by David Brenneman
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." John 10:1-16.
“What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish." Matthew 18:12-14.
"I don't want to run from the will of God.
I don't want to hide or hoard what He's giving me to do with what He's given me." - Me.
Those thoughts came to me yesterday during the Church service that we attended.
There's to life than the life we see with our own eyes when we come to Christ for salvation in Him.
There's the true story of that 1 sheep that the Shepherd left the 99 to go find. Having found the sheep the Shepherd does something that the mainstream world would consider cruel and heartless. The Shepherd intentionally breaks the leg of the lost sheep then carries it back to the 99. During the sheep’s recovery it learns dependence upon the Shepherd. Learns in a deeper way the love and caring behind what the Shepherd did. The sheep never forgets the true love of the Shepherd.
My Wife pointed me to a post on Facebook that is of the same mindset.
Every once in a while, an ewe will give birth to a lamb and reject it. There are many reasons she may do this. If the lamb is returned to the ewe, the mother may even kick the poor animal away. Once a ewe rejects one of her lambs, she will never change her mind.
These little lambs will hang their heads so low that it looks like something is wrong with their necks. Their spirit is broken.
These lambs are called "bummer lambs." Unless the shepherd intervenes, that lamb will die, rejected and alone. So, do you know what the shepherd does?
He brings the rejected lamb into his dwelling, feeds it by hand, and ensures its warmth near the fireplace. Wrapping it in blankets, he cradles it against his chest, allowing the lamb to sense his heartbeat. When the lamb gains sufficient strength, he reintegrates it into the field alongside the rest of the flock.
But that sheep never forgets how the shepherd cared for him when his mother rejected him. When the shepherd calls for the flock, guess who runs to him first?
That is right, the bummer sheep. He knows his voice intimately.
It is not that the bummer lamb is loved more, it just knows intimately the one who loves it.
It's not that it is loved more, it just believes it because it has experienced that love one on one.
So many of us are bummer lambs, rejected and broken. But He is the good Shepherd. He cares for our every need and holds us close to His heart so we can hear His heartbeat.
We may be broken but we are deeply loved by the Shepherd.
~ Author Unknown / Dawnings
Yesterday the Pastor also spoke of the grand lie of Satan that he and his minions tell all who live and breathe.
That lie is that there's no way the life Jesus promises is going to be anywhere near the life you can create yourself. That it's not worth pursuing. That all Jesus wants to do is be a buzz kill. To take away anything you are really going to enjoy. As the Pastor also said...if Satan gets someone to buy into that lie...there's nothing more he needs to do with such people. His work is done.
I was that 1 sheep that went off and Jesus the Great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, came and got me.
I was given a glimpse of my future and ran after it without any regard or consideration of what the path to it was going to take.
It lead to a spiral away from where He was leading me.
It took a decade or so to come back around to where I should have been all along with Jesus. He never left me, but He had to wait on me.
I certainly was a dumb sheep. Not seeing what was going on in my life and why. The lies of Satan compounding almost daily, weekly and yearly. My feelings concerning myself growing ever lower.
Then as I can relate to King David...Jesus reached down into the waters that I was drowning in and He pulled me up and out. There was a couple of Sunday evening services where the sermon hit straight into my heart, breaking those chains holding me from moving.
Jesus promised never to leave me or forsake me and He kept that promise.
It indeed took years of healing to learn how to walk again WITH Jesus instead of running ahead of Him. As a good friend says in his new book...keeping pace with the Savior.
The world right now is heavily under the influence of Satan. But, not absolute control of him.
He cannot do anything outside the Sovereign will of God for people in Christ Jesus.
Where the Spirit is working with people to come to Christ he tries to battle for those people.
Satan cares not who stays with him and dies. There's more people to be had.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Those who have come to Christ hear His voice.
Many many shepherds in Jesus's days as well as now...know that only their sheep will hear their voice and will only follow them. Shepherds used to, and in some countries still do, gather all their sheep into a larger area for protection. Yet when it's time to move on only the respective sheep will go with only their own Shepherd...because of their voice.
Jesus does indeed speak with me daily. These blog posts are at His discretion and direction. I have always aspired to be a writer of a book but this is beyond my imagination in its scope and global coverage in its distribution.
As I hear and am directed so I write.
Decades ago that was the vision I saw but messed up in the timing thereof and Jesus had to rescue me and do what He needed in order that I would think twice about running off again.
Even now there's a clarity forming of a next step for me beyond this global outreach with this blog. I had dreams for my life that honestly have all really happened and it's taken years if healing from my life near Columbus, Ohio to remove that veil. Jesus has more for me to do.
But I never would know any of it if I didn't trust in His voice. If I didn't trust Him with my life, my heart.
Indeed more is what I have in life that isn't seen in the scope of possessions or prestigious awards or the applause of people.
Pointing people to Jesus is what the life of a Believer is to be doing. Showing the drowning of this world that Jesus is there to save. To give them life, but not just life, life more abundant. Beyond anything we could ask or think of.
You can either live with, be content with, buy into, the lies of Satan or listen to the voice of Truth in Christ Jesus.
You can believe that this life you have is all there is or you can come to Christ for salvation and find out what the real life is all about.
I'm not a Bible thumper. I am not here to beat the message of the Gospel into anyone.
Jesus wants to have a real relationship with you and all I want of you is to open the door of your heart to Him and believe.
Believe that He really does love you and really does want what is best for you.
We are approaching the Easter season. That time when the Believer's of this world in Christ remember what Jesus went through to save them.
Jesus wants to be the forgiver of your sins and the leader of your life. To be your Good Shepherd. To lead you into a life you can't imagine until you take those steps with Jesus.
There's a greater purpose for you than you can see right now. To look at life through Spiritual eyes requires a right relationship with Jesus. Those who haven't come to Christ for salvation are dead to those spiritual things. They can't see with eyes that don't work. A dead body can't do anything. A life in Christ is alive, can see, can hear, can do the life that they've been raised to life for in Christ.
Think about it. If you're not hearing the voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd then you're in trouble. It's time to first figure out if you're truly saved and if you are to ask Him to help you find your true life in Christ.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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