Shepherd | Charis

appointed prayer

week of October 5

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Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon your church the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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something to laugh about

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Anna, Isaac, and Haley the Christmas dog Solomon tells us that “a happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing” (Proverbs 17:22, AMP ). God undoubtedly has a sense of humor; we need only look at some of the animals He created (it’s hard not to smile at the sight of a hippo, a monkey, or a puppy). Or think of some of the married couples you know: don’t you think God was smiling at the wedding as He looked ahead to the interaction of the wildly different personalities that will be living together?

And as if often the case, medical science is proving the wisdom of Solomon’s Spirit-inspired words.

Posts Tagged ‘shepherd’

peace in the names of God

Monday, February 12, 2007 · living the life, peace series · no responses · comments closed

Several months ago, I wrote about calling on the name of God, citing a number of passages that talk about the power of God’s name. What I didn’t do was point you toward passages on the names of God. This seems like a good time to do that; in yesterday’s post, peace: a matter of focus, I wrote about knowing God as a key to trusting Him, and by extension, a key to having peace. We looked at Isaiah 25, which tells us that God is “a stronghold to the poor.”

Psalm 9 links these two concepts, God’s name and God as stronghold: continue reading

“behold your God!”

Monday, November 6, 2006 · meditations · no responses · comments closed

If you’ve read my last two posts (here and here) on Isaiah 40, you may well have wondered why I totally ignored verses 9, 10, and 11. After telling us that we are all like grass before the Lord, Isaiah says,

Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with […]

the good shepherd

Wednesday, August 23, 2006 · meditations · no responses · comments closed

I’ve been thinking about Jesus calling himself “the good shepherd” and wondering why He added good. In John 10, He identifies the various players in this picture of sheep and shepherd: there’s the gatekeeper, the stranger, the shepherd, the hired hand, and the thief.

As He sets up His illustration, Jesus makes clear that the shepherd enters by the door or gate and that the sheep know his voice; the shepherd is legitimate. He makes clear that only the shepherd has the true interest of the sheep at heart. Then He brings it home, declaring…

Charis