The Almighty Shepherd

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anoints my head with oil; my cup runneth 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" (Psalm 23). Among all the Psalms, the twenty-third is the "pet lamb" of the flock to many. In this Psalm we find many aspects of the believers life. I. There is decision v.1. "The Lord is my Shepherd." Sheep are helpless and stupid, they desperately need guidance and assistance. The Psalmist made a personal choice to whom he would follow. A sheep is an object of property. The Lord was David's personal Shepherd. II. There is assurance v.1. "I shall not want." The godless are never satisfied. "My God shall supply all your need." Not only I do not want, but I shall not want. David believed the Shepherd's promise. III. There is rest v.2. "He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Guidance to refreshment comes first. The rest of faith is a rest that is calm and refreshing. "He maketh me to lie down." That rest is found in the center of God's love. The green pastures are found in the center of God's will. His quiet mercies are a means to an end, and that is for me to do His work. "He leadeth me." IV. There is restoration v.3. "He restores my soul." If we stray from His paths of righteousness He is gracious and willing to restore us. God restores the spiritually fatigued. Only Christ can restore the backsliding soul. When the soul is weak, God is strong. When the soul is sorrowful, God revives it, when the soul is sinful, He sanctifies it. V. There is guidance v.3. "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness." The right path is not always the easiest. In Pilgrims progress the pilgrims found it "easy going" down the path which led to the castle of Giant Despair. Why does He "lead us?" "For His Own Names sake." God's reputation in this world is contingent upon how His children walk. VI. There is courage v.4. "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." The shadow of death is a dreadful thing to the unbeliever. But there is no evil to fear when the Shepherd is near. We don't walk in the valley but through the valley. Only a shadow, because God has removed its substance, all that remains is the shadow. The shadow of a dog can't bite. VII. There is fellowship v.4. "Thou are with me." The heavenly pilgrim is always in good company. The Lord stands with us when all men forsake us. The presence of God is sufficient at all times. VIII. There is comfort v.4. "Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." The club and the crook of the shepherd were the instruments of defense and deliverance. What they were to the sheep, the Word of God is to us. The staff was used to beat off the enemies, and to nudge the sheep along. The Word is a club to give us victory over our enemies. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood." The Word is a crook to guide or lift those who fall into a pit. God both defends and directs the believer. The knowledge that the Shepard has these instruments comforts the flock. IX. There is provision v.5. "Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." The good man has enemies, he would not be like Christ if he didn't. God knows how to feed His flock. We have meat to eat that the world knows nothing about. It was a practice for the winner to feast in front of the striving prisoners of war. There will always be conflict, there will always be a spread table. X. There is anointing v.5. "Thou anoints my head." We need a fresh anointing for every-day duties. This is the anointing of authority and power. We are like Kings and Priests who were anointed. We are a kingdom of priests unto God, and we are anointed by the Holy Spirit. A priest without oil was not qualified for service. XI. There is satisfaction v.5. "My cup runneth over," and flows out to others. The God of grace satisfies. The Spirit filled believer is a satisfied saint (John 7:37-39). XII. There is a great prospect v.6. We will live with God forever, all the day of this life and the next. He is with us on the black days as well as the bright days, and in the mansion that He prepared beyond this life. We won't change our company or the house, we will just go live in the upper story. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

Blessed by God

Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." His promise, "The Lord bless you." God commanded the Old Testament Priest to pronounce this blessing upon His people. This implies God's promise to keep it. Every divine promise is built on the following strong foundations. God's justice and holiness which do not permit Him to deceive. God's grace and goodness which do not permit Him to forget. God's truth which does not permit Him to change and God's power which enables Him to accomplish it. (see Romans 4:21). He promises us His protection. "And keep you." Our protection lies not in the strength of our hold on God, but in the strength of God's hold on us. "Let me no more my comfort draw from my frail grasp on thee; In this alone rejoice with awe-Thy mighty grasp of me." His presence, "The Lord make his face shine upon you." We do not worship an impersonal ideal, a bloodless "Supreme Being," for in Christ we discover that God has a face and on that face is a smile. We must desire the Lord's presence more than the Lord's presents. The Giver is more important than any of His gifts. His personality, "And be gracious unto you." God will never let you down, He'll never let you off, and He'll never let you go. "His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto man, for out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again." His pleasure, "The Lord lift up his countenance upon you." We are privileged to proclaim the Gospel of the glory of God. We learn in the Scriptures "It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). God is no less God in the hard seasons of life. We used to sing "His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me." His peace, "And give you peace." Peace is God's gift. Man made peace, manufactured outside of God's plan, is as phony as a plastic carnation. Samson thought he found peace sleeping in the lap of Delilah, but he awoke to reality (Judges 16:19). What is peace? It is calmness when the trails press, it's a confidence that God knows best, it's a gentleness that's unperturbed, it's a quiet trust as on we plod, it's a sweet reliance on our God. Are you receiving God's blessings today? Receiving His blessings begins with receiving Him. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

The demonized boy - Copley

Please read Mark 9:14-29. The best book on how to deal with the demonic is of course the Bible. That which happened in the Gospels and Epistles is going on today. Jesus came into a faithless culture (on the most part), we also live in a faithless culture. A half century ago a friend of mine was in seminary. He said at that time America was a "Christian nation" in principle. He said today America is an agnostic nation that houses some frustrated Christians. Dr. Mark Bubeck said "The church of Jesus Christ will never experience revival until they confront the enemy." Many pastors and laymen fear the enemy and have the mistaken idea that to leave him alone is the best policy. We can never make a deal with the devil, he is anything but a gentleman. Failure to warn the sheep of a ravaging wolf is simply to fatten them up for the slaughter. As with the Gerasence demoniac, we see the demonic desire to attack their victim's humanity. In the case of this boy the attacks had been happening since childhood, a grim notice that children are not immune to demonic activity. The boy is described variously as having an evil spirit (or a spirit of dumbness), seize him, being a lunatic and being very ill. The symptoms include muteness (his normal state) as opposed to his convulsions, when he screams, and deafness, falling (being dashed) to the ground, foaming at the mouth, grinding his teeth, stiffening or, sudden screaming, and being mauled. The demon scarcely leaves him, so that he gets very little rest from the attacks, the goal of which appears to be the death of the boy. While the symptoms are epileptic in nature, the condition goes beyond epilepsy. It could either be that the demon took advantage of an existing case of epilepsy, or else it brought those symptoms with it. The disciples' command is refused by the demon: claiming Jesus' authority does not guarantee instant deliverance. The disciples had previously been given authority over demons, and had already been casting them out. Possibly there were relying on their own resources rather than Christ. Whatever the reason, they are defeated and frustrated. Even the boy's father sees this, and doubts Jesus ability. When the boy sees Jesus, he is thrown to the ground in a series of convulsions. Jesus, not immediately rebuking the spirit, asks the boy's father how long this has been happening, and the father expresses his doubt. Jesus reminds him that He is fully able, but the father has to appropriate Jesus' ability by faith. The responsibility for failure belongs to the father, not Jesus. In some way, the faith of the father (or the parents?) may be important in delivering (and protecting?) children. Fortunately, Jesus is not looking for perfected faith, only genuine faith. The man expresses his honest faith; it exists, but he needs help. Jesus not only wants the boy relieved, he wants the father saved. Thus the brief delay. With the father's confession, Jesus "rebukes" the spirit, just as He rebuked a fever )Luke 4:39) and a storm, (Luke 8:24). He used two commands 1. Come out, and 2. do not re-enter. There is no need to use the demon's name-He identifies it by the symptoms ("You deaf and dumb spirit"). The boy has a final convulsion, the departing demon's last attempt to harm him, and lays "as one dead". Jesus however, picks him up to show that he is alive. Afterward the disciples question Jesus on their failure. His answer possibly indicates that there is a certain class or type of demon which can only be controlled by prayer, and He rebukes the disciples for the quality (poverty) or their faith, not the quantity. He teaching of reliance on prayer (the word fasting also is found in early and late Greek texts) indicates both that the disciples had relied on themselves and that full control of the demonic realm belongs to God alone. The prayer He refers to is not a particular form or ritual of prayer, but a life characterized by prayer and possibly, persistent prayer in the face of the demon's refusal to leave. Here we see Jesus' exasperation with the disciples, which coincides with Mark's theme of discipleship failure. The whole theme can be traced throughout Mark's gospel, and is encouraging to us today because the same disciples who failed Jesus on a regular basis were used of Him to turn the world upside down. That means there is hope for you and me. We need to understand warfare in order to protect our families. As a father I need to pray a "hedge of protection" around my family every day. I also need to cry out to God, in faith, on behalf of each of my children. Job offered a sacrifice for his children. We must offer the sacrifice of prayer, praise and fasting for ours.