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Ben Palpant

We Run In Abundant Fields

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You, Lord, are the good shepherd.
In you, we lack no good thing.
We rest in lush, green pastures,
And are led beside calm waters.
You revive the tired soul.
You guide us so carefully
Because your name is at stake.
 
Even when we stagger, blind,
In the valley of dismay,
We will fear no evil thing,
For our shoulders touch your own.
 
Your stick and staff comfort us.
You’ve set the table for us
Even with our foes looming now.
You have called us priests and kings.
We run in abundant fields.
 
We are convinced of this fact:
Divine generosity,
Profound expressions of love,
Follow us all day and night.
And we will wake to the song
You sing in your own house,
Familiar as friends now,
Because your home is our home
…forever.
“We Run In Abundant Fields” by Ben Palpant
a rendering of Psalm 23

Joy Is…

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Joy is a by-product of self-forgetfulness.

Those who hunt down Joy are perpetually frustrated, but those who walk humbly, prayerfully, and gratefully with God find Joy a regular companion on their journey. Instead of chasing Joy this week, let’s simply aim to do what God asks of us in the moment: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). I think “we are able to taste a moment of eternal rest when we refuse to exalt in the self-importance of our tasks” (The Cry of the Soul).

Not an easy goal for me. What about you?

Joy Is…

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Joy is picking a fight with the Devil because you can and knowing you can’t lose in the long run.

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).

“They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:40-42).

“I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father” (I John 2:13).

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16:20).

Joy Is…

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Joy is the unmistakable pulse of childlike self-forgetfulness and the herald of a coming kingship founded on humility. A joy-filled man, woman, or child is no longer preoccupied with self, but aimed upward and outward toward a greater glory than self can offer. This is humility, the seed-bed of Joy. One aim of the Christian life is to get swept up in the whirling, eternal wheel called “Joy!” that starts with self-forgetfulness, leads to humility, results in death and, therefore, glorification, either here or in the hereafter.

Joy Is…

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Joy is…

Recalling your true identity, waking each morning to the assurances of God, and going to bed at night having pursued His calling.

 

“There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to help you, and in his excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasing arms; he will thrust out the enemy from before you and will say, ‘Destroy!’ Then Israel shall dwell in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, in a land of grain and new wine; his heavens shall also drop dew. Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places” (Deuteronomy 33:26-29).