“The Lord is my Shepherd.” Psalms 23:1

David was one of the Lord’s sheep. All His sheep know Him, love Him, and follow Him. They possess His disposition; He was meek, and lowly in heart. Are you a sheep of Christ? Are you looking to, following of, and rejoicing in, your Shepherd? If so, it is His province to lead you, feed you, protect you, and heal you. Your person, life, health, comforts, and safety, are committed to His care. He is the good Shepherd, He laid down His life for His sheep; He searches and seeks out His sheep wherever they have been scattered; He feeds His flock; He gathereth the lambs with His arm, and carrieth them in His bosom. He loved His sheep more than His own life; He cares for His sheep more than for all the world beside. He feeds them in the most suitable pasture, and leads them in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. O view Jesus as your Shepherd! expect Him to lead you, feed you, fold you, and present you to His Father with exceeding joy. Cleave to Him; let nothing tempt you to leave His feet, His flock, or His fold. He will never leave you, nor forsake you.

Jehovah is my Shepherd’s name!
Then what have I, though weak, to fear?
My sin and folly I proclaim,
If I despond, while He is near:
In every danger He is nigh.
And will my every want supply.– James Smith

“He giveth power to the faint.” Isaiah 40:29

THE Lord’s people often feel faint, being burdened with a body of sin and death, pursued and assaulted by Satan, tried and hindered by the world; but though faint they continue to pursue. Waiting on the Lord they renew their strength. The Lord has said, “I will strengthen thee.” Brother, remember the promise and faithfulness of thy God; yield not to fear, or you will surely faint. Believe because God is true. David says, “I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Power is given in answer to prayer. Strength is proportioned to the day. The back is fitted for the burden. Our God will not lay upon us more than He will enable us to bear. He strengthens by His word, by His Spirit, and by His presence; expect Him to be and to do according to His word; this will honour Him, and He will strengthen you with might by His Spirit in the inner man. Go forth, however weak you may feel, assured that God will give you strength and courage; strength to do and suffer His will, and courage to face, fight and overcome every foe.

Whence do our mournful thoughts arise?
And where’s our courage fled?
Have restless sin, and raging hell.
Struck all our comforts dead?
Chase, chase thy gloomy fears away,
Strength shall be equal to thy day.– James Smith

God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away– Revelation 21:4

Sometimes the future looks dark. Because of financial problems or health problems it can look very uncertain.

We must accept the fact that life is often full of troubles and disappointments. In fact Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” But for God’s children, there is always a sight ahead which gives hope and joy. There are burdens to carry now, there are battles that must be fought, and often there are tears to shed. But think of that day when God will be with His people in heaven.

Here is the promise: “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying neither shall there be any more pain.” What a day! Home at last. Free from conflict and struggle. Free from the temptation to sin; free from the very presence of sin.

Where there is no sin there is no sorrow, there is no crying, no pain. Living in the presence of Jesus and finding it a delight to praise and serve Him forever.

While we are yet here we need to remember that the Lord uses our sufferings to move us to think about heaven, and to rejoice in the thought of going there, and to live now in the anticipation of having every tear wiped away one day soon.(Baptist Bible Hour)

He that is not with me is against me. . .Matt.12:30
Satan doesn’t care whether you go to hell from a bar-stool or a church pew. In fact, sometimes it is easier to get there from the church pew than it is from the bar-stool. A person must realize they are lost before they can be saved and it’s usually easier to get a drunk to admit he is a sinner than it is for the church member. A. W. Tozer addressed this problem like this:

“Persons out of Christ often try to comfort themselves with the remembrance that they have never in their lives committed any really great sin. Little trifling acts of wrongdoing perhaps, but nothing of any consequence, so surely God will overlook their rather insignificant transgressions when He settles their accounts.

In the first place, a man’s status before God is decided not by the number and enormity of his sins but by whether those sins have or have not been forgiven, whether he is on God’s side or the side of the devil.

The soldier who mutinies is held responsible for his mutiny even if he does nothing more than stand up and let himself be counted among the rebels. His crime lies in his break with his superiors and his willingness to go along with the enemies of his country. That he performs no extraordinary feats of violence may mean no more than that he is an ordinary fellow incapable of great deeds of any sort for or against his country.”

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him . – – – there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.1 Cor. 12:18, 25