Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Dwell with Me...

A familiar passage in the Bible can become so lifeless to us at times.
Sometimes we need to revisit it and let the living word sink in to our hearts. Here is my heart's song. Enjoy
Stacey

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

What do I need If I have You as my Lord?

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

Is the grass greener over there? Oh how I long for the quiet places of rest in your presence.

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Create in me a clean heart, OH, God, and renew a right spirit within me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. I need your joy and unimaginable peace today.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

Through the fire, the rain, the storms, the crying babies, the frayed nerves, and the evil all around, YOU are with me. You set me on the right path and it comforts me when you teach me your ways are not always mine. Light my way, OH Lord.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Grace overflows from you. Apart from you I can never forgive them, I can never love them, I can never face them again. In your presence I find enough for me and them. Praise You, Oh Holy One. Here am I, send me!

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

I am not alone. Praise You that you are like my shadow that is always there, even when I cannot see you. In the light you are revealed to me and I am reminded you are my constant companion. Oh heavenly hosts, can I join you in a song? Thank you Jesus for that nice room you are decorating for me. I long for you my love. Come Lord Jesus, Come.

You are His--believe it!

From my friend Rhonda Kelly, good encouragement:


A right relationship with God begins with settling once and for all the issue that God is your loving Father and you are His accepted, adopted child. Yes, you are a child of God, you are created in His image, you have been declared righteous by Him because you trust that what Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection is applicable to you. As long as you believe that and walk accordingly, your daily experience of practical Christianity will result in growth. But when you forget who you are, and try to produce in your daily experience the acceptance God has already extended to you, you'll struggle. We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted so we serve God. We don't follow Him in order to be loved; we are loved so we follow Him.

This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassion never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I hope in Him!"
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
It is good that one should hope and wait quietly.
(Lam 3: 21-26)

The essence of the victorious Christian life is believing what is already true about you. Do you have a choice? Of course! Satan will try to convince you that you are an unworthy, unacceptable, sin-sick person who will never amount to anything in God's eyes. Is that who you are? No, you are not! You are a saint whom God has declared righteous. Believing Satan's lie will lock you into a defeated, fruitless life. But believing God's truth about your identity will set you free. Your perception of your identity makes such a big difference in your success at dealing with the challenges and conflicts of your life. (Know the truth and the truth shall set you free!)
--Neil Anderson

"Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity"

The Shack, By WIlliam P. Young is my new favorite book right now.

There are many that love it and give it high praise like this
"This book has the ptential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!" Eugene Peterson

Other people are not so sure about it. There are many that have misunderstood the purpose of this book and decided that it's a dangerous book, especially for young Christians.

Well I don't agree. I feel that this book is worth reading. The caption on the front cover says "Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity". That is a good summation of the story. One important thing in reading this book is that we must remember it is a work of fiction and so the author presents God in an allegorical way. Some people may embrace this and find it very refreshing. I find it easier to let go of the preconceived ways we picture God and look at him from another perspective.

This book should be sold with a box of kleenex because even grown men are in tears as they read the moving account of a man who lost his daughter through a tragedy that brings him under a Great Sadness. This is his journey to healing.

The back cover of the book says this:

Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.

Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.

In a world where religioun seems to grow increasingly irrelevant The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone youknow to read this book!

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And that is true. I want everyone I know to read it and to have a chance to see things differently and maybe even get some answers to their own painful questions for God.
My pastor has reccommended this book from the pulpit and he is a very learned Bible scholar. I know that this book does not go against scripture and it's truly a treasure.
Please consider reading it. Maybe you have heard about it already, maybe not. But either way, at least give it a chance. Don't get stuck in the middle of it when things get crazy. Just read on and see what happens. You never know what God may say to you while reading it.

Visit the website and learn more about the author at www.TheShackBook.com .


God Bless You and Yours.
Stacey LaMontagne