“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT.”

TODAY, I FIGURE IT’S TIME FOR ME TO PUT WOMEN BACK IN THEIR PLACE. NOW BEFORE YOU THINK I’M SEXIST, LET ME EXPLAIN.
I RAN INTO SOMEONE THE OTHER DAY, WHOM I HAVE HAD FEELINGS FOR AT ONE TIME. THIS WOMAN WAS THE FIRST PERSON I ATTEMPTED TO WANT TO DATE, SINCE MY DIVORCE. SHE DID NOT RECIPROCATE THE FEELINGS BACK. WHEN I SAW HER IN A FLUKE MEETING, IN A PARKING LOT, A STRANGE WAVE OF EMOTIONS SWEPT OVER ME AS THIS PERSON HUGGED ME EVER SO AFFECTIONATELY. I COULD SMELL HER PERFUME AND HER HAIR UPON MY FACE. IT ALL CAME BACK AND AS WE PARTED WAYS, I JUST FELT MISERABLE INSIDE BECAUSE I KNOW THAT A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP  WITH HER WILL NEVER BE. I FELT LIKE LIFE WAS PLAYING A CRUEL JOKE ON ME, SINCE THIS IS SOMEONE I AM DISTANCING MYSELF FROM AS I TRY TO MOVE FORWARD IN MY JOURNEY OF HEALING.  WHY DID I HAVE TO SEE HER AGAIN? IT WAS SO WEIRD. SHE IS A GREAT PERSON BUT I CAN NEVER JUST BE FRIENDS WITH HER.  TODAY,  I FIND MYSELF PONDERING PSALM 23. AS I STOP AND THINK ABOUT THE FIRST VERSE, I AM AGAIN REMINDED OF THIS SIMPLE TRUTH.
I MAY NOT GET WHAT I ALWAYS WANT IN LIFE BUT GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES FOR WHAT I TRULY NEED. WHATEVER HE GIVES ME IS ENOUGH TO FULLY SATISFY. FORGIVE ME LORD, WHEN I LOOK TO OTHERS, ESPECIALLY FEMALE RELATIONSHIPS, TO FULFILL ME. SO, TODAY I HAVE DECIDED TO PUT FEMALES BACK IN THEIR PLACE WHERE THEY BELONG. NO MORE PUTTING THEM ON THE PEDESTAL OF MY HEART. WHEN I DO THAT, MY HEART WILL ONLY GET DISAPPOINTED.  HOWEVER, WHEN JESUS IS RIGHTFULLY ABIDING IN THE CENTER OF MY LIFE, THEN NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO ME, MY HEART MAY HURT BUT IT WON’T FULLY BREAK BECAUSE MY HEART IS KEPT SAFE AND SECURE IN HIS LOVING HANDS. THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD BUT IF WE LOOK TO THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD TO LEAD US, TO BE OUR COMPASS, THEN OUR LIVES WILL FOLLOW WHATEVER OUR HEART DESIRES. WE MAY BE LED TO WHAT WE THINK IS GREEN PASTURES BUT IF WE WERE NOT LED BY HIM TO GET THERE, IT WILL NEVER TRULY FULFILL.  SO, WHERE ARE YOU? HAVE YOU REPLACED JESUS AS SHEPHERD OF YOUR LIFE FOR SOMEONE ELSE OR SOMETHING IN THIS WORLD THAT WILL NEVER TRULY QUENCH YOUR THIRST? REMEMBER “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD”.  THE PRONOUN “MY” MEANS HE IS A PERSONAL GOD. HE’S APPROACHABLE, JUST GO TO HIM AND TALK ABOUT IT. SHARE YOUR FEELINGS, YOUR STRUGGLES, YOUR HURTS. HE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT IT. GIVE UP YOUR WHOLE HEART ONCE AGAIN AND WATCH HIM LEAD YOU TO THAT QUIET PLACE OF REFRESHMENT THAT ONLY HE CAN GIVE YOU. WHEN THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD, WE WILL DISCOVER THAT OUR GREEN PASTURES WAS NOT JUST SOME PLACE BUT IT WAS ALWAYS JUST BEING WITH HIM. 

PSALM 103:5

HE SATISFIES YOUR DESIRES WITH GOOD THINGS
SO THAT YOUR YOUTH IS RENEWED LIKE THE EAGLE’S. 

I don’t know about you but I’m a huge sports fan. I love the drama, the rivalries, and  the underdog moments.  What I love the most are the incredible comeback stories. When it seems like all is lost, these amazing individuals or teams, find a way to rise from the ashes of defeat to the mountaintop of victory and glory.  If you get to know me personally, one of the things you will eventually discover, is that I am a huge Buffalo Bills fan.   Yes, the only real New York football team in the National Football League. Sorry, New Jersey Jets and Giant fans but if you want your team to represent New York, maybe they should play in New York. Wow, what a novel idea. Anyway, you don’t have to be much of an NFL fan, to remember the Buffalo Bills because back in the nineties they went to four consecutive Super Bowls.  Unfortunately, they are the only NFL team to consecutively lose all four of those Super Bowl appearances.   I remember it became a running gag with late night comics, that the Bills stand for, “Boy I Love Losing Super Bowls”!    For the most part, they were a fun team to watch but they were also a hard team to watch. There were times, you had to watch with a tissue box, because they were definitely heartbreakers.   They might be in the record books for losing the big game four times in a row but they are also in the record books for the greatest comeback ever in NFL history. I remember watching that historic game as a teenager in my living room. The Bills were a wild card spot and they were playing the Houston Oilers at home in Western New York.  It was the playoffs so the loser went home, and the winner would go on to advance.  Already before the game even started,  things looked bleak. The starting quarterback for the Bills and Hall of famer Jim Kelly, who was the main reason for their success, was injured and was not going to be able to play.  Right away I had a bad feeling about the Bill’s chances and of course my instinct was right. The game after the first half was nothing but a complete blowout. Nothing was going right for Buffalo and before you know it, the Bills were losing by at least three touchdowns.  Being a true fan though, I figured I’d stick around and at least watch the third quarter.  I thought to myself, “Who knows, anything can happen.” In fact, the backup quarterback Frank Reich for Buffalo led the greatest comeback in college history,  so maybe he could do it again in the NFL. Well, the third quarter began and the Bill’s offense came out confidently onto the field. The fans were all cheering them on. Here we go I thought, maybe we got a chance.  Quarterback Frank Reich took the snap, he threw his very first pass and it was actually caught and run in for a touchdown. The stadium became dead quiet, you could hear a pin drop. My heart sank too because the ball was caught alright and points were scored but not by someone in a Bill’s uniform.  No, it was an interception and seven more points for the visiting team. By this time, it looked like the fat lady had started her song. Down by four touchdowns with very little time to go in the second half, spelled doomsday for the Bills. In fact all eighty thousand fans started to leave the stadium and go home. I was just about to change the channel and give up when the unthinkable happened. The Bills scored a touchdown. Okay, I thought to myself at least now it’s not going to be a shut out but then just minutes after that, the Bills surprised me again. Their defense forced a turnover and then the offense got the ball back, marched it down the field and scored another touchdown. What was going on? Then before I knew it, the Bills scored another touchdown.  The stadium which was nearly empty was now filling back up again as fans were now clamoring to get back to their seats. Just when it seemed the Bills were left for dead, now there was a pulse again, now there was a beating heart and everyone including myself started to rise on our feet with a new found hope that victory was possible.  The fat lady was kicked out of the building before she could finish her song and the game went down to the final seconds with the Bills kicking the winning field goal, giving the fans a moment in history, the greatest comeback ever in the history of the National Football League.  I mean it was pandemonium! The fans went crazy, I’m doing cartwheels in my living room and I’m not even a gymnast. However, the best part of all of this and to this day, I still remember, was after the game, when they interviewed backup quarterback Frank Reich. You see, Frank was a Christian, and like Tim Tebow,  whenever Frank got behind a microphone, he would always boast in his God. This time was no different.  He boldly gave all glory and praise that day to the Lord Jesus Christ. He said that while he was on the field, God put the Michael English song in his heart, “In Christ Alone”.  A song about a man who finds his glory in the power of the cross. Frank said he never doubted that they were going to win and all he did was just play football while singing and worshiping God.  I still think back on that moment, from time to time. There’s definitely a life lesson to learn from all of that.  If Jesus can help a quarterback orchestrate an amazing comeback in a trivial football game, what about other areas of our lives that matter more? Think about it, if you have put your faith in Jesus, you believe you will be raised to life again someday but why do we sometimes get discouraged and easily defeated, when life’s circumstances come against us leaving us questioning how we’re going to even survive?  Yes, life can be brutal,  but remember we follow the one who has produced one of the world’s greatest comebacks ever. Jesus was betrayed by a friend, mocked for claiming to be the king of the Jews. He was whipped till his body was shredded and unrecognizable, he was forced to carry his cross up the steep hill before being nailed to it and these nails were not the kind you get from Home Depot either. These were made of iron and probably 7-9 inches long. He was given a crown of thorns and speared so that He was definitely left for dead naked and humiliated for all to see. His body was buried in a tomb and His soul descended to the very depths of Hell. The disciples were all scattered, afraid for their lives, full of grief, full of discouragement, they were all a hopeless wreck.  Things looked bleak.  But just when it seemed that Satan had finally won, and all was lost, Jesus comes back in the second half and delivers up a trick play greater than any “Hail Mary”!  He rolls the stone away and rises from the dead, crushing the serpent’s head once for all, and destroying the grip of death on all humanity.  The tomb was found empty! Jesus was no longer wearing His grave clothes, Jesus had a pulse, The Comeback King was alive! His resurrection sparked a movement as He breathed his breath upon His disciples, their faith was given new life, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This simple act of Jesus breathing upon them set the stage for the coming of the Spirit permanently on the day of Pentecost, birthing Christianity that would continue on for generations to come. Emperors, Generals, kingdoms, governments and dictators over the years have all tried to put Jesus back in the grave and even to this day there are still those that are trying but Christ’s heart continues to beat on. As Christians today let’s celebrate and rejoice that no matter what we’re going through, this living hope is still living inside of us! Yes, when we look at the scoreboard it looks like we’re outnumbered, and it’s  game over but remember He’s our quarterback and when He’s on the field, He doesn’t know how to lose.  Let Him breathe life into you and your situation.  Let Him breathe life into that dying relationship, your finances, your health, your washed up dreams. He wants to raise you to new life in Him and lead you to everlasting victory. And even if nothing gets resurrected in this life for you, I want to encourage you, there is hope still, you will be raised to a new life again and that life is forever! Death has no hold on you.  God is not a man that He should lie nor will He let us down. So, whatever it is that has you left for dead, sealed up in your tomb, don’t panic and don’t worry, replace your fear with faith and shout out in victory for you’re not dead, Our God is alive! When everything in your life seems hopeless and dying.   Just be still and listen to the beating of God’s heart inside of you. Rise up and leave your grave clothes behind, your stone is rolled away!!!

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 New International Version (NIV)

55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[a]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 20:21-22 New International Version (NIV)

21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

“O give me a home where the buffaloes roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day”

I still remember that hurtful day, when I was tossed out of my own house by my wife, whom I had lived with for five years. My comfort zone, the place I was accustomed to, the place I called home, was now gone. It was like a rug pulled out from under me and suddenly I found myself in need of a roof over my head. Thankfully, my brother in law was gracious enough for me to live with him. In eight more days at the time I am writing this, it will be two years of me living at my brother in law’s house. I did not expect to be here so long. In fact, I planned on moving out a few weeks ago. A good Christian friend of mine had a tenant move out of his house and he was kind enough to offer me his place. I had been over to his house a couple of times before, and so I agreed to his terms and the plans were all set for my move. I was so excited, I posted to everyone on Facebook, about how I’m moving forward in my life and what a blessing this was going to be for me. The big day for the move arrived. I rented a U-haul van and loaded up the vehicle with what little stuff I had and drove off with an anticipation of my new adventure. Of course when I got there, the first thing I did, was to check out the bedroom where my two children and myself would be sleeping. The moment I walked in, I was caught off guard. The room was filthy, from the carpet to the beat up old mattress I’d be sleeping on. A strange smell even permeated the room. The carpet had black stains all over it and when I checked out the closet, I discovered black and greenish mold growing on the walls. That was when I asked my friend to check out the mold and he apologized, not realizing it was there before. He even told me that the last tenant moved out cause he was always getting sick all the time. “Well, no wonder”, I thought to myself. There was no way I was going to put myself and my kid’s health in jeopardy. He offered to bleach it but something in my heart told me that this wasn’t to be. So, I thanked him anyway, headed back to my brother in laws and unpacked everything out of the van and moved myself back in. So much for the big moving day. I’m kicking myself for not being wise and inspecting the house in the first place. After that, I was so depressed and frustrated, and even embarrassed. I remember questioning God, and wondering why can’t I just get a break in my life? As I’m writing this, my circumstances still haven’t changed and I’m still searching for my “home on the range”. I still feel at times unsettled and stagnant. When I want to move, God closes the door. I’ve put in for job promotions, I’ve looked around for homes, apartments, roommate sites, and still nothing. I want to find that place where the deer and the antelope play, but like the U2 songwriter Bono says, “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”. But God always comes through for me and He spoke to me this week. He encouraged and reminded me that He still has a purpose and a plan for me in the midst of the very situation where I don’t want to be. In fact, He wants to use me in that very place. He showed me the passage in Jeremiah 29:11. I’m sure you’re familiar with it, it’s on every Christian refrigerator magnet or picture that hangs on our bathroom walls. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” You see in the context of this particular passage, Jeremiah is addressing the Jews, who are in exile. They have been displaced from their homes and are living in Babylonian captivity. What’s interesting here, is that God is telling the Jews to live, to grow, to take wives, be fruitful and multiply. He didn’t tell them, I’m going to deliver you, then when you return home, I’m going to bless you. For he says,earlier in the same chapter, starting in verse 4. “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.”

God wanted the Jews to stay where they were and He wanted them to make the most of their lives while they were in exile. Did you know that as Christians we too are living on this earth as exiles while we wait for Jesus to ultimately take us home forever with Him? We are commanded to be “in this world but not of this world”. In other words, live this life but stand out and be different. Yes, it is true, it would be better if at the moment we accepted Jesus in our lives, we were beamed up into heaven like in an episode of Star Trek but that’s not God’s plan. He has us here and He wants us to live to the fullest even if it’s not our real home. So, where do you find yourself? Do you feel like you’re not progressing fast enough? Do you find yourself stuck in a situation that’s just not your home? Maybe it’s a mundane job you can’t seem to get out of, or an unfulfilled dream. Perhaps it’s a toxic relationship you’re wanting to get out of or a relationship you want to be in but you have to wait because it’s not God’s right timing. And so you find yourself in this holding place and it sucks and you want things to change. It’s okay to want to improve, it’s okay to set goals and try and move forward but in the meantime, don’t forget that God wants to use you in your situation where you’re at now. Home is the place where He has you at. If He hasn’t delivered you yet from your present circumstances, don’t get discouraged, change your prayers up. Ask Him how you can be used in your present day circumstances to bless someone now. I find it interesting that God’s purpose for the Jews to be fruitful in their captivity was not just for their own good but to bless those around them. For He says, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and looking inwardly, let’s look outwardly and make the most of what God has given us for the blessings of others. So, as I write to you, my circumstances are still the same. Yet in the midst of what I’m still going through, I thank Him. I thank Him that He has a plan in all of this, to prosper me and not to harm me and to give me hope and a future. And I will continue to do what I do best. I WILL WRITE. I will always write, in the good times and in the times when I feel like I’m in exile. I write because it’s not just for me, but it’s to bless others. I write these blogs because I know that there is someone who needs to hear this, someone like me who is calling out for hope in their exile. I write this for you and I don’t know exactly who you are but I want you to know that I love you and I pray that whomever you are, that you know and remember that God loves you more. So, what are you waiting for? Live your life where you are at. Watch God work in you, watch God fill you with His peace and satisfaction because you’re with Him and He is with you and where He is, that is your true home.

Jeremiah 29:11
1 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

“They like me, they like me, they really like me!” Ah, those famous words once uttered out of sheer excitement and joy by known other than actress Sally Fields after accepting her first ever Oscar award. This line has been mimicked and made fun of by many comics and other actors mocking the awards system and acceptance speeches in Hollywood. But as a former actor for many years, I totally get where Sally Fields is coming from. You see, creative people love it when we get acknowledged. We won’t always express it so overtly like Sally Fields but when we humbly take our bow, inside we are saying “look at me, look at me”! So we creative folk put ourselves out there, we take risks, we wear eccentric clothes, talk loud, we sing off key just to get your attention. All because we want you to look at us and affirm us. Why do you think a lot of the really great actors come from broken homes?  Because they seek what they didn’t get at home, love and acceptance.  You see, money can drive an artist but it’s more of the attention and the approval we seek. Again artists don’t admit this but take it from me, it’s true. I think if we’re honest with ourselves there is a part of all of us that wants affirmation regardless of whether we’re creative types or not. Look at how many of us are on Facebook or have accounts with YouTube. Look at all the bloggers on social media. What are we trying to scream out? “Hey, I’m alive, look at me, I’ve got something to say.” Listen, there is nothing wrong with that but if we’re not careful, this basic need we have can get so out of whack, that if our expectations aren’t met, we can get easily hurt or offended and the next thing you know we’re not growing and improving our lives, we’re using our hurts to hurt others and ourselves. For example, there were times I would write a blog, or a poem or do something creative and share it on Facebook. I expected to get the likes and the comments from my friends affirming my work. Yet there were times, I got nothing, nada, zero response.  What? All that time and effort? Do they not like me anymore? I would sometimes let it bother me and would periodically check to see if anyone liked it. It got to the point where I had to walk away from it for a bit. I had to reavaluate what am I doing? I used to also get upset when friends I would reach out to and really enjoyed being with, didn’t reciprocate anymore. That hurt so much. Why, because I had let myself get to that point where I was putting all my need for validation in my creativity and in my earthly relationships. Each time I would get hurt, I would self medicate my pain with bad habits that only left me feeling worse about myself. I was no longer growing but hindering that growth. But as Christians, we have to always go back to the fundamental truths of who we are in Christ. We have to start by identifying our worth, our value, our significance in God first. You see if we can come from that place of love and acceptance from our identity in Christ, then when expectations from this world don’t get met, it’s okay because we know we are already loved! Just look at most of the letters to the churches in the New Testament from Paul’s letters to even Peter’s. What’s the one thing they have in common? The letters usually start out with who we are in Christ and what blessings we have already because we are saved. The letters always get us to remember what we already have become in Christ and how much we are loved by God. Then the letters transition later to what we are to do and what God expects of us and how to grow. But we can’t obey unless we know who we are. We can’t grow in Christ unless we come from that place of completeness already. Just like babies need love to grow, the same is true for us. Peter saw this and in 1 Peter he encourages us to be like newborn babies and crave milk. In 2 Peter, he urges the church to add to the faith, in other words grow, improve, move forward, mature. But before he gets into that he reminds them in the first verses of their identity and completeness in Christ. He says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.” What does this mean for us? We do not lack anything we need for this life and for the Godly life. So the acceptance, the love we seek, we have it fully because “his divine power”, the Holy Spirit gives us this. Yet, instead of looking inside to what we already have, we think we lack and so we look outside to the things of this world. When we do that, we don’t grow, we only hinder the maturation process. So, whenever we begin to feel unloved and need to be validated, let’s remind ourselves of the promises of God and who we are in Him. His love for us is amazing, His love is all we need, His love is freely available and we have it already through faith in the promises and through the gift of the Holy Spirit. So stop checking your Facebook for likes, no need to prove yourself to anyone, stop seeking the applause of man either.  I’m sure you’ve seen the bumper sticker but it’s true, “God’s crazy about you!”  He doesn’t just like you, He loves you! You are His prized possession, His trophy. He gave it all up so that He could win over your heart and on that day when you see Him face to face, He will take you in His arms, hoist you above His shoulders and have himself a “Sally Field moment”!  With tears in His eyes, you’ll hear Him shout with great joy,  “I love you! I love you! I really love you!!!!”

2 Peter 1:3-5 New International Version (NIV)
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godin Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved. – Ephesians 2:4-5

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. – 1 John 3:1