In the beginning.....

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:1-2

And God said Let there be light

And God said

Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters.

Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear.

Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants, yielding seed and trees bearing fruits.

let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth

God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves

Let us make man

 With man came lies, deceit, adultery, corruption, greed, idol worship, war............

I will not pretend that I fully understand what it means for the word to become flesh. One thing I know for sure is that the word of God is THE MOST powerful thing there is.

Without the word we would not be here, if the word does not dwell in us we do not have eternal life. Everything you see around you is because of the word.

This immense power is available to us at no cost and we have the freedom and the ability to take hold of that power and live a life of miracles.

The Bible is the word of God and you are holding it in your hands. Do we treat it the way it should be treated? Do we respect it? If you truly regarded the Bible as a book with power, wouldn't you dust it off?

Let's be honest here. We are more consumed by the words on the facebook feed or the reality magazine at the check out line than the word of God.

When we have aches and pains we google our symptoms until we can safely reassure ourselves that we do not have a brain tumor but a simple headache.

We share words with our friends in gossip...
We share words with our husbands in frustration...
We share words with our children in anger...
We share words with God too about all the things and people that need fixing in our lives.

But do we receive the word and do what it says.

 Read Colossians 3:16-17

Commit yourself to reading the word and apply it to your life.

When asked which Bible translation was best Rick Warren answered that "the best translation is when you translate the word of God into your daily life."

Jehovah-raah

Some of you may be familiar with the story of Shrek the sheep (not the green ogre with a Scottish accent). Shrek was a Merino Wether sheep born in New Zealand. Shrek was an individual with a penchant for living a hippie life and was prone to wandering (like most sheep). Hiding in caves he escaped capture for an astounding 6 years! He was finally caught and brought back to his shepherd carrying with him an incredible 60 pounds in extra weight simply because he wanted to do his own thing. His shepherd did not want to harm him in any ways but simply take care of him.
Are you prone to wander? Do you want to be "free" and do your own thing? Do you ignore the call of your Shepherd? Like Shrek, how much weight do you carry around with you?

Come to me all who are weary....

One of the most beautiful picture of God is painted by King David in Psalm 23.

Yahweh is my Roeh.
    I am never in need.
²         He makes me lie down in green pastures.
        He leads me beside peaceful waters.
³         He renews my soul.
        He guides me along the paths of righteousness
            for the sake of his name.
⁴ Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,
    because you are with me, I fear no harm.
        Your rod and your staff give me courage.

⁵ You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch.
    You anoint my head with oil.
    My cup overflows.

⁶ Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,
    and I will remain in Yahweh’s house for days without end.

(Names of God Bible)

I am sure that some of you memorized this Psalm or read it many times and proclaimed "The Lord is My Shepherd", my Jehovah-raah. What is meant by that?

He makes me lie down in green pastures...

In Israel green pastures do not look like the rolling hills of Pennsylvania. They look more like that.

Not much green huh!?! That is where the knowledge of the shepherd comes in. He knows exactly where to go to find food for his sheep. The morning dew will make a single tuft of grass sprout and the shepherd knows to lead his sheep to that place and stay for the night.

He leads me beside peaceful waters.....

In a desert place one of the main cause of death is not thirst but flood. The ground is so dry and hard that when it rains it floods and if you do not know the right spot you might drown. A good shepherd knows where to lead his sheep to find safe water. The same is true for us. Choices we make in our lives can drown us (work, finances, relationships) or be safe if we allow Him to lead us.

 He guides me along the right paths.....

Did you know that sheep always walk in a straight line? This is cool until you walk in a straight line right down the cliff! A shepherd knows to guide his sheep in a straight line that gently curves back and forth to avoid major disasters. Do you let your shepherds guide you? Or do you follow your own path? You might be heading for a cliff......

The Lord is my shepherd.....

A sheep knows his shepherd's voice. Even when several flocks spend the night together, when morning comes and it is time to move each sheep recognize the calling of his shepherd. Do you? 

Action steps

• Read John 10 and spend time thinking about what it means that Jesus is your good shepherd.
• have you been following the good shepherd or have you been distracted or mislead by a bad shepherd?
• maybe you are like Shrek and decided to do your own thing and now you find yourself burdened by extra weight you are carrying around. It will take time but allow your good shepherd to shave the weight off.

 Memorize

Psalm 23

If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.

Irish Blessing

Simplify

What a difference 100 years can make! Before WWI people did not have the convenience of washing machines, microwave, internet, televisions and even the basic home telephone, not to mention the I phone. Banking was done at the bank, not in your living room. Laundry was a set day of the week or month and would take a whole day. Cooking was started early in the day for the evening. Days were packed with all those activities.
Today we can do laundry everyday and it does  not take all day. A meal can be ready in 5 minutes in the microwave. We can pay bills and transfer funds while waiting for the meal to be ready and when communicating with people we do not need to rely solely on the postal system. Our lives are so much easier and yet we are so much more stressed than in 1910. We have everything to live better yet we live worse. Simplifying things has led to poor eating habits and unhealthy lifestyles.
On most days I feel stressed. There are always too many things on my to do list and I easily get sidetracked by facebook or a funny video on YouTube and of course I need to keep up with my favorite TV shows....... I am sure that you are stressed as well. Life should be easier and yet it seems to be more complicated.

Unplug

Hebrews 4 talks about the promise of entering God's rest with a stark warning that many will fail to enter it. Yet we all know that verse "come to me....". Jesus, I do need your rest, I do give you my burden so why am I still stressed?

Come to me.....

Jesus will meet us where we are but to enter his rest we have to come to him, we have to be where he is at. 

Here is my challenge for you: Find him!

Is he on your to do list?

Is he on your calendar?

Is he in your email contacts?

Where is he?

Jesus was often found in solitary places (Matthew 14:13; Mark 1:35; Luke 8:29) and my guess is that this is where you are most likely to find him. 

Your action steps for this week are simple:

• look at your to do list and cross out things that you do not need to worry about
• set time aside to just be and breathe. Starts with just 5-10 minutes and increase to 1 hour or more.
• remove the guilt that you should be doing more or better. Comparing yourself to others is never good. Only strive to be more like Jesus.
• unplug. Strive to have one day a week of no electronics.
• Slow cook a meal.
• plant a flower.
• Go for a nature walk.
• Hug your children longer.
• Play a board game.

 Come to me.....