Always there

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;  he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. (Psalm 23, NRSV)

What a wonderful psalm and one that we all know very well.

We go into auto pilot when we hear this, because it is said or heard during Lent, and at most funerals… But do we miss the richness if we go into autopilot mode on it?

We hear that God is our shepherd and He will provide our every need. That He watches over us by protecting us from the smallest peskiest hindrance. You see anointing the head of the sheep with oil kept the flies and other flying things away.

God sets a table (communion?) before us and our enemies to we can sit down and have table fellowship with God!

But the part I think we miss, because we like to focus on the bright pretty images…

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me” The valley of death is how many of us know it. We don’t like to think about being in darkness or pain or dark valleys, but even in the darkest place we find our selves, as the picture shows us, God is always with us!

So take comfort that God will always be with us, when we are in a bright sunny place, or when there is nothing but gloom and darkness closing in, He is always there!

Rules for life

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:25-32, NRSV)

This is the non readers digest version of the golden rule. We need to understand whose we are and why we are here.

You see your life is not your own and everything you do and or say reflects on the one whose you are.

We need to not allow anger to over take us or cause us to do things that we shouldn’t do, or would not portray the love of Christ.

We can not take what is not ours. We must make an honest and upright living, dealing with everyone the same.

We can not let anything evil come out of our mouths, for as Jesus said what comes out of a person is really what is inside of them.

Everything we do and say must show the love of Christ, because the truth and truth speech can not be refuted and will change people!

So live your life like Christ lived His, and show forth His love always!

worship?

Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?’ I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit. Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:4-13, NRSV)

They left and did not even seek…

They walked away and their leaders did not ask, where is the Lord?

They have given themselves over to idols and worshiping other Gods. I would feed them with heavenly food and provide living water for them to drink, but they plant their own gardens and dig their own wells…

Have you ever felt a dry barren period in your life?

When you stopped to figure out what was going on, more than likely you found yourself miles and miles from where you thought you were and where you wanted to be. When you looked for God He seemed to be so far away. Sometimes we get caught in the trap of looking after our own lives and get caught up in the goodness that seems to be all around us. We are lost in the good times and start to worship things we shouldn’t and turn our attention from God. We lose sight of what is important and we need to worship…

It is when we realize how far we’ve gone though and we turn and worship God that He will be there to pick us up and carry us to the table. He will gently tilt the cup to our lips and spoon feed us the divine food we so desperately needed. He will come to our side when we realize and repent and worship the one we should always be worshiping!

Out of Darkness (Lyric Video)

A great song about all of us held in prisons. Thank you Ryan!

ryncust's avatarGrace in the Margins

“Out of Darkness” by Ryan Custead.

Father, we lift up to you in prayer those who have found themselves in prison. Comfort them by the power of the Holy Spirit and direct their lives on a path of peace, justice, and love. Cleanse the hearts of those who have been both rightfully and wrongfully imprisoned. Gracious God, we pray also for those who are imprisoned by addiction. Remove from them all the anger, resentment, and fear that has led them astray and keeps them in illness of the mind, body, and spirit. Reveal to us the things that we can change in ourselves and our society to work toward the end of all darkness. We ask these things in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Visit http://www.ryancustead.bandcamp.com for free downloads of this song and others!

If this meant something to you…

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grace was always there…

Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, MSG)

The people of the Exodus are all of our ancestors! We can trace our linage back to people around that time and even if we are not blood relatives of one of the Israelites, due to our adoption by God they are our family. They were led from enslavement to salvation or life in God through the waters of the sea and they all ate and drank of the heavenly food provided by God.

We are joined together in the grace that saves us all!

You see it was God’s grace that brought Israel out of Egypt! It was His grace that saved them from the waters and it was His grace that fed them and took them into the promised land!

All of us are constantly covered by His grace. The question is do we notice it or follow it?

Keep close to God and realize how much He loves you as you are covered in His grace!

Listen and hope…

Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a voice I had not known: ‘I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. ‘But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last for ever. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’ (Psalm 81, NRSV)

I answered your plea and then you turned your back on me!

God here says He answered the plea of His people for help and then they stopped listening to Him!

They got what they wanted and then turned their backs on Him.

Have we ever done this? Treat God like a magic cosmic vending machine?

God gave us free will and frequently lets us hang ourselves on the noose we create with it. The Psalmist tells us that He turned them over to their stubborn hearts and let them follow their own council.

But only if we would listen to Him and walk in the paths that He has set before us, because He would take care of those who come against us and feed us with the riches and most wonderful foods!

So listen to God and allow the hope of His promises be your life rather than trusting in your own council!