The Lord is my Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6 KJV

1. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

he leadeth me beside the still waters. 

3. He restoreth my soul: 

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: 

for thou art with me; 

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 

5. Thou preparest a table before me 

in the presence of mine enemies: 

thou anointest my head with oil; 

my cup runneth over. 

6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Every action word will God cause us to do if we can see, accept and allow Him to be the Shepherd of our life by handing ourselves over to the Holy Spirits leading and therefore allowing Christ to live his risen life through us, for as in Leviticus 26:12, God promised His chosen one's of which we also are by faith thus: 

"I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people."

This confession that the Lord is my Shepherd is my portion in Christ Jesus. 

Because I know and trust God as the Shepherd of my life, I will always confess my lack of want and the other things He supernaturally causes me to do in appreciation and faith, and will therefore always see it's manifestation in my life and those He has sent me to. 

In Jesus name.

Amen.

The Lords Prayer 8

The Lords Prayer 8.

5. 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.

A valley is indeed a dangerous place to be in during a battle because ones enemy has a better standing and vantage point to defeat, talk less of one with the ominous, palpable presence of death, yet the psalmist, king David who from his childhood relationship with God Almighty has come to appreciate and revear God as the Chief Shepherd in his life could boldly and unflinchingly testify, " though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:.."

why?

Because he learned by following the staff of leadership of The Almighty Shepherd and subjecting himself to the same staff used as a rod to chastise whenever he disobeyed and also to defeat the enemy of God's flock, that God was with him and that the comfort of the multipurpose staff of the shepherd was of greater comfort than anything any other leadership in this world could offer him.

The mountain refreshing process as well as the valley trying experience are both brought about by one and the same, God to build up our faithin His "All-mightiness" in our lives.

Are you tired of a valley you're in, or plagued from time to time by the spirit of death? Then know that Satan is not your problem. Your Faith in God is. 

Everything begins and ends with your fellowship with God or lack of a relationship with Him.
Reaffirm your faith in Emmanuel, God with us; your acceptance of Him as shepherd of your life, the truth of his staff of leadership and rod of correction as your only comfort in life, and come up to the mount of God where deliverance can be found, by prayer and the positive faith-filled confessions of your mouth and therefore reject death and the fear of evil outrightlly.

The Lords Prayer 5

The Lords Prayer 5.

Let's breakdown Psalm 23 that the psalmist, king David wrote inspired by God's Spirit, verse by verse, to get a better understanding of it when we affirm it by faith: 

1. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

While the job of a shepherd is to take care of sheep, that is, to guide, guard and provide for them, our God is not only a shepherd to us but our Maker and Father. 
It is indeed a great privilege that when we come to the understanding of who God Almighty is to us, we can confidently say that we shall lack nothing.

However we cannot fully appreciate the shepherd if we do not understand the dilemma the sheep would face without "The Good Shepherd" the only one that can give them Purpose, Provision and Protection.

If sheep were left alone without a shepherd, without the necessary human care, they would soon become wild and useless to mankind and therefore the purpose they were created for.

The wool and the milk they produced would not be qualitative nor quantitative enough because of the wild nutrition they'd subject themselves to.

Then there is the issue of them being fare game for predators that would kill droves of them because of the fact that they'd be too divided to be assembled or herded together as a flock to offer some sort of united resistance against the enemy. This analogy of the shepherd and sheep definitely applies to the relationship between God Almighty and mankind.

In Romans 12: 2, it is written, 
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

If we were left to our own whims, we would definitely conform to the pattern of this world, become depraved of mind ,not be able to know what God's will is and finally live an unpleasant and flawed existence that would ultimately lead us to the fires of hell, which was Satan's plan all along.

2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

While a pasture is a large expanse of land where a shepherd takes his flock to feed on the grass, "green" connotes the freshness and luxury of it.

In Genesis 1:29, God said to Adam, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food."
From the beginning there is no doubt to Gods willingness to provide mankind with the best in nutrition.

Although God didn't provide food without the need to work for it, as in Genesis 2: 15, where it is written,
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it," God never intended that mankind do so through painful toil and by the sweat of his brow until he dies.

Unfortunately, as in Genesis 3: 17 to 19, our foreparents, Adam and Eve gave in to Satan's temptations for them to be equal to God, and ate fruit from the tree God commanded them not to eat from, and as a result, God cursed the ground because of their willful disobedience.

This curse not only affected Adam, the first man made but all mankind who descended from him including us.

Thanks be to God however, that His greatest gift to mankind, Jesus Christ, who bore our sin and sicknesses on the cross, redeemed all mankind who would accept his lordship and saving grace upon their lives from that curse.

Through Jesus Christ mankind can once again lie down in green pastures as God made it out to be at the beginning.

Are you still experiencing the curse of the fall through painful toil and by the sweat of your brow?

God desires and can make us lie down in green pastures once again so that the peace mankind had at the beginning can be restored. 
All we need to do is believe and accept Jesus Christ as the shepherd and as in John 10: 3, He will call us "his own sheep" by name and lead "us" out to greener pasture.

Shalom

The Lords Prayer 4

The Lords Prayer 4.

4. Jabez may have reiterated his need to be guarded by God, that God should keep him from harm, probably because he wanted to be free from pain caused by those who would want to harm him due to his honourable way of life, no matter the unfavourable conditions he lived in.

Thank God for His loving mercy, for at the end of Jabez's prayer it was recorded, "And God granted his request." 
Note that no mention was made about Jabez changing his name from Jabez which meant "Pain" to anything else, at God's instance or otherwise for God to bring a turnaround in his life.

How is your prayer life?

Note that a man that is too lazy to pray is one that is too lazy to succeed in life.

Psalm 23, is a powerful affirmation if professed by faith, of what God has purposed for His people. To acknowledge His sovereignty over our lives, constantly, so that in turn He would honour our heartfelt confession of His hand upon our lives, and bring to fruition His promises concerning us, as contained in it.

While you may not really see all of the things therein at work in your life right now, know that God's word concerning his people can't fail if they ensure they live fulfilling their own part of the covenant with regards to prayer, which is simply to"PUSH", that is to, Pray Until Something Happens, and not to doubt in their thoughts and actions.

It goes thus, as it is recorded in Psalm 23: 1 to 7 KJV, 
1. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 
2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 
3. he leadeth me beside the still waters. 
He restoreth my soul: 
4. he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
5. 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. 
6. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; 
my cup runneth over. 
7. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.