Let them praise the name of the Lord! For He commanded and they were created. And He established them forever and ever; He gave a decree and it shall not pass away. (Verses 5-6)
I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in Whom I have believed. And I am sure He is able to protect what He has trusted me with until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12
God began doing a good work in you, and I'm sure He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. Philippians 1:6
Just like God established the heavens and earth, decreed that they come to pass, so has He decreed my salvation. Established my place in the family of God as surely as He created the planet on which I walk today. In these rather chaotic times when our Christian faith is tested, I often pray, "Jesus, keep me." I know my propensity for wandering off, the nose of this sheep smelling adventure in the air. Wondering with my little mind what is on the other side of that distant hill that I've been told to avoid. Questioning whether the Shepherd is just keeping the flock together in order to make us tow the line, not wanting us to "really live." Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. It's usually a very subtle sliding away from relationship. Taking for granted the ease of always being so well cared for by the One Who leads and provides for me. It's when the wolf comes knocking at the gate, leaping over the fence, snatching one of the flock away that I remember how much I need my Shepherd. Or when I'm sick and He tends to me. Or when He chases down the wolf and grabs me from jaws of deception.
In John 10, Jesus compares Himself to the Shepherd and us to His flock. That is fitting. The stunning thing about that, to me, is that makes His commitment to me stronger than mine to Him. Jesus has taken on the preservation of His own. Jesus's decree that we belong to Him is eternal. My Savior is more committed to my staying close and making it to the end than I am! As the Author of my salvation, the Writer of my story, He wills the end of my journey and directs my path and keeps me safe upon it. That isn't license to get up in the morning and live any old way I want. But, if I did that, and I have, I would be in a royal mess before long. And I have been. What is so amazing about being His ewe lamb is that Jesus will come and get me. And He has. Jesus has promised to keep me to the end...even asked the Almighty God to do the same on the night of His arrest. "I am coming to You. I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe, by the power of Your name" (John 17:11).
The only way I can possibly understand the heart of God toward me as His child is when I understand the lengths to which I would go to protect my own children. They are Farish children, born to Bill and me, given into our hands from their infancy, looking to us at first for sustenance and then for guidance. When I look into their faces, I see the reflection of us, some of Bill, some of me, yet uniquely packaged to create someone wholly individual. I know them well. Can guess their responses. And if miles and miles separate us, I can still feel them. Close my eyes and know them still. What would I withhold from them? Of course, my knowledge is limited as is my ability to love in the same overarching capacity my heavenly Father does. But I understand why He goes after the sheep He loves. Why He promises to keep us for all eternity as His own. If God wants His children close like I want mine, I get why He's so committed to my ultimate salvation. He loved first, just like Bill and I did. The everlasting decree of salvation to those who believe is first God's promise to us. His choice to bring me into the fold. My choice to love the Shepherd because He was willing to die for His sheep.
This wandering off that we do is pointless. Scratching in the brambles to somehow get free. Kicking up our heels in the pasture as we chase a giddy dream or frolic in a forbidden stream. Our Shepherd will let us float off just so far. If we sit today in a horrible situation of our own creation, rest assured, though we might think it hopeless, Jesus will come and get us. He will not find us, because we aren't lost to Him. We are only foolishly tick-ridden and captured, needing to know the way back to Him. The Shepherd knows the voices of His sheep, hears them in the brambles, His heart aching to bring them home, clean them up and lead them to green pasture. We only have to baa.
I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in Whom I have believed. And I am sure He is able to protect what He has trusted me with until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12
God began doing a good work in you, and I'm sure He will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. Philippians 1:6
Just like God established the heavens and earth, decreed that they come to pass, so has He decreed my salvation. Established my place in the family of God as surely as He created the planet on which I walk today. In these rather chaotic times when our Christian faith is tested, I often pray, "Jesus, keep me." I know my propensity for wandering off, the nose of this sheep smelling adventure in the air. Wondering with my little mind what is on the other side of that distant hill that I've been told to avoid. Questioning whether the Shepherd is just keeping the flock together in order to make us tow the line, not wanting us to "really live." Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. It's usually a very subtle sliding away from relationship. Taking for granted the ease of always being so well cared for by the One Who leads and provides for me. It's when the wolf comes knocking at the gate, leaping over the fence, snatching one of the flock away that I remember how much I need my Shepherd. Or when I'm sick and He tends to me. Or when He chases down the wolf and grabs me from jaws of deception.
In John 10, Jesus compares Himself to the Shepherd and us to His flock. That is fitting. The stunning thing about that, to me, is that makes His commitment to me stronger than mine to Him. Jesus has taken on the preservation of His own. Jesus's decree that we belong to Him is eternal. My Savior is more committed to my staying close and making it to the end than I am! As the Author of my salvation, the Writer of my story, He wills the end of my journey and directs my path and keeps me safe upon it. That isn't license to get up in the morning and live any old way I want. But, if I did that, and I have, I would be in a royal mess before long. And I have been. What is so amazing about being His ewe lamb is that Jesus will come and get me. And He has. Jesus has promised to keep me to the end...even asked the Almighty God to do the same on the night of His arrest. "I am coming to You. I will not stay in the world any longer. But they are still in the world. Holy Father, keep them safe, by the power of Your name" (John 17:11).
The only way I can possibly understand the heart of God toward me as His child is when I understand the lengths to which I would go to protect my own children. They are Farish children, born to Bill and me, given into our hands from their infancy, looking to us at first for sustenance and then for guidance. When I look into their faces, I see the reflection of us, some of Bill, some of me, yet uniquely packaged to create someone wholly individual. I know them well. Can guess their responses. And if miles and miles separate us, I can still feel them. Close my eyes and know them still. What would I withhold from them? Of course, my knowledge is limited as is my ability to love in the same overarching capacity my heavenly Father does. But I understand why He goes after the sheep He loves. Why He promises to keep us for all eternity as His own. If God wants His children close like I want mine, I get why He's so committed to my ultimate salvation. He loved first, just like Bill and I did. The everlasting decree of salvation to those who believe is first God's promise to us. His choice to bring me into the fold. My choice to love the Shepherd because He was willing to die for His sheep.
This wandering off that we do is pointless. Scratching in the brambles to somehow get free. Kicking up our heels in the pasture as we chase a giddy dream or frolic in a forbidden stream. Our Shepherd will let us float off just so far. If we sit today in a horrible situation of our own creation, rest assured, though we might think it hopeless, Jesus will come and get us. He will not find us, because we aren't lost to Him. We are only foolishly tick-ridden and captured, needing to know the way back to Him. The Shepherd knows the voices of His sheep, hears them in the brambles, His heart aching to bring them home, clean them up and lead them to green pasture. We only have to baa.
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