Your Face Is Shining With the Brightness of His Face

October 23, 2014

Your Face Is Shining With the Brightness of His Face

The Lord is my shepherd;

Psalm 23:1a

On the desk in my study, is an olive wood carving of The Good Shepherd that I purchased in Bethlehem. The concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd resonates within my soul and I am drawn to passages such as John 10 where Jesus talks of himself as the Shepherd and his followers as his sheep. God has used the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 to often remind me he will never, ever, give up on me. You can find images of The Shepherd, and the scenes of Psalm 23, throughout the New Testament. As an example, Mark’s description of the feeding the five thousand after “Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass” invokes images of the “green pastures” in Psalm 23:2 (Mark 6:30-43).

The most pervasive theme of the Bible is God’s longing for His people to know, and to experience, how much He loves us. I believe when God’s love truly penetrates our soul, when we experience His love, a miracle takes place. The Apostle Paul describes the miracle this way, “Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him” (2 Corinthians 3: 18 The Message).

How can we move toward such intimacy with God? Psalm 23 is a very good place to start because it is written in the first person, “The LORD is my shepherd . . .” I encourage you to take a week and spend time contemplating one verse each day, and use several translations:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (KJV);

“The LORD is my shepherd. I lack nothing” (CEB);

“GOD, my shepherd! I don't need a thing” (The Message);

“The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me],

I shall not lack” (Amplified Bible).

As you contemplate one verse per day, drink the words deeply into your soul. Make them your own personal expression to God. Take time to ponder the words and then elaborate what they mean to you and your life.

At the end of your week with Psalm 23, don’t be surprised if someone observes your face is shining with the brightness of His face.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.