John 10:1-4 -- “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. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Thank you, Lord, for this day. Thank you, Lord for Thanksgiving, and being with family. Thank you in this day Lord, in all that is going on with our lives and our world. Just thank you, God. In Jesus name. Amen.
Today brought us back to our regular journey in the Word. More specifically to the adventure of following Jesus in the Gospel of John. We finished out Chapter Nine this past Sunday, then the Lord had much to show me about giving thanks as part of my daily walk and relationship with Him the past four days.
So, after talking with the Lord, sitting in His presence, worshipping quietly, we read all of John chapter ten in a few different versions. What is so amazing is in just reading the whole chapter, without doing an intense line by line study, God already pointed things out. I am so drawn to individual verses, words, definitions, I can miss seeing the beauty in the bigger scope of it all. Basically, not seeing the forest for the trees type of thing.
However, God showed me this week, especially on Thanksgiving Day, I must have intentionality in the chaos. Which means not getting swept away in my own personal little world to the point where I lose sight of certain things. This translates to my daily walk with Him in the fact I need to be intentional about looking at the bigger picture more often.
With today being one of those big picture days there was not any deep English or Greek studies. Just watching Jesus once again bring confrontation through His words, backed up by His actions, to the wooden religious people. One thing that did jump out was the fact when Jesus is saying, "I am the door of the sheep.", "I am the door.", and then, "I am the good shepherd.", He is speaking to the religious authorities. It was just a detail that really jumped out when seeing the whole chapter at once and it will add weight to my verse by verse walk through this chapter now.
Christian, do you read the Word of God every day? Every other day? Once a week? Not at all? I know it can be so hard to find the time and so challenging to not get distracted, but He has so much to say to you, so much direction, correction, blessing, strength, hope, encouragement, maturing just waiting for you there.
We can't make it in this world or even in our own lives without being connected to Him as the power source. Jesus says in this chapter His sheep hear His voice and they know Him. If you don't get in His Word regularly, how will you know His voice? Even the devil uses the scriptures in a twisted way to suit his purposes. How will you know the difference if you don't know the Word of God, know His voice?
I pray your Thanksgiving was blessed and even if it wasn't, know this you are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
Have a blessed Friday. Walk with the Lord today in His Word, in talking to Him in prayer, in worship (quiet or loud), and in giving thanks to Him for everything in this day!
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