“He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Yesterday I mentioned a few of God’s names. One of them was the Good Shepherd. All of Psalm 23 is about God being our Good Shepherd. I memorized this chapter as a child and can still recite it (in the King James Version.) It is popular because it is so comforting, poetic, powerful, and beautiful. Today’s verse is one part of this great poem of David’s. The King James Version says, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” I don’t know much about the job of being a shepherd. But I know sheep aren’t very smart animals. They are very dependent on their shepherd. They are often oblivious to danger as they focus solely on meeting their own needs, grazing blithely along a cliff edge or near a wolf den. Even though it feels a bit insulting to be compared to sheep, it’s unfortunately quite fitting. God can see the big picture that I can’t see. His wisdom is so far above mine. I spend a lot of my time and energy trying to meet my needs and fulfill my desires and cravings. I’m often oblivious to the dangers toward which my actions and choices are leading me. Sheep will die if their shepherd doesn’t care or ignores them or gets distracted. That is a bad shepherd. But God is a Good Shepherd. He loves me, even in my silly, selfish oblivion. He pulls me from the cliff’s edge, returning me to the right path. The righteous path.

Dear Good Shepherd,

Thank you so much for loving me despite my self-centered idiocy and greed. I trust you and humbly submit to your rod and staff of discipline that turns me back to the safety, joy, and abundance to be found in your pasture. Remind me to keep my eyes focused on my Good Shepherd as I go through my days.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭CSB‬‬

God has a lot of names. Yahweh, I AM, God Almighty, the Good Shepherd, LORD, the Creator, the Father, King of Kings… In today’s verse Paul adds “Father of mercies” and “God of all comfort” to the list. I’m noticing that it’s not God of some comfort or God of a little comfort, but God of ALL comfort. There is no comfort that God is not part of. (Just like there is no love that God is not part of because God IS love.) There is no way for me to comfort (or love) anyone apart from me knowing God and receiving comfort (or love) from Him. That’s a bold statement! But if I believe that God is the God of ALL comfort, then it must be true. So, to comfort anyone in my life, to have any comfort to give, I have to receive comfort from God first. The part about this that makes me cringe is that for God to give me comfort, I need to suffer. Eek. Why would God give me comfort if I were already perfectly comfortable and fulfilled and content with everything in my life? The sad truth is that in this fallen world, suffering is plentiful and certain. God doesn’t have to do anything to foist suffering on His children; we bring it on ourselves and each other constantly. But He doesn’t always stop pain from happening either. Today’s verse answers the “why” of that. Why does a loving God allow me to suffer?! (Such a common and familiar question.) The answer: so that He can give me comfort. And so that in turn, I have comfort to share with others who maybe don’t know Him yet.

Dear God of All Comfort,

I am so grateful for your love and comfort. I sorely need it. Remind me of the purpose of my suffering and your comfort however. Teach me how to give the comfort away to those in my life who need it. And show me how to reveal you as the source of the comfort I have. Forgive me for being selfish and stingy with my comfort. It is meant for sharing. Thank you for your generosity with me!

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I’m feeling extra tired as I write this, for no specific reason, so today’s verse sounds extra comforting. Many times in scripture Jesus urged people to come to Him to have their physical needs met. He understands what it feels like to be tired or hungry or thirsty or sick. Part of the purpose for Him becoming human was to make this clear to us. He know what it’s like. When God created everything He didn’t intend for these challenges to be part of our lives. These problems didn’t exist in the garden. Pain and struggle arrived as part of the fall, because we chose sin. Adam and Eve decided they wanted to have control, to make their own way using their own power and wisdom. They disobeyed and were kicked out of the garden into the world of striving, struggle, sweating, and pain. Today, I continue to rebel, like Adam and Eve, and try to accomplish things using my own power and wisdom. I say, “Just a minute God. I’ll get to you when I’m done with this important thing.” Or “I’ll donate some money to the foodbank after I pay my doctor bills and the rent and buy that hat I saw…” And then I complain about being tired. Or hungry. Or thirsty. Or sore, sick, and sad. Jesus is saying my life doesn’t have to be like that. In today’s verse, He says, “Come to me!” If I put Jesus back in the driver’s seat, I can sit back and enjoy the scenery. I will have rest for my soul. If I trade my ambitions and goals and ideas about how my life should look for God’s will and purpose for me, I will have His infinite strength and wisdom to draw from. It reminds me of a time I was trying to open a spigot. It was stuck tight. I gripped it hard and tried to turn it. I hurt my hand so got some gloves and tools to help me. I sweated and strained and groaned. Finally I looked at the instructions. I had been turning it the wrong way. It turned easily in the opposite direction and opened right away. If I had just turned to the instructions first, I could have avoided all that wasted effort, pain, and frustration. My life can be like that. If I come to Jesus first, He will show me the easy way to accomplish the things that really matter and give me the strength to do it.

Dear God,

Thank you for giving me access to your wisdom. Thank you that I do not need to rely on my own power or cleverness. Lead me to the right goals and show me the way you want me to accomplish them. Forgive me for my stubbornness in wanting to do things my way. Your way is so much better!

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬

When I was a kid, I remember wondering why I existed. Why was I born to this family in this place and time? Why did I like the things I liked and dislike the things I disliked? Why was I good at some things and really bad at others? Later as an adult I have gone through periods of time when I wrestled with questions about my purpose. Why am I here? What should I be doing with my life? Should I take this job, date this person, move to this town? I think everyone struggles with these types of questions. They are hard questions! I believe one day God will give me all the answers to everything I want to know about my life here, when I “see Him face to face”. But for now, I can only see the answers “through a glass darkly.” (1 Cor. 13:12) However, today’s verse has been a huge solace for me when these big questions haunt me. Why am I here? This verse says God created me. Not only that, but I am His workmanship. He made me carefully, with specific intention and loving design. He thought about what He needed and planned my arrival, just as I am, right where He needed me to be. What am I supposed to do? Today’s verse says before I was even born, God planned good works for me to do. He has a purpose for me. I am ideally suited for this purpose. I will be happiest and most fulfilled if I follow His plan and obey Him. He created me to enjoy certain things, to be passionate about and be fulfilled by certain tasks and those are the things He wants me to pursue. Because He loves me. I can choose not to. He gave me choice. He will accomplish His plan with or without me, but why wouldn’t I want to join in His plan that He created me for? If I am a tire, I am ideally suited to be on a car driving down the road, speeding up, slowing down, keeping the car on the road through sharp turns. I’m good at it, it’s easy for me and I enjoy it. People appreciate me and keep me inflated and clean. But as a tire, if I tried to be a chair, it would be a huge challenge. I would be considered ugly perhaps. Uncomfortable. Dirty. I might find limited success, but it would always be a struggle, and I would have to contort my true self. God made me with a purpose in mind. I am perfectly suited to that purpose. My job is to seek Him and His will for me everyday so my beautiful purpose can be fulfilled joyfully.

Dear God,

Thank you so much that you created me lovingly with a purpose in mind. I pray that I discover my purpose every day more and more. Reveal to me what you want me to do. Thank you for giving me this purpose. I look forward to the day when I have all the answers, but thank you for your word that provides what I need for today.

“Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.”
‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ ‭CSB‬‬

This seems so simple and practical. Basic. It’s like telling someone who’s hungry to eat and someone who’s thirsty to drink. Except that it’s not. What’s the difference? Well, the difference is not a what, it’s a who. In my example, I am meeting my needs with my own strength and resources. In James’s example, God is the answer. He’s saying no matter what my status is – good, bad, or in-between – I should always be turning to God. God is always ready to hear from me. He is always here and always loving and always capable of providing exactly what I need. Whether it’s practical help or just a listening ear to share in my joy. James wrote the most boring advice column. His answer is always the same: talk to God about it.

Dear God,

What a fantastic gift you have given your children, the gift of always being available, always ready to listen. It’s unheard of in this world. Thank you that you are never closed, never on vacation, never sick or distracted or busy. I am so grateful for your undivided attention. Help me not to take it for granted. Remind me to always turn to you with everything in my life, good, bad, boring, frightening, mundane, joyful… and to trust that you hear me and care.

“Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

When I was a little kid, I first learned what sharing was. It was terrible when I was the one who was supposed to do the sharing but wonderful when someone else was told to share with me. Sharing was hard! Why should I let the kid with the sticky jam hands play with the fluffy stuffed bunny my grandma gave me for my birthday?! Especially when there is a perfectly good bouncy ball over in the corner he can play with. It seemed crazy. But I was told over and over that it was right to share. Sharing is still hard today. Why should I give my hard-earned money to help someone else? They are probably just lazy. Maybe they even have more than me but are pretending to need help. Or maybe they wasted their food and rent money on drugs or frivolous things. These thoughts are the thoughts of a selfish child, and yet they still pop into my head at the thought of sharing what’s “mine.” Today’s verse reminds me that sharing pleases God. He recognizes that it is a sacrifice, and He showed me how to sacrifice properly when He sacrificed His son for me. Instead of thinking awful thoughts about others and making excuses, I should remember Jesus’s sacrifice for me. And I should also remember that nothing I have is really mine. God blesses me with opportunities and gifts precisely so that I can share. He knows how wonderful it feels to help someone. When the sticky jam hands kid takes my fluffy bunny, I see his wide smiling eyes. He whispers an awed “thank you!” and my heart thrills a little with joy. Suddenly sharing doesn’t seem so hard.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for allowing me to participate in blessing other people with your love. Thank you for all you have provided for me to share. Help me to trust you to care for and provide for my needs. Teach me the joy of living generously without fear, judgment, or regret. I entrust my contributions to your loving hands to get them where they are needed most.

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy — dwell on these things.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I never read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, but it seems like he may have based his ideas on today’s verse. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Philippi. In this section he is trying to teach them how to have peace and unity. All the qualities he lists here are very positive: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, praiseworthy… But he doesn’t just say to think about things that have these characteristics. He says to dwell on them. When I dwell somewhere, I may not be there 100% of the time, but I return there again and again. I may have to go away for a time for a specific reason, but I return as soon as my task is complete. It is where I go to rest and rejuvenate. It is my safe sanctuary that I make my own. To have peace in this world, I must also have a mental “home” to return to again and again. Some people talk about going to a mental “happy place.” But Paul is talking about more than what makes me happy. Thinking about eating chocolate ice cream makes me happy, but I wouldn’t say this is morally excellent necessarily. Instead of despairing about evil, I should refocus my thoughts on good. Jesus conquered death and evil. He has a plan for me to participate in His work cleaning up the shards of evil that remain in this world. As I do this work He has for me, I will get my hands (and mind) dirty. Everyday, I should come home to shower off the day’s grime of evil with the true, pure, lovely… good thoughts of Jesus’s beautiful kingdom.

Dear God,

Thank you so much for your beautiful goodness. There are so many wonderful things, even in this fallen world, that feed my soul. Remind me of them when I begin to be overwhelmed by the ugliness around me. Teach me to live and work for you in the world while keeping my mind and heart focused on your truth and beauty. Please forgive the times when I have contributed instead to the ugliness.

“How delightfully good when brothers live together in harmony!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭133‬:‭1‬ ‭CSB‬‬

David wrote this. He may have meant actual siblings or close friends or fellow believers. Or all 3. Probably that. All 3. Peace between people you love is delightful! And harmony is even better than peace. It is “delightfully good!” Harmony is more than a lack of conflict. It is active and purposeful and includes a kind of synergy. As an individual, I can do some nice things, maybe even accomplish quite a bit. But if I work in harmony with others, together we can have a much bigger impact! The sum is so much greater than its parts. Think of a symphony. The cello sounds nice and the French horn can be beautiful. Each instrument alone can bring a lot of joy and beauty. But put them all together, playing in harmony, and the result is a thrilling, soul-lifting miracle. “Delightfully good”, as today’s verse says, is even too tame. But the key is the harmony. If a bunch of great musicians are just in a room playing their own thing, no one is impressed. It sounds like noise. People listening would run away with their fingers plugging their ears. The church should be like a symphony playing in harmony with Jesus as the conductor. I can practice my music alone, by reading and studying my Bible and consulting with the conductor. I can make some pretty good noises this way. But God created us to work together. If I get together with other believers, and we are all practiced up, and we all focus on the conductor, oh what mighty beautiful and delightfully good things will come from that church!

Dear God,

Thank you for your design for your church. I’m sad it so rarely works as you intend. Show me where I am playing off-key. Attune my heart to you so that when I join with others as part of your church my efforts are not just noise but contribute to your beautiful symphony of love.

“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I don’t pretend to understand everything God does. I don’t even think I understand much at all about what God does or has done. This verse reminds me of that. What I do know is that when Jesus died, He was dying in my place. But He did what I could never do – He left all my sin behind in death and then returned to His previous life. And somehow, if I accept this gift of His sacrifice, I can live without the burden of my sin. So mysterious. Simple, but hard to understand. Things like this just don’t happen in my day-to-day life. People don’t die and resurrect themselves regularly. And it’s pretty rare that people do huge favors for strangers let alone die in their place. And yet Jesus did these things. And when He did, His Spirit came to live in His followers. That same Spirit came to live in me when I accepted Jesus’s gift of love. Again, so mind-boggling, mysterious, and bizarre. But the Bible says this is what happened. To believe it, I have to have faith.

Dear God,

Thank you for the miraculous and mysterious gift of salvation you offered me through Jesus. I gratefully accept! Teach me how to live with, to listen to, and be guided by your Spirit. What amazing power and freedom is available to me through your Spirit! Show me how to make use of this power and freedom to love people and please you today.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬ ‭CSB‬‬

I’m realizing that humility and love go hand in hand. God’s command for me to love Him and love my neighbor is also a command for me to be humble. Pride is a barrier to Christianity. I can’t be a follower of Jesus and think more highly of myself than any of His other children. This has nothing to do with self-esteem though. God wants me to value myself and realize my potential as His beloved child. However, this value has nothing to do with any effort on my part. My value comes entirely as a gift from God specifically given to me for a purpose He lovingly bestowed on me. Part of that purpose is to love. If I feel I’m too important to care for someone else, I’m failing at my purpose. If I am too concerned about my own comfort to be generous to someone else, I’m failing. If I judge anyone else, I am failing at my purpose. If I think I deserve everything I have because of my hard work, I am failing at my purpose. Whenever I lack humility, I cannot love. In God’s kingdom, there are no tiers of worth in humans. We have all failed and fallen short of God’s standard. I have no right to have more or be treated better or live in a fancier house. Everything I have and am is a beautiful gift from a loving God. He could take it all away at any time for reasons He doesn’t need to share with me. Until then, I am to use it to accomplish His will.

Dear God,

I am so grateful to be your child, to have been forgiven, to have been raised in a family and community that taught me about you and your love. You have heaped blessings on my head that I often take for granted. Thank you for the reminder that I didn’t earn where I was born or the opportunities that came my way. There is nothing special about me that I deserve a better life than anyone else. Show me how to use the resources you’ve allowed me to have to love your children and fulfill the purpose you have for me.