Category Archives: The Good Shepherd

Gathering the Scattered

Gather. Such a funny word when you look at it and say it over and over again. Every time I hear it spoken out loud I envision the one saying it with their arms stretched out and then pulling everyone, and everything, in to them.

Gather. Come together, assemble or accumulate. Here is another version which just makes me smile:

Bring together and take in from scattered places.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30.

In our Revival By Design teaching around the country, we encourage others to become Gatherers. Some might be teachers, some leaders over a larger group; some are helpers, pastors, etc. But EVERYONE is a Gatherer!

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11.

A Gatherer is someone who is bringing together and taking in from scattered places. Reaching for the lost, the outcast, the down and out and yes, even the lowly. Jesus was the ultimate Gatherer. He said if we didn’t gather with Him then we were scattering. What does that mean?

To cause to separate and go in different directions.

If you aren’t gathering then you are scattering.

“As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” Ezekiel 34:12.

Jesus went after the scattered flock. He looked for those that had been cast aside or forgotten about. He rescued them and gathered them back into the sheepfold!

In these last days, let us turn our focus to gathering. We must be peacemakers in difficult situations. We need to reach a helping hand to those that have hit rock bottom. And we must be willing to open our hearts and open our arms to all of those that need Jesus. The only view they may have of HIM is you and me.

Do they see us as a Gatherer; ready to take in those that are hungry for a life change? Or do they see us as a Scatterer; one that causes confusion and division in the Body of Christ?

Praying today that I would have the mind and heart of a shepherd who is constantly caring for his flock and desperate to go after any that have scattered.

I took this picture of The Sweetheart in the country of Estonia at a beautiful outdoor museum. Everyone a Shepherd, everyone a Gatherer!

Blessings, friends. Feel free to comment on your take on gathering and scattering. I would love to hear!

Sharing with Sunday Stillness

I am the Door Keeper. I am the Door! Part 5

1 Reply

This is the last post in The Door Keeper Mini-Series! You can read Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four by clicking on the links. Feel free to share your impressions or memories of a Door Keeper!

“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; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” John 10

The flock of sheep on the hillside would answer to one voice; that of their Shepherd.

He was so acquainted with his flock of fluffy creatures that each one knew his particular voice and would ignore all others.

The shepherd had two choices of where to bed down his sheep for the night, depending on where they were at the time. The public sheepfold was in the city and villages and it would hold several flocks of sheep at once. This sheepfold was guarded by a porter or Door Keeper. His duty was to make sure that the sheep didn’t get out at night and to let in the other shepherds in the morning. The shepherds would then come, one by one, and call for their sheep. Amazingly, each little lamb knew the voice of his own shepherd and followed him out to pasture.

“The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.” Psalm 120:8.

The other sheepfold was out in the fields. This pen was simply a circle, a fold, which they made with rocks piled into a tiny wall with one small space to come and go. There was no gate so how did he keep them in? The shepherd would literally stretch himself out at the opening of the pen and go to sleep…he became the Door Keeper.

Pastors are oftentimes referred to as shepherds today and even in the Old Testament, “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” Jeremiah 3:15 NIV.

And this one, “…they shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” Numbers 27:17.

They are Door Keepers! “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit [to them]: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this [were] unprofitable for you.” Hebrews 13:17 ASV.

A pastor guards the door to the sheepfold, they protect, lead and guide the flock, or the Church, for they will stand and give an account for our souls.

“This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’” John 10.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. “No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” John 10:18 NLT.

Not only does The Good Shepherd provide for His flock but He goes so far as to lay down His life! Jesus GAVE His life, no one took it from Him. He did it for all of us.

The Lord God, “…tends His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young…” Isaiah 40:11.

“We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” Psalm 100:3.

There is only one Door to eternal life and salvation for our souls. Only one Door into the Kingdom of God.

Jesus is that Door! In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Shepherd of the Church and the only Door Keeper to eternal life! He took off His crown of royalty and laid down, literally, in the gap, the opening, the only way in and out, for each one of us, His sheep.

This week we have met Door Keepers in the temple; they lived there and were responsible for the day-to-day activities and care for the house of God. They decided who could enter and who could not.

We met Obed-Edom who was privileged to care for the Presence of God…the Ark of the Covenant and his entire household was blessed because of this Door Keeper.

We met Jacob, a.k.a. Door as we referred to his name-tag. He is an overcomer, a humble example of what a Door Keeper looks like today: one who aspires to be like Christ, welcoming, inviting and loving.

Yesterday I introduced you to my first recollection of a Door Keeper in the little church I grew up in. He reminds me even today to keep striving for the goal, with a smile on my face.

Today?

We see Jesus.

The Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. That means you. That means me. All who desire to enter into the Kingdom are welcomed…through the Door.

The Daniel Fast Devotional is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon! Great for ANY FAST, it is full of great devotions about fasting in the Bible. Did you know even Jezebel fasted?? So much to learn and so helpful when trying to draw closer to God. Get yours today!

What if we ALL were REAL?

17 Replies

It’s #FiveMinuteFriday! Today’s word prompt is REAL. Join others at Kate’s place to read their takes on REAL!

Did you ever have that thought? What if we ALL were Real all the time?

You are thinking what I was thinking…some things are better left unsaid. That is true in some circumstances. But what if our hearts were pure? Would everything that came out of our mouth be pure also?

Being REAL goes beyond what comes out of our mouth.

What if we were confident in being a child of God and didn’t feel a need to be deceitful or fake?

Click To Tweet

Imagine the ways we could be used of God if we decided to just be who He made us to be, empowered by the Holy Spirit, walking in victory every single day!

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 ESV.

What if we were REAL like Jesus?

Jesus wasn’t a phony; He was not a counterfeit or an imitation. He was the Real Deal. The Most High God came in human flesh to save mankind.

Living as an Authentic Christian means to pattern our lives after Jesus Christ. He left us His Spirit, dwelling IN us, the power to overcome as He overcame, to be in the world but not of the world and to live a life that influences others for the good.

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death–even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8 NRSV.

These things come through living, through hard trials, through difficulties that we might not understand. But they are molding us, making us real, perfecting us in His image.

Look at this excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit:

“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

It doesn’t happen to those that break easily, have sharp edges (offend easily) or who have to be carefully kept. Hmmm….Being real means you have lived, you have survived and you have thrived because Christ is in you, the Hope of Glory has kept you!

You are strong but not necessarily independent. You realize where your strength comes from!

This is one time it is good to be an imitator. Imitating Jesus does not make us a phony; it makes us Real. We are Real Followers. We are Real Sheep that follow the Good Shepherd.

The world will tell us to be true to ourselves, to be all that we can be and just be happy. But God’s Word tells us to be Salt and Light in this world, to be witnesses of His name and imitators of the only true Light.

Once we are real, we can’t be ugly, except to those who don’t understand. Let’s pray that those who don’t understand now will be led to Christ by OUR example as we imitate Him.

Don’t forget your copy of The Daniel Fast, A Devotional. Great for ANY FAST or prayer journey. On Amazon in paperback and Kindle and Barnes and Noble too! Be blessed!