It’s Time To Rise. Scripture never leaves anyone to sit. UNITE Link Party

He said “Pray in the Spirit for three days, and the Lord will speak to you about your calling”.

I didn’t believe Him….that short, tiny old man, speaking gently, yet with authority in the meeting that day.

But then, it happened.

I sat at my computer and His Spirit took me, as if in a hurricane, to my knees on the floor of my bedroom. I fell down, and the Lord spoke to the core of my being, “Writing and Foster/Adoption. Both, your calling.”

He showed me how I must be a voice, but yet, not a voice without action. About how the works of my hands will feed my words, and how my words will testify of my action.

And how we need both….the physical action and the testimony of His goodness. We need words and works, not one or the other.

Yet, there was a season, where babies cried from drug exposure. Toddlers demanded constantly. My countenance was weighed down with the implication of serving those without families…

And yet, my words never spoke about it.

At the same time, there has been years that I have written (Sometimes for up to five hours a day) and been caught up in contemplation, in my head, weaving this web of simply thinking and understanding….

And yet, never put my hands to work.

Mrs. Oss was a lady of both.

The tall, thin, Sunday School teacher, who called her class to memorize all of Psalms 23. She spoke of the Word constantly, but also practiced what she preached, by teaching.

I open Psalms 23:2 this morning. “He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me besides the still and restful waters.”

And how I had always seen green grass in summer, always mentally pictured this serene location of solitude and tranquility.

Yet, I read commentary and find there’s more to this passage.

Green pastures referring to scripture, and water represents the “action” of His Spirit.Psalms 23:2 describing this beautiful parallel of both, “contemplation on the Word”, and “doing”.

Scripture says we are not supposed to be clanging symbols; loud, demanding, annoyingly boastful with our words.

And yet, if we have not the love that leads to action…we are nothing. (1 Cor 13:1)

The book of first John describes it as, “Let us not love with words and speech, but with action and truth.” (1 John 3:18)

James 2:18 says, “… show me your [alleged] faith without the works [if you can], and I will show you my faith by my works [that is, by what I do].”

And yet, it can be easier sometimes to “do” than speak, in a world that slaughters those who claims absolutes…or says anything, about Jesus.

We live in a culture of complacency, diluted by this false sense of post-modern mentality, intimidated into not offending anything, or anyone.

We live in a culture where we have become mute and don’t realize it, have been silence by intimidation and yet somehow justify it. We have been lulled into quieting the gospel, and yet somehow think God will be glorified by it.

He is not.

Mute Christianity is not o.k.

• Matthew 6:15 says, “Go into all the nations and preach the gospel to every creature.”
• Matthew 24:14 – “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
• Acts 10:42, “And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.”
• Matthew 10:27, “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
• Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
• Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Contemplation and action, both aspects of Christianity, must be present in Christ-dome, according to Biblical truth.

What if the prophets went, and never spoke? Noah listened, but then never build? Moses climbed the mountaintop, but failed to declare the commandments to the people?

What if Jesus only preached, but never healed? Or healed but never spoke of His Father, His purpose, or the Beatitudes?

And so this two-sided coin exists, not only for Biblical characters, and Jesus…but for us still today.

We “lie down in green pasture”, rest, be still in scripture the way His sheep can feel safe and protected by the “Good Shepherd”…

When we pick up, His Good Book, we can really dwell in His presence.

And yet, why can it be easier for us to turn on the television, look to people for acceptance? Find exercise, or our own spiritual methods to bring up peace…

Instead of opening the Word and letting Him lead us?

What if instead, every time the rumbling of un-settlements lurked within us, we picked up the Bible, instead of our own methods?

We can rest in green pastures, when we pick up His Word.

We have a large pond on our property. It is still, quiet. You can walk out on the dock and will not see one ripple upon it.

Yet, what you won’t see on the surface is two things. One, the pond is deep, very deep. Second, quietly underneath, an artisan well lurks beneath it, constantly feeding it.

So, even though it might seems like the the water is stagnant…there is a constant flow of fresh underground water, flowing into it…as well as water constantly leaking out of it.

And I want that fresh infilling, don’t you? And just like our pond, we should leak too…don’t you think?

When we read Psalms 23:2, we can initially perceive; our walk with Christ will be still, peaceful, or even inaction.

But, anyone who has walked with Christ, being led by His Spirit, for any amount of time knows…

The walk with Him is anything but stagnant.

In this passage, “He leads me beside still waters”, the water representing the living, breathing moving effects of the Holy Spirit. In other words, “action”. 

When we follow Christ, our Spirits can rest and lie down in green pastures, but His active, moving, Spirit should be alive and evident in us.

Scripture never leaves anyone to sit.

Even in the old testament where Elijah went to his cave of depression, God called him out from it.

When prophets wanted to isolate and keep back God’s Words, God led them to “action” and places they didn’t anticipate or even necessarily “want” to go.

God says “Go” 1542 times throughout scripture. And yet, says “stay” only 62 times.

Yet, how many of us have used the line, “I am just waiting on God”, to justify our complacency.

We use apathy as a crutch and then spiritualize it by saying, “We are to be still, and just know He is God”.

But, God says be still…not stagnant. He says to listen, but yet remain active. He says, wait on Him, but only for an instant.

God’s people are marked by “going” and “doing”, not by waiting, relaxing, using God as an excuse for idolatry or apathy.

And let’s face it, if He lead us by “still waters” that were stagnant….they would stink. Stagnant water is dark, mucky, riddled with muskitos, algae, and isn’t something you’d want God to lead you to…

And yet, there is this “lying down” scripture promises. This, “by still waters” that defines us as Christians, as people of peace and tranquility.

And what commentators “get” at, by still waters, is that when we rest in His Word, both the active word and the passive meanings…

God is the one moving, He is the artisan well of our lives; coming in, going out. It is His work, not ours that will run almost effortlessly through our lives…if we let Him lead us.

The Chinese have a staying, “Still waters run deep”, and can’t we forget that just as tall trees have deep roots, so should we.

What deepens the pond of our lives, what sinks in our roots?

Scripture, of course. But also time is required, as water drudges the course places in our souls.

Also, we can thank trials. The heavier the storm, the deeper our roots.

And I want to be a people who doesn’t just use surface water to cover and deceive everyone.

I want Him to lead me to deep waters. I want His Spirit to move in and out, like an artisan well, bubbling over so my water is clear, my purposes are always moving, pure.

I want to leak His goodness, not forcefully or over-dramatically…but my prayer is that very few can stand next to me and not get “wet” with His goodness.

Isn’t it time we live lives like Psalms 23:2 says, lying down in His Word, and living alongside the “action” of His hand as it leads and guides us to places wild, and unexpected, beautiful and unanticipated.

Revelations 7:17 tells us, “The Lamb who is in the midst o the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to the sprints of the waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

I mean, who doesn’t want to follow a Good Shepherd like that?

The man who prophesied, was right. God did speak. He is calling His people to both contemplation and action. Reflection, words, and a life of being led by His Spirit.

How surprised I still am by that day where God led me to my knees and gave me a clear calling. 

Mrs. Oss, my fourth grade Sunday School teacher, leads us to verse 3. I listen carefully for what comes next….

(Will you join us, as God has me on this journey to walk through the meaning of Psalms 23? To not miss the next post in this series, subscribe, or follow on Facebook and Twitter for notifications to the next post.)

To read the previous post in this series, click HERE.

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