The Lord Provides

The 23rd Psalm begins, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" (v. 1). This Scripture is intended to bring you comfort. Whenever you are down, whenever you are sad, when things just seem to go wrong and nothing is going right, look no further but to this verse and you will be comforted. You will be reassured of the Lord's presence and help. The Lord Jesus is there with you. He is in your corner.

This verse contains two phrases. The opening phrase is a simple statement of faith: "The Lord is my shepherd" (v. 1a). A shepherd watches over his flock of sheep and is always there for them. He loves them, he feeds them, and he leads them to green pastures where there is plenty of water to drink. The shepherd cares for all the needs of his sheep. He guards them and keeps them safe as he wards off all enemies. He leaves nothing to chance, but cares for their every need. He would even die for His sheep!

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Jesus is our shepherd. Always remember that you are in the care of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. He cares for you. He even gave His life for you. At just the right moment, for His purposes, He provides exactly what each of us needs. Trust Him.

That is where the second phrase of this verse comes in: "I shall not want" (Psa. 23:1b). The Good Shepherd cares for your every need. Jesus truly cares for you and watches over you. He will never leave you wanting. He will give you what you need. Just look to Him in trust, rest in His arms, and you will be comforted. Amen.

God Bless You with His Grace

Paul closes his letter to the Thessalonians as he usually does, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you" (2 Thess. 3:18). "All" means just that. Paul leaves no one out. Even those he rebuked in this letter are included. He prays that all who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord be blessed with the grace of God.

Grace refers to God's undeserved goodwill toward us. It refers to the bestowing of His lovingkindness upon us, even though we do not deserve it in any way. Saving grace is a gift we received from God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In addition to salvation, grace is essential for many things, such as endurance, service, growth, and giving. By grace God enables us to live the Christian life. We experience His sanctifying grace by trusting Him, obeying His Word, enduring His chastening, doing good by His power, walking in the Spirit, and praying.

Paul desires all of this for you. That is why he includes grace in the blessings he asks God to bestow upon you. Paul wants the fullness of the Christian life to be experienced by each one of you. He knows you can only experience that by God's power and enabling. It is God who does it in and through you. No matter how much Scripture you understand, no matter how obedient you are, no matter how committed you are to living for Christ, and no matter how much effort you put into living the Christian life, it is all futile apart from the peace, strength, truth, and grace that only God can give.

Let God change you by His peace, strength, truth, and grace. Then follow Him in all you are and all you do. Amen.

God Bless You with His Truth

Paul wrote Second Thessalonians through the use of what was called an amanuensis, or a secretary who took dictation. This was common, both for Paul and others of his day. In 3:17, however, he takes the pen in his own hand and adds the final words. This is also his habit and it provides a mark of authenticity to what he wrote. Remember how he earlier told them "not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us" (2 Thess. 2:2)? Some false teachers who were seeking to deceive them went so far as to forge letters, as if from Paul, to support their false teaching. So by adding his concluding remarks in his own handwriting he set upon the letter a mark of truth. This really is from Paul! And truth is what it is all about.

"The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle; so I write" (2 Thess. 3:17). Or, as the NIV translates it, "I Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write." Paul was the agent of truth and he did not want them to ever be confused as to God's truth.

For Paul, the church had to be the "pillar and support of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15, NASB). In order for this to be so, they had to be able to distinguish between "the spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6, NASB). To do so, they had to be firmly grounded in the Bible, the "word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). This is why Paul was so deeply concerned to guard and protect the Word of God, and to make certain they knew the difference between the truth of God coming through his writings and the errors of others.

God is not only the God of peace and strength, He is also the God of truth. 1 John 5:20 tells us, "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." God is truth, and Paul prays for God to bless you with His truth. Amen.