No future in going back.[ Philippians 3 v12-14 ]

I found myself singing this morning the following,/Turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace/. Life is not a Hollywood script ,where everything ends with the happy good feeling, life can be difficult,there are no guarantees. Children do get hurt, marriages do break up, accidents happen, as a Christian the challenge is, to glorify God in every situation,be it short term or long term, does this depress you?,do you feel like giving up?. Jesus said to His disciples /, are you also going to leave ?[John 6v66]/, well are you? am I ?.if we do we will only be going back to what we left, back to the old hunts, the old habits, the old ways. There is no future in going back, so today let us all turn our eyes upon Jesus, and follow in His footsteps, to a future that will be eternally perfect,because the script is written by God it will have that perfect ending.[ Dear God help us not to major on the short term, help us to press unto a glorious future, in Jesus name Amen ]

Assurance. [ John 10v 27-30]

We finish looking at Psalm 23 with words of assurance as regards I believe our eternal future, now Barnes points out that David is thinking of the tabernacle, and he wants to always be engaged in holy occupation, constantly serving God. May God grant us holy desires, so many people are filled with unholy desires, God is not in their thoughts,we could pray that God would fill us with holy desires. I believe that for the child of God, the words,/ I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever/, have an eternal reality, our heavenly home. The words,/ I will /, have a certainty about them, we should know where we will spend eternity,we should know that we are saved,we should have an assurance of eternal life, do you?. 1 John 5 v13 ,reads,These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.[ Dear God fill us with holy desires, and the assurance of eternal life in Jesus name Amen ]

A certainty[ Jeremiah 32 v17/27]

Verse 6 of Psalm 23 declares,/Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life/,because the Lord was His Shepherd, He believed that His care for him would never cease.Life is very uncertain , yet in the midst of all its uncertainties we have the certainty of our Lords care for us.Tomorrow may bring whatever, but the important thing is it will bring with it, our good Shepherd, and the assurance that we shall not want, for He will provide. Mrs C Martin wrote,/Let not your heart be troubled, His tender word I hear, And resting in His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears, Tho by the path He leadeth, But one step I may see, His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me/. [ Dear Lord in the midst of a world of uncertainties help us to rest in the assurance that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, Amen ]

Blessings. [ Psalm 103 ]

My cup runneth over.[ v3 Psalm 23] Barnes points out the following,/It is not merely full, it runs over. This ,too, indicates abundance of the favours thus bestowed, the Psalmist infers that God would always provide for him, and that he would never leave him to want/. As I consider how God has blessed me, I also like the Psalmist can say ,/my cup runneth over/, oh yes life is not perfect, but then it never will be, but I am trully blessed.Johnson Octman wrote,/ When upon lifes billows you are temptest tossed,When you are discouraged,thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done/.[ Dear Lord we thank You for all your blessings Amen ]

Gods favour.[ Genesis 12 v 1-3 ]

Verse 5 of Psalm 23, reminds us that if God is for us who can be against us, for the Lord will prepare a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Whoever our enemies are they cannot stop the favour of God upon our lives, read the book of Esther and you will see this wonderfully illustrated. David had his enemies ,but because Gods favour was upon him he succeeded,we see this also in the life of Joseph, if you are a believer, Gods favour rests upon you, and inspite of your enemies, you will be blessed, God will grant you promotion,and success. So today dont look on your enemies, look to your good Shepherd, to your God, who will bless you ,inspite of all those things that are against you.[ Dear Lord we rejoice that our enemies cannot succeed and do us any harm , because your favour is upon us,we our confident that You will bless us inspite of them ,Amen]

The Lord is still the Lord[ Psalm 23 ]

Brian Houston sings a song , /The Lord is still the Lord/,one of the verses goes,/The price of propertys going down, The Lord is still the Lord, and every job is leaving town, The Lord is still the Lord. When you dont know what to do , The Lord is still the Lord. The Lord will still provide for You. The Lord is still the Lord/.Fear is part of the human condition as regards life, and death, it does not take much to make us afraid, to feel insecure. Consider v4 of Ps 23,/Yea ,though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me/, are you in a valley experience?, a dark valley, mybe even facing death, whatever valley you may be in , fear no evil, for there is one with you, His name is Jesus, he is not a spectator, He is with you, to bring you through, He will not desert you. He will comfort you, protect you, provide, and if you experience suffering He will give grace, so fear no evil.[ Dear Lord often we are afraid, afraid of so many things, help us today, to fear no evil, for You are with us, Amen ]

His name sake.[Revelation5 ]

For His name sake[Ps 23v3]We are not the center of the universe, Our Lord is, and rightly so, and it is important that we see this, in relation to our lives, and service. All that He is doing in our lives is for His honour and glory, not ours, to God be the Glory, in everything we do ,say and think.For two long humanity has sought to rob God of His glory, one has pointed out that the middle letter in the word sin,is I,so much of what we do is self glorification. Our good Shepherd taught that we should not promote self[Matthew 6], in 1 Corinthians 10v31, we are instructed to do all things to the glory of God.Keith Green wrote,/And when Im doing well ,help me never to seek a crown, for my reward is giving glory to You/. God has saved us ,and equipped us so that we might bring glory to His name, both now and in eternity[ Dear Lord help me to not be a thief and to rob You of Your glory. Amen]