Complete in Thee: Jesus Is... (Part 2 expounded upon)

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Jesus Is... (Part 2 expounded upon)

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Text: Ezekiel 34

Sheep are naturally very stupid creatures. They need to have someone to guide them or else they will come to utter ruin out of sheer stupidity. God set up shepherds for His sheep-- kings, priests, etc.-- but they did not do as He had commanded them; rather, they used their position to serve themselves. They fed off of the "sheep" (people) and did not lead and watch after them as they should have. So the sheep wandered and were lost. Because there was no sufficient shepherd (prophet, priest, and king), the Great Shepherd (Prophet, Priest, and King) stepped in. He searched for the lost sheep, and found them. He led His sheep to fresh pastures and still waters. He cared for the weak and the wounded among them. He judged the sheep who were all about themselves, striving to get all they could first.

In this chapter of Ezekiel, there is a very exciting prophecy: "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it" (verse 23,24). This instantly turns my mind to the words of Jesus Christ: "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine." "My servant David" refers to Jesus Christ, who was of the lineage of David, yet also the Son of God. He indeed is a Shepherd to His people.

So here I am: Melanie the Bewildered. I am a very stupid (as in, silly) sheep who never really knows where she is going or what to do. Yesterday morning when I read this passage, I had begun with a mind clouded by a million things that would like to veil the pathway from my eyes. I worry, I fret, I wander, I forget... and yet my Jesus guides me when I don't know the way; He carries

me when I am too weak to go on by myself; He leads me on when I begin to trample the ground around me (spiritual stagnance); He gives me hope when otherwise I would have none. What a wonderful, dear Shepherd! How lost I would be without Him! I am totally insufficient, unable to guide my own self. If I was left to myself, I would go directly to destruction. I must stay close to my Shepherd, for there is safety and hope. He will lead me on to better pastures and fresh water. He will care for me when I am hurt or sick, and He will provide protection from the cold and the weather.

God's love amazes me! Who am I, that He would search for me time and time again and always find me and bring me back? How is it that He doesn't ever "write me off" (as Dan says in Last Flight Out)? What overwhelming mercy and goodness. What a wonderful Shepherd we have in Jesus Christ.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those who are with young" (Isaiah 40:11)

"For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day" (Ezekiel 34:11,12)

"For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls" (1 Peter 2:25)

"Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20, 21)

5 comments:

Teddy said...: Wow! thanks Melanie! I LOVE thinking about Jesus Christ, my Shepherd... it's so calming!; December 1, 2008 at 2:05 PM
Teddy said...: Oh, and I figured out why I can't see your writing unless I right click and drag: my computer is trying to make both your background AND your writing the same shade of yellow. Weird, huh?
And I'm kind of guessing on the vote thingie... I did vote for "Pride and Prejudice", right? 'Cause I had to strain to tell what it said. I really hope it wasn't a trick question in which I picked "Pride and Pestilance". Hmm, sorta sounds like Israel in the wilderness, eh?; December 1, 2008 at 2:12 PM
Teddy said...: Hey, keep up the chant on tory's blog! :) ;); December 1, 2008 at 2:26 PM
Melanie said...: Teddy, it doth delight my heart that thou dost flood my blog with comments. It is very cheering indeed. :-)

I love thinking about Jesus as my shepherd too. (That's why I've posted twice about it. ;-) )

That is wierd why your computer is trying to make the background and writing yellow. The background is supposed to be blue. :-S But you can read it if you highlight it?

I guess you must have voted for Pride & Prejudice, because there are 3 votes on it now. :-) And no, it's not Pride & Pestilence, lol. ;-); December 1, 2008 at 3:47 PM
Teddy said...: Whew! What a relief!; December 3, 2008 at 9:32 AM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."