NOT SOME FANCY WORLD LEADER!

PART ONE - THE MODEL OF THE CHIEF SHEPHERD

Whenever a world leader gets ready to travel, the protocols and advance teams  are a thing to behold.  For instance Queen of England travels with massive luggage, four different outfits per day; her press/publicity people; doctors; nurses; special dietary counsel  and  a whole lot more!

Whenever a modern US president travels either to a foreign trip or a fundraiser in Hollywood, the modus operandi is the same – forty limousines; fighter jets; C-130 transport planes; support staff etc etc. Both of these two highest profile world leaders’ travel costs their countries run sometimes into the 10’s of millions of dollars, depending on the length and distance of the travel.

When the Creator of all of this; the Creator of Life; the Creator of the Universe and galaxies outside of our own; the Ancient of Eternal Days….when He decided to come to the earth; coming off the Throne of Heaven, He had no sanitized hospital room; no heated blanket and no doctor or midlife to deliver Him. 

The real Commander in Chief of the Universe, the Lord of Hosts and Heaven’s Armies which cannot be defeated was not born into a religious family; a wealthy family or a famous family. The King of Heaven was not even revealed to the religious leaders of Jerusalem but rejects and outcasts whom those self-righteous priests did not even allow to come into the House of the Lord (the Temple). 

Jesus Christ, the Owner of All those Titles and He Who will overrule and judge kings, presidents, chief justices and all mankind with an iron rod, revealed Himself to create a new paradigm! This paradigm involved outcasts, the Shepherds of Bethlehem becoming under-shepherds to the Chief Shepherd!

(CLICK HERE TO READ THE REVELATION OF THE SHEPHERDS OF BETHLEHEM AS THE FIRST PASTORS).

This could only make sense in the Awesome Mind of God! Why the Shepherds and not the Religious Temple trained Priest? Well, go back to Isaiah 53:  …”All we like sheep have gone astray”.  As smart as we think we are, we are dumb, single minded (with our heads down, instead of looking up) sheep in need of a shepherd. As we see from my previous post on the Shepherds of Bethlehem, these men were a different breed. 

The characteristics of a Judean shepherd were not very flattering.  The corrupt priests in the Temple in Jerusalem actually considered these shepherds dishonest; untrustworthy; unclean and just plain disgusting (and a lot, not all, were not nice people). They had to be kept out of the city, even though they provided all the lambs for the Temple Sacrifice, because of uncleanliness, under the Law of Moses. 

The Lord looked at these shepherds from the Gospels and saw people like you and I – unclean (yes) but with potential. These hardworking shepherds had to be on point 24/7/365. 

Sheep did not take Sunday morning off for coffee and donuts before singing three and out hymns, with an okay sermon and two pastoral prayers. Sheep were constantly getting stuck in the brush; falling down into creeks; getting attacked by wolves; or even stolen from their herds by renegades or robbers. If you look at the description of what these hard-working men had to do, you can almost say things are not much different in the church today!

These were  and are the qualities Jesus, One Third of the Triune God, looks at when choosing an under-shepherd to represent Him - The Chief Shepherd. These are the qualities of a man (and pastors are supposed to be men, in order to obey the Scriptures) who is not afraid to get his hands dirty and get in the trenches to help rescue the flock. In a sense these are the qualities of a man who is supposed to look like the King of All Eternity Who lowered Himself to be born in a dirty cold cave over 2000 years ago.

So what happened....at least in the West, where the Gospel was sent out to first, via Paul, Peter and John? How did the still in force concept of the "Poimenes" of Bethlehem (Shepherd-Pastor) become more celebrity... more CEO of a church... more manager of an uninspiring Sunday morning service which is meeting almost no one's Spiritual needs....more of an insulated form of royalty, not much different from those same priests which the Lord wanted nothing to do with on that cold Shepherd's field.

What happened to cause Chief Shepherd Jesus Christ's own under-shepherds to be viewed in a favorable light by less and less people each year?

NEXT: WHY ONLY 47% OF AMERICANS TRUST THE CLERGY/PASTORATE

JEHOVAH - ROHI

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!

Back in the old west., there were all out wars between cattle ranchers and the humble sheep farmers! Many a gun battle broke out between the two as the cattle guys resented the smell and (in their mind) lowly status of sheep. On the other hand, the sheep herders resented the cattle guys for having their cows graze all the way down to the dirt...then move on, leaving nothing for the sheep to eat. Some of this slowed down around the Civil War when wool was needed for uniforms! All of a sudden, sheep was in demand, not for meat but for its wool!

Throughout bible history, sheep are mentioned over 500 times. This is more than any other animal and while sheep-herding described an occupation or way of life, for the most part, sheep represents God's people! The first known shepherd in the bible was Abel, who had lots of flocks, before his brother Cain killed him in a fit of jealousy.  Sheep made Abraham a very wealthy man, who shepherded a new race of people from Ur to wherever God sent him!

The best known was King David, the little shepherd boy who was rescued from the fields by the Lord your God and made famous. David used his amazing strength which he demonstrated, by way of defending his flocks to kill a lion and a bear with his bare hands. Yet it was this mighty man who wrote in loving humility - the LORD IS MY SHEPHERD (psalm 23:1)!!!

How about that?! What love and surrender to the Holy One Who not only created him, but the One Who defended, guided and protected him through it all! Scripture says "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

So we are sheep. We are sheep in need of a shepherd. 

When the angels of God announced His birth in the fields of Bethlehem, they went not to the religious but to the dirty shepherds who were looking after their flocks of sheep. They were establishing the paradigm of the Shepherd and Christ as the Head Shepherd of His people who are always in need of His guidance and keeping within the fold.

Yes, Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord is my Shepherd, as He was/is David's. In short, sheep are important in the course of human history - as a means of providing clothing (as we see for strong uniforms) or as food and objects of sacrifice at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, a long time ago. God has ordained it that we looked to our great Shepherd for EVERYTHING. We can write long books about the nature of sheep or the attributes of shepherds, but suffice it to say, let's remember one thing - Jesus is the Good Shepherd....and we would be lost in the thicket or in a ditch somewhere, if He does not rescue us and take care of us when we stray off the path the Lord has set for us.

Father in the Name of Jesus, I come to You right now, saying and believing as David did that JEHOVAH-ROHI - the Lord is MY Shepherd. Father, throughout the course of History, sheep have reputations of being just a dumb animal who would go along with the crowd and then get off lost somewhere.

Lord that described me perfectly! I was so dumb and blind I lived in and wallowed in my own sin for so long, until Your Son, the Good Shepherd, came and pulled me out of the ditch or pit I fell into when I strayed away from You.

Father God, Jesus said "I am the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep (in John 10:11) and again in verse 14 "I am the Good Shepherd and know My sheep and My sheep know Me".

The Good Shepherd has given so much for me, when He gave at the Cross and still gives now - to provide for me. I thank You Lord for that. 

The Good Shepherd gives me eternal life, because I trust in and obey Him. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd gives me spiritual nourishment through His Spirit. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd gives me my job and literally the food I eat on the table. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd gives me my family and has trusted me with children to shepherd as He shepherds me. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd gives me a bath and a cleansing by the Power of His Blood.  I thank You Lord for that. 
The Good Shepherd gives me restoration when I am weak and walk off the path because my head is down and am grazing so much on the world, I get lost in the bushes. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd has never lost one of His sheep or children, except the one marked for destruction, who betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver. He will never lose me. I thank You Lord for that.

The Good Shepherd has and always will keep me from danger and evil, because I am one of His sheep and He is mine. I thank You Lord for that.

Lord I am not ashamed to admit that I am one of YOUR sheep and would have it no other way. I admit I am weak, not too smart and used to follow the crowd. But with You, Jehovah- Rohi, I am strong. With You, I am super-sheep in Spirit and in Truth. With You, I can do all things through the Shepherd Who strengthens me. I thank You for that, Heavenly Father. 

Thank You for adopting me into Your Flock and I long for and anticipate that day, when I see the Lamb Who sits on the Throne and gave it all for me, that I can become just that - one of Your sheep! I gladly follow You into eternity, my Great God, King, Shepherd and Master, in Jesus' Holy and Mighty Name, amen!

(image by google images)

THIRTY DAY PRAYER CHALLENGE - DAY 5

PRAY THE NAMES OF GOD

DAY 5
GOD IS ADONAI:




Adonai is such a complicated yet simple (in a sense) Name of God that it could take days to study it alone...and then you could never fully get to the end of the meaning of the word because it is as magnificent as Jesus is Himself!


The Bible uses both the singular and the plural of the word ADON. Adon is singular and could refer to men or angels (as in my Lord...when you and I are being polite or if a real angel visited us).


HOWEVER the plural ADONAI refers ONLY to GOD!!!


It would take too long and we would lose the attitude of prayer to explain the dozens of references in Scripture to Adonai. It would make an amazing personal or church Bible study to do that. But for now. Let's just look at two things.


Adonai speak of two important things to our Walk with God: Submission and Relationship.


Our Jesus confirmed He was Yahweh Who spoke to Moses in the Burning Bush when He told the Pharisees in John 8:58 ESV "Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” The words "I AM" is YHWH or Yahweh in the original Hebrew.

Yahweh is the Name you bow down to. You cannot be a child of God unless you submit to His Lordship and His Hand over your life. The minute you come to the end of yourself and realize that, repent of your sins and seek His Forgiveness, that is the ONLY point you are now saved!

This is the top end of the spectrum 

Romans 10:9 says "if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved". The the word LORD here is "Kyrios" or Master or you and I coming to the realization that Jesus has FULL OWNERSHIP and RIGHTS over us! 

This is the point where you full accept His Lordship and rule over your life. Once you give up the rights to, or as the Bible says "die to yourself", you are now a Child of the King....or He has you in His Hands. There is no more secure and better place to be than in the Hands of Jesus. 

This is the point where relationship begins.

This is the point where we, lowly mortal man, reaches up to Him and call Him Lord and Master!

You are not saved or a follower of Jesus if He is not your Lord and Master!  This is the essence of this relationship, my friends.  The Bible is clear by the exact meaning of the words it uses. Either we believe it or we don't. There is no middle ground or black and white.

So Father, in the Name of Jesus, I submit to Your rule over my life. I recognize and confess and admit that YOU alone are God! 

You are the first born of all creation.

You are the pre-existent God Who knew me before I was born.

You are the Great I Am, Who called Moses from a bush in the Sinai mountain.

You are the Great I am, Who confirmed in to the rebel Pharisees.

You are Adonai, the Lord and Master of my life.

You, Sir, have full ownership of me!

I surrender ALL rights I have to rule and run and even ruin my life to you.
I surrender all that I was, am and ever will be to You rule and direction FOR me.

I surrender every fiber of my being to you.

I surrender every thought, whim and every thing I will ever do to you.

I surrender all
I surrender all

All to thee my Precious Savior, I surrender ALL! ALL! ALL!

Take me, mold me, bend me, Adonai, my Lord and my God.

Take me, use me, send me, my Master and friend.

Take me, lead me, never leave me, my Shepherd and leader.

Jesus, Adonai, be the Lord of my life!
I am a possessor, not a professer.

You said that Your sheep know Your Voice and not one of Yours will be lost.
Adonai, my Master and Lord, that can only be so if I fully belong to You, Jesus!
So now, I again, confirm and affirm my complete submission to You, my King and thank you for rescuing me time after time and for giving me assurance that I am Yours and You are mine.

Bless you Adonai and bless our Daddy - Abba Father, with Whom we have covenant relationship, BECAUSE of You and the Cross of Calvary, 

In Your Most Holy and Precious Name, I pray, amen!

TOMORROW - DAY 6 - THE NAME 'ELOHIM'