Shepherds and sheep in modern America?

Zechariah 13:7 prophisized that the Shepherd will be struck that "the sheep may be scattered." Yet a third will call on "My (God's) name and I will answer them; I will say, "They are my people," and they will say, "The Lord is my God."

We see the fullfillment of this prophesy as the Chief Shepherd Jesus hung on a cross, yet He arose and is now seated at the right hand of His Father, where He has been given "as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." He ascended and "He gave gifts to men" that His church will mature "to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ."

God has a plan. We, the church, grow up into the fullness of His Body. To this end, "He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the works of service, to the building up of the body of Christ."

Jesus came as the Chief Shepherd and it is because of Him that I have the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort me, to teach me, to bring me into the relationship with the Father that I can call Him, "Abba." Yet God also has given brothers and sisters to walk with me. He has given shepherds here on earth that can lead and watch over me as a shepherd does for his sheep. They are those who lay down their lives to serve the body "not lording it over those entrusted to you but being examples to the flock."

God does place in our lives those that can be examples to us of what it looks like to walk out our salvation here on earth. Because they do not walk perfectly as Christ the Chief Shepherd did, does not mean that God has not provided shepherds to help lead us into maturity. I do not know anyone that has walked on water but I have known people over the years that have encouraged and challenged me and assisted in the equipting for "works of service." Because there have been those who have called themselves shepherds and have "lorded it over those entrusted to them" does not mean that God has not provided shepherds. It simple means that they have abused the trust others have put in them. There is one Chief Shepherd but Ephesians makes it clear that there are those who are shepherds here to help us mature. From one who wants to see none "tossed here and there by waves, carrried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming," I thank God for those shepherds willing to lay down their lives to serve those whom God has "entrusted" to them.

Many things happening

Many things I see lately are very encouraging: God moving "suddenly" in a family to restore a mother/daughter relationship. Praise and worship that lifts up Jesus and as a result, people are drawn to Him. Men seeing the gift that God has given them in their wives. A healing that is miraculous and described by a doctor as "amazing." Churches opening up their door overnight to the homeless. The list goes on and on. Thank You, Lord, for what You are doing and also for letting me see these things.

At the same time, distractions abound which scream for my attention. Snares which threaten my brothers and sisters and lies which seem to entrap them. People caught up in worries and anxious thoughts which cause them to try and provide for themselves. Choices which lead people away from God rather than closer to Him. Bondages that don't have to be there.

Looking at the latter items, I find myself discouraged and/or angry. I am reminded of the verse, "set your mind on things above," as well as "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." My discouragement comes from the misbelief that though I see the negative, I do not know what to do. The truth is, I can turn to God in prayer and cry out in need and dependency. I can praise Him for all the good I see as well as acknowledge Him as the One Who "uses all things for good..." I can allow Him to do whatever He wants through me. That may be intercession where I allow my heart to be broken, confrontation (gasp), or whatever He chooses. These very things can be used to cause me to realize even more deeply the truth of my dependency on Him. I can turn to my Loving Father Who knows all and loves all of His children more than I could ever fathom. These things that are so negative, I can watch God turn into positives and know even deeper what a good, loving, omnipotent God I serve.

Free to bring glory to God

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I Cor 10:31

What a thought -everything I do, do it all for the glory of God. As I begin to think about this, I realize that God has made it possible. If I give money, time, love away freely, this brings glory to God. I can do this because my Father Who is in heaven supplies all my needs. I can thank God for all things because He "works all things together for good." A grateful heart brings glory to God as others recognize the "peace that passeth understanding" which can only come from God. I can rest, I don't have to strive, because it is "God who works in us (thats me too!) both to will and to do of His good pleasure."

So this leads to my next thought: how different would my life look if I considered frequently if I was, at that moment, bringing glory to God. Would I be as short with my husband? How would I respond to telemarketers' phone calls? Would I spend my time the same way? How would I treat the rude cashier? What about the homeless man that approaches my car in the parking lot? What would I allow in my home?

As I think of these areas, I realize I have no excuse for not bringing glory to God. He has made it entirely possible. When I surrender, accept the exchange of His life for mine, I also enjoy abundant life. Nothing brings greater joy than getting to be there when the Holy Spirit moves- and if I allow Him to work thru me, I get a front row seat! It makes me sad that I would waste any time doing otherwise. I thank God today that He brought to my mind the importance of taking time to consider if I am indeed glorifying Him in all things.

"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Romans 10:17

So many things contend for our time, but have we considered the payoff? Can you imagine taking a job without considering what it pays? How can we compare, think intelligently about, if we do not look at what is being produced by the time we spend doing certain activities? How important is faith to you? How important to you is that you hear God? Is it important enough that you will pick up your Bible and listen for what the Holy Spirit longs to say to you? Do you believe what God says? How can you know what He says if you don't read His Word?

I have been greatly encouraged the last few months by a friend who has wholeheartedly come back to the Lord. Her zeal to know all that God has for her in order to grow to serve Him the best she can is clearly seen as she attends all the services she can to hear the Word of God. Her questions to me about His Word challenge me to discover with her what it is He is saying to us. I see her faith expressed as she puts every situation at the foot of Jesus - the One Who cares for her. She has come to know Him by what she is learning about Him in His Word.

"And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and they accept it, and bear fruit, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold." Mark4:20

"...they hear the word and they accept it..." First comes the hearing and then the acceptance. "I have hidden your Word in my heart, that I may not sin against You." Psalm 119:11 "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119;105 I want to be able to see all that God has for me and for His church. I need all the light that I can get in my life to see how and where to walk. Those things that take me away from time with Jesus produce nothing of eternal value - their cost to me is high with very lttle if any return. I want to bear much fruit - how else can I truly express love to my Savior who has done everything for me? Thank God that He will produce fruit thru everyone who will "hear the Word and accept it.."

God is good all the time

I need to be reminded daily about the Truth of God. Satan wants me to believe a lie so he bombards me any way he can to try and get me to believe in "the seen" rather than the "unseen." I'm reminded of a little church I went to where a common greeting was, "God is good." When someone said that to you, the reply was, "all the time." God is good all the time! When the sun rises in the morning, giving light, God is good. When the storms come, shaking my world, God is good. I am thankful for and need the people in my life who speak the truth about God to me all the time. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

(By the way, if you're one of those people who speak truth to me, thank you! If you know me and want to speak truth to me, please know I welcome it!)

Secondhand Knowledge

Gen 2:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desireable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

God told Adam about this tree that he "shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Eve knew they were not to eat of the tree, but did she have secondhand knowledge? Nowhere in the scriptures are we told God told Eve. We know that God spoke directly to Adam. We could surmise that it was Adam who told Eve. There is no record given that Eve ever spoke to God about His command even after Adam told her. Perhaps Adam told her and that was the end of the subject.

What a priviledge to have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to teach us. We do not have to rely on secondhand knowledge. We can open the Bible and read for ourselves. We have the Holy Spirit to teach us and reveal to us exactly what it is God wants us to know from His Word.
God provides teachers in His Body to help build up the body, however we can talk to God directly about anything shown to us in scriptures. We have direct access to the Father. His Word becomes food to us that gives us life. His Word is given to us as a sword that we can use in battle against that snake!

Eve did not use God's Word. Instead she looked at the tree. She considered the words of that snake. As she gazed at the tree, she decided that it was "good for food." She had to look long enough to decide that it was "pleasant" to look at. Did she reason that something that looks so good must be desireable. She must have considered the word of the snake to decide that not only was it desireable, but it was "desireable to make one wise." In all this looking and considering, did she forget what God had said about the tree? Were her feelings that came from her thoughts of being wise overwhelming her? As she ruminated on what had become options to her, had she forgotten the truth that God spoke that the tree would bring death? Was she trusting God, believing Him, or had she forgotten His Words altogether? Did her relationship with God enter her mind (was there room with all that other thinking going on)? Did she stop to think that God Who created the entire universe, had also created her? That He had "fashioned" her from the rib of Adam and knew her and therefore her needs intimately. In all her considering, did she consider how special she must be to the One Who created her? Would He withold any good thing from her?

No, she looked and looked at that tree. She listened to a snake. She made a decision based on feelings and lies. And she also "gave to her husband with her and he ate."

I John 2:16 For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world.

James 1:14,15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Humbled by the Truth

Self effort really gets me nowhere except eventually, hopefully, to the end of myself. I can do nothing alone but thru Christ I can do all things. Yet, still I struggle wanting so badly to fix things yet knowing thru experience that I not only don't accomplish what I hope to but often create more of a mess. So it is back to my knees I go.
I am starting to see that my dreams have me at the center where my hope has Christ at the center. I can trust God, I can't trust myself; I have let myself down too many times. God has never let me down. There were times I was deceived to think perhaps He had, but by the end of the chapter I learned I was very wrong.
To believe the lie that I can somehow satisfy my own needs often leads to another lie - that I can somehow control someone else. Its like that tiny snowball that starts at the top of the hill and by the time it has rolled to the bottom, it has become huge. Big enough to roll right over me and bury me underneath. It is easy enough to stop the snowball - by accepting my responsibility to control myself (the only one I can), and trust God with my needs. Its funny how that works. Once I become willing to relinquish my needs to Him, I end up thanking Him as I realize He has always met my needs once I get out of the way. I know I can trust Him. He knows, better than I do, what I need at the time. He truly is my Father who created me and knows me so intimately that He knit me together in my mother's womb. No wonder all I need to do is thank Him.