I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
A God of Comfort
In ancient Israel, the rod and staff of a shepherd protected and guided the sheep, and even reminded the sheep that the shepherd was there. Familiar with this, King David, a shepherd at one time, used the metaphor in Psalm 23:4 to convey this truth: God was his protector and guide.
King David faced death many times and had enemies bent on killing him. He also dealt with his own sin issues and personal mistakes. But in the midst of all this, he repeatedly turned his attention to the faithfulness of God and to the assurances of God.
Where did he find these assurances?
King David would have been a student of the Hebrew Scripture, the Torah—the first five books in our Bibles.
To a Hebrew, the Torah wasn’t just a story about God, it was the very Word of God. It was authority, promise, and guide. It was this Word that David based his life—and his psalms—upon. David could write about God’s character because:
1. He knew the Word of God.
2. He experienced the faithfulness and goodness of God based on that word.
We, too, have this—and more. We have the revealed Word of God from the ancient prophets in the Old Testament, the words of Jesus while on earth, and the revealed words of Jesus through the apostles and authors of the New Testament. In other words, we have what David had:
1. We have the Word of God.
2. We can experience the faithfulness and goodness of God based on that word.
Read what Jesus said to His disciples:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 ESV
Like David, we don’t have anything to fear, because God is near—and He is our comfort. Knowing Scripture helps us confidently believe that God is and will be a faithful protector, guide, and presence to those who love Him. So today, determine to discover more of God's Word. It is in this source of truth that you will better know He who is the Good Shepherd.
Proverbs 11:25 ESV
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
And one who waters will himself be watered.
#verseoftheday #alwaysreadincontext
“I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.””
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