it over completely to Him, that you feel like you must do something.  But then tell Him that you want to rest completely in Him and ask Him to give you even that desire and ability to rest…..and He will!  He delights in taking completely over.  It is what is best for you and that is when He can work best. 

Every time you do this,  every crisis that arises and you find yourself finally surrendering totally to God and taking your hands off the circumstance and giving it over to God, then that will make you stronger for the next trial.  Not stronger in yourself, but going more quickly to Him, the Great Problem Solver and the Great Lover of your soul.  As You see Him work things out for your good over and over again, you will grow closer and closer to Him, more in love with Him.  He is indeed our Exceeding Great Reward.  

There is something else that strikes me in this verse.  Not only is His goodness promised to us forever, but His mercy as well.  Do you realize how very much we all need His mercy?  Are we not prone to think of ourselves more highly than we ought and therefore we do not see the sin that harbors in our hearts?  Bottomline:  we deserve hell!  But according to His mercy (Titus 3:5) God sent Jesus….and His work on the cross rescued us all so that we can become the adopted children of God, bound for eternity with Him.  I deserved absolutely no mercy.  There was and is nothing in me that makes me worthy of His mercy.  Yet He is rich in mercy toward me (Eph 2:4).  Even as His child, I offend Him every day with wrong thoughts, wrong actions, wrong motives, wrong words.  But in His mercy He forgives me over and over again.  Every day He refuses to give me what I deserve!  I beg Him every morning that I may see my sin.  That’s what Job did:  How many are mine iniquities and sins?  Make me to know my transgression and my sin. Job 13:23  God always stands ready to forgive me.  He is full of mercy, it is plenteous to all who call upon Him.  For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Ps 86:5  I am deserving of NO mercy and yet He gives me His abundant mercy.  

Think of mercy like this:  What would you think of a judge who allowed murderers and robbers and rapists to go free without any punishment?  You would be abhorred!  Yet every day I sin against God and most of the time I do not realize the punishment I deserve.  The Bible says we come short of the glory of God.  The way I like to explain that is that if I were given a ball and told to throw it to Fairbanks, Alaska, I would miss the mark by quite a bit!  Yet every day I miss the mark for what God wants to see in my words, and deeds, and thoughts; and I miss the mark by more than not being able to reach Fairbanks with my ball!  Yet, when I call upon Him and repent, He forgives me!  Amazing!  Streams of mercy flowing from the fountain of life are mine continually.  All kinds of mercies.  Pardoning mercies, protecting mercies, sustaining mercies, supplying mercies.  I cannot wait to get to heaven so that I will no longer offend Him.  But even there, I am using His mercy, because I would not be there without His mercy!

Phillip Keller, in addressing this phrase of the Psalm, brings about a point I would not have considered.  If I am to be so blessed with goodness and mercy, then my life must exude that same blessing to those around me.  Here is how the sheep portray this:

According to Keller, sheep can, under poor management, be a most destructive livestock in that they can easily and quickly ruin and ravage the land as we have seen in past lessons.  But, under good management they can be just the opposite – the most beneficial of all livestock!  What I am about to say may seem gross to those of you who have never had anything to do with a farm, but to me this is everyday life.  My father would scoop up the manure from the pasture near the barn where the cattle had wintered and spread it upon his fields.  It made for a wonderful fertilizer.  Sheep are known to have the best-balanced manure of any domestic livestock.  When spread over a pasture it has enormous benefit to the soil.  Another wonderful habit of the sheep is that they naturally choose to seek the highest ground to rest, thus depositing the bulk of their manure in the less productive higher ground and thus making that ground thrive.  Yet another wonderful aspect of sheep is that they will eat all sorts of weeds and other undesirable plants that one does not want in their pastures.  For example, sheep love the buds and tender tips of the Canada thistle, thus making that weed unable to thrive.  We had thistles in our pastures, and they were devastating!  Because of all these traits, when the sheep are under the care of a wise shepherd, they would within a few years clean up and restore even a severely ravaged land.  No other creature can do this.  Their pastures would become beautiful, lush and green, park-like.  Their worth would drastically increase.  In these weed-free grounds fertility would increase, and the sheep would live in great goodness feasting off the land which, with the help of their shepherd, they have made lush.  

Like sheep, if we do our own thing, go our own way, we will make devastation out of our life and those around us.  Ruin will predominate.  Relationships will abandon.  Nothing will be goodness.  But if we choose to follow our wonderful Shepherd, then we will see abundant goodness and mercy in our lives.  If we are truly living in this goodness and mercy than our lives will reflect it and will make an impact on those around us.  So, we must ask ourselves – “When I am with someone, do I leave behind blessing?  Do I leave behind peace in their lives – or turmoil?  Do I leave behind forgiveness – or bitterness?  Do I leave behind contentment – or conflict?  Do I leave behind joy – or frustration?  Do I leave behind love – or rancor?”  For the child of God who is basking under the goodness and mercy of his Shepherd, we ought always to leave behind the sweet perfume of encouragement, and inspiration, and love.  Those we have been with should never have to wonder if we love them.  They should never have to wonder what we think about them -fearing criticism or contempt.  They should feel genuine compassion and tenderness.  Even those steeped in sin at that moment should know we are forgiving them as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us.

At the end of the season, when a shepherd is able to view the green pastures that he has been able to restore and see his sheep thriving it brings him great joy and satisfaction.  Is that how Jesus sees you? What does your life bring to Jesus?  Is He satisfied with you?  Does He look over the years that He has spent wooing you into His Christlikeness and is He pleased?  He longs for your love much more than you realize.  He yearns for you to follow Him so that He can bless you with goodness and mercy.

What a picture!  Jesus, our Shepherd leads us; we follow Him, goodness and mercy follow us!  These are two companions that will never leave me.  All that Jesus has done for us as our Shepherd – all that is goodness and mercy - and all that will keep on following me!  So, He frames our life by leading us into His will which is beyond good for us, and then, as we choose to follow, He drapes all of His leading goodness behind us to follow us!

Application

The Shepherd has proven His goodness to you.  Do you see it?  Can you look back on life and stamp goodness and mercy on it all?  Are you continuing to lean on Him for everything in your life? 

How does His mercy strike you?  Do you fully realize how much you need His mercy?  Do you see your waywardness and realize how very much you miss the mark He wants for you in godly living?  Do you regularly confess sin?  

Are we passing our goodness along?  When we leave someone’s presence, do they feel refreshed?  Encouraged?  Uplifted?  

Are we bringing joy to Jesus?  

In order for goodness and mercy to be mine, I must follow Him.  It will not follow me if I do not follow Him!  Choose this day whom ye will follow!

Psalm 23:5b

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the tenth in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations.  

Psalm 23:5b

“ … thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

Let us remember that in this psalm David is remembering the entire year of the sheep.  He began with the late fall, winter, and spring months where the sheep graze in the pastures at home.  Then David brought us through the valleys and the climb toward summer pastures high in the mountains.  Here there are fresh pastures, clear running springs, and intimate closeness to the shepherd.  However, in the heat of the summer there is also a pesky enemy that needs to be dealt with speedily. 

Keller tells us of a foreboding threat to the sheep when in the mountain pastures.  Summertime is when all the flies and insects multiply.  These parasites can pose a serious threat to the sheep.  They are many and varied.  “…there are warble flies, hot flies, heel flies, nose flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and other minute winged parasites that proliferate at this time of year.”  These will attack the sheep mercilessly and torture them, causing great harm.  

I grew up a farm girl.  Although we did not have sheep, we had cows and I well remember all the flies during the summer.  They were relentless!  The cows at least had a tail to swish them away, and they kept their tails busy at all times!  I remember the smells of the barnyard, the flies covering our nearby house, and my mother’s constant and endless battle with the flies indoors!  We all took turns with the fly swatter!

Let us consider the damage just one of these flies can cause for a sheep.  The nasal fly, or nose fly will buzz about a sheep’s head and attempt to lay its eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose.  If it is successful, those eggs will eventually hatch, and the larvae will work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head.  There they will burrow into the flesh and create an intense irritation and severe inflammation.  This will cause the sheep to beat its head against a tree or rock or toss its head up and down for hours.  Because of this fly the sheep will become frantic with fear and panic and will stamp their feet erratically and race around the pasture attempting to get away from the flies.  Some run so much that they drop in exhaustion.  They may try to seek shelter in nearby bushes.  Often, they will refuse to graze in the open pastures.  Keller says that in extreme cases a sheep will even kill itself in an effort to be free of the discomfort.  These larvae can also cause blindness.  It is interesting that once again we see that God has given sheep no defense abilities even against flies!  They have no tail to swish away the flies.  They cannot use their limbs for protection.  They are completely and totally dependent upon the shepherd to help them combat this enemy.  These pesky and dangerous flies have a devastating effect on the flock.  They do not eat as they should and thus do not gain weight and become weak.  Ewes, if panicked enough by these parasites, will stop producing milk which then means that the lambs stop growing.  

So what can the shepherd do?  At the first sign of flies, he applies an antidote to their heads.  Often it will be a mixture of linseed oil, Sulphur, and tar which he smears over the noses and heads.  This will keep the flies at bay.  Suddenly the sheep’s behavior is once again calm, and they begin to feed again in peaceful contentment.  But once is not enough.  The ointment has to be applied over and over again.  This the shepherd does most gladly.  I remember, as I said before, the flies that would bother our cattle.  My father frequently would take some type of effective bug spray and spray it over their backs to ward off the pests.  

So how do we relate this to our lives?  The flies represent all the pesky irritations in our lives.  Irritations like that particular habit of your husband.  It might be ever so little, but it irritates you none the less.  It might be some quirk in your friend’s personality.  Maybe it is a personality conflict with someone with whom you must work in close contact.  Sometimes an irritation occurs because someone seems to always be getting the things or positions or accolades that you want.  That envy can drive us batty!  Or maybe you have someone in your life who continually puts you down.  Sometimes the irritation can be an offense; something someone said that hurt or upset you.  Perhaps the irritation is over the way the driver ahead of you is driving!  Sometimes it is something little like a noise the water pipes make every time you run water.  Or maybe it is something else in your house that needs fixing, but it never seems to get done.  

What will happen if you choose to keep on being aggravated?  Satan will use the aggravation to take over your thoughts more and more.  Therefore, you will be less focused on Jesus and what His will is for your everyday life.  Your devotions will be filled with distractions.  You will lose your peace.  You will stop growing spiritually and will actually become less and less Christlike; the fruit of the Spirit will wane.  An irritation can become so bad that we would think of taking our life just to rid ourselves of it!  Or it can make us dead spiritually – not losing our salvation, just no longer pleasing God but pleasing self.

So how do I fix these irritations?  By applying the ointment of the Holy Spirit to our souls, not once, but continually.  Satan, the world, our own flesh do not attack once and leave us alone; they are pests that keep on pestering us and will pester us until the day we die!  We must keep on applying the Spirit to our life.  Only He can give us the ability to respond to these many aggravations and annoyances in a Christ-like manner.  Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.  When our mind is focused at all times on Jesus, then we have peace from these irritations.  Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. The fruit of the Spirit cannot grow in us when we allow these pests to continually bombard us.  

How do I apply the ointment of the Holy Spirit?  Firstly, by realizing that there is absolutely nothing that you can do about the irritations.  We all are dumb helpless sheep, totally in need of our Shepherd.  We must therefore surrender to Him.  We must die to self.  Galatians five goes on to say:  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gal 5:24-25.   A dead man cannot be bothered by irritations!  So how do I die?  By simply asking Jesus to apply His anointing oil of His Spirit to your situation.  “Lord, I am bothered by ___________.  I am unable to cope with this pesky thing.  It is affecting my mind and my focus on You and what You want for my life.  Please take my mind and center it on You.  Return to me the peace I had before this irritation came into my life.  I cannot control my thoughts, but You can.  Remove these aggravating thoughts from my mind.  Give me the faith to leave them with You and trust that You will work Your will in this situation.  If You purpose to leave the irritation in my life, then give me the patience I need to live with it and enable me to accept it cheerfully, knowing that Your will is always best, and You are using it to effect something wonderful in my life.  I know You are more than able to remove it, but I am willing to have it stay if it be Your will.  Thank You for whatever You choose to do with this aggravation.”  When you have done this from the heart than this will be your theme:  Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  Now you can continue growing into Christlikeness and walking victoriously with Jesus.  

I have such a pest in my life (of course there have been many!).  It is something my husband does that is not a sin, but, if I allowed it to, it would drive me batty because it is exactly opposite of my personality.  There was a time in my life where that is exactly what it was doing – driving me batty.  I thought about it many times every day.  I would steam over it, be angry about it.  I would attempt to confront him in many ways, always trying to manipulate him toward my way.  That would only end in an argument with both of us being wounded!  Finally, one day I knew what I had to do – I had to surrender it completely to Jesus.  I did that, telling Jesus exactly how I felt about the whole situation (as if He did not know), attempting, I think, to convince Jesus that my way was better!  But then, I surrendered!  I told Jesus that I realized that allowing this to annoy me was only harming me.  I wanted a closer walk with Him, and I knew that was not about to happen if I kept on being annoyed.  I gave the whole situation over to Jesus, even to the point of telling Him that if He chose to not change my husband in this regards, I would be okay with that.  But I also told Jesus that He was going to have to effect this change in my heart because I knew I could not drum it up by myself.  That prayer was probably first prayed 20 years ago!  Steve has not changed!  Yes, I have had to pray that prayer more than once, but now I pray it as soon as I feel the irritation rising within me.  I suppose it has been a thorn in my flesh, but by learning to surrender it, it no longer aggravates me.  I am over the hill in love with my husband and it no longer matters that this thing still exists!  It has, after all, taught me well how to be dead to my flesh and my ways and how to live allowing Jesus to work in me to give me peace and love despite its presence.  For the sheep, the flies never went away, but when the ointment was present, they could live in peace.  

As we stated in the beginning there are many more parasites than just nasal flies.  There is another minute, microscopic parasite that multiplies in the summertime.  Commonly referred to as “scab”, it is highly contagious and causes the wool to fall off and scabs to appear on the skin.  This disease is transmitted by direct contact, and since the sheep love to rub their heads together in an affectionate manner, the disease readily spreads amongst the flock.  Once again, the cure is to apply an ointment, but because this pest can attack any part of the sheep’s body the shepherd usually dips the entire sheep, submerging it in a solution until its entire body is soaked.  One can only imagine the cost of such a process.  Dipping tanks had to be purchased and enough solution to dip the entire bodies of the whole flock.  And then there was the expense of time and labor.  Special attention had to be made for the head, so with great care the shepherd would apply this solution to the head by hand.  This may have been also what David was thinking about when he penned “Thou anointest my head with oil…”  In Palestine in the old days they used a mixture of olive oil and sulfur and spices.  Imagine the amount of olive oil needed to cover entire bodies of the entire flock!!

So, what is scab in our lives?  It is sin, sin that comes to us as we rub up against the world.  It comes through the ideas of the world and our own flesh.  It is sin in our thought life.  All sin begins there – in our minds.  Then it travels to our heart and eventually, to our actions.  That is why scripture warns us repeatedly to guard our heart/thoughts.  

Pr 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  

Mt 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.  Mt 12:34 … for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.   

Mr 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.  

Jas 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.  

We have a multitude of things before us that seek to influence our thoughts.  Perhaps one of the giants is television.  Our nightly news is filled with liberal ideas and seeks to inform us only of their point of view.  It is no longer news; it is brain washing.  But another giant is the internet.  It, too, seeks in many ways to deceive us and to entice us to sin.  Games which take our time away from the Lord, immoral web sites, information of all sorts, on every topic imaginable – much of which is full of lies, sites enticing us to buy what we don’t need, teaching us violence, hatred, prejudice, greed, disrespect, and self-love.  On every website we go, even the godly ones to do Bible research, for instance, we are bombarded with all sorts of advertisements and often, these ads are so deceitful that we might easily click on them unintentionally.  These all lead us away from those things which are true, honest, just, pure, lovely; things and thoughts that are valuable and worthy of praise (Phil 4:8).  When we allow the world to contaminate us, then we will become ugly, just like a sheep with scab.  Ugly on the inside and eventually ugly on the outside also!  Two huge things happen when we allow our mind to be taken captive by any type of wrong thoughts.  It will take away our fruit, we will no longer seek to spread the gospel, it will not be important to us to introduce others to Jesus, and, secondly, we won’t grow spiritually into Christlikeness.  And that is exactly satan’s goal – to use the world’s influence to make us impotent.

How can we avoid scab in our lives?  We cannot!  Only the Shepherd can protect us from it.  We must beg Him continually to give us a consciousness of the Presence of the Holy Spirit, keeping our mind fixed on Him (Isa 26:3).  We must plead with Him every day to show us our sin.  Ps 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  We must begin our day focused on Him, reading His Word, studying and meditating upon it, and spending time talking to Him, inviting the Holy Spirit to control us that day.  When the world slips us a thought, then we must examine that thought in light of His Word.  Does it pass the test of being truth?  Honest?  Just?  Pure? Lovely?  Is it valuable for my spiritual life as well as my physical and emotional life?  Is it a good report or does it slyly attempt to deceive and destroy something good?  Is it something the Bible would say we should praise?  If one is not in the Word daily in a quality, meaningful way, then comparing worldly concepts with what the Bible says will be difficult.  The Holy Spirit will use what we have learned from scripture to bring us truth.  Imagine being completely submersed in the fountain of the Holy Spirit!  Dipped head to toe!  Then completely protected by that dipping from the scab of sin.  What a wonderful picture!

As you might imagine, sheep do not wholeheartedly succumb to the process of dipping!  They kick and struggle with the shepherd.  Like them, we too can be stubborn and refuse the loving aid the Holy Spirit wants so desperately to bring us.  If we want to be free of the disease that the world attempts to give us, we must be diligent.  Hebrews 11:6 says, But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Two things in that verse I want to highlight.  One, just as we had faith to accept Him as our Savior, so we must have faith that He will work in our lives to prevent this scab.  Two, God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  That word ‘diligent’ in the Greek means to “zealously seek for something with all of one’s heart, strength, and might.  It presents the picture of one who seeks something so passionately and determinedly that he literally exhausts all his power in his search…..[it has] the idea of being hard-working, attentive, busy, constant, and persistent in one’s devotion to what he or she is doing…” [Sparkling Gems from the Greek Vol 1, Rick Renner, Harrison House, 2003 Pg102]  Would you say this is what your daily fellowship with the Lord looks like?  Is this how you are pursuing your walk with Christ?  Are you passionate about allowing the Holy Spirit to control your every thought?  Job said, How many are mine iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin. Job 13:23  Every day I beg God to show me my pride and my sin.  My flesh wants desperately to hide them from me!  Then when He reveals my sin I quickly agree with Him and confess it.  In no way do I want the parasite of sin to lodge in my heart!

Praise the Lord!  Even when we are lackadaisical, or even completely turning away from the Lord, yet He comes searching for us, encouraging us to come unto Him, stimulating our minds with thoughts of Him.  It is never about what we do, it is always about how He enables us, leads us, guides us.  I love the following hymn.  It is a great prayer to sing every day.  [May the Mind of Christ My Savior by Kate B. Wilkinson]

May the mind of Christ my Savior
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow’r controlling
All I do and say.

May the Word of Christ dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His pow’r.

May the peace of Christ my Savior
Rule my life in every thing,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing.

May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory.

May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go.

May His beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.

As we continue on in the seasons of the life of a sheep we now move into autumn.  The nights become cooler, some even see frost.  The insects begin to disappear.  The leaves are ablaze with color.  The earth is preparing for winter.  Changes occur in the flock as well.  It becomes mating season and, as is true of many creatures, the rams battle for possession of the ewes.  Here is what happens:  Their necks actually swell and grow strong.  They strut about proudly and fight furiously for the ewe.  They do this by crashing their heads into another ram’s head and ram their bodies into that of their competitor’s body.  This will go on all day and all night.  Each ram competes to become the winner.  As you can imagine, many rams are wounded and badly bruised, some are even maimed and killed.  What can the shepherd do to alleviate this in-born competitiveness?  He applies generous amounts of axle grease to the head and nose of each ram.  Then when they butt heads the lubricant causes them to bounce off one another, softening the impact!  The ram appears to feel rather stupid and frustrated!  But it has the effect of dissipating the fierce competition so that little harm is done.

How does this relate to Christians?  Unfortunately, we live in this fleshly body and sometimes we are tempted to subtly compete with one another so that we can gain the place we desire.  Sometimes jealousy is involved, sometimes it is just a desire to appear to be better than another.  Sometimes there is actual rivalry with another.  These battles create offences, wounds, hurts, and ill-will amongst the body.  Unbelievers looking in will say to themselves, “Why should I become a Christian?  They are no different than what I and my friends are right now.”  Our pride, our stubbornness of “I’ll forgive when she apologizes to me first.” is anything but a good example.  The pride of our thoughts that make us think we are better than another, our pride that makes us intolerant and judgmental of someone who is slightly different than we are, or thinks a bit differently – these all create havoc in our bodies, the church.  Paul, when writing to the Philippians, encouraged unity and love over and over again.  Php 1:27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;  Php 2:1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,  2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

What does Jesus do for us to solve this problem?  Once again, He applies the precious ointment of the presence of His Holy Spirit to our lives.  He did that just before His crucifixion.  Remember some of the disciples were having a fleshly battle arguing about who should be first in the kingdom of heaven?  Jesus answered that conversation by promising them the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, saying that He would bring them peace.  He went on to say that His people would be known for their love for one another.  When the Holy Spirit is allowed to control a person, that person will be satisfied and peaceful and will exhibit a love for others, patience with others and generosity, both materially and of spirit.  A forgiving spirit will prevail, contentment of where one is will be all one needs.  

In the East it was a custom to anoint the head of a guest with oil which was great refreshment to them because it added smoothness to the touch, brightness to the sight, and a pleasant smell.  This was considered giving the guest great respect.  Although in our American culture that does not sound very nice, yet in their culture it was precious.  It made the guest happy and made him feel very welcome and honored.  The anointing of the Holy Spirit in our lives does the same.  He refreshes our soul continually, if He is allowed to control us than we become welcome and pleasant to those around us.  It is the oil of gladness.  It is the perfumed oil of God’s grace that is poured out on our souls to purify us, adorn us, strengthen us, and secure us and uplift us.  The Holy Spirit introduces us to the Savior and woos us to Jesus (John 15:26, Rev 22:17); He convicts of sin (John 16:8); He quickens us (Rom 8:11, 1Pet 3:18); He dwells in us (Rom 8:9, John 14:17, 1 Cor 3:16, 6:19, 2 Tim 1:14); He helps us pray (Rom 8:26); He enables us to minister/do the will of God (2Cor 3:6); He speaks through us (2 Pet 1:21).  The Holy Spirit longs for us.  James 4:5 says, Jas 4:5  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?  The Greek word for lusteth means that He has “an intense desire, a craving, a hunger, an ache, a yearning for something, a longing or pining for something….it describes an intense, abnormal, excessive yearning.”  [Sparkling Gems from the Greek Vol 1 by Rick Renner pg 91, Harrison House]  Our great and wonderful Shepherd, because of His death, has given us His very own Spirit to indwell us.  This Spirit longs to have control of us with a longing we cannot imagine.  When He controls us, we live in perfect harmony with those around us.  No competitiveness exists.  No jealousies.  No envying.  Just boundless love for one another.

Ps 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;

Let us acknowledge it:  Jesus is in complete control of all of our circumstances.  If we find ourselves in a lesser position than we desire, we must remember we are there because that’s where Jesus wants us right now.  If He wants us in another position, then He will make it happen and it will happen graciously, not competitively.  There will not be any hard feelings, there will only be love and peace amongst the brethren.  If I am not where I wish to be, then perhaps I need to learn humility and gain compassion for others who are also there.  If there is one who seems bent on battling with me, then perhaps I need to learn how to practice forgiveness.  Wherever I am, whatever state I am in, I must realize that I am there because Jesus Himself has placed me there, and, for whatever reason, it is the best place for me to be at that time.  I must learn contentment – even when trouble surrounds me.  I must learn how to praise and be thankful for those times, for those places that I would not have chosen.

Realizing we are dumb sheep, completely incapable of caring for ourselves wisely, incapable of making wise decisions, of protecting ourselves,  of making ourselves happy – realizing that we have absolutely nothing, no sufficiency in ourselves, this will finally bring us to the point of living in the fulness of Jesus.

Feasting in His Presence our cup overflows even in the face of our enemies.  Confidence in Him and His abilities and His love for me.  Confident He will never fail me – I can expect nonending care and love!  More than enough!  My cup overflows with Him!  With His Presence.  With His gracious care!

Application 

Remember the nasal flies?  Those irritations and aggravations of life?  Have you surrendered every one of your personal pests to the Lord?  If not, I urge you to do so now so that your fellowship with Him is not hindered; so that your growth into greater Christlikeness is not halted. 

What about the scab that is in your life?  We all have it, sin that is.  Temptation abounds because satan wants desperately to trip us up, to destroy our salt and light so that we are no longer an influence for good for Jesus.  But, because of the precious anointing oil of the Holy Spirit, we can live victoriously!  We simply must beg God to reveal to us our sin and then confess it.  Then go on to live in the control of the Holy Spirit Who will always be faithful to keep us from sinning more.

Look into your soul.  Are you satisfied with your present circumstances or are you secretly wishing you could obtain another place?  Realize that where you are now is from the Lord and He completely controls those circumstances.  1 Chronicles 29:12  Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.  Ask Him to show you what He wants you to learn right now.  Search your heart for any competitiveness or jealousy or envy or covetousness and ask for forgiveness and for Jesus to replace it with love.  

All of the pests of our lives and the scabs of sin and the competitiveness of our flesh can be relieved by surrendering to the control of the Spirit.  I have told you that every morning as I begin my fellowship time with Jesus I begin by praying Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23-24  In the Hebrew the word ‘search’ means to dig and penetrate.  Make sure that is what you want God to do, it is imperative that He dig down deep into the recess of your soul to find even a crumbs worth of sin that lurks there.  The Hebrew word for ‘try’ means to be tried like gold is tried in fire.  It is an intense proving.  That is serious stuff!!  But I like the Hebrew meaning of the word ‘lead’ most of all.  It means that He leads as if I am being transported in a wheelchair!  I love that!  I love that He wants to lead me into a place where there is absolutely no will of my own, where He is making all the decisions for where I go.  That is the greatest desire of my heart – to be completely driven by Him, completely living in the control of the Holy Spirit.

“…my cup runneth over.” Blessing galore!  Help and even pleasures.  My cup, my soul, is extremely full!  The Lord, as my Father, and my Savior, is shepherding me through all of my life with all of His limitless abilities!  He has given me His Spirit so that I can understand all that He is doing for me – all because He loves me so!  Because of His superior care, yea perfect care of me, I lack nothing, absolutely nothing!  He has seen to it all of my life that I have whatever I need…and has given me time and time again much more than I need.  His protection of me is so much better than any alarm system!  He knows the minds of all my enemies!  He knows when they are about to strike and He knows what their plan of deception is, and He keeps me from them.  Thus, I am enabled to walk about in peace and perfect contentment.  He satisfies my thirst with Himself and, oh, what a joy that is!  It brings more joy than anything else could ever attempt to bring to my soul.  When I go astray, get defeated in my walk with Him, He graciously and mercifully brings me back to Himself, not with rebuke but with loving words.  He leads me every day along those paths that lead to even greater intimacy with Him; paths that are rich beyond measure with Himself.  He may take me through valleys that can be filled with dangers, but He amazingly protects me thoroughly in those valleys.  He gives me strength – His strength to climb out of the valley.  He puts me on the mountain top and feeds me with lavish food – Himself.  Yes!  My cup overflows with His goodness to me!  Abundance of food, protection, His continual presence, abundance of the Holy Spirit living within me and working in me are only a bit of His goodness to me.  As the Spirit refreshes me with abundance, it must naturally overflow to those around me.  They cannot help but see and wonder at our joy, our kindness, our countenance that betrays us as having spent time with Jesus.  There is only one reason our cup would not overflow.  Sin.  Sin cracks our cup, makes it leaky so that it cannot run over!  Let us make sure we are keeping short accounts.  Let us continually ask God to reveal sin to us and then quickly ask for forgiveness so that we are the vessels He wants us to be – cups that overflow to others.

Psalm 23:5a

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the ninth in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations.  

Psalm 23:5a

 “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies…”  Keller says that as we contemplate this phrase, we must think of the sheep now arriving at the tablelands of the high mountains.  Here is some of the finest grazing land.  The shepherd prepares this land for his sheep.  How does he do that?  Early in the spring he starts making more than one trip to these tablelands.  He decides which areas will be good for heavy grazing, and which will only endure light grazing.  He decides where to camp so that the sheep have the best grazing.  He also will take minerals and salt and distribute them in key spots for the benefit of the sheep as they graze throughout the summer.  A very needful thing that the shepherd must do is seek out the poison plants that may be hiding in these grazing areas.  Keller tells us about one particular plant called cammas.  There were blue cammas which were beautiful and good to eat.  But then there were white cammas which tended to blend in and was very poisonous.  One little nibble and the sheep would become paralyzed and quickly die.  The sheep would not instinctively stay away from poisonous plants.  The shepherd knew this and had to seek out this plant and all poisonous plants and then eliminate them from the grazing area by pulling out everyone of them, a very tedious and difficult task as one can imagine.  Honestly, I cannot imagine the work of pulling weeds from an entire pasture!  Pastures are huge!  It would be back breaking!  As a teenager my father asked me to pull a certain weed out of our shelterbelt because this particular weed was choking out our young evergreens.  I hated it!  It was back breaking work!  But that was just a little bit of land, this was an entire pasture – unimaginable!  Many times the shepherd would have to get down on his knees to complete the task.  Yet the shepherd must be diligent and thorough in order to prevent the death of even one sheep!

As the earthly shepherd, so Jesus goes before us to prepare the path He has for us and to keep us safe on it.  He did this for Peter when satan desired Peter, but Jesus stated that He had already prayed for Peter that he would not fail (Luke 22:31-32).  Yes, Peter did end up denying Christ, but look at the remainder of his life.  He went on strong for the Lord amidst great persecution.  I am thinking also of Hebrews 4:15 which tells us: For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  When He was on earth, Jesus suffered every kind of temptation we will ever encounter.  He went ahead of us and because of His death and resurrection He made a way for us to escape those temptations.  He made it possible for us to escape feeding upon the evil weeds which can surround our lives.  He knew ahead of time that poison would seek to destroy us.  He also knew, that just like sheep, we would tend to eat the poison out of ignorance, or carelessness, or because our flesh wanted it!  He promises in 1Corinthians 10:13: There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.  He lives on high today ever praying for us so that our path will be cleared of poison.  He makes a way for us to escape when the poison comes near.  He prays for us fervently all the time!  Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.  Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Wow!  Praise God!  We are safe because of Jesus’ intercessions for us, and because He has gone before and prepared the path for us. 

He clears our spiritual path of poison so that we can eat the luscious grass!  It is not a table filled with bare necessities, such as bread and water.  It is a feast!!!!  He goes above and beyond to set the table with much more than we need.  He comes to give us abundant life!  Not just an ordinary life.  Abundant life!  Life that is so focused on Jesus and obedience to Him that it is overflowing with love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, goodness, and faith.  When we are filled with all these we are indeed blessed beyond measure.  And each is readily available to us.  2Pe 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  It is a spiritual feast for sure, but it is also a feast of things we need for physical life.  And it is a feast in our mind.  Even if we do not have what someone else has, we can still be feasting because we have all that we need to be satisfied, to be joyful.  Paul feasted while in his jail cell.  Just look to his writings.  Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.  He did not write that instruction to others and not do it himself!  He spent his time rejoicing in the Lord no matter what situation he was in!

Another way that the shepherd goes before to prepare the tableland is to keep an eye out for predators.  While choosing and preparing the land he looks for packs of wolves, coyotes, cougars and bears.  If these try to bother the flock, he must hunt them down or trap them so that the sheep are safe.  These predators will lurk up on the rocks and have full view of the sheep, looking for a chance to make a swift attack.  By so doing they make the flock to stampede, thus making it easy to grab a straggler.  Only the alertness of the shepherd will prevent an attack from occurring.  

 This is exactly what Jesus does for us.  His Word warns us that satan walks about as a lion seeking to devour us.  1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  But our Shepherd Jesus knows every trick, every deceitful maneuver that satan will attempt to use to devour us.  His Word keeps us safe; it keeps us aware of those tricks, the subtleness of satan.  Keller states that cougars were especially cunning.  They come in the night and toy with the sheep.  With some they would simply tear large patches of wool from their skin.  With others they would cause them to stumble and break their legs.  Some would be killed instantly, and the cougar would drain their blood and eat their livers.  Still others were torn open and badly clawed.  But so subtle and skillful were the cougars that Keller never saw them nor heard them, and the sheep would be so frightened that they were paralyzed with fear and unable to bleat out.  The only thing that can keep us from such attacks is walking close to Jesus.  It is a place of utter safety.  Always it was the sheep that roamed, that stayed a distance away from the flock, that were the first victims.  As our Shepherd, Jesus longs for us to stay close to Him.  It is the only way to avoid attack.  We must remain in step with Him.  I do not dance, but I know that if the wife does not allow the husband to lead and stay in step with him it won’t work!  It is like my husband and I.  Everywhere we go we hold hands.  I love having my hand in his.  Often, he guides me around a puddle, or down an aisle I was not planning on going down.  Yet I just simply stay in step with him and we walk along in unison and I am protected.  So it is with Jesus.  The only way we can stay in step with Him is by reading His Word every day, by praying meaningfully, and by meditating upon what His Word has said to us that day.  As we have stated before, His Word is powerful, powerful enough to keep us safe as long as we heed it.

Because Jesus has lived on earth amongst us as the Son of man, He knows what life here is like.  He knows all that threatens us.  Therefore, He has made every provision to win the fight against satan, who is a defeated foe – something we must never forget and must remind satan of continually.  Whether it be a focus on self and fleshly things, or a desire for something of the world, satan will use it to his advantage to make us stumble.  But praise be to God, we have the victory in Him Who has already conquered satan.  Let us then live in that attitude of rest.  Let us be confident in our Shepherd Jesus and peacefully walk on the mountain top that Jesus has prepared for us.  Even though we are in plain view of the enemy, even though there are storms that may arise, poisonous weeds that may still grow up, and other problems, it is impossible for them to have any effect upon us as long as we stay close to Jesus.  Jesus has gone to great personal care and sacrifice to prepare this tableland for us.  We must huddle close to Him.

Yes, the enemy of our souls, of our mind, our will, and our emotions watches as we feast at this table and there is absolutely nothing he can do about it!  We are completely protected by Jesus our Shepherd.  It is the picture of sheep peacefully grazing of the lush green grass and all the while completely aware that a cougar is watching them, but also completely secure in the protection of their shepherd.  Paul experienced this.  Even though he suffered much, yet he never lost his joy and continually reminded others who were suffering to rejoice in the Lord.  Impotent….that’s a wonderful adjective to describe our enemy!  

One last chore of the shepherd to get the tableland ready for summer grazing is to clear out the water holes and all other drinking places for the sheep.  They are typically filled with leaves, twigs, stones, and soil.  He may need to repair small dams that hold the water in.  He may need to open the springs that have become overgrown with grass and brush.  

His Word is our Living Water.  Jesus will do all that it takes to make that Living Water available to us, including giving us a thirst for it.  I well remember when I forsook His Word.  I lost my thirst for it.  It was the worst time of my life.  But in His faithfulness, He brought back to me a thirst for it and made a way for His Word to once again become a living and active part of my life.  

 There is another tableland to consider.  It is the table of communion.  This is a tremendous table that He has prepared for us.  Every communion ought to be a praise service for all of His love and care for us.  We ought to have in mind the great love He displayed for us by the loss of reputation, loss of respect, false accusations, ridicule, even being spat upon.  And then there was the awfulness of the torture He suffered.  A torture so great that every piece of skin was ripped from His body, organs visible, totally unrecognizable as a human being except that He still had the shape of a body.  On top of all that, He, the Holy One, bore ALL the sins of every human being, past present and future.  What mental anguish!  He came knowing that would happen.  But He came out of love for us, out of a desire to shepherd us.  This is love defined.  He came so that we might have life abundant.  We must remember this when we approach communion and be prepared to partake of the table He has already prepared for us.  

 A shepherd is thrilled beyond words to watch his sheep thriving on the high, rich summer range.  So Jesus is pleased beyond measure to see us flourishing on the tablelands of the abundant life He has made possible for us.  He loves seeing us walk in holiness, in selflessness, in peace, in awareness of His presence and utter enjoyment as we enjoy intimacy with Him. 

Application

Jesus has gone before us by His life here on earth to clear out the poisons that seek to destroy us.  He has furnished our path with the minerals and salts of His Word.  He intercedes for us at all times.  When was the last time you thanked Him for His example in His earthly ministry, and for what the cross accomplished so that we can have victory over those poisons, and for His intercession for you today?  What does the fact that He intercedes for us every day so completely, tell you about how He feels about you?  For me it assures me of His love for me, and of His care and protection of me.  Let us praise Him for all of this.

Not only does Jesus remove the poisons from our path, He keeps us safe from the enemy so much so that the enemy watches us feasting on His Word and in His blessings but cannot do a thing about it.  Remember, Job was feasting in goodness from the Lord when satan came to ask the Lord permission to vex him?  Satan had watched Job feasting a long time but he could not do one thing about it.  And after Job’s trials, Job went on to feast even more heartily upon the Lord and satan was powerless to affect it.  There is no reason for fear in the Christian’s life.  God is so much more powerful than our enemy.  He knows every move the enemy might be planning.  He is on top of it!  We can feast and not fear.  We just must stay in step with Jesus and His Word like I do with my husband when we walk and hold hands.  Are you staying in step with the Shepherd?

One last thing the Jesus does for us, and we have already mentioned it, He gives us His Word, the Living Water.  But it is not much use to us if we do not drink it in.  He has uncovered it and made it readily available to us.  Be sure you are drinking it in every day and drinking as much as Jesus would have you drink.  My doctor is always telling me I should drink up to 80 ounces of water a day.  He says that would maximize my health.  Do I?  I would have to say “no” on most days!  Let us make sure we are not making that same mistake with the Word of God.  Is He prompting you to spend more time in His Word?  Do it!  It will increase your feasting!  Is your thirst lacking?  Then ask Him for a greater thirst.  He will give it!

Jesus has gone before us in our lives and prepared an absolutely magnificent banquet.  He prepares to feed us with His Word and His very presence.  He spares nothing.  He owns it all.  He prepares a table filled with the power of God to protect us from ourselves, the world, and the devil.  We can feast in perfect security.  He gives us to eat of the attitudes He places in our hearts.  Perfect joy.  Perfect peace.  Perfect love.  The table He prepares is done so with the aim of bringing us close to Him.  Having gone through the valleys to get to the mountain top, we ought by now to know the blessing and needfulness of remaining close to Him.  And when we remain close, we find utter joy, and complete satisfaction, no matter what our situation. 

What about the communion table He has prepared for us?  Do we look forward to it?  Do we celebrate it?  Why do we have it?  So that we remember His death, burial, and resurrection.  It should then remind us of what He did to accomplish for us our banqueting table, our abundant life here and the eternal life in heaven with Him that is yet to come.  It should remind us to be extremely thankful for what He has done.  It should also remind us that He has conquered satan.  Satan is a defeated foe.  Satan would like us to think otherwise and get some hold in our life, but the communion table reminds us that that does not have to happen.  We also can be victorious and bold in our Christian walk.  We just must die to self and allow the Spirit to control us!  So many things this table reminds us.  So many things to celebrate. 

Jesus has also prepared an unbelievable banqueting table that we will enjoy in heaven.  We cannot imagine how glorious it will be!  Be sure to thank Him in advance for it.  Let us look forward to it.  In so many ways Jesus prepares our path.  Every day our path is prepared for that day and our path is prepared all the way into eternity!  Praise Him!

Psalm 23:4b

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the eighth in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations. 

 Ps 23:4b

…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Rod - 07626.  jbv  shebet,  shay'-bet  - from an unused root probably meaning to branch off; a scion, i.e. (literally) a stick (for punishing, writing, fighting, ruling, walking, etc.) or (figuratively) a clan:--X  correction, dart, rod, sceptre, staff, tribe.

Staff - 04938.  hnevm  mish`enah,  mish-ay-naw'  - or mishteneth {mish-eh'-neth}; feminine of 4937; support (abstractly), i.e. (figuratively) sustenance or (concretely) a walking-stick:--staff.

Comfort - 05162.  Mxn  nacham,  naw-kham'  - a primitive root; properly, to sigh, i.e. breathe strongly; by implication, to be sorry, i.e. (in a favorable sense) to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself):--comfort (self), ease (one's self), repent(-er,-ing, self). 

“…thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”  

Let us begin by looking at the rod.  As a boy the shepherd would select a young sapling and dig it up from the ground.  Then he would painstakingly carve it until it perfectly fits his body, his height and strength and his hand.  Then he wouldpractice with it over and over again until he was adept at throwing it with amazing speed and accuracy.  It became an extension of his right arm.  It symbolized his strength, power, and authority.  If we remember scripture, we will remember that David claimed great success with the use of his rod to the point that he had killed many a lion and bear (I Sam 17:34-37).  Also remember Moses, a desert shepherd at the time, was told to lie down his rod and it became a serpent.  That rod went on to symbolize for Pharaoh and the Israelites the authority and power of God behind Moses. 

So, what is the rod to us today?  It is the Word of God!  The Word is the authority of God.  Just as sheep find comfort in seeing the rod, so there is to our hearts great consolation as we realize the power of God’s Word.  The Word of God is an extension of God’s will, God’s mind.  Have we not all been ministered to by His Word?  Have we not experienced its power in our lives?  Do we not consider it the Authority for our lives, the law by which we live?  If you read through Proverbs the word ‘rod’ is used nine times.  In every case, if one considers the word ‘rod’ to be the ‘authority’, the verse becomes quite clear.  

Look at how Moses’ rod was a symbol of the authority of God.  God, by His power, turned Moses’ rod into a snake (Ex 4:2-4).  It was a measly piece of wood, but God used it to reveal His power and His will.  

God used Moses’ rod to bring the 7th plague of hail (Ex 9:22-23) and the 8th plague of locusts (Ex 10:12-13) and the Bible implies that his rod was also used to bring about the 9th plague of darkness (Ex 10:21-22).  Then it was used both to part the Red Sea and to close it (Ex 14:16,21, Ex 14:26-27).  In Horeb God used Moses’ rod to bring water from the rock (Ex 17:5-7).  He used the rod to help the Israelites win the war against the Amalekites (Ex 17:8-15).  Finally, God used Moses’ rod to bring water from the rock in Kadesh (Num 20:8-13).  It was a stick!!!  A common worthless dried up stick!!!  But by it God revealed His authority, His power.  The rod was nothing of itself, but God used this worthless piece of nothing to reveal His power and thus, His authority.  I am reminded of a situation one of my friends had with their big black dog.  They had gotten the dog for protection, but he was a bully and would sometimes attack the children.  They took him to more than one dog training school, yet he remained aggressive.  One day he again began to attack one of their kids and the father took the dog and threw him against their fireplace.  Not a pleasant scene, but, lo and behold, that dog was forever after docile because now dad had proven he was more powerful than the dog.  Now dad became the authority because of his power.  That is what Moses’ rod did for God.  It revealed His power and that His power was greater than anything anyone else could muster.  That power gave God His Authority.  

Remember?  Aaron’s rod was placed in the Ark of the Covenant.  Why?  Because it also symbolized God’s authority.  The people were murmuring against Moses and Aaron.  It seems that there were many who desired the priesthood.  It was a place of high honor and many sought it for that and not out of a heart of serving God.  So God had every tribe bring a rod, a dead branch, most likely the rod that had been used for a long time as a symbol of authority for each particular tribe.  They write their tribe’s name on it and give it to Moses who, as God had instructed, laid each rod up against the tabernacle for the night.  The next morning it is Aaron’s rod that is in full bloom with buds and blossoms and even yielding the fruit of almonds, thereby clearly expressing God’s will that Aaron is to be the high priest and thus silencing the murmurs against him and Moses.  Like all the other rods/sticks, Aaron’s rod was a dried-up old stick!  The miracle was unmistakable.  Not only was this a direct work of God pointing to His authority, but it was a miracle in that the blossoms and buds and fruit remained for years in the Ark of the Covenant to silence the rebels and verify God’s authority and power.  Numbers 17

The rod is used by the shepherd to symbolize his authority over the sheep.  As the authority over the flock, it protected the sheep.  When the shepherd sees a sheep wandering away, he will throw the rod just on the other side of it and thus chase it back to the flock.  If he sees a sheep grazing toward poisonous plants, he will do the same, all with the aim of protecting that sheep, never harming him, only bringing him back to the flock.  

We read in Psalm 119:9-11, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  It is the Word of God as a rod in our lives that keeps us from sin.  It chases us back to Jesus every time!  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2Ti 3:16  It always shows us the right way to go, then reproves us for the wrong path we are on; then it turns us around, and finally, heads us back to Jesus.  By doing so, the Word of God keeps us following Jesus and thus keeps us safe.  I cannot express how absolutely valuable and necessary it is for us to view God’s Word as our Authority and to act accordingly.

Another purpose for the rod is to examine the sheep.  The shepherd, when letting the sheep out of their corral, has them pass by his rod, one by one, and examines each sheep thoroughly.  Because of their thick coat of wool, it is not apparent on the surface whether a sheep might have parasites, wounds, or defects.  Therefore, periodically the shepherd must fully examine them.  He will run his skilled hands over their bodies feeling for signs of trouble and he will use his rod to part the wool in order to see the condition of the skin, the cleanliness of the fleece, and the condition of the body overall.  The sheep are comforted by this process for they know it is for their good.  In this way there will be no “pulling the wool over his eyes.”  This is exactly what Psalm 139: 23-24 means.  It says: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  We need to beg Jesus to pass the rod of His Word over us daily to see what lies beneath the surface, what lies in our hearts so that He can cleanse us of things that will eventually destroy us.  Keller says that wool in the Bible always speaks of the self-life, of self-will, self-assertion, and of self-pride.  By using His Word, God will get below the outer shell that might look so good and go beneath to find our desires to do our own thing, in our own time, to think of ourselves higher than we ought.

But there is another beautiful picture in this passing under the rod.  The Shepherd knows every sheep by name.  They each are known thoroughly by him.  He knows their weaknesses to stray.  He knows their physical weakness.  He knows their weakness to time and time again seek out the poisonous plants, or the putrid pools of water.  He knows all about each one individually.  So, Jesus, our Shepherd knows all about us, lovingly passes us under His rod.  Ps 139:1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.  2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.  5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.  6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.  He knows us thoroughly.  Not for one moment does He ever neglect me.  He takes notice of me, gives me His special care, keeps me; at all times I am under His watchful eye.

So the rod keeps us safe by always bringing us back to Jesus.  It reveals the dirt, the wickedness that may be hidden and, lastly, it also protects from the enemies.  Just as David protected and saved himself and his flock from the lion and the bear so shepherds today protect their flock from such predators.  They are experts with their rods.  Jesus used the Rod of the Word against satan when he attacked him in the wilderness.  Three times He said to satan, “it is written”.  We are powerless to stand against satan when he attacks, but the Word of God is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword”.  No matter who attacks us, the Word is our safety.  By reading it we will be saved from going the ways of the world.  We will be rescued from the perils of our own fleshly desires.  

So, what is the purpose of the staff?  There are four main uses for it.  1) The shepherd uses it to draw sheep together into an intimate relationship.  2) Second, he uses it to gently lift a newborn lamb that has become separated from his mother. If he were to use his hands, the odor then on the lamb might cause the ewe to reject the lamb.  Sometimes there may be thousands of ewes lambing simultaneously and thus newborns can easily become separated.  The shepherd knows whose they all are and works quickly with his staff to place the lambs side by side with their dams.  3) The staff is also used to guide the sheep gently into a new path or through some gate, or along some dangerous and difficult route.  4) Lastly, the shepherd uses his staff to reach out and catch certain sheep to bring them to himself for close examination.  Or sometimes he may actually hold his staff against the side of a particular sheep that is perhaps a favorite; sort of like petting a dog!  One thing it is never used for – to beat the sheep!  Instead, the staff is gently laid against the animal’s side and a little pressure applied to signal which way the shepherd needs for the sheep to go.  Always, the staff is a comfort to the sheep as it encourages closeness to the shepherd, guides them in safety, and cares for them lovingly. 

In the Bible the staff is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Who draws Christians together in a warm and personal relationship with each other.  But even more importantly, He draws us into a close relationship with Jesus.  It is the Holy Spirit that guides us into all truth (John 16:13).  It is the Holy Spirit that makes the Word of God plain to our hearts and minds.  He works gently on us to call us to Himself, to assure us of His love, to assure us of His protection.  He comforts us continually.  It is He Who makes our relationship with Jesus intimate.  

Remember, sheep are incredibly dumb.  They go their own way often, which is always the wrong way.  Keller remembers one sheep who, for but a few mouthfuls of green grass, would climb down a steep cliff, then slip and fall into the sea.  On more than one occasion he had to rescue it out of the water by using his trusty staff.  Often a sheep would push itself into a bush full of thorns just so it could get a mouthful of green grass, only to then realize that it was stuck and could not back out of the bush!  Again, the shepherd and his trusty staff would come to its rescue and pull it out.  We are also dumb like sheep.  Oh, how we hate to admit it, we are so blind to the error of our own ways.  We will often go down dangerous paths just to get what we want.  We will often get ourselves into some kind of mess that we can’t get out of all by ourselves.  It is then that the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and convicts us of our sin.  It is imperative when we find ourselves in need of rescue that we first admit that we need rescuing!  Then ask for forgiveness – “I’ve once again gone my own way, done did my own thing, Lord, and, once again found my way to be so wrong.  Forgive me, Lord.”  Then the Holy Spirit lifts us up and puts us back on solid ground.  

Sometimes we get separated from Jesus.  We are dumb like a newborn lamb and cannot find our way back or we leave the security of the flock, we forsake church.  Surely one Sunday will not matter, we think.  But one turns easily into two and then three Sundays missed and then we lose our feeling of belonging and thus do not feel a need to return.  There is a disconnect.  Yet the Holy Spirit is faithful, and He will work in one’s heart to make him sense his need for fellowship.  May I add, the Holy Spirit can greatly use we who are faithful by having us make a call to people missing and letting them know they were missed and loved!  Of course, we must first realize when someone is absent – care enough to notice that they are missing.  In that way we can be a tool used by our Shepherd to help bring them back into the fellowship of believers.

Sometimes Jesus uses His staff to guide us to step out and enter a new gate, go down a new road.  It is the Holy Spirit Who gently leads us down that path.  Oh, how we hate change!  But the Holy Spirit is an expert at knowing us and knowing what it will take to get us to effect that change.  His guidance is gentle but firm.  

 Lastly, the Holy Spirit is always at work in our lives to bring us closer to Jesus.  Re 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1Jo 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.  Ps 145:18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.  Eze 34:16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong…  Jesus uses His staff, His Holy Spirit, to draw us close and then He examines us to reveal any flaws, fixes them and then leads us in closer closeness to Him!  What a beautiful thing the staff is!  We are filled with the Holy Spirit from the point of salvation.  It is simply but for us to allow that same Holy Spirit to control us!  Let Him draw us near, let Him examine us, let Him change our direction!  All we have to do is simply open the door!  Allow that staff to guide us.

Can we not see now how the rod and staff are indeed a source of comfort?  Without them we would be wayward and living in dangerous territory and immensely lacking joy.  What a comfort it is indeed to realize that Jesus will bring us back to Him when we go astray, which we are very prone to do.  He will toss His rod of correction toward us, never at us, so that we come running back to Him.  What a comfort to know He continually passes us under His rod to purify us and let us know how special we are to Him.  What a comfort to realize what an Authority is the Word of God and and that we can be secure in it, knowing that when we follow it, obey it, we will stay safe and full of joy.  What a comfort to know that He protects us from the enemy.  Then it is a great comfort to realize that Jesus always keeps us very close to Him, guides us into His will, treats us as His favorite, and cares for us way beyond what we realize!

Application

The Word of God….how much do you consider it to be your Authority?  How serious are you about obeying it?  How much time do you spend in it so that you know what it says so that it can direct your life?  Is it indeed your Authority or do you sometimes look to another?

Can you think of some occasions in your life where you know Jesus swung His rod near you to chase you back to Him?  Have you thanked Him for it recently?  I am thinking about a time in my life when I forsook Him.  Forsook my devotions and prayer.  Just lived life without considering Him much, if at all.  His rod came into play when sores erupted in my mouth that, to make a long story short, drove me back to Him and His Word.  I am so thankful for that rod of correction!

When we pray, it ought to be on the Authority of the Word of God.  We ought to pray God’s Word.  Praise Him for Who He is according to scripture (“God, thank You for being the eternal God.  Thank You for being my Refuge.  Thank You that underneath me are Your everlasting arms and thank You that You will thrust out the enemy from before me and destroy him” (Deut 33:27).  Remind Him of His promises as we pray those back to Him (Lord, thank you that You have promised that You will never leave me, nor forsake me.  What comfort that brings to my soul.” (Heb 13:5).  Pray verses relating them to ourselves “Lord, work in my heart to be patient and kind.  Ream out any envy and pride that harbors there.  Let me not behave myself in a fleshly way.  Let me not seek my own way.  Let no evil thought find fertile ground in my mind and heart.” (I Cor 13:4-5).  

 Do you allow yourself to pass under His rod?  How often do you ask God to search your soul to see if there be anything hidden within that ought not be there?  He knows all about it anyway!  But sometimes He waits for us to give Him permission to reveal it to us!  He waits for us to be ready to receive it.  I have noticed something about small children. You can sit them down for a meal, but if they do not feel hungry, they will not eat!  I think our souls are a lot like that.  Our soul, our mind, will and emotions, have to be ready to receive whatever God wants us to hear, especially when it comes to sin.  We do not like to admit wrong.  We do not consider ourselves to be wicked, yet that is exactly what we are when we won’t seek to know our sin, or when we are not quick to ask for forgiveness when we do see it.  But when we are hungry for Him, then we will hear Him.  We can only be fed when we are hungry!  Beg to be hungry for Him at all times.  The best way to develop hunger is to look to the Word as your Authority.  Reading it, meditating upon it, will make one hungry for more and eager to banish whatever hinders one from seeking it.  

Do you realize how very special you are to Jesus?  He knows every hair on your head.  He calls you by name.  He loves you beyond your imagination.  Knowing that He is God Almighty – that makes me speechless!  How can I possibly word what Jesus is to each one of us?  To me personally?  I do not even begin to understand the whole of it!  But I thank Him for His love and care.  

When was the last time you thanked Jesus for His protection from the enemies?  There are all kinds of enemies.  Of course, the first one that comes to mind is satan.  He is so sly, so subtle, that we must rely on Jesus to reveal satan’s evil hidden agenda to destroy us.  One wrong thought can lead us down a very devastating path if allowed to linger.  Then there is the world that would attempt to pull us away from Jesus.  In so many ways it seeks to take our focus off Jesus.  Of course, our own flesh is bound and determined to go its own way.  Even when we are seeking to do as Jesus would lead us, our flesh takes over and directs us to do it in our own way, in our own time.  We are prideful.  We are full of fleshly desires.  We are self-centered.  I find it takes a lot of time in God’s Word to keep these enemies at bay, and even then, they threaten continually.  If it were not for Jesus keeping me, cautioning me, warning me, guiding me I would fall!  Allow the rod of His Word to be your Protector and thank Him for it!  

The Holy Spirit is continually at work to draw you closer to Jesus.  He prompts in so many ways.  Are you resisting His wooing or readily running to it?  Is there some behavior in your life that you just do not want to forsake, yet you go there again and again, only to find yourself in need of rescue from the Shepherd?  Perhaps you do desire to be rid of it, but you are striving in your own way to forsake it.  Only the Holy Spirit through the Word can cure it!  We must do it His way!

When the Holy Spirit speaks to you about some change in direction, how open are you?  Are you resistant?  Are making up excuses?  Are you reasoning about how impossible that is?  I can immediately think of three ways God has changed my direction in the last decade.  Firstly, my prayer life needed revamping.  It was pathetic!  Little by little as I followed God’s direction, He changed all that!  Though I do not think I’ll ever be satisfied with my prayer life in that it will never be fervent enough, focused enough, etc., yet there have been major changes!  I am so blessed!  Then God told me to read His Word.  You would think that would be a no-brainer, but for years I had spent long hours in Bible study and meditation, but never took the time to just simply read through the Bible.  I asked Him how in the world I had the time to add that also to my time with Him, but I knew I needed to obey.  Now I am in love with reading the Word through in a year!  I look forward to it each day.  Lastly, He prompted me to get involved in a pregnancy crisis organization.  It took a year for me to respond to that one!  But I have been there now for almost four years and it has also been a great blessing to my life in so many ways.  Whatever change God is prompting you to do, do it!  Do not delay.  Blessings abundant are awaiting you!

Jesus is ever drawing us closer to Him. He uses both the rod of His Word and His staff, the Holy Spirit.   My prayer is always, “Lord, let me walk closer to You today than I did yesterday”.  May this be your prayer as well.

Psalm 23:4a

by Jilene Scherenske

This is the seventh in a series of articles on Psalm 23.  I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also.  The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource.  I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep.  Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon.  This is the result of my meditations.  

Psalm 23:4a

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…”  Keller says that up to now the sheep have been kept in winter and early spring in the pastures at home.  But in the summertime the shepherd must take them to the high country, a country he himself is not as familiar with.  As a result, he will be with them 24/7 and will develop a relationship with them that is deeper than previously noted.  A good shepherd will go before the sheep to look over the country.  He will be well aware of dangers that threaten such as predators, rampaging flooding rivers, sudden sleet and hail showers and snowstorms.  It is a wild country up on the mountain slopes and in the valleys, but a skilled shepherd is prepared to deal with all of the dangers and keep his flock safe.  So, Jesus, our beautiful Shepherd, does all of this and more for us.  He is skilled beyond imagination.  His care for us is unending and complete in every way.  He never drives us, only leads us.  He is more than able to keep us from all dangers.  He is with us every moment, loving us, leading us, caring for us, and protecting us.  We could not ask for more for He is above and beyond anything we could hope for!

Sometimes in our Christian lives we desire to move on to higher ground as the song states.  But we must realize that there is only one path to higher ground, to greater intimacy with Jesus our Shepherd.  It is by way of the valley.  Even our beautiful highways through Colorado, for instance, follow the valleys in order to get to the heights of the mountains.  

Notice firstly that the Psalm says, “Yea, though I walk…”  Jesus never pushes us, never drives us at a pace we cannot endure.  It is always a slow walk.  Just as the sheep are quiet and calm as they follow the shepherd through the valley, so we Christians can walk through our valleys knowing that our Great Shepherd is leading us on in His wisdom and love and protection.  We know we are secure in Him and His leading.  We have no need to scurry, no need to run out of fear; because Jesus is leading us and protecting us we can calmly walk on.  We do not even need to wish for the valley to end.  It will end when the Shepherd sees fit, knowing that He knows the best trail to take for our benefit and His glory.

Notice also that it is a walk “…through the valley of the shadow of death”.  It does not necessarily mean that death ensues, though it can mean that, but it most often also means that Jesus is leading us through a very difficult path, but a path that will lead to unbelievable intimacy with Jesus.  The light at the end of the valley is unbelievable whether it is the light of heaven or the light of greater intimacy with Him.  He does not leave us in the valley; and He never for one moment allows us to be there alone.  He is ALWAYS with us.  What an absolute comfort to know!  Keller himself has experienced the death of his own wife.  Here’s what he said: “Again and again I remind myself, “O God, this seems terribly tough, but I know for a fact that in the end it will prove to be the easiest and gentlest way to get me unto higher ground.”  Then when I thank Him for the difficult things, the dark days, I discover that He is there with me in my distress.  At that point my panic, my fear, my misgivings give way to calm and quiet confidence in His care.  Somehow, in a serene quiet way I am assured all will turn out well for my best because He is with me in the valley and things are under His control.”  Now that is the way we ought to travel through our valleys!  The walk through the valley can be a beautiful thing if we will but submit this kind of an attitude to Jesus.  It displays a quiet acceptance for anything Jesus chooses to bring into our lives.  It brings an intimacy with Jesus that one did not have prior to the valley.  Complete confidence that He will lead us through gives our walk peace and joy.  Paul knew the blessedness of this walk when he said:  Ro 5:3 … but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.  Who of us would not want or need more patience?  More experiences in life so we can be wiser ministers to others?  More hope and less doubt?  More confidence in God’s love for us?  That is where the valleys lead us – to greater maturity and greater dependence upon God.  There is nothing more satisfying than that.  Whatever valley you are walking through, Jesus our Shepherd will see that you get through it.

Notice also, He leads us through the shadow of death.  There is no promise of death in that statement, nor is there any promise of evil.  It is simply a shadow.  Sure, the enemy may lurk nearby, but his shadow cannot hurt me as long as I am trusting in Jesus.  Just as the shadow of a dog cannot bite us, or the shadow of a gun cannot kill us, so the shadow of death is not something that will destroy us!  Sometimes the shadow of death is only in our imaginations.  The shadow of death can be compared to a dead lion.  As long as he is dead, we have great boldness to go pluck out his mane.  He is dead, he cannot hurt us.  So it is with the shadow of death.  It is but a shadow and cannot hurt us.  There is no reason to fear it; therefore, we can boldly walk on.  

Look at these verses:  Jer 2:6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?  7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.  Yes, these verses are a prophecy of Jeremiah against the stubborn Israelites but let us look at what these verses are saying about God’s leading.  Look where He led them:  through the wilderness, through deserts and pits, through a land of drought, through a land where no man had gone before and a land which could not sustain a people.  Yet what did He do as He was leading them through this dismal country?  He fed them with manna, which to us is the Bread of Life, Jesus and His Word.  And what was His goal?  It was to bring them into a plentiful country overflowing with goodness.  Always, always, always God’s goal is that we would learn to eat of His manna when we are in the shadow of death, so that when He brings us out of the valley we may be filled with Jesus in more ways than we were before we experienced the valley.  

So, we have already seen one reason that Jesus leads us through the valleys of life which is to bring us greater intimacy with Him, but there are a couple more reasons as well.  Only in the valleys are there refreshing streams of water.  The sheep need this desperately as they are walking continually and slowly climbing.  When life is going easy, we do not seem to need as much encouragement, but when we are in the valley we greatly long for encouragement.  To seek it from others is less than desirable.  All humans are fleshly, and they will disappoint in one way or another.  But to find refreshment from Jesus Himself is completely satisfying.  I often pray for those in deep distress that God would become to them all they need.  Sure, I do not mean to shirk my duty to them to help them in any way I can, but it is most important that Jesus become their main and total Source of encouragement.  He is always with them.  When one is in distress there are some moments much worse than others.  There will not always be someone with you when those moments come.  But Jesus is there.  Learning how to lean on Him fully and glean from Him all you need is a blessing beyond anything else you will ever experience.  And, oh, the peace that He brings along with His comfort!  It is unbelievable!  

Something else results when one has learned this:  you become the best comforter to others who go through like circumstances because you understand thoroughly the journey through that valley.  I do not know what it is like to have cancer.  I do not know what it is like to lose my husband.  I do not know the sorrow one feels when a child goes astray.  Yes, Jesus will minister to me should I experience such times, but He can, and often will, use one who has already walked through that valley.  The one who goes through a certain valley and finds in it the refreshment he needs, the encouragement he needs, is well equipped to direct others going through a similar valley and direct them to the same Source of refreshment that they discovered – Jesus.

Another reason a shepherd takes the flock through the valleys is because along the valley streams is the best grazing.  The grass is lush, green, and plenteous.  Often these grassy glades are on the floor of canyons with steep walls on either side.  Shadows prevail there with sunlight only shining for a little while around noon.  As you might imagine, these valleys are also frequented by all types of predators who also come to drink but who also come to seek for prey.  The shepherd must be continually vigilant.  These areas also are often subject to sudden storms and flash floods, and rockslides, or mud or snow avalanches.  Even sudden storms of sleet, rain, and snow sweep through these valleys.  If a sheep becomes soaked and chilled the exposure will quickly kill them. Their thin skin leaves them very susceptible to colds and pneumonia.  In David’s day robbers also frequented these valleys knowing that there was little hope of escape.   

As our Shepherd, Jesus knows all about this.  He knows that where He leads may be a dark valley, but He also knows that He is all we need.  Valleys may indeed be dark and shadowy, but they are fruitful.  He alone can be the Source of strength to us and courage to us as we face these dark days and learning that will produce immense fruit in our soul.  He will faithfully guide us through and sustain us.  If we will look back on the crisis we have gone through, we can easily see His hand guiding us, strengthening us, sustaining us.  Over and over He proves that He cares for us best.  Knowing this and trusting in His care brings to us great stability, as well as peace and calm.  Fear melts away.  The Good Shepherd says to us all, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33  Going through the valleys strengthens us for the next valley.  The lush grass, His food – the Word of God, nourishes us so that the next dark path does not look so foreboding because we remember the last valley and how He took us through it.  We remember what we learned.  We remember how His Word strengthened us, how His Spirit ministered to us.  When feasting on His Word while we are in that valley, we will see truths that we had not seen before, truths that will minister to us and nourish us and strengthen us.  The last valley gives us courage to face the next valley.  It made us more mature, it gave us muscles that we would not have had if we had not experienced the last valley.  And what is this strength?  It is that we learned how to rest in Him more than we had before.  Any muscles we develop are the muscles of learning how to trust in Him in greater ways, how to yield to resting in Him.  It is learning that no matter what we face we can trust in Him.  He wants to be all we need, and He can be that to us if we will just learn to rest in Him.  That is what every valley teaches us.  They teach us how better to rest in Him.  Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“…I will fear no evil: for thou art with me...”  Think of it….Jesus is the Creator of the world – if that does not speak of His power I don’t know what will.  Not only did He create it, He sustains it every day.  Every cloud in the sky is there because He put it there.  Not one moment of our day passes but that He is aware of it and in control of it.  He knows and sustains every cell of our bodies.  He is ALL POWERFUL.  There is NOTHING that He cannot do.  Did He not cause all the enemy to go blind so that they did not kill Elisha (2Kgs 6:18)?  Did He not slay all 185,000 Assyrians who were coming against Hezekiah (Hez 19:35)?  Did He not save Daniel from the lion’s den (Dan 6:21-22)?  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace (Dan 3:19-26)?  Did He not part the raging Red Sea (Ex 14:21) and again the raging Jordan (Josh 3:16)?  Has He lost His power today? Absolutely not!!!  His power still reigns today whether we see it or not.  And He looks after each of us individually and He loves us with a love that we will never understand until we get to heaven.  Every nano moment of our lives is directed according to His love for us personally.  This MOST HIGH GOD, this loving Savior, NEVER leaves us alone.  He Himself is ALWAYS with us.  He is the One leading me on this path and who knows better than He?  There is absolutely nothing that I need to fear!  Nothing real and nothing made up.  It ought to be to us an utter joy to realize that Jesus never leaves us.  Our Great God is with us all the time!  What a privilege that we have – to have the assurance that He is always with us.  

Why then would we fear anything?  I have to stop and ask myself that very question because there are times when we all fear.  The Greek word for fear includes adversity, affliction, calamity, displeasure, distress, evil from men or something else, grief or something that is grievous to us, harm, something that is heavy in our soul, something that is hurtful, something that is mischievous, a misery, something that is noisy, that is not pleasant, that is sad, or brings us sorrow; it can be trouble of any kind, even wickedness that others bring to us.  Wow!  That covers a lot of territory!  The word also indicates that whichever of these it is, it is exceeding great.  I am sometimes tempted to fear the news and the evil that I hear exists in our political system; I am tempted to fear where that evil is taking our country and what impact it will have on me and my grandchildren.  I must be careful what movies I watch because they can fill me with fear, especially when the loud music exaggerates the plot.  Sometimes I am tempted to fear intruders into my house.  I fear when there is a loud noise and I do not know what it is.  I will wait to take a shower until Steve is home!  I think the bottom root is that I can be tempted to fear the unknown.  When I can see the danger ahead, I have less fear.  But even then, I must ask myself why am I tempted with these fears?  I think it is because I forget Who my God is.  I forget He is with me.  I forget His power.  I forget He promises me protection.  I forget for a moment that He is completely in control of all things!  In those moments of temptation or actual fear, I must call out to Him immediately for Him to relieve the fear.  I must start praising Him for Who He is – that always chases away fear promptly!  Jesus has a cure for fear, it is trusting in Him, and He even gives us that faith if we will but ask for it.  I remember when I lay in a hospital bed dying, I had a conversation with the Lord about this very thing.  I told Him I could trust Him for any diagnosis, even a terminal diagnosis, if I only knew what the diagnosis was.  He gently reminded me that I needed to go a step further and trust Him for the unknown diagnosis and then, as I surrendered to that, He gave me the faith to trust Him for the unknown in that situation.  Now I must learn that lesson again!  As I am in the fourth quarter of my life, I must now trust Him with all the unknowns of this era, and many unknowns abound, but He is greater!  He has taken me thus far, why should I doubt how He will lead me in this quarter?

As I am studying this verse, my thought keeps going back to another time in my life when I was near death.  Something extremely painful wracked my body so that I could not tolerate light, nor noise of any kind, nor even a touch of a loving hand.  I laid in a hospital bed for 33 days with some unknown sickness.  At the time, I had three toddlers whom I loved dearly, as well as a very loving husband.  But I was so sick that even they faded into the background.  Though I could not read my Bible, nor listen to it on tape, I could talk to Jesus.  And when I was alert, that is what I did.  Poured my heart out to Him.  I had memorized Psalm 91 and that kept washing through my thoughts.  I cannot explain to you the nearness of Jesus that I felt and knew at that time.  I knew for sure that He was with me.  Nor can I explain to you the change that experience worked in my soul.  I grew much closer to Jesus during those dark days.  Our fellowship became so sweet as I lay in that hospital bed that, when I regained strength, I often wished for those days again!  Valleys are worth walking through.  What one finds on the other side is so much better than what one had before.  Deepening one’s relationship with Jesus….is sweetly unexplainable but I highly recommend it.  

Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

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?

Ps 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

Higher ground can only be attained by walking through the valleys.  It is a principle of life.  One cannot get stronger muscles unless those muscles are taxed.  One cannot get smarter unless their brain is tortured by much study.  We will not grow spiritually without the valleys in our life.  It is but for us to follow our loving Shepherd through those valleys, trusting confidently in Him all the way through.  He has promised that He will always be with us and that He will never lose any one of us (John 10:28).  

Application

I think we must first consider if we are desiring higher ground.  Are we satisfied with our spiritual relationship with Jesus right now, or do we long for greater intimacy?  Every day we ought to beg for more Christlikeness.  Every day we ought to long to be closer to Him than we were the day before.  But then, once we long for that, we must realize that it will come with a price.  There must be a valley for us to go through in order to learn how to be closer to Him, more submitted to Him, more surrendered.  Are we willing to endure the trial?  Let us take a moment to look at the song whose words are indeed rich:

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Chorus:

Lord, lift me up, and let me stand
By faith on Canaan’s tableland;
A higher plane than I have found,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where these abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till rest I’ve found,
“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

Higher Ground by Johnson Oatman, Jr.

This song describes how we ought to feel, what we ought to desire.  It describes one who has a close intimate relationship with Jesus in view and that is why they have such a great desire to reach higher ground spiritually.  Even though they are fully aware that satan’s darts will threaten, yet higher ground is better than living a mundane life amongst doubts and fears.  Stop and consider, is this what you desire with all your heart?  

Yes, Jesus may lead us through dark valleys that sometimes are just shadowy, but other times have severe storms.  But we must always remember that He knows best.  The storm will never be too hard for us whatever the severity.  Every shadow, every storm, is there because He loves us so much.  So then it is but for us to not react but willingly surrender to the storm, trusting all the while in He Who alone can guide us through it and bring us out on the other side closer to Him then when we went in to the valley.

If the Most High God is with you continually, why then would you fear anything?  Think of it.  What is it that you tend to fear?  Why do you fear that thing?  What can you do to chase away the fear?  One of the definitions of the Greek word ‘fear’ is reverence.  When one thinks about it, whatever we fear, we are, in essence, reverencing, worshipping!  When we choose to reverence/worship God, there will be no room for fear.  Many of our fears are made up, they are contrived by our own imaginations.  Let us take our imagined fears to Jesus, surrender them to Him, and allow Him to dispel them, for He will!  Then let us replace fear with the worship Him.

Know the sweetness, and the security, and the strength of “thou art with me”.  Know that security so well now that when death does approach, His presence is strong and sweet and lush to your soul.  The same Shepherd Who carried you through all your past valleys will carry you through death’s door peacefully and securely and sweetly.  He will lead you on to the moment your soul has been waiting for all your life – a precious reunion with Him.  That cannot, can never, be dark.  It is the fulfillment of the longing desire of your life.  I love what I read on this subject of dying by some source named Viscountess Powerscourt found in the Treasury of David: “When anticipating the solemn hour of death, when the soul is ready to halt and ask, How shall it then be? can you turn in soul affection to your God and say, "There is nothing in death to harm me, while thy love is left to me"?  Can you say, "O death, where is thy sting"?  It is said, when a bee has left its sting in any one, it has no more power to hurt.  Death has left its sting in the humanity of Christ, and has no more power to harm his child.  Christ's victory over the grave is his people's.  "At that moment I am with you," whispers Christ; "the same arm you have proved strong and faithful all the way up through the wilderness, which has never failed, though you have been often forced to lean on it all your weakness."  "On this arm," answers the believer, "I feel at home; with soul confidence, I repose on my Beloved; for he has supported through so many difficulties, from the contemplation of which I shuddered.  He has carried over so many depths, that I know his arm to be the arm of love."  How can that be dark, in which God's child is to have the accomplishment of the longing desire of his life?  How can it be dark to come in contact with the light of life?” 

I am reminded of Peter’s example in Acts 12.  King Herod had already killed James just so he could please the Jews who opposed the gospel.  Now he imprisoned Peter and was planning to kill him as soon as Easter was finished.  The night before Herod planned to kill him, Peter is still in prison.  He is sleeping between two soldiers and bound with chains – not a comfortable position and truly not a comfortable situation knowing that the next day most likely execution was his lot.  Yet we find him sleeping so deeply that even though a bright light shined in the prison the angel still had to smack him on his side to awaken him!  You would have thought that the discomfort of a cold damp prison floor and most likely a sitting position to sleep, plus the chains and being cuffed to two soldiers would have made him sleep lightly so that the light in that dark room would surely have woken him quickly.  But, no, Peter was sleeping deeply because the shadow of death had no effect upon him!  So may we enter into those days that are stepping us into eternity!

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…”  At first glance it seems so foreboding, but it is the exact opposite.  There is no better place than to walk with Jesus no matter where He leads for wherever He leads will be peaceful bliss if we but rest in Him.