The Good Shepherd.6

"He calls them each by name, and leads them out to green pastures.

When he leads the sheep out to graze, he goes before them.

They follow him, comforted by the words that he speaks.

They will not follow a stranger; instead, they run from the sound of an unfamiliar voice."

--Jesus

Jesus goes before us.

But where is He leading us? In a very real sense it doesn't matter. To be with Jesus wherever He goes, to be content to munch away on the pasture He gives us at any moment is Life. To Trust Him is the essence of our relationship with Him.

Speaking of trust...

Our friend Kate is an avid trail horse rider and has had many adventures

while on horseback. One of her stories is about a young gelding she took across the state of Michigan on the famed "Shore to Shore" trail ride. During the course of the two week ride there had been considerable rain which made the trail muddy and often nearly impassable. She and her young ride came to a place where the water had formed a pond deep enough to reach his belly. She stopped for a moment to consider a rider in front of her's difficulty in getting up out of the water and looking for a better place to take her steed. Suddenly, a duck and her ducklings came swimming nearby her horse! The four-year old panicked and began flailing to try to run away! After finally getting him settled, he decided that he was NOT GOING TO MOVE! For fifteen minutes she coaxed and coaxed...to no avail. Finally she had to

dismount and lead the wild-eyed, panic-stricken horse through chest deep muck onto dry land! Fortunately, Kate survived this ordeal to be able to tell the story that night at the campfire. She concluded by saying "He just wouldn't trust me! I can take my older horses anywhere at anytime, but he is not there yet!"

The truth is, often times the only way

to build that trust is to go through the swamps together!

If there is a better way of describing our relationship with our Good Shepherd I don't know of one. He goes before us. In fact you could say that in giving up His part in the Godhead and clothing himself in the frailty of humanity he also learned the difficulties we experience in trusting our Master in those fearful places.

Like having your hands and feet nailed to a wooden post after being humiliated and beaten to a bloody pulp. Makes shrinking from a duck seem, well, silly...

Yet, how many ducks swimming nearby in our own swampy, scary places will it take to get us to remain calm and trusting until he can lead us to a better place: our own cross - the place of ultimate trust and devotion to the Father's Perfect Will - wherein we learn to die to our self-will and immerse ourselves in God's Goodness and New Life!

Quack, quack! See you on the other shore!

The Good Shepherd.5

"He that enters in
by the front door of the fold
is the shepherd of the sheep.

To him the doorkeeper
opens the door,
and the sheep thrill at
the sound of his voice."

--Jesus

Thrill at The Sound of His Voice:

The Adoration of God

Is there a more beautiful and poignant description in Jesus' words -to all mankind- of the kind of relationship our Creator longs to have with each of us?

George MacDonald has rightly said:

"The reason every human is born is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ!"

Oh that we could change the hearts of those ambivalent toward abortion:

every child IS wanted

by the Creator

to know the love

and adoration

and presence of God!

[tragically, monsters of death will always be among us until the establishment of the Righteous Kingdom]

In the timeless book The Practice of The Presence of God, Brother Lawrence,

a 17th century French monk, offers insights into developing intimacy with our Creator. In describing the impact of Brother Lawrence's life a friend wrote: "God desired to keep saints for Himself until the end of the world. These saints would pay Him a respect worthy of His grandeur and majesty and would be models of virtue because of the holy example they set...such a man was Brother Lawrence."

Here are excerpts from his insights on developing intimacy with God:

"All things are possible to him who believes; still more to him who hopes; still more to him who loves; and most of all to him who practices all three. All of us who believe and are baptized have taken the first step toward perfection [the perfecting Love of God].

First of all, we need to be considerate of God in everything we do and say. Our goal should be to become perfect in our adoration of Him throughout this earthly life in preparation for all eternity. We must make a firm resolution to overcome, with God's grace, all the difficulties encountered in a spiritual life.

From the outset of our Christian walk,

we should remember who we are and that we are unworthy of the name of Christian, except for what Christ has done for us. In cleansing us from all our impurities, God desires to humble us and often allows us to go through a number of trials or difficulties to that end.

We must believe with certainty that it is both pleasing to God and good for us to sacrifice ourselves for Him. Without this complete submission of our hearts and minds to His will, He cannot work in us to make us perfect [in love].

The more we desire to be perfect [in love], the more dependent we are on the grace of God. We begin to need His help with every little thing and at every moment, because without it we can do nothing. The world, the flesh, and the devil wage a fierce and continuous war on our souls. If we weren't capable of humbly depending on God for assistance, our souls would be dragged down. Although this total dependence may sometimes go against our human nature, God takes great pleasure in it. Learning to do so will bring us rest.

The most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. That means finding constant pleasure

in His divine company, speaking, humbly and lovingly with Him in all seasons, at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way. This is especially important in times of temptation, sorrow, separation from God, and even in times of unfaithfulness and sin.

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Take a moment to enjoy a

Musical Interlude: Tobymac "Everything"

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"We must try to converse with God in little ways while we do our work; not in memorized prayer, not trying to recite previously formed thoughts. Rather, we should purely and simply reveal our hearts as the words come to us.

We must do everything with great care, avoiding impetuous actions, which are evidence of a disordered spirit. God wants us to work gently, calmly, and lovingly with Him, asking Him to accept our work. By this continual attention to God, we will resist the devil and cause him to flee (James 4:7).

Whatever we do, even if we are reading

the Word or praying, we should stop for a few minutes--as often as possible--to praise God from the depths of our hearts, to enjoy Him there in secret. Since we believe that God is always with us, no matter what we may be doing, why shouldn't we stop for awhile to adore Him, to praise Him, to petition Him, to offer Him our hearts, and to thank Him?

What could please God more than for us to leave the cares of the world temporarily in order to worship Him in

our spirits? These momentary retreats serve to free us from our selfishness which can only exist in the world. In short, we cannot show our loyalty to God more than by renouncing our worldly selves as much as a thousand times a day to enjoy even a single moment with Him.

I do believe that it is a common mistake of Spirit-filled people not to leave the cares of the world periodically to praise God in their spirits and to rest in the peace of His divine presence for a few moments."

What can you do this day to Practice His Presence and thrill at the sound of His voice! Let us be those Spirit-filled people who leave the cares of this world on a regular, daily basis to communion with the Shepherd of our souls!

[emphasis added to excerpts]

The Good Shepherd.4

"Still, there are many sheep that are lost outside the fold:

I must gather them as well.
They too,
will rejoice
at the sound
of my voice,
and will become members
of one great fold,
with one shepherd
to care for them
night and day."

--Jesus

"Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

I've been thinking about how our "cares" usually aren't a simple, focused problem but rather layers of complexity with which we struggle. An incident with our second born son perfectly illustrates this.

Last fall, friends found Jesse in his home lying in a pool of his own blood! Their timely discovery and the care of the ICU unit of ProMedica hospital in Toledo saved his life!

Certainly our primary care was saving his life; there was an emotional roller coaster of attempts to locate and stop the internal bleeding. He went through 35 units of blood (our bodies hold 8-12 units at any one time.)

But then there were

• financial cares,
• and taking time off work to stay by his side cares,
• and Jesse's job related cares
• and dog care cares
• and what-is-the-purpose-of-this cares.

So casting our cares on Him is more than hoping Jesus takes notice of our problems or feels empathy at our struggles. 

It is trusting that He takes the complexity of our cares and orchestrates them to lead us to His higher ways!

"Is it enough that God thinks about you?
To be something to God--is that not praise enough?
To be a thing God cares for and would have complete for Himself--because it is worth caring for--is not that life enough?"

 -George MacDonald

We rejoice that Our Shepherd cared to keep our son alive. We rejoice to be privileged to hear and see His voice in the tender care of the people who saved Jesse's life. We hope to be the kind of followers that the Shepherd can use to attract others to the flock.

What a Shepherd, what a Savior!