Psalms 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.”
Men who are pastors of churches (or what are falsely being
called “church”) are supposed to shepherd the people who are underneath them.
They are supposed to instruct the people in holy living and in the forsaking of
their sins to walk in obedience to the Lord Jesus. And they are to lead them in
the ways of righteousness. For they are to be Jesus’ undershepherds who
represent him on this earth. But sadly not many of them are doing that.
But there is a shepherd who we can count on to lead us on
the right path, and his name is Jesus, who is our chief shepherd. He will lead
us in the ways in which we are to go, but we have to listen to him, and then we
must obey him. For he can’t lead us if we don’t cooperate with him. He can’t
lead us if we stubbornly refuse to be led and we go our own way, instead, which
is where many people are today who are professing him as Lord and Savior.
So, what is that proverbial saying? “You can lead a horse to
water but you can’t make him drink.” It means that you can lead people to the
truth but you can’t force them to apply that truth to their own lives. We all
make our own choices in this life for good or for evil, and we are all
answerable to God for the choices that we make in this life. So Jesus is our
shepherd, but we have to follow (obey) him wherever he leads us, for him to
shepherd us.
Psalms 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.”
Life has its temptations and its trials for sure. The path
we are to follow will not always be rosy and filled with sunshine. Some days
are going to be really hard. Tears will flow. Emotions will be weak. We will
have questions without answers. We won’t know which way to turn, other than we
do know which way NOT to turn. And Satan will be attacking us with his arrows,
trying to get us to give up hope and to give in to our emotions.
But we are not to give way to fear. We are to believe in the
sovereignty of God over all which he has created. We are to believe that God is
still on the throne, and that he is in control over all things, and that he is
working all things for good for those who love and obey God and who are called
according to God’s purpose. And his purpose for us is that we die with him to
sin and that we live holy lives in walks of obedience to him (1 Peter 2:24).
So, even though life will hit us hard, at times, and people
will be mean to us, and they will reject us, and they will betray us and even
plot evil against us in order to attempt to destroy us, we are not to fear them
or what they might do to us. For they can do nothing against us unless God
allows it. And God will set limits on it, and God will use it for his glory to
draw us closer to him, to strengthen us in our walks of faith and to teach us
reliance on him.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25;
Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John
15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1
Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12]
Psalms 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.”
So, if we are living lives separate (unlike, different) from
the world because we are being made to be like Jesus, and because we are
walking in fellowship with him, those who are following the traditions of men
and their cultures and their religious customs, they are not going to
understand nor accept us as “one of them,” and we may even be invited to leave.
But, although they reject us and have no need of us nor want
of us, the Lord has want of us, and he has something for us to do. And
sometimes their rejection of us actually turns out to be a blessing in disguise
because then we are free to be who God wants us to be and for God to use us in
ways that don’t follow the norms of traditional institutional religion.
For, remember that Jesus didn’t follow the traditions of men
nor institutional religious norms, which is one of the reasons that they hated
him and rejected him because he didn’t conform to their ways, but he was
different. And they didn’t like different. They wanted conformity with them.
But we are to conform to Christ and to his word not to the traditions of
humans.
And so, in spite of their rejection of us, and their casting
us aside as unwanted and not needed by them, if we are willing, and if we will
obey, God will delight in using us in ways that are his ways, and in ways we
may never have even thought of before, although perfectly in line with the word
of God and with the character and divine will of God for our lives.
In other words, where men may slam doors shut in our faces
because we don’t conform to them and to their ways – and I am speaking here of
people within the church, including pastors and other church leaders. Although
they have no use of us, God will anoint us for his service and he will use us
in ways he had planned for us from even before the creation of the world.
And God will use us in other people’s lives who are
interested in what we have to share, and who want to learn what the Bible
teaches, and who are willing to break away from the norms of institutional
religion in order to follow Jesus in his ways, and according to his truth. And
God will bless the work he is doing in and through our lives for his glory and
praise.
And one day soon Jesus is going to return to the earth to
judge and then to take us, his bride, to be with him for eternity. But not
everyone who professes his name will be with him for eternity. Many who say,
“Lord, Lord,” do not honor him as Lord of their lives, and so he will say,
“Depart from me you workers of iniquity. I never knew you!” So, don’t be like
them, please.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom
8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8;
Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn
2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-27; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
When I Was Walking
An Original Work / January 16, 2020
When I was walking along the way,
My Lord was with me, and He did say,
“My child I’m with you. I hear you pray,
‘Oh, help me, Lord! Need You today!’”
He is my friend, near to the end.
Gently leads me. His servant be.
He helps me pray – knows what to
say.
He’s all I need. On Him I feed.
When I am wond’ring of what to do,
He gently leads me to what is truth.
He is my helper. He strengthens me.
When I’m in want, supplies my need.
He comforts me with all His love.
Gives me His grace from heav’n
above.
I heed His call to watch and pray,
To guard my heart throughout each
day.
When He is calling to come to Him,
To let Him lead you, trust Him within,
How will you answer to Him today?
Will you say, “Yes, Lord, have your way”?
Do not neglect to let Him in,
Cleanse you from sin, made new
within.
Leave all your sin, obey your Lord,
Trust in His Word – His mighty
Sword.
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