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John Chapter 10
“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. 2. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12. 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. 13. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15. just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads 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 mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
A few months ago I had been reading these scriptures and thinking about how wonderful our shepherd is. I was reading these verses and meditating on how Jesus said that no one took his life from him. He laid it down because he loves us. No one forced him to come to earth and die for us and take away our sins. He did this because of his great love for us. There was no “have to” and he could have remained in heaven and left us to be destroyed by evil and overcome with sin.
It was because of his great love for us that he chose to come and take away the sin that was destroying us and to make us righteous and holy so that we could fellowship with him forever. He had compassion on us because of his great love and he didn’t want us to perish.
Sometimes we forget just how wonderful he is and how much he loves us. This was always his plan as he even spoke it through the prophet Ezekiel in chapter where he said:
I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.
He loves us and has always loved us. He will separate from us those who pretend to be his sheep but aren’t his sheep. He will love us and reign over us.
While I was meditating on these things I was taken into a vision. In the vision I saw Jesus standing holding a little lamb in one hand and his staff in the other. He was turned slightly away from me and as he turned around I looked at the lamb he was holding and it was me. The little lamb he was holding was me!
I felt such peace and awe at the same time. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there admiring him and my heart was dancing with delight. He motioned to me to sit down so I sat down in soft green grass and he stood before me and began to sing. I sat there and wept as he sang to me but the tears were joyful tears and I wanted to stay there forever.
When he finished the song I just gazed at him and kept weeping. I remembered the scriptures tell us that he rejoices over us with singing but I didn’t realize that he does it for each of us individually. As I sat there gazing at him he spoke to me and said “aren’t you going to write down this song?”
I said “Master, I can have this song?” He smiled and said “yes, but only if you will share it with others and tell them that I sing over each of them individually and tell them that this song is the invitation to come to me and get their own personal song.”
I was so delighted as I still am and every time I sing it I hope that those who hear it will go to him and hear their own song. He loves singing to you and I hope you will listen to this song with your heart and you will go to your shepherd and rest in his grace as he sings to you.
I hope you will excuse the sound quality because I didn’t record it in a professional studio but it was recorded in my prayer closet.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
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