I am finally getting back to my writing. After a while of doing some soul searching, I found that I needed to get back to my basics. I was not growing in my spiritual life and in some was feeling like I was backsliding. I have come to a place in life that I now need get back to where I was in life. A time in life where I was able to have inner peace. This is why I am going to start writing again on this blog page.
I may not be as topical as I have been in the past, but I want to just take some passages as they come into my life and do a deep dive into them. If there are passages that you like and want me to write what I can of them feel free to send me a message of what you would like.
The perfect place for me to go back to the beginning is to a verse that helped me when I quit drinking and abusing prescription medications. The day I quit this abuse is the day I became a Christian, but I knew nothing. When I was dealing with my DT’s I kept hearing myself say to myself, even through I walk in the valley of death I will fear nothing. I never knew this was scripture until a few years later. Psalms 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads 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 You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs 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
Forever.
This is a short Psalm but has meant so much to me in my life. The Psalmist start with a metaphor right away. The Lord is my shepherd. I ancient days a shepherd actually lived with his flock, 24 hours a day in all weather conditions. The shepherd also made sure all the needs of his sheep were met. This is what God is doing for us now, today. He is always with us and making sure are needs are met, not our wants. This is being in a place being content.
Continuing the theme of a shepherd God will bring us to rest in green pastures. Sheep are panicky animals, and as humans we tend to be the same. When sheep are panic mode, they cannot sleep. God can calm our panic and give us rest.
The shepherd also guides his sheep. Sheep has no sense of direction and needs to be led. I know when I am feeling lost and in miss direction it stays until I turn to God. God should be leading us.
Verse 4 is the verse I referenced earlier. The shadow of death. Sounds intimidating but look at it like this. You are sitting in your car and the shadow of a semi-truck falls over your car. Would you rather have that semi-truck going over your or its shadow? This is what Jesus did for us, he let the semi-truck roll over Him, so we only have the shadow. Jesus has already overcome death for us. Amen!! So why fear a shadow, right?
The rod and staff is also a tool of the shepherd. The rod is usually a club, that the shepherd uses to fight of wild animals if they attack the sheep and the staff had a hook at the end. This was used to pull the sheep out of a situation they cannot get themselves out of.
The last two verses are now giving the imagery of a host and guests. Even though we may be surrounded by enemies who wish to do us harm, God is still with us and gives us blessings even in the most adverse circumstances. Through thick and thin, in all our circumstances, God’s blessings are chasing us, if we will just stop running away from them.
I will not fear death because I know I will be dwelling in the house of the Lord.