THE ALL-POWERFUL GOOD SHEPHERD – Part 1 of 2

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.… Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:1,4 NKJV)

I grew up in a big church in downtown Atlanta. When I was twelve, I remember being in our seventh-grade boy’s Sunday school room. Tan linoleum floor. Cinderblock walls, also tan. Metal folding chairs. Maps of Paul’s missionary journeys on the wall. A window with blinds -- always closed. And on the far wall a big painting of the “meek and mild” Jesus. You know what I’m talking about? His face was pale. He looked like He hadn’t been outside in a long time. His robe was perfect. His hair was perfect. He had a woolly lamb on His shoulders and a crook in His hand -- and Jesus was gazing off into Foreverland with a faraway look in His eyes. But Olan Mills Portrait Studios Jesus is nothing like the real thing.

He’s your hero. Your defender. He’s the mighty Son of God! When you are up against life and death, when your back’s against a wall, when circumstances are poised to take you out, and when the Devil is whispering lies in your ear, you need to know there’s an all-powerful Good Shepherd with a rod in one hand and a staff in the other. That’s the Jesus of Psalm 23. That’s why we find comfort in His presence. With that staff, the Good Shepherd can grab you and pull you to safety. And with that rod, He can crush any prowling lion or raging bear that charges you. 

-- Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table” 

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FOLLOWING JESUS

Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

If we really want to be Christ-followers we need to care about what Jesus cares about, embrace who Jesus embraces, let our hearts be broken by what breaks the heart of Jesus, teach what Jesus commands, become advocates for what Jesus advocates, and follow Christ wherever He leads -- whether across the street or around the world. 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™ 

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THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it… I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me.” (John 10:11-14)

Jesus spoke of Himself not only as the Good Shepherd who knew His sheep by name but also as the door of the sheepfold. "By Me if any man enter in," Jesus said, "he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9) Middle Eastern shepherds… protected their flocks from such wild animals as wolves and lions, by using slingshots or staff. The sheepfold was usually a small stone-wall corral with a single break in the wall that served as the gate. The shepherd made the flock enter the sheepfold by walking under his staff, which he held across the opening. In this way he examined the condition of each animal and made sure he accounted for the entire flock. At night, after the fire had died down, the shepherd usually slept across the opening, thus, himself becoming the gate. 

-- from “Jesus, His Life and Times” (The Genesis Project) 

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TO ALL WHO ARE WEARY

You are tired. You are weary. Weary of being slapped by the waves of broken dreams. Weary of being stepped on and run over in the endless marathon to the top. Weary of a year-long pandemic. Weary of political polarization and fighting. Weary of putting your trust in someone only to have the door slammed in your face. Weary of staring into the future and seeing only futility.

What steals your childhood zeal? It is weariness that makes the words of Jesus so compelling. Listen to them. "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Come to Me… The invitation is to come to Him. Why Him? He offers the invitation as a penniless rabbi in an oppressed nation. He has no connections with the authorities in Rome. He hasn’t written a best-seller or earned a diploma.

Yet He dares to look into the leathery faces of farmers, the tired faces of stay-at-home parents, the anguished faces of those fighting for social justice, the fatigued masked faces of front-line healthcare workers… and makes this paradoxical promise: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29)

The people came. They came out of the cul-de-sacs and office complexes and hospitals of their existence and He gave them, not religion, not doctrine, not systems, but rest.

As a result, they called Him Lord. As a result, they called Him Savior. Not so much because of what He said, but because of what He did. What He did on the cross during six hours, one Friday. 

-- Adapted and updated from “Six Hours One Friday” by Max Lucado

#5051

DON’T YOU EVEN CARE?

[In the midst of the storm the disciples asked Jesus,] “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” (Mark 4:38)

Don’t you even care? This is the question that always burns in our hearts when trouble comes and our Lord doesn’t seem to be doing anything to help us. It’s a question produced by faith running on fumes -- a question we often hate ourselves for asking but can’t seem to avoid. It’s the question that was burning a hole in Job’s heart when he said, “I cry to You, O God, but You don’t answer me” (Job 30:20).  And it’s the question that tore a bitter wail from the psalmist: “I am forgotten, cut off from Your care” (Psalm 88:5).

If your faith needs a refill, Don’t you even care? may be the question you’ve been asking lately.

If so, you’ll find your answer in the same place the disciples found theirs -- in Jesus’ words. When He said, “Quiet down” He was commanding the storm, but even more so, He was sending a message to the disciples. He was saying, “See, I do care.”

This is one of the most important things you can understand about Jesus’ words. It doesn’t matter who (or what) He’s speaking to in Scripture, He’s also speaking to you and me. Every sentence has significance, and woven throughout His words and phrases are the answers to all of life’s most important questions. If a passage doesn’t seem relevant, it’s only because it doesn’t meet your need at that particular moment. The probability is that someday it will. 

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus”

#4895

YOU MATTER TO ME

It’s what a bride and groom are really saying to each other when the exchange their vows. It’s what a parent means when he says to his child, “If you ever need to talk, I’ll be here.” It’s what a young baby-toting wife means when she says to her departing GI husband, “I’ll think of you every day.” It’s what a doctor means when he stares into the jaundiced eyes of a dying patient and says, “We’ll do everything we can.”

All great promises say “You matter to me.”

That’s what makes a broken promise so painful. Nothing hurts quite as badly as the realization that someone you trusted doesn’t care after all.

If your faith needs refilling, I would recommend that you thumb through the Bible with a highlight marker in your hand and look for the promises Jesus made to you. Here are a few to start: Matthew 11:28, Luke 18:29-30, John 8:12, Revelation 3:5.

Woven into the fabric of these and many other promises is the simple message that our Lord cares about us. In spite of our failures, we matter to Him. If we didn’t, there would be no logical reason for Him to make such commitments. 

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus”


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