Ran across this gem while doing some research for a friend coping with a difficult time. This is from Spurgeon and a sermon on Psalm 23:
"When you trust God, and a friend, there is a question whether it is God you trust or the friend; but when the friend has left you, and only God is near, no question remains. If you and I are walking together, and a dog follows us, who knows which is the dog's master? But when you go off to the left and I turn to the right, all will see who owns the dog, by seeing whom he follows."
How I need to learn to trust God! How I need to trust Him and not my connections, friends, experience, education, talent, or environment. It is the constant struggle of the life of faith. Will I lean hard into grace? Will I choose Him in each moment? Will I yearn and pant after the living God or will I make of someone or something, an idol, for my devotion and hope?
4 comments:
I'd say that was worth taking the time to put paper - wait? keyboard?
Thanks for the update and the thoughts. They are important for us all to think through, especially me since I'm a verbal processor.
Sometimes it's a temptation to lean on the friends who help by listening and challenging with scripture instead of the God who wrote the scripture Himself.
Thanks be to God though, for friends who know and lean on scripture and it's Author.
Thanks for that awesome peice. It is sometimes difficult to see and have faith in what we believe instead of believing and having faith in what we see and touch. Like the person who brought to your attention the need to update your Blog, I too have a concern. (please don't take this the wrong way) What has kept our Sheapard from updating his Blog? When considering the past consistency of the latest information. The question that I have is are we all remembering our Pastor and leaders in our prayers? Are we doing what we can to hold up the Pastor's arms as was done for Moses? A Pastor's job is extremely taxing and difficult. We should continuously remeber him as well as all of our leaders in prayer and do what we can to make his burden lighter.
Warriorrob
What a timely word! Last night I used that illustration with a couple of visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses. The point of application was: if my church’s denomination and the Bible went separate ways, I should follow the Bible, as for them, if they should discern that the Watchtower organization and the Bible are going separate ways, I hope they follow the Bible. They nodded approvingly.
Rob, thanks for the reminder to all the blog visitors to pray for their pastors. How did your time at Stateville go? What did you preach on?
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