Hello Friends!

Who would have thought the word “For”, could bring so much power! That little word means that everything that comes before it depends on what comes after it. Listen to several passages from Scripture that meaning.

The Psalmist writes a hymn; “For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” (Psalm 95:7) We would not be who we are if God were not who He is. “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (Psalm 95:6). God has made us; we are His creatures. For this we worship Him and bow down and kneel before Him. We recognize that, “In him we live and move and have our being,” as both pagan poets and Scripture say (Acts 17:28).

“For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also” (Psalm 95:3-4). All the other gods of human imagination have a limited domain—gods of the sun, moon, and stars; gods of the harvest; gods of the home. Only the Lord is God of all of those: a King above all gods.

“Oh, come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms” (Psalm 95:1-2). The melodic praise raised by the voices of the faithful sing and shout and give thanks, rejoicing for the gifts of creation and the gifts of salvation.

Because He is our God, but we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hands. He is not a threatening judge who looms over His creation, ready to punish for each misdeed. He is not a disinterested architect, who wound His creation like a clock and lets it tick away on its own. He is a Shepherd. He tends His creation. He feeds His creation.

We are the sheep of His hands. Those nail-scarred hands. We live from His death. We feed on His Body and Blood. He is the Good Shepherd, who laid His life down for the sheep, who took it back up again, and who leads us down the path of righteousness to dwell in His house forever!

What a gift in one simple word "For"! What a privilege to be the sheep of His hand! So I pray that you hear the Shepherd's call and follow Him to find forgiveness and love in His flock; His house, His Body and His Church. I hope to see you in soon in worship together with... all of us sheep!

In His Grip,