Restored

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters,
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. ~Psalm 23

There is so much in this often quoted Psalm. It is commonly offered at funerals, but it is so much more than a final prayer to say over our loved ones.
I love and am most comforted by the third verse-"He restores my soul."
The word restore means, to bring back to (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation), reinstate, return someone or something to a former condition, place or position. To repair, to renovate.
Synonyms of restore are:repair, fix, mend, refurbish, recondition, rehabilitate, rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, overhaul, redevelop.
These synonyms touch my heart-especially rehabilitate-I have been rehabilitated by The Lord!
Restore also means to give back someone or something that was lost or taken, To bring back to a state of health, soundness or vigor!
I have been restored  by God! Hallelujah! HE restores my soul, continues, keeps restoring, keeps bringing back. That is to say, restore is one of those active verbs in this verse, He keeps restoring us, keeps renewing us and bringing us back to Himself, if we trust Him to be our shepherd-daily. I daily trust Him, He daily restores me.
Make it your personal prayer today.
The Lord is Jean's Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores Jean's soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though Jean walks through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with Jean. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a table before Jean in the presence of her enemies. You anoint her head with oil and her cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow her all the days of her life, and she will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Make it personal, make it your prayer. Make it a prayer over your loved ones inserting their name in that place. He cares for you. He is the good Shepherd.

Be Wise

                                                             

I used to know a young man who had an interesting tattoo. He would tell young ladies that he had their name tattooed on his back side, he would actually say "I have your name tattooed on my rear". And he did-his tattoo literally read "Your Name" in beautiful cursive writing. Quite a unique little scam.
There are a lot of scams like this today on social media. The one I saw most recently said, "If you have a Mom that is no longer here because she is in Heaven, put her first name here." I've seen this with loved ones names, pets names, etc. Do you realize that many of these are the security questions on your very private information? I asked my husband, an IT genius, if these are phishing scams to obtain information from people, he said, "Oh yes, definitely."   
So, be wise. No matter how pretty or emotion tugging these posts are, be wise and protect yourself. The Bible tells us to be wise. In Proverbs 23:19 it says, "Listen my son and be wise, set your heart on the right path."  Also in Prov. 19:20, and in Prov. 27:11, we are told to be wise. The LORD also told Solomon to ask for wisdom. So, if you feel like you need wisdom, ask the LORD for it, He will give you wisdom. 

Real Peace

Peace. It can be elusive, yet we all want it. We search for it, strive for it, read books about how to get more of it. Can it be obtained? Can we find peace? I believe we can. In the book of Mark in the Bible there is a story of the disciples and a great storm that threatened to capsize their boat and end their very lives. I can picture the panic that was settling on their hearts as their minds realized how great the danger was. You can imagine the great swells of waves and the boat pitching about as the wind is nearly tossing them overboard, as they wake the teacher up, saying "Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing?" He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  Mark 4:38-39
Again, when Jesus appeared to His disciples after resurrection, He spoke the Word "Peace".
John 20:21 "Peace be with you".
I believe Peace is fully attainable to us, if it weren't Jesus would not have spoken it to both the storm and to His disciples. We have those accounts to comfort us today, to bring us Peace. By trusting Him and knowing Him. By reading the Bible and praying, we have access to peace, His Peace. Peace that calms the storms in our lives, both the actual storms and the things in life that threaten to capsize us, or turn us upside down.  Trust him today and rest in His perfect Peace~