Text: Psalms 23
Memory text:
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Psalms 23, also called the “Shepherd Psalm”, uses the imagery of a shepherd to convey God as a caring and loving Father.
Unlike in Africa, where the shepherd is usually behind the sheep, it’s the opposite in the Eastern and Mesopotamia regions where the shepherd is always ahead of his sheep, that is, in front. The shepherd sees ahead and handles anything that wants to come to the sheep before they even get there. Any attempt upon them also had to take the shepherd into account.
God, our Shepherd, is in front of us. He is already in our tomorrow before we ever get there. He handles whatever wants to come to us tomorrow even before we get there. Hallelujah! He controls both the present, the past, and the future. He says, ““I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”” ‭‭(Rev‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬).
Usually, what one doesn’t know or understand creates fears in the heart. Likewise, tomorrow fills people with fears and anxieties since it is unknown. People easily get bothered about what the unknown tomorrow holds, whether good or bad. Our Lord Jesus warns against this (Matt 6:25).
Just as nothing comes to the sheep without passing first through the shepherd, your tomorrow will not come to you without passing before Him. This is what our memory text says. God has a plan already for your tomorrow, even before it comes. Glory!
An orphan child was once asked by her little friend, “What do you do without a mother to tell your troubles to?” “Mother told me to go to Jesus; He was mother’s friend, and He’s my friend too,” was her simple reply. “But He is a long way off; He won’t stop to mind you”, her friend added. Her face brightened, as she said: “I don’t know about that, but I know He says He will, and that’s enough for
me.”
Friends, is it not enough for you to know that the Shepherd is ahead of your tomorrow already, even if it’s a long way off? You may not see or know what is in tomorrow, but
you can commit it into the hands of the One who holds tomorrow and who is there already. Hallelujah! Let the refrain of the hymn, ‘Because He lives’, by Soew Rose, be your song throughout the day. “Because He lives,, I can face tomorrow, Because He lives, all fear is gone; Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living, Just because He lives! “

Prayer points
1. Father, thank You that You are already ahead of my tomorrow and for Your good plans for me, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, I commit my tomorrow into Your hands, and I refuse to fear or be anxious about it, in Jesus’ name.

Today’s declarations
1. I am not afraid of tomorrow because I know that nothing will come to me without passing through my Shepherd.
2. I may not know tomorrow, but I have peace when I commit it into the hands of He who holds tomorrow.

Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng