The Abundant Life Center

by Dona Hake

Psalm 23:4 (AMP)

Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley

of the shadow of death, I will fear or

dread no evil, for You are with me…”

Death is one of those things that is a very hard thing to face. In this life we will lose loved ones, we may have experienced the death of a relationship or death of a dream. No matter how you look at it, when you walk through it, it is a very dark time.

It is important to look and focus on one very important word within this verse and that word is “through.” The Psalmist said we would walk THROUGH valleys but one thing for sure, and that is we can be comforted knowing that He is with us. Because He is with us we need not be afraid, and we are going THROUGH it with Him! God can get us THROUGH anything.

I can remember dreading the “dark valley” as I knew my mother was dying. One particular morning I woke up and my heart was so down and full of sorrow. It was on that day that we were tell her she had cancer. It was beyond words how badly I dreaded facing that day. I wanted it too just all go away and be better. I was scared to walk through this valley and I hated every minute of it. I sat quietly on the edge of my bed and His still small voice spoke to my heart “The deeper the valley, the deeper the strength.” As long as I live I will never forget the power that rose up in my spirit that morning.

God helped me that day to embrace a greater revelation of this truth. He imparted unto me a strength that was so deep that it was beyond words, and human comprehension.  It was a spiritual strength that only He could equip me with for the walk that I had to take.

You see, the bigger the problem, the more we need to see that we in ourselves cannot cope with pain and sorrow. We cannot draw on the faith and strength from yesterday. We must draw upon the strength only He can give, and that is what we need for the moment we are living in. It is only Him that can take our hand in our deepest valley and strengthen us with a strength we have ever known. With His strength, grace and peace, He enables us to walk THROUGH anything.

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

 God desires that we be consumed with Him and doing His will yet  He knows our frame and our weaknesses.  As we embrace His will for our lives we will without a doubt have a desire to do that which is right in His eyes.   Yes, there will be days that we mess up but He well knows that we are human and we will make mistakes.   We must remind ourselves that His forgiveness is there for us and He promises to walk along side of us and show us the right way.  Not only does He show us the way, but He enables us to walk the path.

Psalm 23:3 (VOICE)
“He makes me whole again,
steering me off worn, hard paths
to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.”

Sheep have a tendency to want to walk the same paths to the point they are in ruts.   Because a sheep stays in a favored spot, they wear it down, and it becomes barren.  These type areas can tend to become infested with parasites which are very dangerous to the health of sheep.  We too can tend as humans to desire a comfort zone.  We can tend to fall into ruts with our thinking and behavior.  These things can keep us from walking in the freshness of His will for our life.

Today, let us remind ourselves to look to Him for direction in every area of our life.  As we do, our lives will be a testimony as it echoes and honors His Name!

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

Jesus told us that in this world there would be trouble.  I am quite amazed when people try to live in an ideal place that pain and trouble should never cross their path.   Even as we are under the tender, loving and faithful care of our Shepherd, there will be times in which our soul needs restored.

I love how The Message translation brings to light “He restores my soul.”

Psalm 23:3 (The Message)

True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

There are times in life in which we have all experienced one thing hitting us right after the other.  Many times you can become weary in battle and you feel that there is no rest.  Sometimes life can feel like ocean waves knocking you down one right after the other.  You just know that if you are  able to stand long enough you will be able  catch your breath again.  Sometimes life can make us feel this way.

Let us take hold of the truth that He is able to lift us back up no matter how long we have been down.  His tender touch is able to wipe away the tears from our hurt, pain and sorrow.  He is able to renew to us the strength we have seemed to have lost as our soul has grown weary.  No matter what we have walked through and whether anyone understands, it matters not.  Jesus understands any and all things we have walked through and He will restore our souls as we ask Him to.

If your heart is weary and aching from pain, just ask Him.  He is faithful and loving and ever ready to touch those that look to Him for true restoration!

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

It seems that many know that sheep are afraid of moving water.  I am thinking that this is more instinctive than anything.  If a sheep were to fall into water they would drown for they do not know how to swim plus the water would weight down their wool which would make it harder for them to be rescued. Therefore they are inclined to drink from water that is calm and peaceful.  Whenever I read this verse I visualize the shepherd standing beside the sheep by still water.  As the sheep is drinking he glances into the water and sees the reflection of his shepherd standing beside him watching over him.

I have heard many times that sheep are not the smartest animals in the bunch but I believe that all animals God created are blessings, and just maybe we can learn from them.    I cannot help but wonder why Jesus referred to us as being sheep.  He well understood what we are capable of if we are left to ourselves.

The  good shepherd understands that a sheep left to wander will end up drinking from a mud hole and possibly getting a parasitic disease.   Sheep MUST be led to fresh pure water.  Again, I think our meditation should rest on how if we left to ourselves could possibly make decisions that could create harmful consequences. We need to look for the divine leading of our Good Shepherd so we are not drinking of the impure things of this world.  As we look to His leading in every area of our lives we can avoid a lot of pain and sorrow.

I came across a fact in my reading that sheep can actually go for months without drinking water.  This shepherd explained that a sheep’s tendency is to rise early to eat the grass that is drenched with the clean and pure dew that rests upon the grass.  What a beautiful analogy because as we seek Him and His Word early or before any task, we too can spiritually ingest that which our soul thirsts for.  His Word is full of all that we need so our soul will be satisfied!

John 4:14
Amplified Bible
“But whoever takes a drink of the water that I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty any more. But the water that I will give him shall become a spring of water welling up (flowing, bubbling) [continually] within him unto (into, for) eternal life.”

Isaiah 58:11

“He will satisfy my soul in drought.”

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

You would think any animal would absolutely love the inviting green grass on a warm day.  You would never think that one of the greatest hindrances for a sheep to lie down is their fear within.  Sheep are actually restless and creatures that are easily intimidated.  I have read that a single jack rabbit can scare one sheep and cause a whole flock of hundreds to flee in fear.   Because they are on guard and nervous, it is only the shepherd that can assure them that it is safe to lay down in the beautiful, lush, green pastures that he has led them to.

What I see here is the importance of the shepherd’s keen oversight of his flock.  In my reading on this subject the three other things that keep them from laying down in green pastures is friction within the flock, tormenting flies, and parasites, and they cannot be hungry.  Any of these things will hinder them from basking and resting in the green pastures.

Within these facts we can see a beautiful analogy of our Good Shepherd.  It is only He that alleviates fear, helps us work toward unity, helps us with the irritations of life, and is faithful to feed us His good Word.   There is no substitute for His keen awareness of every area of our life.

Psalm 4:8 (CEB)
“I will lie down and fall asleep in peace
because you alone, Lord, let me live in safety.”

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

I love this image.  In the stillness of the night, the shepherd is peacefully standing and watching over his sheep and his sheep are close by him.  What an image that portrays peace, protection and care.  As we look to Him we too can claim that same peace and protection and a knowing that He will always take care of us.

Psalm 23:1
“The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me],

I shall not lack.”

This translation of Psalm 23:1 from the Amplified is an excellent one.  He is the Shepherd that will see that we are fed as we feed on His living Word.  He has promised to come along side of us to lead and guide us and He shields us and protects us.

Let us remember that as we go about our day to stay close by His side and we will ever be in that place of drawing upon Him for whatever we need for He is our Shepherd and He will see that there is no lack.

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

Proverbs 3:5-12   (MSG)
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!”

We live in an age of information and it is readily at our finger tips.  In many ways it is so wonderful and time saving how you can get information about almost anything.  While this is good it can distract us from fully trusting in the Lord.    Sometimes we can be tempted to pick and choose what we think is the right thing to do and it may not be what He desires for you.

As the scripture says we need to trust Him from the bottom of our hearts and stop trying to figure everything out.  Many times God has a totally different route He desires to take you and you need to be willing to walk in the direction He has chosen.

I think there is a key word that God wants us to keep before us and that is the word HUMILITY.  As we stay humble, we will be thankful for the knowledge, gifts and talents He has blessed us with but we will keep them in their proper place.  As we remain humble, we will always be looking to acknowledge His ways in everything that we do.    He can indeed teach us to trust Him with all of our hearts and He will make those places that have seem crooked and confusing completely straight.

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

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by Dona Hake

God is looking for us to put feet to His love, and walk out His ways.  He is desiring that we put action to that which we know we should do.  There is a scripture that says, “In Him I live and move and have my being.” Acts 17:28    He so desires that we act according to His Word and walk away from our ways that do not exhibit His love and character.  There are those that need His love and we need to avail ourselves to Him that He can flow through us.

We must remember that there will be times that He may call upon us to help people and it may just make us have to go one more mile than what we had intended.  Many times His love will stretch us and that is a very good thing.  It is in those times that His love will be shown and we too will grow as we give of ourselves.   I think it is a good thing for all of us to be pulled away from our comfort zone and put in a place we have to rely on Him to help us to do things we never thought were possible!

Oh how  liberating it is to know that when we are real with God, He will show us great things that He desires to do through us.  We will then be positioned to act from our hearts and exhibit His love in a real way.

1 John 3:18-19   (ERV)
“My children, our love should not be only words and talk.

No, our love must be real.

We must show our love by the things we do.

That’s how we know we belong to the way of truth.”

~~~~~♥~~~~~

by Dona Hake

 It was a  nightmare scenario that became all too real in West Virginia last week: a chemical seeped into the water supply and threatened to sicken hundreds of thousands of people.  Officials found out about the spill when people started calling in complaints about a strong licorice-type smell in the air.

I found it interesting that this potentially harmful chemical seeping into the water had a sweet smell of licorice.  Some said it smelled like cough syrup, and the smell puzzled them.   I am sure they will figure out how this happened but what matters is that it rendered over 300,000 people no drinking, no bathing,  and no cooking with the water.  One chemical literally zapped the pureness of their water to poisonous and harmful, and brought a huge amount of people helpless without pure water.

God’s Word speaks to us through Proverbs 4:23 and warns us as well to be careful and be vigilant to watch over our hearts.   This scripture warns us to guard the purity of your heart and all that flows from it.  Our heart is as a wellspring from where all issues flow.   A wellspring is a source or supply of anything, especially when considered inexhaustible.

Proverbs 4:23 (AMP)

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance

and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”

Let us be careful to never leave down our guard over our hearts.  There are so many “sweet smelling” temptations in this world that could taint and poison our hearts in which the life of God desires to flow.  Oh that we will take it seriously to guard our hearts with all vigilance for this is where life begins and flows from.

~~~~~♥~~~~~