Psalm 23:1 Shepherd
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Psalm 23:1 New King James Version

1. The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want

“Shepherd” is one of the titles God uses to identify Himself as our leader.

A shepherd is one who takes care of sheep.  He leads them to safe and fertile ground and protects them from harm.  A good shepherd is ready to fight for His flock and place their life above His.

He is present and willing to defend, encourage and discipline His sheep in order to keep them where they need to be.

Doesn’t this sound like our Shepherd? 

The Lord promises to guide us. 

Psalm 32:8 New Living Translation

8. The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.

This Shepherd of ours created us each specific and unique to the plans and purposes He designed for us. 

It is only He who can successfully move us to our destination.

We must be cautious who we allow into that place of leadership over us. It has to be God and no other.  No pastor, no church, no friend or family member, or group can effectively lead us into our individual calling.  All these are good to have in our life as long as they are positive influences who want the best for us, but it is God Himself who knows exactly what is needed for our journey and ultimate destiny. This is why it is imperative we each have a relationship with God.

 When God created us, He did so already having a purpose for us.  He gave us the gifts, talents and wisdom we would need in order to fulfill His plan for our lives, equipping us for what lay ahead.

In creating us He knows every intimate detail of who we are and what we need. As long as we follow Him as our Shepherd, He will supply what we need, not always what we want, and it will be for that moment and in the measurement required.  

Challenge:  Keep communication open with God so that you are listening more than talking.  Allow Him to move upon you with words, visions and senses and be ready to obey.

God bless

Marni

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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.