Back To The Basics Part #3


1 God-focused Deuteronomy 6:4
2 Christ-following Luke 9:23
3 Spirit-filled 1 Thessalonians 5:23
4 I am fully-loved John 3:16
Today I will look at the final three:
5 I am shepherded-faithfully Psalm 23
6 I am living-fulfilled Galatians 2:20
7 I have an eternal-future Rev. 21


The Psalmist wrote these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths.
For his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
They comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Because I have a Shepherd, I lack nothing, He slows me down, He leads me in His ways. Even when I walk in dark and terrifying pathways, He has promised to walk with me through every valley and trial, including that most frightening of paths, the valley of the shadow of death, even then I am not by myself. He promises me peace and His presence. All I can say is I am shepherded-faithfully by the Good Shepherd


Paul says in Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Throughout the world today people are looking for and seeking to be fulfilled. Many have a sense that there is more to life than just the daily drudgery of existing. People try to find satisfaction in pleasure and seeking their own will and way. The Bible is clear that we have it backward mostly. Want to lead? Follow! Want to find your life? Lose it! Do you want to see the secret to life? Die to yourself! Paul says he is crucified with Christ! He died to Himself and his ways and started living when he died to sin and found fulfillment in the Christ-life. It is when and only when he died and allowed Christ to live in him! Paul says “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Fulfillment comes when we die to self and become alive in Christ. I live-fulfilled through Christ.


The seventh and last back to the central passage I want to share with you today is Revelation 21, I have an eternal-future:
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
Today is not all there is to life! Regardless of what is going on in this world, God always has the last word! There is a day coming when there will be a new heaven and a new earth. A day when God’s dwelling place will be with His people. There will come a day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes. A day when there will be no more death, mourning or crying or pain! Thanks be to God the old order will pass away.
You see I have a future, not just any old prospect, I have an eternal-future. Forever, with God! I do not know about you, but I find this idea comforting and exciting. Living-fulfilled today and anticipating my eternal-future!




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