Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks for another night and waking us for another day in Your service. Help us this day as we hit the road in the bus to take Santa out to tell the real story of Jesus. Lord, we know the school we are going to and it is just a wonderful Catholic school where Your word is taught. What a blessing these children of Yours are on us, dear Lord. Help us have a safe ride out and back, and please, anoint us to do Your work. Please watch over those on our prayer list and help Jim Orner as he seeks out new work. Lord, please watch over those in need of food and help us to keep putting feet on our prayers as we serve up food in Your name and with all honor and glory going always to You. Lord, thanks for the ones who came to hear the word about Christmas last evening. Now, Lord, please help me go forth with the message this day. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, and please remember if you have little ones, or even if you want to visit with Santa and hear about Christmas, come in to Santa's House. We will be here Friday evening, 6 to 8, and Saturday from 10 to noon and noon 1 to 3, with a fast exit at 3 for an engagement. Now let me get to the message. The Story, day 11, and we are taking a side trip looking at the 23rd Psalm ...
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 for 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 forever. (King James)
The Story Day 11.
Psalm 23:6 - "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (KJV)
I just cannot help myself when I see this ... "I will dwell in the house of the Lord" wanting to sing a few choruses of Mansion Over the Hilltop. So will you just sing or make a joyful noise with me this morning and let's hit this chorus a few times ...
"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we'll never grow old.
And someday yonder we will nevermore wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold."
"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we'll never grow old.
And someday yonder we will nevermore wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold."
I think you can do better than that ... One more time ...
"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we'll never grow old.
And someday yonder we will nevermore wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold."
But before I talk about "and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever", let's take a look at this part ... "surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Let me break it down. For sure, it means it is going to happen. For sure, or surely, this goodness shall follow me each and every day of our lives. Think of it, this goodness, this goodness right from God, who supplies the goodness, is going to be with us each day, even, folks, even if we are not walking with Him. I will say that it seems that most places if we don't play by the rules of who is in charge of what is going on, the benefits that are promised are taken away. Not by our Lord, my dear brothers and sisters, that goodness is going to follow us all the days of our life and then when it is over if we love Jesus, then it gets better yet. Oh, yes, time to hit it again ...
"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we'll never grow old.
And someday yonder we will nevermore wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold."
Now one more time on that one line and look at the word I dropped out. That word is Mercy. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. You see, we have the goodness even if we were not walking with Jesus our Lord. However, for those periods of time when we drifted, and I for one drifted, and I know some of you have also; for those periods of time, the Lord has shown us Mercy ... Mercy, Mercy. And brothers and sisters, there is not one of us, NOT ONE OF US, who is worthy of that MERCY that God gave to us through His Son Jesus' death on the cross.
A few things come to my mind as I look at this final verse in our lesson today. Did you ever notice how many people, most often on the news, are afraid to say Thank God, will often say "Thank goodness"? Folks, goodness comes from God, as all things good come from God. The verse also talks about mercy and that is also a form of love. And of course God is love. Love is why Jesus went to the cross. It is why God sent Jesus to us. Listen to this scripture and you will know it.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)
You can see from this verse in John just how much God loves us all. Enough to give us His Son. And while many a parent has lost a son or daughter in wars keeping our country free, not one sent them to die. All wanted them to come back home.
John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (NIV)
"I've got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we'll never grow old.
And someday yonder we will nevermore wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold."
The 23rd Psalm ... The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to life down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (KJV)
In the mighty name of Jesus. AMEN
Now go forth sharing your blessings, putting feet on those prayers and walking with Jesus, knowing He loves each of us, all the same, regardless of our color, our race, our religion. He just loves us. Take that Love of Jesus and share it today. Please do that, not for me, not just for Jesus, but for yourself, for if you indeed share the unconditional love of Jesus with others you will feel so much better ... and know this also --
I love ya, Pastor Dan.
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