Promises of Psalms 23...

The Lord is my Shepherd= That's Relationship

I shall not want= That's supply

He makes me lie dow in green pastures= That's rest

He leads me beside still waters= That's refreshement

He restores my soul= That's healing

He leads me in the paths of righteousness= That's guidance

For His name's sake= That's purpose

Though I walk through the valley of shadow of death= That's testing

I will fear no evil= That's protection

For thou art with me= That's faithfulness

Thy rod and staff, they comfort me= That's discipline

Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies= That's hope

Thou anoints my head with oil= That's consecration

My cup runneth over= That's abundance

Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life= That's blessing

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord= That's security

Forever= That's eternity!!!

Refining...It's gonna burn!

Refining is defined as the process of removing impurities and of purification.

When you begin to let God refine you, it's gonna burn. It's going to hurt and it is just plainly going to suck. It's going to be no where close to easy.

Burning all of you to be like Him and molding you into who He made you to be is going to be hard, to say the least.

Refining gold consists of recovering gold to its pure state so that the end product is free from impurities that may impair the quality. Substances are removed and the gold is burned in a furnace. It is a complicated and difficult process, but the end product is rewarding and worth it.

When God begins to refine us, it starts with getting rid of all the "stuff" that are not meant to be with us (i.e. sinful habits, unforgiveness, pride, etc). Depending upon our cooperation and our willingness to just surrender, the process can take forever. Then, we are burned by His Presence and molded and shaped into who he created us to be.

We are forever changed by this process and although it is tough, it is well worth it!

PEACE, Peace, Peace!!! Wait, where did it go?

I have learned a more than valuable lesson on peace:

I was so caught up in God's peace that I didn't want to do anything to get out of it or mess it up. I didn't think about the big decisions that I soon had to make or the repercussions of those choices. I just wanted to stay in God's peace and not worry about them.

The only problem with that is exactly what I did---NOTHING!
I was so caught up in His peace that I didn't search for Him or spend as much time in His presence. I had one of the most precious gifts, PEACE, and I did nothing to try to keep it, literally.

How do we keep God's peace without God? We simply can't. Soon enough, the peace will be gone. Unless we continue to seek Him, we will lose it.

When God gives us what we need, how do we show appreciation? Either we get close to Him or farther away. If it's going to push us farther away, we are much better off without the gift and to just continue pursuing Him. Having what we need does not constitute to let God go. We tend to think we don't need Him anymore once we have what we need, whether consciously or not.

We should love Him enough to seek Him out in abundance and in lack thereof.