Psalm 23:1-3 ESV
The Lord is my
shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside
still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths
of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Life has its ups and downs. Trials come, and trials go. And,
our enemy Satan (the devil) prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he
may devour.
So, if we are walking closely with the Lord, doing what he
says to do, we are bound to come face to face with his attacks regularly. And,
he uses other humans to do his dirty work, and to come against us, too. So,
that hits close to home. And, so we may be tempted to fear. Or, Satan may
attack us with feelings of fear, even though we are not giving way to the fear.
Yet, if we are truly followers of Jesus Christ, by God’s
grace, through genuine faith in him, then we don’t have to fear our enemy or
what he might do, or what his servants or those being deceived by him might do
to us. For, our God is with us, and he will not leave us or forsake us.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is our divine shepherd. He is
completely sovereign over all of creation, and over all powers and authorities
in the heavenly realms and on the earth. And, he is all powerful, all knowing,
and ever present everywhere. So, nothing we are going through escapes his
notice or is out of the realm of his control and power.
So, that means we are also not powerless over our
circumstances, either, for if Christ lives within us, we can rely on his power
and strength to get us through every trial and every difficulty, and to come
out victorious. But, the victory is not necessarily in the escape from the
trial, but in the courage and strength God gives us to endure the trial and to
not let it take us out.
Also, even when things get really heated, and Satan and his
hordes are fiercely attacking, we can be at peace, for our Lord leads us to
peace in him. Yet, I am not saying the peace will always immediately come,
though. I had a really bad battle the night before last with being attacked of
Satan with feelings of fear, and it did not let up for a couple of hours. But,
I kept praying and quoting scripture and singing songs, and eventually the
peace came.
So, we can’t give up and we can’t give in when we are
attacked, even if the attacks persist for some time. But, we have to just keep
trusting the Lord, keep on resisting Satan, and keep on fleeing the temptation
to cave to our enemy’s evil tactics against us, for he has many tricks up his
sleeves, too.
But, we must follow our Lord’s lead to those still (or
quiet) waters where he restores our souls. And, we have to follow his lead,
too, onto those paths of righteousness.
For, our Lord often allows us to go through trials and
difficulties as a way to draw us closer to himself, and in order to purify our
hearts and to make us even more holy. So, rather than letting these trials take
us out or to make us afraid, we need to allow our Lord to grow us through them,
for they do serve God’s purposes in conforming us to his likeness.
Psalm 23:4 ESV
Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
For one person this valley of the shadow of death may be
very severe, yet for another it may not be nearly as severe, and yet for both
of them it is still the valley of the shadow of death. It is still a dark time.
It is a time when they are experiencing potentially crippling attacks from the
enemy.
So, they are hurting and/or they are battling feelings of
depression because of what they are going through. And, they may even be
tempted to be afraid of what might happen to them further.
Some who are going through this may literally be at risk of
losing their lives or of facing a real physical threat to their bodies or to
their minds and emotions, for abuse comes in many different packages. Yet, for
some, the attacks may never enter a physical realm at all, but are merely
attacks on their minds and on their emotions, but that is severe enough right
there.
And, it isn’t as though having no fear of evil means nothing
bad can happen to us. It can mean bad is coming, and it can be over a long
period of time, too. For, we read in scripture that we, as followers of Jesus,
will be hated and persecuted because of our faith and testimonies for Jesus
Christ.
And, some of us may even be put to death because we stand
for what is right and we stand against evil. But, we are not to be afraid, not
because it won’t happen, but because Jesus is allowing it and he will carry us
through it all.
Psalm 23:5-6 ESV
You prepare a table
before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head
with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in
the house of the Lord
forever.
Our enemy’s goal is to make us afraid, to take us out, and
to get us to turn tail and run. He hopes to make us fall or to get us to give
up and to abandon ship. And, he is very skilled at what he does, too.
Yet, our Lord supplies us with everything that we need. He
comforts and he helps us. He pours out his spiritual blessings upon us, too,
and he shows us that he loves and cares about us. And, he does this in the
presence of our enemies. Thus, they may even be jealous of us, or hate us
because of it, like Cain hated his brother Abel and so he murdered him.
So, this is not a promise that bad stuff won’t happen to us
if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives. But, this is a promise that our Lord
will be with us through it all and that good will come out of it. And, that we
will be blessed of God despite our suffering or in our suffering for
righteousness’ sake.
But, since he does this in the presence of our enemies, then
that may mean even greater persecution for us, because our enemies will be
jealous of us and of our relationships with God. But, God will work all things
for good for those who love (and obey) him and who have been called according
to his purpose.
And, we must be willing to suffer whatever God allows us to
suffer, for it may mean the salvation of human lives. Because of our suffering,
others might turn to the Lord for their salvation. And, that is a very good
thing!
And, God may use suffering in our lives, too, to prepare us
for specific areas of ministry he has planned for us. And, if we had not
suffered so, we would not be spiritually, mentally and physically ready for
what is coming.
So, God is able to turn bad things around for good to make
us who he wants us to be, to be used of him in a special way at a specific time
in history, and for the glory of God, too. So, we need to follow His lead.
Give
Me Courage, Lord
An
Original Work / November 13, 2013
Based
off Various Scriptures
Do not let your hearts grow weary,
For your work will be rewarded.
Be strong; let your hearts take courage.
Do not fear, but wait on Jesus.
Be strong and very courageous,
For your God will go before you.
Do not fear. He will not leave you.
Wait for Him. He’ll not forsake you.
Be careful to do what He says.
Do not turn away from your Lord.
Take courage! You’ll be His witness,
For God will guide and protect you.
So we are always encouraged.
We walk by faith and not vision.
We make it our aim to please Him,
So in Christ, we glorify Him.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
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