The Shepherd's Table

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 

You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

     The most important thing to know in any sentence is the beginning, which in this case is God: Thou. The second thing to know is the verb, what action is taking place by the proper noun: setting up and setting a meal on: preparest. God prepares a table before me where my enemies can see.

What is on God's table? Bread, Wine, Water and Meat. Jesus tells us in The Word that He is our Bread, our Wine, and our Living Water. Remember, now, we are speaking on a spiritual level. He told the crowds that we need to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood. He was not speaking literally; because He is God's Son, Jesus speaks a spiritual language. His Word is difficult to take, to understand, if you are not in The Spirit yourself.

     God's table is not for everyone. Only those who believe that His only begotten Son lives. Factually speaking, only those who have invitations are allowed to sit at God's table. These invitations were written in red and tied with gold: it is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His sufferings, His wounds, that we are invited. It is through His resurrection from the grave that we are invited. Where you see a cross, I see a Savior. Where you see a tomb, I see a Redeemer. It is God's Grace on God's Table that is in plain view of our enemies.

     Jesus Christ is our Bread, our Wine, and our Living Water. But where does the meat fit in? Well, now we return to our Scriptures, like always. Besides, do we really ever leave the Scriptures? I believe not, for God's Word is in our hearts, guiding us in His direction; leading us to His treasures, His nuggets of gold and silver, spiritual gold and silver. In John 3:31-38, His disciples are concerned that Jesus has not eaten. His response is in verses 34-38: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.”

See it yet? On The Shepherd's Table is our life and our life's work: the call to salvation, the call to eternal life, the call to righteousness and the call to service. When the first two are answered, the third becomes a work in progress and the fourth is a given. Tell people about Jesus Christ. Share Jesus Christ with the world, what is commonly known as The Great Commission in Mark 16:15 “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

     I have answered the calls. All four of them. I go into the world via my keyboard. My desk is my pulpit and my congregation is viewed via my monitor. My congregation? The world. My voice is shaky, but my spirit is strong. I love dining at The Shepherd's Table. He is more than my Host, He is my Friend.

And did you notice in Psalm 23:5 where the table sits? In the midst, in the center of my enemies: The Shepherd's Table is in plain sight of those who are against me. Not just me, though; they hate my Shepherd. As He told me, when He met me, “They hated Me and persecuted Me and they will do the same to you.” When He called us to His side, we were not only called to serve with Him, but suffer with Him. And still, I answered the call. But, back to the table.

     There is no need to look up from my seat for I can feel the hate. You know that you can feel this around you, too, if you have accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. We are hated for His sake. We are persecuted, made fun of, lied about. It is for righteousness' sake that we have enemies. The unrighteous, the unsaved, the unbeliever in our families, in our workplaces, in our homes, in our governments, has made known to us that we are not welcome.

     Christians world-wide are under attack by the enemies of Jesus Christ. And we who have Christ in us, are the targets. Many of us are falsely accused and thrown in jail or killed. Prisons, prison camps and hell holes are filled with Christians who have been accused of spying, converting, and even speaking the Name of Jesus. There is power in The Name of Jesus Christ. It is powerful and mighty: His Name divides Truth from lies. His Name separates Good from evil. His Name is Light and Life to all who seek and find Him. Even they who seek to kill us are overcome, at times, by His lovingkindness and grace. This is meat.

     To do the will of God is the meat that graces The Shepherd's Table. His meat was to preach, teach, heal, deliver; suffer, be killed, defeat the devil, and rise from the grave. On the cross, He said, “It is finished.” What was finished? The work which God His Father had given Him to do. He had the power to not only lay down His life, but to take it back up again. Our meat? To do the will of God, to take the love of God, Jesus Christ, into the world. To show each and every person the lovingkindness, the mercy, which God gives to each. To share with all peoples the grace which is evident in the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ.

God's will is that all be saved. God's will is that we are to love Him only with all our hearts, our minds, souls; and to love each other as we love ourselves. And we do love ourselves, don't we? We love to smell good, feel good, believe we are good, and live good. But how often do we love others the way we love ourselves? I bet if that happened more often, the world around us would change, the people around us would change. But in order to get there, we have to set ourselves aside and put God first, instead of ourselves first. To do God's will is to do what God wants us to do, not what we ourselves want us to do. And we can't do that by ourselves. It is not a twelve-step program, it is a one-step.

     On The Shepherd's Table is a bottle of oil. This oil is poured over my head, where it runs down over my shoulders and torso, onto my legs, my feet. It is the anointing of God in my life. As Aaron was anointed for service, so, too, are Christians anointed when they seek the baptism of The Holy Spirit. He is our Anointing. He covers us outside and fills us inside. It is through Him that we are able to serve with integrity in The Shepherd's service. The oil is necessary to our survival and our growth.

     Listening to The Holy Spirit prevents us from turning tail and running away from God, when we become aware that we have enemies that seek to kill us and harm us. Your life may appear to get harder to live. It is an illusion and you need to have faith that God is with you and is able to get you through whatever is making your life so hard to deal with. In this city there is a great cry for something, Someone, greater than what they see or have. Bars on nearly every corner. Drug dealers living next door. Suicide is rampant. And now a casino is being built here. The Church in our city needs to fall on her knees before her God and bring this city to it's knees, also. I would rather see my city consumed with spiritual fire that burns away the dross and leaves only the pure, than see the enemy devour it one soul at a time.

     God's will is for all to be saved. And God's will, God's heart, is my heart, too. The enemies of the cross are every where, and they are outspoken and loud. Getting louder daily. Why are we so silent? What are we waiting for? For them to come knocking on our doors? Dragging us away, too? Did you know that preaching The Word of God is against the law here in America? It is considered hate speech by our enemies. But we are not to deal with them violently, but with love, mercy and grace. We are not the judge, nor are we the jury. We are saved by grace, and it is this grace we are to share with those who are against us.

     When we try to do things our way, we always mess up. And we go running to God to get us out of our scrapes. What we should do, all the time, is run to God first and seek His will in what we are to do next. We need to take our eyes off of who is against us and put our line of sight back on God, back on Jesus Christ, our Shepherd. Stop listening to the wolves, the bears and the lions. Start listening, and keep on listening, to The Word of God. Eventually, His gentle voice will drown out their gnashing teeth and salivating tongues. What did Stephen say, when his enemies stoned him? Acts 7:58 “But he, being full of The Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, 'Behold (look now), I see The Son of man standing on the right hand of God.”

     He preached message of the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ to those around him. Being convicted in their hearts, they knew he was speaking Truth. But they did not want to hear the Truth, so they attacked him. Upon stating that he could Jesus and God, they covered their ears with their hands, dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. Let me tell you something, just covering your ears will not prevent the gospel from reaching your heart. Before Stephen died, he forgave the men who were stoning him. And he forgave them out loud; they knew that he had forgiven them while they were killing him. How many hearts were changed that day at that time we will only know when we reach heaven ourselves.

     The oil, the anointing, does not protect the body from death. But it strengthens the soul within with boldness to continue preaching Jesus and Him crucified and resurrected regardless of outside circumstances. When the body is no longer needed, the spirit and the soul are released, and ascend into heaven to live there eternally with God and with Christ.

     As I look to my right, I see a pitcher of Water. And I know that this is The Living Water which Christ gives to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. It is mine for the asking. So, of course, I ask for this Living Water to quench my thirst. Mmm, it's really good. Sweet and clear, this Water tingles in my mouth and washes over every dry area of my throat and all the way down. Have you ever had spring water? It's clean. No pollutants, no germs, no bacteria  no harmful substances are in it. But as clean and clear as spring water is, it has nothing nor does it even come close to Living Water. As I write, I lick my lips, savoring the refreshing taste of The Shepherd's Living Water in my palate. This is what I have been waiting for.

     As water washes away the dirt and grime and makes us presentable, so, too, does this Living Water wash away my iniquities and transgressions. I am made presentable to God because Jesus Christ is living in me. Because The Holy Spirit is moving through me, uprooting old sins and replacing them with The Word of God: He is making me holy and pure. For it is only when I am holy and pure that I will be able to see God and stay in God's presence. Are you thirsty yet? I am.

     This Living Water is in my cup, and my cup runs over. The Water splashes over the top and into my saucer, onto my hands. Amazing, the healing powers of this Living Water. I am made strong by its strengths. I am made clean by its powers. Created to worship God, serve God, wait on God. Not for God, for He is already here. But on God, for His direction and His timing. This Water clears my eyes of sleep and sleepiness, making me see with clarity and able to understand what I am reading. God is my Praise and my Healer.

     I live to serve with love. Every blessing I receive at The Shepherd's Table is not just mine, but yours and anyone else who listens, who hears the gospel. I am blessed that I may bless others. I cannot bless anyone with anything unless I first come to this Table and receive the blessing for that day which God has prepared for me.

     In the presence of my enemies The Shepherd's Table sits. Daily it is set up for me. Daily we dine together. Daily we are confronted by those who seek to destroy us. They who hate us, lie about us or to us, wish we were dead or dying; they who persecute us, mock and belittle us, seek our end are our enemies. Daily they are with us. Daily we sit at The Shepherd's Table and dine on Bread and Wine and Water and Meat. Daily I study The Word of God in order to bring forth the whole Word and not just a bite of it. Daily I share Jesus with someone, any one who will listen. Daily I am refreshed, healed, called, strengthened, anointed and satisfied, content.

      He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We must do the same. Never leave Him, nor forsake Him. When we stick close to The Shepherd, The Shepherd stays close to us. He is never any farther away than a prayer. And prayers need to be made continually on each other's behalf. When we do pray in the way in which God instructs us to pray, He hears our prayers. Daily praying. Alone, in our secret places, where none can see nor hear. For our conversation is with God, and not with prying ears and eyes. Alone time with God is both priceless and precious. Take advantage of your relationship with God and Christ, and spend some time with them. Now.