Jesus our Shepherd

John 10:1-6- “The Good Shepherd and His Sheep”
Verse 4 and 5 begin, “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they KNOW HIS VOICE.“, Yet, they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they DO NOT KNOW THE VOICE OF THE STRANGER” . This portion of scripture is teaching us about Jesus and giving us a small glimpse of who he is to us…our Good Shepherd. The Greek translation for shepherd here is “herdsman, one who tends, leads, guides, cherishes, feeds, and protects.” The term “shepherd” here is applied metaphorically to Christ. Now, I won’t go defining all of these words…this is a good place for you to start a study for yourself, but understand what Jesus is speaking here…He’s wanting to convey to us….I am your guide, I cherish you, I will feed you and protect you!!
I know many people are asking “how do I actually “hear” God?? Well, here is something that might help you sharpen your hearing. When we want to learn anything, pick a topic, what we do is we FOCUS IN on as much information and understanding we can obtain surrounding that “thing”. For instance, I own a big beautiful Gypsy Drum horse. Thank you Jesus! When I bought him I researched, read, studied about his breed, I would keenly watch and observe his ways and disposition. I TRAINED with him and WATCHED him be trained by my amazing trainer. Now, after 3 years of owning him….I KNOW HIM!!! I know his demeanor, his ways, his idiosyncrasies, his habits- good and bad, I know when he’s scared, mad, and happy!! I KNOW HIM…AND HE KNOWS ME AND MY VOICE!!! I can walk out into the pasture and call his name and his head will immediately pop up and he’ll immediately make his way toward me. He KNOWS me and TRUSTS me. How did we get there? I TRAINED and WATCHED….so it is with learning to hear God’s voice. You just start…start surrounding yourself with Jesus and his Word. I’ll give you an example of my day to help…When I leave at 5am to go to the barn…I cue up a utube teaching to listen to….(doesn’t matter how long or short your drive is-just listen to something) I just choose any of the many amazing teachers to listen to (Jim Mor, giving God an opportunity to tell me some things. After I’m done at the barn…I get right back in my truck and continue LISTENING to a message…I KNOW WITH EVERYTHING IN ME THAT God WILL speak to me. Through out my day, in and out of the truck, during lunch, later in the evening …I just give God opportunity to speak into my life. Don’t make this a hard thing…the more you read (be it a devotional, the Bible, a book, or whatever), the more you go to church (find a place where it feels right for you), the more you listen to a teaching, the keener your hearing His voice becomes! You will just KNOW because your spending time with Him- your Good Shepherd! Give yourself to the listening of God and his word…FOCUS..and watch how things begin to change…God has his way of reaching YOU specifically! There will be moments where you will sense God’s wink…emphasizing a special knowing between the two of you! I would always tell my girls while they were growing up…God will leave a “bread crumb” trail for you just to assure you your going the right direction!
So, get going listening to God’s word and voice…HE will make sure you know THE GOOD SHEPHERDS VOICE!!
Here are just a few of the many amazing ministers that are awesome to listen to:
*Mac Hammond, Robert Morris, John Gray, Charlotte Gambill, Steven Furtick,
John Hagee, and Joseph Prince. Start there….all very different styles of
teaching…you will be blessed!!