My All - Sufficient Shepherd

Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I do not lack anything.

He satisfies my needs. That is the place to which God wants to bring us.

He wants us to be independently dependent upon Him,

to need Him alone. There are really only two options in life.

If the Lord is my Shepherd, then I shall not want;

but if I am in want, then it is obvious that the Lord is not my Shepherd.

~ David H. Roper ~

(Psalm 23:1)

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

~ I have all that I need ~

~~~***~~~

I'm naturally an early riser

but there are times when the Lord awakens

me during the wee early hours of the morning.

How about you?

Does He wake you and then softly and gently

lead you to a quiet place so he can show you

great things that He has for you in the Scriptures?

Those times do not happen every day,

but when they happen I know it will be a special

time with my Lord.

It is as if He is verbally ~ in a gentle voice ~ saying to me,

come... I have something wonderful for you.

Without fail, He does.

I walk away from those times feeling as if I had been on holy ground.

~~~***~~~

I love my quiet time with the Lord in the mornings,

but these special times seem to happen

when there is something going on in my life

and God knows I need that little extra care and time with  Him.

What I would like to share with you is one of those times.

~

A few days after I returned home from my time away

my father was hospitalized with internal bleeding

and some heart issues.

Why couldn't this have happened when I was with them

just a few days earlier was my question to God?

Being a care-giver comes natural for me

and I longed to be with my parents.

Not that I could do anything, 

but my presence would be there with them.

 I struggled as to whether I should get right
back on a plane and go to them,

but God in His infinite wisdom and goodness

showed me through His Word that

 HE IS ALL-SUFFICIENT

 for every need in this situation.

The needs of my dad the needs of  my mother and my needs as well.

~~~***~~~

When the Lord is our Shepherd, 

He takes responsibility for our lives.

He becomes personally involved with His sheep,

and He cares and provides as needed

for each individually.

He is wholly committed to the welfare

of His flock and to meeting all their needs. 

This was what the Lord wanted me to see

through His Scriptures early that morning.

"Fret not thyself, Debbie, I'm in total control

of this whole situation"

were the tender words of my Shepherd.

I was concerned for my dad while he was in the hospital.

You see, my dad was struck with polio when he was 2 years old

and his one good hip doesn't do well on those hospital beds.

With his pacemaker and heart problems he does not take pain meds

therefore causing him great discomfort.

Two days had gone by and the Dr. still had not

done the test to see why he was bleeding.

Why, I questioned God?

According to my dad he hardly ever saw a nurse.

Why, was another question I asked?

By this time they had given my dad 4 units of blood

and still no answers.

Dad was weak tired and down in spirit.

 And then my mother ~ all alone.

For me to just hop on a plane and fly out

was not possible for a few days,

now my spirit was down.

~~~***~~~

 Can you see why my Shepherd woke me early?
I was in need of a quiet place
so I could be all alone with my Shepherd. 
He woke me at the right time
and drew me to Himself

so He could lift my spirit by showing Himself

to me through His Word
and drawing me ever so close to His side.

Psalm 23 brought comfort and peace to my heart.

It  assured me that my Shepherd will meet

my needs as well as my parents needs.

 He will cause us to lie down in green pastures.

There we will find complete peacefulness and rest.

He will lead us beside still waters.

A place of sustenance rest and refreshment.

He will restore our souls and lead us in the paths of righteousness.
God knows what He is doing with us.

His rod and staff will comfort us.
Your Spirit, O Christ, is my consolation.
He will prepare a table for us.
We can partake of the communion service
which is a feast of thanksgiving
for His love and care for us.

Goodness and mercy will follow us

all the days of our lives, and we will dwell

in the house of the Lord forever.
We live surrounded by God's presence
and He attends to us with care and concern
because we belong to Him.
We shall dwell in the presence (in the care of)
the Lord forever.
What an assurance!

~~~***~~~

I knew that the hand of God had gathered His lambs ~ my parents

and would carry them in His bosom. (Isaiah 40:11)

I didn't need to rush to the airport

for our Shepherd had everything under control.

~

Jesus our Good Shepherd sacrificed His life

for His sheep. His sacrificial death on the cross

is proof of  His love and commitment to us.

He sees and provides for our real needs

as only He can see them.

Our Precious Heavenly Father.
We love You ~ because You first loved us.

Draw us close to Thy side

causing us to depend upon You

for our every need.

May we not depend upon ourselves

but on You, and You alone.
In Christ's name
Amen.

God bless you

~ Debbie ~ 

As of today my dad is still in the hospital with issues that the doctors are looking
at very carefully. Until he is stabilized a couple of procedures will have to wait.
Many of you sweet and dear friends have gone before the Lord
in prayer for our family and I want to express
my heart felt gratitude.
Thank you!

Christ's Peace

Hello Dear friends!

One day last week my heart was anxious,

and if I were to pin point as to why

I'm really not sure I could,

I was just anxious.

As I started into my daily activities

I felt as though I needed some extra "quiet time"

spent with the Lord.

I sat down in my cozy chair
opened the Word of God again,

 then prayed a prayer asking God

to meet me in and through His word

so as to calm my anxious heart,

covering me with His peace.

My God was faithful!

I was led of the Lord to read John chapter 14,

and by the time I was finished reading and studying

I had the peace of God dwelling within my heart.

Jesus is the Master of ALL our situations,

and He enables us to take control of our lives

(even our anxious moments)

as we surrender to Him

and receive His peace.

~~~***~~~

While reading chapter 14 of the book of John,

I was reminded of the ministry

of the Holy Spirit. The one thing that God

kept pressing upon my heart was found in verse 27.

"Peace I leave with you,

my peace I give unto you:

not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Let not your heart be troubled,

neither let it be afraid."

~~~***~~~

God through the Holy Spirit began to pour

His peace upon me.

My anxious heart began to relax as I meditated

on not only verse 27 but all of chapter 14.

God was reminding me through the Scriptures

that He would NEVER leave me,

and that I need NOT be afraid.

God was also reminding me that He,

through the Holy Spirit,

was my "Helper," that He would "come along side" of me

 as my helper~teacher~guide and encourager. (Verse 16)

~~~***~~~

I then began to search my heart...

What was I so anxious about?

Was there a situation that was bothering me?

Was there sin in my life that I needed to confess? (1 John 1:9)

Question after question I laid at the Masters feet

waiting as the Holy Spirit began to reveal

my anxieties.

Again~My God was faithful!

I laid my burdens down at the foot of the cross,

the burden I was trying to carry...

I confessed my sin praying Psalm 51

as David had prayed, and said,

"Against You, You only, have I sinned." (Psalm 51:4) 

"My heart was washed clean" (Psalm 51:2)

"My spirit was renewed" (Psalm 51:10)

And "my joy was full". (John 15:11)

In quietness and confidence

I met with Jesus,

and in His faithfulness He met with me

right where I was,

in need of His love and grace.
Often times we try and carry those burdens which trouble us
only to find we are weak in our own strength.
God has promised to carry those loads for us
if we would only surrender them to Him
and receive His peace. 
When we call upon the name of the Lord,
He is faithful!

~~~***~~~

Thank you Heavenly Father,

for Your faithfulness to us.

Thank you for Your Word that teaches us

how to live in every area of our lives.

Draw us close to Thee,

that we might know You more

through the Scriptures,

bringing honor and glory to Your Holy name.

Amen.

Grace & Peace

~ Debbie ~ 
~
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