Today's Truthful Minute

  He restores my soul; he leads us down the path of righteousness for his names sake. Psalm 23:3

Righteousness: the quality of being morally right or justifiable:

If God can be called anything, we have to admit maybe above everything, is that he is morally right and justifiable.

In my opinion, anyway. 

And so, as he is restoring us, he also leads us down those paths that are morally right, and good for us. Those paths that keep us close to him and away from the darkness of sin and the destruction of our very being.

Not only for our own sakes, but for his, as well. Because if he does not do it for his sake, he would not be who he claims to be. He is perfect and loving. He has standards of himself that must line up with exactly who he is. And he must be true to those standards. 

We take a look at David's life again, and there was so much chaos and sin involved that how could he ever hope to be able to say these words in the 23rd Psalm?

And yet, he did. What was it God said about David in 1 Samuel 13:14? "He was a man after God's own heart."

That gives all of humanity the hope that we too can follow God down those same paths of righteousness. Despite our downfalls, and despite our own sin. 

The choice is up to us. God will never make it for anyone.

Have a great and blessed day, Friends. Thanks for coming by.

Today's Truthful Minute

 He restores my soul; he leads us down the path of righteousness for his names sake. Psalm 23:3

The word 'restore' reminds me of the days when we were not quite as into the future as far as our recording machines, as we are now these days.

We had tape recorders back then and when we wanted to record something, we could tape over the recording if we decided we no longer wanted the recording.

So that brings me to the questions of: are you sad? broken hearted? mad? Many people are these days. Along with many other emotions that they find hard or impossible to control

David no doubt felt a lot of those emotions in his life, with the way his life had gone. 

But with the penning of this verse, we find that he also believed that God was restoring his very soul. 

We too can experience the restoration of our souls by God.

It may take some people time. Maybe it will take counseling, or some other way to get to there. And the work required may not be easy. But it can happen.

And it is always worth it, if God is in the middle of it, helping us do the work to acomplish it. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless the rest of your day.

Todays Truthful Minute

 He maketh me to lie down in green pasters; he leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2

If in our minds, we can imagine Jesus as our Shepherd, and then remember the times either past or present, in which there is hardship and not having any peace, it is Jesus that wants to lead us out of that, and into only the peace that only he gives. 

Sheep are lead by their shepherd to a place of safety. Where food and water are plentiful. And they depend on their shepherd to get them there.

We can do that by reading his Word, to gain comfort in this not so peaceful world, when we don't know what the next few minutes might bring.

David knew that, when he penned this verse in Psalm. His world was anything but peaceful in natural circumstances. It could only become what he desired as he rested in his Sheperd.

And like David, we too experience tension and more.

 But, God wants to lead us to that kind of rest that we too, so desire.

Hello, Friends. As always, thanks for coming by. God bless!

Today's Truthful Minute.

 The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

The Lord is indeed the Shepard to those that believe on and want him to be. But it also says there that because of it, we will not want. 

Well, there are times we want. Whether it is for need, as in clothing, food, or a place to live. Sometimes it is for something we don't need, just desire to have. Like a brand new car, when our old one is perfectly good. Or a bigger or fancier home. Maybe it is the items in our homes that we want as in the big entertainment centers that are so popular today, fancy clothes or something else.

God does promise us that he will give us the desires of our heart, but I don't think that in this passage he meant that there are times we want something that he will always supply them. I believe he will supply what we need, when we need it.

Just as a shepard watches over his sheep, makes sure they have food and shelter when they need it, and protection from the dangers that may await them, Jesus does the same for us. 

That is who he is. Our Shepard. He watches over and takes care of us. His sheep. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Have a blessed day!

Todays Truthful Minute

•  The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. Psalms 23:1

If you have been involved in church for a length of time, you have probably heard and been taught from the 23rd Psalm. In the next few days, I will be doing my truthful minutes centering on what we understand about each verse, one at a time and starting today with verse one.

And so what does it mean that the Lord is our Shepard?

There are two important things we need to know about this verse. 

One that Jesus had laid down his life for his sheep and second, his sheep know his voice and follow him.

But why is an animal like sheep, who for the most part are dirty, likened to humans.

First of all, that is easy if you look at sin being dirty. But, looking at their nature, it is their tendency to go off from the group and get lost. So as humans we can identify with sheep. We sin, and as believers, we tend to go off on our own at times to get lost, and away from Jesus who is our Shepard. 

When sheep wander away from their shepard, they can get into trouble. And it is the same for us. If we leave our Shepard, and go into sin and stay there, we can cause ourselves to get into dangerous places. 

Sin has consequences, and can lead us down many different paths that we do not want to go. 

But Jesus, our Shepard, never leaves us, even though we go off into sin. He usually lets us have consequences to show us we need to return to him, but he never lets us completely go. He is always there, ready to pick us up and carry us back to the fold, when we mess up and confess our sin to him.

If you would like to read more about sheep, there is much more that is quite interesting and goes along with this subject. You can find out more at:    What does it mean that the Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 23)? | GotQuestions.org

Hello, Friends. Thanks for coming by. God bless!

Today's Truthful Minute

Did you know that your heart has eyes? Oh, yes it does. It sees what it wants to see. It believes what it wants to believe and it does what it wants to do. And if you don't believe me, consider this:

The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

In order to understand that, all we have to do is look at our own lives and the troubles that we have caused for ourselves.

Have you ever stolen something from someone? Have you ever lied? What about sneaking a cigarette or drink when you were young, or getting into drugs and alcohol as you grew into adult hood?

Maybe you have committed adultery. Or taken God's name in vain.

Our hearts see the things that we want and carry out what it sees. And we are all guilty. There is no one born that is exempt. Except, of course, Jesus Christ. 

But looking at another scripture, we can pray for the eyes of our hearts to be open to looking not to the sin we desire, but to...well lets look at it.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. Ephesians 1:18

If we could pray and ask God to open the eyes of our hearts and stay away from the stuff that we desire, wouldn't our lives be so much richer as we contemplate the day we fully inherit his wonderful grace?

Yes, I believe so.

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. God bless!

Today's Truthful Minute

God wants a relationship with us. He that created us did not do so just to live in a vast universe to go drifting along not knowing who he is or why we are here. From the time we wake to the time we close our eyes, we should be aware of his presence and want his communication with us. He is Lord overall. The hope of our salvation. He is our very substance. He loves us to the core of our very being. But it is up to us. He is, after all, a gentleman. And as gentlemen, he does not intrude upon our lives, if we do not want him in it. He only comes to those of us that do. And because of who he is, we are a blessed people! What then should we do when we wake every morning?  How shall we greet each day as it begins?  I can give you this: From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, his name is worthy to be praised! Psalm 133: 3  

Amen and Amen!

Thanks for coming by today, Friends! God bless your day!