Author: Barbara

My passion is to encourage women wherever they are on their life journey. In everything I write and in every opportunity to speak, my goal is to offer hope. May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 NIV

My Shepherd

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

The Lord is . . . my Shepherd. We don’t need to be sheep herders to understand the role and responsibility of a shepherd. We’ve all heard about the shepherds “watching their flocks by night” when they were informed of Jesus’ birth and have read His words in John 10, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

A shepherd who knows his sheep understands their needs and temperaments, their proclivity to wander and their need for care and guidance. Our Shepherd knows that and more, after all, He created us. Psalm 23 describes ways our Shepherd cares for us:

  • He makes us rest
  • He leads us to water for refreshment
  • He guides us to the best paths
  • He protects us with His rod
  • He comforts us with His staff
  • He feeds us
  • He anoints us as His
  • He blesses us to overflowing

The consistency and tenderness of God’s shepherding care shows us His love. But He is more than a shepherd.

He is my Shepherd. Mine!

This is deeply personal and worthy of meditation.

I invite you to lie in your bed tonight and savor each of the first five words of Psalm 23. Drift off to sleep delighting in The. Lord. Is. My. Shepherd.

Photo by Sally Teschon

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart

The. Lord. Is.

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

The Lord is. Have you stopped to consider the significance of that 2-letter word? For one, it is present tense. Of course the Lord also was and will be, but sometimes those tenses are easier to accept than the present. Sometimes it is only by faith that we sense and believe that God is, and is active and alive in our lives. That’s where selah comes in. Pause and calmly think “The Lord is.” Let that truth soak through your fears and unrest.

He is—He exists, breaths, continues, endures, thrives, subsists—He lives. He is ever-present and always attentive to us, actively interested in our hopes and desires, disappointments and pain. Look at the picture of the shepherd who is watching a sheep wander away and let these words from Psalm 23 take hold. The shepherd—and the Shepherd—is alert to every sheep in his flock.

The Lord is my Shepherd—He feeds me, protects me, and gives me rest for my body and soul. Nothing I feel or fear changes the fact that the Lord is. That truth is more reliable than my emotions or despair, more trustworthy than any dangers and doubts I face.

Whether I struggle with hardships or watch the trials of friends or dismay over news reports, the fact remains: The Lord is.

Photo by Sally Teschon

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart

I Have a Shepherd

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

I suspect Psalm 23 may be the best known of all psalms. Often read at funerals, it wraps around us like a familiar, cozy afghan. But the comfort it’s designed to give goes far deeper. Like the stitches woven to create our favorite blanket, the psalmist wove words to cover us with far-reaching assurances. It deserves a deeper look and meditative understanding. Over the coming weeks we will do just that. Get ready to nestle yourself under its covering.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” Lord is understood as one who has power and authority over others, a ruler to whom allegiance and service is due. In the best case scenario, such a lord would be benevolent, caring for those under his leadership. In the Christian’s case, our Lord is that and more, so much more. Our Lord is a shepherd who lovingly tends to the needs of His people—but we’ll discuss Shepherd later.

Submitting to the care of a lord can offer peace or anxiety, depending on his goodness and our trust. The Lord spoken of in Psalm 23 is good and reliable. We will see that as we progress through the psalm, but at this point we simply need to recognize Him as Lord and, more than that, “The Lord.”

He is above all others, preeminent and unsurpassed. There is no authority that can challenge Him—important to remember in our troubling times. He has the ultimate power, the highest purpose, the perfect plan, the final say. He is The Lord of all lords.

When you read Psalm 23:1, savor these first two words—no lovingly crafted afghan can compare to the comfort found there.

Photo by Sally Teschon

Finding Hope, 65 Meditations for a Broken Heart by Barbara Higby

Powerful Words from Generous Hearts

~ Barbara ~ Leave a comment

I was recently doubting myself in two areas. In each instance someone spoke words that flipped my perspective and sparked joy.

First, I was feeling down about my hair—I’m losing it! Not a big deal, but a distraction. I faithfully thanked God it wasn’t due to disease or chemo treatments, just another aging nuisance. Still, I told Him I’d really like it to stop.

We attend a super-friendly church and each Sunday are enthusiastically greeted like our being there is the best thing ever. Two weeks ago the greeter, a stranger to me, exclaimed, “I love your hair! It looks so healthy!” Now, people may have commented on my hair style or color, but no one ever has remarked on its health. I’m guessing you’ve never been told that either. What an unusual comment—and exactly what I needed to hear! I thanked her for being so outgoing and unwittingly building me up. Now I brush the hair off my shoulders and say to myself, “What healthy hair!” You know, I think less is falling!

The second self-doubt came this morning. I felt dry and was praying about what to post this week. I questioned if I should take a blog break. In the middle of my musing a new friend texted me, “I felt compelled to start reading your blog! I’ve read a few and I’m now a subscriber!” Wow! Then a second friend in the chat responded that she knew nothing about following a blog, “I was just reading it. So good!” They knew nothing about my struggle but spoke words of life and… here I am!

I hope you’re encouraged to speak up, to let compliments and positive words flow. We’ve had this safety measure drilled in us: “If you see something, say something.” Let’s steal the mantra to remind us to say kind words to others.  

Ephesians tells us to speak…“what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (4:29). In the communications I described words were spoken to build me up. The speakers didn’t know of my need, but God did, and He used them to bless.

Friends, let’s be generous with words that compliment, edify, and encourage. According to Proverbs 25:11 (ESV),

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”

Share a golden apple today!