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Weekly Devotional Recap Page
The Sheepfold - John 10:1-4
John 10:1 – Thieves
John 10:2 – By the Door
John 10:3 – His Voice
John 10:3 – By Name
John 10:4 – His Own Sheep
The Door - John 10:5-10
John 10:5-6 – Missing the Point
John 10:7 – I Am the Door
John 10:8 – Thieves and Robbers
John 10:9 – Be Saved
John 10:10 – Life
The Good Shepherd - John 10:11-15
John 10:11 – I Am the Good Shepherd
John 10:12-13 – The Hireling
John 10:14 – Know and Known (part 1)
John 10:14 – Know and Known (part 2)
John 10:15 – The Father Knows
Daily Scripture Reading - Exodus 5
Verse of the Day - John 10:15
As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
Devotional Thoughts
“The Lord Jesus knows whom He hath chosen, and is sure of them (John 13:18), and they also know whom they have trusted, and are sure of Him (2 Tim. 1:12), and the ground of both is the perfect knowledge which the Father and the Son had of one another’s mind.” So says Matthew Henry about Jesus knowing the Father and the Father knowing His Son. Indeed, there is perfect knowledge – to know as one is known – Jesus and the Father KNOW each other in such a way that His knowing His sheep is simply an overflow of that relationship. Scripture teaches that the whole purpose for our redemption can be summed up in the fact that the Father wanted to take of His Creation and prepare a love gift for His Son, the One Who humbled Himself to a death on the cross to even bring salvation, deliverance, and redemption to the fallen Creation for His Father!
Our Christian life is a picture in many ways of the relationship between God and Jesus, just as our own lives, marriages, families, and churches picture the relationship of God to Christ and of Christ to us. Over and over through the Bible God gives us pictures of His love. Read the prophets, especially Hosea and look for the covenant love that God has for His people, the sheep of His pasture!
The Father knows the Son, perfectly and completely, and the Son knows the Father the same way. And what is known is that the Son lays down His life for the sheep. Above all God is glorified when we proclaim the work of grace and salvation that He has provided us through His Son. And His knowing us is just a small part of His knowing His own Father. We complete the picture, you see. Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit, as the Holy Trinity, the three in one, are without need, but not without desire. And their desire is to love us! To save us! To fellowship with US! Perfect knowledge sees Jesus weeping in the Garden as He prayed for the cup of God’s wrath for our sin to pass over Him as He was faultless and knew it, but that knowledge led Jesus to resign His will and then pray that the Father’s will would be done above all else, for truly the Father knows best. He knows the Son, He knows us, He knows our need, and He knows the Way to salvation, the Way of the cross.
Today, rest in the fact that He knows YOU and the Father knows Him, and just as nothing (N-O-T-H-I-N-G) can come between the Father and the Son so nothing can come between the Son and YOU! He knows you and cares for you and the Father knows Him and cares for those who are His! Pray today to know Him as never before and in knowing Him to share what He and the Father share: perfect peace, love, trust, hope, and joy! The Father knows the Son who knows You who knows Him! Got it? That reminds me, just as the commercial asks “Got milk?”, today we need to ask all those we see, “Got God?” Of course then we must pray that God would get them!!! Know Him, know peace, know love, know and be known!
Bible Reading For Further Study
Recommended Songs for Worship
Daily Scripture Reading - Exodus 4
Verse of the Day - John 10:14
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Devotional Thoughts
Not only does Jesus know us – we know Him! He says that just as He knows us and loves us we who are His sheep know and love and trust Him. The relationship flows both ways. That, by the way, is why prayer is as much listening as talking! It is communication in the midst of a living relationship.
To know Him means that He is familiar to us. We recognize His hand and His work in our lives. We know His voice and respond to His care for us. We know Him! We believe Him and His Word. Those who are His sheep, those He has redeemed, we don’t view Him as a stranger or unknown. That is why faith cannot ever truly be described as a leap in the dark. Faith is knowing and trusting that if He says it He means it. And when we believe Him, our speech, behavior, and feelings will follow our faith!
Of course the really good news is that He knew us before we knew Him and He still chose to come and save us (1 John 4:19). He knew us first, loved us first, gave Himself for us, and then gave us grace, new life, repentance, and faith so that we could know Him (Ephesians 2:1-2, 8-10; Romans 8:29-30; Acts 5:31). This life is nothing more than a small window of opportunity to get to know Him better before we finally meet face to face one day soon.
Part of knowing Him is indeed trusting Him. A Christian lady gave testimony that as a young teenager being the child of missionaries in China, during WWII she was separated from them and put in a prison camp with other “foreigners” as Japan occupied northern China. Through the ministry of missionary and Olympic athlete Eric Liddell (from Chariots of Fire fame) she learned that God was indeed with her and was so sovereign as to have put her right where she was. She learned to trust God and actually enjoy her time in the prison camp because if God took the time to put her there then that was right where He wanted her and nothing could happen that He didn’t cause or allow! So why worry? She testified that she has never felt the presence of Christ so strongly as those years when her spirit was free even though her body was captive.
We must learn to trust like that. Look how easy we’ve got it!! Yes we have struggles and trials and temptations, but no one is holding a gun to our head demanding that we forsake Christ or die! We are free. Free in our religious practice, or sadly as many practice it, free from religion. We especially in the church in the Western world have become so apathetic, so uncaring and untrusting. We claim to know Him but we have forsaken His Word, deny His deity, disobey His will, disregard His Word, and disdain His ministers. Those who truly preach the Word are seen as fanatics and relics of an old way of life. Of course all the prophets were seen as such. It is time we really knew Him to the point that it stirs us up!
He knows us and we know Him – and we can no longer pick and choose when we are going to know and obey him and when we aren’t! It’s time to obey. It’s time to see that the one who spends his life on his knees stands taller than any other! Oh for revival – for renewal – for fire! I pray that you, His church, wake up and become so burdened by the fact that we know Him but so seldom speak of Him. We have tasted of His grace and love. We know what it is to be known by Him and to know Him. How can we keep quite? We need a burden for the lost and a desire for missions, we need to be overwhelmed with introducing everyone we can to the One who knows us!
Today, we must stop and thank Him for His willingness to love us and extend grace to us – His amazing work of redemption in our lives day by day as He conforms us to the image of His Son. And when you feel all alone today remember, He knows you! He knows where you are and what you’re doing (that might be a deterrent to sin, huh?). He knows what you’re going through and what you need. And really all we need is HIM! If you really know Him, ACT LIKE IT! And expect that the world will treat you just like it did Him! So what? His grace is sufficient and remember the testimony of those who have gone before: HE PUT YOU RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE – IF HE DIDN’T WANT YOU WHERE YOU ARE HE WOULD MOVE YOU – SO ACCEPT IT AND MAKE THE MOST OF IT – MAKE HIM KNOWN! (John 17:3).
Bible Reading For Further Study
Recommended Songs for Worship
Daily Scripture Reading - Exodus 3
Verse of the Day - John 10:14
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Devotional Thoughts
Once again Jesus reiterates that He alone is the Good Shepherd. He is good, and our shepherd. He cares for us and places Himself in direct contrast to the hirelings who would forsake the flock for personal safety or fear.
Our great comfort comes from the fact that Jesus knows us! He knows us and because He knows us He loves us with an eternal love. His knowing us speaks to His personal care for us as well. He knows us INDIVIDUALLY. He also knows us corporately, as local churches and as His Body! The hireling probably did not take the time or make the effort to get to know and love the sheep in his care because he was concerned only with the himself, not the flock.
Matthew Henry puts it beautifully when he writes, “See here the grace and tenderness of the Good Shepherd set over against the former, as it was in the prophecy (Ezekiel 34:21-22). It is a matter of comfort to the church, and all her friends, that, however she may be damaged and endangered by the treachery and mismanagement of her under-officers, the Lord Jesus is, and will be, as He ever has been, the GOOD SHEPHERD.”
He knows those who are His and He knows who is not His! In contrast, He knows us as a matter of intimate acquaintance and relationship. His knowledge of the lost, however, is an awareness of who they are and what they are, but their is no intimacy or affectionate relationship. It is relational for us and objective for them. Of course He loves all men, but His knowledge of people is dependent on His relation to them. Those who have been forknown have responded in faith and are family – those who have not are His beloved creation, but not His purchased possession.
He looks to us with favor – with grace and we look to Him with faith. The grace He gives is sufficient for the day in which we live, and His mercy will be new tomorrow morning, that mercy that when renewed remains everlasting! Henry’s commentary goes on to say that He is “continually mindful of [us], visits [us] graciously by Spirit, and has communion with [us].” He knows us, approves of us, accepts us, forgives us, amd will keep us safely in His embrace forever!
Bible Reading For Further Study
Psalm 1:6
Psalm 37:18
Psalm 141
Psalm 146
Recommended Songs for Worship
Daily Scripture Reading - Exodus 2
Verse of the Day - John 10:12-13
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. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
Devotional Thoughts
Jesus now moves on to contrast Himself as the Good Shepherd to those who forsake the flock in times of need. He is talking about the hireling – someone hired to watch the flock while the shepherd is away or to assist him in caring for the flock from time to time. In the church today, the hireling represents the elders or pastors, those who help oversee the flock of God. As a matter of fact, the word used in 1 Timothy to describe the position of a pastor is the word “overseer.”
Here Jesus is talking about hirelings who forsake the flock. A good minister of Jesus Christ will be faithful to the flock and discharge his duty whatever the cost. But in contrast to the Good Shepherd and those who are faithful to Him, Jesus is explaining how He is different from the hireling who is doing his job only for the money. The hireling here puts his own safety and pleasure ahead of his duty. He gets paid to do a job, but as soon as there is risk he turns and runs away!
The hired man does not own the sheep. They are not his. He is simply caring for them. But in reality he does not care for them at all. He cares about his job, and his own comfort and well being to the point that as soon as trouble shows up he deserts his post! Jesus on the other hand gives His life for HIS sheep – He shows ownership by purchasing them with His life.
When a wolf comes on the scene to threaten the flock, the shepherd will spend (give) his life to protect the sheep and ward of evil and harm. The hireling sees the wolf and fears for his own safety so he flees the scene, leaving the flock to be caught, harmed, and even killed. Tomorrow we will see why the hireling does what he does, but for today we are just looking at what the hireling does (or doesn’t do). And remember, this is all in contrast to Jesus who is the Good Shepherd and those servants of His who are faithful to care for His sheep. He owns the sheep; the hireling works for pay. He cares for the sheep; the hireling cares for himself. He confronts danger and gives His life for the flock; the hireling flees and saves his own life while the flock is scattered.
We can see this in the church if a minister is in it for the money or for position, power, prestige, or for self gratification. He will not truly care for the sheep. He will do his job for a while as long as everything is okay, but as soon as trouble, rough seas, or danger appear – ZIP – he’s gone! The minister must be surrendered totally to Christ and obedient to the point of death for the flock. If he is anything less, then the flock will be scattered, preyed upon, and killed.
If your minister is faithful let him know that you appreciate his faithfulness. He needs to know that you are aware of his love and care. And if your pastor is not faithful but deserts the congregation or members of his church whenever times get tough or a problem arises, talk to the other elders. If necessary, for your own safety – get another church! Your spiritual well being is the RESPONSIBILITY of your elders. If they are faithful you will be fed and will grow. If they are not faithful, you will suffer and your faith could become damaged. If you need to know what to expect from elders remember that our example (and the example for ALL Christians) is Christ Himself. He is the Good Shepherd and we are to imitate Him every day in every way!
Now Let us look briefly at why the hireling acts the way he does.
Why will a minister care more about his own self-interest instead of caring for those in his care? Why would a “hireling” forsake the flock in a time of danger when he was needed most?
First of all, Jesus says that the hireling is just that, a hireling. He is an employee, paid to do a job. He does not own the sheep. He has no investment in them at all. His livelihood is not based (in his own mind) on the condition of the flock. If he can just survive another day to watch the sheep, make sure they get fed and are rested, then he has earned his keep – made a buck, and he can look forward to his time off from work!
The hireling is just doing a job, and as a result doesn’t actually care for the sheep, he cares about himself. That is the second reason he flees when danger arises. It is the difference between the hireling and the shepherd that exists between a calling and a job. One involves only self-interest. The other daily self-sacrifice.
We must realize that in day to day life we are CALLED to follow Christ. That is our calling and it is to be our life no matter what else we accomplish, we must be faithful to follow Him. It is part of who we are. Very rarely today is a job part of who we are! It is a means to an end. we work to earn money to provide for our needs and wants. It is how we survive and thrive in today’s world.
We must not be like the hireling. We need to find out what God is calling us to, we need to care about our job, our calling, our ministry, or whatever else God gives us. Otherwise we become just another hireling. One who flees at the sign of danger and allows those in our care to be harmed. Of course this applies to elders – but I think it also applies to each of us every day.
Do we just do a job? Or do we have a calling? Jesus was called – the disciples were called – the early church was called – and that calling cost many of them their lives. Today, we are called (Eph. 4:1)! Called by the Spirit of God to abandon all to follow Him. Everything we love and care deeply about in this world needs to look like we hate it in comparison to our love for God! The hireling does not care, he does not invest himself in his work. He has no calling. We, on the other hand, have a divine call and an obligation to forsake even our safety in place of our duty to God and our fellow men! Safety or duty? Self-interest or self-sacrifice? A job or a calling?
And the wonderful news is, as we will learn tomorrow, Jesus is the good shepherd and by no means a hireling. He will not flee when danger appears. He is always there to set the example of the consistency that the Spirit makes us able to exhibit as well day to day. Today, be a faithful sheep and thank God for your faithful pastor and elders. Answer the call and forsake the idolatry of self worship and service. Serve Him. Find out what Jesus wants you to do today, and do it.
Bible Reading For Further Study
Psalm 3
Joel 2:1-17
Zechariah 3
Micah 3:1-12; 5:1-5; 7:14-20
Recommended Songs for Worship
Hosanna, Loud Hosanna!
Praise Him! Praise Him!
BONUS – Repentance and Restoration in the Day of the Lord
One of the Scripture Readings for further study today is taken from Joel 2:1-17. You can follow the link above to see and listen to a series of messages from the Book of Joel, or click on these links to listen to message 1 or 2 in the series, which overlap on this specific text in Joel chapter 2.
Daily Scripture Reading - Exodus 1
Verse of the Day - John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Devotional Thoughts
Jesus has used several “I Am” statements in John 10. He has told us that He is the door and now He tells us that He is the good shepherd. In relation to His sheep (Believers), He is not only the shepherd – He is the “good shepherd.” I want to look at the two words He uses to describe Himself and the implications those words have on us for every single Word, yes, indeed, every single letter of Scripture is inspired and God-breathed, and these words were spoken by Christ Himself!
First He tells us that He is GOOD. The word good can mean “good” in the sense of the Blackberry Cobbler with Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell I am eating while I write this, or it can mean good in the moral sense. Of course Jesus is referring to His character. He is the GOOD shepherd. He is righteous, pure, holy, above reproach, without equal, and perfect! He is also good at what He does! He is accomplished at what ever He puts His hand too – whether it is preaching, leading, ministering, meeting needs, praying, healing, or saving!
The technical definition of the word good is “suitable, effective, unspoiled, genuine, sufficient, correct, virtuous, or whole.” Jesus is all of these. He is good by nature whereas we are sinners by nature. He is holy, we unholy. He is pure, we are stained with sin.
But Jesus uses the word good to modify the word shepherd – He is the GOOD SHEPHERD. So apply all of those definitions to shepherding and that describes Jesus in His role as the perfect, holy, GOOD Shepherd of the Flock of God. A Shepherd is responsible to lead, feed, protect, provide for, tend to, and train the sheep in His care. Jesus is good at being our shepherd!
He cares for us with a pure love. He provides for us without fail. He feeds us with His Word. He protects us from the fiery darts of the devil. He is the model shepherd and we are His sheep. He knows us and calls us by name. He leads us out to pasture. He makes sure that our every need is met.
Once again, Matthew Henry puts it best in his commentary when he writes, “Christ is a good shepherd, not as a hireling. There were many that were not thieves aiming to destroy and kill the sheep, but they passed for shepherds, yet were very careless in the discharge of their duty, and through their neglect the flock was greatly damaged (Zech. 11:15-17). In opposition to these, Christ here calls Himself the good shepherd, whom God had promised. Note, Jesus Christ is the best of shepherds, the best in the world to take the over-sight of souls, none so skillful, so faithful, so tender, as He, no such feeder and leader, no such protector and healer of souls as He.”
We have already seen that Jesus is the good shepherd – He just told us so. We know He is both good and the good shepherd. Now He tells us why He is the good shepherd and what He does as the good shepherd. He gives His life for the sheep.
There are two things that are meant here by giving His life for the sheep. First of course is the reference to His substitutionary death on the cross. The wages of sin is death – all sin leads to death and all that a sinner ever earns is death (Romans 6:23). Those wages will be paid to all sinners – and guess what – we are all sinners (Romans 3:23)! So if death is all that we can earn with our lives, no matter how good we seem to be on our own, then death is all we deserve! That is why we can never say that God is fair!! As a matter of fact many people complain that God isn’t fair. I, for one, am glad He isn’t. If God were fair we would all get exactly what we deserve – and that would be death and hell!
Since our sin means we have to die, God’s plan to save His people revolves around the fact that His Son lived a perfect life and died a sinless death! He lived a righteous life so that He could give us His righteousness and died a sinless death in our place – He died the death we deserve so that we can now live the abundant life He has given us.
In this regard, Jesus as our Good Shepherd has laid down His life for His sheep. He died in our place, giving His life for the sheep in His fold. This was the job and requirement of any shepherd who was good at shepherding – didn’t David even risk his life to drive away and kill a bear and a lion? Even so, Jesus died for us so that we could have God’s grace instead of God’s wrath!
Secondly, I also see that this verse means more than just His death for us. It also means that His life is spent for us – in other words, He gives His life for His sheep daily. Giving His life is not JUST His death – He gives His LIFE , He spends His life for us! One commentator says that Jesus “exposed and hazarded his life” for ours. He risked pain, attack, judgment, and death all on our account.
The fact is, He risked everything for us – He came to be a man, limited Himself, and died the shameful death of a thief on a cross – cast outside of the city gates to die, naked and exposed before all that passed. He endured temptation in the wilderness after fasting forty days, endured the crowd and a false trial. He endured all of this spending His life for us so that we could be saved. Interesting, isn’t it, now we have a new phrase to add to our paradox list. You know, the list about winning by losing, living by dying, getting by giving, etc. Now we can say that Jesus taught us to save by spending!! He spent His life for us, every moment of His earthly ministry we were on His mind!
He is the Good Shepherd and the best Shepherd, therefore we should be eager to trust Him with every single detail of our day to day lives. He is our shepherd. He is good. He is the Good Shepherd. Follow Him and rest in His care today!
Today, know that He loved you enough to spend His life and give His life for you! He is our Good Shepherd because He willingly gave His life for us – He lived and died to make the way of salvation plain and accessible to all who would come. Rejoice in His life and death and give thanks that He did not think His life too great a sacrifice for YOU!
Bible Reading For Further Study
Psalm 23; 28:9; 78:52-55; 80:1-3
Ezekiel 34:11-31
Isaiah 40:11
Micah 7:14-15
1 Samuel 17:24-27
Recommended Songs for Worship
Daily Scripture Reading - 1 John 5
Verse of the Day - John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Devotional Thoughts
Just as Jesus is the door and the shepherd, the one who really cares about us and provides security and help and comfort for us, we are learning that there are thieves out there! There are those who would harm the sheep and try to creep into the fold unnoticed. In many commentaries this thief is Satan and his attempts at harming believers or rendering their witness ineffective. The thief can also be anyone or anything that damages our relationship with our Heavenly Father! While I do believe the devil is a thief, I also believe that we can be thieves ourselves – we can rob ourselves of joy and peace and comfort! How? Try worry, stress, fear, lack of faith, etc. The thief can also be others, or circumstances, anything that weakens our faith.
The thief will be contrasted with Jesus in the next few verses, but for now let’s look at what the thief does to the flock. If he can get in and gain access to the sheep he will do three things.
First he will steal. Thieves steal – that’s why they are called thieves! And know this, one isn’t a thief because he steals! He steals because he is a thief. The thief steals. But what does he steal? There is an idea here that the thief will take away one of the sheep, to remove it from the flock to be kept or maybe even killed and eaten!
Secondly, the thief would come to kill. This word means precisely “to sacrifice”, to take a sheep and offer it as an offering to God or to a false god in an act of worship. The only reason really to steal a sheep would be because one could not be afforded or bought to meet the requirements of worship. So the thief seeks to steal it and kill it!
Thirdly, the thief destroys. This word means “to lose”, to send away or cause to get lost. This represents the sheep who are led astray and find that they are lost, away from the flock and alone, weak, fearful, and vulnerable.
Spiritually, all of these have application. Whatever or whoever serves as the thief (self, Satan, others), the thief steals our joy and peace and love and truth. The thief separates us from the rest of the flock with guilt and shame – the accusations alone in our hearts are enough to drive us away from accountability and discipleship.
The thief also kills. This is to take the believer and devour or consume him with guilt, depression, confusion, and hurt feelings. The thief works against us by killing our hope or our faith by sacrificing us on the altar of self service and convenience.
The thief also destroys. We find that we get lost easily when we take our eyes of the Shepherd! We are prone to wander. Unable to find the way or to find God’s will – all of these are schemes of the devil to keep us from our potential! Satan and self do not want us to witness or grow, so we find that we are being robbed, sacrificed, and led astray by false teachers, false doctrine, or false beliefs over and over. We have to learn how to stand firm against these assaults and to overcome.
We have to remember that no matter how we feel there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ. There is no person, place, circumstance, behavior, or thought that can make God stop caring for us! Also notice that the stealing, killing, and destroying often takes place outside of the fold and away from the flock! Satan loves to corner us away from other believers. If he can get us alone he can drive us to distraction with fear, confusion, and worry. That’s precisely why fellowship and corporate worship are so important.
Just as the thief brings destruction and death, Jesus lets us know that He brings the opposite. In contrast to the thief, He brings life! As a matter of fact if Jesus was ever to be called a thief it would be because He came to steal the hearts of men!
Jesus does not bring death, destruction, or despair. He does not lead us astray or rob us. He gives us life. Just as if we were lying in the Valley of Dry Bones (from Ezekiel 37:1-14) He has come to prophesy to us, to proclaim the Word of Truth, the gospel of God that brings eternal life. He calls us to life, regenerates us and gives to us salvation. Even while we are dead in sin His Spirit comes to us and calls us to life beckoning us to come and see that the Lord indeed is good and forgiving.
He gives us life when we are spiritually dead just as one day He will give us new physical life whether we have died physically or not – He will either raise us from the dead and give us incorruptible, glorified bodies, or He will change us where we stand when Jesus comes back! In every aspect of our existence He indeed gives us life.
Where once there was despair and sadness we are alive emotionally. We can experience joy and peace, hope and patience! Where there was once decay and destruction (depravity) we now have freedom and power! While we were dead in darkness now we walk in the light.
Matthew Henry says of this life, “we might have life, as a criminal has when he is pardoned, as a sick man when he is cured, a dead man when he is raised; that we might be justified, sanctified, and at last glorified.” We are given life through Christ. He is our life, we now exist to please and glorify Him alone! We have been pardoned, cured, and raised – and we must praise Him for the work that only He can do and has done.
You see, we cannot pardon ourselves, we cannot cure ourselves, we cannot raise ourselves. G.K. Chesterton said that those who believe wholeheartedly in themselves are those who are mad! Insane! Only the insane believe in themselves with no inhibitions. Those of us who have our mental faculties are very aware of our limitations. We can’t do it alone, we can’t live life without Christ. He must live through us if we are to really live!
Jesus hasn’t come only to make us alive, He has called us to life from death and to light from darkness. But more than that (YES MORE!!) He has come to give to us abundant life! This new life is better, blessed, and beautiful.
This speaks of a better life in that life now is better than it ever could have been before Christ became part of who we are! Now we have forgiveness and pardon. We are made righteous before God because we have the breastplate of His righteousness with which to guard our hearts! We also have the ability to love unconditionally, to give sacrificially to God and others, to be patient and kind. We have a better life because we have God living inside of us! Life with Christ cannot even be compared to life before Christ!
This speaks also of a blessed life. According to Ephesians 1:1-14, we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ and the list Paul gives there in Ephesians tells us that we have been blessed with: His choosing of us, His making us holy and without blame, His predestining us to our adoption by God, His acceptance of us in the Beloved, His redemption of us, His forgiveness according to the riches of His grace, His wisdom abounding in us, His will being made know to us, His gathering together of all those in Christ, His inheritance that now is ours, His use of us to praise Christ, His sealing of us with the Spirit, and His glorification of us one day soon! Indeed we are blessed simply to be right with God and no longer His enemy!
This also speaks of a beautiful life. We abound in grace and love and mercy and peace. We have things now that we never could have had before – God is pleased with us! We live to His glory and we are loved and accepted and belong to His family and can never be taken away from Him. The beauty we have reflects the beauty that we can now recognize in Him, in His Word, and in His creation. He made all the things we can see and experience to glorify Himself and we can glorify Him too by simply looking for the beauty that so often we pass by in a rush!
To sum up the abundant life we must realize that this has nothing to do with possessions or things – this word is not used to say we will be rich, comfortable, or abounding is “stuff!” It is a word that means that we can now have a capacity for life that before was not available to us. Again, it speaks not of things, not of “stuff”, but it speaks of “capacity”. The life He has given us is just the starting point. Now we have a greater capacity for living. He is ours and we are His and with Him NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE!
He gave us life when we were dead and even today promises us a capacity for living that is beyond our imagination – most Christians live in despair and defeat I believe because they don’t realize that this “life” is not the norm. He gives us a greater capacity for living, loving, overcoming, and knowing Him!
So today look out for the thief. Whether it be Satan, others, circumstances, or even self, look for those things that would contribute to our getting confused as to the will of God and would bring harm to our spiritual walk! Those who are false teachers, who come in over or through the wall, these are emissaries of the evil one sent by him to accuse and confuse us as to God’s will and way! And don’t become separated from the flock! A lone sheep makes a quick meal for the wolf!
Thank God for the life He has called you to. Think about all that might not be if it weren’t for His giving His life for yours! Thank Him for life! Let’s explore the impossibilities at which God laughs. The impossibility of the lost getting saved and the sick being healed, the things that we “feel” couldn’t happen that God wants to do – if we would only believe Him and live as He has called!
Bible Reading For Further Study
2 Samuel 12:1-23
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 68:19-20; 106:8
Isaiah 40:29-31
Recommended Songs for Worship
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