If there is a biblical recipe or prescription for the good life, it can be found in the words of this psalm. This is a psalm full of satisfaction. It oozes with the very fullness of life; it overflows with a quiet peace. There is a mellow ripeness to these words that runs down your chin, lights a spark in your eye, and puts a spring in your step.
The first line is the key to it all. Is the Lord your shepherd?
Read More shepherdWhen we feel the strangling grip of this demanding and busy world on our lives, it is good to pause and remember that we are not on our own and we do not belong to this world. We have a home in the heart of God who is good and faithful.
That thought alone should bring a sign of relief to any tired pilgrim.
Read More Creator, shepherd
Have you ever felt disappointed by another Christian? Let down? Sometimes it can shake a person’s faith. After all, Christians are supposed to do what’s right all the time, because they have Christ in them. So what does it say about our faith if someone does something really wrong?
Not so fast.
Read More shepherd, faith, trust
Read Reflect Not too many of us know a lot about shepherds or sheep, but in biblical times they were common. Domestic sheep are not well suited to survive on their own and need the attention and care of shepherds who not only lead them to good places where they can eat and drink but […]
Read More protection, leadership, shepherd, care
In the movie The Passion of Christ, Pontius Pilate asks his wife: “What is truth, Claudia? Do you hear it, recognize it when it is spoken?” We live in a day and age where there is a whole range of differing beliefs about God, scripture, and other spiritual matters. Things really don’t change that much, do they? In this chapter, Paul is confronted with a church that has been led astray by false teachings.
Read More shepherd, faithfulness, truthThis may well have been Ezekiel’s first public utterance since the messenger came with the news that Jerusalem had fallen (ch 33:21). The prophet makes clear that behind the waywardness of God’s people lay a failure of leadership, here expressed by the shepherd metaphor.
Read More shepherd, discipleship, leadership