My Shepherd … by Michael Garner

Today’s Passage – Deuteronomy 12 – 14 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read –  2 Corinthians 9 – 13; Proverbs 5; Psalms 21 – 25)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – SSIsaiah 40:31

Read the “0305 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

To break down this first verse of Psalm 23, we look at the Lord being OUR shepherd! As Christians, we must be ecstatic that the Lord is our shepherd and that He made a way for Him to be our shepherd. He came here as a baby just like you and I. Lived a sinless life. Helping others on this planet. But He came for one reason and one reason only: to die for us. It was nothing we could do to pay for our sins, but by His blood being shed. When we think about this, we think about our own sins. We think about how we fail Him everyday. No matter how hard we try, we are never going to be perfect. It is our sinful nature. This flesh only wants wicked and carnal things in life. The sins we commit everyday is the reason He came and died on the cross. We were on His mind when He was up on the cross. He loved us so much that He would die for us! But it doesn’t end there. He has risen! He rose of the third day and is alive in heaven! the shepherd was slain and rose up again! How powerful! He left here to go prepare a place for us in Heaven, wait for the day we unite with Him. The great thing about it all is the the gift of salvation is that He made it free! He made it so simple and easy! What a God! We don’t deserve it! We don’t deserve to have a shepherd like we do. A shepherd that would do anything for his sheep, knowing that they would fail his countless times. All we must do to inherit eternal life it to ask Him. He will then give it to us. He’s just such a great God! The second part of this verse reads …I shall not want. When we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, we will need nothing else in this life! This world is full of broken heart and emptiness, saying they have the answer to all your problems when in reality they don’t. They themselves have problems and can’t even get them fixed. They will never get fixed unless they have Jesus Christ as their shepherd in their life. They have no guidance. The try to go day by day living life with no direction, leader, or purpose. This a sad reality we live in, but it is what we see in the world on a daily basis. When we have Jesus Christ as the shepherd leading us through life, what more would we need? He blesses us everyday! He gave us His Word, telling us how to go about life. He gave us prayer and the opportunity to come into His presence. He allows us to walk with Him daily. He hears us when we cry. He is the answer to everything. What more could you need? Anytime we need Him, He is there!

Maybe today you need to remember what the shepherd provides. Maybe someone you know needs to know the shepherd. Maybe you need to realize all you need in life is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the greatest thing to ever happen to us! We need to remember this when going through life and its struggles. We must also show others who don’t know Christ as the shepherd the greatness of God and His blessings that come with it.