The Good Shephard

Psalm 135:5

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;

Sing praises to His Name, for it is pleasant.

The Lord is good.  He is tenderhearted.

His mercies are new every morning.

Lamentations 3:23

They are new every morning

Great is your faithfulness

He will watch our coming and going.

It is the Lord Who cares for us.

Psalm 121:8

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your 

coming in from this time forth,

and even forevermore.

Even through the night He is with us. As we sleep and rest,

the Lord does not.  He remains vigilant, ever watchful.

We can trust in Him to be with us and give us

sweet sleep.

Psalm 121:3-4

He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Proverbs 3:24

When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

Get Your Free Gift Here-->God

Get your free gift.

Just send in your info, no purchase necessary.

Simply pay for postage and handling.

You can enter just about every type of sweepstakes

or contest you could think of.

You can buy a lottery ticket (or more)

every time you go to the neighborhood store.

Every one of these sweepstakes, contests, 

& lotteries will cost you something.

Either time, personal information (which can be sold)

or money.

Yet the greatest gift is free!

It is the gift of salvation.

Romans 5:18

Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment

came to all men, resulting in condemnation,

even so through one Man's righteous

act the free gift came to all men, resulting

in justification of life.

What do we have to do to get it?

Not much---just receive it!

God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, as a free gift.

It is up to us to receive His free 

and unmerited gift of salvation.

By accepting this free gift we become a "whosoever".

Romans 10:13 ASV

for, whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord

shall be saved.

Not all can become a "whosoever".

Claim your free gift today!

Do Yourself A Favor

As we hold on to grudges and resentment

they tend to gain control over our lives.

Also, they grow out of proportion.

Resentment can materialize physically and emotionally.

Resentment makes us ill.

Psalm 37:8

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

do not fret, it only causes harm.

Ecclesiastes 7:9

The Message

Don't be quick to fly off the handle

Anger boomerangs.

You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

Resentment leads to communication being cut off

and isolation from others.

Do yourself a favor and forgive.

Let go of anger, bitterness and unforgiveness.

Do this for yourself.

It may seem impossible, but nothing is impossible for God.

Luke 1:37

For with God, nothing will be impossible.

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us,

in that while we were sinners Christ died for us.

The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4:31-32 to put away

all bitterness, wrath, and anger.

Forgive just as our Father God forgave us.

Beyond Description

God told Adam to name all the creatures in the Garden

Genesis 2:19

so He brought each one to Adam,

to see what he would name them.

Since that time, man has put a name on everything he sees.

Once named we can visualize it by the description.

It is hard to visualize someone who is invisible.

Which is why God is beyond our ability to describe Him---

or is He?

Even though the Bible does not give a physical

description of God, it does tell us about Who He is.

Isaiah tells us in chapter 55 verse 9,

His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.

Jesus told Phillip "he who has seen Me has seen the Father"

John 14:9

So when we look at Jesus we see a man who loved,

felt compassion, taught, healed the sick, and fed crowds.

He went out of His way to serve others.

He was not boastful or prideful.

Jesus lived as a man, using His divine nature to glorify God the Father.

Acts 10:38; Matt. 9:35; Matt. 20:34; Mark 1:41;

Mark 8:2; Lam. 3:22; Romans 5:8; Proverbs 8:17

God is beyond our human understanding 

and description.

But through the Holy Spirit, we can see Him.

He is love at the highest level and magnitude.

Just Waiting For The Parade

A victory parade is held to celebrate victory over the enemy.

The United States did it with the allies after WWI and II.

In ancient times the parade was lead by the conquerors

followed by the spoils of war.

Next came the leader of the defeated army

and the captives

and finally, the victorious army.

The defeating army held this procession to make a 

public spectacle of the captives.

The Bible lets us know Jesus has already won the battle.

He accomplished this on the cross.

Jesus took our captivity captive.  Ephesians 4:8

Colossians 2:15

He has freed us from the destruction of sin.

Having disarmed principalities

and powers, He made a public spectacle of them,

triumphing over them in it.

Jesus now leads us in victory.

2 Corinthians 2:14

Now thanks be to God who always leads us

in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the

fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

The battle has been won.

The parade is getting ready to start.

Don't sit on the sidelines watching.

Join the victorious in Christ!

You Already Have It!

You already have it.

What?

I already have it?

YES!

You already have power and authority which is given

through adoption by God into His family.

Once saved, we are adopted and become joint heirs with Christ.

Romans 8:15

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear,

but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out,

"Abba Father".

As an adopted child of God, we have been given

the same rights as the Son.

We have been given a new name and a new identity in Christ.

Most importantly through adoption,

we have been given power and authority to overcome

"all the power of the enemy", Luke 10:19

Jesus had:

authority over everything, Matt 28:18

authority to cast out demons, Mark 1:27

authority to heal the sick, Luke 7:7

As joint heirs with Him, we inherit all that He is.

Every person is from God, but not all have been adopted into the family.

To receive your inheritance you must be adopted into 

God's family by receiving Jesus 

as Lord and Savior. 

Then all that He has is yours!

A Treasure Map by Max Lucado

In the beginning there was the Word.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1

"The Bible has been banned, burned, scoffed, and ridiculed.

Scholars have mocked it as foolish.

Kings have branded it as illegal.

A thousand times over it the grave has been dug,

and the dirge has begun, but somehow

the Bible never stays in the grave.

Not only has it survived, it has thrived.

It is the single most popular book in all of history. 

It has been the best-selling book in the world for years!

There is no way on earth to explain it.

Which perhaps is the only explanation.

The answer?

The Bible's durability is not found on earth;

it is found in heaven.

For millions who have tested its claims 

and claimed its promises there is but one answer---

the Bible is God's book and God's voice...

The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim God's plan

and passion to save his children.

That is the reason this book has endured through the centuries...

It is the treasure map that leads us to God's highest treasure,

eternal life."

Writing by Max Lucado

"Grace for the Moment"