Jesus,The Good Shepherd.

 

John;10;11( N I V )

Jesus boldly declares who he is in relation to us being the sheep. He makes it clear that He is the good shepherd. This shows us that there are bad shepherds. Jeremiah the prophet talked about them in Jeremiah;23;1-4. The prophet declares woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of His pasture. He gives a verdict to these shepherds and says because you have scattered and driven away my flock and have not cared for the flock, the Lord will punish them for the evil they have done. The Lord himself will intern gather them to the pasture. This reflects the word of God through apostle Peter when he says Jesus is the chief shepherd, pastors on the other hand are under shepherd and are accountable to the chief shepherd. Jesus sets the example and says He is the good shepherd. As a good Shepherd He takes the lead to lead the flock to the pasture and to the still waters. In Jewish culture, shepherds used to go ahead of the flock and the flock would follow the shepherd. It is time believers learned to follow the shepherd as the shepherd follows the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. In our generation, we have people who will hardly follow. They want to lead. They even want to lead the shepherd.That's how we have a generation that behaves like it is in competition with itself. If there is no sense of leadership, the people have no direction, and competition sets in. This kingdom is not about competition. It is about peace,joy, and righteousness. It is not about eating and drinking.It is about power in the Holy Spirit.We need the good shepherd because the wolves are in the rampage.They want to scatter the sheep out of selfish ambitions in order to feast on the flock.The Good Shepherd will scare the wolf away with His staff and guarantee your safety,only if you follow Him.Now the big question is ;who is your Good Shepherd?And ;who is your shepherd?Are you following or are you competing?Do you have under shepherd who is accountable to the Good Shepherd?Or are you scattered and have been preyed on by the wolves?The Good Shepherd is still on the lead.Dare to follow Him and you will find pasture,still waters,safety and rest for your soul.

Jesus,The Gate .

 

Ref; John;10;1-10.

Jesus uses figures of speech here to explain a key truth about the kingdom of God which 

He stands for, and has been preaching about since the time John the Baptist baptized Him and 

witnessed about Him, that He is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 

There are key terms associated with these figures of speech. For example; sheep pen, shepherd, gate,

 thief, robber, watchman. Speaking the truth in love, Jesus puts it clear that the man who does not enter

 the sheep by the gate is a thief and robber. A question now is triggered in our minds; what is the

 difference between a thief and a robber? What makes them bad or good? A robber is 

someone who commits robbery according to the Oxford dictionary. Robbery is a crime of 

taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, the threat of force, or by putting the victim 

in fear. A thief will pick something when they are hiding to avoid being seen. A  gate is a 

hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence, or hedge. Jesus entered the sheep 

pen by the gate. He is also the gate. He enters and goes out with a catch, all who belong to Him.

He leads them out and they follow Him for they know His voice and they will never follow a

 stranger. The place He enters is the house of Israel. He rescues them from the consequences of the law

 , Judaism and all forms of dead religion. He then becomes the gate into the kingdom of God and also

 shepherded to all those he rescues. Jesus goes ahead to explain the mission of the thief, steal, kill and

 destroy. Those who enter by Him, they find salvation. They find life and they have it in full.

Life is measurable. It is determined by how you enter. If you enter life by Jesus, who is the gate to

 life, you will get it in full. You find salvation for your souls. Are you struggling to have the life God

 promised? The solution is to enter life by the Gate, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

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Jesus,The Bread of Life.

 

Ref; John;6;25-59.

Jesus is dealing with slippery people. They call Him Rabbi today and tomorrow they call Him a prophet. These are not bad titles to associate with our Master but what Jesus is seeking for is not people to know his titles, but rather the title reveals his person and consequently the title leads us to His person. They are calling him all these questions not because they love Him or are interested in Him, They want more bread because the bread Jesus had provided previously has now gone out of their system. Whatever miracle Jesus does, it points to His person, His nature, and his character. Jesus refocuses the minds of the people and at least for once, they ask the right question; "what must we do to do the works God requires."This is the big question. Jews wanted to do the works of God but they were not interested in God and the one He had sent. This is a trap of the enemy to pre-occupy oneself with works for the work's sake but ignore the Master of all creation. The real work is to work on our unbelief, fear doubt, skepticism, preconceived ideas, and take the word of God to be true in our lives. It is to believe in the written word of God and the living word, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Instead of us looking for bread or asking Him for bread, He is the bread! If one needs healing, He is the healer. You have Him you have what you need.

Jesus,The Provider.

 

Ref; John;6;1-15.(NIV)

Jesus crosses to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee. A great multitude comes after Him because they saw the miraculous power of God at work through Him. Jesus goes up on a mountain with his disciples. Around this time, the Passover feast is near. Jesus sees a great number of people coming towards Him. He asks Philip, where shall we buy bread to feed these people? Jesus is all-knowing. He knew what to do but He asks this question to see whether Philip and His disciples knew the ability he has as the son of God. And as the one through whom all things were made. At least there is a small boy in the crowd and Andrew is aware of the boy and what the boy is carrying, two fish and five loaves, but to the crowd this is nothing. But anyhow for conscience's sake, Andrew brings to the attention of Jesus the fact that there was at least something eatable. Jesus ignores their concerns, and orders the people to sit down. There was plenty of grass in the area and this reminds us of Psalm 23;2; He makes me lie down in green pastures. The green pasture is symbolic. It is speaking of divine provision. It is pointing us to the true shepherd, Jesus Christ. He is the provider. whether there is plenty or there is scarcity. Both conditions are nothing to Him for He is the provision itself. Where he is, there is enough for everybody. So do not scramble for your portion. Your provider has you in mind. He has something for you. If it is anointing, He has your portion. Don't covet other people's anointing. If it is a good life, He is the life-giver. Whatever you need, He is equal to the task or challenge you present to Him. With God all things are possible. With thanks to the Lord, who makes all things available, even little is more than enough! To your amazement, there will be a surplus!Hallelujah!When He provides, remember there is no wasting. Collect the surplus.Don't try to make Him something out of His doings. He is who He is. He cannot be defined by bread and fish multiplication. Preachers, when the Lord uses you for His glory. Be careful with the people around you. They will be tempted to make you what God has not made you. Jesus escaped narrowly from being made  the king of Jews so that He may continue multiplying fish and bread for them. They knew too little about the kingdom Jesus advocated for. Remember to retreat to solitary places.A place you can commune with the Father in secret and God who sees in secret will reward you openly and people will glorify Jesus. Jesus is the reason God uses us. Let's give glory to the provider whenever God does something through us.Have you glorified Jesus today?If not,take time to give Him glory for the things He has done through you,in you and around you.He is worthy to be glorified tom day.He is the provider.He is the provision itself.

Jesus,Life Giver.

 

Ref; John;5;16-30. (NIV).

Jesus is persecuted for healing on the sabbath. This is because, according to Jews, the sabbath was holy

 and a day of rest when no one was supposed to work on that day, even the Lord of the sabbath, Jesus

 Christ. Therefore, Jesus responds to the persecution by making it clear that, His father is always

 working so He too has to keep working. This shows us that, working according to Jesus is to intervene

 in the needs of mankind. This intervention overrides keeping the sabbath because man was not

 made for the sabbath, but rather the Sabbath was made for man. So Jesus as the son of man, could not

 allow the sabbath to rule him. The Jews respond to the position of Jesus with disgust and they plan

 even to kill Him because of two things; He was healing on a sabbath and second He was calling

 Himself the son of God. About this Jesus makes it very clear that He can do nothing by Himself. He

 does what He sees His Father doing. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Just like in

 an ordinary life setting, a father will always show the son what he does. Similarly, Jesus uses this

 parallel to make it clear about His relationship with the father. The Father raises the dead and gives

 them life, even so, the son gives life to whomsoever  He is pleased with. All judgment is vested on

 Jesus so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the father.

Those who do not honor the son, they don't honor the Father who sent him.

He who hears the words of Jesus, and believes in the one who sent Him has eternal life already and will

 not be condemned. He has passed from death to life. Those who believe in the words of Jesus and in

 the one who sent Him, God the Father, they have life eternal. A time has come when the dead will hear

 the voice of the son of God, and those who hear will live. As the Father has life in Himself he has

 graded the Son to have life in himself. and He has graded Him the authority to judge because He is the

 Son of Man. This life overcomes the grave and goes to eternity. A time will come when all who are in

 the grave will hear His voice and come out. Those who have done evil will be condemned. Those who

 have done good will rais to life. Jesus seeks to please the one who sent Him.

Jesus,The Healer.

 John;5;1-15. (NIV)

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Near the sheep gate, there is a pool which is called Bethsaida in Aramaic. It is surrounded by five covered colonnades. A great number of invalid people sit here. A particular invalid man has been sitting here for over thirty-eight years now. Jesus takes note of him and realizes that this man has been in this condition for a long, long time now. Jesus breaks the silence of the invalid atmosphere near the pool of waiting and asks a mind bogging question."do you want to get well."This question gets the invalid by surprise for he had never had a question of that nature. Since he has been waiting for someone to help him get into the pool when the angel troubles the waters, he expected someone to ask him whether he needed to be helped into the water once the water is troubled. On most occasions, we miss the visit of God when we have programmed ourselves to be asked particular questions pertaining to our needs. Where Jesus is, the rule changes. God is always in the move and will choose to act in a different way in a given situation so that we do not create a formula of how God is expected to behave in certain circumstances. What this invalid man needs now is not how he is healed, but rather the healing itself is what matters. Instead of framing his mind to wait for anybody to help him into the pool when the waters are troubled, he should have framed his mind to be healed, anyhow, in any way, whichever the method! and of course in a way that brings glory to God. If we will ever experience Jesus the healer in our life, we have to reprogram our minds by the word of God through the help of the Holy Spirit to think right so as to act right in conformity to the will of God, not by the st rules which in most occasions bring glory to the rule or the formula. The invalid has a formulated way to be healed. Jesus ignores the invalid expectations because they were as invalid as the invalid himself! and acts to save this man's situation. Jesus commands the man to "Get up! pick up your mat and walk." The invalid does what he has been tolled and his obedience helps him out of his situation. Your obedience to what the Lord commands you to do will release the power of God and cause the heavenly host to act on your behalf.