Praise God that our Good Shepherd is vigilant in His care for each of His sheep…because we need it!
“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Ps 23:3 ESV
Once we become born again, our journey with our Good Shepherd has merely begun. As we said yesterday, He begins to make right what went horribly wrong at The Downfall. Each human has inherited our own package of weaknesses, flaws, faults, vices, addictions, and so on. Strengthened by living the MMI-centered life, we need to be restored…but please note the verb tense in this lovely verse: it says “restores,” as in the present, not “restored” as in the past. After Salvation, God moves us to enter into Sanctification. This ongoing process is where our Good Shepherd restores our soul. Renewing our thought life. Bringing under self-control our emotional life. And aligning our willful life. All this so we can become more and more like our Good Shepherd, Himself. We need to be restored constantly and into what? Into His Righteousness.
Righteousness is from God…wrongness came from the devil. That sense that I am not good enough. That something is missing from my life, so I have to keep seeking after “it,” more and more. That need to have others look at us with admiration. All of this is wrongness. Righteousness, on the other hand, teaches us that we are already right with God. That even as we are still growing into who we will be, He loves us more than life itself…and has proven this on the Cross. It is only as we walk with our Good Shepherd along this path of righteousness that we will stay peaceful and joyful. Righteousness, elapse and joy in the Holy Spirit (Ro 14:17) This is the Kingdom of God, my Friends, and what we truly crave in life. And we can only get this amazing gift from our Good Shepherd.
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
July: 26- Jas 2:19; 27- Dt 31:8; 28- Jn 14:15; 29- Jn 8:11
August: 30- Ro 8:1; 31- Pr 4:23; 32- Pr 18:21; 33- Ps 118:24; 34- 1Jn 4:4
35- Mt 16:24
36- Isa 53:6
37- Ps 23:1-3
<>< Peace, Diane
