I have recently felt a drawing to study the Shepherd's heart of God.
Isn't it beautiful that the Lord has chosen to call himself our shepherd?
David had a glimpse of this. In the famous psalm, Psalm 23, David shares what he has come to know of his Shepherd.
Many years ago, I heard a preacher say that this was actually David's confession. I like that. It was David's declaration to God and the devil that he believed what His Shepherd had said to Him!
The Lord IS my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. You know, we could just stop there and we'd already be blessed! What an incredible statement. Are you in want today? Listen to the voice of the One who wants to lead you to an abundance of provision. Listen to the One who wants to restore your soul. The One who wants you to prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers! He wants to lead you to green pastures! He wants you to be at rest.
And even when you have made choices in your life that may not be the best, your Shepherd is still with you! Notice that it says 'Yea though I WALK through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil FOR YOU ARE WITH ME'. David shared that he walked into the valley. It doesn't say he was led there. God never leads us to places of spiritual death! He is neither tempted with evil nor does he tempt us with evil! In fact, Jesus taught us to pray that we be not lead into temptation, but delievered from evil! But sometimes we make decisions on our own that lead us to our valleys of spiritual death. But He is still with us! His rod and His staff comfort us! The shepherd's rod is is used both to rescue sheep and as a weapon against wolves. He will protect us and deliver us in the valley!
Are you surrounded by enemies? Is the enemy of sickness there? Or poverty and lack? Your Shepherd is still with you! Listen to His voice! Don't look at your circumstances! He prepares a table before you in the prescence of your enemies! The bread of healing is there! The table of provision is there! He anoints your head with oil! And your cup is so full it overflows!
Goodness and Mercy is a person. And He is Jesus. He will be with you all the days of your life.
Take heart and listen to your Shepherd God.
So what is Jesus' response to our confession that He is our Shepherd? Read John 10: 1 to 18. Jesus makes his own confession! He is our Good Shepherd! He knows us us all intimately, He knows us by name!
Did you notice that Jesus seems to emphasise that his sheep would know his voice. It's interesting that in this context he also talks about the 'thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy'. He was telling us to beware of whose voice we listen to.' In the context of what Jesus was talking about, it refers to spiritual input! So be careful who you listen to. Does it produce life or put you in bondage?
Then in John 10:25 to 30 Jesus says something really powerful. Our shepherd also speaks to us through miracles! He not only leads us with His voice, He impacts us with His life! Didn't he say in John 10:10 that He had come that we might have life and have it more abundantly?
We've heard many speak of our salvation as though it could be easily lost. Have you heard those voices? Well, this is what the voice of your Shepherd says.
John 10:27 to 30 (NIV)
27My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
30I and the Father are one."
Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think the teaching on Eternal Security gets any clearer that that.
Thank God for our Shepherd God.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
He Holds Our Lives Together
Col 1:17
(Amplified)
17And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).
(NIV)
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
(WEY)
And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.
Rev 4:11
(KJV)
11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they
are and were created.
Today I was reminded that God wants us just the way we are. When He came down from heaven to earth, He came for a lost, crying and sighing humanity. In fact, Jesus was drawn to those who realized their broken state -- those that realized that they needed Him and were honest enough to come just as they were. On the other hand, Jesus could not minister to those who had a high moral opinion of themselves. Sometimes we judge others and ourselves based on our own finite means of perception. It is however safe to postulate, that in God's eyes -- the One who sees everything as they really are -- we are all messed up in
ourselves!
Have you noticed that when you try to 'be better' or 'do better' as a person, you suddenly feel empty, hollow and discontented? That's because you stopped depending on the Lord, and tried to be someone else to try to please the Lord.
But God wants us to come to Him just as we are -- weaknesses and all. When we do, we rely on Him. That's when we find peace and harmony in our lives. Psychologists have described this as feeling 'actualised'.
When you come to God just as you are -- and depend on Him -- you find the reason for your existence. For you see, you were created for the Lord and in Him, your whole life is held together -- you stop falling apart!
It is also written in the Bible that 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they that labour, labour in vain'. When you try to do something with your life apart from the Lord, it is a hollow endeavour. This is true with any endeavour, whether it is trying to get rich, or doing charity, or pusuing human relationships -- it won't satisfy you. And sometimes these pursuits actually take a toll on you.
Is your life 'falling apart'? Then come to Jesus as you are and depend on Him as you are. Let Him change you and love you into the person He wants you to be! He will hold your life together with His person!
(Amplified)
17And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together).
(NIV)
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
(WEY)
And HE IS before all things and in and through Him the universe is a harmonious whole.
Rev 4:11
(KJV)
11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they
are and were created.
Today I was reminded that God wants us just the way we are. When He came down from heaven to earth, He came for a lost, crying and sighing humanity. In fact, Jesus was drawn to those who realized their broken state -- those that realized that they needed Him and were honest enough to come just as they were. On the other hand, Jesus could not minister to those who had a high moral opinion of themselves. Sometimes we judge others and ourselves based on our own finite means of perception. It is however safe to postulate, that in God's eyes -- the One who sees everything as they really are -- we are all messed up in
ourselves!
Have you noticed that when you try to 'be better' or 'do better' as a person, you suddenly feel empty, hollow and discontented? That's because you stopped depending on the Lord, and tried to be someone else to try to please the Lord.
But God wants us to come to Him just as we are -- weaknesses and all. When we do, we rely on Him. That's when we find peace and harmony in our lives. Psychologists have described this as feeling 'actualised'.
When you come to God just as you are -- and depend on Him -- you find the reason for your existence. For you see, you were created for the Lord and in Him, your whole life is held together -- you stop falling apart!
It is also written in the Bible that 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they that labour, labour in vain'. When you try to do something with your life apart from the Lord, it is a hollow endeavour. This is true with any endeavour, whether it is trying to get rich, or doing charity, or pusuing human relationships -- it won't satisfy you. And sometimes these pursuits actually take a toll on you.
Is your life 'falling apart'? Then come to Jesus as you are and depend on Him as you are. Let Him change you and love you into the person He wants you to be! He will hold your life together with His person!
His Word is at Work in Your Life
Mark 4:26 - 29
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Has God spoken to your heart concerning His promise to you? The seed is His word. The soil is your heart. When your heart embraces the now word of God (the rhema), that word germinates and takes root in your heart. When that happens, all you have to do is sit back and rest in anticipation of your harvest!
He that has made the promise to you is faithful to complete it in your life!
Verse 27 says "Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how."
Notice that once the seed is scattered, the man in the parable did nothing to cause the manifestation of the promise to unfold. That's because God's Word contains in itself the power to bring it to pass! He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it! The next verse makes this point even clearer, 'All by itself the soil produces . . .'
Since He has spoken it till now you may not see the full manifestation of the promise yet, but be assured that all the while God's word is at work in your life.
So thank God when you see only the stalk. Because then you will see the head, then the full kernal in the head. And before you know it, you will experience the full harvest of God's promise!
We live in a supernatural Kingdom where God is at work in our lives through His spoken word in our hearts. As we emrace that word and rest, His word has the power within itself to produce a harvest of provision, healing and deliverance in our lives!
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground.
27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
Has God spoken to your heart concerning His promise to you? The seed is His word. The soil is your heart. When your heart embraces the now word of God (the rhema), that word germinates and takes root in your heart. When that happens, all you have to do is sit back and rest in anticipation of your harvest!
He that has made the promise to you is faithful to complete it in your life!
Verse 27 says "Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how."
Notice that once the seed is scattered, the man in the parable did nothing to cause the manifestation of the promise to unfold. That's because God's Word contains in itself the power to bring it to pass! He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it! The next verse makes this point even clearer, 'All by itself the soil produces . . .'
Since He has spoken it till now you may not see the full manifestation of the promise yet, but be assured that all the while God's word is at work in your life.
So thank God when you see only the stalk. Because then you will see the head, then the full kernal in the head. And before you know it, you will experience the full harvest of God's promise!
We live in a supernatural Kingdom where God is at work in our lives through His spoken word in our hearts. As we emrace that word and rest, His word has the power within itself to produce a harvest of provision, healing and deliverance in our lives!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Feed On His Love
1 Cor 11:23-26 (NKJV)
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Recently I started taking the Holy Communion privately on a regular basis. It has changed my life. This morning when I awoke the Lord impressed on my heart to 'feed on the breast of the Lamb'. Pastor Prince taught us that this meant that we were to feed on the love of Jesus for us.
On the night of the Passover, on the night before He was to be crucified, Jesus the true Passover Lamb told His disciples to 'Take' and 'Eat'. When you eat something you don't stare at your food and intellectualize it. Jesus wants us to partake of Him as receipients. As I held the bread in one hand and the juice in the other a few nights ago, I had this feeling of great intimacy with Jesus. It was as if I was in a bridal chamber with the Lord.
It was an intimate moment.
I had nothing in my hands but a piece of bread and a cup of juice, but what I had in my hands was all I would ever need. His blood was shed for me so that my sins would be forgiven, would be cleansed, would be forgotten. I would be made righteous. It was His blood shed for me. It was shed in love.
That means that my prayers will now be answered.
His body was broken for me so that I could be healed. He bore my sicknesses and my diseases, and by His stripes I am healed. His Body was broken for me. It was broken for me in love.
So when Jesus instituted the Holy Communion, He instituted a time where you could be intimate with Him and be touched by His love. A love that bore all your sins. A love that paid for all your sins by being judged in your place. A love that took all your sickness and pain. So that you can come away healed, knowing you are righteous, knowing you are loved.
Tonight I visited my friend Kevin's mum. I shared with her about Jesus being the true Passover Lamb, that as the lamb lay on the table in the midst of the disciples, Jesus was in essence telling them that He was the True Passover Lamb. I told her that just as the Angel of Death had to passover those who observed the passover on that fateful night in Egypt, death would have to passover us who have the true passover lamb in our hearts.
Then as if to confirm His word, when I reached home, I felt compelled to read Pastor Prince's book to look up the chapter on the different sacrifices. I picked up the wrong book -- the Destined to Reign Devotional instead of the Destined to Reign book -- and without thinking opened the book. It fell to the page meant for April 20th. The title of the day's entry was 'Jesus Our True Passover Lamb'.
I came accross this wonderful entry this morning in http://tycm.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/the-food-that-delights-both-god-and-man-part-2-peace-offering-1st-service-20-july-2008/
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
In Genisis chapter 1, the Hebrew word translated us “there be” is היה hayah (Strong’s 1961) which means that Gen 1:3 can be understood in the Hebrew as Let HIM be light.יה is yah which is the short form of יהוה YHWH which is the name of our Lord.
God was saying in Gen 1:3, Let Jesus be light, and there was light.
The blogger had actually taken notes from Pastor Prince's sermon entitled 'The Food that Delights both God and Man'!
The wonderful truth here for me is that in YHWH actually shows me Jesus our sacrifical lamb!
Here's an extract from http://hubpages.com/hub/A-True-Thomas-Moment:
The Hebrew letters that make up the name Yahweh are YOD, pictured in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as an arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works; HEY, pictured as a man standing with outstretched arms,meaning behold or God’s grace; VAV, pictured as a tent peg or nail, meaning a nail, peg or bound; and YOD, again, the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works.
There it is, so obvious, yet not. A man standing with outstretched arms, they seem to be held out right in front of us, showing us the HAND and the NAIL or nail hole, and saying, "'Reach here with your finger and see MY HANDS...and do not be unbelieving, but be believing,' and see My gift of GRACE."
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
As Jesus hung on the cross, his accusation was posted above his head for all to see. In Hebrew, this accusation would have read, "Yeshua (Jesus) HaNazarei (the Nazarene/of Nazareth) Vemelek (the King) HaYehudim (of the Jews)."
The acronym formed by the first letters of each word in this accusation in Hebrew (Yod Hey Vav Hey) is YHWY, or Yahweh. If you will, take a moment and capture this image in your head: Jesus, arms wide, nailed to a cross, beaten and bloody,mocked by the accusation “Yeshua, HaNazrei Vemelek HaYehudim”.
So when you realize how much Jesus has actually done for you through His sacrifice, you see the light or the truth. You see your life, with all your problems, struggles and failures in the light of His love for you. That's the truth! But when you only see your problems, struggles and failures and feel you're not loved, you're not seeing the truth anymore.
Feed on His Love and continue to let Jesus be your light!
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
Recently I started taking the Holy Communion privately on a regular basis. It has changed my life. This morning when I awoke the Lord impressed on my heart to 'feed on the breast of the Lamb'. Pastor Prince taught us that this meant that we were to feed on the love of Jesus for us.
On the night of the Passover, on the night before He was to be crucified, Jesus the true Passover Lamb told His disciples to 'Take' and 'Eat'. When you eat something you don't stare at your food and intellectualize it. Jesus wants us to partake of Him as receipients. As I held the bread in one hand and the juice in the other a few nights ago, I had this feeling of great intimacy with Jesus. It was as if I was in a bridal chamber with the Lord.
It was an intimate moment.
I had nothing in my hands but a piece of bread and a cup of juice, but what I had in my hands was all I would ever need. His blood was shed for me so that my sins would be forgiven, would be cleansed, would be forgotten. I would be made righteous. It was His blood shed for me. It was shed in love.
That means that my prayers will now be answered.
His body was broken for me so that I could be healed. He bore my sicknesses and my diseases, and by His stripes I am healed. His Body was broken for me. It was broken for me in love.
So when Jesus instituted the Holy Communion, He instituted a time where you could be intimate with Him and be touched by His love. A love that bore all your sins. A love that paid for all your sins by being judged in your place. A love that took all your sickness and pain. So that you can come away healed, knowing you are righteous, knowing you are loved.
Tonight I visited my friend Kevin's mum. I shared with her about Jesus being the true Passover Lamb, that as the lamb lay on the table in the midst of the disciples, Jesus was in essence telling them that He was the True Passover Lamb. I told her that just as the Angel of Death had to passover those who observed the passover on that fateful night in Egypt, death would have to passover us who have the true passover lamb in our hearts.
Then as if to confirm His word, when I reached home, I felt compelled to read Pastor Prince's book to look up the chapter on the different sacrifices. I picked up the wrong book -- the Destined to Reign Devotional instead of the Destined to Reign book -- and without thinking opened the book. It fell to the page meant for April 20th. The title of the day's entry was 'Jesus Our True Passover Lamb'.
I came accross this wonderful entry this morning in http://tycm.wordpress.com/2008/07/20/the-food-that-delights-both-god-and-man-part-2-peace-offering-1st-service-20-july-2008/
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
In Genisis chapter 1, the Hebrew word translated us “there be” is היה hayah (Strong’s 1961) which means that Gen 1:3 can be understood in the Hebrew as Let HIM be light.יה is yah which is the short form of יהוה YHWH which is the name of our Lord.
God was saying in Gen 1:3, Let Jesus be light, and there was light.
The blogger had actually taken notes from Pastor Prince's sermon entitled 'The Food that Delights both God and Man'!
The wonderful truth here for me is that in YHWH actually shows me Jesus our sacrifical lamb!
Here's an extract from http://hubpages.com/hub/A-True-Thomas-Moment:
The Hebrew letters that make up the name Yahweh are YOD, pictured in the ancient Hebrew pictographs as an arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works; HEY, pictured as a man standing with outstretched arms,meaning behold or God’s grace; VAV, pictured as a tent peg or nail, meaning a nail, peg or bound; and YOD, again, the arm from the fist to the elbow, meaning my hand or works.
There it is, so obvious, yet not. A man standing with outstretched arms, they seem to be held out right in front of us, showing us the HAND and the NAIL or nail hole, and saying, "'Reach here with your finger and see MY HANDS...and do not be unbelieving, but be believing,' and see My gift of GRACE."
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews
As Jesus hung on the cross, his accusation was posted above his head for all to see. In Hebrew, this accusation would have read, "Yeshua (Jesus) HaNazarei (the Nazarene/of Nazareth) Vemelek (the King) HaYehudim (of the Jews)."
The acronym formed by the first letters of each word in this accusation in Hebrew (Yod Hey Vav Hey) is YHWY, or Yahweh. If you will, take a moment and capture this image in your head: Jesus, arms wide, nailed to a cross, beaten and bloody,mocked by the accusation “Yeshua, HaNazrei Vemelek HaYehudim”.
So when you realize how much Jesus has actually done for you through His sacrifice, you see the light or the truth. You see your life, with all your problems, struggles and failures in the light of His love for you. That's the truth! But when you only see your problems, struggles and failures and feel you're not loved, you're not seeing the truth anymore.
Feed on His Love and continue to let Jesus be your light!
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