Bible Ballistics: The Good Shepherd v4#4 6/1/14

Our awesome God is always at work around us and it’s such a privilege and joy when we join God in HIS work, instead of trying to come up with our own plans, and ask His blessing on them. We’re often distracted by the humdrum, the drudgery, the mundane of daily living, and forget that God is present in everything around us. Don’t let the ‘mundane’ cause you to forget that, “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10b) God is with YOU!! Always!!

This week I was privileged to teach in a Vacation Bible School. I was invited to teach, and told that the focus was on the “I AMs” of the gospel of John. I love the “I AMs” of John (and of course Exodus); and as I was preparing the Lord began to show me things from a new perspective.

In our classes we talked about sheep, sheepfolds, doors and water, as we talked each day. John 1:14 helped us see that Jesus is/was/will be God. Immanuel—God with us, in flesh!

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” God with us!!!!! Don’t forget HE’s here!! With YOU!! NOW!!

It was delightful to see bright little faces connect the dots, to know that regardless of what the world tells them, God has a glorious ‘truth’ and His name is Jesus. We reviewed the singularity of the gospel each day from John 14:6,

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  May we always stand fast in this truth?

Only one way to God—and His name is Jesus.

We also talked about the ‘Good Shepherd” and the sheep. We saw that Jesus is not only the door of the sheep, He is also the ‘Good Shepherd’ of the sheep, and would ‘give HIS life for the sheep’. (All who will ‘believe’ see John 3:16-21)

He not only gives his life for the sheep, but His own sheep know His voice and they come. When people claim to know the shepherd and are continually not hearing his voice, it would give cause for examination to be sure they belong to this shepherd. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 13:5,

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” The plumb-line is scripture not your feelings.

A sheepfold commonly had only one opening and often with no gate, so the shepherds would lie across the opening so that nothing could get in or out without their knowledge. As John 10:9-10 says,

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Jesus is our ‘life’. He came to die that we might live. To pay our sin debt. Are you following the shepherd or the thief?

Romans 3:23 & 6:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Still one way—Jesus!!

One debt due—sin/death! Have you called on Jesus in repentance and faith or is your sin debt still due? Jesus has paid it—do you believe Him. Or have you bought the lies of the ‘thief’?

Jesus not only saves, but also speaks to and protects His own sheep, and cares for those who wander off. God seemed to bring to my mind a twofold meaning in this example. We know that Jesus saves and calls the “lost” sheep in need salvation, yet I perceive that there may be a unique principle that could speak to us.

Matthew 18:11-13, “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.”

We know that this parable is definitely talking about those who are lost and need Jesus as Savior. But I think we can make another application from these verses, that won’t violate the integrity of the context.

A wandering sheep can be:

Of the shepherds fold—a saved person–

Saved and belonging to His fold–

Sheep wandering off from ‘the shepherd’ may not know that they are wandering—

But the shepherd knows it.

I had a profound thought from the Lord:

The shepherd didn’t send the 99 sheep to get the wandering one,

HE went himself.

He found the sheep.

He brought the sheep back.

He called for others to rejoice at what

HE had done to restore the sheep to the fold.

While we are to “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ”. (Gal.6:2) Sometimes we are so busy trying to be ‘amateur providences’ (doing God’s job), that we don’t pray for the ‘shepherd’ to rescue the sheep in a manner HE knows is best. We’d rather get them ourselves, try to patch up their wounds, but are frustrated when we aren’t able to fix the heart problem that keeps pulling them away—only the ‘shepherd’ can do that. We don’t like for our own to suffer for any reason, so often we step in where God is working, in ways we can’t see or understand, and get in HIS way. Trust the shepherd!!

As we bear one another’s burdens, we are, at the same time, to learn to bear our own burdens with God’s power–.

Galatians 6:4-5,”But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden.” We can’t care for others if we haven’t learned to trust God to care for us!!!

We are to care for, and walk along side the pained and hurting, but when one wanders off to the wilderness we are to call for the shepherds provision and deliverance. We are also to develop spiritual strength and perseverance by bearing our ‘own burden’, that we might be able to minister to the wandering, while seeking God’s direction as to our level of involvement. Remember,

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Personal!! To trust MY shepherd to lead me rightly!!

We often miss what God is doing in our lives, because we don’t realize that the ‘good shepherd’ disciplines/trains His own sheep. When we learn to trust HIS care ourselves, we begin to develop a tender and intimate relationship with our shepherd and know the sufficiency of Psalm 23:1.

Hebrews 12:11 reminds us, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

In closing, John 21 shares Jesus instructions Peter, to ‘tend’ and ‘feed’ ‘HIS sheep’. (see John 21:15-19) How often do we ask God to save and bring new sheep into our churches, when we aren’t taking care of the sheep He has already placed in our midst? Jesus said,

“Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2

Are you listening to your shepherd? ‘Speak to my heart Lord Jesus’. Even so come!!

Bible Ballistics: “BBs” #64   Transformers Pt. 2?????

In our Wednesday BBs, we talked about ‘transformers’, and made the comparison to the transformed life that Jesus gives to those who will come to Him for salvation. We looked at the coming ‘transformation’ when we go to be with the Lord, and receive a new “changed” or transformed body.

Today I’d like us to continue looking at this principle, but a little closer to home. What does ‘transformation’ have to do with the here and now? Well, you know the answer; let’s see what scripture says…

Paul tells us in Colossians that when we are saved we are ‘translated’ or changed. How?

Col 1:13-14, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” The blood of Jesus ‘changes’ or transforms us from Satan’s power to become HIS child, to be a part of HIS kingdom.

Let’s also look at Romans 12:1-2,

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

When we are saved, and walk in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God ‘transforms’ us to show HIMSELF to the world. HOW can I do it?  By following Jesus and His word, and by trusting Him to do that which makes me more and more like Jesus. As Romans tells us:

Romans 8:28-29, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

So, here’s our shot for today???? You don’t have to buy a transformer, God made YOU one. Jesus saves us not only from Hell, but also from the very power of sin in our lives. He transforms us. How are you living? You must remember who you are:

delivered us from the power of darkness

          translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son

              transformed by the renewing of your mind

                  called according to his purpose

predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son—Jesus.

So????  Do others see Jesus in YOU?   Trust Him and reflect HIM!!!!  

 

Bible Ballistics: “BBs” #63   Transformers!!!!!!

Transformers! Practically every American child has one or more of these phenomenal movie creations: cars and trucks that ‘transform’ into great creatures of power and might. What a thing, yet God talked about ‘transformers’ long before they were the buzzword of the Hollywood.

The Greek word ‘metamorphoo’, used in the New Testament, means literally to ‘change form’. It is this very word from which our English word ‘metamorphosis’ comes. That process which ‘changes’ a caterpillar into a butterfly. Well, enough of the science lesson, what does God say about ‘transformers’?

Matthew 17:1-2 talks about the ‘transfiguration’ of Jesus.

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.”

Jesus himself was ‘transfigured’ (same word as transform) before His disciples, and they saw at least a measure of His heavenly glory in person. But Jesus isn’t the only one who can be transformed.

Paul talks about our being ‘transformed’ at the return of Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52,

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,” We who are saved by His blood.

But our ‘transformation’ isn’t all future. We are being ‘transformed’ right now by the power of God that we receive upon our new birth in Jesus our Lord and Savior.

2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

We are being ‘changed’ or transformed by the Holy Spirit as we yield to Him and allow Him to accomplish God’s will within our hearts and lives. There is so much more, we’ll continue this in Friday’s BB’s.

Our Shot for today??? We will be ‘transformed’ when Jesus comes for us, or we meet Him in death.

But are you allowing God to transform you

into the image of Jesus

to the world?

As an old adage says,

“You are being a witness continually for Jesus,

when you claim His name.

The question is,

‘Are you being a good witness or a bad one?’”

Are you glorifying God with your life or

shaming Him?

Go before the Father as you consider these things.

Bible Ballistics: Memorial to Whom?? Vol 4 #3 May 25, 2014

As we spend this weekend honoring those in our military services, our thoughts go to those who now, and in the past have given themselves to guard and protect our freedoms. To honor those who made what we call the ‘ultimate sacrifice’. I’d like to take that thought and go in a different direction. While we are thankful for our servicemen and women, there is one who made the truly ‘ultimate’ sacrifice, who died to give us not only political freedom but eternal life and forgiveness of sin, for all who will trust Him.

Of course we are talking about our Lord Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice at the ‘Cross’. I’d like us to look at several scripture passages, and one rather lengthy passage, but well worth our attention. Jesus came, not to be a good example, though He was one, not to be a good teacher, though He was that also. All the good things that Jesus did: healing, teaching, preaching, leading, are good things but they are not why He came.

In the gospel of John, the apostle emphasizes the “I Am’s” of Jesus. One is John 10:9-11 and it reveals this same truth.

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

Jesus shares here that He is the ‘door’, and only way ‘in’, and that He gives ‘abundant’ life. That He is the ‘shepherd’ who gives HIS OWN LIFE for the sheep. The same principle that He proclaims in John 14:6,

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

And John 3:14-19, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

Jesus came to be lifted up—to give His life for us, that we can escape the condemnation of sin, yet only in Jesus. Because as Romans tells us, ‘all have sinned’, and ‘the wages of sin is death’, but ‘the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord…”. Yet men still reject the light and cling to their evil deeds and the darkness, knowing that Jesus gave His life for all who will believe: His light for man’s darkness of sin. Knowing that God…

“….. hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 ONLY IN HIM.

The death I deserved was put on Jesus—the sinless one. He, who created all of glory, put it aside to take on flesh, live a perfect life, and die a substitutionary death for ME—for YOU. Now let’s just look at the passage in Hebrews and see what it reveals about life in, with and through Jesus. Let God’s Word speak truth to your soul. His life for my death.  Because His death bought my life in HIM..

Hebrews 10:5-22, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.

He taketh away the first,

that he may establish the second.

10 By the which will we are sanctified

through the offering

of the body of Jesus Christ

once for all.

11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

12 But this man,

after he had offered

one sacrifice for sins for ever,

sat down on the right hand of God;

13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

14 For by one offering he hath

perfected for ever

them that are sanctified.

15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord,

I will put my laws into their hearts,

and in their minds will I write them;

17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20 By a new and living way,

which he hath consecrated for us,

through the veil, that is to say,

his flesh;

21 And having an high priest

over the house of God;

22 Let us draw near with a true heart

in full assurance of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,

and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Just as John wrote, ‘….the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin’. (see 1 John 1:7). Things to ponder as we celebrate the sacrifice of our troops, and the sacrifice of our Lord, whose Holy Spirit writes Christ’s ways on our hearts when we come to Him in repentance and faith. May God bless, comfort and direct your steps to grow each of us in HIM.

As Paul called Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 2:1-4,

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Good soldier or AWOL???

Thanks for sharing your time and comments with me. You all are a blessing to my soul. ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’, past, present and future. What will you do with the ‘sacrifice’?

Bible Ballistics: “BBs” #6s   Seeking What Pt. 2 ?????

As we shared Wednesday, God is concerned about our hearts, that we’re seeking Him not the things of the world. Paul spoke important words to the church of Ephesus, as he left them for what was probably the last time. This is His warning to the “church”:

Acts 20:29-32, “ For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

Paul knew, and we should also, that it may look like a duck, it may quack like a duck, but if it doesn’t align itself with the ‘whole counsel of God’—it ain’t a duck”. As Jesus himself said, we’ll face wolves in the world, and in the church—beware of who or what you are settling for, trusting and following:

Luke 10:3, “Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” The world will be after us whenever and wherever Christ sends us out with the truth.

Matthew 7:15-16a, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. ……..?”

2 Peter 2:1, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

They won’t just be on the outside; they’ll come into the fellowship. Check it out by the word, measure it true!!!

That is why we MUST read and study God’s word for ourselves. You can’t accept what someone says because they are charismatic, charming or alluring. Read the entire chapter of 2 Peter 2. You must know the word and stand on it. How?

By knowing Him and His Word.

2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

That means YOU and ME. Dig in and live it out. So you’ll know who is ‘wrongly’ dividing it!!!!

Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Keep your eyes on Jesus—

seek HIM,

don’t settle for the deceptions and lies.