The Shepherd And The Shadow

Sometimes sheep have to pass through frightening and dangerous places, but they travel in peace, knowing their shepherd has everything under his control.

When our path becomes frightening. If we know Jesus, the Great Shepherd, we can be assured that He is in absolute control. The Lord has carried me through some shadows of death with peace and security, Psa. 37:23.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Did you know shadows can’t harm you. When you walk with Jesus you are walking in the light and in the light there are no shadows.  You have His promise of peace as you travel, Phil. 4:7; John 14:27.

The Good Shepherd is always leading, feeding, and protecting His sheep.  God’s children should rejoice in that today, Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20.

To Love God By Choice

Before the heavens and earth were created, there was in the heart of the eternal God a desire to procure for Himself a people who would love Him by choice.

We were created and placed on this earth to know God, to serve Him, to please Him, and to bring Him glory.

We know Him through  salvation---being born again (born from above) as Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3-7.  It’s the powerful, life-changing moment when we make connection with eternity.

We glory God by faithful service, praise and worship.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

God has an eternal purpose for your life. How do you find out what it is?  You do so by---
• Reading about it in God's Word
• Praying for it in daily devotion to God
• Listening to the voice of God's Spirit within
• Being obedient to the most basic things revealed in His Word--- things every believer should do.

As we take care of the little picture, God will see to the big picture. He will take care of us.

The God Of Creation

Perhaps the greatest commentary on the power of God is ”In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1;1.  

When I think of God creating light with a word---I am amazed.

When I think of the vastness of the universe and how He created the stars, moon, and planets by speaking them into existence---I marvel.

But when I think that a holy, eternal, infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God would condescend to love the likes of sinners like us---I am brought to my knees in worship.

Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

God can take a black heart, wash it in the red blood of His Son, and make it whiter than snow. That gives me confidence that He can do anything.

Regardless of what lies in your path today, remember that if you are His, you belong to the God Who made it all. Think about that when you address Him in prayer.  

To Them That Love God

The events of life are not random and unrelated. They work into a preconceived pattern planned by God---a perfect blend of all things to the good of those who love Him. Our pleasure and comfort doesn’t altar His long-range plan for our lives.

The “good” isn’t always prosperity or happiness. It’s spiritual rather than material. It’s eternal rather than temporal.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Those who have received the gracious invitation of God have had their sins forgiven and been given new life. They love God and surrender to the fulfillment of His plan.

God is too kind to do anything cruel, too powerful to let anything get out of control, and too wise to ever make a mistake. The real test is how much do we love God when the going get tough.

A Thankful List

What a joy to celebrate Thanksgiving early with two of my three children and their families---one who lives in a foreign land with her husband (spreading the gospel) and the other working holidays. Eight years is a long time to wait for this.

Should we write a thankful list, I’m pretty sure family would be at the top but the rest will vary according to what God has done in each life.

Saints of God lists---especially those intimate with Jesus---may write praise and honor for how He brought them through trouble, pain, and fear.

1 Peter 1:7-9 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Believers can be thankful for the hope we have in Jesus---“rejoicing in the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls”.

A Lively Hope

In our day some pine their hopes on 401Ks, the stock market, health or family. This is a hope based in wishful thinking.

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Do you get it? When we, as believers, speak of our hope of heaven, we are not talking about “pie in the sky, by and by.” We are talking about a sure thing.

We are talking about something that’s more solid than the ground under our feet, something that is settled by the inerrant, infallible, Word of God.

The world may be in turmoil today, but those who are saved possess a hope that is out of this world.

In Everything Give Thanks

September 16, 1620 the Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, bound for the New World with 102 passengers---some seeking fortune and some religious freedom.

They had problems. Broken sails. The cold. Raging storms. The wet. Should they turn back?  Christians prayed.

After a 66-day voyage, the ship landed on the tip of Cap Cod, the place of the first American Thanksgiving service. God was faithful.

This past year has brought problems where I live. Flood waters of Hurricane Harvey wiped out many houses in  Southeast Texas---some of our own church members. We’ve had sickness---serious sickness.

You know what we learned? Over and over again and again God is faithful. We are ever so thankful.


1 Thessalonians 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.