The Lord is My Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd

We have been thinking about sheep a lot lately, because of our sheep ministry, and in our churches, we have been hearing about how the Shepherd cares for his sheep.

Last Sunday in our Spanish church we sang this Chorus of a Spanish hymn. Here is my rough translation:

The Lord is my Shepherd

I lack nothing here

I walk with Him in His way

In His arms I trust

Nothing will separate me from the love of God.

This morning I am listening online to a sermon by Jason Martin, my families’ pastor at FBC, Breckenridge, Texas. His text is Psalm 23:5-6. He is talking about how shepherds care for their sheep; how they “prepare the tableland” by pulling up the beautiful flowers, “the white camma,” that the sheep love to eat, but that would kill them. “The shepherd goes before his sheep.” Our God takes care of us in the same way; He is preparing the way for us.

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My mother sent me the following devotional from the book Day by Day: A Daily Praise Offering by Gwen R. Shaw.

“THE NATIONS FOR YOUR INHERITANCE

Scripture Reading Psalm 2:1-8

‘Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.’ Psalm 2:8

That is My truth to you. All you need to do in order to be mighty in the nations, is to ‘ask Me.’

But first you need a vision and a desire for the nations. Many of My children are very self-centered. They have no burden nor concern, nor love, nor interest in the nations. They live their lives around themselves and their immediate families.

But if you will be My true follower, you will see your neighbour through My eyes, and you will take pleasure in learning to know your generation, even though it is of another colour or creed.”…

“Lift up your eyes upon the nations. The treasures of Heaven are the beautiful peoples of the nations….So go to them now. Pray for them now. Ask Me to give you the treasures of the nations.”

He came not to a throne,

but to a manger.

He lived not as a king,

but as a servant.

He chose not a kingdom,

but a cross.

He gave not just a little,

but everything.

by Holley Gerth

This year the children will be doing a Christmas program for FBC, Roquetas, a Nigerian church here in Spain. They will be saying this famous Christmas poem…

What Can I Give Him?

By Christina Rossetti

What can I give Him,

Poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd,

I would bring a lamb.

If I were a Wise Man,

I would do my part,

Yet what can I give Him?

Give my heart.

Welcome to Our World

At Christmas time we remember the birth of Christ. This profound song by Chris Rice helps me to focus on, and worship the King who came as a baby to save the nations.

Welcome to Our World

by Chris Rice

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking

How we need to hear from God

You’ve been promised

We’ve been waiting

Welcome holy child

Welcome holy child

Hope that you don’t mind our manger

How I wish we would have known

The long awaited holy stranger

Make yourself at home

Please make yourself at home

Bring your peace into our violence

Bid our hungry souls be feed

Word now breaking heaven’s silence

Welcome to our world

Welcome to our world

Fragile fingers sent to heal us

Tender brow prepared for thorn

Tiny heart whose blood will save us

Unto us is born

Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around you

Breathe our air and walk our sod

Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect son of God

Perfect son of God

Welcome to our world

Abandon & Surrender

In our church in Almeria Spain, our Pastor, Isabel M. Sanchez, preached from Joshua chapter 6 on Sunday, September 13, 2009. Following are some thoughts from the sermon…

Abandon your own will.

Surrender to God’s will.

At Jericho the Israelites didn’t depend on their own will or strength; they depended on God’s will and strength. Hebrews 11:30 says, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.” By faith, in Spanish is, por la fe.

The well known verses Proverbs 3:5-6; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not in your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Our pastor said, “Does God have the right to change my plans? There mine. But we have given our hearts to him.” She explained to me after the service that the word ‘trust’ in this verse in the Spanish version means to put our trust and confidence in God and to want what God wants more than what we want. The all powerful God is in us; it is not for us, but for God.

In the story in Joshua, the Israelites walked around Jericho for 6 days. On the seventh day they came together again, and verse 16b says, “Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!’” Each day we “walk around” our cities and towns. We come together on the 7^th day, Sunday, and with one voice we ask the Lord to tear down the walls of our cities, to tear down the walls in the hearts of people who don’t know Him – for Him – that they may know Him.

Facedown in Reverence

In our church here in Spain, our Pastor, Isabel M. Sanchez, has been speaking from the book of Joshua. On August 30, 2009, the text was Joshua 5:13-15. “Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, ‘What message does the Lord have for his servant?’ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” In the Spanish version, the last phrase says “Y Josué le obedeció. (And Joshua obeyed.)

Our pastor went on to talk about how people of the Muslim faith whose God is not a personal God bow facedown 5 times a day to pray. They pray "Allah is great. Allah is the only God. There is none worthy of worship except Allah." Yet we as Christians who have a personal God who died for our sins, how often everyday do we pray? How often do we praise God and tell him that we want to do His will and not ours, that we are His servant?

Standing in the Gap

Ezekiel 22:30, 31- “’I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none… declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel is prophesying about God’s wrath on Israel because of their many sins and idolatry. God was looking for someone to stand in the gap on behalf of the people. God is still looking for someone to stand in the gap. Who will stand in the gap for the people around the world who do not know the Lord? Who will stand in the gap for the immigrants around them who need help and do not know the Lord? Who will stand in the gap for people of different religions? People whose faith is Islam do not have a personal God; they do not have a God who is their refuge and strength or ever present help in times of trouble. Who will stand in the gap with their prayers for these people? God is calling men and women to stand in the gap. Some are answering His call only to be told that there is not enough funding to send them to their place of service. Who will stand in the gap with their giving to support ministries around the world and at home? Who will stand in the gap with their time to reach out to those around them who need to know a personal God?

Will you stand in the gap?