Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Lord is My Shepherd (Re-post)

Hey bloggers,

I'm at the airport about to board a place for Virginia, but I wanted to reach out to you with a Scripture that brought me peace today...you all know it...it's an old reliable...I'll get back to MkITN when I get back in town...

I'd love to hear from some of you who haven't posted lately...

Got to go...

Peace...


THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT...

HE MAKES ME LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES...

HE LEADS ME BESIDE STILL WATERS...

HE RESTORES MY SOUL...

HE LEADS ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE...

EVEN THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR YOU ARE WITH ME...YOUR ROD AND YOUR STAFF COMFORT ME...


YOU PREPARE A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES...

YOU ANOINT MY HEAD WITH OIL, MY CUP RUNS OVER...

SURELY, GOODNESS AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE,

AND I WILL DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD FOREVER!























Selah!

35 comments:

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

About to board so I've put up my computer, but I noticed on my Blackberry that I wrote "about to board a place", and, of course that should read "about to board a plane"...later...

Northern Light said...

Actually, Bishop, you may not have a typo there, at all. You were about to board a "place" for Virginia. A place in your heart and mind, a place of peace, of rest of all the emotion and hurriedness of this past week.....

So, make the correction, if you must, but I read into it another meaning (even believeing it wasn't what you meant to say)....and liked it.

I pray you are in a "place'.....a peace-filled and blessed place.

Peace, Love & Happiness to you !

Peace,
NL

Anonymous said...

Love goodness and mercy...follow me. Please. Amen

Donald said...

That chapter has got to be one of my favorite.
Her Majesty told me to buy two copies of Twenty-Three when I was up last weekend.
She has already mailed one to her friend from Texas who was in town last weekend and stayed here with her.

jules said...

Hi Bishop-
I am still in awe from the message last Sunday and assured that God is working out EVERYTHING for my good in my job search after hearing Pastor Tommy this morning. What a testimony he has! I may have an interview this week for a contract job. I'm grateful for this opportunity if it happens, but I also feel the Holy Spirit telling me HE wants to give me so much more than a temporary solution and to stop obsessing over my bank balance! So I'm aligning myself with God's vision for my future. Father God, open my eyes to YOUR plans, I'm throwing away my old "game plans" and handing YOU the pen to write the rest of my story! Wow! I feel free now!

Word ver: reserat

I interpret it as RESURRECT! I choose to view everything from the tree of live NOW!

SCRIBE said...

Bishop, I'm still here and still with you. I'm a firm believer in that Goodness and Mercy following us all the days of our life. As I look at the pic of the person walking through the valley of the shadow of death, it seems that he / she may be dying to self in the process or even as we are praying, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is walking in and through the situation with us, perfecting everything that concerns us. Our God is a consuming fire, not to burn to ashes, but to burn out everything that is unlike Him, such as putting gold or silver in the furnace so that all impurities can rise to the top and be skimmed off, where the only thing that is left is the purest forms of the metal that will last and endure the storms.

Oh what an awesome God we serve, for even when we are at our wits end, and down to our last, he restocks and resupplies us in the most unusual ways, even when what we initially prayed, asked, and believed for did not show up in the way that we expected or anticipated. I thank God for all things great and small, for I have found that there are no such things as "small blessings" especially those things received from the pure hearts of those whom are faithful and obedient to God. We must learn to discern the timing and voice of God, regardless of what mechanism, vessel, or device he may use to speak to us. God is more likely to speak THROUGH US as we obey His directions and instructions when He speaks TO US. We are to serve as a conduit / flow through channel, for when we hoard that which we are given, it is usually because we do not fully trust God to supply or provide us with more or greater things. Let us not become stagnant waters and store up grain for us, our four and no more when there are so many around us that may be starving. when we hold onto that which God tells us to release, then the parasites of the land will eat it up and we shall end up losing far more that we were originally called to give away. Selah...

No matter what it looks like, the report of the Lord speaks the loudest, so we must recite, rehearse, and speak the report of the Lord with boldness and fervency, for even if things do not appear to be changing, it is all but a process. things can change instantly, yet most times they do not, UNLESS we are willing to change our minds, our perceptions, and the things that we are saying. So, let us not dwell on all that is WRONG in our lives, but moreover meditate and speak about that which is right, being thankful for the blessings that he has already so generously bestowed upon us.

Thank God for His Grace, Goodness, and Mercy that sees us through the difficult times, even when we feel and think that we are going through complete meltdowns.

SCRIBE said...

If we are indeed melted down like precious metals in the fire, then the impurities in us will rise up, be skimmed off and cast away, rendering us all more flexible, pliable,useful, and resourceful=== not to mention increasing our value, worth,functionality, and availability to God and those we encounter. We are not called to help everyone, but we are all assigned to help SOMEONE. So, let us not grow tired and completely worn out because of the processing, for without being properly processed, we dare not make an PROGRESS, and it is by way of being Processed, we are PROGRESSIVELY pressing towards the mark for the higher calling in Christ. The grains of the field taste so much better when they are plucked, stripped of the chaff, ground by stone or the grist mill, then coming out on the other end as processed refined flour--- good for making breads to feed others as well as a binding agent to hold other things together. And that is what is called maximizing our resources to the fullest extent. Some portions of the flour can be sold for profit while other portions can be sown as a seed to feed the needy, as well as other portions of the flour or meal can be kept in our homes to feed our own families.

What a Spectacular God we serve, for His Manifestations are so much more appreciated when we FIRST grasp a firm hold of His REVELATION. Choose this day whose report you will believe and what master you will serve!

Anonymous said...

Pastor Tommy,

Great word this morning.

Thanx.

DoubleBack Alley said...

Sahib,
Thought you shut it down. Good to know that all is well.

Ain't God Good?

Son of Zadok said...

I believe everyone hears the voice of God. We all have an ego, but the real us, the seed of the Christ which is inside every person is operating in all things in you always. Thank God for your problems. You are using them to attain a higher level of consciousness in Christ.
We all have just forgotten who we are, and where we come from.

"Before you were in your mother's womb, I knew you."

Everyone is in a process of remembering unto the obtaining of perfection. God is being born in us all to live in new expressions. It's a universal family. And when you change from the inside, from that higher self that is working in you its present purpose, the whole world changes.

Take a hologram. They used to make bookmarks many years ago that would cast a holographic image above them. One was a heart, one was a frog, different things, but they would appear in midair as if hovering above the bookmark. The amazing thing about how that works is that if you were to cut the bookmark into a hundred pieces and examine any one piece under a microscope, you would only see the image of the whole, the whole heart, or the image of the frog. They are finding out that the whole universe is like that hologram. We are all so unique yet so entirely connected that when we change, the whole image changes together. The whole body is increased when you rise. Rise in the name of Jesus.

We all hear the voice of God in us, whether or not we even care to notice, because their is only really one voice. That voice never changes and is full of mercy, working in us as we co-create our dreams and desires and intent, making new realities, experiencing new emotions we've never known or understood. The pain of this world and the force of the "devil" is even just a tool in a hand. The ego is all an illusion and temporary. God is as a giant blanket and all our temporary trials are just wrinkles that appear in it. Reality is what you know and believe, but their are higher realities that exist in us that we are not aware of.
Hell is only in the mind that makes it, and even it is purposeful towards awakening.
God speaks in us all, Oh Yes every heart hears. And it's the best voice in you. It's not the condemning voice, it's a voice of love and hope and faith and new knowledge. When you silence your ego and all the patterns and paradigms you've come to accept in yourself. When you silence that lie that your separate or have to obtain grace and love from God, then all of His universe meets you with blessings in that now moment where God exists. God is as crazy about you, as we could ever be for God and each other. That is God's intent. And what God wants, God gets!
You hear the voice of God because God is not just “inside you” talking at you and to you, God is infused into your existence. Your true being is composed of what God is. All of us are already fully contained inside of God.

It's all so wonderful really....

Grace is so wonderful. Grace works in us all.

It wants to commune in you.

Son of Zadok said...

Let God's words be your new dialogue with yourself, and the world, and beyond.

You have the power to create all the changes you choose.

Experience yourself as if this new reality has already happened.

Your imagination is preceding your reality. See it!

Think from the Christ image.

What reality do you choose?

Don't just say it, become it.

Prayer is feeling that reality in your emotions.

Be enveloped and encircled by it.

You are surrounded by the answer.

Let joy come to pass.

There are beautiful and blessed forces within you.

You are free in Christ to heal yourself and the world.

Grace and Peace are working in you always.

Northern Light said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Northern Light said...

word ver: consious

Be "conscious" of the WORD!

Peace,
NL

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the repost Bishop. Twenty Three is a great Psalm for meditating and this pictoral application adds to the ability of my imagination to draw from its inspiration.

Welcome back SOZ,
"That voice never changes and is full of mercy, working in us as we co-create our dreams and desires and intent, making new realities, experiencing new emotions we've never known or understood."

Great post SOZ, its good to see you back on the blog. I love the content of this. It speaks to me in agreement with what I already know deep inside.

Brenda said...

I love that chapter, whenever I am going to the doctor to have a test done that is the chapter that I recite to myself and it brings me great comfort.

I just got my copy of last Sunday message and I was so blessed. I have never heard it explained your way before but I can wrap my mind around it. It's like I knew that but you don't really know that you know it then when you hear it placed in words it comes so alive for you. That may not make sense but it does to me and I can't articulate it right.

How do you find such great pictures, its amazing.

Lisa said...

Ah I so Love this chapter. I've been in the School of the Prophet taught by Kim Clement for the last 8 weeks and to read the Lord is My Shepherd with a new perception is so so awesome!!! I haven't been posting but have been reading....
Bish your word on the trees was so dead on what I have been learning in school! Thank you for the confirmation that I am in the right place......
See ya soon!!!!!!

karl cobos said...

Good morning church.
It is good to be here dwelling in the house of the Lord with you.

I need to write something down here first before I do anything else.

The verse I believe the Lord is showing me is from 1 Peter 2:9 which says:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous Light.

This whole week to me has been about LIGHT!...and then Bishop, you said things were mentioned in body builders about light and energy. Pamela said that she saw some type of energy (vision-like)there, and yesterday this verse, and THEN this morning I'm opening a 500 page book I got from the library and the place where I read when I'm finishing the reading ends up with THIS SAME VERSE.

I know the Lord is trying to tell me something...pray in agreement that I'll understand what that is.

...but I like that it says into His marvelous light...LIGHT.

1 minute left at the library computer...gotta go.

word ver: tramp

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, NL...you were right about VA being a "place" of peace...we had amazing services there, and a very good time of connecting...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Agreed, Anon 6:05...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

I think I already thanked you on Twitter, Donald...but thanks again for your ongoing cyber-connection...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Stay strong, Jules...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Good stuff, Scribe...thanks...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

DBA...always good to hear from you...no, I didn't shut it down, just been using it to help me stay on track with the writing...finished Matthew In The Now, and am now well into Mark In The Now...the instantaneous feedback from the bloggers really helps keep the writing alive for me...

Don't be a stranger...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

SOZ, the blog is always "less than" without your contributions...I actually wrote something to you here the other day...don't remember what day it was...anyway, thanks for the insight...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks, Brenda...several people have asked me about where I find the pics...even last night several people asked where I found the one I used for "Surely goodness and mercy"...

I originally did this post about a year ago (I think), but I never remember where I find the pics, anyway...when I'm looking for one thing, I always find other things that I save for later use, just because they speak to me in some way...

Glad you connected with A Tale of Two Trees...I actually taught it again yesterday in VA...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

That's cool, Lisa...look forward to seeing you guys...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Thanks for being in the flow, Karl...

Teezy313 said...

Bishop Tommy-Great word yesterday, right in season and right on time!

Bishop-Welcome home and last night's sacrament service was amazing...I also like the idea of doing another month devoted to worship...if you ask me we should do one month each year and devote it to worship...

Got to go...workin on stuff to put on my blog...not sure what I want to talk about next but I'm just going to be led by the Spirit.

Listening to-Chasing after you by Natasha Cobbs and Pastor William Murphy III

Teezy

Northern Light said...

I'm listening to Israel Houghton's CD - Power of One and the song "Just Wanna Say" is on. The lyrics remind me of this Post of The Lord is My Shepherd.........

"Even though I go through the valley of the shadow, I'm not forgotten. I just wanna say,I'm not afraid, I know that you are with me. Always, I give you praise for every day I know you'll never leave me. No way!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just sharin...
Peace,
Northern Light

Unknown said...

Hey, Bloggers and Bishop...

I went back to check out where my head was when this was originally posted...interesting to go back in time like that...but, out of the rear view mirror and on to the windshield...

UPDATE: I said before that Mercy and Grace were "too saintly" in my head...I don't even remember that! They are definitely take-you-out strong and mighty NOW! So cool.

The pictures still make music as before...same melody, different tempo and there's a whole orchestra now. Guess that might sound a bit weird but this grouping sings very powerfully to me in lots of rooms of my heart.

wordver: jawnsp, "Jah inspired"...yes, it is.

Unknown said...

It's good to see the CITN slideshow back, Bishop. As before, I love the titles for each picture.

tracy said...

I loved this the first time you posted it and I still love it. Something about the pictures just invoke peace and show you He is in control...still, especially when Bailey has been up for 48 hours with a horrid earache. On a humorous note (ya'll know that's how I roll)...Tristen and I were in Walmart yesterday afternoon and we were in the candle section, well they have the incense in the same section and Tris goes look mom, they have one called "religion" and we both agreed religion absolutely stinks. I can't imagine who in their right mind would pay for that stuff-I mean it stank ya'll-like old moldy church. If ya'll go by there smell "religion" and tell me what you think, i think i am right on though.

Northern Light said...

Tracy,

Good one on the incense Religion, but I sure was hoping for another classic Bailey story. I am sorry she is suffering, and prayers are going up for her healing right now~

Peace,
Northern Light

tracy said...

NL- thank you for prayers-more Bailey stories to come I am sure-----

jules said...

Update on the job situation. I had 2 interviews with the company I mentioned earlier and I am waiting to hear their decision. The recruiter has told my that I am a "strong candidate" for the job!

Bishop, thank you for the prophetic word "STRONG" in your answer to my original post!