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Showing posts from September 9, 2012

Shepherd's Promise #12 The Forever Promise

I Will Dwell In The House Of The Lord Forever.   All of the Good Shepherd promises are "here and now" promises that clearly reveal our Lord/Shepherd cares about what's going on right here right now in this moment. Yup! Our God WILL supply all our needs according to His riches in glory, and He will do so this side of glory.   But there is still more:  All of us are terminal.  Sooner or later this journey will end, and we will go to our eternal reward or lack thereof:  As the Hebrew writer said, "It is appointed once for a man to die, and after this there comes the judgment."     Yet the Good Shepherd promises those who turn from their sin to the Good Shepherd Jesus... well... the best is yet to come. And this sheep peep David is convinced that the grave will NOT be his demise.  (So am I.) He knew that he would dwell in God's home place forever .     Jesus is the Good Shepherd who has laid down His life for the peeps who are God's she

Shepherd's Promise #11 The Promise of Being Followed.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the day's of my life.     When I looked at how the Hebrew of this Shepherd promise is written, I had difficulty giving the #11 a title; for example, the Hebrew for the word "Surely"  literally can be translated. "There is no doubt."  Keep in mind this man has had enough stuff in his life that has threatened his life; yet, once again he comes out with a determined expectancy. "There is not doubt that good things, and God's mercy will be tagging along behind me, when I need it."  So I wanted to call it the "NO Doubt Promise."     Then I listen to the Hebraic view, when it talks about "goodness and mercy."  Here a number of words can replace these two.  Other potential candidate words that could also be used are: "kindness, benevolence, love, favor, faithfulness..." and the list goes on.. "Will follow me all the days of my life." So I wanted to call it &

Shepherd's Promise #10 THE Anointing

"You Anoint My Head With Oil"   God's anointing on your life is simply "a God Thing Honey."  He has simply made a decision to set you apart for a Sacred purpose, Seal you with a Sacred Security, endow you with a Sacred Power and put you on a Sacred path, if you Sacredly submit your life to The Good Shepherd.     The Good News (The Gospel), makes it clear that the Christ Follower (Sheep of the Shepherd) is especially a peep that will experience such sacredness.  Check this out:   It is God that makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He has anointed us, Set His seal of ownership on us, And given us His Spirit as a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance. 2 Corithinan 1:21-22 NIV       See what I mean:  Being a peep, who is The Good Shepherd's sheep, gives you the stuff to be enough. You are truly empowered to live your life and NOT just exist. You are not just someone fumbling through the human condition and it's accompa

The Shepherd's Promise #9: Power To Work Through

You Prepare A Table For Me In The Presence Of My Enemies.       As I think about this promise, I feel the need to ask some questions: "Do I actually have an enemy?  Do I have enemies?  Are there actually people out there who do not wish me well?  Are there indeed people who would do whatever they need to be sure that they win (or get their way), even if they need to hurt me so they can have what they want?  How would you answer these questions for yourself?"   Life in this school of hard knocks has taught me that that-if it is your ultimate goal to do the right thing or best thing- you might just step very soundly on the toes of those who do not seek any more than the substandard and or mediocre. And, if you add to this that such folks have the motivation that comes from the darkness and being  self centered, you can almost count on having someone in your life who will do whatever they can to make your life miserable. They will lie about you.  They will develo