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The 23rd Psalm – There is Never a “There” Where God is Not There

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The 23rd Psalm is one of the most beloved psalms of the Bible.

It is easy to love the 23rd Psalm. Who doesn’t want to know about “The Lord” who “is my shepherd”? Green pastures, still waters, restoration of the soul?

That’s good stuff.

But I don’t think that’s what makes the 23rd Psalm great. The thing I appreciate about the 23rd Psalm is it doesn’t sugar coat life.

I often hear people say something like, “I just heard back from the doctors. The tests came back negative. It wasn’t cancer. God is so good.”

And I agree. I am glad that they are cancer free. And I am really glad that the tests came back negative because that’s what I had been praying for too.

But I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if the tests came back positive and they did have cancer. Is God no longer good?

The thing about the 23rd Psalm is that “Even though I walk through the valleys of the shadow of death, Thou art with me. Thy rod, Thy staff they comfort me.”

Valleys of the shadow of death. Doesn’t very pleasant. Sounds downright frightening. But I am glad it’s there. Because, sometimes, life is downright frightening and unpleasant. And what God promises us is that God is there too – leading, guiding, comforting.

There is never a “there” where God is not there.

I love this Psalm. I love this Psalm because I know that God is always with me. Whether I am healthy or sick, whether I am rich or poor, no matter what God is with me. And God is with you.

Love the 23rd Psalm.

Then, I’ll Go With You

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There’s a story told from Civil War days before American slaves were freed about a northerner who went to a slave auction and purchased a young slave girl. As they walked away from the auction, the man turned to the girl and told her, “You’re free.”

With amazement she responded, “You mean, I’m free to do whatever I want?”

“Yes,” he said.

“And to say whatever I want to say?”

“Yes, anything.”

“And to be whatever I want to be?”

“Yep.”

“And go wherever I want to go?”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile. “You’re free to go anywhere you’d like.”

She looked at him intently and replied, “Then I’ll go with you.”

 

Jesus paid the debt of sin by dying on the cross for sinners to set sinners free. But once free, our freedom isn’t freedom until we discover how to be who we are as a freed people. The only way to discover that freedom is by following the One who created us and saved us.

Go with him.

Go, follow Jesus.

Life with a Chromebook

 

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I did it. I’ve made the switch to Chromebooks. This Chromebook is now my main computer.

I am currently using the HP x2. This is my fifth Chromebook. Prior to, I had been a MacBook user. About a year ago, I made the switch to the Samsung Chromebook Plus. But, after a few weeks with the Chromebook, I had to switch back to the MacBook for two main reasons.

  1. I had difficulty printing documents.
  2. The Chromebook was not syncing with the church office cloud network.

Those were deal breakers.

But, here is the remarkable thing about Chromebooks – they get better with time. Google is regularly improving Chrome. With their regular updates and improvements the issues I had are no longer issues. So about four months ago, I started using the Samsung Chromebook Plus as my main work laptop.

Here are some of my reflections about the Chromebook experience.

Pros:

  • Cost – even though the HP x2 is a higher end Chromebook, it is still about half the cost of a MacBook
  • The screen – the screen on this thing is amazing. The Samsung Chromebook Plus/Pro and Google Pixel have better screens, but this one is right up there
  • It’s fast – for what I do, this is a great machine. I can already tell this is faster than the Samsung Chromebook Plus. My main use is writing documents on Microsoft Word. For that, this is more than enough machine for me
  • The stylus – I don’t use it much, but when I do need to use it, it is very handy. I use Squid from the Google Android App Store to take notes by hand. The writing experience is almost like writing with a pen and paper
  • Battery life – I can typically go all day without having to charge
  • Google handles virus protection
  • Any Chromebook is my Chromebook – we have three Chromebooks at home. With any of them, when I sign on with my google account, all my settings are there. The laptop may be different but it’s all my stuff that’s there on the screen. Love that

 

Cons:

  • Some of the Android Apps are buggy with the Chromebook. Android Apps can be used on the Chromebooks, but they are designed for android phones. And some of these apps don’t play well with the Chrome environment. I have noticed that I can have close to a dozen tabs open and the processor has no problems handling that, but if I have two or three Android Apps, the processor begins to lag.Because of that, I refrain from using the Android Apps and work on things like Twitter, Evernote, etc on the Chrome web page
  • Not every place has access to wifi. Google has made it better for work when there is no wifi (i.e. on a flight), it is still not a stand alone machine like a pc or a Mac
  • I don’t like the rubber/plastic track pad. After using the glass track pad on MacBooks and on the Samsung Chromebook Plus, the rubber/plastic track pad feels cheap

Bottom Line:

I am pleased with my life with a Chromebook. I love that Google continues to improve the Chrome experience.