Date
of message: 16 March 2004
Subject: The Good Shepherd Gives His Life For His
Sheep
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
Last week I shared with you how the shepherd would give his undivided
attention to his sheep and the Lord is our Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd
will not withhold His love from us; in fact He is constantly looking out
for our benefits.
Jesus teaches us from John 10: 11 – 16: -
11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
12. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the
sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf
catches the sheep and scatters them.
13. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and des not care about
the sheep.
14. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
15. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down
My life for the sheep.
16. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one
shepherd.
The difference between the hired hand and the shepherd is that one does
not own the sheep while the other does. The motivation to shepherd the
sheep is different. One does the job for a fee but the other does it for
the love of his own. Jesus is our Shepherd and since we belong to Him,
He will take care of us as His own; He is not there for the money since
He created everything and owns everything.
Unlike those Western shows or documentaries we watch on sheep where the
sheep hands would be driving the flocks with the help of sheep dogs, the
shepherds in Israel usually walk in front of the flock leading the way.
Ask any shepherd and he will tell you that the sheep likes to follow and
would be completely lost if one were to expect them to lead the way. In
fact I once observed a shepherd leading his sheep up a steep slope in
the wilderness in Israel. They perched precariously on the side of the
hills and yet they did not fall off – the shepherd had done his
homework.
What would the sheep be feeding on in the wilderness? There are not many
good pasture grounds for the sheep to graze and yet we noticed that he
did eventually find some green luscious patches for his sheep and they
were enjoying themselves.
What happens when a wild beast were to approach the flock? Would the sheep
know to band together for protection? Or would they be quick to scatter
in all directions to avoid danger?
The key lies in the person of the shepherd. If the sheep belongs to him,
he will stand his ground to fight and defend his own. But if the shepherd
were only a hired hand, his motivation to defend would not be substantiated;
rest assured, he would be the first to turn and run for his own life.
The Lord Jesus teaches us in the passage above that He is the Good Shepherd
and since we belong to Him, He will not hesitate to defend us against
the enemy, the devil himself. He will not allow the devil to have the
upper hand but He will stand His ground and fight for us. In fact our
Lord Jesus had already won the battle for us on the cross. His death had
purchased for us our eternal redemption and now we can call upon Him as
our very own Good Shepherd.
Jesus talked about the sheep in other folds. Obviously He was referring
to you and I. We neither exist at the time He spoke nor are we Jews but
praise the Lord, we are also included in His fold (John 10: 16) and we
also get to enjoy His provisions and His protection.
The Lord wants to be your Good Shepherd and provide for you as well. To
be one of His sheep is not difficult. Receive Him into your heart and
immediately you will begin to experience His love and care for you in
your own personal life. Once you have invited Jesus into your heart, He
will immediately come into your life and make it His throne.
Once you have received Jesus into your heart, you become a child of God
the Father. Our Lord Jesus died for us so that we can have His eternal
life as an exchange. We take on His righteousness and He bore our sins
on the cross. Our Father is a Righteous God and He will honor His Covenant
with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus loves you so much that He already
demonstrated His love for you on the cross. He died that we may have life
in abundance. Pray this simple prayer to invite Jesus into your heart
and immediately you will experience His peace coming your way.
Daddy God, our Heavenly Father, thank you for being my Good Shepherd and
for loving me so much that You sent Jesus Your only Beloved Son, to die
for all our sin and to be raised from the dead so that we can be forgiven
of all our sin and now we are set free.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into my heart and for giving me the Holy
Spirit to be my Friend and my Guide. Thank you that the Holy Spirit is
with me constantly reminding me of my very special position as a child
of God the Father. Thank you that as Your child, I can now start enjoying
all Your blessings for my life - Divine Healing, Divine Health and Divine
Life in You. Thank you also for the wonderful gifts that the Holy Spirit
brings along with Him and for imparting those gifts into my life.
Lord, because You were raised from the dead, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha’ Mashiah, I
pray. Amen
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now; you do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
And, my friend, continue to exercise the gift of praying in tongues and
with the usage, more gifts of the Holy Spirit will be imparted to you.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24–26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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