Verse of the Day 3/9

 

John 10:14-15  I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own know and recognize Me—

¹⁵ Even as [truly as] the Father knows Me and I also know the Father—and I am giving My [very own] life and laying it down on behalf of the sheep.  Amplified Bible (AMP)

 

Our Pastor Bob's current series is titled "Get Weird" and in it he is showing the difference between the normal and the weird, the wide versus the narrow path.  Reading today's verses I had to stop and think about what the "normal" world would say about Jesus statement and the concept of a shepherd laying down his life for the sheep, yes sheep, not exactly the most intelligent animals in the world.  The world would definitely consider this to be weird.  But we are called to believe it and if we are His, we will believe it, with all that is within us.

 

Something else to consider is that we are not called as a group but as individual followers who make up a group, the church.  He knows each and every one of His sheep. 

 

J.R. Miller writes, "Does Christ, the Good Shepherd, give care and thought to each particular sheep, so that He knows each one's present condition and circumstances? Does He know when one of His people is in trouble, is sick or suffering, when one has been hurt in some way, or when one is in danger? Does He know when one strays from the safe enclosure of the fold and wanders off into peril?

The answer to all these questions is the same. Every redeemed one has his own special place in the heart of Christ! Paul put this truth most strikingly in a sentence when he said of Christ: "He loved me, and gave Himself for me!" Galatians 2:20"

 

Think of what it means for you today that "He loved me, and gave Himself for me".  The Good Shepherd was willing to do that for me.  It may sound weird, but I don't care.  I believe it.

 

In Christ,
Mike

 

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Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace  NIV

John 10:14

The Message (MSG)

^14-18 "I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father."