I Am Your Shepherd
I am THE Lord and there is none beside me. I am not one of many but THE one and only. To say this, is to say there, is no other. All who say or make any acclaim to My place are inconsequential and without merit. In light of Me, they do not even exist except as deceptive false gods which I slay with the breath of My mouth. Do not let your heart be troubled. I am God and I am in control. I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. I am LORD. I am ever in the present for there is no time and space in Me. Time is for you to function and live within. There is no time in Me. I simply AM. And all that I am is yours. I laid down My life to be your Good Shepherd.
I Am your Shepherd. Whose Shepherd? Your Shepherd! And because you are Mine I know you (John 10:14). I have marked you as My own. You have been circumcised in your heart by the Spirit (Romans 2: 28-29, Colossians 2:11). My Word is your greatest asset and works in conjunction with Holy Spirit to pierce and divide asunder soul and spirit, even to the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). In the process your true identity becomes clearer. I am yours and you are Mine.
Beloved, grasp and embrace this truth. Let your heart be open to the immensity of it. The one and only God, Creator of all that is and ever will be is yours. I abide in you and you abide in Me. It has been this way from the moment of your salvation.
From the very instant I found you, you belonged to Me, and I belonged to you. Yes, I belong to you. The Word says, The Lord is My Shepherd and You are the My! I am the Shepherd and My job is one of any true and good shepherd watching over his sheep. And I do it well. I am yours and you are Mine.
As your Shepherd I am a protector. I watch over you day and night, night and day. I am a sun and shield round about you and no good thing will I withhold (Psalms 84:11). The truth of all I say is your shield and buckler (Psalm 91:4). You have come to dwell in Me, in My house, in My pasture, therefore I hide you in My secret place of protection and security (Psalms 27:4-6).
Do not stray outside the boundaries I have placed around you. There is nothing to fear in Me for I am your rock, your secure place. See Me standing ever ready to defend you in all things and in every trouble. I am here to keep you company, to be your companion and intimate friend, and to tend every aspect of your life. There is no better way or place to be than in communion with Me.
You Shall Not Lack
Beloved, confess My Word at all times. Let it renew your mind (Romans 12:2). Remember I am YOUR Shepherd. I belong to you and you shall not lack. I did not qualify My word and say you might not lack this or that. I simply said, “You shall not LACK.” This is all encompassing, including every possible need imaginable from protection to the very air you breathe. I could say, ?You shall not fail or be caused to fail. You shall not diminish, grow weaker, shrink back, abate, or bereave.?
As your Shepherd, I provide all things: food, shelter, spiritual nourishment, life sustaining breath, and a secure place to abide within the cleft of the Rock. My eyes are ever on you and the horizon of your life at all times. I see all things to come and I have prepared the necessary things you need to overcome and live the abundant life no matter the circumstance. This does not mean the abolishment of all suffering and trials for many have suffered throughout the generations in My name.
O’, that you might know the abundance of this great shepherding heart of Mine. Hear My voice and do not follow another (John 10:27). Should you follow another, I will come after you and carry you back to the pastures of My incredible love and protection. Have I not said, “No one can pluck you out of My hand!” This is so, for I have given you eternal life in Me (Job 10:28-29, Romans 6:23).
Beloved, I do not live in the past. I am an ever present, in the moment God. I simply AM–right now. I am your Shepherd of the present and the future. Shall is now and forever to come. Your provision, your protection is assured by the definite declaration, Shall! Not only will you have all you need, all I have and all I am, you shall NOT lack. No never, not ever. This is promise worth of taking hold of.
You must receive My promise as to who and what I am. When you do this, NOT WANTING will be an everyday factor of your life from moment to moment. Your level of contentment reveals the true state of your heart, whether it desires what I desire or desires what you think you need. Things will never satisfy.
Your greatest need is to be content in Me, your Good Shepherd who loves you so very much. I have provided a place to abide and receive all I am and when you do this you will only need what I have for you, what I provide. Take a hold of this promise deep in your heart and you will have someone to guide you in all your ways, during troubled times and good times. I am your shelter, your rest. Follow Me and I will guide you (Proverbs 6:9) Remember, I know the way for I have already been there. You do not. Be completely satisfied in Me and My care for and over your life. Nothing is too difficult for Me. I care for you.
Green Pastures
Have I not said, Taste and see that I am good! My green pastures and still waters are just one more glorious provision in Me. Peace is My name and I am calling you to a place of peace where you can sleep in the boat during a storm and consider it a restful garden of verdant green (Luke 8:22-25).
What is this pasture, this place? It is My Word. My Word is your food, your nourishment. It is always full of life and never void of power or barren. Come lie down in the peace of My Word. There is not one situation in your life I do not have an answer for, or provide a pasture to reside in. Do no lightly observe My Word, but meditate on it and let it create pastures of contentment in your heart. My Word revives you and gives you life (Psalms 119:50).
My Word creates in you freedom from fear, strife, worry, frustration and hunger. You cannot do this on your own. My Word implanted imparts faith to believe that I keep you from all threats of the enemy, threats to take, to remove My promises from your life or any other tactic aimed at stealing you away from My Word, My protection.
When you are resting in My Word, mercy and loving-kindness meet with truth. Righteousness and peace kiss each other (Psalms 85:9-11). Green pastures are places of peace without offense because you love My law, My Word (Psalms 119:165). I am the Lord and I am the Word so you could say, The Lord, the Word makes me lie down in green pastures when appropriated in my life.
Yes, My Word creates green pastures and peace of mind. It creates a future and a hope. When you put My Word in your heart, when you appropriate it, the Word makes you lie down in a place of rest, for your mind is renewed. My word has power. My Word makes green pastures and watered gardens out of your heart and life. You be come what you lie in, so lie in My Word.
Today I come to the earth of your heart, the pasture of your habitation and I saturate it with water. I enrich it. I water your fields abundantly and make the soil of your heart soft with showers and bless the growth of your pastures. I crown your year with gladness and you will drip with moisture and gird yourself with joy. I cover your meadows with flocks and your valleys with grain. You are indeed a green pasture and a sheep of My hand (Psalms 65:9-13).
Let My Word, My presence create contentment and lack of fear in your heart. Set your eyes on Me and fear not, worry not, strive not, and be at peace with all men in the place I have provided for your habitation in this life.
Still Waters
My Word leads you, carries you, and guides you beside still waters. My Word creates still waters. I am still living water. Don?t try and quench your thirst by any other means than Me. All else is stagnant water. Though things look good, look inviting they are not. Remember the devil can appear as an angel of light. Do not drink from the waters of the world such as fame, fortune, addictive behaviors or even wells formed by the traditions of men or through a religious mentality. Those I have set free are free indeed. Pursue Me the one and only true source of living water.
Imagine a dry creek bed, cracked and barren. Very little life flourishes there until the heavens send forth rain. Then, behold the transformation takes place as life giving waters flow once more. Everything around it is affected and turns lush and green. A sound of water trickling across the rocks emanates beauty and peace. This is what My Word is to you. Not only is it for you but for those you know and love. They will be transformed by living water flowing through and out of your life. My Word creates green pastures and still waters. I am coming to stir your waters, to stir the word in hidden places of your heart and streams will abound.
I lead you beside these waters because of My great love and take you beyond the time of drought by building faith to see. Holy Spirit, with gentle flowing streams divine of healing and mercy, flow into you.
Then I lead you into the waters to saturate and fill, for you are called to have rivers of living water flow from your belly, called to create rivers in other dry places (John 4: 37-38). I lead you TO the water and I lead you INTO the water. Out of this experience water flows from your belly. Never be afraid that I will lead you astray to stagnant waters. I always lead you to an oasis of revelation and truth. My still waters are peaceful places of comfortable ease in My presence. Come and rest in Me. Today like every other day I am watering your pasture, producing abundant growth and creating streams in your inmost being.
Come; dip your hands, your heart into the living waters of My Word. Be refreshed and exhilarated as you would be in the natural if you stepped into a cool spring fed by underground wells on a hot summer day. This is what I am to you, what My Word is to you. Take some time with Me. It is time to create.
He Restores My Soul
Like sheep, My children go astray, even the most devout of all struggle and turn aside to have their own way many, many times (Psalm 119:176). This is nothing new to Me beloved. I am not taken by surprise at anything. Cast your cares upon Me that you might not be weighted down by the things of the world. Don’t let the burdens you bear weigh you down like a sheep whose wool has become full of all manner of things. When sheep are weighed down they become de-habilitated to a point where their movement is incapacitated.
My yoke is easy so cast your sin and your cares upon Me, for I care for you (Psalm 42:11). You must be disciplined in your pursuit of Me and not become comfortably complacent. This is dangerous and makes you oblivious to the approach of the enemy. Remember; I see the beginnings from the end so don’t be dismayed. I always go after the one who has went astray or turned aside to their own way (Luke 15:4).
Know this, I always come after you. Through My great mercy, I bring you back to your proper place of relationship with Me. Not only do I bring you back but I do it in a way so as to create a better place than the one you left. I do this as a demonstration of My great love and to build a faith which encourages you not to not wander so easily.
I am restoring your vigor, your strength in these days ahead. The enemy has wanted you to advocate your position in Me and I will not have it. Salvation is more than just being saved?born again. It is to be rescued from danger, to be restored to a previous state of being, to be healed, delivered and set free from besetting sins. I restore everything at all times and in every way imaginable. I restore you from the inside out through the transforming work of My Word, by the Spirit. I am transforming you, changing you, restoring you, mind soul and body.
Remember, I have always been. I was the Word and I still am. The Word engrafted is able to save or restore your soul in every possible way (James 1:21). I, the Word, restore you. Or you could say, The Word restores my soul as it is ingested, meditated on and applied to My life. Though you fall into sin, wander to other things; turn aside to your own wants and desires, I will not allow you to stay there.
Today I am increasing the restoration of all things in your life. Things long forgotten, things hidden are coming forth into the light of restoration. Do not run, or push aside these promptings. Let Me have My way in you and behold the reestablishment of your life as it is brought to complete and perfect order. The latter rain will be greater than the former. I bring you new wine, new vigor, new discernment and new hope. All I can say is new…Sozo…all things are restored…
Prayer
Lord, I declare today that You are my Good Shepherd, my personal Lord and friend and there is no other besides You. No other god or idol has place in my life. I serve You and You alone. All You are belongs to me through the shedding of blood. Your Word abides in My heart and is creating green pastures of contentment and peace. I am not afraid for my heart is one of still and peaceful waters for I abide in You and You abide in me. You restore my life.
You have taken me from the pit and set me in a large place filled with green pastures and still waters. My ear is attentive to Your voice, Your promptings and I obey without question. My heart belongs to You. I ingest the Word and It is life to my bones, to my spirit, to my soul. All things are new in my life for You have made it so. You make all things new and bring all You promised to pass. Therefore, I do not lack in any area of my life. I choose to I rest in You. Amen
Reflect and Journal
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep (John 10:11 Amplified)
THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him–not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake (Psalms 23:1-3 Amplified)
1. Consider the verse which says the Lord is my Shepherd. The word MY in this should fill you with awe and love. Respond to Him with a note of love and appreciation.
2. Reflect on and journal a response about the one and only true God being yours.
3. Reflect on needing only what He wants for you.
4. The more you put Him “The Word” in you, the more your needs will be the same as His. You will want what He wants. You can do this by hiding His word in your heart and believing what He says.
5. Did you ever think of His Word in you creating the green pasture you are to lie in? It is not a far off thing, an elusive thing; it is simply being in Him and the Word which are one in the same. Reflect on this truth.
6. What areas of your life, your pasture do you need to have watered. Find the answer in the Word, meditate on it and become it. Write some of these areas down with corresponding scriptures so you don’t forget and just go on about your way.
7. Still waters are not just a place to go but a place to be. His Word leads you to still waters and makes you a place of still waters. Reflect on this.
8. What dry creek beds are in your life and need living water. Ask Him to come and take you to the living waters and He will. He will show you His Word in a whole new way, bringing it to life in a whole new way. He will create streams in you and release them till their banks overflow to all around you.
9. Salvation has many meanings and one of them is to restore, to bring back to a place better than before. What areas in particular is He speaking restoration over in your life?
10. What do you need to do to cooperate?
11. The Word restores you. He is the Word. They are one in the same. What Word do you need to insert into your heart to bring about the desired restoration? Do you need faith? Then insert Words of faith.