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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

GREEN pastures

These last 2 weeks have been just plain awful....& you can say that again! There has been sickness and more sickness and things just are not going the way I would like them to...I guess you could say the grass looks GREENER on the other side...BUT if I were on the other side~I'm sure there are those having sickness over there too!
Today is St. Patty's Day and it's usually a big hit around here because my husband is Irish and my girls are (obviously) Irish! We like to have corned beef sandwiches and make GREEN shakes and I even buy them a Green Shamrock T-shirt every year!!! But this year, I think we're settling on Cracker Barrel and getting our corned beef from them! I hope it's as good as what I make! ha,ha! JUST KIDDING!!! I find it so amazing how God gives me the words to put into this blog every time I reach out to do this...I entitled this blog "Green Pastures" because it's March 17th but also it's fitting for another reason~

I'm so grateful to have Jesus as my shepherd, are you? Psalm 23 says-since he is our shepherd, he will take care of everything we need...When you look at that picture-doesn't it just make you want to lie down in it? I do-I would want to roll all over that field!

It says, "he makes us lie down in GREEN PASTURES"-which is food for a sheep and then HE leads them to still waters for a drink! So as the Shepherd, it's HIS job to take care of us and the Bible says He will! "he restores my soul"-that means not ONLY will He take care of our physical needs but He will nourish our soul as well-spiritually and emotionally! His loving care puts our minds at ease so we can rest peacefully in Him. To be restored means to be refreshed and strengthened!!! Doesn't that sound wonderful?

I'll be honest I have believed in the past that Jesus can't really meet ALL my needs and that I can't be TOTALLY satisfied with Him...but the longer I'm alive, the more I realize that HE CAN and I need to give Him that chance to BE EVERYTHING!!! For some reason we tend to think that there is a "place" for God but I've finally come to the point where I realize He HAS TO BE EVERYTHING~ there's no other way to be truly happy!!!
"he guides us in paths of righteousness for HIS name sake"- and when we follow Him, we get to know Him better and have that assurance deep inside that we're doing His will, which brings Him glory.
"even though I walk through the valley of the SHADOW of death, I will fear NO evil"- we WILL have to go through valleys in our lives, but there is only a SHADOW of death & we have nothing to fear if we are God's children!
"your rod and staff, they comfort me"- which means Our shepherd carries that to protect us and as His sheep, it brings us comfort!
"you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies"- We can feast in safety and security even though we may have enemies all around us!
"you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows"- In Bible times, they would anoint someone's head prior to eating with them.
"surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever"-
It's really pretty simple-we need to be true to our God and follow Him-He knows the BEST way and has the power to meet our every need! If we simply read his Word, talk to Him, and do what He says-GOODNESS AND LOVE will follow us ALL the days of our lives!