Finding Pasture

[Mr. M]

Have you considered the meaning of "finding pasture"?

John 10:

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 

8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Hint: the placename Abel means 'pasture'.

2 Samuel 20:18 Then she spoke, saying, they were wont to speak in old time, saying,

They shall surely ask at Abel: and so they ended the matter.

sa'al [H7592] to ask, enquire, make request, to desire

To find pasture, and acquire that abundant life, ASK.

Psalms

2:8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

21:4 He asked life from You, and You gave it to him—
Length of days forever and ever.

27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, 

to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.

 

 

 

[debrakay]

Your topic caught my eye.  I have been "finding pasture" for the 23 months since my husband died.  I retired from 5+ decades of working in 2021, he died in September 2022, so I have been out to pasture with the Lord every single day since then.  When I get to feeling alone and discouraged that I have not figured all of this out I hear him say,

"Be still, and know that I am God!"

Being a woman I have a hard time doing this and have to remind myself He knows best, He knows me,  He knows how long I need to heal.  Waiting and not doing is hard for me.  If you look in the pasture, that is me laying down over in the corner, away from the rest of the flock, waiting for my Shepherd to lead and guide me where He needs me to be.   

[Mr. M]

48 minutes ago, debrakay said:

Your topic caught my eye.  I have been "finding pasture" for the 23 months since my husband died.  I retired from 5+ decades of working in 2021, he died in September 2022, so I have been out to pasture with the Lord every single day since then.  When I get to feeling alone and discouraged that I have not figured all of this out I hear him say,

"Be still, and know that I am God!"

Being a woman I have a hard time doing this and have to remind myself He knows best, He knows me,  He knows how long I need to heal.  Waiting and not doing is hard for me.  If you look in the pasture, that is me laying down over in the corner, away from the rest of the flock, waiting for my Shepherd to lead and guide me where He needs me to be.   

This is the pasture that you have been promised:

Philippians 4:

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything

by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

[debrakay]

2 minutes ago, Mr. M said:

This is the pasture that you have been promised:

Philippians 4:

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything

by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Daily!  I'm so thankful that He never tires of hearing my voice call out to Him with my praises and my petitions.  He is my all in all. 

[farouk]

54 minutes ago, debrakay said:

Daily!  I'm so thankful that He never tires of hearing my voice call out to Him with my praises and my petitions.  He is my all in all. 

Hi @debrakay

Here's a thematic link: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." (Psalm 23.2)

[Bruce_Leiter]

Fellow believer, Jesus also says in the context that he is the good Shepherd, thus referring to Psalm 23:1. These references are two of Jesus' "I AM" claims that he is God along with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John as the one God in three Persons. Of course, you can look at the last part of Matthew 25 for another of his references to the sheep, in that case, in contrast with the goats. Obviously, Jesus wants to feed us, his sheep, as he says in John 6, where he follows his feeding of the 5,000 with his claim that he is the Bread of Life. Such claims are his metaphors, or figurative comparisons, between physical and spiritual realities.