Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from Marty Goetz singing his rendition of … The 23rd Psalm … Poignantly singing Jesus becomes the Good Shepherd for us as Christians.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Isaiah 40:11 [NLT] … 11 He (the LORD) tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to His heart; … He gently leads those what have young.
… God, thru Isaiah, shows a caring Lord who watches over His own as a shepherd over his sheep.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Isaiah 40:6-11 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… The Prophet encourages His people (i.e. us) with the good news of our Good Shepherd.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Psalm 23 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Yes, The LORD, my King Jesus, truly is my Shepherd …
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Isaiah 26:3, 41:10, 53:6 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
... We find our peace by following our Good Shepherd.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … John 10:14-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK … 14 “I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me— 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep.
… Jesus declares to the Pharisees (and us) that HE IS OUR GOOD SHEPHERD.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … 1st Peter 5:7 [NLT] … 7 Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
… Peter’s exhortation for Christians to bring all cares to our GOOD SHEPHERD.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Amy Boucher Pye, uses a personal story of how our Lord becomes our Good Shepherd when we’re in moments of trial or trouble. The ODB author wrote: I sat in the hospital room with my husband, waiting anxiously. Our young son was having corrective eye surgery and I felt the butterflies jostle in my stomach as I fretted and worried. I tried to pray, asking God to give me His peace. As I leafed through my Bible, I thought about Isaiah 40, so I turned to the familiar passage, wondering if anything fresh would strike me.
As I read, I caught my breath, for the words from so many years ago reminded me that the Lord “tends his flock like a shepherd” as He “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart” (v. 11). In that moment my anxiety left me as I realized the Lord was holding us, leading us, and caring for us.
And this story very personally illustrates what the Prophet Isaiah was trying to convey to God’s people (and us); … that (as in the highlight passage) we have a GOOD SHEPHERD who will watch over His flock and we can trust in His loving care [see the reference passages].
The questions for me and any reader here today are these: … “Do we have a Good Shepherd … and … do we trust Him to care for us?”
I pray so!
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Precious Spirit … You are my Good Shepherd; and as Your lamb, I go to You. … 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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