See to it that you be not troubled. (That was not my intent)

I posted this on FaceBook. I felt led to post it here too.

I share many disturbing things with you for the purpose of making you aware.

If you are awake then  perhaps you can withstand what the enemy is doing and if nothing else fight back in prayer.

Last evening I had these words rush through my head, "See to it that you be not troubled!"

Yes, no doubt it can be overwhelming if you focus on what is going on around you. (This becomes a real issue when you are a believer living in a nation where violence against followers of any opposing belief is met with extreme violence and death.)

Focus on who your salvation is and the difference He can make through you if you let him. This is the time of  release. God will release His power through  those who will put their trust in Him and allow Him to move them.

(John 10:3-4b ESV)
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.

I am telling you what I hear in my spirit. Do with what you wish, but do not ignore the voice of the shepherd, He is working for your good.

 the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
(Matthew 24:3-13 ESV)

If you read the passage above then ask yourself who is he talking to? Jews, yes, but also us.

So the passage has some dire warnings in it. Is it getting this bad? Yes. Can it get worse? Yes, and it will.
Walking around with your eyes closed does not make it go away.

Already you are surrounded by hurting people.
Personal friends of mine have taken such hard hits in an extremely short period of time. A two year old child, an in-law, was diagnosed with cancer affecting the spinal chord in June, suffered through three surgeries, chemo, and radiation treatments. Yesterday, August 10th, he died. That is sudden in my book and devastating.

What are we supposed to do?
Wake up. Realize that this is the enemy fighting against anything that looks like God, and guess what, YOU were made in the image of God. Now mind you, you do not look all that similar when  you are lying face down in your own vomit because you did what you wanted to do, but NONE-THE-LESS you are still His image. This is particularly true of  the follower of Christ.

Eyes open moment here. God did not promise you a life of picking daisies and staring at rainbows.
He did however promise the believer that He would come back for you, and that he would empower you with tremendous strength to endure victoriously over any situation. I do not care if it does not feel like it to you. You need to ask yourself what does it feel like to the FATHER.

In John chapter 11 Jesus ordered the stone moved away from the cave where a man's body was now in decomposition; he stank!
Somebody responded, and though it is possible that the stink clung to the grave wrappings on the man, the man was restored.

Do you not get it yet?
Do something! Roll away the stone. Be strong. Listen to the voice of the Lord that is leading you out.
Act like Joel chapter is actually happening right now, and you are a part of it. (By the way, IT IS in some people. Why? Because they choose to believe.)

Peter blared this message to the Jews crowd standing before him, mocking him and the others, on the day of Pentecost. Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit stated, "this day is  this come to pass in your hearing!" How long ago  was that? 2000+ years. WE ARE IN IT, and, if you will read your bible, you will find that Joel was specifically talking about THE LAST DAYS.

Folks, it is upon us.
Turn to the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways follow him, and he will direct your path.

Father, in the name of your mighty and glorious Son, Jesus Christ, the risen one, I ask that you release hope and strength into your people. Fill their minds with dreams and visions of you as you approach. Give them words to say as they listen to your voice, even if they do not understand where those words are coming from.
Empower your people to stand in  the face of the enemy and say NOT ANOTHER STEP FORWARD. The enemy must and will respond to the name the Jesus Christ for there is power in that name and that name alone.
Move in and through your people and cause them to bring hope to those around them for the days are getting darker by the minute.
Cause them to know  that WE are that which is holding back the enemy because we are awakening. Cause them to know that their voice can convey the voice of the Spirit of God and bring  life to people.
Father, I ask you to open ears and prepare hearts to receive the King as we speak and stumble through those words. In that people will know that it was God speaking through us.
Be magnified through our lives as we step up and declare the love and power of the Holy God.
Amen

Walk in Love at all times for the enemy is trying to cause hatred and fear to erupt in people. If you are paying attention at all you can see it. This is the enemy and the battle is on big time.
Pray without ceasing for we are in it.

Now for the obvious. John 10:2

In my last post, I talked about the thief of John 10:1. Now, I focus on the shepherd. 

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. "But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:1-3 NASB)

Something I heard on the Christian radio station caught my attention. The speaker said that a good writer catches your attention when he speaks on an emotional level. I try to do that, primarily because I am pulled into a storyline or scripture, because it speaks to me in that way. This emotional level has much to do with my being open and honest with you, telling you that some things hurt or confuse me. Maybe by doing this, we can both get through whatever it is. 

Every time I read scripture, I create an emotional connection by trying to look into their imaginary faces and listen for the tone of the words being spoken (I call it putting flesh and blood on them). This emotional aspect becomes important because we can receive the same sarcastic joke differently depending upon the tone and the relationship we have with the person speaking (I speak from experience). 

Consider Jesus Christ, the shepherd, as he interacted with Nathanael. 

Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself." When Jesus saw him coming, he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body." Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again." (John 1:45-51 MSG)

This was dripping with sarcasm and humor, yet this is our shepherd.

Now the alternate side of this shepherd could be like one a previous pastor tried to convey. He told us, with conviction, that the shepherd, which he was supposed to be one, would break the leg of a sheep that would continually stray off. Having done that, he would then carry that sheep until it was healed, and that sheep would then bond to that shepherd and no longer stray. That did not register as correct then, nor does it now, and if you had tried to win me to Christ with a message like this, I would have had nothing to do with it. 

Just trying to think through this leg-breaking from an economic point of view makes no sense, either. To damage a sheep blemishes it, and no decent Jew would buy a blemished lamb, for it could not be used in sacrifice. Sheep only served three purposes. They were either raised for wool, food,  or sacrifice.

I suspect you need to look at some of these concepts, especially if you feel that God is calling you to be a shepherd. 

What kind of shepherd would you be?

I was a rambling sheep. 

Is it possible that, in some ways, the shepherd broke me? 

I thought that was entirely my doing. As I talked with the men in one of my groups, one responded sternly, “the devil is not in everything, some things are just personal choice!” I believe he is wrong, for there is only good and evil in the world. It is a choice, but the way to judge whether you chose to follow the devil in this “choice” you made is to look at the fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

What was the product of your “choice”?

Something other than love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. Then no matter how that motivation got in your head, it was of the devil and meant to destroy you. 

If I happened to proverbially get my legs broken while caught up in that nonsense, and the good shepherd should happen to pick me up, is it proper to then say that the shepherd is the one that did it? NO.

That being said, let's continue to look at John's gospel and the shepherd

John 10:2-6 GW

(2) But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd.

(3) The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the pen.

(4) After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

(5) They won't follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don't recognize his voice."

(6) Jesus used this illustration as he talked to the people, but they didn't understand what he meant.

The concept of a shepherd was not new to the learned Jewish crowd.

The Psalmist spoke of the shepherd of Israel.

For the Director of Music: According to "The Lilies." A testimony of Asaph. A psalm. Shepherd of Israel, listen! The one who leads Joseph like a flock, the one enthroned on the cherubim, display your glory. (Psalms 80:1 ISV)

The prophet Isaiah stated,

Like a shepherd, he tends his flock. He gathers the lambs in his arms, carries them close to his heart, and gently leads the mother sheep." (Isaiah 40:11 ISV)

Ezekiel referred to David as a shepherd of God's people.

"'Then I'll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd. (Ezekiel 34:23 ISV)

The prophet Zechariah said,

Those who buy them will kill them and go unpunished. Those who sell them will say, "Praise the LORD! I've become rich!" Even their own shepherds will have no pity on them. (Zechariah 11:5 GW)

They knew what he was talking about; they merely refused to listen.

Now for the obvious.

John 10:2 NIV The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

What is the problem with that? 

Nothing really. It seems like a very ordinary statement, except that Jesus is the gate and the shepherd at the same time, and that in itself seems impossible. Fortunately, we serve a God that consistently deals in the impossible. Jesus cleared this up for those who were struggling with his statement. 

So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7 ESV)

Oprah Winfrey seems to have re-birthed herself once again and espoused an aspect of her religion based upon Eckhart Tolle's teachings that we are all on the same path. Jesus should have left no doubt in the mind of the hearers that day as he said, “I am the door.” If we are all on the same path, are there a multitude of doors? I don't think so. I do think that God is willing and capable of finding you no matter what path you are on and inviting you to enter through the door into life.

But he that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Simple, straightforward, and understandable, but don't we have to enter through that same door? 

If that is the case, what is God trying to say to us? 

To me, it sounds as though the calling on our lives is important and automatic. If you are a husband, then shepherd your wife; if you are a father, then shepherd your children; if you are a friend, then shepherd that one person. But do not think for a moment that you get to break their legs to control them. That is not what a good shepherd does, is economically unsound and illegal. You open the gate for them to see the true shepherd – clue: he is found in His Word. And then you be an example of what this shepherd is supposed to look like. (Don't get confused here, just live a decent, peaceful life filled with the fruit produced in one that is focused on God. You know: love, joy, peace, long-suffering … )

By the way, this is not the last time you will find a reference to the door or gate.

After this, I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. (Revelation 4:1-3 NIV)

Someone opened the door. 

Because of John's gospel, we already understand that Jesus himself is the one opening the door. 

Looking through the door into heaven, what does John see? 

The Son of God in all his glory.

In Revelation 3, we get a clear picture of Jesus being the one that opens the doors that no man can shut.

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this: (Revelation 3:7 NASB)

Keep these words in mind for the next time someone tries to tell you you are through. God is not done until he finishes what he started, and that includes you.

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