Good morning. Jesus is getting ready to give an illustration in which He uses more metaphors to describe Himself. 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. There are those who try to persuade members of a church to follow them instead of the Pastor. They of course do it surreptitiously. (I never have an occasion to use that word. I still remember the first time I heard an explanation of what that word means. It was in high school during gym period. Instead of having physical activity, we heard a lecture by someone. They said that you can remember what that word means by the last three letters of the word - sly. It is something that is done on the sly.) The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. He also knows their name. This implies an intimacy between them. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. (where He leads me, I will follow.) A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers. If we know the true voice, we will not follow strange ones. It reminds me of what I read one time about bank tellers. They don’t teach them all the different types of counterfeit bills. They make them handle real ones over and over again to get used to the feel of them. A counterfeit bill would just not feel right. If we listen to His voice over and over again, we will know when a false voice is speaking to us. Father thank You that we know Your voice, and You know us by name. Speak to the reader today so that he/she will know what he/she is to do.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God

  Good morning. While Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. Jesus was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men. Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. It doesn’t say, but I assume it is still during this time of the Passover. This man came to Jesus by night. Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do the signs that You do unless God is with him. It just said that the people believed in His name because of the signs He was doing; yet it does not say what those signs were. Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. That is why unbelievers cannot tell what is of the kingdom of God and what is not – they’re not born again. Nicodemus doesn’t have a clue. How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Unless one is born of water and the Spirit ...
Read more

And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds

  Good morning. And men repented, right? And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and the water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Previously, the 6th angel blew his trumpet and told them to release the four angels at the river Euphrates so that the army of 200 million could cross over. Back to the bowl: and I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great Day of God, the Almighty. Father continue to bring blessings upon the reader and his/her family every day  of their lives.
Read more

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more