“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”
John 10:14
Who can understand this tremendous scriptural truth? To be shepherded by him is the ultimate evidence that we are truly loved. To say that he cares for me is a mystery and an astonishment.
Good Shepherd, be patient
And I know you will
There is much confusion
And honestly, there is no peace
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Bear me up, hold me close
I’m your wandering lamb
And an obstinate sheep
Good Shepherd, be patient
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There are intricacies in my heart
Which never cease to surprise me
As I twist myself to the light
Good Shepherd, be patient
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Encountering a resistance, a well
That bubbles up within
Ashamed, and yet brazen
Good Shepherd, be patient with me
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An immense glory is waiting
Given freely by one who knows (me)
Golden is my name, secure and safe
Good Shepherd, you are patient
Let him shepherd you. Jesus earnestly wishes that you embrace his care, he stays available 24/7, 365 days a year. When things get really hard, he will come and carry you to green pastures.
Often there is so much of ‘life’ that we must try to handle. There’s far too many things that confuse us. Faced with many issues beyond our control, we seldom seek the best answer. We are hoping just to survive reasonably unscathed through the latest intense conflict.
Mental illness has its unique trials. Those of us afflicted know the instability it brings us. We go from crisis-to-collapse everyday, (and sometimes even before lunch-time!) Some people have no concept of how much energy it takes just trying to appear ‘normal.’
Sometimes sadness is the best we can do. Trying to find a positive note seems empty and futile. I know a woman who must battle with pain every day. She has to manage every minute of every day with her handicap. She is a wonderful Christian, and she still exudes a gentle faith in her Savior.
We may seem cursed in this life. But Jesus died for this. His love for you is constant and sure.
Sometimes however the only way out is through. We simply must go through the many issues that face us. We must plow through such darkness, that has no precedent. We are the rescued ones, but only because he has made us so. The lost are now found. And we were really, really lost.
We go through, but not without grace. We may step through, but not without pain. So much of our confusion rides on a fascination with the ways of sin and darkness. The ways of the “dark one” may enchant us, but never fulfill us.
We can rest in that we are our Father’s foremost concern.
“He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”
We can puncture the surrounding evil by a simple decision to be faithful to Jesus.Darkness may pursue us, but it will never defeat us. We advance through this pain to the glory of God. He alone can make us triumph. Only Him.
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”
Philippians 1:6
“I do not understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”
We can play “the what if game.” We can think backwards, and hit replay, and pretend alternate realities. What if, I didn’t join the army? What if I died on that last drunken binge, choking on my own vomit? What if I would’ve died on that last suicide attempt?
He poses this question. He wants Israel to understand what he is saying. He asks the people to repeat after him. He then re-frames the question in verse 2. “What if God had not stepped into the situation?”
David insists that his listeners think this through.
And this trip down ‘memory lane’ examines what would of (or could have) happened if God would have simply taken His hand off Israel as a nation.
I truly believe that we should do the very same today. Just pause to reflect on His grace and care. Simply try to understand that it was God’s hand holding you in place all along. All that He does for us is very good.
There is also can be a sense of being overwhelmed by your enemies.
The malevolent forces of the enemy have a ministry. And that ministry is to ‘steamroll’ and crush out the light. Satan hates the truth and he hates you.
David is a very vivid writer, he had a fantastic gift–a great flair of choosing the best words and images. He weaves a song and we see God intervening, protecting, and preventing Israel from becoming a Satan’s snack.
Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth! 7 We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
Psalm 124:6-7
I love these 2 verses. “Escaped” is emphasized twice–the bird catchers have collected many small birds, snared by a little food and a strong net. They keep them in a cage. But wait! Something has just happened, and the birds have somehow escaped!
Have you been wounded inside? Do you struggle hard with depression and loneliness?
There is so much ugliness. The enemy can throw so much at us. Many of us lack the strength to resist him. We can fight and flap and throw ourselves at the bars, but we are trapped. But then Jesus comes, He smashes cages, and frees birds like us.
Verse 8 is the final thought of this psalm.
It sums up everything so wonderfully. There is help. Our Creator deeply cares for us. He has ultimate strength. Put your heart in His hands. We read the last verse…
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.”
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:1, ESV
When you start to really read scripture, you’ll soon see this idea that there’s no condemnation for anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. We’re no longer under a debilitating guilt, God’s own Son has died to bring us home.
His grace has done all of this, for us.
“31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
Romans 8:31-33, ESV
There is absolutely nothing that can touch us.
There is no accusation that can come against us. Our acceptance is total and complete in Christ. A vital faith in His Word has secured our salvation. We have been counted ‘just’–and this is not a clerical mistake!
When we truly repent, and believe we’re given eternal life. He has made us right. And He is waiting for us to respond to this outrageous love.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:1
Any awful thing that could be smeared on us has been carried by Jesus. We gave Him all our sin, and He in turn, calls us just.
He carries us with Him to the cross, with all of our darkness and perversity. Jesus has become evil so that we might be made good. He absorbs sin, drawing in all my evil and taking it as His own.
Maybe this is strange, but I believe Jesus Christ is “God’s sponge.”
This is called justification by faith, and it’s His gift to us.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
I struggle with my words here. What in the world is there left to say? What words can really communicate what has just happened? Let’s just stop, and think a moment. By faith “it is just as I’ve never sinned.”
Broken Believers 