God's Power Providing Intimacy Promises

BREAKING IT DOWN

Hello Christ Followers 

Early this morning, I woke up briefly and started thinking about something all too many of us just blow through quickly when we read it, and we miss the powerful capacity, capability and competence the words of this ancient script promise and provide for us. They do so in order that we can live intimately with God. Even as I write this, because so many have heard this message, I can almost sense that some will emotionally sink and turn off because of this scripts familiarity; nevertheless, God inspires me to write this for someone somewhere in the world. So, I am going to break this down, and then look at the promises, and then give a challenge that just might change you life. Here is the ancient writing from the Psalmist David.

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

      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.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ps 23). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

As we now break this down, we can see this is another one of those God messages consisting of few words, but they provide us a hugely enormous message of authentic intimacy. This grand scripture can be placed on just one page. It only has 122 words, 482 characters with no spaces and 598 characters with spaces. It consist of six paragraphs and eleven lines. (Reference MicroSoft Word Count.) In other words, very few God breathed words are given the Psalmist; yet, these originally handwritten expressions are extraordinarily good, attractive, sensational and outstanding. And these promises are superbly jam packed with just how endearing God says you are and I am to the true and living God our shepherd.

THE PRECIOUS PROMISES

The Overarching Promise

1. The overarching promise provides the foundation, authority, power and credibility of all the others.  The LORD IS. There are no words to truly express what this means.  God created all of creation. God knows and is closely related to every part of the universe, and God even knows each part by name. This includes you and it includes me. God IS, and so God is in control. And the rest of what the Psalmist says here describes just how close the true and living God wants to be --and is-- with each one of us, even though we may not be aware:
2. The Lord IS mine:  He is my shepherd. That is He has a loving relationship with you and me.
3. I shall not want: He supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory and not our meager resources.
4. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He gives you the ability to rest in Him.
5. He leads me beside the still waters: He gives us refreshment.
6. He restores my soul: He daily renews you and me and provides His resurrection grace.
7. He leads me in the path of righteousness: He guides us in making godly/right choices.
8. For His name's sake: God's integrity is on the line.  He said it.  That settles it. All this is done.
9. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil:  God's peace.
10. For thou are with me: The Shepherd is our SoJourner never leaving us alone. That's presence.
11. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me: Protection and rescue are ours.  The rod was a six feet long stick that drove off predators, and the Shepherd's staff's hook was just big enough to reach down and pick up a fallen sheep who had fallen into a crevice.  God drives off the enemy of our souls and He picks us up when we fall.
12. Thou preparest a table in the presence of mine enemies.  A promise of powerful hope, even as we face those who would be fully against us. We can actually sit down, look at the "enemy" while God is right there with us.
13. Thou anointest my head with oil. He sets us apart.  He prepares each of us for our calling and ministry.  This anointing goes with us as the Holy Spirit fills us.
14. My cup runneth over:  God bless each one of us from the inside out, as we daily look to and at Him by faith.  He gives us life to the full or abundant life, as Jesus himself promised (John 10:10.)
15. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life: God is a good God.  He cares more for you and me than we can imagine.  He gives you, and He gives me mercy.  That is He does not give you nor me what we deserve.  He give us a relationship with Him all the days He provides us with breath. These two, goodness and mercy, are Heavenly blessings.
16. I will dwell in the House of the Lord:  A faith filled promise of hope and a mindset that knows we will live and surpasses the grave.
17. Forever: This is sharing in God's life from now to all eternity.

The Challenge

Let me give you a challenge that, if you take it seriously, could possibly change your life: Take time out to think about what you think about when the Twenty-Third Psalm intersects your life. Get alone, and get quiet as soon as you wake up. Recite, read and reflect on these wonder filled words.  Yes, get comfortable and sit with the Lord who is your Shepherd.  Think about each one of His promises to you that He wants to carry out in your life each day.  Understand God is indeed intimate with you, and it will really benefit you, from the inside out, if you let these promises abide in you and bear fruit in you.

Next, read and reflect on what God is saying to you in the Twenty-Third Psalm during breakfast, any breaks you may have, lunch, dinner and do so again before you go to bed at night.  Don't just blow through this Psalm as many do, but take a few minutes with God being in love with and in relationship with God. If you must be on your mobile device, bring up this blog, and spend these moments with God who is more close than your next breath, and who loves you far more than you can imagine.

Finally, see what happens to you from the inside out.

God Bless You

SoJourner