Psalm 23

The 23rd Psalm is a beautiful reminder of who our God is and all the strength, comfort, encouragement, shelter, rest, love, mercy, discipline, forgiveness, guidance, grace, and hope that He gives to our lives.

The danger in a Psalm such as this, one that we become overly familiar with, is that we allow it to become common to us, and thus, it loses meaning in our lives and of our God.

I invite you to read the following Scripture, the 23rd Psalm, pausing to reflect on the words used and the meaning of these words. A journal entry prayer written by King David;

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

begging and pleading

The other day I was driving to Bloomington with my son in the back seat. We had stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and he could see my Coke cup in the cup holder. He started to ask for a drink and I handed him his cup of milk. He didn't want the milk and so he threw it to the floor and began to point, whine and ask for my drink.  The problem was that I could not give him my drink, I couldn't reach him, he couldn't reach me and I was driving and could not pull over to get the drink to him. Besides that, he did not need coke at 9:00 in the morning (whether I needed it is a separate matter entirely) and I knew that he would end up spilling it all over himself and I did not have any other clothes for him.

Needless to say, there were plenty of reasons NOT to give him my coke at this point. So I began to explain this all to him...

Have you ever tried to reason with a two-year old? The best reasoning, the most thought-out responses or explanations mean nothing! It is very difficult to convince a two-year old that you are right and that you have their best interest in mind.

I imagine that this is the same way with God as we pray for our "needs" and ask "why", "why not", but, but, but...

Back to my son, after some asking, whining, and a bit of a fit, he pulled out the "p" card, "please daddy, please".

When we begin to beg God, to plead with Him on our own behalf or the behalf of another person, what does He do, what does He say, what does He feel?

GOD QUESTions

Our new teaching series at the Robinson Free Methodist Church is called GOD QUESTions. If you're in the Robinson, Illinois area between September and October 2010, stop by a join a loving, Christ-focused church family.

Through this series we will take an onest look at many of the questions that we all deal with. Questions about God on our quest for God.

Not only will this be a great teaching series for those unfamiliar with God and the church, it will give the more mature believers to gain a deeper insight.

Sunday September 12th - WHO is God?
Sunday September 19th  - Why do I need God?
Sunday September 26 - What can God offer?
Sunday October 3 - When I need God?
Sunday October 10 - Where can I find God?
Sunday October 17 - How do I walk with God?