Devotional Song: ... Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of Marty Goetz singing … Psalm 23 for which Marty has written music for King David’s classic psalm, which declares the reality of our Lord’s role as our Good Shepherd.
Highlight Passage John 10: 9 [NKJV] …
9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
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Highlight Context - John 10: 1-16 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
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Reference Passage #1 - Psalms 23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… King David’s Shepherd’s song
Reference Passage #2 - Psalms 62: 5-6 [NKJV] …
5 My soul, waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense; … I shall not be moved.
… The song of strength and protection from God
Reference Passage #3 - 2nd Corinthians 12: 9 [NKJV] …
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
… If we trust King Jesus as our Good Shepherd, He will guard us with His grace
Reference Passage #4 - 1st Peter 5: 8 [NKJV] …
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because[a] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
… We need our Good Shepherd guarding our flock at the gate, protecting us from the stalking enemies of our soul
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Julie Ackerman Link, begins her blog with a cute personal story about her young cat and not being able to use any type of gate to keep her baby feline from climbing up their stairs at home. Her point was that she had to become the gait keeper, continually watching for her cat to protect it from danger.
As Christians, I hope we all have come to the place where we realize we have THE Gate-Keeper, guarding and watching over our lives to protect us from exterior danger as well as dealing with our own internal wanderings and fears. And Jesus called Himself “the door” in the Apostle John’s gospel (see the John 10 link above), where He painted the word picture of Him being the “Good Shepherd” for the flock God, The Father, had sent him to watch over.
In the attached photo, you see an actual middle eastern sheepfold, where a shepherd, who would sleep at the gate and become the protective “door,” being able to protect the sheep from the danger of stalking wolves or lions (see also 1st Peter 5: 8). Or he, the shepherd, would merely keep watch over the flock to prevent the younger, more vulnerable, lambs from wandering out of the sheepfold into danger.
The 23rd Psalm is probably one of the most quoted passages in the Bible. Written by King David, it expressed the relationship we have with our Lord as our “Good Shepherd.” And I just love the music which Marty Goetz has written with him singing Psalm 23, which you can hear and meditate upon by using the link provided above.
Yes, Jesus is our “Good Shepherd;” and as Asaph wrote in Psalm 62, our Lord is our defense, in Whom we can trust. Jesus, in the indwelling protection of His Spirit, is at the gate of the sheepfold of our lives; and He watches over us now and forevermore with His grace (see 2nd Cor. 12: 9).
My Prayer for Today … O Lord, … I sleep well at night, Lord, knowing that You are watching over me and leading me. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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