The Lord Is My Shepherd A 12 Step Journey Through Psalm 23

The Lord is My Shepherd; A 12 Step Journey through Psalm 23 is a recovery workbook and bible study. David's personal pronouns in Psalm 23 draws us in to experience God's loving care as our Good Shepherd. We fall in love with Jesus as we come to see ourselves as his beloved sheep. Within the safety of this intimate relationship we take an honest look at ourselves, our thoughts, our behaviors, our feelings, and our problems. The 12 Steps and Pslam 23 when studied together provide the perfect material for this comprehensive recovery process. Whether it's recovery from alcohol and other drug use/abuse, codependency, mental health disorders, process addictions, trauma, or pain from your past, the material is appropriate and designed to heal. Each week includes a wellness recovery action plan and relapse prevention material. It's as if Psalm 23 and The 12 Steps were meant to be studied together. Every line in David's poem is studied for 4 weeks along with one of the 12 Steps. Because there are 12 lines in Psalm 23 and 12 Steps, the material takes us through a 12 month journey. There's no better way to work the 12 Steps than to be guided, comforted, and restored by the Lord as your Shepherd. It's a beautiful recovery journey that will pleasantly surprise you at every turn. As a Licensed Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor with over 20 years experience I can attest to the positive value of this material. Churches, homeless shelters, sober living recovery homes, counseling centers, therapists and individuals use this recovery workbook and bible study resulting in the life-changing knowledge that "He restores my soul."

The bestselling guide to the healing wisdom of the Twenty-Third Psalm—from the beloved author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People. “A book worthy of attention from people of all faiths.” —The Dallas Morning News Rabbi Harold Kushner has found that the simple, beautiful verses of perhaps the most memorable and cherished chapter of the Bible—full of honesty and optimism—have an almost magical power to comfort and calm—and to change your life. The psalm does not pretend that life is ever easy, but it offers a masterful guide to living in the world with faith and courage. Drawing on over forty years of his own thinking, on other biblical scholars, and on history, Kushner gracefully demonstrates how this sustaining work can help us cope with every aspect of life, from mundane jealousies to the death of a loved one to unimaginable tragedies of global proportions.

In closing this book I would like to thank a few people. First and foremost I would like to thank my family. Without them I would not be where I am today. I want to thank Celia Reeder for inspiring me to try and start memorizing bible verses in the Sunday school class she started. I want to thank Dr. Jay Strack for all his inspiring sermons he had done at NorthStar Community Church. I also want to thank Dr. Phillip Dunn for inspiring me to pick up my daily devotional book and start reading them every day again as I had put it up on my bookshelf for a while and hadn't read one until he mentioned it in a sermon. Lastly, I want to thank everyone at NorthStar Community Church for everything they have done and are doing for my family and I. God Bless all of you!

These days, everybody wants the latest killer app for successful ministry. But ministry is not plug-and-play technology. It is an art cultivated over a long-term journey of faithfulness and perseverance. In his most intimate book yet, Eddie Gibbs articulates a personal philosophy of ministry born from his storied career in teaching and pastoral ministry. Through images from his own life and family, Gibbs shows how effective ministry is a matter of walking slowly with the family of God, overcoming hurdles and facing challenges together. He explains how the networking nature of the early church offers helpful models for connecting in our fragmented technological age. Linking fresh biblical exposition with our contemporary realities, Gibbs gives practical advice for welcoming people into the family and helping them live out God's intentions for them. If you want your ministry to last, learn from those who have gone the distance. Discover here insights that will help you lead and serve for the long haul.

The psalms have something to say to us at every age, at every stage of our life's journey. In this brief devotional, Rabbi Lewis explores three famous psalms in considerable depth, going line by line and giving extensive attention to interpretations of the original Hebrew.

M. J. Eberhart, aka the Nimblewill Nomad, was a 60-year-old retired doctor in January 1998 when he set off on a foot journey that carried him 4,400 miles (twice the length of the Appalachian Trail) from the Florida Keys to the far north of Quebec. Written in a vivid journal style, the author unabashedly recounts the good (friendships with other hikers he met), the bad (sore legs, cutting winds and rain), and the godawful (those dispiriting doubts) aspects of his days of walking along what has since become known as the Eastern Continental Trail (ECT). An amazing tale of self-discovery and insight into the magic that reverberates from intense physical exertion and a high goal, Eberhart’s is the only written account of a thru-hike along the ECT. Covering 16 states and 2 Canadian provinces, Ten Million Steps deftly mixes practical considerations of an almost unimaginable undertaking with the author’s trademark humor and philosophical musings.

King David sinned. He stepped away from God. He hung out in the palace when kings go to battle. With idleness as his companion, his eyes wander and fixate on a beautiful woman. Lust takes over and he must have her as his own--the wife of another. Then after his folly, she announces her pregnancy to David. Sexual sin grows into schemes of murder. He places Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, in a battlefront position so he is killed. How could this happen? How could this same king write the Shepherd Psalm? He knew God intimately in his younger years as he tended sheep and followed God's voice to safe harbors. But, in a moment of passion, he exchanged spiritual training for fleeting moments of pleasure. Has that happened to you? Does Psalm 23 remind you of times when God lovingly nudged you closer to him? Do you long for more contentment but take detours away from God? Are there muddy streams and broken cisterns you need to sidestep? Do you veer from paths of righteousness and long for mountaintop experiences when stationed in life's dales and basins? How do you run to God for a reapplication of His soothing presence? Psalm 23 Bible Study, The Lord As My Shepherd, answers these questions. You'll discover how to stay clear of danger by remaining in your Shepherd's embrace. Author Betsy Wise focuses on Psalm 23's message line by line to reveal its meaning. To be precise, that the Shepherd/sheep connection is one continuous path of assurance--a path God wants to shepherd.