Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
(Psalm 23:6 NKJV)
When this verse says that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, does it mean that it will always be a good day? No, absolutely not! Far from it actually. To dwell mean to live, and when we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, that means whatever bad thing happens to us, He will turn it into good. If we let the Lord use our lives, He will use it for His glory. When He begins to use our experiences in that way, ladies, you won't hardly believe some of the thing that He will accomplish through you. Did I ever think I'd be a writier and leading an online Bible study for women? No, not in a million years. When I surrendered my life over to God and said "Lord use it how ever you see fit," then he turned it into more than I could've dreamed possible! That's because He's living inside of me and I'm letting Him use my life fully and completely. Is it always easy? No! Is it always worth it? Yes, absolutely! Ladies, as we end this Bible study, let me encourage you, let the Lord use you! With Psalm 23 being such a familiar Psalm, let's also remember, don't let the words become verbatum to you. I pray this has been an encouragement to you and also a reminder of just how good our God is! Can I pray for you?
Father, I lift up my readers to you. Lord I pray that you'll just bring the things to their mind that you want them to get. Lord get me out of the way of this study so you can do your work. Work in each lady's heart, whether she needs comfort, assurance, peace or whatever it may be. In Jesus name, Amen.
Great thought, Jamie, and God bless you as you lead women in the Word! What a great honor it is, and what a great responsibility!
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right about everyday not being all that great. I love that goodness and mercy FOLLOW me, and 2 ways to think about that:
They follow after me, always on my heels, running with me to the goal.
They follow behind me, like the train on a wedding dress, leaving a path of goodness and mercy for others to walk in.
I love Ps 23 - can't wait for your next study!!
Love you!!
Jamie, thank you so much for causing us to think about Psalm 23 in fresh ways. It is so familiar to us, that often we forget its powerful message. Thanks for the reminder. Love you!
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