Monday: Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. Praise God for another morning. I must confess this morning that after a week of writing like last week I am really praying for a fresh message. I was about two feet in the air last week as I wrote on some of the promises of God and then preached the message on Sunday. So where do I go today? Back in time to the very first of the scriptures I learned. Will you join me this week as I roll back in time and talk about Psalm 23?

Today is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders and also for our military and all others like our police and firefighters that keep us safe. I want you to pray hard for our President. First for his soul and then for him to take a really serious look at life. You would think that someone who has two daughters who are as pretty as his, he would be a pro-life person all the way. Not so, but my dear brothers and sisters, God can change his heart and that should be our prayers for him.

Psalm 23 (Day 1)
Psalm 23: 1 - The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul; He leadeth 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 thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth 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 for ever. (King James)

Folks, you know I work mostly from my NIV study Bible, but for this old great Psalm, I wanted to bring it out from the King James Version of the Bible. It just seems to flow better. So what did I mean when I said I want to roll back in time? Well, back when I went to school we would read the Bible in class and then say the pledge to our flag. Every day without fail one of us had to read, and folks I am just not a reader, so this scared me a lot. It was a real fear, for kids would laugh at me in reading classes, for I stumbled over words and had a real problem knowing what I read. So with the help of my dear mother, I learned the Psalms 23 and 100 by heart. Now back then when it was a person's turn to read the Bible, we could bring in our own, or use the one on the teacher's desk. Yes, there was always a Bible on the teacher's desk (and a flag hanging in the room). So now after all of this, what does it really mean to me today? Lets take a look.

Psalm 23: 1 - The Lord is my Shepherd. Years ago, back before the days of Jesus and even after that, flocks were in the fields all the time and a shepherd or sheep herder would be with the flock. Remember back then there were no fences and also back then the shepherds would keep away the wild animals that would attack the flock. Back then each one of those sheep would mean something to the farmers and the shepherds. If one of the flock went missing, the shepherd would go out after them. The Lord is my Shepherd, and when I was lost our Lord came looking for me. There is a song written by Phil and/or Marie Armenia (spelling is more than likely wrong on that last name) called I'm The Lamb That The Shepherd Left The Flock For ... and it is a great song. And I am for sure one of those lambs. When I see the picture of Jesus with the lamb in His loving arms, I can picture that lamb as me. How about you folks, have you in your life at one time or another been the one who wandered from the flock? While we do not see shepherds in the fields anymore in our area at least, we still have The Great Shepherd standing over us night and day. I know that Jesus, my Great Shepherd, is standing over me right now, and one of the reasons that I know that is, without Him, how in the world could I begin to write a message in the morning, let alone write a fresh one day after day for now over ten years? If you think I have the talent to do this alone, you are wrong. God is not my co-pilot in life, He is my pilot, He is the Captain of our ship, He is the Master of our domain, and He, thank You Jesus, He is my Shepherd and I am happy to say that I am back in the flock.

Psalm 23: 1 - I shall not want. Folks, one of the things we need to learn is the difference between wanting for what we need and wanting to keep up with or ahead of the neighbors. At one time it was called keeping up with the Joneses, now I think the better term might be just "keeping up with the greed." So what about I shall not want? Folks, I want you to do something right now, right this minute ... I want you to get up from reading this or if at work, do this at home ... Go to your frig and your pantry and open the doors and then go and tell me that you have nothing at all to eat. Then go to the closet and your dresser drawers and tell me you have nothing to wear. On the way around your house doing these things I want you to go into the bathroom, and flush the toilet, pass the kitchen sink and get a drink of water, and while walking take in a couple of very deep breaths of air. Now tell me, are your needs covered? Oh, one more, look up, is there a roof over your head?

Ok, so let's count those blessings right now ... those needs that are furnished ...
1: A roof over our heads
2: Food
3: Water
4: Clothes
5: Air

Now anything past that is a bonus in my book. We are so blessed that we have trouble counting our blessings. God not only takes care of our needs, he provides for a lot of our wants. I mean when we need a car to go to work, do we pray for a car, or do we, and I am one of these, do we pray for a make of car? I say this for I have always been a car nut, a real car nut, I have had over 800 cars, trucks, and buses in my life, and God had me making a living with cars, trucks, and buses. I fell in love with vehicles when I was a little guy, and I had a bunch of those toy cars, and I played with them. I also love trains, but my dear sweet wife, who puts up with my buses, cars, trucks, limos, and even a Hearse at our house, has laid down the line. She said I can't have a caboose. But God is good, when the money was tight, I could sell a car, when the blessings were flowing I would increase the stock. God is good, and I also want you to remember this. When you give to God, He will bless you over and over again. So if you love the Lord, and you are giving to the Lord, and you are not robbing God, then sit back and enjoy those blessings.

Brothers and sisters, I came from a home that did not have much money and we are still that way, but we have so many blessings. My wife and I, our kids, we are very rich for we have the blessings of God, and brothers and sisters, you need to be looking all around you and just thinking how rich you are. Being rich has nothing to do with money, money in the bank, stocks, or even cars, trucks, and buses. It has to do with loving Jesus first and then having family and friends, neighbors, and animals to love ... being rich is being able to get out of bed and eat and breath, and being rich is having a promise someday of a street of Gold and a Mansion ... God is good.

Yes folks ... The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want. Do you feel that same way today?

Dear Father in Heaven, I love You, You are my dear, dear Shepherd, You are the leader of our lives and I want to keep it that way. Lord, I confess today that I was so upset yesterday I had to turn the TV off for I could not watch our President give that speech. I yelled at the TV and turned it off. Lord, I should have prayed for him while he spoke. Lord, please open his heart that he might be saved if he is not already and help him flip over on abortion and become a real supporter of life. Lord, turn him around and protect him and his family. Lord, be with our military and with all who work to keep us safe. Lord, thanks for supplying all of our needs and most all of our wants. Lord, teach us to share what You give us. In the name of Jesus ... Amen.

Now go forth sharing those many blessings and then watching them come back over and over again. And please do what I mentioned, check your frig, your pantry, your closet, your water, and your roof ... are you not blessed? Now thank God for it, and share it ... love ya, dan.