The Good Shepherd
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There are many voices (even in the CHURCH) offering us different paths to full, ABUNDANT life.
There is only ONE WAY that comes from God; all others are FALSE.
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.
The sheep know the difference because they KNOW his voice.
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
The sheep KNOW his voice because they have listened to and LEARNED his voice.
The sheep TRUST his voice because they know the shepherd will PROTECT and provide for them.
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“He was one day traveling with a guide, and came across a shepherd in his sheep. He fell into conversation with him. The man showed him the fold into which the sheep were led at night. It consisted of four walls, with a way in. Sir George said to him, ‘that is where they go at night?’ ‘Yes,’ said the Shepherd, ‘and when they are in there, they are perfectly safe.’ ‘But there is no door,’ said Sir George. ‘I am the door,’ said the Shepherd. He was not a Christian man, he was not speaking in the language of the New Testament. He was speaking from the Arab Shepherd’s standpoint. Sir George looked at him and said, ‘what do you mean by the door?’ Said the shepherd, ‘when the light has gone, and all the sheep are inside, I lie in that open space, and no sheep ever goes out but across my body, and no wolf comes in unless he crosses my body; I am the door.’”
The way of Jesus is SELF-SACRIFICE—and resurrection!
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
The true flock of God is the sheep who FOLLOW Jesus, not the sheep who share our FOLD.
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
The Way of Eternal Life
The Way of Eternal Life
There is only one path that leads to the life that truly FULFILLS and SUSTAINS.
The only way to stay on that path is to learn to RECOGNIZE the voice of the shepherd for YOURSELF.
Jesus is the GOOD shepherd—he can be counted on to love, protect and PROVIDE for his flock.