Psalm 23 a

I feel really connected to this chapter; it feels like a love note from Christ written specifically for me.

Below is a highlight of what the chapter means to me;

Here you go...
(Psalm 23; New International Version)

The LORD Is My Shepherd, I Lack Nothing

This reminds me of how much I need God’s direction and not have to carry the weight of the world on my head by relinquishing all authorities (my anxieties, weaknesses, burdens, fears) to Him because He is my shepherd.
If we can be a bit imaginative and visualise how these herdsmen lead their sheep/cow and direct their paths, leading them into fertile land so they could feed on and making sure no harm befalls them and all their needs are catered for.
And if they separate from their shepherd they might get hit by a moving vehicle or slaughtered by a thief.

He Makes Me To Lie Down In Green Pasture

The LORD removes the worries and anxiety of this world from my life because I know I can trust Him. What isn’t mine won’t be given to me and I can be at peace knowing they weren’t meant for me but also be assured that what is meant for me, no demon on earth can take it away from me because the LORD is my shepherd and He will shield me.
So I can rest in His faithfulness because I know the plans He has for me, the plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future; Jeremiah 29:11.
Philippians 4:6:7; Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (peace brings us to joy that surpasses all understanding, because no matter what’s happening to us, or around us, we know God will right every wrong. The bible says, “Do not grieve, for the Joy of the LORD is your strength.”)

I keep saying that Christianity is synonymous to Joy, you cannot claim to be a believer and look defeated/depressed all the time, I know life challenges sometimes wear us out, most times it seems unfair that we go through so much hurdles (I have had my own fair share) but the truth is God is never without a plan and we might not understand it now because “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees; Hebrew 12:11-12”.

The story of Joseph always reassures me and reminds me that I can only understand what God is doing backwardly (hindsight). So let’s all make the most out of any opportunity given to us no matter how small or insignificant it might seem.

He Leads Me Beside The Quiet Waters, He Refreshes My Soul.

He smoothens the way for me so I may not fall into any sort of danger.
Isaiah 26:7; the path of the righteous is level; O upright one, You make the way of the righteous smooth.

If the LORD delights in a man’s way, He makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread...  for the LORD loves the just and will not forsake His faithful ones Psalm 37:23-28 (isn’t this so reassuring!)

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!, “it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me, I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing Galatians 2:20-21”

God gives us discernment; in 1Corinthians 2:13-16; this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the spirit, explaining spiritual realities with spirit-taught words. The person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the spirit. The person with the spirit makes judgements about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgements for, ‘who has known the mind of the LORD so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

2Corinthians 5:17; therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old things has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

(Isn’t it so amazing that the devil has no power over me, that I am free from shame, guilt or condemnation from my so many sins? That I can live freely and blameless with the knowledge that God doesn’t love me less because of my shortcomings and I really don’t have to live in misery or be in constant battle with my myself all the time due to guilt and insecurities but I can let them go and accept these flaws and still love myself because God sees me as wonderfully made, He sees my quirk as cute #winks. For the first time in my life I am at peace with my imperfections, I see them just the way God sees them although I am not proud of my shortcomings but God understands that this spiritual maturity process takes time and He’s not mad at me today because I have not arrived at the place of perfection yet but that doesn’t mean I will receive God’s grace in vain but I will constantly put in the effort by His grace to be better without pressure but with so much unconditional love; “As God’s workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says, In the time of my favour I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation; 2Corinthians 6:1-2”

Romans 12:2 says: Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (with God’s words). Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.

It is so important that we learn how to stop remembering what God has forgotten, forget what you have done, forget what you’ve not done, and forget what people have done to you or what people had not done for you

Isaiah 43:18-19; forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (God has something going for all of us but if we can’t let go of the old stuff we can’t fully accept it)

To Be Continued...