Dark Valleys

"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."

There is an old Arab parable that says: "All sunshine and no rain makes a desert." If you never have any down times, dark times, gloomy times in your life, you'll be dried up. You'll have no depth to yourself, no maturity. It takes good times and bad times to make a mature person. Life is a mixture of pain and pleasure, of victory and defeat, of success and failure, of mountain tops and valleys.

Even in our darkest valleys, our darkest days, God is there. "Even 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 23:4.

In Israel there is a real Valley of the Shadow of Death. It's a steep, deep and narrow canyon. The sun only hits the bottom of it when it's directly overhead at high noon. The rest of the time the bottom of the canyon is dark. David probably led his sheep through the valley of the shadow of death as he was growing up.

There are five facts about valleys that you need to remember whenever you go through a tough time:

1. VALLEYS ARE INEVITABLE
2. VALLEYS ARE UNPREDICTABLE
3. VALLEYS ARE IMPARTIAL
4. VALLEYS ARE TEMPORARY
5. VALLEYS ARE PURPOSEFUL

Remember that the passage says "through the valley of death."  It doesn't say "to the valley" or "detour around the valley" or "into and stop in the valley."  The darkness or rough times or trials are temporary. You go through it.

God has a reason for taking you through the valleys. Whether it's doubt, depression, despair, discouragement, defeat -- He's got a reason behind it.

What do you do when you go through dark valleys?

1. Refuse to be discouraged. Focus on God's power rather than your problem. Col. 1:11 "God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient."

2. Remember that God is with you. God not only promises us His power in the valley, He promises His presence. You will never go through a valley in life by yourself. You will never go through a dark day alone. God has said, "I will be with you."

3. Rely on God's protection and guidance.

The rod and staff were the two basic tools that a shepherd used to protect and guide the sheep. A rod was basically about two feet long; at the end of it was a heavy knot. Shepherds were very skilled at hurling the rod, like a missile, at anything that would attack the sheep. A staff was a long stick with a crock at the end of it. The shepherd uses a staff to guide and comfort. He will use the staff to draw the sheep in close to him. He will use the staff to lift them up when they're down.

God uses his rod and staff to protect, guide and comfort you. Remember: the valleys are temporary but necessary. But you will never have to face the rough times alone. Trust in God to help you through the valleys.

I hope you have a wonderful week.

He guides me in the path of righteousness

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Life is a series of choices, of decisions. Because every decision has a consequence, because we're human beings, (which means we will make mistakes) decision-making can be very stressful because you don't know what's going to happen. Have you ever been afraid of making the wrong decision? We all have.

Worrying about decision-making can be extremely stressful. But it doesn't have to be. God wants to help. He wants to guide us. To receive His help you must do these things:

1. admit you need guidance
2. ask in faith for direction
3. listen for God's response
4. trust God when you don't understand

A sheep cannot see very far ahead. That's why, on a path, they don't know if that path is going to go off a cliff or lead them into a fire. They need a shepherd, someone to guide them. Likewise, you're like a sheep. Human beings can't see the future. They don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, much less next year or ten years from now. You don't even know what's going to happen this afternoon. God made you so that you don't see into the future no matter how much you try. Why did God do this? So that you would depend on Him. So He could be your guide.

To ask for guidance in faith means that you expect an answer from God, that you believe you will receive His help.

Some people say that God doesn't talk to them, that they don't receive His answers to their prayers. God speaks all the time, we're just not tuned in. Job 33:14 "God does speak -- sometimes one way and sometimes another -- even though people may not understand it."

You say God never speaks to you. Are you reading the Bible everyday? If you've never memorized any verses in the book, God can't bring them to your mind. If you've never put anything into your mind, how can He bring it out at the right time? You need to read this book and fill your mind with it so you can know God's will. God's will is found in God's word.

Never judge the path God leads you on until you get to the end. Don't criticize an unfinished plan. Have patience. One day you'll realize why it was all happening. You'll see that God knows what He's doing. God does not make mistakes. He knows what's best for you. You cannot see what He sees: He sees the future. He can see the end result. You can't. All those problems, heartaches, difficulties and delays, thorns in the flesh, physical ailments, all the things you ask "why" about, one day it's going to be clear. In the light of God's love. But in the meantime, lean not on your own understanding. Trust God.

So why should you follow God's path?

"In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality." Pr. 12:28 God says, you go My way, you get the good life on earth and eternal life in heaven. You go your way, the way that seems right unto man, but it ends in death. It's your choice.

I wish you a wonderful week.

He restores my soul

We are studying Psalm 23 and how God relieves stress in our lives.

He restores my soul.

This is good news; we all need to have our soul restored periodically.  We get hurt -- life's tough.  We get beat up by discouragement, depression, despair.  We have fatigue, failure, frustrations, and fears.  We all have hidden hurts from our past.  We carry wounds, battle scars, and emotional garbage.  God wants to take away this stress.  He wants to restore your soul.

How does He do that?  He does that when you allow Him to relieve you of three things that cause emotional instability:

1.  Let God remove your guilt.
2.  Let God relieve your grief.
3.  Let God replace your grudges.

You cannot get rid of guilt by yourself. You cannot pretend that guilt doesn't exist. You cannot "rationalize" it by saying "everybody feels that way." You cannot blame other people.

You must give it to God to take care of. He is the only one who can remove your guilty feelings.

You must understand this: God relieves you of this guilt the first time you ask. And He does it immediately. God forgives and then He forgets. And this you must do as well.

Sometimes we suffer grief. Sometimes our heart is broken. What do you do when your heart is breaking? What do you do when the grief overwhelms you in life? Throw a giant pity party? Play the "if only" game? Withdraw into a shell, hide in a cave, isolate yourself from humanity and say "I'll never let another man hurt me!" Do you just pull back and resign from life and be miserable the rest of your life? There are other options. You can let Jesus restore your soul.

Please remember this. To get rid of the guilt, you must:

1. Accept what cannot be changed.
2. Focus on what's left ... not what's lost.
3. Pray it up!

Don't exaggerate it, dedicate it. Give it to God. You're going to be hurt in life. Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. The Bible says, "Blessed are those that mourn," but too long we take our mourning and hold onto it and turn it into moaning. The Bible says, play it down and give it up. Give it to God. Psalm 37, "Commit your way unto the Lord." Instead of saying, "This is devastating to me!" say, "God, help me make it through this situation!"

When you hold a grudge, who does it hurt? It doesn't hurt the other person. They probably don't even know you're thinking about them. It only hurts you.

How do you rid yourself of grudges? Give it to God. It's as simple as that.

Romans 12:19 "Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for He has said He will repay those who deserve it."

You will never be healed from your hurt until you accept God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ and then you offer that same forgiveness to other people. Jesus Christ can remove that guilt and nobody else can. He specializes in new beginnings. It's called being born again. He can wipe the slate clean. There is no reason in the world for you to go on with a guilty conscious when He offers forgiveness. Just accept it. Stop punishing yourself for the past.

Jesus Christ wants to heal your damaged emotions. He will restore your soul if you'll let Him.

I hope you have a wonderful week and I hope you feel better already!

Take time to rest

He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

Today we are continuing our series on Psalm 23. We are looking at seven ways we can relieve stress in our lives. Last week we looked at the problem of worry and found God’s Antidote for Worry. Today we are looking at God’s Antidote for “Busy-ness”.

People are busier than ever. Busy-ness has become an epidemic in our lives. Let me give you an example. Dinner time. The picture of the family sitting down at six o’clock and eating a home cooked meal together has almost disappeared. More Americans than ever before are eating their meals in restaurants. The words, “Let’s just grab something to eat.” – carries with it the sense of busy-ness in our lives. Did you know that many fast food establishments don’t call themselves restaurants but call themselves "stores"? By calling themselves stores, it gives the impression these places are not a place to go and enjoy a meal – but they are a place were we go to shop for meal. Many of the fast food places keep records of the amount of time it takes the customer to place the order until the food is delivered in their hands. The goal is to get as many customers through the "store" as they can in the least amount of time. This is how busy we are in our lives.

Did you know that God really does want you to relax?  Yes!  It is his antidote for busy-ness.

Realize God wants you to relax.  The only way that we can really enjoy life is by getting enough rest. The only way that you have enough energy to make it through another day is take the time to rest. It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know God enjoys giving rest to those he loves? Psalms 127:2

God never intended for us to work ourselves to death. Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed. Exodus 23:12

The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. Mark 2:27  What this means is that the Sabbath is there for your benefit not the other way around. God knows that you need rest to recharge and revitalized. His will is to keep to healthy mentally, spiritually and physically. Rest so you can be refreshed.

Is your life a busy place where things sometimes feel like they are moving at breakneck speed? In the midst of my extreme busy-ness, I sometimes feel the need to escape, to decompress. My response? To create a quiet place. On those days when I don’t have specific chores or plans, I retreat to a quiet place. I grab some lunch and sit where I can read, listen to music, think, pray—and be refreshed. I think this is the essence of what the shepherd-psalmist points to in Psalm 23:2. He sees the Good Shepherd bringing him to “still waters”—that is, waters to rest by. It pictures a quiet place, a retreat from the pressures of life, where you can rest in the presence of the Shepherd of your heart and be strengthened for what lies ahead. Even Jesus withdrew to a solitary place to pray and commune with His Father. Mark 1:35.

We all need retreats in our lives, not only because of the overwhelming nature of life, but because of our dependence on the resources of the Master. In our fast-paced days, it is essential to find a place of solitude, “a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God.”

All of us can make time to meet with God, but do we? In Robert Foster’s booklet “7 Minutes With God,” he suggests a way to begin:

Start with a brief prayer for guidance, then read the Bible for a few minutes, and close with a short time of prayer that includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication for others. It’s vital to take time today to connect with the Lord, who is our life.

We need to set aside the time
To read God’s Word and pray,
And listen for the Spirit’s voice
To guide us in His way.

I hope you find time to rest and reflect this week.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd

Psalm 23:1  “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”  In other words: "The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need."  

We begin a new series I'm calling Stressbusters. We're going to look at the seven greatest sources of stress.  They are all found in Psalm 23.  And the antidotes are also found in Psalm 23.  Psalm 23 is the most beloved psalm of the Bible.  And it tells us what God is really like.  It's a picture of God.

The first cause of stress is Worry.  We all have pet worries:  finances, jobs, relationships, marriage, kids, health...  There are three problems with worry.  Worry is unhelpful, it's unreasonable and it's unhealthy.

It's unhelpful because it never accomplishes anything, it never solves anything.  It is stewing without doing. It's like racing your car engine -- you create a lot of smoke and noise but you don't go anywhere.  Worry has never solved a problem. It's unhelpful; it doesn't work.

It is unreasonable.  It exaggerates your problems and makes mountains out of molehills. It just makes problems seem bigger and bigger.  The more you review something when you're worried about it, the bigger it gets.  To worry about something you can't change is unreasonable.

It is unhealthy.  The body was not made to worry; it's unnatural.  When you worry you get ulcers, backaches, headaches, insomnia.  Our bodies were not made to worry.  Worry makes us unhappy.  Worry strangles the life out of you.  It's unhealthy.

You weren't born worrying.  You have to learn to worry.  You have to practice to be good at it.  The good news is that if worry is learned, it can also be unlearned.

What is the antidote for worry?

Psalm 23:1  "The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need."  If I believe that God is going to take care of me, I'm not going to worry.  How does making God my shepherd show the antidote to stress in my life?  If I let the Lord be my Shepherd, how is that an antidote to worry?  You have to know what shepherds do. 

§  A shepherd provides.  He provides food, shelter, the basic necessities for his sheep.

§  A shepherd protects.  He defends against enemies, harm.

§  A shepherd guides.  He leads sheep when they're confused and don't know which way to go.

§  A shepherd corrects.  Any problem that comes along, he corrects it.

The amazing thing is this:  God has promised to do these four things in your life if you'll trust Him, if you'll let Him be your shepherd.

Isaiah 40:11 "God takes care of his people like a shepherd."  God says, I'll take care of you, I'll guide, protect, correct.  I will help you, if you'll let me be your shepherd. 

He even gets more specific in Phil. 4:19 "My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  This doesn't say, God will meet all of your wants. There's a difference between needs and wants.  If God met all of your wants, you'd be the biggest spoiled brat in the universe.  He's not going to give you everything you want.  It would be like the Midas touch.  Soon you'd be miserable.  But He has said, "I will meet all of your needs."

How Do I Make God My Shepherd?

God is not the Shepherd of everybody.  He's only the Shepherd of those who let Him be the Shepherd.

Accept Jesus as My Lord

"The Lord is my Shepherd."  -- The Lord can't be your Shepherd until the Shepherd is your Lord.  The two go together.  You can't ask Him to be the Shepherd without allowing Him to be your Lord.

Jesus Christ is Lord in your life if He's calling the shots in your life.  If He's not calling the shots, He's not Lord. And if He's not Lord, He's not Shepherd.  Because the Lord is my Shepherd.

To accept Jesus as Lord means three things.  John 10:14, 27 "Jesus said, `I am the good shepherd... my sheep know me ... they listen to my voice, and they follow me.'"  These three words are what it means to have Jesus as Lord:  You know Jesus, you listen to Jesus, you follow Jesus.  You put Him in control.

Who's in control of your life?  God gives you the option.  He doesn't force Himself on anybody's life.  You have two options -- either you can be in control of your life or you can let God be in control of your life.  God doesn't co-pilot.  God is not going to force it on you, but either you can be in control of your life or you can let Him be in control of your life.  He made you.  He knows what will make you happy more than you do.  He has the power to bring those things to pass.  But He's still going to give you the option.

If God is running your life and He's your Lord and your Shepherd, you know He can control anything so you don't sweat it.  Make Jesus the Lord of your life.

Begin Praying About Everything

Pray about all the stuff you usually worry about.  Just talk to God.  He wants your friendship, your relationship.  Prayer gets in touch with God who can change it.  Whenever I'm worried I have two options -- I can panic or I can pray.

Phil. 4:6 "Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything... if you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand."

Pray about everything.  Don't just pray about religious things.  Most people, when they pray, pray prayers they think God wants to hear.  Pray about everything.  If it's big enough to worry about, it's big enough to pray about.  God's ability is greater than your anxiety.

"Cast all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."  I Peter 5:7

What's got you worried?  What is it that causes you to fuss and fume, toss and turn, wondering "Is it ever going to work out?"  What is it that when you think about it you get that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach?  God knows exactly what you're going through.

"Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you need, and He will give them to you if you give Him first place in your life and live as He wants you to."

I invite you to take the first step by opening your life to Jesus Christ if you've never done so.  Ask Jesus Christ to become your Lord -- your boss, manager -- and Shepherd, as He's promised to do. 

Have a wonderful new week. Ask the Lord to be your Shepherd.

Teach me to pray, Lord

Do you pray? Do you pray often, or only occasionally? Is prayer important to you?

I ask you these questions because prayer and praying are essential for your life of faith. Like breath to the human body, prayer makes the spirit live. Without it, faith dies. A person who prays grows in spirit and life.

Prayer is a gift of God. "Gift" is a good word to describe prayer, because praying is not something we can do of ourselves. " We do not know how to pray as we ought," scripture says. Prayer is a gift God must give.

And God gives that gift generously, without consideration of our worthiness or our unworthiness. People of every religious tradition receive the gift. In fact, every human being is able to pray.

That's not to say we can't refuse to pray or we can't neglect it. Like any gift, prayer must be received. "If you knew the gift of God," Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well. A gift was there before her eyes, but she was blind to it.

Why does God give the gift of prayer? The main reason is because of love for us. God looks for intimacy with us. How strange that sounds! God all-sufficient, all-powerful, all-knowing, wishes to draw close, to communicate, to speak to us, to seek our response, to hear our prayer. It may seem unbelievable, but it is true.

At the same time, by praying we fulfill the desire we have as human beings to know God. After all, we are made in God's image. Something in our being thirsts for intimacy with God. That thirst is described in the psalms, "O God, you are my God, for you I long. For you my soul is thirsting. Like a dry weary land without water... so my soul longs for you, my God." Something in us cannot be satisfied unless we are draw near to God. "Our hearts are restless," St. Augustine says, "until they rest in you." By praying, we rest in God.

And God does give this beautiful gift. In prayer God comes and helps; God invites us into the divine presence where we can open our lips and our hearts. There God welcomes our slightest word or cry, our smallest effort. We can take everything to God: from the smallest parts of our daily life to our greatest worries and concerns.

Delighting to give us the gift of prayer, God wishes that we come near to share our hearts and minds, our very life with One who loves us. Prayer is God's precious gift; cherish it always.

We Christians learn to pray through Jesus Christ, who not only teaches us to pray, but prayed himself. The Gospels are filled with examples of His prayer. Did Jesus himself have to learn to pray?

Yes, he did. True, he was the Son of God who knew all things. But as one like us, he had to learn to pray while growing up. In the village of Nazareth Mary and Joseph guided His first steps in prayer. At home, in the synagogue at Nazareth, in the temple of Jerusalem He learned the rhythms and words of Jewish prayer.

Yet even in His earliest years, Jesus prayed to God with a distinct intimacy. God was His Father and He was God's son. There was a childlike quality to His prayer.

Jesus prayed regularly, His first disciples recalled. He prayed before decisive moments, beginning with His baptism and as He faced His passion and death. He prayed in times of human weakness, as He did at the grave of Lazarus. He frequently prayed to give thanks. His prayer was steady, thankful, and confident that God's will was for His good.

They were prayers that came from the heart. The prayers reveal that Jesus was tender towards those He loved and forgiving to those who wronged Him; He is human in weakness and strong in faith. Never did a human heart reach out to God more eloquently than when Jesus prayed on the cross.

And Jesus' prayer was heard. God raised him up. We Christians believe the prayer of Jesus teaches that prayer is always heard. In His prayer is our hope.

What can we learn from the prayer of Jesus?

First, that true prayer should come from the heart. He prayed from within, not with just words or gestures. His prayer was not based only on feelings or passing emotions. Prayer comes from within, beyond level of feelings, from ourselves. " Go into the inner room, " Jesus says, " and there pray to your Father, who hears you." Sometimes prayer from the heart, from the "inner room" takes the form of words, at other times it may be like Jesus' own wordless cry.

Secondly, prayer is fed by faith. Jesus prayed with an unwavering faith in His heavenly Father, a faith that lasted till His death. He taught us to pray also with childlike faith in God, believing that our prayers are heard by One who loves us.

Thirdly, prayer should be steady and persevering as His prayer was, even when no answer comes or when no relief is in sight. "Watch and pray," he says, "Seek and knock," till the door that reveals God's holy will be opened.

His disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. He did, and He teaches us too. Yet Jesus is more than a teacher. As Christians we believe that Jesus prays for us; he is our intercessor before God. As Savior he gathers our prayers, our needs, the cries of our hearts to make them His own and offers them to God who hears our prayers in the prayer of His Son.

That is why we complete our prayers so often with the beautiful phrase: "Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen." Jesus is our teacher and He is our Savior, who takes our prayers and makes them His own.

I hope you have a wonderful new week.