Good Shepherd

Still Waters!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Does your life feel sometimes more like a roaring waterfall than a quiet stream? Then remember that it is through the cascading circumstances of waterfalls and whitewater rapids that rivers remain clean. Impurities are removed and fresh life giving oxygen added. There at the base of the waterfall the water rests. There is the purest and best place to drink.

If today you feel the roughness of life’s current battering you against sharp rocks don’t give in to fear. Your Good Shepherd is still keeping His promises and on the other side of sorrow and disappointment lie still waters. There He will give us a clear cold cup to drink that will refresh our soul! That is the place He prepares us for the adventures that still lies ahead!

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Psalms 23:2 NKJV

A Light in the Valley

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

There’s a light in the valley

of death now for me

Since Jesus came into my heart!

Rufus McDaniel 1914

Are you passing through what feels like the longest and darkest valley in your life today? David tells us in Psalm 23 that He won’t fear in that darkness because he knows that his shepherd is always with him. Jesus goes even further when be says that if we are following Him we will never walk in darkness!

Oh but does it feel like a dark and confusing time? Yes for me too brother. Today dark clouds sit on my horizon also sister. But in this valley God’s promise is more true than ever. He Himself is the light. We must confront our fear and refuse to run! The light is shining only on the path ahead and that light is our Lord Jesus Christ. He longs to not only be the light of the world; He offers to be the light of yours and my world. Only He knows the way to the other side of our valley. Take a deep breath, calm your racing heart and in faith just keep taking one step at a time behind your Savior. He is more than only the light if the world – He is also the light of life!

Dark Valleys

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

…He leads 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 You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me Psalm 23:3b-4

 

My aunt Dorothy served as the National Executive Secretary of the U.S. of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom from 1924-46. Being an advocate for peace in Washington DC during the war was quite unpopular, but from her time there she passed on to our family this saying: “It isn’t what you know in Washington that matters; it’s who you know!”

img_3318

So when things seem confusing and difficult in our walk of faith remember, it isn’t what we know about the path that will keep us going; it’s how well we know who is leading. God has promised, not because of who we are, what we have done or how much we know, but for His own name’s sake to lead us on the right path. There are times that right path will lead into dark valleys. There are moments when our enemies will peer from behind the rocks planning how to destroy us; but we must never run away. Our shepherd is with us. In those dark nights, we need to walk as close to Him as we can. If you cannot see the path ahead then press in until you are close enough to hear his footsteps. His rod and His staff hang at His side ready to protect us. He will be our shepherd not only in the green pastures but also in the shadow of death!