Devotionals for the Heart: When God prepares a feast for you in the valley

A Feast in the Valley
A devotional by Tessa Huckstep

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”—Psalm 23:5 (NIV)

God has prepared a feast for you. But this feast is not only on the mountaintops when things are perfect and everything is turning out the way you dreamed. God prepares a feast for you in presence of your enemies.

Whenever I have read through Psalm 23, I imagine that this feast is happening in a lovely meadow where everything is perfect. God has prepared this beautiful feast. He has anointed my head with oil and my cup is overflowing because He has blessed me so greatly.

However, when I read this passage a few months ago, it occurred to me that the circumstances of this feast are not so perfect. In the previous verse, the setting is described as the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). It was then that I realized this feast is taking place in the darkest valley while enemies stand by and watch.

Do you ever feel like you can’t enjoy anything so long as there is darkness or negativity in your life? I have found that there is always an enemy nearby trying to keep me from enjoying life. This enemy can be in the form of busyness, anxiety or fear. What keeps you from enjoying the good things God has placed in your life?

Whenever anxiety and fear are my companions, I feel suffocated. During those times, I don’t feel like enjoying anything good in life. These are my enemies, and they are constantly with me. Unconsciously, I realized that I kept waiting for the perfect circumstances to finally enjoy what God has for me when I reach my goal of finally conquering my anxiety. I think I can enjoy all the good things God has given me when I don’t have to worry about my finances anymore.

One thing I have found is that the enemies are always present, but so is God. Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, is always with us. He sits at the feasting table with you. The enemy may be present, but the enemy’s power is limited when your eyes are focused on Jesus. Turn your attention away from the darkness and the enemies that want to distract you. Focus on the Good Shepherd who has prepared a feast for you in the darkest valley.

Are you in a valley season of your life? Do you face darkness in your life and enemies that never seem to go away? God may not lift you up out of the valley and place you on the mountaintop quite yet. Maybe He wants to first enjoy a feast with you while you wait in the darkness. There is so much good God has showered upon us. Turn your eyes to the greatest good (Jesus). He will never leave you.

Let’s Pray: Dear Lord, thank You for preparing a feast for us in our valleys! Please help us to remember to always keep our focus on You and Your goodness. Help us to lean into Your goodness, love, mercy, grace and kindness. Open our eyes to the infinite blessings You have placed in our lives. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

Song of Reflection: “Hills and Valleys (Acoustic Video)” by Tauren Wells. Listen to it here.

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Author Bio:

Tessa Huckstep grew up in rural Illinois. She was born to Christian parents and has known Jesus Christ personally since the age of five. 

Currently, Tessa is attending community college and majoring in elementary education. In the future, she plans to teach in the public school system, hoping to bring the love of God with her.

Tessa enjoys being active in her local church. She serves as a co-teacher for the two-to-five year old class where there is never a dull moment.

It is Tessa’s passion to be a girl after God’s own heart and through her studying of God’s Word, Tessa longs to draw closer to her Savior. Through her writing, she longs to take others with her on this journey of faith.

Tessa loves all things Regency, needlework, and dainty teacups of every size.

When she isn’t writing or studying for exams, she can be found in the kitchen with more flour in her hair and on the floor than in the bowl, though the mess is always half the fun!

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Connect with Tessa:
Blog: https://beautifulbeloved937002841.wordpress.com/

Devotionals for the Heart: Jesus Christ is The Good Shepherd for humankind

The Good Shepherd
A devotional by Kay Pflueger

“I am the good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” 

– John 10:11 (TLB)

One of my favorite images of Jesus Christ is one that seemed to be hung on the wall of every Sunday school classroom I entered as a child.

It was a familiar one to me that pictured Jesus carrying a lamb on His shoulders. I must admit that all I knew about sheep is that you count them to fall asleep at night. So, I spent some time on Google reading about them. I discovered some interesting facts in my reading.

I learned that in biblical times there were two types of sheep pens. There was a permanent pen that was constructed of stones with one entrance so narrow that only one sheep could enter at a time. This allowed the shepherd to easily count the sheep as well as to assess their physical condition. The second type of pen was a rather makeshift one constructed out in the field with whatever the shepherd could find to piece together. The shepherd would lie down across the opening, creating a “human” gate of sorts to keep predators at bay.

What images of Jesus does this conjure up in your mind? To me, as the “gate” in the permanent pen, He keeps track of us and monitors our condition. On the flip side, as the temporary gate, He protects us with His life and body.

As well as proclaiming that He is a gate for the sheep, Jesus calls himself the “Good Shepherd". He mentions some of the characteristics of a good shepherd: someone who knows his sheep and calls them by name, someone whose voice the sheep recognize, and someone who would lay down his life for his flock.

Jesus knows us completely, and that is a comforting thought to me. But, let’s look at it from the other side. What kind of knowledge do you have of Him? Do you recognize His voice?

As part of knowing us, the Good Shepherd (Jesus) calls us by name and was willing to lay down His life for us (His flock). In John 10:28 (ESV) we read, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Take a moment to ponder the depth of that kind of love.

As we join our hearts in prayer, meditate on these words from 1 Peter 2:25 (TLB): “Like sheep you wandered away from God, but now you have returned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls who keeps you safe from all attacks.”

Let’s pray: Forgive our wanderings, Jesus. Thank you that you search for us and always bring us back into the fold and into your loving arms. In your name I pray. Amen.

*Note from Alexis: Kay’s devotional reminds me of this song based on Psalm 23. Listen to it on YouTube here.

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Author Bio:

Learning to read as a young child opened a world of adventure for Kay Pflueger. She came to realize that words can have a unique power and beauty.  

Choosing to share those words in her devotional writings has become a joyful and rewarding experience for her. As a widow, she feels a special affinity towards those who are grieving or experiencing loss.

When she is not spending time with her married son and three grandchildren, she is either reading, cooking, writing, or working on pursuing her Copyediting Certification.

Kay is an avid baseball fan who looks forward every summer to following her favorite team, the Chicago Cubs.

She is an active member of Victory Lutheran Church in her hometown of San Diego, California.

Kay enjoys writing devotions to be shared on her church’s website and personal social media.

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Connect with Kay:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kay.m.pflueger
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irishsweetpea/

Devotionals for the Heart: Still Waters

Psalm 23: Still Waters Run Deep
A devotional by Chaplain Paul Anderson

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." –Psalm 23:1-2 (KJV)

Recently, I drove past the Triadelphia Dam in suburban Maryland. I could see that the dam was not completely full of water, but it was full enough that water was running through the  floodgates and cascading into the river below. I could see from striated markings how deep the water could get and I was amazed that yet, it was still flowing.

Internally, I was driven back to a powerful quote that I had read about spiritual influence and leadership. In the quote, Bernard of Clairvaux, a Benedictine monk from the 12th century, contrasted wise and unwise spiritual leadership. He portrayed one as a reservoir and the other as a canal. For your edification, I inserted the quote below:

“The one who is wise, therefore will see [their] life as more like a reservoir than a canal. The canal simultaneously pours out what it receives; the reservoir retains the water till it is filled, then [offers] the overflow without loss to itself. … Today there are many in the church who act like canals; the reservoirs are far too rare. … They want to pour [this stream] forth before they have been filled; they are more ready to speak than to listen, impatient to teach what they have not grasped, full of presumption, to govern others while they know not how to govern themselves.”

At the Triadelphia Dam, I was reminded that leadership flows from abundance and pours into others. It is the byproduct of sufficiency and the antithesis of insufficiency. I was forced to consider the pace of my life. I realized that I was running hither and yon, with purpose and good effect. I was rightfully serving as a conduit of service and support (ministry) but simultaneously becoming depleted.

One day soon after that observation, while reposing in a rare moment of devotional solitude in my comfortable chair on the back porch of our home, I felt the familiar, filling presence of God. I heard His voice as He restored my soul with inspiration and instructions. It was memorable, remarkable and rare, only because I had not carved the time to cultivate those moments. I will get out there more often because meeting Him there is much more poignant than when I hear Him, more usually, in the car.

My time with the Lord that day flew by! As I reflected before retiring for the night, I was able to count tangible blessings. I could enumerate the experiences with others into whom I was able to direct the overflow of God’s filling of my being and their purpose. It was a good and productive day. As I reflected, the attributions for success could only go to God and the time we spent together on the porch. That is where we made a fresh connection.

Where are your green pastures, still waters and zones for refreshing and restoration? Do you know when you need to visit them? Do you know when your rhythm of life is out of balance?

When you are manifesting patience, peacefulness, kindness, generosity and gentility, these traits are likely the fruit of God’s indwelling presence in your life. You have been filled and are radiating the spirit of sufficiency. If, on the other hand you are leaking from the cracks of your wounded-ness and you are vexed, churlish, stingy, mean and spiteful, your culverts of grace are dry because you have spent too little time in the presence of God.

Triadelphia drove me to reflect, which led me to the porch, where God renewed the right spirit within me. Before I close this devotional, I’d like for you to join me in reading and reflecting on this Bible verse (Psalm 51:10-12). The King James Version (KJV) of that verse says: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

Please accept my story as an appeal to you to find your refreshing stream, your still waters and green pastures. Life is too short to live in the corrals of insufficiency. Our souls were meant to soar in the stratosphere of God’s all sufficient goodness, grace and mercy. It can only happen when we allow Him to transform us from the ruts and culverts of our lives into reservoirs of His presence, the overflow of which become life giving streams to others.

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Author Bio:

Chaplain Anderson served for 20 years as a U.S. Navy Chaplain. Over 26 years of active duty, he was promoted through the ranks from Seaman Apprentice (E2) to his final rank as Commander (O5) in the Chaplain’s Corps.

Prior to his Naval career, Chaplain Anderson pastored in the Allegheny East and Potomac Conferences of Seventh-day Adventists. His undergraduate preparation for ministry was completed at Columbia Union College (WAU) in Takoma Park, Maryland. 

He has subsequently earned four graduate degrees–a Master of Divinity from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, a Master of Education in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland and a Masters of Sacred Theology in Religion and Culture from Boston University. His Doctor of Ministry degree was conferred by Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Chaplain Anderson also completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He also holds certifications in Suicide Awareness and Prevention, Civil Mediation, Alternative Workplace Dispute Resolution, Temperament Analysis, Marriage Enrichment, Workforce Diversity, and is a certified Life Coach.