The Lord Is My Shepherd - The Lord Is

When understanding God's existence as NOW, how does this weigh upon your daily walk with Him? Please take time to share a comment, you never know, it may be an opportunity to bless someone else in life.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalms 23:1

The study I present to you in this article is not in any way meant to suggest that I have arrived or attained to the understandings that I am about to share; but like the apostle Paul, I find myself in the press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God, in Christ Jesus. It never ceases to amaze me how our God works His grace within our lives; frail men and women striving day in and out to meet the expectations of a holy and loving God.

It is with great humility that I write these words, to explore the pictorial image of the Shepherd, a Shepherd that David presents to us with great admiration and intent, emphasizing the endless love of God; a God that chooses to reveal Himself to mankind in so many diverse ways. David makes a personal and deliberate declaration, “The Lord is my SHEPHERD, I shall not want.”

The God we serve presents us with image after image of who HE is unto His people. To behold the God of provision, love, wisdom, might, power and so much more in HIS countless expressions, is truly revealed in the un-folding revelation of HIS love as Jehovah-Rohi (The Lord Our Shepherd). Oh what a revelation of the endless love God manifested to each of us that yield our self to the guidance of The Master Sheepherder. In Psalm 23 David starts off with a most powerful statement depicting the incomparable display of being, when he writes: “THE LORD IS…..”

The Lord is whatever we need HIM to be in our lives, over our lives, and through our lives. Yaweh, the Self Eternal God showcases HIMSELF as ALL-IN-ALL and ABOVE ALL (Eph.4:6), and when we allow HIS grace to be revealed to us as THE SHEPHERD OF shepherds, we are opened up to the endless and abounding grace of the Almighty God. To read a powerful statement such as, “THE LORD IS….” releases to the attentive soul, the richness of God’s endless self, displaying unto us an ability to become WATER IN THE DESERT, our DAILY MANNA from above, A PILLAR OF CLOUD BY DAY, AND A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT, our LOVE, our PEACE, our JOY and our ETERNAL fulfillment, our ALL IN ALL.

When we look in the scripture, a question is asked of God, by Moses, the wilderness pastor to the children of Israel, a type of Christ to lead God’s people to the land that flows with milk (God’s Word) and honey (God’s energizing spirit of life in Christ), “WHO SHALL I SAY SENT ME” (my emphasis of Exodus 3:13)? Note the response that God gives to Moses, who wanted to have an answer to give to Pharoah.

“And God said, unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14). In other words, Moses tells the people I AM THE LORD THAT IS!

This is a great and powerful un-folding of God’s endless self, declaring HIS ORDER of beginning and end, in one powerful introduction of HIS eternal nature and authority as, I AM THAT I AM. You will find it interesting to note that from Genesis to Revelation, God is unveiling HIMSELF to man, an un-raveling of the mystery of HIMSELF unto HIS creation, as Provider, as Healer, as BANNER (COVERING), as PEACE, as RIGHTEOUNESS, as PRESENT….and as THE SHEPHERD!

The Seven Compound Names of Jehovah

Jehovah jireh (Gen 22:14) “The Lord will provide a sacrifice”

Jehovah rapha (Exodus 15:26) “The Lord our Healer”

Jehovah nissi (Exodus 17:15) “The Lord our Banner”

Jehovah shalom (Judges 6:24) “The Lord our Peace”

Jehovah raah (Psalms 23:1) “The Lord our Shepherd”

Jehovah tsidkenu (Jeremiah 23:6) “The Lord our Righteousness”

Jehovah shammah (Ezekiel 48:35) “The Lord is Present”

GOD = Elohim = The Almighty God

LORD God = Jehovah Elohim = The Self-existent one who reveals Himself.

The Redemptive Name of God

Lord GOD = Adonai Jehovah = Master-Owner who is Self existent

JEHOVAH = The eternal Self existent One in his Fullness

The understanding that every child of God must have and hold true within his/her self, is God wants to be revealed as “IS” within your life. In a personal way, God wants to be whatever you need HIM to show up as. In Genesis, after the fall, God continued the great process of rolling out the scrolls of HIS personality, unto those who would encounter HIM, for the sake of displaying HIS desire TO BE evident in their lives as a very “personal” and “touchable” God. The Lord is and will always be!

Men expend a great deal of energy to disprove the Lord’s existence, yet the scriptures continue to push forth the great truth found in Colossians 1:17: “AND HE (THE LORD) IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, AND BY HIM ALL THINGS CONSIST! When the carnal mind lifts up its voice within us, to whisper doubt and unbelief, we can with great confidence state, “THE LORD IS________!”

Many times in the scripture, God showcases His ability to respond to man’s need in so many different capacities, and yet be God. He can show up as fire (I Kings 18:30-38), or the voice walking in the garden (Genesis 3:8), or as a sacrificial lamb (Genesis 22:8); yet no matter how He reveals Himself to us, it is all for the purpose of declaring His might and power as THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD!

Sometimes we find ourselves questioning God and His ability to be there for us; however, such questioning is without purpose when we compare the questions alongside the track record of The Lord that is.

What do you need God to be in your life?

Do you need Him to show us a rain? Do you need God to bring about a refreshing to the dry places of your life? Maybe you need Him to be your Healer? Whatever your need, you must have confidence in the truth, that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those that seek Him diligently.

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that HE IS, and that HE IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6 KJV).

There is a great blessing in accepting the truth that….THE LORD IS! Before He is Shepherd, or Provider, Healer, Physician, Teacher, Counselor….HE IS!

²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. ²⁶ And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. ²⁷ Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. ²⁸ And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. ²⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. ³⁰ And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: ³¹ But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:24-30 KJV).

Many of us are familiar with the term, “Doubting Thomas!” Thomas (the twin) was one of the disciples of Jesus, who was not present to witness the Lord’s meeting with the disciples (see John 20:18-24), neither did he get to partake of the Lord breathing on the disciples to receive the Holy Ghost. Thomas is said to not be with them when Jesus came in the midst of the other disciples. He was not present, he was out of pocket, he was somewhere, not expecting.

How many times do we find ourselves not being there? There in faith? There in trust? There in boldness?

I want to tie this episode in the life of Thomas (the twin) with understanding of the “IS-NESS” of God. Jesus taught the twelve and even prepared them for the day when He would have to die on the cross. Not only did He prepare them for His Death and His burial, Jesus assured them that He would rise again! The day of the Lord’s death came and great agony fell upon the disciples. Peter denied the Christ thrice, Judas killed himself, the disciples were in great sorrow, scattered like sheep without a shepherd; yet, the promise remained true, for THE LORD which IS…..rose again and He sought out His disciples…

Mary Magdelene, the prostitute, turned evangelist, after summoning Peter, John and the other disciples, except Thomas, is found weeping outside the sepulcher, encountered a type of the mercy seat (John 20:12) and the angels that she saw, asked her, “Why weepest thou?” Mary Magdelene responded saying, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.”

Mary Magdelene is weeping for the Lord. Her expectation is unwavering. Note her statement and purpose for weeping, “Because they have taken away MY LORD.” In the state of death, burial and the unknown, Mary Magdelene is holding the Lord in the present tense as MY LORD, in other words, to her THE LORD IS…!

Okay, let me say it again, THE LORD IS present for Mary Magdelene, and if you and I are to experience the grace offered, we too must see Christ as THE LORD THAT IS! Do not have time and space to elaborate upon this, but Christ is set forth in this passage as THE MERCY SEAT; and what we must understand about the pictorial reference of Christ positioned between two angels (see John 20:12, ref Heb. 9:5, Rom. 3:25, ) is because Christ IS, our MERCY SEAT must be accessible NOW!

Because Christ is, the handwriting of ordinances that were against us-IS NOT, in fact the Mercy seat fully concealed the tablets of stone which were kept in the Ark. The cherubim with their faces downward did not see the holy statutes which condemned the transgressors; instead the cherubim gazed on that which spoke of God’s glory – Deity (HIS ISNESS) magnified by sacrifice. Standing between the law and its administrator, and his executors was THE BLOOD OF THE I AM THAT I AM. The law as righteous as it was, expected death of those that violated it. “CURSED IS EVERYONE THAT CONTINUETH NOT IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW TO DO THEM,” Galatians 3:10. The only man who had the ability to stand before God on the basis of having kept THE LAW was the Man Christ Jesus. Christ fulfilled all the tenants of the law to make it possible for you and I to partake of I-AMNESS!

Understanding THE LORD IS…., enables us to fully appreciate the fact that a nation of transgressors could never stand before the NAKED LAW. The Ark was God himself, and anyone that approached God without moving in His order received death (I Samuel 6:19-20); however because of Christ THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE, we have been granted full access to ENTER BOLDLY INTO THE THRONE OF GRACE!

Seeing then THAT WE HAVE a great high priest, THAT IS passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4; 14-16).

What I am hoping to convey to you is this simple, yet very powerful truth….GOD IS, CHRIST IS;-THE LORD IS! One songwriter wrote,

“God sent His Son,

They called Him Jesus

He came to love, heal and forgive

He lived and died to buy my pardon

An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives

Because HE LIVES, I can face tomorrow

Because HE LIVES all fear is gone

Because I know He holds the future

And life is worth the living just because HE LIVES!

To be continued!

How many of us have lived the majority of our life abiding under the directive of someone else, claiming to have spiritual access to our answers, our directives, and our movement in the earth?

Where abides your responsibility to hear the Lord’s “VOICE” for yourself?

I admonish you to return to your first love, recapture that fire within to hunger and thirst for the Lord of lords, and the King of kings to be your focus. When we put into perspective the role of the Shepherd in our life, we will gain the proper benefits of that acknowledgement.

Check out my article: The Lord is..,My Shepherd