Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Last week we learned about meditating on God's Wrod. What should be the focus on today's passage? Is it that the Lord is my shepherd? Is it that you will lack nothing? Depending on what you focus on the meaning will be different. If you call Jesus your shepherd, then what do you become? You are confessing that you are nothing more than an animal. Do you see yourself as this? Do you call out to God so that you will get what you want, to be led by quiet streams to be lacking in nothing? Do you see that when you call out to God to get what you want you must let Him lead you first? Do you lack nothing? Does that mean you really have everything? Does it not mean that you are abandoning yourself to Him, so that even if you are hungry that you are not concerned about yourself, but you are concerned about what He wants? We say that we will go where He leads us, but the moment things get difficult how much is it that you complain? We love this Psalms but do we really understand it? Do you know why it is that you will fear no evil even though you are in dark valleys? It is because your eyes are only on Him who leads us, but we do not live like this, we let the worries of the world consume us. We desire that God does His work in us that will lift us up, to put us above others and to be recognized by others. In 2 Corinthians Paul tells us of his suffering that he endures for Christ. He abandons his life for Jesus and realizes that Christ alone will decide when he will die or live and whatever he does until he is called will be to do His will. Where is Jesus in your life? You complain when things do not go your way. You argue and fight because you are not content. We are called to proclaim Jesus. Stephen was stoned for his confession of Jesus. You, in your own families, do you represent Christ? You think that you can act holy, but your spouse knows how you really are. Have you ever stood up for the gospel? Have you ever taken a stone for Christ, or do you leave and cower when the opportunity rises? You may see Stepehen as a failure because he lost his life, but we know that God was pleased. Are you one who can call upon the name of our LORD? We do not believe to reap rewards here on this earth. We follow Christ so that He may be glorified through our lives. When God saves us He will do so according to His will. Like Peter who was freed from prison twice. The first time to go to the temple area to preach and the second time to flee and save his life. It is God's desire to free you for His purpose. David had two enemies. Goliath and Saul. He did not take on both enemies in the same manner. Depending on the enemy the way you address them is different. When you have difficulties in your life the way you address them depends on what God desires. You must do it according to God's will so that He way be glorified. In our garden the hot peppers have been doing what they were created to do, even though the weather has cooler than normal. The peppers do not give up, they do what they can with all there might so that they will pass in their seeds and keep living. They would normally grow about 6 inches but because it has been cold they stopped at an inch. They did not die, but turned red as if mature to spread their seeds. Do you have the discipline to do all that you can to fulfill your purpose and follow God with all your strength? Like the peppers, although they did not reach full potential, they struggled to do their best, do you struggle to give God your best? To be victorious in this life means you will be victorious in the next life. I pray that you will be able to achieve the life that God has purposed for you.