"My Cup Overflows"

Summer is zooming past us, in case you needed to know :-). Hard to believe it is already July 17, 2013. Like, "whoa", already. Time continues to carry us closer and closer to Eternity.

How's your day going? Just to be honest with you, I never like beginning my day with back pain, and only to add insult to injury, wouldn't you know that I cut myself shaving. I'm really not whining, just being vulnerable. One of the first verses to come into my mind after I awoke this morning was from the Old Testament Book of Job, chapter 13 and verse 15: "Though He slay me, yet will I hope/trust in Him."

What I am saying is this: Life has a way of making sure we experience some measure of suffering. I know back pain and a facial cut are just small samples of suffering, yet both truly speak to the human condition.

Last evening in our Tuesday Campmeeting service at Table Rock, South Carolina, I continued to share from Matthew 11:28-30 and John 15:4. And once again, I only shared one-page of what I had written down and then the stories just came flowing from my heart.

Somehow, I eventually ended up at The 23rd Psalm -- especially verse 5b: "He anoints my head with oil. My cup overflows." I told the people how any good shepherd anoints his sheep at night so they can rest. The aroma and the rubbing of the oil lets the sheep know they are not alone. Especially it lets the sheep with pain know, they are not alone in their suffering. What comfort.

As a conclusion to the service, I had seven pastors come to the front with anointing oil and then it seemed nearly everyone one in "the fold" came for a fresh touch and a renewed reminder that His Presence, yes the Good Shepherd's Presence, is both with us and within us. In the end, I went to be anointed as well. It was a glorious moment. It's like we all received healing for our restless hearts.

So, this morning when I awoke still experiencing back pain and then I cut myself shaving, I just talked to the Good Shepherd. I am not alone. And though He hasn't seen fit to completely heal me yet, His Holy Presence with me and especially within me makes it all okay. Surely, "my cup overflows" with His Good Presence and I know His grace is enough. My soul is at rest.

Time for me to head out for the morning service. Thanks for your continued prayers, partners.

Baaa. Baaa.
Grateful

I Will Live in the House of the Lord Forever

Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
-- Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

Yesterday, I officiated the funeral and graveside services for a dear saint named Ruth, age 93. Eighteen years ago, I alos had the blessed privilege to officiate the final services for her husband, Richard. Just before Richard passed the line of worlds in 1995, he whispered these comforting words on his death-bed to his beloved Ruth: "Soon we will be together again and we will have everything we ever dreamed of."

I now know that Richard and Ruth were dreaming of things eternal, not clinging to the stuff of earth. Do we, too, dream of living in the house of the Lord forever?

Grateful  

The "Good" Shepherd Disciplines His Own

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
-- David, The Shepherd-boy King's Words in Psalm 119:67 (NIV)

(5b) “My child, don’t make light of the LORD’s discipline, and don’t give up when He corrects you. (6) For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.” (7) As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? (8) If God doesn’t discipline you as He does all of His children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really His children at all. -- Hebrews 12:5b-8 (NLT)

Roy Gustafson, who has led many parties to The Holy Land, tells in his book "In His Hand" (p.46) that on one of his visits, on the road down from Jerusalem through the Judean wilderness to Jericho, they met a shepherd carrying one of his sheep with a splint and a bandage on its leg. Said their guide, who'd lived nearly fifty years in that area, "The shepherd broke that sheep's leg himself."

And it was true! It was explained that this was a sheep that was always wandering off, and in the process leading other sheep astray. Membership in the flock carries certain responsibilities, and as much as the shepherd feels a real affection for his animals, discipline is the only thing that will keep them together, as they must be kept together for their well-being and their safety. So to cure this sheep of its self-willed ways, the shepherd had broken its leg, and then hand fed and carried it till the bone was mended ... and (hopefully) its waywardness.

The Twenty-Third Psalm (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.

Baa. Baa.
Grateful

The 23rd Psalm -- Breathe Again

This morning my devotional reading beautifully led me to The 23rd Psalm from the Message Paraphrase of the Holy Bible. How awesome and compassionate our Good Shepherd is to those who know His voice and call Him Lord. In His Holy Presence our eternal souls can breathe again... and again... and again... yes, for forever.

God, my Shepherd!
I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
You find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to Your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when You walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.
You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.
Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

"Baaask" in the Good Shepherd's Presence!

Have you saturated in the 23rd Psalm lately? I invite you to join me there today, yes, to "Baaask" in the blessed presence of the Good Shepherd. "Baaask... Baaask..."

ALL JOY!
Grateful