Reflection day

Psalm 23 again, in the English Standard Version.

O yes. Psalm 23. A real pearl of a psalm. Is there any other scripture that has the ability to calm a person's heart, even amidst the stress and unpredictability of daily life? Our shepherd leads us to lush meadows, and finds us quiet pools to drink from. A good shepherd will lead his flock, and the sheep will gladly follow, because they trust their shepherd. He will not lead them astray. He will always guide them to a place where they will feel safe, and get the sustenance they need to survive and thrive. His sheep will even go through Dark Places, because they know he will always be by their side, with his staff and rod always on hand to protect them from any wolves or dangers. In ancient Israel, shepherds would always have their sheep follow them. They would never push them, the way I imagine North American cowboys would drive their herds of cattle to where they wanted them to go. Our Lord is our shepherd. He watches over us. He concerns himself for us. He loves hanging out with us. He prepares a huge supper table for us, so we can eat together. And talk. And love each other. He lifts us up when we are down, and lovingly pours his blessing upon us. When we stray, our Lord chases after us. Always. O to dwell in his house for the rest of our days! Thank you Lord Jesus, for all that you do for us, your sheep. We trust you to guide us, protect us, nurture us, and sustain us as we walk with you through life, and into eternity. You are our shepherd.

Pride can be so very ugly. Pride makes a person stubborn. Pride can ruin us, like it did to Pharoah. Some people will argue that it was God who caused pharaoh to be so stubborn, because Exodus mentions many times that God hardened his heart. No. God allowed pharaohs pride and selfishness too harden his own heart. Pharoah refused to admit defeat. This man, who thought he was a God himself, refused to allow this Moses, this crazy God follower, waving his stick around, to get the best of him. To be honest, I know that I have pride issues sometimes, but I think I would be convinced that there's some serious power going on here with the very 1st plague. Absolutely. Go ahead and take your people to worship. Take your time. come back when you're rested. You want to borrow my chariot? But no. Pharoah would not give up. He would not be seen as weak. Even to the detriment of his entire country. These plagues were causing terrible destruction to the entire land of Egypt! But, his time will come in the next few chapters of Exodus. How much damage has pride caused in your life? Pride destroys families. Pride kills love. The enemy uses pride to destroy people's lives all the time. for me personally, pride has also brought me to a place so low and so dark, that the only way to get out of it is by accepting the love of the father, and giving that pride to Jesus, who took it away on the cross. He can take it away. He can redeem the damage caused by our selfish pride, and show us how to walk in freedom with him. How does he do this? All we need to do is ask, and accept his love for us.

Moses was given a task. Go to pharaoh and tell him to let my people go. So Moses did this. and what happened? Pharaoh demanded that the israelites work harder, under worse conditions! It got so discouraging for them that they stopped listening to Moses and Aaron. Your just making it worse for us. Stay out of it! But God had made a promise. He had promised to bring his people out from under the whips of the Egyptians, and into the land he had set aside for their ancestors. He promised them freedom, and a new life! Unfortunately, pharaoh was proving to be a bit of a roadblock. Even Moses was starting to feel like he wasn't cut out for this job. But God's promise is God's promise! He will free his people, and lead them into the promised land, and there was nothing that pharaoh or anyone could do about it. He showed his power by bringing terrible plagues down on Egypt, but pharaoh still refused. What a terrible time that was, for everyone living in that land. God had a plan to lead his people out of slavery, and into a life of fruitfulness and freedom in him. All they had to do was follow him, and accept his protection for them. The road would not be easy, but he would guide them. Centuries later, God brought a different, more permanent road to a life of freedom in him. He sent his son, as a man, to show us this road. He showed us how to love. How to care for each other. He also showed his perfect love for us, by taking all of our sins upon himself, and dying. And all he wants from us is our love. Let's give that to him.

What do you have in your hand? What do we really need to experience God? Sometimes we feel way too inadequate to truly experience God in our lives. Yes, I've experienced this! If only I had a better place to pray. If I just had more time. If the weather was nicer, I could go on more prayer walks. Maybe, if I had a different translation of The Bible, I would hear more from God. We can look back to a few days ago, when Jesus fed the multitude with a few fish and a couple loaves. I am sure it was embarrassing, when asked how much food there was, and all that was in the basket wasn't even enough to feed the disciples. But Jesus gave thanks, and distributed it. To everyone. What do you have in your hand? Moses stood in front of the burning Bush, nothing but a stick of wood in his hand. And God was asking him what he had? How is this going to convince Moses to go and make demands of the king of Egypt? I wonder if Moses was confused at the question. Uh… I have a stick in my hand. It came off a tree. But God was going to use that stick to show Pharoah that he meant business! That stick was going to become a bane to Pharoah. I imagine when Moses was done with him, the last thing he wanted to see was the stick in Moses hand. So, what do you have in your hand?

Today I will be sharing a poem, taken from Max Lucado's "In the Eye of the Storm"

What is the greatest commandment? In the gospel of mark, this question was thrown in there at a time that all of the other teachers and priests and doubters were trying to trick Jesus so they could discredit him. I have a feeling that this teacher wasn't trying to trick Jesus. He had been listening to the debate, noticed that Jesus had been giving amazing answers, so he was honestly curious about which commandment is the greatest! Jesus answer to this question is fantastic! Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. This is not an answer that can be interpreted in different ways. Love God with everything you have. Not just a bit of your heart, all of it. Not just some of your soul, all of it. Not just a piece of your mind, all of it. And not just a portion of your total strength, all of it! We are to love God with everything that is in us! Again, this word all, if we were to go back to the original language, I bet it means all! Everything! No more heart, soul, mind, or strength left to give! If we are to love our Lord this completely, than loving your neighbour as yourself would just come naturally. And after that, all other commandments would automatically fall in line. God-sent his son to Earth to show us how to love this way. Jesus was the perfect example of how to love perfectly. He didn't concern himself with all of the laws or commandments. He only came to love. Unconditionally. Completely. Let's do the same.

A few close friends. That's all we need! Follow Jesus' example. He ministered to and healed thousands of people while he was on Earth, but he only had 12 disciples. Of those 12, he only invited 3 with him. James John and Peter when he was transfigured on the mountain. Sometimes it feels like we've got so many different people pulling us different directions. How do we choose which relationships to put the most time and effort into? At times it's important to help out needy people. Or people who really don't have anything to give back to the relationship. This could be part of your ministry, or just loving in the name of Jesus. Doing this too much, without getting something back from the relationship can be really draining and exhausting after a while. This is when it's really important to have those good friends. Those few people in your life where you both give equally to the relationship. The nourishment and encouragement goes both ways. In your life, you should always have people you give to, and expect nothing in return. There should also be relationships where you're the recipient of the giving, and aren't expected to give anything back. To allow yourself to be ministered to. A 3rd kind of relationship is where there is equal sharing. Those people are your true friends. The very small group of people who know you better than anyone and you know them the same. These are the James, John, and Peters of your life.