Shepherd

 Shepherd

The Psalmist writes,

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters, 

he restores my soul. 

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” 

                                                                      Psalm 23.

Is the Lord your shepherd?
Do you trust God in the dark times of your life?
Do you honour God when your life is good?
Is it only when you are in trouble that you turn to God?
Do you praise God for the good times you have?
Psalm twenty-three is a psalm of trust in God.
In the ancient world the word Shepherd was quite often used to denote kingship. So what the Psalmist is saying here is the God is the sovereign of his life.  That he trusts God to be with him in the good times and the bad times.
That by trusting God he will dwell in Gods house forever.
So I ask the question, is God truly sovereign in your life?
Can you honestly say that you trust God no matter the circumstances?
Can you say that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever?
Please think about it.

Jesus is

Jesus is
Jude whom scholars tend to agree is the half brother of Jesus wrote,
“Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.  
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” Jude 1:3,4
Jude makes to points,
1. He writes a warning to the church that godless men have secretly slipped in among the believers. That these men are heretics who pervert the word of God.
They believe because they are saved they can do anything they wish good or evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If we are truly saved by the grace of God we will desire to be more Christ like. We will want to do the will of God. We will shun evil. We will love those around us.  Our desire will be to present the gospel of Christ to all who will listen.
2. The other point Jude makes is that there are those who have slipped into the church that deny that Jesus is the Christ our only Sovereign Lord.
You cannot be a Christian and deny that Jesus is our Sovereign Lord, that Jesus is the Son of God. The one who paid the price for our sins.
The writer of Hebrews states,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:3.
The apostle John referring to Jesus as “The Word” writes,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men....
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4,14
Henry Ward Beecher said,
“If Christ is not divine, every impulse of the Christian world falls to a lower octave, and light and love and hope decline.”  Henry Ward Beecher.
Thus the question becomes, who do you believe Jesus to be?
Please think about it.