Green Grass and Still Water

Happy Sunday, thanks for listening, and some of you may even be watching this on YouTube. If you are, there's a subscribe button right there, and if you would subscribe, that would help the algorithm more people to see this. I would also let you know when new sermons are posted.

It's been an interesting beginning to 2023. The news has been filled with stories of our military shooting down balloons or something over our country and over Canada this past week. There have been too many stories of Senseless killings across this country. These are strange times. The war in the Ukraine rages, and I encourage you to pray for peace and these United States. Our government stays busy fighting with one another.

Meanwhile, at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, a Great Awakening is taking place. If you're not aware of what is happening there, I suggest you Google Asbury Awakening or Asbury asburry Revival and see what God is up to there. Today I am thankful that in spite of all the crazy that is going on in this world, we have a God who cares for us and who gives us peace and rest.

Today we continue on our study of the 23rd psalm. We will look at verse 2. "He makes me to lie down in Green Pastures; he leads me beside the Still Waters." Isn't that a beautiful picture? Green Pastures and Still Waters. Here in verse 2, we see a picture of sheep that are completely at rest and satisfied.

We're going to talk about sheep in a minute, but back to us. Some feel that the only way for Green Pastures and Still Waters to occur in our lives in this hectic world is by a change of scenery or a vacation. That's not the idea here at all. This pasture at Water scene is found internally, not externally, for believers.

Now, for real sheep, David is painting a picture of an ideal place. Sheep need Green Pastures to be well fed. A Good Shepherd will lead his flock to Green Pastures. Not only are they grazing there, they're lying down. Sheep won't lie down if they are fearful. The shepherd here is so on top of the surroundings that the sheep have no fear at all.

Now, forget about the animal for a second and look at your life. Have you trusted God enough so that you can lie down and trust him and not worry about this crazy world? Years ago I knew a man that had a lot of problems in his life, so he ran away from home. Up to that point, I'd heard of children running away from home, but a grown man doing that, one was a new one to me. He was not a man of faith, and he had no place to go for peace and rest internally, so he ran.

In our day and time, without Christ, many people turned to running away, or to alcohol to relax, or to drugs, both legally prescribed and illegal. If you're listening to this today and that describes your life, you need Jesus. You need him to be your Shepherd. If you're listening today and you're a follower of Christ and you know all about Green Pastures and Still Waters, you need to be thankful to never take God's provision for granted.

For a moment, I want to talk about Still Waters. Sheep are afraid of swiftly moving water. They're not good swimmers, and all that wool would weigh them down. A Good Shepherd will Dam up a stream and create a pool of still waters for the Sheep to drink from and to be filled. If you are following Jesus as your Shepherd, you will be at rest and content and full.

You need to notice that the Shepherds always lead their sheep from the front; they don't drive them from the back. It is up to us to follow. We can stop, or we can turn, or we can even head backwards if we choose, but we need to know that the shepherd will not give up on us.

Do you remember these words of Jesus from Matthew chapter 18? Jesus said, "What do you think? If a Shepherd has 100 sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountain and go in search of the one that went astray? And if we find it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is not the will of your father in Heaven that one of these little ones should be lost."

If you are the parent or grandparent or concerned loved one of one who has gone astray, you need to take comfort in the fact that it is not the will of your father in Heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. Keep praying for their safe return. If you have wandered off, welcome home.

Years ago I had friends who wandered away. They decided to camp out on Fool's Hill for a while, and they were bad, bad sheep. I prayed for them for years, probably decades. They are all now good sheep. I thank God he never gave up. Whatever it is that you're prone to worry about today, please remember that there's Green Grass and cool water as close as a prayer away.

Pray with me. Lord God, help us to follow, and we thank you that in spite of this crazy world that is hard to explain at times, you have a place for us as close as closing our eyes and trusting you, a place of green pasture and still water, peace and rest and comfort, no matter what's going on in the war zones around us. Bless these friends. Help us all to be good sheep. Help us all to find that rest in Jesus. In his name we pray, amen.

God bless, thank you for joining me today.