Psalm 23<\/p>\n

If you had ever told me how deep and rich Psalm 23 was I would have believed you because it is a popular Psalm, but I never realized how it could make the character of God and His love for us so much clearer. This week we are looking at the verse:<\/p>\n

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.<\/p>\n

Absolutely this is what is true, for sure or for certain. Goodness is defined as God\u2019s favor, His best; His MERRY will follow after you. What? Maybe that is just hitting me funny because of all the Christmas trappings. That literally means EVERY day has Merry in it because it is following after us \u2013 ALL the days of our lives, even if the tree is packed away for months. For those who fear God, every day with God the shepherd in it has the potential of being merry, favored and blessed. We have to tell someone about this!<\/p>\n

I know the general population doesn\u2019t like hearing Hebrew or Greek words even though they explain so much more of scripture. Jackson came home yesterday and was talking about: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia \u2013 it is the fear of long words. I remember when he came home wondering if birds took naps. Words matter \u2013 especially if they are about God. One of the words in this verse is \u201cmercy\u201d (in Hebrew  chesed}. It means kindness, love and an outpouring of pity and loving kindness towards the recipient. God is all of that and has all of that for us but in this verse it is put with \u201cfollow me\u201d which literally means He is pursuing us, going after with the purpose of catching. The God of the universe is tracking you down to pounce on you and give you smooches, hugs and love. My dad used to called those “lubber dubbers.” No you probably won’t read that in a theology book but it is true nonetheless.  He is pursuing His kids, His love. He has been following after you since you were born, He has been pursuing you since you were born again, He has been trying to catch you ever since you fell, you got wounded, you stumbled. Nothing has hindered Him, prevented Him or made Him turn back. This magnificent Lord and Savior is in pursuit, of you and me. That\u2019s HUGE.<\/p>\n

I know this is the Christmas season and a sweet little Psalm on a blog but think of this for a minute. This is the truth of God. It is written in scripture which He authored and shared with us by one of His favorite musicians. Many people fear that people are following them. Some have rational fears and some irrational. There are thousands of stories of stalkers, paranoia, etc. I do not want to minimize anyone’s fears but seriously, what does one do about a loving Lord of the Universe chasing them down?  Why are there not more songs and discussions about HIS pursuit and wild abandon for HIS kids? He\u2019s coming after us\u2026 not for judgement and damnation as some would assert but for kindness, goodness, mercy and overwhelming benevolence. You are being watched, followed, and tracked. Do the other stories block the reality of this? Do people like to focus on pathology so much that we obliterate the overwhelming, lavish love of God? This is good news!<\/p>\n

So many worship songs have lyrics that talk about our<\/em> pursuit, our<\/em> following, and our <\/em>running after God. I heard on 88.5 this week, \u201cIt is not that we have asked God into our lives that matters but that this God has invited us into His.\u201d How do we rationalize, recognize or accept this pursuit of God after US? We pursue holiness, pursue being desperate for His presence and love and many keep running, running, running. What does it look like when He catches us? What if we paused, sat, rested and came to a full stop before the mighty God- daily, weekly, annually? The pursuit started a long time ago.<\/p>\n

Would there be more intimacy, grace if we allowed our pursuer to succeed? In this season more than ever we are reminded \u2013 Unto us a child is born. Babies change everything and they can\u2019t be jostled around or raced around with but need to be well, held, adored. He went from Heaven, the best and highest place and condescended to earth, not in the form of a trophy but a baby. You don\u2019t run after a baby, you kneel and encounter. The chase has ended; Emmanuel has come and done the race, the heavy lifting. Lauren Daigle in her song, Noel, sings \u201ccome and see what GOD has done.\u201d All our gyrations, wishes, wants and desires will never equal the lavish pursuit of the Father or the Son born to die, risen and reigning. Our posture is not to compete or outshine His efforts in pursuit (and each year they get more fancy and extravagant) but REST in His finding us.<\/p>\n

The world waiting, groaning, in need of a Savior and deliverer. A holy God waiting through the ages to redeem His wayward children. Then the sky turns white with stars and angelic activity. The Shepherds guiding their sheep in the fields sit down, resting as they view the spectacular view. The angels realize this is the finale, the place of God arriving at the destination. Emmanuel, the pursuing One has now come. He has sought out US, now we posture our hearts and lives before Him to be found. That is powerful! Now the people will see what goodness looks like, they will realize what mercy embodied entails. It will take a trip to the cross, grave and Heaven to fully display it, but we are worth His pursuit. This ONE has come, He has pursued all the way from Heaven  then into the little manger with straw.<\/p>\n

We can run to the stable, we can raise our hands in church, we can sing, jump, dance and attend conferences, we can help the rich, save the poor and reach the nations but the God who pursued us from the Beginning has come in the form of a little baby and all we can or need to do is behold Him and realize He has come to build relationship with you and me \u2013 if we are willing.<\/p>\n

Yes, it is true this Christmas, someone is following you. Yes, it is true there is someone chasing after you and talking behind your back. When you discover it is the Lord, His goodness and mercy and come to realize He has been pursuing you all along, there is only one response, come — be caught. Caught in His love, His power, His grace. Still a pretty good exchange.<\/p>\n

Our view of God, including worship, study and general life can radically change when we stop chasing our many viewpoints of who God is or we want Him to be and rest in His pursuit of US. God is higher, mightier, more loving than we could ever imagine. Shepherd is in control. Shepherd is looking out for our wants and needs. Shepherd is doing everything possible to make our life blessed and good. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture so that should not surprise us. Have you met this loving One? He\u2019s love personified. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we know that best when we turn around and begin to follow HIM.<\/p>\n

This Christmas season, and every day that is Merry \u2013 let Him catch up with you. Stop running, stop racing, stop speeding and let this God of abundant, magnificent goodness and love catch up with you and catch you in His loving arms. You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas, Renae Roche2018<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                            Psalm 23 If you had ever told me how deep and rich Psalm 23 was I would have believed you because it is a popular Psalm, but I never realized how it could make the character of God and His love for us so much clearer. This week we are looking at the verse: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":789,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions\/789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeplateadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}