Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God

Monthly Archives: April 2014


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1 Resting in Relationship Part 1

Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

Psalm 23 starts out with the “Lord”, it implies more than just a person but a personal relationship, the term Lord lets us get close enough to love. According to Psalm 23 rest starts with a relationship with Jesus, there will never be real rest without the Redeemer. Psalm 23 is one of the most famous and most quoted passages in all of scripture because it involves not only a powerful God but a personal God. David described the shepherd personally when he used the word “MY” What would it mean if the pronoun “my” were left out? If it said The Lord is “A” shepherd it would mean that He was one among many. Today I think that for many the reality of their life would fit more with “A” shepherd than “MY” shepherd. If we were honest we might have to admit that just as Jesus is my shepherd so is my job and my money. For many our money is more personal that the Messiah and we rely on it for security more than the Savior. Our protection and provision should be found in a personal relationship with the redeemer but for many we try to rest in our riches. Is Jesus your shepherd or a shepherd, one of many? If it said the Lord is “THE” shepherd that would mean He has priority, but He is not personal, yet John 10:11 reminds us of just how personal this relationship is: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” When we use the verb “IS” there are two things that we can count on, right now and right here. Right now means that the Lord will care and protect me today. Right here means that I don’t have to go somewhere to get into the Shepherd’s care. The Lord “IS” means security, the Psalmist doesn’t say “The Lord was or will be he says IS. One of the requirements for rest is to live in reality, Psalm 23 gives us that reality, the Lord is the shepherd we are the sheep. When we forget this there is a twin danger, we forget who we are and we forget whose we are. Satan knows that he can’t steal the sheep so he sidetracks them and what better way than to convince us that we are more than we really are. The more we believe the mirage of “me” the less we see the Lord. The more we live like everything depends on self instead of the Savior the more exhausted and empty we become. We are not called to like our reality but to live in it, you may not like being called a sheep but it is how we act.  Sheep stray as Isaiah 53:6 says: “All we like sheep have gone astray” Sheep love to satisfy self, they eat what is in front of them. Sheep have no sense, especially when it comes to danger, they are defenseless, and they have no weapons to defend themselves, no claws or fangs. Sheep can be stupid, they do dumb things as opposed to the shepherd who is smart. The truth is sheep need a shepherd yet we fight this reality because we fear becoming a slave, yet when we go it alone we get sheared and sold into slavery. The truth is that the Lord loves to care for and serve His sheep, Matt. 9:36 says “when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” Jesus saw the sad state of the sheep and He cared, He was moved with compassion. He didn’t just see and say “how sad, look at those stray sheep” this wasn’t pity, no, Jesus cared, He carried the cross for us. The shepherd scarified for the sheep, John 10:11 “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” He protects and provides for us, the result of this relationship is rest, we lack nothing, David said “I shall not want” Today restlessness often revolves around a world of wants, yet with the Savior the sheep are satisfied. Life’s two greatest wants are:

  • Love me. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • Accept me. John 6:37 “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away”

The phrase “I shall not want” doesn’t mean that I won’t get sick or suffer or die it means that I shall not want of His presence or His plan for my life. I shall not want of His protection or peace, I shall not want of spiritual satisfaction. I shall not want what my Shepherd can give. Why do we stray in search of satisfaction when it can only come from the Lord? Today what are you resting in, is it a relationship with the Redeemer?  Today I invite you to pray psalm 23 with me:

Lord because you are my Shepherd, I commit my needs to you. Provide green pasture for me to lie in and still waters to sooth my soul. Restore and refresh as You love me by leading me in right paths for Your name’s sake. Deliver me from danger as I walk through wickedness. Protect me with Your power and prepare a table to feed me so my enemies can see Your provision. Anoint me with the oil of Your healing as I drink from Your full cup of peace, secure in the knowledge that goodness and mercy will always follow me and I will live with You forever. Amen


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30 Faith not sight

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by faith, not by sight”

2 Corinthians 5:7 teaches us that faith is not predicated upon sensual perception. While on this planet and in our present state faith supplies our sight. This is sight not based on sensual perception but spiritual connection. The problem is that many of us by in to the old saying seeing is believing. We may proclaim that we live by faith yet most practice living by sight. Instead of believing we are burning ourselves out, trying to make things happen on our own. When we trade faith for sight our trust is replaced by trying and our rest is reduced to running.  Instead of being moved by the Messiah we start managing and manipulating our own lives. Instead of relying on the Redeemer we rest on our results.  We may talk about God’s power yet we follow our own plan. We talk about God’s love without follow His leading.  We reduce His mercy to a mental exercise while His compassion is replaced with competition. Faithfulness dissolves into fretting and His righteousness is trumped by our rights. We talk about His will but do what we want. We talk about the ability of the Almighty without acknowledging or admitting our inadequacies. Romans 14:23 tells us that everything that does not come from faith is sin. A lack of faith is not weakness it is wickedness because when we live by sight we are living as if the Savior doesn’t even exist. Instead of lives filled with worship there is worry, instead of singing there is stress, instead of faith there is fatigue, instead of truth we have tension, instead of the Savior there is sin. Sure you can walk by sight but you can’t win, sight will sink us every time. Faith moves us to pray and patiently wait on the Lord while sight seeks to work for self. Faith is forged as we focus on the father and we do that through prayer. If we want to move forward in faith we must pray in His presence.  Prayerlessness demonstrates self-sufficiency where a diligent prayer life demonstrates desperation for God and a dependence on God. Prayer is not an attempt to persuade God to do or give us something it is an opportunity to get to know Him. Many think that praying is an attempt to win God over to our side when prayer is really about positioning ourselves with God. Faith is not just about prayer it is also about purity, coming and confessing our sins before the Savior. When we stop confessing we start conforming, and repentance gets replaced by self-reliance. Faith involves prayer and purity as well as patience, James 1 tells us that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. One of the biggest mistakes in our faith walk is moving ahead of the Master. Hebrews 6:12 reminds us to not lag behind and become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Our great test of faith will be our willingness to wait on God. When Moses got ahead of God and struck and killed the Egyptian taskmaster he spent 40 years waiting.  We will always short circuit God’s power when we try to accomplish things in our own strength. Hebrews 11:13-14 says: “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.” They pressed on toward the promise. Genuine faith is a compelling conviction that will not let you quit.

It is our mandate to walk with God by faith, for we cannot walk with God sensually only spiritually. Walking by faith involves seeing what we do not behold and can only believe. It’s easy to be moved more by our feelings but as Christians we must remember that we live by faith not feelings. That means God loves me even when I do not feel like worshiping or praising Him. God loves me even when I fall short and succumb to temptation and feel unworthy of His grace. God is faithful even when I am not faithful. God is still there even when I cannot feel His presence. God’s grace, love, and mercy, is not measured according to my ability to feel. The knowledge that His mercy endures forever is a fact not a feeling. My feelings are fleeting, I may be excited today but discouraged tomorrow, yet God’s grace does not disappear because I feel unworthy of it. I’m not saying that we should be unemotional people, feelings are fine until they become a substitute for faith. My feelings are fleeting but faith gives me a foundation, I have never seen God with my eyes or felt him with my hands but by faith I know he is my Father. Today you may feel unworthy of God’s love, but through faith you are called to live based on the facts, you have a forgiving Father who loves you. Faith is conviction accompanied by corresponding action, so today I choose to live a loved life, based on a faith that is forged in the Fathers forgiveness. What are you waiting for, won’t you join me?