Month: August 2022

“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:2-4

In ancient times there were common sheepfold in towns where sheep from many flocks were kept in the same sheepfold. A sheepfold is a pen for the sheep. So there may be flocks from several different shepherds in one pen and there was one way out and one way in. It’s my understanding that one of the shepherd would sleep at the gate of the sheepfold so as not to let anything in to harm the sheep nor to let the sheep wander out of the gate. In the morning the shepherds would come to the pen and call their sheep by name and would lead them out of the pen. Now I have often heard that sheep were dumb animals but yet they knew the voice of their shepherd. They would not follow another shepherd only the voice that they knew would protect them, guide them and lead them. In fact: 

“A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10:5

My friends, I can testify that when you spend a lot of time with Jesus you begin to hear His voice and know His voice more clearly. I can remember early in my christian walk, when I wouldn’t be able to discern His voice, His leading and guidance on my life with much clarity. And I am not saying that I hear it correctly every time now, but I can say that after years of being with Him daily and having a quiet time and walking this life out with Him as my guide, I can recognize His lead much clearer than I could years ago. It is just like with your spouse or children, or close friends. If my children or spouse calls me from another phone they do not have to identify themselves. I know their voice. All they have to do is speak and I will know who they are. They could fool me quicker with a look than they ever will with their voice. Much the same way the more time I spend with Jesus, the more I know His voice in my life. I am not saying He speaks audibly but I can feel His voice. He is My Shepherd and I know His voice. 

So whose voice are you listening to? Is it Our Good Shepherd’s or is it a disguise? Is it someone who is trying to climb over the walls to gain your attention?

“I am the door. If anyone enters by 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.” John 10: 9-11

The thief will try to disguise his voice to sound like Jesus, so that you will follow, but the thief will never lay down his life for you. He will just steal yours. Our Good Shepherd has already laid down his! 

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that’s lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:4-7

Think of the shepherd and what he will do for his sheep. The shepherd has one hundred sheep and he realizes one of his sheep have wandered away from the flock. You might think that he would not worry about the one when he still has ninety-nine. But that is not what the shepherd does. He leaves the 99 and searches for the lost sheep. The one who all he had to do was hang out with the flock. I’ve never been around sheep. But I read that they stray easily, they get distracted and then they have a hard time finding their way back. That when the sheep realizes it is lost it will actually bleat for the flock but will end up running in the opposite direction of the sound. The shepherd has to know that if he doesn’t find that sheep that it is in real imminent danger. So the shepherd leaves the 99 and searches for that lost sheep until he finds it. And when he does he rejoices over that lost sheep. 

In the same way our Shepherd will seek us out. How many times in my past have I been running away from the flock right into imminent danger. And my Lord continued to seek me out. He continued to put people in front of me. He continued to use the things surrounding me to draw me back to the flock and back to Him. I have been able to look back over my life at the times that I had wandered away from the flock. Even if only in my own mind and heart. I know there have been times when I was present, yet I was not necessarily present in my heart. But I can see how He searched for me and led me back to where my heart needed to be. This same parable in Matthew ends with this verse. 

“So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:14

One prayer you never ever have to question the will of the Father is the prayer you are praying over a lost sheep. Make no mistake God still gives us freedom to choose but He will continue to seek the lost soul. So if you have that person you have been praying for that is lost. You continue praying that God will continue seeking and He will surely do it. It is not His will to lose even one sheep. 

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

This is the beginning line of the most famous Psalm written. It has been recited and written and prayed for centuries. But it’s not just meant to be recited and written and prayed. It is meant to be lived. 

David wrote this Psalm. David is one of my favorite people in scripture to study. That may be because when I really began to do Bible Studies and to dig deeper into scripture, he was one of the first I ever studied but I think it is really because David is so real. We have often heard it said that David was a man after God’s own heart. But when you truly study him, you begin to really know him as someone who is just real, he made real mistakes. He did not live a perfect life. David had many successes in his life. For goodness sake, he killed a giant of a man with one stone. He won many military battles. He was a skilled musician. He was a poet. He was a great king. But David was also a fallible man. He had an affair with Bathsheba then had her husband killed. He had a son who rebelled against him so he was not the perfect parent. He had multiple wives. David probably did as much wrong in his life as he did right. But that’s what I love so much about him. He was real. He did not lead the perfect life. But he knew the one who was perfect enough to know where to return to when he did get things wrong. 

He penned this Psalm and he started it with Jehovah Rohi ~ the Lord is my shepherd. David was a shepherd when Samuel found him and anointed him king over Israel. So one thing to note here is that David never forgot his humble beginnings. David knew that when he was a shepherd that his sheep depended on him. He knew the way a shepherd guides and cares for his sheep because he had done it himself. He had to take sheep into green pastures where they could feed and everything was good and sometimes he had to lead his sheep through rocks and hills and dark valleys to get to the green pastures. But he also knew that when he shepherded his sheep through those rocks, hills and dark valleys that he had been with them and was there to protect them. As beautiful the wording of the Psalm 23, it becomes even more beautiful when you know and realize the personal aspect that David would have been feeling when he wrote it. He knew what it was like to shepherd the sheep. He knew the love that he had had for his sheep when he was their shepherd. So he knew the love that his Father had for him because He was his shepherd. 

As I studied I came across this quote that bears repeating. 

“Psalm 23 is a masterpiece. But not a masterpiece simply to be admired. It’s a masterpiece to be lived. Because the same good shepherd who took care of David is the same good shepherd that wants to take care of you and me.” Bruce Carter ~ Valley View Church (online) 

Turn in your Bible and read the 23rd Psalm. Now read it again and personalize it. Think of the green pastures he has lead you to. And know that if your valley is dark that your shepherd is there, right there with you to protect and love you through it.