Be Shepherds

1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;

Psalm 42:1 

 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Drought Conditions

 In response to a woman of Samaria:
 "Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Our land is in drought condition and the earth is crying for water. We have had the hottest June and July on record with temperatures in the 100s weeks in a row. We are not far from breaking records of the number of days over 100 degrees.

The trees are turning brown due to lack of water and the extreme heat.  The leaves on the trees appear to be going into a dormant state in order to survive. Some will die.  We are praying for rain.

Our spiritual condition sometimes goes into drought mode when we distance ourselves from Jesus Christ the "living water". The less time we spend in worshiping Jesus, studying and reading God's Holy Word, in prayer and in fellowship with other believers are those times when our roots begin to dry out.  We can reach drought mode without realizing it. Sin creeps in and before you know it, you don't have a quiet time, you don't attend church and you don't listen to God's leading.  The result: a dried up Christian that has no value for the divine plan God has planned for your life.  You miss the opportunity to be used by Him and for His  kingdom's purpose.

God, of course, doesn't give up on you.  He is ever present in the form of the Holy Spirit within and will draw you back to Him if you choose to listen and be obedient.  How sad it would be to be like the brown trees in drought mode and refuse the "living water" that would make their leaves green again. If your life has become that way, ask Jesus to refresh your soul with the living water of His presence.  He wants you to draw from "the well of water springing up to eternal life."

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and your Lord, then receive the "living water" that will save your soul from condemnation/hell and let Him provide you with eternal life. If you don't know how to accept Him who died as a sacrifice for your sin, click here.  Don't let another minute go by without Him.

Trust in His Name

Job 8:13-15

  Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.
¹⁴ What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web.
¹⁵ They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold. 

 Psalm 9:10
Those who know your name trust in you, for you, 

LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Worry

Matthew 6:28
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. 

They do not labor or spin."

The Voice of the Shepherd

 

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" 

John 10:14

Jesus used sheep as illustrations to teach many lessons in the New Testament.  Because of the culture of the day, the people of Israel would have caught the lessons immediately.  I, on the other hand, have never been around sheep to learn their characteristics, so what I know of them is not through experience but through reading, studying or listening to teaching about the subject. 

Recently, during a Bible Study by Anne Graham Lotz "Pursuing More of Jesus", I learned several interesting things about sheep.  The shepherds in Biblical times were assigned sheep from the time they were born.  They were more like pets and the shepherd would often name each one.  In other words, the sheep had a personal relationship with the shepherd.  They knew his voice. They recognized it because everyday, they would heard his voice.  They knew the shepherd only had their best at heart and took care of their needs for water, food and protection for harm.  They trusted no other.  In fact, if someone else called them and they didn't recognize the voice as the voice of their shepherd they would run the opposite direction in fright.

For those who know Jesus Christ as Savior, the lesson is clear.  He knows us and we know Him.  He speaks to us through His Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We can recognize His voice and can distinguish it from other voices-the voices of the world and Satan.  We should trust no other.  

Are you listening for the voice of the Good Shepherd?  Can you hear His voice?  What about the voices of the world?  Are they so loud that the voice of Jesus has been drown out and replaced by fleshly things?

The Lamb Was Silent

I recently watched a sheep shearing demonstration in Australia.  The sheep to the left sat silent and still as the owner of the ranch talked about sheep and the shearing process. He continued to talk for several minutes explaining what was about to happen as the wool was removed from the sheep.  The animal at his feet did not make a single movement or a single sound. 

Then in the shearing area, an experienced shearer very carefully and deliberately began removing the wool from the silent sheep. As the shearing proceeded, the sheep made not a sound and moved only as directed by the shearer's hand.

It was not until yesterday, that I understood the significance of what I had witnessed.  The lesson was on Phillip's witness to the enunch in Acts 8:29-35

Acts 8:29-35 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go up and join this chariot." Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

         "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER;
         AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT,
         SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.
    ³³"IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY;
         WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION?
         FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH."

The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, went before His accusers and was silent.  Remember when Pilate sent Jesus to be judged by Herod.  Jesus didn't make a sound.

Luke 23:8-10 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. 9And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. 10And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently.

AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH.

Jesus spoke not a word and moved only at the direction of the Father's Hand.

The Kangaroo

During my recent trip to Australia, I had a personal encounter with several kangaroos.  These were not wild kangaroos which can be dangerous and mean but gentle ones in a tourist attraction much like a petting zoo.  There must have been twenty or thirty of them resting, sleeping or just curious as to why tourists were invading their space.  One of the momma kangaroos or as the Australians say "Mum" kangaroo had a baby in her pouch.  The little baby had a large head as you can see from the picture and must have been about ready to be out of the pouch.  I did not know that mother kangaroos have three stages of gestation and delivery going on at one time.  The large baby called a "Joey" just large enough to be out of the pouch, a growing new baby "Joey" inside the pouch and an embryo growing and developing just waiting to grow big enough to enter the pouch once the resident baby leaves keep the mother kangaroo very busy.  There are never two babies at the same time. Past, present and future babies.

In thinking about life, I thought of God's perspective of life events.  Our Heavenly Father sees the past, the present and the future at once! We do not.  Not only does He see it, He designed it.  While we can see the past in great detail-the little joey on the ground, we know what has happened and are aware of the things we might have changed and the things we did right.  We may also be aware of the new growing and developing but can only see part of it until it comes to full term.  This is the present-the Joey in the pouch, the one not fully developed and not part of our current understanding.  We may think we know what will take place but until it happens we can only assume it is the way we think it is. And as for the future-the developing joey, we can only imagine what it might be like!  We can imagine the joy and anticipate its coming.

Praise the Lord for His marvelous creation and how marvelous is His provision!  We remember the past and know how He has provided and brought us through all things.  We look at the present and see His Hand is working in our life each day and we look to the future and know that because He has provided for us in the past and in the present that He will indeed provide for us in the future.  Oh, what a marvelous, wonderful God we serve!!

The Lamb of God

2 Corinthians 2:14-16  "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life..."

I am told that when a lamb is born, the fragrance of birth gives out a sweet aroma unlike any other animal birth. The mother ewe identifies her lamb by its smell and once that smell is identified she will not accept another lamb.  She can even identify her own lamb from all others in a crowded flock by its smell.

The parallels to Jesus as the Lamb of God came to mind.  Our Heavenly Father knows those that believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior because He can smell the aroma of Christ, the Lamb of God in us and He knows us even in a world of millions.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16 tells us that we are the aroma of Christ in this world. Both the lost and the saved identify us as either the smell of death or the fragrance of life.  You may call yourself a Christian and look and act like one but people usually can tell whether you are sincere or whether you are a hypocrite.  The only way to smell like Christ is to belong to Him.  You must admit you are a sinner, repent of your sins, and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Then and only then will you have the fragrance of life within you.

Do you smell like the aroma of Christ?