Tag: Sermon

You are with Me

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie 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 will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. -Psalm 23

 

I just want to start off this entry, by focusing on the first verse that says, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

A shepherd didn’t have two, or three, or four jobs. He only had one, and that was to look out on behalf of the sheep. So whatever was going on in the life of the sheep, the shepherd knew about it. Where it slept…where it ate…where it drank water. More than that, it was the protection of the flock. You know there were wolves out there who made it their mission to mess up the life of those sheep.

Ever hear someone say, “there’s a wolf coming in sheep’s clothing?” The wolves were very strategic and even disguised themselves, but the shepherds could sniff them out. They’d get their nose in the air and know, something wasn’t quite right with one of their sheep. Why’s that? Because it was a wolf trying to act like a sheep. In that scripture, it says because the Lord is my shepherd, “I shall not want.” My body, my soul, my spirit, my material needs, my soulical needs, my mental needs, my emotional needs, my spiritual needs. Every single thing I have need of, God has already provided. Sometimes you don’t know He’s there until He hits you with that shepherds staff.

If you’re going in the right direction, He has no need to poke and prod you. You only get poked and prodded when you’re going in the wrong direction. I bet some of you are thinking, “Why is the Lord being so mean to me? Why is He directing me? Why is He hitting me? Why this chastisement from the shepherd?” Well, it’s pretty simple. You might be going in the wrong direction. You get back on que, in the direction of the Lord, then all of the sudden you’re in the perfect will, the perfect place that He wants you to be.

I know that we have our own flesh and our own desires. The little sheep go this way and that way. But the Bible says, that He leaves the 99, to go find that 1. That’s how much the Lord loves every single one of us. Thank God that He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul, He leads me in a path of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through, I don’t have to, but sometimes you do, walk through the valley of the shadow of death, YOU are with me. Let me just reiterate that; the Bible says, “you are with me.”  When the sun is out, He’s with me. When it’s dark as midnight, He’s still with me. He hasn’t departed, He isn’t abandoning you. He is there. He is there, all the time.

I pray that you will sense that presence of the Almighty God right now, and receive the provision of the Lord today.

-Pastor Steve