I AM the Good Shepherd

This is one of my favorite I AM statements from Jesus.  I love the analogy He uses in comparing us to sheep and letting us know that His care of us models that of a shepherd.  There are so many lessons to be learned in this statement about God, about ourselves, about responding to the world around us.  I can't do it justice in a blog, but want to make a few observations.

"I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.  He who is a hireling, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees, and the wolf snatches them, and scatters them.  He flees because he is a hireling, and is not concerned about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep...My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand." John 10: 11-15, 27,28

What does this passage say to us about God?  The first word that comes to mind is sacrifice.  God's care of us led Him to the point of sending His only Son to lay down His life so that we might experience true life.  Jesus willingly stood between us and God, bearing the brunt of His wrath against sin, experiencing separation from the Father, enduring sin's penalty.  That's what shepherds do.  They stand between their flock and danger, they are protectors.  They sacrifice their own comfort and security for the well being of those under their care.  Why doesn't a hired hand take the same care that a shepherd does?  According to verse 13, the shepherd has a higher level of concern.  My heart overflows with gratitude for God's demonstration of concern in my life.  Another aspect of God that I see in this passage is His knowledge.  He knows us, and likewise Jesus says as His sheep, we know Him.  There is not a detail of our lives that escapes God's notice.  Ps. 139 speaks of this: He knows when I sit down, when I stand up, my thoughts, my path, my words before I speak them.  He is "intimately acquainted with all my ways."  He even knows how many hairs are on my head!  Matt. 10:30  And has a record of every tear I've shed. Ps. 56:8  As the psalmist says, "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it."  We also see that God gives generously.  We receive eternal life from Him.  What a Giver; what a gift!

What do we learn about ourselves here?  What do you know about sheep?  They are helpless by themselves.  That describes you and I pretty well.  Without God's intervention in our lives, we have no hope.  Jesus doesn't use lions, or mice, or zebras to describe us, He chooses sheep.  They need to be led, and as verse 4 says, sheep are followers.  They recognize the voice of their shepherd and go wherever he leads them.  I wonder how well I follow.  Do I understand my need to be led?  Am I willing to submit to God's leadership?  Jesus also says that His sheep know Him.  Do I?  Know Him, that is.  Am I pursuing a deeper knowledge of God? 

If I want to imitate God, what does that look like in relationship to this I AM statement?  I believe I will demonstrate a deeper concern for those around me.  Am I willing to sacrifice my comforts for the good of others?  Jesus did, and He calls us to follow His example.

I AM with you!

This is perhaps one of the most interesting and also encouraging statements Jesus makes.  I want to start out with the encouraging part.  How amazing! Jesus is with us.  One of His names: Immanuel--God with us.  God is not One who is far off, but a God who is near. (Jer. 23:23)  I believe at least part of His purpose in sending His Son was to demonstrate this truth.  God promised His people all through history that He would never leave us or forsake us.  We can rely on Him to remain faithful to that promise.  As Jesus prepared to end His physical presence on earth, He told His followers that it was important for Him to go so the Spirit could come.  We have His presence with us today, filling us and bearing fruit in our lives, bearing "witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Rom. 8:16  I am grateful for God's presence with me.

The interesting part of this statement is the qualifier that accompanies it.  Each time Jesus makes this statement He includes, "for a little while."  Why does He throw that in?  Perhaps it was to help us understand our responsibility as followers.  In John 12:35, He says it a little differently; "For a little while longer the light is among you.  Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light."  In an earlier blog, I talked about light and how Jesus was the light of the world, but transferred that role over to us.  God enters into our lives.  He is present with us.  If we are going to be true imitators of Him, will we not enter into the lives of others?  In John 14:19, Jesus says this:  "After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you will behold Me; because I live, you shall live also."  We have the amazing privilege of beholding God.  We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Light.  Our once blinded eyes can now see.  Therefore we have an opportunity to enter into the lives of those still blinded by darkness and reveal God to them.

What will I do today to demonstrate that the Spirit of the Living God is with me?

the importance of words

So, I've been reading through James.  I have a love/hate relationship with this book.  It is one of the parts of Scripture that definitely brings out the truth of Heb. 4:12, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."  Every time I read it, it pokes and cuts like a sword.  God, through James, has a lot to say about our words.  The last couple weeks as I've read through it, I've been thinking quite a bit about the things I say.  Some of my thoughts on this center around my verbal responses to the circumstances I find myself in, the importance of bridling my tongue--that is, bringing my words under control--, taking time to think before speaking and guarding against words spoken in anger, the responsibility that comes with teaching, the need to demonstrate maturity through not stumbling in what I say, how quickly my words influence those around me and how far reaching the results of my words may be, the need for consistency in the tone of my words--not blessing God while cursing men and allowing others to see that I mean what I say.

I was riding in a truck with some others this past week, and a couple guys were talking about sarcasm, when the verses from chapter 3 came to mind.  I reminded them that the tongue "is a fire, the very world of iniquity".  Jesus tells us that "every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgement."  I don't know about you, but that scares me.  When I think about how often I throw out careless words, talk without thinking, or wound someone with an insensitive remark, I realize how much I need to grow in this area of the tongue.

In Eph. 4 God, through Paul, offers us this instruction regarding our words: "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear."  I don't see a lot of wiggle room here.  None of my words should be unwholesome.  How do I know if they are?  If they are not good for edification.  I stand condemned. 

Today, as we have opportunity to speak, may we think about the responsibility that is ours as ambassadors of our God to exercise caution in our words and use our tongues as instruments of righteousness. 

God, help us to obey you and bless you by blessing others in what we say.

I AM He!

On three different occasions, Jesus utters these words.  And just like His statement about being light, this too is a proclamation of His deity.  To the Samaritan woman who was aware that Messiah was coming, He says, "I who speak to you am He."  To those who wondered who He was, He says, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He,"  And to those who came seeking Him in the garden He asks, "Whom do you seek?" When they say, "Jesus the Nazarene", He responds, "I am He."

It is quite interesting to look at the differing responses of those who hear these words.  The Samaritan woman demonstrates a portion of belief.  But she still is unsure.  She goes back to the city and tells the men what she has experienced and invites them to come and see Him.  She asks them, "this is not the Christ, is it?"  We see that the result is many from Sychar believed first based on the woman's words, but eventually because of Jesus' words, and they became convinced that Jesus is "indeed the Savior of the world."

The second account is in John 8.  This proclamation is part of an interesting conversation. It starts with the statement we looked in the last posting.  As a result of Jesus saying He was the light of the world, the religious leaders accused Him of falsely representing Himself.  This lead to a discussion about bearing witness and then Jesus proclaims that He comes from above, and tells them unless they "believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins."  Their response?  "Who are You?"  He again refers to being sent from above, and then talks about His coming death being evidence to who He is.  The result was that many believed.

In the garden, those who came seeking Jesus drew back and fell to the ground at His words, "I am He."  Obviously, they understood the import of those words.  Jesus then instructed them to let His disciples, who were with Him, go.  Normally the one being taken prisoner receives instruction rather than giving it.  But Jesus does not fit into "normal." 

In each of these settings, people believed as a result of three words.  "I am He."  Jesus still makes this proclamation today.  I wonder, what does my response indicate about my faith?  Do I, like the Samaritans, allow who Jesus is to change who I am?  Or am I more like the religious leaders of the day, looking for an argument, promoting who I am?  I believe there are times when those words ought to drive me to my knees in wonder and awe like those who came seeking Him in the garden.  What about you?  Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the one sent from above to be the perfect sacrifice, bearing our sin on the cross, satisfying God's wrath, offering us hope for eternal life?  How will these three words change the course of our lives? 

"I AM" sayings of Jesus

A while ago, I started to look at the "I AM" statements that Jesus made as He walked this earth. I came up with 17 different things He said about Himself in the gospels. I've been wanting to take a deeper look at these, and so over the next couple of months, I will be sharing here about what God is teaching me in relation to those statements. There may be times when there is some diversion based on what I am seeing, but I think this is a good continuation of the theme of being an imitator. If I can grow in my understanding of who Christ is, there's more opportunity to reflect Him.

I've been thinking a lot about light recently, so I will start with Jesus words in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." From the beginning of creation this idea of light has been with us. Gen.1:3 gives us this account, "Then God said, 'Let there be light', and there was light." And in Revelation 21:23 we read, "And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb." God, who John tells us is light, spoke the light that we know into existence, and will forever be the light of our eternal habitation. Jesus identifies Himself as God in this saying. And He gives us a promise here as well. Those who follow Him will not walk in darkness. In his first epistle, John speaks of this relationship, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." So, where I walk is an indicator of the strength of my relationship with Jesus. I can't say that I'm His follower while engaging in the deeds of darkness. Paul gives this charge in his epistle to the Ephesians, "for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light"5:8.

We who once knew only darkness, have become light as a result of relationship with Jesus. This leads me to the other place where Jesus talks about being light. But in this verse He qualifies it. "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Why does He say it this way? I think we gain some insight into this in His sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew's gospel. "You are the light of the world...Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matt. 5:14,16 We have been commissioned by Him who is light to be light, reflecting Him. As we do this, others will see our actions and give glory to God, the source of our light. Jesus lived as an example for us, reflecting the light of the Father, and now that He is no longer physically present on earth, He has passed on to His followers the privilege and responsibility of shining forth the light that comes from Him.

I want others to see light in my life today. I want to be a proclaimer of "the excellencies of Him who has called [me] out of darkness into His marvelous light;" 1 Pet. 2:9b

Ambassadors!

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:20,21

I want to take a look at the second verse first. It is so amazing that God would choose to take our sin on Himself. When I think about the cross, the physical pain associated with that is enough to make me shudder. But beyond that, the fact that Christ would endure the separation from God the Father because of my sin, and the agony associated with that separation is hard to grasp. We see how painful that was in Christ's cry from the cross, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" He experienced that so that I would not need to. He set such an extreme example of living sacrificially, and through that sacrifice we now are clothed in a righteousness we were incapable of attaining. As I think about being an imitator, the words Jesus spoke to His disciples echo in my head, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." I don't know about you, but it makes me want to ask, "Where are You taking me, Lord?" That middle phrase frightens me. I don't like crosses. I'm not a fan of pain. I'm getting too old for that! But there is a call to live sacrificially, and I want to heed that call.

Ambassador, or Representative is how God now sees us. We are His representatives on this earth, called to give those we rub shoulders with an accurate picture of God. We are given the responsibility to be proclaimers of this message that God delights in reconciling people to Himself. I was looking at Luke 15:1,2 the other evening. "Now all the tax-gatherers and sinners were coming to Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" The accusation against Jesus was that He accepted people. This God-man, who was the holiest person to ever walk on earth, received the worst of sinners while maintaining His holiness. I'm challenged by that. I am called to be holy, but in my relationships, is holiness something that draws people and allows them to experience acceptance, or am I using it as a buffer to turn people away? If I'm ever on trial, I'd love for that to be the charge against me, that I accept others. I know also that Jesus was very intentional in His acceptance of others. He came to proclaim the Father's love for people, and like Him we are to share that message.

It's encouraging to me that Paul, speaking to the church, says, "we beg you...be reconciled to God." We cannot look at our reconciliation as a once and done thing. It is an ongoing journey God has us on. In view of my stumbling, I'm grateful that He continues to reconcile me.

What will the world think of God? I have an opportunity to influence that today as His ambassador. Lord, keep me humble and obedient as I walk this earth.

Is this the hardest part?

Up to this point, I have seen from this passage in 2 Cor. 5 that being an imitator requires me to die, to live for God rather than self, to see others with a new perspective, and to recognize my dependence on the Father. Verse 19 may well be the thing that causes the biggest struggle for many of us. "namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation."

Forgiveness: something I am extremely grateful for in light of the fact that I was hopelessly lost and dead in my sin until I experienced God's forgiveness, but something I find it difficult to offer to others. However, God's desire for me is that I would fully understand His forgiveness so that I too can be a forgiver. This verse tells us that God does not count our sins against us. I love Psalm 103, and gratefully read the words of verses 10-12; "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." It is impossible for me to fully comprehend how a holy God could give such a gift to us, but He does, and not just once, but many times. His love for us is so amazing. His grace knows no boundaries. His forgiveness is as sure as the rising of the sun.

Too often I have the response of Peter, who asked Jesus, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" We are all familiar with Jesus' response, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." The following parable goes on to show how ridiculous it is for we who have been forgiven of such a great debt to withhold forgiveness to anyone. And yet I often do just that. 1 John 1:9 says, "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I think the most amazing part of this is that God is faithful to forgive. It is not that He will think about forgiving us, or might forgive, but He will. It is intrinsically wrapped up in who He is. And when I accept His mission as a messenger of reconciliation, and actually forgive others, I reflect His glory to a world in desperate need.

So, if I am to be an imitator, I need to allow forgiveness to become a part of the tapestry of my life. A tall order for today!