How Good And Pleasant It Is When God's People Live Together In Unity! - Psalm 133

Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!

We have heard this verse shared so often.  But I fear we don't apply this verse to enough areas in our lives in order to see the radical blessing God commands in verse 3...

"...there the LORD bestows His blessing..."


A stunning verse.  A majestic line.

Friends, we all disagree on something.  If you are married, you will know that you can have disagreements with the person you love the most!  You can even have disagreements with your own children!  Disagreements are common.  Because we are human and ever since eating of the "tree of knowledge of good & evil", we became incredible opinionated.

The unfortunate reality is that those opinions divided us.  But the good news today is that they don't have to!

Think of all the denominations in the world today.  How many different splinter groups have started because people disagreed with a simple opinion based on a perspective of Scriptural interpretation?  Far too many.  (I don't want to get into talking different denominations here, I just use them as an example.)

My point is that if we would simply look past our disagreements, we could be walking in unity, and therefore walking in greater numbers together, and thus walking in even greater blessing!  It is ok to disagree with someone.  This verse doesn't say "when brothers live in agreement".  It says "when brothers live in unity".  There's a difference.  You can live in unity with someone even if you disagree with them on somethings!  Hence my marriage illustration.

Friends, I want to encourage you today...  Disagreement is ok.  But be big enough to "agree to disagree" and walk in love with those who we call brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ.  And let's watch as the blessing of God increases in measure over our lives and we make an even greater impact for the Kingdom of God!

Look To The Source of Radiance

Psalm 34:5
Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

You can tell a lot about people by the expressions on their faces.  You can tell if they are going through a tough time, having a bad day, having a good day or just generally happy.  God set it up that way.  Our faces tell so much about how we are feeling.

Now God has also set up a way for you to always release His Presence no matter what your circumstances are.  You see, most people's emotions are based on their circumstances.  The immediate situation they are in affects their moods, and thus the very expressions on their faces.

God wants you to remain at peace no matter what you are going through.  This can be very difficult, I know.  But learning to control our emotions as Christians is key to impacting the world around us.  Now, when I say control our emotions, I am not talking with our own willpower.  I am talking about handing your circumstances over to Jesus, and drawing your peace from Him.

And this is exactly what this verse is saying.  When we look to God, who is so Good, Beautiful, Glorious and full of Love for us, something in us begins to change.  And this change even affects our expression.  When we look to Him, our faces begin to radiate.  And this is more than just a big smile, the Glory of God radiates from our faces.  Our happy faces carry more than a smile, they carry their very Glory of God!

I want to encourage you today friends...  No matter what you are going through, no matter what you face, look up to your Saviour.  Lift your head and look to your Father.  Worship Him.  See His Glory.  Ask Him to show you His Glory.  Whenever you get the chance.  And when you do, your face will begin to radiate with His Glory.  People will see with their own eyes the difference about you.  And they will want it.

Sorrow Is Temporary, Joy Is Eternal

Psalm 30:4 - 5
Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;
praise His Holy Name.
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Many of us know this verse, especially the last part.  But it is a pity that "familiarity breeds contempt".  We become so accustomed to a saying or verse, that it can lose its power.  As Christians, we need to be so careful of this unfortunate reality.  Take John 3:16 for example, it is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture, yet because we know it so well, the power in its truth seems to have less of an impact on us.  We need fresh revelation to regain the power in these verses.  I believe this is what the Grace Revolution is all about.  But that's for another day and another article.

The point is, don't let the power of this verse here be watered down by familiarity.  It is a powerful truth!  Let's have a look at it...

God's anger only lasts for a moment, but His Favour lasts for a lifetime!  Isn't that stunning?  Now, put this into the context of God's plan, and we see that this is a clear picture of the Cross.  God's anger is not as infinite and eternal as His Love, Grace or Favour.  God is by very Nature Loving, Good and Kind.

Now, that is not to water down the danger or severity of sin.  But we need to recognise that God's anger and punishment was dealt with because He Himself absorbed all sin and death into the body of His own Son Jesus.  (In fact, He absorbed it Himself because He was in Christ at the time of the Crucifixion! 2 Cor. 5:19)   Friends, God's anger toward sin has been appeased!  He took it upon Himself and dealt with it!  Now what remains are eternal days of Favour!

But you may not be living in days of Favour.  Well, this is why the next verse is so important; "sorrow lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  Friends, sorrow is temporal!  We must understand that we will go through trials in this life.  It won't be easy.  There will be times when life is tough.  But the good news is that there will be breakthrough!  Joy will come!  No matter what we are facing, we can be confident that eternal days of Joy and Favour will come to us!  Whether it is in this life or the next, either way, we will enjoy eternal days of Joy!  This is what Heaven is all about; JOY!

Friends, with such a hope, it is so much easier to face this life.  No matter what we are going through we can face it with an expectant hope that God promises us days of Favour and Joy.  This brings such hope to any situation.

I know that many of us face trials over this Christmas holiday period.  But be encouraged that God cares for you more than you know.  And He wants you to know that any stress or difficulty you may be facing is only temporal, and there is a joy that you can even tap into right now that lasts for eternity!

The Good Shepherd

John 10:4 - 10 
When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice....  I tell you the Truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We are so privileged to be tended to and looked after by so good, kind and loving a Shepherd as Jesus.  He truly is more beautiful than we could ever conceive.  I once read a testimony of someone who encountered the very Person of Jesus and their description was that if everyone had to encounter Jesus in this way they would automatically surrender their lives to Him, because He is simply irresistible.

And like most passages in the Gospel of John, this one quoted above paints another stunningly glorious portrait of Jesus our Saviour and Shepherd.  A King and close friend who wants to lead His people into abundant pasture, saves His people from the thief, and give abundant life to them.

I wanted to encourage and remind you this week that this is Jesus' objective:  to impart Life to you.  But while reading the context of the famous verse 10, a couple of other things jumped out at me...

1.  Jesus walks ahead of His people, and His sheep follow Him because they want to

I am sure most of you have heard the comparison between a traditional Hebrew shepherd and shepherds of other cultures.  Hebrew shepherds walk ahead of their sheep while other cultures walk behind their flocks with a stick making sure they are all in line.  Jesus compares Himself to the former.  He is a shepherd who is secure, and He wants people following Him who are hungry for more.  If you want more of Jesus, His Word and His Presence, He is not going to force you.

But this means that we need to get to a place where we are so consumed by the beauty of who He is, we wouldn't be found anywhere else but in His Presence.  This is more than just "saying a prayer to be saved from hell".  This is a recognition that Jesus is the only True Source of Life, and to experience that True Life; His Presence is the best place to be!

Jesus wants us to recognise that for ourselves, from experience.

Jesus is secure.  He doesn't want people "following Him" out of duty, He wants people following Him because there's nothing else in this life that satisfies like His Love.

2.  Jesus ensures His people find pasture

Jesus wants His people to be looked after and cared for...  well.  Psalm 37:25 says the righteous will never be forsaken or will their seed ever beg for bread.  You are righteous!  That means you will never be forsaken, and even your children's children will be blessed.

Jesus wants to lead you into pastures of abundance.  Abundant, luscious green pastures meant that the sheep could feed till their heart's content, and thus they were healthy and strong.  Jesus wants you healthy and strong!  He wants you to be in a place of abundance where all your worries are cared for by Him.  After all, He is the one who will find those green pastures for you!

3.  Jesus draws a clear distinction between what comes from the devil and what comes from Him

Anything that goes into the box of "Stolen, killed and destroyed" was put there by the devil.  Not Jesus.  Anything that goes into the box of "Full and Abundant Life" was put there by Jesus.

This is one of the most important verses in the Bible for our understanding of the character of God and the origin and place of evil in our world.  Jesus doesn't will for evil to take place; but there is one who does, and his name is satan.  I have heard it said that this verse is not referring to satan but to greedy men.  That is untrue, because "men (and women)" in this verse are compared to sheep, and therefore the shepherds and hired hands are spiritual authorities.  Jesus being the Good Spiritual Authority, satan being the evil one.  It's quite simple.

My friend, Jesus wants to give you abundant life.  A life filled with health, wholeness, provision, fun and joy!  This should be the experience of the Christian!  The child of God.

Don't lose touch of His Voice.  It is sweet and always Loving.  Pursue Him, and follow His leading with reckless abandon.  There is nothing more satisfying in the Universe!  Your soul will not be disappointed.  Neither will you.

Jesus is our most Glorious Lover and Friend.  The more we see Him, the more we are transformed forever.

Don't Let Your Worries Weigh You Down

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fail.

Oh man, I love the Word of God!  I love how It is so full of rich promises that fill your heart with faith and put your mind at ease!  The Word of God is meant to bring life (2 Corinthians 3:6), so if a passage of Scripture doesn't bring life to your soul, then ask Holy Spirit to reveal it's life-giving Truth hidden in that passage, and if you still don't get anything, then leave it for another time until Holy Spirit does reveal the passage's life-giving power.

That's why I love this verse right here.  Amidst all of David's complaints and groans about his enemies and their successes, he gets this revelation that God will never let the righteous fail.  That is a powerful and exciting revelation!  You my friend, as a righteous person, cannot fail.

We should all know by now that we have been made righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:10). and thus by His sacrifice we are declared by God Himself to be 100% righteous!  And that means, according to this verse, you cannot fail!

Now, it would seem that there is a condition to a righteous person not failing.  That's the way it seems.  But I don't think this verse is saying that.  I think David is saying "stop worrying, because God will never let a righteous person fail!"  David is saying we, as children of God, shouldn't be worried, because we can't fail!

It's not a case of casting our cares on God in order to not fail.  Instead we won't fail therefore we may as well cast our cares on God!  There is no reason to have cares or worries if we can't fail!

Most of us have some kind of worry we face each and every day.  Some have more cares than others.  Some, by their genetic make-up, tend to worry more than others.  But God is a loving Father who doesn't want us to be weighed down by these worries, and instead offers to carry them for us.

Worry and anxiety can consume us.  They can take over our emotions and so easily drain our energy.  Our loving Father wants us to hand these worries to Him, and in their place He will give us sustaining Life.  When we hand our worries to Him, instead of having our energy drained we find that our energy rises.

Friends, today hand all your worry and anxiety over to Him.  He will look after you.  He will provide for you.  He will protect you.  And because you are a child of the Most High God, you cannot fail.  There truly is nothing to worry about when our trust is in our Father!

I have written this prayer in the first-person, in order to make it personal to you:

Father, than You for Your Word that so clearly says that if I cast my cares upon You, You will sustain me.  Today, I ask that You would help me do that.  It's not easy to let go of all these worries, but I want to.  I place them into Your hands today.  Please sustain me.  Replace this worry with joy and peace.  I want to trust You with everything that I am.  I want to believe that as Your child, I cannot fail.  Please give me a revelation of this Truth!  Thank You so much, Dad!  Thank You for how much You Love me.  I am overwhelmed when I even think about it, may You make it more and more real to me each and every day.