Dr. D's Devotional
Title: Psalm 23.4
by Dennis Reschke
Psalm 23.4
Ps 23:4 "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
they comfort me." A shadow never hurt any body. Satan is a toothless lion.
His authority is gone, and what power he has from humans that give him theirs
is no match for Christ in us. We always triumph and have victory. Jesus
said we will have tribulation in this world and that we will be persecuted.
So its no surprise that things like last weeks bombings occur. God said
He does nothing before He reveals His secrets to the prophets (Amos 3:7).
You may not believe in the prophetic office. I do. Its biblical (Eph 4:11,12)
- if there are pastors and teachers there's got to be apostles and prophets
- we've not all been perfected yet. The prophets said nothing about this,
which is one reason I'm assured this was not God's doing. Sin and satan
kill steal and destroy. Yet we can traverse these valleys. How?
This psalm makes an analogy between a shepherd and his sheep. We are the
sheep and God is our Shepherd. Among the tools of a shepherds trade were
the rod and the staff. I believe these are analogous of the weapons of our
warfare. A shepherd used the staff to haul fallen sheep out of a bad situation,
and he used to rod to protect them against predators. I have recently began
interceding every morning for an hour and a half for our city. When I first
began doing this I noticed I was getting beat up spiritually. The Lord spoke
to my heart, "Put your armor on dummy!" Eph 6:10-18 describes our prayer
armor. It says in verse 16 that "above all else", above all other weaponry,
take your faith. Why? because with your faith you can get a hold of all
the other weapons of warfare. After I did this I no longer experienced this
beating up from the devil. Another weapon we have at our disposal is prophecy.
In 1Tim 1:18, Paul admonishes Timothy to follow the prophecies committed
to him at his commissioning. You may not believe in this. I do, and have
benefited from them. I also would point out that Scripture is a more sure
word of prophecy (2Pet 1:19). Never allow a prophetic word to contradict
your own conviction or the Scripture. Sometimes, however, it is our knowledge
of Scripture that may be the hindrance or we're mixing up soulful lust with
conviction. Be Bereans when it comes to prophecy and search out the Scripture
to see if its so or not.
The Word is the offensive weapon at our disposal. Jesus defeated satan with
it: "It is written, it is written, it is written..." Notice satan came back
later in His life to harass Him. Satan and his forces are "on" 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. He is very patient. He will wait until you let
your guard down and then stab you in the back. Answer? don't let your guard
down ever. Wear your armor all the time. Believe God's righteousness in
yours (Isa 54:17), receive His peace on purpose. Decide that nothing can
separate you from Him at all times (Rom 8:39).
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