Psalm 23 - He Has Your Back

I said to a friend of mine today as we sat down to eat, “I’ve got your back.” Do you know who really has your back? God does! The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23 NIV God is my Shepherd and He is always watching over me (lie down in green pastures). Nothing happens to me that He isn’t aware of. As a young man I was in places I shouldn’t have been at doing things I shouldn’t do (dark valleys) – still He watched over me. God is my shepherd and He always provides for me (He refreshes my soul). Not a day passes that He doesn’t provide what I need in the way of food, shelter and the necessities of life. God is my Shepherd and He directs my life (the right paths). His rod and staff keep me in line and on those paths. God has my back – well, He has all of my life. As Jesus said, “He holds us in the palm of His hand and no man can pluck us out of it”.

Can't Never Could

I tried to teach my son that a job worth doing was worth doing right. As I was teaching him this I never knew if it would take but years later – yep, he got it. And I can say I am proud of the work my son does. Our Father wants to be proud of the work we do for Him. 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15 (NIV) “let nothing move you. Give yourself fully to the work of the Lord” Let me urge you take serious the work God calls you to do. Let nothing get in your way and go at it whole-hearted. “Go ye therefore teaching, making disciples, baptizing!” this is the work God gives to each of us. You know the old saying, “Can’t never could no nothing!” Well, God has equipped you and prepared you and you CAN do it. Make Him proud of you for the work you do for the Lord.

Demons Are Losers

The largest creatures on earth live in the oceans. Blue whales grow to 90 feet in length and weigh over 80,000 pounds. Hard to believe but so are some of the things of the "supernatural". And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Acts 19:15 NIV Yes there are spirits - but - there are no ghosts. In the verse above an evil spirit that inhabits a human says to the false prophet, "Jesus I know and Paul but I don't know you." Think about that, the Bible declares there are "supernatural" beings that are evil. One thing that can never, ever, happen to you is to be taken over by an evil spirit. Believers (those born-again of the Holy Spirit) are protected from evil spirits. They can not harm you for the Holy Spirit is more powerful than all of them combined. You are safe if you are a believer - Amen! All around us every day there are battles between God's Heavenly host and the Devil's demons. Every battle is won by God's Heavenly host. All those movies showing angels losing are just the foolish imagination of non-believers. God never loses a fight. Do not be afraid because God is greater than any who oppose Him. God never loses! When you stand with God you stand with the Winner.

Books and Friends

Howard "Buck" Richardson wrote a book. His book MY LIFE RETOLD is a collection of short remembrances about events in his life. It is a wonderful thing to set down in print the moments of your life for members of your family. We are who we are because of the people in our lives and the things that happen to us. Every event changes us a little. Every person we encounter leaves an imprint. I was glad to put Buck's book together and to publish it for him on Amazon. You can order a copy by going to Amazon.com and searching for Howard Richardson My Life Retold. If you would like me to help you with a similar project you can go to my website perrycomer.com and click on the email address.

The Farmer

I've never desired to be a farmer. As a boy I experienced the hard work of the farming life and felt there had to be an easier way to make a living. I was wrong on two counts just as perhaps your are. Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Mark 4:13,14 NIV To follow Jesus is to be like Jesus. Sowing seeds was His work on Earth and it is our work here on Earth. Like I said, I was wrong on two counts and I feel you are too. We are farmers, sowers of seeds, which is our life's work. As we follow the Lord we are to do as He did, sow the seeds but not just any seeds - The Word of God! Faith is not a possession to be held to one's breast like a precious talisman protecting one from evil. No, it doesn't belong to anyone of us but it is a gift to be shared - to be sown. As you go about your life today, count how many seeds you sow. Some will fall on thorny ground, some among weeds but just as Jesus sowed His seeds among the rocks, hard-headed people like me, so too are you to be sowing the seeds of God's Word - faith. We are to scatter the seeds not hold onto them and don't worry about if they spout or not - that's God's department. Our task is to sow seeds today and everyday.

What I have is mine and nobody can have it! Sounds childish don't it? There are so many adults who think this way and live this way. They don't acknowledge the verse below. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. Psalm 24:1 The verse reminds me, and hopefully you, that all that exists is here because God created it. He owns not just the cattle on a thousand hills but all the hills, valleys and the seas. He owns me. Ownership might bug you and you want to to own yourself but think about that for a moment. If you owned you, then you would be so terribly alone. You would spend eternity isolated and alone. Many times I have written that we are made for eternity for God has placed eternity in our souls. Being alone is a terrible thing. It is better to belong to God than to belong to self. When you belong to God then you belong to a vast family. Your church family is more than a gathering of people it is the gathering of brothers and sisters who love each other, pray for each other and desire each other's company. I belong to God and to His family and I am never alone. It is my choice and nobody makes me. It is far better to be in the hollow of His hand than to be fearful of His hand.

When is enough enough? That all depends on what we are talking about. A high school basketball game of 8 to 88 is a bit too great a difference to brag on. A baseball score of 1 to 0 means a boring game. But what about when is enough as enough living for Jesus? 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil. 3:12-14 Are you where you want to be in your walk with the Lord? Paul said (after seven years of study and all that he had been through) "I have not attained and I still press on". He was actively engaged in pursuing to be more like Jesus. He was not contend to follow at a distance or to say, "well I'm saved and that's enough". No, he pressed on, he was enthusiastic, he was searching for that peral of great price; that lost coin. Let us not become complacent and not settle for what we have attained. There is so much more joy and more life waiting for us. Press on. We can never get "enough" Jesus.