Today’s Reading: John 10:8-15
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“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 his sheep.”
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The thief is God’s eternal enemy. He has a very simple job description: To kill, steal, and destroy anything created by the Father in heaven. All this evil comes from him. He inaugurated the Fall in Genesis 3. Evil did not come from the Father.
Jesus’ job description is exactly the opposite of the enemy’s. He came into the world to give you abundant life. He doesn’t call his followers to a miserable, depressed existence. He came for you to possess a rich, loving, encouraging, and joyful life. He wants his favor and blessing to flow through you to a hurting world.
All this comes when you enter into his sheepfold through him and have a personal, close, and intimate relationship with him.
Jesus is your good shepherd. This is the fourth time in John’s Gospel he used the term “I AM.” It’s another claim to deity.
Note also that he describes himself as “good.” He is good. It’s an essential part of his nature. He wants his goodness to flow from his heart to yours. When life is difficult, always believe that he is working everything in your life for good—even the painful parts. Trust him that all is working together for your good because he is good. It’s his character. It’s who he is.
Finally, Jesus is your good shepherd. He loves you passionately. How can you be certain of his love? It’s because he is willing to lay down his life for his sheep—and for you. He literally gave his life on the cross for your sins to be forgiven so that you can have a personal relationship with him. Now you can live an abundant life rooted in his grace.
Don’t assign to Jesus what the enemy has brought to you. The evil one wants to kill, steal, and destroy everything good in your life. He is not a good shepherd. Rather, he prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to ravage. His power is great. He functions through hate. But resist him, and he will flee. Though he is a formidable foe, he is a defeated foe.
Remember that Jesus willingly gave up his life for you. Look at his cross. Survey his bloodied, bruised, and broken body. Remember his crown of thorns and his nail-scarred hands. Study his wounded side and pierced feet. This picture proves his love—it confirms he is the good shepherd.
You were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. But now you are reconciled to God through the death of Jesus in his physical body. As a result, you are now brought into his own presence and declared holy, blameless, and without fault.
What good news! What an amazing expression of God’s love to you. If you are a believer, his love now lives in you.
And when God’s love pulsates through you, you will experience the abundant life he intended for you to have.
It can be yours today.
It’s the reason he put on human flesh—so he could come for you and make you his own.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]