Tag: the lord is my shepherd

The Divine Trust-Fall

Faith Over Fear: The Divine Trust-Fall

Have you ever participated in a “trust-fall” at your place of work?

A “trust-fall” is when you stand with your back towards a group of coworkers. At the designated time, you blindly fall backwards into the safe and secure arms of your teammates who are ready to catch you.

At least, you hope they are ready to catch you.

Some companies offer a trust-fall experience to promote teamwork within their organizations.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to do it.

That’s a lot of trust to put into a coworker who you know stole your turkey sandwich from the employee refrigerator. 🙂

No doubt, a trust-fall is all about surrendering control and trusting someone else.

If you think about it, our very lives are like a trust-fall.

Our fellow humans will fail us, but by our Sovereign God’s grace, He never will.

This is what faith is all about.

We can trust God completely.

The Divine Trust-Fall

In the challenging days ahead, it’s a comfort to know that God is just a prayer away.

He will be there to guide and lead us, just as a shepherd does his sheep.

God is always with us.

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). – Matthew 1:23, NASB).1

Courageous Faith: The Divine Trust-Fall

How comforting it is to know that God knows every detail of our lives and wants us with Him for eternity.

Trust Him

Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee,
Trust Him when thy strength is small,
Trust Him when to simply trust Him
Seems the hardest thing of all.

Trust Him, He is ever faithful,
Trust Him, for his will is best,
Trust Him, for the heart of Jesus
Is the only place of rest.

Author Unknown2

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1 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

2  Author Unknown, Trust Him,. 2020, Bible.org, reprinted with permission.

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Expect The Unexpected

Expect The Unexpected: Guaranteed

If there’s one thing we can count on in life, it’s to expect the unexpected.

One day all is well, you wake up the next morning, and life takes an unexpected turn.

Here in our neck of the woods, it’s severe weather season again.

Fall is upon us and as the temperatures start to “fall”, (couldn’t resist!) the weather can be unstable.

I’ve never been a big fan of thunderstorms and Texas is one of the states that gets big ones.

Expect the unexpected

Lightning?

I can remember when I was younger how my dad and I would stand on our back porch during a storm.

He would hold my hand as we watched the lightning storms roll in across Pensacola Bay.

A great memory for me, but now I’d rather stay inside away from the windows.

Several days ago in North Texas, we had a huge lightning storm.

I was already counting in my head: “One, one thousand; two, one thousand . . . ”

How many miles away is it?

It wasn’t too long before we heard another very loud crack of lightning – louder than the rest.

My husband and I stopped what we were doing and ran outside to our garage to check the attic for flames.

There had already been news reports of homes catching fire about 15 minutes from us.

The lightning struck close alright.

We were spared, but our next door neighbor didn’t fare so well.

That huge “bolt out of the blue” fried their electronics. 

Thankfully, no one was hurt, but what a scare.

Expect the Unexpected, But We’re Not Alone in Life’s Storms

Life will throw us curveballs – guaranteed.

We have to expect the unexpected. Sometimes it’s good news, and sometimes it’s bad.

By the grace of God, in those moments of fear, disappointment, and frustration we can trust that God will walk through it with us, whatever “it” is.

So many Bible pages serve as reminders that God is with us, even during times of trouble.

At times like that, battered and beaten by the storms of life, many turn to the Psalms and read the experiences of men and women of God who have gone through exactly the same struggles and the same pressures. Somehow this speaks to their need, gets hold of their hearts, helps them to know that at least they are not alone in this struggle, that others have had it before them. – Ray C. Stedman, Christian pastor.1

One of my favorites is Psalm 23 which I’ve committed to memory.

“The Lord is my Shepherd . . . “

All this to say that we can expect the unexpected, but we can also expect the most unimaginable wonderful and beautiful gift of God’s grace in our future.

We have a Savior and, one day, we will meet Him face-to -face!

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1 Source Credit, Article by Ray C. Stedman (Christian pastor and author – 1917-1992).  “The Pressure Of Problems.” Courtesy of raystedman.org. para.5. Web. Accessed 2nd November, 2025. Retrieved from: Obtaining God’s Help

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Does Your Heart Hurt?

Heart Condition: Does Your Heart Hurt?

How is your heart these days?

Does your heart hurt?

I’m not talking about a heart defect, but rather the emotional hurt that comes when you feel powerless to stop bad things from happening.

My heart hurts.

My heart hurts when I think of persecuted Christians here in America, and overseas.

It breaks my heart when I hear that some churches closed their doors out of fear-pressure due to the virus. 

Especially considering what kind of businesses stay open.

It hurts my heart when I hear of the growing discrimination against non-vaxxed people.

Intimidation and accusations directed towards anyone, whether they’ve had the shot or not, is discrimination.

We should aim to do better than that.

Respect each other’s decisions!

The world can be so ugly at times, wouldn’t you say?

Give us a renewed hope, Lord.

Help us to see the world through Your eyes.

Waiting for His Return

We are a hurting and lost world in need of our Savior.

There’s such a pervasive divide between the Good and the Bad now that any little glimpse of grace can sometimes bring tears to my eyes.

Those glimpses of grace are a window of what’s to come in our eternal home – for those who trust in Jesus for their salvation.

I am sad for our country, but our blessed HOPE is on the horizon, closer now more than ever.

I love this from Christian author Susie Larson.

Daily Blessing . . .

May you be honest with God about the hurts in your heart. May you discern the difference between grief and self-pity. May you be okay with not always being okay. God will one day wipe away every tear from your eyes, but until then, He’ll help you walk this journey with peace in your heart and assurance in your step. He is with you. One day Jesus will turn your mourning into dancing and your sorrow into songs of joy. In the meantime, enjoy the little graces you find along the way. Celebrate the small victories. Dare to dream. And take one step at a time. You’re going to be okay. Blessings on your day today. – Susie Larson, Christian author.

Lord, grant us peace in these trying times.

Does your heart hurt?

Heart Hurt and Glimpses of Grace

Does your heart hurt?

Keep going.

Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Don’t throw in the towel.

In other words, those little glimpses of grace along the way are reasons to thank God.

You’ve reached another day to celebrate God’s blessings, and it’s another day that you’ve moved closer to your eternal home.

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1Susie Larson, courtesy of Susie Larson.com, “One Step At A Time.” Daily Blessing. September 7, 2021. Retrieved from https://www.susielarson.com/daily-blessing.

2Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) Copyright © 1960, 1971,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

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The Lord Is My Shepherd Forever

Why The Lord Is My Shepherd Forever

The Lord is my shepherd forever

My defender, my protector, the Lord is my shepherd forever

Psalm 23 has always been dear to my heart.

The entire psalm talks about trusting our Savior – as an illustration that we can rest in Him, no matter what life brings.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”– Psalm 23, (NASB).1

In fact, history tells us that a shepherd will do anything to protect his sheep, even lay down his life against a predator.

The Lord is my shepherd

The Lord Is My Shepherd Song

With the comforting picture of Jesus as our Savior in mind, I recently found a beautiful Christian song to share that I have literally listened to over and over.

Turn it up if you can.

The song is from Nashville Life Music and it’s called, “Shepherd.”

It really blessed me, and I hope you find it as uplifting as I do for the days ahead.

Make sure you check out their new album, “Here For Jesus” that will release May 15, 2020. In addition, the Nashville Life Music group is nominated for a GMA Dove Award for their song, “My God.”

Furthermore, here’s a fun fact you may not know: The group started out nine years ago in gospel legend, CeCe Winan’s living room.

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*Opening Shepherd photo is free to use, licensed under under a Creative Commons CC0 License.

1 Scripture quotation is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. 

2 Quotation from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, Web. Accessed 29, April, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/shepherd/. Sheep photo is free to use, licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 License.

 

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