Guest Speaker Johnny Rossettos

10:11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 10:12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 10:13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd. 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." Dear Heavenly Father may we heed your word and follow you. May we hear your voice and know you by name, that way when reach Heaven you will know ours as well, because it will be written in the book of life. May we know what to listen for so we know how to follow you, for your guidance and protects us from not only those who would have us stumble and fall, but also from ourselves and our unholy desires. We thank you LORD for the gift of grace. In JESUS name AMEN.

Anyone that has seen sheep or knows anything about sheep, know that sheep are skittish animals and are easily made anxious, so the shepherds don’t smack the sheep on their behinds or yell and shout at them. Well what do shepherds to then? Well I’m glad you asked. Shepherds pay attention. They don’t sleep on the job. They have watchful, loving eyes. Shepherds fight any enemy who threatens to harm the sheep.

As stated in probably the most quoted scripture in the Bible, the 23 Psalm, shepherds lead their sheep to good things for the health and well-being of the flock: clean water, greener pastures, safety, and rest. Also like the parable that you can find in Matthew 18:12-14 or Luke 15:3-7, shepherds round up their lost sheep when one wanders away. A Good Shepherd doesn’t just stand around and let the sheep graze wherever and for however long they want. They lead them to greener pastures, pastures that the sheep don’t even realize are nearby, because sheep can be very near-sighted. They only focus on what’s right in front of them. Shepherds also lead their sheep home.

Yet above all, Shepherds lay down their lives for the sheep. The shepherd is not a hired hand. The hired hand runs away from his flock when danger comes near. The hired hand is just doing a job, but to the shepherd the sheep are everything to him.

Jesus said in John 10:15 “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

The illustration of the shepherd and sheep is about a relationship of mutuality and trust. The spiritual path is a journey of seeking after God, just as we trust that God is already and always seeking after us. There’s a saying that goes “A friend is someone who knows all about you, and still thinks you’re great.” That’s why we as Christians can sing that old Hymn: What A Friend We Have In Jesus, because God knows everything about us. Every little deceitful act, every little disgusting thought, every evil deed and still thinks we’re great. The shepherd knows his sheep completely. The timid, greedy, foolish, easily distracted, and selfish followers that we can be. God also knows that within each of us is are deep hungers and desires that we have, which makes us tremendously susceptible to being distracted by competing voices. The false voice tells us that we are “less than enough.” But God’s voice says we are “more than enough.” Whenever people tried to highlight what they did not have, God asked the question, “What do you have?” Elijah asked that. Elisha asked that. The Lord asked Moses that. Jesus asked His disciples that. “What do you have?” God knows what we don’t have because all that we have is given by him. Those false voices are sometimes our own. We might have moments when everyone is worshiping on Sunday and into the service, and we stand with them. But we’re not feeling the music. We’re not feeling love for God or for others. We instead feel alone and disconnected. We feel like we don’t read our Bible enough, we don’t pray enough, or serve enough in the kingdom of God. We wonder what is wrong with us.

We may even ask ourselves, Am I an imposter? Truth is, most Christians who struggle with feelings of being an imposter need to realize, that generally, the people who fake their Christian devotion are not the ones who are self-examining. Real imposters in the faith, are those who may go to church and talk the talk but don’t question their own motives because, for the most part, they simply don’t care.

Theirs is not an attitude of wanting to fix their phoniness, so they continue without worry or care. They don’t repent, or humble themselves, or draw close to the Good Shepherd that is JESUS Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I struggled with this as a young believer. The yoke (which is not an egg yolk but a harness) didn’t feel easy. It felt quite the opposite. It felt heavy, burdensome, impossible. I felt like I could never do or be enough for the God. Looking back, I see that I was attempting to live a sanctified life apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. I was trying the “pull you’re yourself up by your bootstrap” type of Christianity. Which is not God’s intention and misses the entire point of Christ’s sacrifice. If we could do it ourselves there, would been no need for JESUS. There would be no need for Grace. Legalism would get us into heaven.

When we feel inadequate or like an imposter Christian, we are actually in the state of being lost sheep and need to listen for the voice and guidance of the Good Shepherd. We need to get away from the distractions, or the other voices that will have us wondering and lost. We also have to recognize what we might be following that seem harmless but are actually drawing us further from the JESUS. It could be music, a TV show, food, friendships etc. I could be us following a path put in place for us by our parents? Some parents try to live through their children. They try to accomplish all the things in life they wanted to accomplish and all the things they wanted to do in life through their children, with no regard for how the Lord has shaped or made their children. Your dad use to hoop around Turkey Thicket or down the Farms and had NBA dreams, but you’re barley 5 feet, and can’t dribble or shoot to save your life. You mom might have been a musician, but you can’t even play a tambourine or a triangle.

Are we following a path laid out for us by others, and what they expect us to be? Growing up and people might have said “You’d can draw you should be an artist” and you spend your life trying to accomplish being a successful artist with no passion, and without ever thinking about what you really want to do, and without ever thinking about what the Lord has lead you to do. You might have been good at drawing because it was the foundation for you to become an architect.

Are We following a path of least resistance? We get out of school and know we need to get a job. We need to start working and making a living, so we take the first job we come across and then are scared to leave that job, because we’ve gotten complacent. We’ve gotten a little good and it and we feel like we can’t walk away from the money we’re making so we spend a lifetime doing a job we hate because we didn’t listen for the voice of the Shepherd? The schemes the Devil is using today are nothing new. He’s been telling the same, tired, worn out lies since the Garden of Eden. The Good Shepherd knows this, because he’s been around from the beginning. John 1: 1 it tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

JESUS has been around forever. WAY before people started calling you about the extended car warranty. He’s been around longer than a CVS receipt. He’s been around Forever ever. Forever ever? Forever ever. So, He’s seen a few things. Nothing surprises Him. He has seen what happens to people when we follow God’s will, versus when we follow our own. He has seen what happens when we live in sin versus when we obey God’s Word. He has seen the peace, and the joy, we have when we follow Him. He has seen the pain and misery, and wrecked lives we experience when our go their own way! He will provide us a way out when we are tempted. It say on in 1st Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” When we don’t follow the escape routes the LORD provides from the things that tempt us, we lose our way. That comes from following the shepherd of our desires instead of The Good Shepard JESUS Christ. That’s why in this parable, we are compared to sheep. Sheep easily get lost. How often do we as Christians get lost? Be it our own thoughts or actions. Sheep don’t have a “homing instinct” like other animals so they are totally incapable of finding their way to their sheepfold, even when it’s in plain sight. How often do we not see the forest for the trees? The way out is in plain sight, be we are too caught in our desires that we don’t even see it. Sheep are pretty defenseless too. They have no sharp teeth or claws and even if they aren’t directly injured, they sometimes die from panic when being attacked. Yes, they can use their horns to defend themselves and they do have a powerful kick, but they are no match for predators such as wolves. They have no capacity to out-run much faster animals, nor would they excel in a fight. They also need the safety and security of a shepherd’s care. It’s a fact that if a sheep goes too long without being sheared, the excess wool can cause overheating and death. Not only do they need guidance and protection, but also need the regular care of a shepherd.

Yes, we can do as the scripture tells us, but without Prayer, and Repentance, we are no match for spiritual warfare. Sheep by nature are followers, which is why they have the reputation for aimlessly following the crowd.

People won’t know what’s going on, but if the see a group of people crowing around, they will naturally follow. If I take off running in the middle of a crowd, with no waring, I bet you other people will start running too, no questions asked. Once sports teams start to win Championships, they start to get all of these bandwagon followers. People don’t know anything about the team history, all they know is well they’re winning now, I want to be in the winner’s circle too.

Now the one thing sheep have that we need to use is their excellent hearing. We have to be able to hear the Holy Spirit, so we can decipher when the LORD is speaking to us or when it’s some other entities that are not of GOD speaking to us. Or even if it’s just something that we may desire that’s will lead us astray. We listen for God’s voice in a few different ways. One is, of course, through Scripture. The Word of God speaks to us throughout the rich stories and characters of the Old Testament, which are given to us to set the stage for the Gospels and the teachings of Christ and his apostles. 2nd Timothy says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Biblical knowledge is an imperative for a Christian, in the same way a carpenter needs to learn his craft and take pride in the quality of his work. It’s also important that we listen to the “still, small voice” of the Holy Spirit. This familiar phrase could be translated literally as “the voice of silence,” or “a silent whisper.” It speaks of spending time listening to the Spirit in quiet times without audible distraction. I’ve found that many of my best and most inspired ideas for serving God have come in times when I’m riding by myself with no music playing or in the shower or just sitting outside when I’ve quieted my spirit enough simply to be still and listen. Jesus promises that he’ll come to us in the person of the Holy Spirit, “the Counselor,” who will always help us, but often through a silent whisper or the gentlest of nudges.

We can also sense God’s voice through the lives and counsel of other Christians. The scripture says in Proverbs 12:17 “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” Where would we be without the support and counsel of other Christians. Just as God has created the natural family to nurture and guide us, so has he also designed the church as its spiritual counterpart, given to encourage, enlighten and inspire us. JESUS Christ is the faithful shepherd of our souls, who loves us and wants to guide, protect and care for us. May we listen well for his voice, through Scripture, prayer and fellow believers, to draw closer to him, Listen for His voice and spend time with the Lord asking Him to speak to you. Meditate on His Word. Use quiet time as a time for God to speak to you, rather than you speaking to God.