The Lord is My Shepherd - His Spirit is water to my Soul!

I wish I was perfect - wouldn't that be awesome to be perfect.  

To never say or do the wrong thing.  

To just wake up every morning and know that your every response to someone would be just the right one.  

The perfect words to every situation would fly out of your mouth without thought.   

Every action, deed and thought would be beyond question and reproach. 

I am not perfect!  

I'm struggling now. 

- Struggling with everything it feels like a big weight of nothingness has settled over me and well spiritually I know that this isn't from God.  I'm so not right within myself that I wonder what am I doing?  

What does God's word say about this?  

I've not been in the word lately!  I've been avoiding it actually - what does that say about me?  I have been praying but most of my prayers are about God helping me through a situation.  Or helping me figure out what to say and how to say it.  What to do.  Asking God to forgive me for my not so nice thoughts and feelings as of late.  

I think that most of this just means I'm normal.  

A Christian, not in the word, under stress and full of emotional responses as my first line of defense.  Seriously, I've cried all I can today.  

While I haven't been in the word lately,  I had been studying the 23rd Psalm.  

Studying it along with  a book written by W. Phillip Keller.  

I'm such a sheep!

The Shepherd Trilogy: A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm / A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd / A Shepherd Looks at the Lamb of God

I'm glad that I was studying this before this time in the valley because I can see how much of a sheep I am!  During this time without water, when my enemies seem to be other sheep kicking me.  Why do we sheep do that to each other?  Why do I do that to other sheep?  

I am a sheep in need of rest,  I am a sheep in need of a good Shepherd.  

In need of a Shepherd that during this dry time is waiting for me to meet Him up in the meadow.  Better yet is waiting for me to allow Him to safely lead me to this quiet place of rest. 

The song Better is One Day -  is going through my mind.  The part that talks about 

Your Spirit is Water to My Soul!

There it is the water that I need that everyone needs.  Good thing I don't need to be perfect or I'd be doomed - well damned really. 

Let this be Water to your Soul too!

This is true for me - is it true for you?  Is one Day with God better than 1,000 somewhere else?

Water to your soul?

Oh things are not suddenly perfect now.

I'm still not perfect, 

right now I still feel down and my spirit is still heavy the valley is still a bit dark. 

But there is that meadow over there and I'm going to head to it because 

He is a good Shepherd.  

And well He is perfect. 

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my dshepherd; I shall not ewant.

2 He makes me lie down in green fpastures.

He leads me beside still waters.1

3 He grestores my soul.

He hleads me in ipaths of righteousness2

for his jname's sake.

4 Even though I kwalk through the valley of lthe shadow of death,3

I will mfear no evil,

for nyou are with me;

your orod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You pprepare a table before me

in qthe presence of my enemies;

you ranoint my head with oil;

my scup overflows.

6 Surely4 goodness and mercy5 shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall tdwell6 in the house of the Lord

u forever.  (ESV)

Water from the Well

One of the outreaches this summer was the trekking outreach.  One day our guide had a friend he wanted our team to meet at a well.  This friend I’ll call him Peter and he always have lots of good conversations about the Lord and the end times.  He wanted us to meet Peter and to talk with the other man that was with them.  The meeting was at a covered well with a picnic table on the edge of a field in Southern Moldova.

Reflecting back I find it interesting that the entire conversation took place at a well.  Jesus met the women at the well and he knew her sin.  She realized that He was the Christ.  She then told everyone who she had met and many people through this sinner came to know Jesus.  

At this well the first gentlemen - I’ll call him Bob.  He wanted to bring up all these issues concerning conflicts with other nations, between nations and wars.  Since I am an American he brought up 9 11.  We tried to steer the conversation to himself and his own relationship with God, but he didn’t want to go there.  

During this conversation with Bob - a drunk man from the field came to see what was going on - he may have heard us singing.  I’ll call him Dan.  He wondered in disrupting the already confusing conversation and added more confusion.  Then he wondered off.  Then he came back and sat down.  He smelled strongly of alcohol.  

I told Bob that I could sense his heart was for peace and that his concern was for people.  That the word of God says that all nations will bow and know that He is God.  God will judge the nations.   That in the end we all go in front of God alone.  That we were there because we were concerned about him.  

Then 1 Peter 1 - 2:2 was read.  The entire tone relaxed after this, the confusion seem to dissipate.  It was very interesting the calming effect the scripture had. 

The gospel was clearly shared.  Dan the drunk man heard some of this but it was like he was fighting himself.  Did he stay and listen or did he run off.  You could see on his face sadness and heartache. 

I felt a strong impression to share with him about my own brother and how he died of a drug overdose.  About how he had told me that he wanted to stop the addictions but that ultimately it killed him.   I was just about to start when suddenly Dan got up stood looking off into the distant field and said.  “My brother died right over there...”  He started to cry. 

Wow - I knew then for sure that I was to share this.  

Through sharing this connection of loosing our brothers, we were able to get at the root of his addiction.  When he stopped drinking the pain of his brother’s death would overwhelm him and he would start drinking to numb the pain.  I told him he needed to let the grief come he needed to cry for his brother.  That the drinking was ruining his life and would cause his death.  There was more said and shared with him.  By the time we left there was hope on his face.  

It was suggested that a Bible study be started with our guide and these men.  Pray that they do get together for fellowship and to discuss God’s word. 

Pray for both Bob and Dan that they allow God to change their hearts.

Pray for the men of Moldova - it is so hard to be a provider here.  God made men to need respect, to have a desire to provide for their families and when you can not provide because there is no work...  When alcohol is cheaper than water and sold in large quantities a country ends up with a whole host of family and social problems. 

Moldovan men need purpose and hope.  

When Jesus met the women at the well - He told her that he could give her living water.  Living water the one that makes us not thirst again.  

The water from this well is only found in Christ.