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Tuesday... Now our wants can be turned into needs.


Psalm 23:1 (NLT), "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all I need."

Tuesday... Now our wants can be turned into needs.

And doing that can become a major problem.

David writes in Psalm 23:1 (NLT), "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all I need." 

Now our basic human needs are: air, water, food, shelter, clothing, sleep/rest and safety/security. And here in the 23rd Psalm David starts by saying, "I have all I need." Now what happens too many times is that our wants have a way of becoming our needs. And that can be a problem.

The Amplified Bible translates verse 1 this way. It says,  "The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want." And that is so important for us to get to, to not be controlled by our wants, to not turn then into needs.

Now God does loves us and His loves does a lot of things for our pleasure. A Sunset is beautiful. He does that for our pleasure. The Ocean is beautiful, that also is for our pleasure. All the choices of food can be for our pleasure. But turning all our pleasures into needs can be a problem.

Dave Ramsey has the Four Walls of budgeting. He has these Four Walls which are the four basic necessities for life: food, utilities, shelter, and transportation. And he advises prioritizing these expenses when struggling to pay bills, and only spending money on other things once these are covered. If you can't pay all of your bills and are having a hard time making ends meet, these Four Walls should be what you spend your money on first. He says, "The four walls that hold your home up are basic necessities and if you keep that going and the other stuff is just bills you are behind on." Now he gives great advice on taking care of all those bills you are behind on. We have used his guidelines and it has defiantly made a difference in our life.

Yes we get into a trap when we turn our wants into needs. And if you have then God will show you how to take care of it.


The Message Paraphrase says verse 1-3 this way, "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction."

 And that is what so many of us need to do. Yes we need to catch our breath and be sent in the right direction. And we also can say, "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing." Yes, yes #todaysbeginning


 

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