DEVOTION: Green pastures.

By Leila Halawe

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures...." Psalm 23:2 (NKJV)

I was reading psalm 23 the other day. This is one of my favourite psalms in the bible and throughout many seasons in my life, this psalm was my meditation. It is one that I can recite easily and think of often. I have a very active mind and imagination, so I tend to imagine the verses as I think of them as as I reflected over the words, I started to visualise it in my mind and when I got to verse two, He makes me lie down in green pastures, I imagined myself lying down in this beautiful field of green grass with beautiful trees scattered throughout. It was a peaceful image and one that bought a smile to my face as I reflected on God and His love for me. So, you can imagine my surprise when I did a little research and discovered that the image I had in my mind was almost the exact opposite of what David was describing.

Psalm 23 used the analogy of a shepherd with his sheep to illustrate God as the Shepherd in our lives. As His sheep, He guides and leads us along the way, however if we look at this from the lens of Ancient Israel, the scene looks very different to what I was imagining. If we look at shepherds in Israel, back during David’s time and even today, a large part of the path that shepherds herd their sheep on is rocky and rough terrain, that looks more like the picture below.

It was very much a desert of sorts that had minimal rain throughout the year, so there was a small amount of moisture in the air, however there was humidity, so between the moisture and humidity, there would be little droplets of water that fell on the rocks, and from there, little tufts of grass blades grew around the base of the rock. As the shepherds guided and led their sheep along the path, the sheep would stop and eat the little blades of grass before they kept moving to the next rock that had grass around it. This was, essentially, the shepherd leading them to greener pastures; greener pastures weren’t a field of grass but just enough grass to sustain the sheep at each point of their journey. I don’t know about you, but that sounds very much like God in my life.

I oftentimes wish that God would give me the full picture of what was going to happen in my life. I reason with God and say that if He shows me what lies ahead, at least I would know what was coming and could prepare for it. Unfortunately for me, God doesn’t work that way. He makes promises that He will faithfully fulfill, yet instead of giving us information He ask that we trust Him as He guides us there. He leads us to our own greener pastures, and sits with us while we lie down. For some of us, it is a welcome relief to reach the pasture and lie down, to be replenished, to sit in His presence. For others, God needs to make us lie down; He needs to bring us to a standstill so that we can stop and rest. So that we can see that in Him, we have all we need for right now.

And that, friends, is more than enough. We do not need to see the future because we can rest in the knowledge that the One that holds the future loves us and is for us. We can rest in our greener pastures knowing that He already knows where our next green pasture is. He knows how to get us there and He knows exactly what we will find there because He holds in all in His hands. 

Leila (Lays) Halawe is a Sydney based coffee loving nonfiction writer and blogger. She has published a short devotional, Love By Devotion, and shares her views on life and faith via her blog page Looking In . You can connect with her via Facebook at Leila Halawe Author  and via Twitter @LHalawe.

MY ONE AND ONLY CRITIQUE PARTNER--by Christine Lindsay

Today, I’m showing off my dear friend and writing critique partner, the Award-winning Author, Rachel Phifer. Rachel & I work with only one critique partner on all our individual books. As you read the following , you'll understand why I rejoice in such a wonderful writing partner. And also I might add a bit of bragging rights---her Carol Nominated novel below The Language of Sparrows---ta...da...I was Rachel's critique partner on that book. Can you blame me for feeling proud? 

First Fruits of Time by Rachel Phifer

MORE TIME has been the cry of my adult life. My days are a mad rush through work, dinner, chores, raising my kids and writing. I search out empty spaces around those things to meet with God. Sure, I have faith, but too often, it’s a limping, scrawny faith.

A while back I began to take a closer look at the Christian biographies on my shelf. These people who made an impact for Christ didn’t fit God into their day. They gave him the first-fruits of their

day, and their to-do list fit around that. 

Martin Luther said the busier his day the more time he needed to spend in prayer. Mother Teresa required her nuns to spend a solitary hour in prayer and another hour together in prayer before heading out to the streets of Calcutta. 

George Müller, the man who provided for 10,000 orphans without ever asking for a shilling spent at least an hour in prayer, and David Wilkerson gave up his news hour to pray shortly before heading to New York to work with gang members. The Ten Booms, who sheltered Jews during WWII had morning and evening prayer as a family. Every Christian I read about mentioned spending hours each day in prayer. Hours. 

No limping, scrawny faith for them.

I looked around for people I knew in real life and noticed an older couple at my church. They prayed together for an hour in the morning before going to work and for an hour together after dinner. The man prayed during his lunch hour too. My first thought was: what do they pray about for so long? And day after day? But my second thought was I want what they have. Because love and peace shone out of their faces.

What’s the point of short prayers and small faith? It’s mundane and totally uninspiring. I want God to fill my life to bursting with whatever He wants to fill it with. I want Him to fill my day with Himself most of all.

As a new year rolls in, I’ve decided to give prayer as the first fruit of my day. If that means hour-long prayers at 4 a.m., good. If that means the have-to list takes a backseat, excellent. Because I want a large, God-here-and-present-life. I want a life-lit-by-the-flames-of-His-Spirit-life.

About Rachel's Award-Winning Novel inspired by her search for the spirit-filled life.

The Language of Sparrows:

Brilliant and fluent in too many languages to count, 15-year-old Sierra Wright can't seem to communicate what is important to her in any language. Though April Wright stubbornly keeps an upbeat attitude about her daughter's future, she has let her own dreams slip away. Just across the bridge lives old Luca, scarred from his time in a Romanian gulag years before. Though he has seemingly given up on people, Sierra is drawn to him despite his prickly edges.

No one else is comfortable with the unpredictable old man spending time alone with Sierra, not even Luca's son. Yet it is this unconventional relationship that will bring two families together to form friendships and unearth their family stories, stories that just might give them all the courage to soar on wings toward a new future.

ABOUT RACHEL PHIFER:

As the daughter of missionaries, Rachel Phifer grew up in Malawi, South Africa and Kenya, and managed to attend eleven schools by the time she graduated from high school. Books, empty notebooks and cool pens were her most reliable friends as she moved from one place to another. She holds a B.A. in English and psychology, and lives in Houston with her family.

Website: www.rachelphifer.com

Book link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Language-Sparrows-Rachel-Phifer/dp/0781410487

ABOUT CHRISTINE LINDSAY

Website www.christinelindsay.com

DEVOTION: Allowing God to Lead ~ Donna Pyle

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 
Psalm 139:23-24

As a child, I hated the game "Simon Says". My competitive streak focused so hard on mentally jumping ahead to anticipate what Simon would say or do next, that I invariably missed the instructions. I usually ended up being one of the first ones knocked out of the game for moving without Simon’s permission.

Losing on a consistent basis at such a simple game drove me bats. Simple Simon wasn’t so simple to me. Consequently, learning to listen carefully to discern God’s leading took a substantial amount of focus and discipline on my part.

Blaise Pascal, a 15th century French mathematician, physicist and philosopher, once said: “We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting.” As God’s children, our hearts long for our Father. He created in us a void that only He can fill. He gave us two ears but only one mouth for a reason. 

God’s vision for our lives is much more than you or I could ever imagine or visualize. If we attempt to jump ahead or anticipate what God will do, we will miss the boat entirely. Listening carefully for God’s guidance allows us to realize the full potential that He has planned for us.

Psalm 139:23-24 is one of the most needed prayers in the whole Bible. King David, a leader of leaders with great vision, asks God through that prayer to be his vision and leader. As a leader and visionary, David understood a vital concept: those you lead must be able to grasp the destination.

David clearly understood that in order to properly discern and wholeheartedly follow God’s leading, he needed an intimate relationship with God.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the American author and poet, penned these immortal words: “The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” As Christians our compass points directly to God. We can move toward Him with confidence. He will never lead us astray. He promises to lead you and I in the way everlasting.

We can cling to that promise with every fiber of our being. No guesswork. No playing Simon Says. No games.

Ask God now where He is leading you to follow Him.

How do you spend time with the Lord in your daily routine to honor and nurture that intimate

relationship? Please share with us in the comment section below.

DONNA PYLE is a speaker, author, Bible teacher and worship leader with a passion for studying and teaching God’s Word. Since launching Artesian Ministries in 2007, she has authored 20 full-length Bible studies, as well as numerous smaller Bible studies, devotions, and magazine articles. She has released two DVD-based Bible study series and a small-group based Bible study book, The God of All Comfort, through Concordia Publishing House on August 15, 2012. She regularly travels throughout the U.S. and internationally, speaking at conferences, conventions, women’s retreats, prayer luncheons, and special events. Read more about Donna at her website.