But we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will give thanks to You forever. From generation to generation we will recount Your praise. (Verse 13)
"Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The wild beasts will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness and streams in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, the people who I formed for Myself that they might declare My praise." God Isaiah 43
I broke water at midnight on August 2. Packed and ready to go, Bill and I rushed to the hospital only to sit there until six in the evening on August 3, my birthday. The doctor ordered a c-section but let me stay awake to see Heather born. I couldn't get over how beautiful she was and that she didn't cry, but lay there looking around at the world into which she so easily emerged. She had rosy cheeks and crimson, perfectly shaped lips. This precious little thing came out of me! The miracle of it still awes me. Still in awe, also, of the fact that we are accountable for what we taught her from that day forward. The heritage we established in her.
When I think about the fact that God formed me for Himself, pregnant with the thought of me, I have maybe a miniscule glimpse of what His love for me must look like, because I am a mother. Before time as we know it, my Father knew me and what I would be about today, here at the computer, talking about Him. Knew what my life's purposes are. Knew that He would lead me because I belong to Him. The Good Shepherd is Father of His lambs.
What does that mean for us? "He leads us beside the still waters. He restores our souls." This Shepherd Who promises streams in the desert. Water in the wilderness. So we might declare, "Our God loves us!" It means our enemies are vanquished so we can drink. That our exodus, in God's new thing, is from sin. Our promised land? A new life in which living water has been purchased by the Shepherd Who moved those for whom we are prey out of the way before us. Threw them aside as He did the waters of the Red Sea. God wants to know if we get that. Perceive what He's doing now that Christ has come.
No longer must we pant after another shepherd as we graze on inferior joy. No longer drink from springs where the enemy lurks and where the waters are bitter. We are made for better than that. Higher. Our Shepherd, in this exodus from our captivity to sin, stomped on the enemy's head to lead His precious little lambs to pastures filled with green grass and peaceful streams where we lie down without fear of the lion who would eat us. Bruised in that battle, our Shepherd bled then arose in such blinding power the lion hasn't been able to see straight since. Teeth pulled. Roar sissified. So that we can pass by it through any desert into a new life that springs forth in us like living water.
This is what we were birthed in God for. This abundant, fearless life. When He thought of us from ages past, our Father thrilled at our lives here on earth and in heaven. He wanted kids. That's why He made us. And God wanted us to love Him, trust Him and enjoy Him forever. The Shepherd wants us to take big gulps of living water, following Him past the threat of jackals and lions, because we are more important to our Father than any other created thing. Formed for Him, like Him so we might bleat to the world that our God is the good Shepherd Who lays down His life for the sheep.
Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in Your midst. You shall never again fear evil...."Behold, at that time, I will deal with your oppressors, and I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise." Zephaniah 3
"Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The wild beasts will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness and streams in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people, the people who I formed for Myself that they might declare My praise." God Isaiah 43
I broke water at midnight on August 2. Packed and ready to go, Bill and I rushed to the hospital only to sit there until six in the evening on August 3, my birthday. The doctor ordered a c-section but let me stay awake to see Heather born. I couldn't get over how beautiful she was and that she didn't cry, but lay there looking around at the world into which she so easily emerged. She had rosy cheeks and crimson, perfectly shaped lips. This precious little thing came out of me! The miracle of it still awes me. Still in awe, also, of the fact that we are accountable for what we taught her from that day forward. The heritage we established in her.
When I think about the fact that God formed me for Himself, pregnant with the thought of me, I have maybe a miniscule glimpse of what His love for me must look like, because I am a mother. Before time as we know it, my Father knew me and what I would be about today, here at the computer, talking about Him. Knew what my life's purposes are. Knew that He would lead me because I belong to Him. The Good Shepherd is Father of His lambs.
What does that mean for us? "He leads us beside the still waters. He restores our souls." This Shepherd Who promises streams in the desert. Water in the wilderness. So we might declare, "Our God loves us!" It means our enemies are vanquished so we can drink. That our exodus, in God's new thing, is from sin. Our promised land? A new life in which living water has been purchased by the Shepherd Who moved those for whom we are prey out of the way before us. Threw them aside as He did the waters of the Red Sea. God wants to know if we get that. Perceive what He's doing now that Christ has come.
No longer must we pant after another shepherd as we graze on inferior joy. No longer drink from springs where the enemy lurks and where the waters are bitter. We are made for better than that. Higher. Our Shepherd, in this exodus from our captivity to sin, stomped on the enemy's head to lead His precious little lambs to pastures filled with green grass and peaceful streams where we lie down without fear of the lion who would eat us. Bruised in that battle, our Shepherd bled then arose in such blinding power the lion hasn't been able to see straight since. Teeth pulled. Roar sissified. So that we can pass by it through any desert into a new life that springs forth in us like living water.
This is what we were birthed in God for. This abundant, fearless life. When He thought of us from ages past, our Father thrilled at our lives here on earth and in heaven. He wanted kids. That's why He made us. And God wanted us to love Him, trust Him and enjoy Him forever. The Shepherd wants us to take big gulps of living water, following Him past the threat of jackals and lions, because we are more important to our Father than any other created thing. Formed for Him, like Him so we might bleat to the world that our God is the good Shepherd Who lays down His life for the sheep.
Rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in Your midst. You shall never again fear evil...."Behold, at that time, I will deal with your oppressors, and I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise." Zephaniah 3
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