ushered in

Hey Everyone!

You may have noticed I’ve created a new page entitled “Operation 25″ (which I encourage you to visit for further details).

The Lord convicted me as I was reading Matthew 25 during the holidays, so I’ve decided to do a little action-based project around that scripture.

It should be interesting, stretching, and growing I think.

Each time I “complete” an item, I’ll update the page and write a post about the experience here.

Until next time, check out the “Operation 25″ page and happy January!

Well, it’s been quite a journey studying through this book – this will wrap up the entries from “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.”

In this chapter Keller points out the fact that David opens the Psalm with a proud, joyful statement (“The Lord is my shepherd”), and closes in a similar manner (“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”).

In this final statement, “house” refers to the household, family, or flock that we belong to with Jesus Christ as our great shepherd. David closes the Psalm, knowing what sheep go through in life, with absolute confidence in his destiny through his shepherd.

Keller says we ought to be quick to tell others what Christ has done for us when he says, “How glad we should be to look back and recall all the amazing ways in which He has provided for our welfare. We should delight to describe, in detail, the hard experiences through which He has brought us. And we should be eager and quick to tell of our confidence in Christ.”

He is our Shepherd. He looks after us meticulously. We will dwell with Him forever. This is His promise to us.

Confidence. Trust. Everlasting.

These are words that ought come to mind when we think about our relationship to our Shepherd.

May we know the depth of the Shepherd’s care for us – and as that truth changes us from the inside out – may many others know as well – because we just can’t help but share the good news.

What a great statement. Keller notes that this statement is a “boast” of the One who controls our destiny. It is easy to say that goodness and love follow us when things are going well, but what about when they are not? Keller reflects on the whole of his life, including the ups and the downs when he says, “As I see all of this in retrospect I realize that for the one who is truly in Christ’s care, no difficulty can arise, no dilemma emerge, no seeming disaster descend on the life without eventual good coming out of chaos.”

His mercies are new every morning. As our shepherd, He laid His life down for us. Surely, goodness and love will follow us.

This raises another question that Keller asks – “What will I leave behind?” Do I leave a trail of gladness or sadness?

Do we look down on others in pride, or do we enter into their dilemma and extend the goodness and mercy graciously given to us by our Master?

As surely as goodness and love follow us from the Lord, they should also follow us in our actions.

Summertime can equal death for a sheep. Pests, especially nasal flies, will work there way into a sheep through the nasal passages, spreading infection.

Shepherds often make an oil concoction that they spread on the nose and forehead of each sheep for protection against these flies.

Without the oil, sheep are aggravated, irritable, agonized, and restless; with it, they are peacefully content.

Are we any different? Sometimes, the small “flies” of life will cause us much irritation and distraction. We need the oil of the Holy Spirit – upon our minds more than anything, to be joy-filled, content, and at peace.

Keller notes that this is a daily thing; the ointment would need applied several times throughout the summer for the sheep. Similarly, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for his anointing daily. There will always be pests in life trying to distract us; the Lord will anoint us and protect us if we ask.

Two common tools of a shepherd are his rod and staff.

The rod (shorter and whittled by the shepherd) is commonly used for defense against danger and for discipline, while the staff (tall with a curved end) is used for the care and management of the sheep.

In this chapter, Keller equates the rod to the Word of God, and the staff to the Spirit of God.

Growing up in Africa and the Middle East, Keller often saw shepherds graciously and effectively use their staff to scoop up a young lamb and reunite it with it’s mother. Without this action, the lamb might stay separated from it’s mother.

Similarly, the Holy Spirit often guides us back to Himself. Being stubborn, like sheep, we may accidently or purposefully wander away from Christ – yet, through the power of His Holy Spirit, He draws us back to Himself.

To this point, Keller says, “It is He who gently, tenderly, but persistently says to us, ‘This is the way-walk in it.’ And as we comply and cooperate with His gentle promptings, a sense of safety, comfort, and well-being envelops us.”

What a reassuring thought. “His rod and His staff, they comfort me.”

This chapter in Keller’s book is profound. This book, and this chapter in particular, was used deeply by God in my life to help heal me following an extremely difficult time I went through in my early 20’s (which I’ll speak to more later – please read to the bottom – I try to keep these post’s short, but I had a lot to say in regards to this chapter).

I encourage you to read the chapter (and the whole book), but I will highlight two main points from it today…

1) God is not only with you in the valley, but He leads you through it refreshing you as you walk.

Keller notes that the verse says you “walk through” the valley – not die in it. He also notes the fact that as Shepherds lead their sheep toward higher ground, they travel through valleys. Although a difficult journey, there are numerous sources of water for them there.

God walks with us in our valley – in our dark night of the soul. Run towards Him in times of trouble, not away – for He is there waiting to refresh you with a spring of water that never runs dry.

2) Secondly, Keller notes that “only those who have been through such dark valleys can console, comfort, or encourage others in similar situations.”

This is true and reminds me of what the word says in 2 Corinthians 1:2-4 – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we have received from God.”

Hallelujah.

In the mid to late 2000’s (and I’m not exactly sure how long it lasted), I went through a very, very difficult time to say the least. It is hard to explain and is multi-facited, but basically the happy-go-lucky guy I always was, was depressed, anxious, filled with fear, and having a difficult time functioning.

To make a long story short, after asking “why?” for so long, I eventually just accepted the place I was in and took my broken self to Jesus. He met me there. Praise the Lord, He met me there. I grew so much in that time – pride was stripped away, and my identity was in Christ, and in Christ alone.

Amazingly, God has used this experience to allow me to help comfort others, as the passage in Corinthians states above. What a privilege; I would go through it all again if it meant I would grow closer to the Lord and help others as a result. But, I had to run towards Him in the situation rather than trying to just get out of the situation.

To wrap up, remember that God is with you and refreshing you in the valley. He will also use your time in the valley to comfort you, and help comfort others.

I hope this speaks to you today through the power of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to end this entry with prayer:

Lord, thank you for Your faithfulness. Thank you for how You stand by me, especially when things are hard. Let me always choose to run to You when I’m faced with difficulty. Let me remember the promises of Your word when I’m there. Grow me while I’m in the valley, and allow me to comfort others with how You’ve comforted me. Thank you for being a trustworthy Shepherd and for always caring for me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Sheep, left to their own stubbornness and will, will over-graze an area of pasture, hurting both themselves, and the pasture in the process.

Shepherds play a vital role in the life and vitality of their flock – moving them to fresh pasture.

As humans (being much like sheep), we often go our own way rather than following the Lord’s will.

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus told us to pick up our cross and follow Him daily. He did not promise it would be easy; He promised the opposite. Perhaps this is why it is sometimes difficult for one to truly follow Christ – trials and uncomfortability oppose our human nature.

Throughout the years, I’ve learned to trust my shepherd. Good or ill, I know the circumstances I face are with His best interest in mind. Sometimes, He has to send me to fresh pasture, and although I may not understand (and may experience fear or doubt), I give my will back to Him.

It’s His will not my own.

This fall has been crazy. My wife is teaching full time (which means grading and extra-cirricular activities on top of the school week). I’m juggling leading the worship ministry at our church, taking a Hebrew/Greek course, and singing at some additional events outside the norm. We’re also leading a village with LoveCanton. Oh, and I should mention that we are trying to maintain our relationships with Christ, one another, family, and friends? Sound familiar to anyone?

Keller talks about how compassionate our Shepherd is and how willing He is to restore us. Even David needed restored which shows that good people sometimes are cast down and need the Lord to restore them. This is all good and true, but not what stuck out to me from this chapter.

What stuck out was this: Sheep sometimes get cast (fall over on their backs and will die eventually unless the shepherd seeks them out, finds them, and turns them back over). One of the reasons this happens according to Keller is that they look for the comfortable soft spot, often times in a bowl shape in the ground – this winds up turning them over.

Keller says, “In the Christian life there is great danger in always looking for the easy place, the cozy corner, the comfortable position where there is no hardship, no need for endurance, no demand upon self-discipline.”

This got me thinking about this fall. Yes, maybe I said yes to a few too many things. But what I also think is that Jesus is putting me in situations where I need Him; I need His strength for class, I need His Spirit to help lead this inner-city ministry, I need His power for genuine worship to take place in our church.

My point is this: If we fall, He will pick us up. But sometimes we fall more often by choosing the easy path. I think the Lord even allows us to fall when we choose the easy path so we will realize our deep need for Him.

Jesus said to choose the path less traveled. He will restore you if you fall. He will strengthen you when weary. Why choose the beaten down, comfortable path then?