THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD…
For the last couple of weeks, Holy Spirit has
saturated us with revelation-knowledge of the love and care that is lavished upon us by Yahweh Ra’ah, the Lord, our Shepherd.
He supplies our every need according to His riches in glory. He provides refreshing rest when we are weary; healing and wholeness when we are weak. He gives guidance and wisdom as He directs our path. He even leads us through death’s valley, unafraid, protected by His presence. We emerge victorious over every enemy, walking in resurrection life. He calls us to holiness and transforms us by His glory. We dwell with Him forever, safe in His love.
Our Shepherd carries us from Day One of our lives in His ever-strong, never-failing arms. He invites us to release the weight of our worries, fears, troubles, and burdens to Him. As we do our arms are unburdened and our heart is set free to receive the life enhancing blessings He offers to us.
Let’s continue our study by looking at
Psalm 55:22 from the Amplified Bible:
“Cast your burden on the Lord [release it] and He will sustain and uphold you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken (slip, fall, fail).”
LET GO OF THAT BACKPACK!
Imagine for a moment that you are hiking along a mountain ridge with a friend, trying to get back to your camp before nightfall. But it is raining heavily, and the rocks are slippery. Your footing is dangerously unsure. To make matters worse, you are staggering under the weight of an over-sized backpack.
You are in danger of stumbling and falling down the mountainside, risking injury or death below.
But your friend offers to carry your heavy backpack. You accept his offer and gladly give hin your heavy load. Strong and confident, he steadies you with his arm on your shoulder as he walks beside you.
Feel safer? More secure? More sure-footed?
Less weary? Less stressed?
We absolutely should, because our Friend is the One who made the very mountains we stand on. He is the Light of the World, and there is no darkness in Him. He speaks to the rain and wind, and they obey Him. And He offers to carry all our burdens.
Will He carry your “weight of the world” backpack? Yes! If you will let Him. Give it to Him and forget about it. Just trust Him! He’s got everything under control!
“Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders— He’ll carry your load, He’ll help you out. He’ll never let you topple into ruin…”
(Psalm 55:22, The Message)
CASTING OUR CARES ON THE CAREGIVER
Let’s shift gears now, and look at the parallel verse in the New Testament:
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting ALL your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)
This is a familiar verse to many of us…But if we dig a little deeper right here, we’ll find some gold-nuggets of truth that will enrich us immensely.
THREE NUGGETS OF GREEK GOLD
Let’s look at three key words in this verse:
● The first word is “CASTING“. That word only means one thing to folks in “God’s Country” (East Texas)… sitting in a boat, looking for that big old bass, we just know we’re going to catch any minute now. We have our favorite rod and reel with our “guaranteed-to-get-’em” lure attached. We cast that colorful lure over to the spot where we’re pretty sure Mr. Big Bass is hiding. Then we start reeling it back in with a twitch and a swish, a wiggle, and a wobble.
The point is this: When we think of casting in my neck of the woods, we automatically think of the retrieve, “reeling it in”… bringing it back to us.
(NOTE: For our readers not from East Texas and not so familiar with fishing. think of a yo-yo, and how you can cause it to return to your hand with just a flick of your wrist.)
Many of us do that same kind of casting (or yo-yoing) our care. We cast it upon the Lord, then reel it back in. We start worrying and fretting about the problem all over again!
The Greeks saw casting differently. Their word for casting (epiripto) meant “to reject; to hurl; to fling away with force; to cast off something unwanted”. It implies that the burden was fully released, discarded, and abandoned for good.
That’s what the Lord wants us to do! That’s how we are set free, and how we stay free from care, anxiety, and fear!
● Our next word in 1 Peter 5:7 is “CARE“. The Greek word used is “merimna“. It’s a word with several negative connotations. It means “that which distracts, divides, and pulls apart”.
It refers to negative thoughts, concerns, worries, or fears which “fracture the focus of our faith”. It’s the stuff we need to cast away.
This kind of “CARE” creates apprehension, uncertainty, anxiety, hopelessness, and defeat. It tends to feed on itself and grows exponentially, hour-by-hour, and day-by-day.
If we continue to hang on to our “merimna“, the unbearable weight of it will pull us further and further down, causing our spirit and soul to become distracted and divided. Our souls will let go of our spiritual position, which is being seated together with Christ in the heavenly realm.
● Our third nugget in 1 Peter 5:7 is the word “CARES“. It is translated from the Greek word “melo“. We would think that “melo” would be closely linked to “merimna“, the other word in this verse translated as “care”. But these two words have very different meanings and focus.
Melo means, “to be attentive; to take an active interest in someone else; to lean in; to care deeply; to provide help”.
The big difference between these two types of care?
“Merimna” is self-focused. It describes the kind of “care” we are told to cast on the Lord.
“Melo” is other-focused.It describes the kind of care the Lord gives us.
THE GREAT EXCHANGE
The Father encourages us to cut loose OUR self-focused cares… OUR obsessive worries about OUR problems, OUR hurts, OUR failures, and OUR fears; casting them ALL upon the crucified Savior.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole.” (Isaiah 53:5, AMPC)
Jesus has alreadyborne all our sins, our sicknesses, our shame, and our sorrows (cares, worries, and fears) because He “CARES” for us!
The Good News is that we don’t have to bear what He has already borne for us! He has called us to freedom. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
We exchange our load of worry for His peace!
We exchange our weakness for His strength!
We exchange our hurts for His healing!
We give Him our “cares”, and in exchange He reveals Himself as our Caregiver!
Hallelujah! What a Savior! What a Shepherd!
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Ours is a labor of love. We have never asked anyone to support this ministry financially. We don’t sell merchandise. We don’t host advertising. We don’t solicit donations. We have never received any income through this site.
Christ is, and will always be, our sufficiency, meeting all of our needs.
But we have humbly asked, and do ask again, that our readers would generously support our ministry Partners in the Philippines, Student Life Organization, Inc.
God has given Co-Founders Ian Rustia and Anne Ruiz a clear vision and an open door to reach many in their nation, and beyond, with the love of Christ. They powerfully and faithfully demonstrate His love through outreaches to the needy, the marginalized, and the often forgotten… children and young people with disabilities and special needs, and their families.
SLOI has only been incorporated as a non-profit ministry for slightly more than a year, yet they have already produced much fruit for the kingdom of God. Grace and I consider it a privilege to share in their work, and we earnestly ask that you would join us in supporting their ministry through your prayers and giving.
PLEASE DO THESE THREE THINGS:
- Pray for the continued success of this ministry and that God would supply every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
- Check out and subscribe to the SLOI website to learn more about their latest outreaches and ministry events. You may do this by clicking on this link:
NEWS FLASH! The SLOI Newsletter is now featured on our site! Just click on the button found on the homepage!
- Please give generously to support this ministry. You may do so through the Paypal link to their newly opened ministry account:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/studentlifeinc2025
⁶ “Remember this: he who sows sparingly and grudgingly will also reap sparingly and grudgingly, and he who sows generously, that blessings may come to someone will also reap generously and with blessings.
⁷ Let each one give as he has made up his own mind and purposed in his heart, not reluctantly or sorrowfully or under compulsion, for God loves (He takes pleasure in, prizes above other things, and is unwilling to abandon or to do without) a cheerful (joyous, “prompt to do it”) giver whose heart is in his giving.
⁸ And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].
⁹ As it is written, he [the benevolent person] scatters abroad; he gives to the poor; his deeds of justice and goodness and kindness and benevolence will go on and endure forever!”
(2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-9, AMPC)
Thank you! We pray that you will experience God’s richest blessings as you give freely and cheerfully in Jesus’ name!
Joe and Grace
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