Tuesday, March 15,
2016, 11:55 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “He Gives Purpose.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read John 10 (select vv. ESV).
They Know His Voice
(vv. 1-5)
“Truly,
truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs
in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear
his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has
brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from
him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
How do we know the difference between the voice of a
stranger and our Lord’s voice? For one, we must first of all be one of the Lord’s
sheep. We must trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. By
faith in Jesus Christ we die with Christ to sin, and we are resurrected with
Christ to newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6). Peter said that Jesus died that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. When we believe in Jesus, thus, we are
born again of the Spirit of God. The old is gone, the new has come. We leave our
old lives of sin behind us to follow our Lord Jesus in obedience and in
surrender to his will for our lives. The Holy Spirit indwells us, and he
teaches, inspires, encourages, counsels, leads and empowers us to live for
Jesus.
Then, we need to be in his Word daily, listening to what he
teaches us, and doing what he says. We need to be in prayer, as well, for this
is the time in which we talk with God and he with us, although I believe this
should be ongoing throughout our day and not just something we do at a
specified period of time. When we are in relationship with someone, and that
someone is with us, we can speak to that person any time, and he can speak to
us. And, that is how it should be with our walks of faith with God/Jesus. The
more we talk with him and listen to him, and the more we dwell on his word and
do what it says, the more we will get to know our Lord’s voice, and to be able
to discern his voice from that of strangers.
So, what does a stranger look like or sound like? A stranger
is going to be anyone who leads you away from your pure devotion to Jesus
Christ, who tries to draw you back into sin, and who pulls you toward following
the ways of humans and the patterns of this sinful world, instead of following
Christ. A stranger will twist the scriptures to his advantage, and will try to
trick you into believing his lies. He will be stealthy and very clever, though,
and he will try to get to you through a back door into your life, so you must
spiritually be on guard at all times so that you are not fooled, putting on
daily the armor of God (Eph. 6:10-20). We must always be sensitive to the voice
of the Holy Spirit within us, who will warn us against such strangers, and we
must heed those warnings, and not quench the Spirit.
The Good Shepherd
(vv. 7-15)
Jesus
again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to
them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in
and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I
came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and
not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the
sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because
he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I
know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
I find these words very comforting. When we believe in Jesus
Christ, this is not about adhering to a particular religion with all its rites
and rituals. We are entering into a relationship with Almighty God. Belief in
Jesus is also not about joining a social or a service organization. And, it is
not something we “do” just one day or a few days a week at specific hours in
particular locations. It is like getting married. Jesus is our groom, and we
are his bride. We enter into a love relationship with our Lord where we leave
our “single” life of sin behind us, and we pledge our love, loyalty, devotion
and fidelity to our Lord, and to him alone. We no longer chase after other
gods. We want nothing more than to be with Jesus, and him with us, and we enjoy
our sweet times of fellowship with him day in, and day out.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, loved us so much that he
willingly left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human form, suffered
like we suffer, and died on a cross for our sins. When he died, our sins died
with him, and were buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he
rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death. By his stripes we are healed!
Amen! By faith in Jesus Christ we are delivered out of slavery to sin and the
curse of sin, and we are set free to now walk in Christ’s righteousness and
holiness. We do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation. It is a free
gift, but a gift we must receive by faith. Since the gift is freedom from
slavery to sin, and freedom to live to righteousness, receiving this gift means
that, in order to follow Jesus, we must leave our lives of sin behind us. We
cannot continue walking in sin and believe in Jesus at the same time, for
salvation means freedom from sin.
Are You His Sheep?
(vv. 24-30)
So
the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in
suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told
you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear
witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to
snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
How do you know if you are one of his sheep? He said his
sheep know his voice, he knows them, they listen to him, and they follow (obey)
him. So, if someone is telling you that belief in Jesus is merely certain words
you say after someone and then they congratulate you that you are now saved,
and that you have heaven guaranteed to you when you die, don’t listen to them. This
is a message of strangers. They are not preaching the full gospel message. The
gospel that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught is one of dying with
Christ to sin, and living with Christ to righteousness. It is a life of walking
in obedience to our Lord, not in absolute sinless perfection, but also not
using lack of perfection as an excuse for continued willful sin. We died to
sin, how can we live in it any longer?
Paul said that Jesus died that the righteous requirement of
the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but who walk
after the Spirit. He said if we walk (conduct our lives) according to our
sinful flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the
deeds of the flesh, we will live. Jesus said the same. He said if we want to
come after him, we must deny self, die daily to sin and self (take up our cross
daily) and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on to our old lives (of living
for sin and self), we will lose them, but if we lose our lives (die with Christ
to sin), we will gain eternal life (See: Ro. 8; Lu. 9:23-25).
We are not his sheep if all we do is make a profession of
Christ as Savior. We must listen to him, and we must follow him in obedience.
This is the mark of a true sheep of Christ. It does not mean we will never sin
again, but when we do sin, we will repent, and we will continue following Jesus
with our lives, because we love him, and we desire to please him.
He Gives Purpose
/ An Original Work / June 9, 2012
“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”
Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.
“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”
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