Restoration and Healing

Psalm 23:3a
"He restoreth my soul..."

What a statement!  He restores our soul!  Isn't that the ultimate of blessings?  There is so much in this world that seems to get in the way of our fellowship and walk with the Lord...or heartaches that seem too much for us to bear.  Some things are so heavy on our hearts--on our very souls-- that it's all we can do to get through the day.  Perhaps that's the point...it's too much for us to bear...but nothing is too much for our Savior to bear!  He desires to carry our load...no matter how deep it reaches into our souls.  Sometimes I think that is the purpose for some things taking place in our life...that we might turn to God.  He desires so much for us to turn to Him, to trust Him.  Oh, that we would!

You see, God promises to not only meet our physical needs, but He also promises to meet our spiritual needs, our heart and soul needs.  Ah, dear friend, Jesus Christ, Who bore our sin debt on the cross, He is so much to us.  He is the great I AM!  He is everything to us...least wise, He desires to be. We are the only thing that hinders Him from showing us all that He is, all that He can be to us.

Of all the things God is, He is the Healer.  Oh, what a precious thing that is!  He can heal the brokenhearted.  He can save our sin-sick soul...and He will, if you just turn to Him and trust Him as your Savior today.  [For further conversation on that subject, be sure to turn to my many postings on salvation.  God would love for you to trust Him today.  It is a simple matter, but also a very necessary matter.  We must call on God, asking Him to forgive us of our sin, and trust His wondrous and gracious gift of salvation.  He died on the cross, so that we wouldn't have to; but we must accept His gift of salvation, trusting Him by faith, or that wondrous gift is not ours.]  If, on the other hand, you've just strayed from the Lord--or are in need of releasing a heartache to Him--then know for a certainty--God desires to meet that need as well.  God so desires to restore our soul, to heal us of our greatest heartaches.  Healing...is that what you are in need of today, dear friend?  What a precious word that is--healing! 

       
I hope you indeed find healing today! 

            
             Merle                

He leadeth me...

Psalm 23:2b

"...he leadeth me beside the still waters."

At first glance, this sounds very similar to the previous posting, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."  They both sound very restful, very comforting.  But let's look at it a little different way today. 

We hear throughout Scripture the realization that "His way is perfect" (Ps. 18:30); "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Is. 55:8).  His ways are far beyond our ways, but that's not to stop us from obeying Him.  He says in James 1:22, we're to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only."  I could go on, but you get the point.  Put simply, as the Good Shepherd, He leads us; and as His sheep, we are to follow.

The second point I want to make (and I've spoken on this subject many times), but it's the fact that we--even as Christians--tend to just want to go our own way.  We as sheep are stubborn and willful, and just desirous of going our own way.  Be careful, Christian!  That can get you into a whole lot of trouble!  Just ask the Israelites who had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years!  We're just as rebellious.

Let me remind you of something:  God's ways are always good and they always have a purpose.  Romans 8:28 says this: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."  First of all, it says all things...it doesn't say some things, or part of life; no, it says all things.  Now, that doesn't mean that everything in life will be good.  We're going to have bad things happen; we're going to have trials in this life.  That's part of living.  But God does go on to say that all things will work together for good.  All things are working together--much like a recipe, ladies.  If you were to take a recipe, some of the ingredients may not taste good by themselves, but to mix them all together with the remaining ingredients, well, then you have a hit!  You have something that tastes good...but it's not without mixing with those other ingredients, and it's not without going through some difficult procedures that often include heat.  All those procedures cause the product to form something good.  Let's not stop there though.  God goes on to say that it's all according to His purpose.  You see, God is a God of order and reason and purpose.  He never does anything without a purpose.  And what does this passage say is the purpose?  ...verse 29 b says that we might "be conformed to the image of His Son."  That is God's purpose in the mixings of our life, that we might be conformed to His image.  Question is, how much are we conforming to Christ's image?

Let me close with this additional thought:  Our verse says, "he leadeth me beside the still waters."  Water is oftentimes referring to the Holy Spirit.  God desires that we follow Him, follow the Holy Spirit.  He is guiding us; all He wants is for us to follow, one step at a time.  And dear one, those are still waters.  His way is restful, peaceful, tranquil, comforting!  Aren't those precious words?  God is all that, and more!  He is a loving, compassionate Savior...just desiring for us to follow. 

                      May we follow the Savior today!

                                  Merle

                            

God's Promise of Rest

If you're just joining us,  you've caught us at the third lesson of the well-known passage, the Shepherd psalm, Psalm 23.  Please feel free to go back and read the others.

 

Psalm 23:2a  "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures…"
          

 

First of all, it says, "He makes me to lie down…."  There are times in our lives when God must make us lie down.  We're in need of some much-needed rest; some times we need to just get away and have some down time with Him.  There's probably a number of reason we might need some down time, but be assured, God knows best!

 

We just finished moving to the state of Washington.  I can say--without a doubt--it is like no where else I have been before!  Regardless...we have the privilege of having a horse ranch located behind our yard and neighborhood.  It is quite enjoyable to watch these horses run, play, and graze.  What I also find interesting is to see them lie down on occasion.  I suppose they are tired--I do not begin to know--but I find it interesting, as I don't see that very often.

 

My point is this, we--as Christians--also need to rest; we need some down time on occasion, for whatever reason.  A lot of times we get so busy and caught up with the day-to-day things of this life, that we miss out on time spent with Jesus.  We need time spent with God, dear Christian.  We cannot afford to live this life without Him!  So it is--if we do get too busy and forget God (or whatever reason), God realizes we need some much needed time to rest and recuperate.

 

Next point--rather a sub-point--is the fact that God makes us to lie down in green pastures.  The term green pastures refers to tender grass.   "He maketh me to lie down" in tender grass.  Our God is a loving and compassionate God that cares for our every need.  He knows when we need to lie down, and He knows that in order for our recuperation to be restful, the grass should indeed be tender and sweet.   God's Word--which we should be feeding upon--and God's ways are always tender and sweet!   Perhaps today, what you need, is to realize anew how tender and sweet--how truly precious--is our God and His Word...and all His marvelous ways!

 

In closing, let me share with you a couple passages of Scripture.  First, Matthew 9:36, which says, "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd."  These were the lost sheep, those that still did not know the Savior.  He was moved with compassion on them because they did not know Him.  I wonder, dear friend, do you know Christ as your personal Savior?  You can know Him today.  Please feel free to reference any of the numerous postings I have written on the subject of salvation.  It is truly a matter of life and death...for all of eternity.  Please don't put such an important decision aside. 

 

Lastly, I'd like to share with you Matthew 11:28-30 (another well-known passage).  It says this: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  Those words are for Christian and non-Christian alike.  God so desires for us to come to Him.  If we do, He promises to us sweet, needed rest!  What a wonderful, compassionate God we have!

 

       May you rest in Him today!

 

                Merle