The Lord Is My Shepherd

June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 2 Comments

The Lord Is My Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: For Thou art with me…” ~Psalm 23:1-4

Several years ago I came down with a simple virus. I thought it would go away in a few days, for I had always been a very healthy person. But after a week my symptoms only grew more alarming and by the end of the month they became debilitating.

I went from a healthy active person who walked 6 miles a day, to a person who could no longer walk, use my hands, or even see to read, write or draw, for my eye muscles would go into spasms if I tried to read anything. I had to stay still in a dark room and be quiet.

This was unbearable to me for I had been so used to being active.

As a working visual artist who drew almost constantly, being unable to use my hands was like being imprisoned in my body.

I was terrified for I did not know if the illness was permanent, or even what the illness was.

Nor did my doctors. They ran numerous tests on me for every horrible disease they could think of.

I was filled with fear and anxiety.

“Lord, why is this happening? Did I grieve you somehow?”

I prayed constantly and confessed every sin I could think of –and then some, because I was certain I had done some terrible thing to make God mad at me for allowing me to become so ill and lose so many abilities. All I had ever wanted to do was glorify Him.

Now all I could do was sit in silence before Him and weep. My head hurt constantly from migraines.

I listened to audio bibles and sermons and this comforted me tremendously.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 119:92 “Lord, unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.”

During my time alone with the Lord, I grew very close to Him. There is nothing like suffering and affliction to draw you closer to God. He spoke to my heart. He promised to heal me. I clung to His promise.

God’s word promises that “all things work together for good to those who love God” in Romans 8:28. I treasured all of the promises in His word trusting that all would be well, for God had never failed me.

All my life I had known Him to be faithful, just as His word says in Psalm 36:5 “Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.”

After many tests the doctors determined that I had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia~ auto-immune illnesses caused by the Epstein Barre virus.

It took 4 months of physical therapy before I could use my hands again to draw, paint, and write. After about a year I was able to walk almost a mile.

The second painting I did after I regained the use of my hands was a watercolor inspired by Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd.”

The painting shows the Good Shepherd, Jesus, His face strong and steady in the

WMJESUS-MY-GOOD-SHEPHERD — The Lord Is My Shepherd Encouraging Card @ Wings Publications on Etsy

midst of a dark, blinding storm. His glowing clothes are billowing all about Him as He presses forward with nothing and no one able to stop Him or His purpose for the little one He has charge over. His frightened little child is crouching close behind Him to escape the blast of the stormy tempest.

The Lord is the child’s Shield, his Shelter, and Defender. The child clings to the Lord, as Christ leads Him through the Dark Valley of the Shadow; they are as one, they are so close together.

This image truly reflects my experience with my Lord Jesus ~ He was my Good Shepherd throughout my illness and never once failed me through my crisis of fear, worry, doubt, anxiety, weakness, and pain. He led me all the way through that horrible storm and encouraged me with His word, His love, and His presence.

The Gospel of John says that Jesus is the true light and “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” ~John 1:5

I experienced the truth of that scripture through my affliction. And the painting is my expression of its truth.

I had my painting printed and made into an Encouraging Card, which I sell in our Etsy Shop.

WM-GOOD-SHEPHERD-(1) — The Lord Is My Shepherd Encouraging Card at Wings Publications on Etsy

The card is like a mini version of my painting. On the front of this card is the verse, “The Lord is my Shepherd…I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” Psalm 23:1,4 (Updated King James Version Bible) On the back of the card, Psalm 23 is printed along with a vignette of the cover illustration.

This card has comforted many people through many trials. So I am thankful that the Lord allowed me to experience the terrible affliction that led me to be able to paint the picture. For I would never have been able to paint it had I not experienced the suffering, fear, comfort and faith all found in that image.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to be our Good Shepherd to guide us down the path of righteousness, truth, and grace that we might live with You in peace forever. We love You, In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Waiting On The Lord

April 10, 2017April 10, 2017 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 2 Comments

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ~ Revelation 3:20

When Miss Phee, our little Yorky, was a puppy, she would sit up on the edge of our bed every morning the minute she heard my
husband Mark in the kitchen preparing breakfast.
She loved to eat breakfast with him. Mark would feed Miss Phee bits of his oatmeal while he ate his breakfast. Our dog loved this special treat and the time they shared together.

Most of the time, Miss Phee would sit quietly on the edge of our bed and wait patiently, trusting that any minute Mark would come for her. Every so often if he didn’t show up soon enough, she would start whining ever so softly.

My little dog was not worried about annoying me, mind you. No, Miss Phee’s chief concern was that I might wake up and horn in on her private breakfast with her daddy. Ha! 🙂

Sooner or later Mark always came to reward her faith in him by gathering her up in his arms and carrying her to the kitchen for their special meal together.

Sometimes though, Mark would be running late and had to rush off to work without his breakfast. That meant no special Breakfast time with Phee. Somehow it was just not the same when I fed her breakfast, so whenever she couldn’t have her special breakfast time with Mark she would pout for the rest of the day and refuse to eat. 😦

I think of the parallels between Miss Phee’s morning meals with Mark and our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that we must abide in him and spend time with God each day
in worship and prayer.

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Abiding in Christ is the same as eating at our Lord’s table, feeding on His word and allowing his Holy Spirit to teach us His wisdom and truth.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ~Matthew 4:4

Even as Miss Phee wanted Mark all to herself in her morning quiet time with him, the Lord wants us to come to Him without any distractions. He wants us all to Himself, coming into His Presence without our cell phones, IPads, IPods, or video games, novels, or our work on our minds or whatever distracts us from His heart.

Anything that takes God’s place in our hearts is a rival for God for our affections and is an idol.

That thing might be something that seems so innocent and even good, like our job, a hobby, or even our ministry. But if it takes our time and attention away from God, and replaces our affection for God in our hearts, it is an idol.

Examine me, God! Look at my heart!
Put me to the test! Know my anxious thoughts!
Look to see if there is any idolatrous way in me,
Then lead me on the eternal path! ~ Psalm 139:23-24 (CEB)

We draw closer to Christ and abide in Him through regular times of worship, prayer, and bible study. Often in those times, we must wait on God as Miss Phee waited for Mark to come get her each morning. We must learn to wait in faith on God by abiding steadfastly in prayer and worship.

There may be seasons in our journey with the Lord when God seems distant. We may feel as if He is ignoring us when things we’ve prayed over for months or years go unanswered without the slightest ray of hope that things will ever change.

At all times God asks that we trust Him and wait and walk by faith, just as little Miss Phee always waited in eager expectation for Mark to come for her, so certain that he would come. Even though he was sometimes delayed, she never stopped believing and hoping the next day that he would come for her. She was absolutely confident that he would not forget about her, would not disappoint her faith in him. And eventually he did show up again~just like she hoped and believed!
I always thought, if only I had the faith and trust of my little Yorkie!

Psalm 130:5-6 “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”

We must be still before the Lord, contemplating His mercy and majesty, as we come to Him in faith, believing that we will receive what we need from Him in prayer.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (NIV)

Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)

God is our creator, He is omnipotent, meaning He is all-powerful. He is in control
of all things.
God is omniscient: He knows all things, He knows all about us, He knows all our
needs before we even ask.
God is omnipresent: He is everywhere present. Wherever we are, God is there.
And by His spirit, God lives and dwells within us.

God cherishes us, He cares very much about us. God feels all of our pain, since He
indwells us through His Holy Spirit.
God wants to share life with us. He says in the book of Revelation, “Behold
I stand at the door and knock; if any one will open the door I will come in and I will
share a meal with him. “

Just as Miss Phee and Mark would share a meal and have their special time
together, God wants to have a special time with us every day, He wants us to be
excited about it just as Miss Phee was excited about her time alone with her daddy.

God will never fail us. He

delights in our fellowship. It is sacred to Him. May it be as sacred to us.

For it is a great honor to worship and serve the Sovereign Lord of the Universe.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23

Prayer
Heavenly Father, please give us hearts that delight in worshiping and serving You.
May You give us hearts that will wait on You in faith and that will love You with all of our being, thank you, Lord, in Jesus name, amen.

Angelsong © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved. Original Photos of Miss Phee & Mark from Suzanne Harden’s Photos/ Illustration of Jesus Knocking via Google/ Scripture Quotations: King James Version (Public Domain), Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

You Are Treasured

February 14, 2017 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 2 Comments

You Are Treasured

You are treasured by the One
Who made the moon, and stars, and sun,
Who formed the flowers and the trees
And set the ocean’s boundaries.
He rides the Heavens and He sees
Your heart and knows your every need,
He listens to your every prayer
He listens and He loves and cares.
Though He’s silent and unseen
He’s just as real as what you see;
He’s close enough for you to hear,
He’s ever present, very near.
His love for you is like the sand
And can’t be measured by your hand.
Like sandy grains upon the shore
It’s measureless and grows still more
He’ll love you as His precious child
Eternal ages for all time.
SD Harden (Prayer Poem) © 2017 All Rights Reserved

Happy Valentine’s Day, Dear Friends!
May you know that you are cherished by the God who loves you so much He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die a cruel death on a cross for each of us to atone for our sins. When we invite Jesus into our hearts and ask forgiveness for our sins the Lord washes them all away “as far as the east is from the west.”

And we are justified by faith – or made right with God through faith in Christ. We won’t be perfect or without sin till we get to heaven, but the Lord puts a portion of His very own Spirit within our hearts to help us want to be good, and to make us more and more like Him. We get to know God because His Holy Spirit lives in our hearts. His Holy Spirit dwelling in our heart helps us to not only keep loving God, but to love Him more and more as we pray to Him and study His word and obey Him.

If you want to know God’s love, invite Jesus Christ into your heart. He is only a prayer away. Don’t take my word for it. Just close your eyes and ask Him to come inside your heart right now. He will fill you with love and rivers of peace and hope. He will wash all your sins away. He will fill you with His Spirit and make you His redeemed child forever. He will write your name in His book of Life. When you die, you will be with Jesus in Paradise for all eternity.

Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father, may You lead souls to Thy Son Jesus Christ who need salvation, who need forgiveness, who need to know that You love them and will never reject or forsake them. May You fill their hearts with Thy holy measureless love for them, rivers of peace and hope, wash all their sins away as far as the east is from the west, and fill them with Thy Holy Spirit. May today they become Your very own precious redeemed children forever, in Jesus holy name, thank You, Lord, we love You, amen.

Scriptures to meditate on:

Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV) The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

John 3:16-17 (ERV) Jesus said, “Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.”

Romans 5:1-2, 5 (NLT) Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

John 6:29 (NLT) Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:37 (NLT) Jesus said, “… those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”

Psalm 103:11-12 (NLT) For God’s unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

1 John 1:8-9 (NLT) If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

1 John 2:2 (ERV) Jesus is the way our sins are taken away. And he is the way all people can have their sins taken away too.

Hebrews 11:1-3 (ERV) Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this. Faith helps us understand that God created the whole world by his command. This means that the things we see were made by something that cannot be seen.

Romans 10:17 (NASB) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Philippians 2:13 (ERV) Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases Him, and He gives you the power to do it.

Romans 10:8-11, 13 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Philippians 1:6 (GW ) I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.

Angelsong © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved /Prayer Poem “You Are Cherished © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved./ Scripture Painting © 2017 SD Harden All Rights Reserved. /”Jesus Loves You” Photo via Pinterest

Bible Quotations: NLT (New Living Translation) © Copyright 2015 Tyndale House Publishers, Easy To Read Version (ERV) Copyright 2006 Bible League International, New American Standard Bible Translation (NASB) Copyright 1995 The Lockman Foundation, The King James Version Bible, (KJV), God’s Word (GW) ©1995 God’s Word To The Nations

GOD SHALL WIPE AWAY ALL TEARS

November 24, 2016 ~ Suzanne Davis Harden ~ 4 Comments

rev-21-4-wipe-away-all-tears

God Shall Wipe Away Every Tear

I once had a doll named “Pitiful Pearl” when I was a small child. In all my memories of her she has a tiny tear attached to her homely little face. Whether the tear was an original part of the doll or I drew it on her, I’m not sure. I only remember one of her big eyes had a tiny tear affixed to it which made her look perpetually sad, even though she wore a faint painted on smile. Her clothes were all bedraggled giving her the appearance of a poor abandoned orphan.

I wanted this doll from the moment I saw her advertised. I don’t remember whether she was a Christmas or birthday gift, but my mom and dad always bought me the dolls I requested without asking any questions. They never failed to encourage me to be myself and to play with the toys that spoke to my heart.

They were wonderful parents for they always nurtured me in the gifts and talents that God had given me.

I loved my little Pearl. I pretended she was the “Little Match Girl” in Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tale and poor Cinderella and every other victim in many another fairy tale. She was a great doll! And if I felt sad in any way I would identify with her.

Like the time my imaginary friend Dinky called my little sister a “Stinker” – a notoriously bad word in those days- and I got in trouble for it!!

But then came the day when my oldest brother went on a rampage and decided to pretend to have a war raid. He had been inspired by old west movies and TV shows.

My dolls became the hapless victims of his vivid imagination. He kidnapped my Chatty Cathy and my Pitiful Pearl and buried them in the vast no man’s land we called “the Lot” outside far beyond the garage somewhere and then refused to tell me where he’d buried my precious dolls.

I was inconsolable… till I discovered the Barbie, Ken, and Midge dolls… 🙂

That Pitiful Pearl doll has lived in my memory more than any other doll I had as a child. Maybe it’s because of its sad little tear and incongruous smile despite its raggedness.

The Bible says in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

God cherishes each of us. He came to us in the form of a man, as Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. Jesus told the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of His day, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” -Luke 5:31-32

The Bible says in the book of Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Jesus Christ came to save all people. For God’s word says in Romans 3:10-11: “.. as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

We all need Jesus. But not all see this truth. Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)

In God’s sight, we all, like my Pitiful Pearl doll, have a tiny tear in our eye. That tear is sin, a hopelessness, that only He can wipe away. Jesus has made a way to wash this tear away, through His spotless blood that He shed for all of us on His cross when He suffered and died for our sins over 2000 years ago.

He says in Romans 10:9-11, 13 “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” …For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Though we may die and be buried like my Pitiful Pearl doll, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)

Pitiful Pearl still lives on in my heart though she’s been buried in the lot of the house where I grew up for many years now. Her memory has never left me.

Even so, those who love Jesus will live forever in the heart of God, only in a more beautiful way which is far beyond anything we could ever dream or imagine.

God’s word says in 1 Corinthians 2:9 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him…”—

And as for all our tears, God promises to wipe away every tear, every sorrow, and all death forever someday.

Revelation 21:4 says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

These are beautiful truths to ponder and be thankful for as we gather with our loved ones and friends over the Thanksgiving Holidays. May each of you have a blessed Thanksgiving with your loved ones and friends. God bless you all with rivers of peace, hope, health, and joy, in Jesus name, amen.