Good day everyone. This is another one of those days when all I had to do was open my eyes and the subject for the meal was there. I don’t know about you but when I open my eyes the first things I expect to do is hear Gods voice. You see, when God turned my life upside down and brought me into the proper mindset for His purposes in the year 2001, the instruction I got in my spirit was to read the book of John over and over until I found myself in it. As you can probably guess, the book of John is near and dear to my heart. Today I’m going to share what scripture says about “the voice”, so get ready.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, I come before you this morning on behalf of my brothers and sisters in Your name to ask that You would forgive us for passing hurriedly over “forgive us our sins,” while foolishly thinking, “I have not committed murder, or stolen, or cheated on my income tax, etc.” Remind us, Lord, that for “growing” Christians, worry, doubt, fear, ill temper, despondency, impatience, selfishness, insensitivity, and lack of love are “sins,” in that they separate us from You. Help us to turn to You in order to receive the insight and strength that we need to walk as You walked. Help us to call upon Your name, that we may be saved from our sins. It’s in your holy name we submit this and all things, Amen.
Let’s eat.
THE GOOD SHEPARD AND HIS SHEEP
John 10: 1-21
“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“If preachers decide to preach about hope, let them preach out of what They themselves hope for.”
Frederick Buechner
WITH HOPE AND FAITH; follow us on the foundation community site:
http://facebook.com/therelationshipfactory
REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
GCKRS HELPING HAND FOUNDATION – THE RELATIONSHIP FACTORY