Green Pastures and Still Waters

Green Pastures and Still Waters (Psalm 23:2)

The Shepherd wants to be more than our protector and provider- He wants to be our LORD.
He wants to make us do something. He’s not asking or suggesting- He’s MAKING us lie down. When we live our lives without submission unto God, we miss out on His blessing, protection and plan.

We need to lay down where Jesus wants us, not where we want to go.
Too many of us spend all our time tearing down fences, eating up somebody else’s grass, getting scratched in the barb wire, picking up weed seed when we eat and bring it back home when we void in our own pasture. That's how false doctrine and carnal living enter the church.

He makes us lay down so we have time to digest the Nutrition of God.
When livestock eat in green pastures and never lay down, they "founder" or "bloat", a condition caused when the animal doesn't take the time to let the food they've eaten digest and it just sits like a rock in the stomach and fills the gut with gas. Sometimes we feast on the presence of God, but never let it digest and give us the growth and strength we need. God doesn’t want us to founder or bloat- there are too many Christians full of hot air as it is.

Still Waters run Deep - A lot of Christians and a lot of churches are a mile wide and an inch deep. God is tired of shallow lives, hearts, relationships and churches. We need some depth in our walk with Christ.

Some of us are afraid of the “Still” part.
We do not like silence, we do not like the soul searching presence of God when it gets still. We can’t stand our own company and we’re afraid of His.

Some of us are afraid of the “Deep” part.
We are so afraid that we might get in over our head, lose our life, and lose our control. But for us to get what God has for us, we need to do both. We need to die to self as we submerge ourselves in His presence.

Will you lay down when He makes you…will you wade in where He leads you?