Bible League: Living His Word The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.— Psalm 23:1 NIV I'm not alone. I'm not alone in life and I'm not on my own. I have a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He leads me through life like a shepherd leads his sheep. Isaiah said of the Lord, "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart" (Isaiah 40:11). Maybe this makes you think that I'm too passive, weak, and immature. Maybe this makes you think that I should grow up and start taking care of myself. I think, in contrast, that it's highly advantageous to have the Lord as my shepherd. I think following the Lord's lead is the only way to go in life. After all, it means that I lack nothing. The Lord provides for me. That's the advantage of having a good shepherd. The Lord makes sure that I have the green pastures and still waters I need to thrive (Psalm 23:2). I don't have to worry about finding these things on my own. The Lord knows where they are, and He leads me and guides me to them. Indeed, He makes sure that I have everything I need, no matter what it is, both now and forevermore. He's not a part-time shepherd; He's not a temp worker; He's on the job all day, every day, for all eternity. Moreover, the Lord provides for me by leading me to the right path. There are many paths leading to all sorts of places. Some are good, but most are bad, and sheep can't always tell the difference. At the start of a given path sheep can't see where it leads; however, the Lord knows where all the paths end. He can lead me and guide me along the right one. If I turn the wrong way, I can call out to Him and He lights up a better way. "Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth" (Psalm 80:1). Even if the good path on which He leads me has some dark valleys and hard times, I don't have to worry. I know that my shepherd is still with me, and I can take comfort in that assurance (Psalm 23:4). Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingIsaiah 48, 49 Isaiah 48 -- Israel's Obstinacy and Deliverance NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 49 -- The Servant of the Lord; Restoration to Zion NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Colossians 4 Colossians 4 -- Let Your Conversation be Full of Grace; Final Greetings NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.Insight The apostles were referring to the poor of Jerusalem. While many Gentile converts were financially comfortable, the Jerusalem church had suffered from the effects of a severe famine in Palestine and was struggling. So on his journeys, Paul had gathered funds for the Jewish Christians. The need for believers to care for the poor is a constant theme in Scripture. But often we do nothing, caught up in meeting our own needs and desires. Challenge Perhaps we don't see enough poverty to remember the needs of the poor. The world is filled with poor people, here and in other countries. What can you do to help? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts.There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on his Word spiritual strength for labor in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, "I will meditate in thy precepts." Daily Light on the Daily Path 2 Corinthians 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.Colossians 1:19,20 For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, • and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Jeremiah 29:11 'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. Job 22:21 "Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you. Philippians 2:12,13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; • for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Isaiah 26:12 LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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