FAITH LESSONS FROM THE BETHLEHEM SHEPHERDS @ CHRISTMAS TIME

15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them....Luke 2:15-20.

The Bethlehem Shepherds are an amazing case study for anyone who believes not just in God’s justice, but His favor towards those who are not welcome what the world deems “proper circles”.  They were more than outcasts in people terms even though the sheep they tended over were so crucial to Old Testament worship in the Jerusalem temple. 

In the case of the Bethlehem Shepherds, their flocks were six to eight miles south of Jerusalem, and as far as they could be from the religious people who ran the temple and the crooked side businesses. Yet they were close enough when they needed 1000’s of sheep to sacrifice, according to the Law of Moses. In addition, like most Judean shepherds, they were considered worse than used car salesmen and a lot of them may have been….but not all. The greatest men of the Bible were shepherds – King David, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham and others. No one in their right mind would dare call these men dishonest and corrupt. Yet religious and other authorities looked down their noses at ALL shepherds.

This is the background against which God sent the Good News of Jesus’ birth as a human in a small, cold, dirty Bethlehem stable to men such as these.  It is also telling that He not only choose the outcast, the least likely and the rejected. He chose men who were to become the model of the upcoming church leadership. Another word for congregation is the “Flock” of the faithful and sometimes church people BEHAVE like stray sheep.

We sheep DO need a shepherd. In fact, we need the Good Shepherd because

“All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way...(Isaiah 53:6)”.  Jesus is that Good Shepherd.  He came to earth to set up the Church Age, after He had paid for all sin for all time at the Cross, which is the Foundation of the Faith. Strangely enough, the Bethlehem Shepherds instinctively knew this truth!

Look at their conduct after God was revealed DIRECTLY to them: 
Luke 2:16  THEY OBEYED "So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.". Their obedience most likely involved a lot of work as they had to look in every stable in the entire town of Jerusalem.  They responded to God’s calling and there is a lesson here for the faithful and available among us. When God calls – don’t wait. Go straightway and do what He says, or lose the blessing or even worse. I am telling you from experience, do not despise humble beginnings.
Luke 2:17 -  THEY CAME, THEY SAW, THEY ACTED: "When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child." The Bethlehem Shepherds arrived at the right stable at the right time, as appointed by God. When we obey, we come face to Face with the King and our lives are never, ever the same! The proof if this is that we act just like these shepherds – WE GO AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL….and plunge headlong into working for the Father, then we are doing what the Father commanded us to do....to our eternal reward in Heaven!
Luke 2:18 - THEY WERE BELIEVED: "And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds." After coming face to Face with the Living God of Heaven, and experiencing an incredible life changing conversion, people notice. There is no hiding the change in visage, lifestyle and speech of a man or woman who has encountered Christ and has had a real conversion. These shepherds saw first hand. Those of us who have experienced His Grace, Love and Forgiveness, believe without seeing Him. This is true Faith. Faith also explains why a Christian can enter a bible teaching church, in any part of this world, hear the same Bible passage read and taught on by a true pastor, and immediately testify to its authenticity and truthfulness. There is one common denominator - the Holy Spirit. He- the very Spirit of God, Who raised Christ from the dead - lives in all saved believers, EVERYWHERE. This truth explains the reason the message can be believed no matter where we are at any given time.
Luke 2:20 - THEY PRAISED:  "The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen". There is no way a believer can ever stop thanking God for His Love, Grace, Mercy, Compassion and the Life He has given us. Even the most ungrateful Christian knows from whence cometh his strength. Throughout human and Judeo-Christian history, men and women have been completely open about their worship, amazement and awe when they come to a full realization as to what has happened. Look at Isaiah in chapter 6 when he realized he was in the Throne room of God and in the sheer presence of pure holiness. He said " Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”  King David praised Him in the Psalms, the very prayer book of the Bible. 

One day, Jesus healed the man blind from birth at the Pool of Siloam. As is recorded fully in John chapter 9, the Pharisees not only kicked this man out, who had his sight given to him, but blasphemed God in the process. Jesus heard all about the incident and went looking for the man, whose sight He had given. The Gospel of John picks it up here in verses 35-38 "35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

The Bethlehem Shepherds saw the King, as a baby. They worshiped and praised and proclaimed Him. The word "Shepherd" here - Poimenes in the original Greek - is the same word used for pastor these days. These men had no seminary training, no etiquette training and were outcasts. In the world today, we are now the outcasts of society. We are the minority. Most of us will never have close to any kind of formal bible training. But if we follow what these humble shepherds did: OBEY, SEE, BELIEVE, ACT, PRAISE AND WORSHIP, there is no telling how many we can influence for the Kingdom of Heaven. There is no limit either. There is also no boundary when it comes to being grateful to God, for His Love for us, so we can celebrate the Greatest Gift of all - Jesus - at Christmas time!

(Photo Credits Here)

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY SEVENTEEN:
VERSES:
Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken....(Psalm 55:22)
PRAYER:

Heavenly Father, in You alone do I both my trust and faith as the Leader and Lord of my life. Father You have been there for me all the time, even when I walked away from You countless times and did not follow Your precepts and statutes. You called me into the Kingdom of Your marvelous Light, but yet in my disobedience, many times I preferred to walk in darkness. In those times oh Lord, You were still with me, You never leaved me or forsake me because You had Your calling on my life as You do with all whom You have called out of the Egypt of despair, into the Promised Land of Eternal Destiny and Joy.

When there is adversity, You are there. When there is trouble and despair, You are there. When there is doubt. You are there. When there is fear and trembling, You are there. When there is persecution and hate against Your people, You are there. Where there is no vision or hope, You are there.

You sustain the world by the Word of Your Mouth. You speak life and hope into the atmosphere and the people rejoice. You shake the Heavens and let the snow and hail fly, in times of war and battle such as now, and Your remnant stand in amazement. The world does not know You, the religious and the rulers issue documents and like Nimrod claim man's authority over the Climate You created and still control. They and their modern day scribes and pharisees claim precedence over Your Word and rewrite the code of civilization and family which You have ordained. They blaspheme You by bowing down to other useless and worthless idols who can never create a child, or explain the crops of the field or the birds of the air, and they pay more respect and honor to non-existent idols and prophets You never sent or ordained.

But You will never allow Your righteous, Your true elect to whom You have positioned as the saved, to those whom You have made righteous and now are blameless as those bought under the Precious Blood of the Most Righteous One, Whose Body was never abandoned to sheol but went down and knocked over the gates of hell and told death Who had won the Victory! O death, where is thy sting now! Thank You Jesus for defeating death and for now sitting on the Right Hand of the Sovereign One and Satan, you, evil one, have no authority, no claim, no right, no open door, no nothing on the Called ones- the Christian made right by God - because Jesus has defeated you.  Be gone, and get thee behind me and all who are Christ's.

Because Jesus Christ is my Lord, and the Lord of the millions and millions of this world, whom He has saved, we can lay our burdens at His Feet. Because He is Our Shepherd, we shall want no good thing, and no good thing means being apart from the greed and desires of this world. Because He is my Savior, we cast ALL our cares upon Him, for in the end, what it is all said and done, He cares for me and it is in the strong and mighty Name of Jesus I believe that promise, stand on that precept and follow that Good Protector and Provider and Proconsul, the Lord of Heavens' Armies, amen and amen - from now until the end of time and my days, amen.

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY SIXTEEN:
VERSES:
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1)

PRAYER

O most Merciful, Compassionate and Holy God, Your Name is Wonderful. Your Name is too Wonderful and being in Your Presence is too awe-inspiring to behold. I thank you for this new day of mercies, compassion and love because of Your Great Faithfulness, they never cease as You give rest and renewal to Your beloved in our sleep.

Oh Good Shepherd, we are in so grateful that You lead us, care for us, rescue us, nourish, guide and direct us. Your supernatural instincts is that none should perish, that none should be lost, that none should fall into a trap set by the foxes of this world. But Your pre-determined plan was, is and will always be for us to follow You, to stay out of the thicket of sin and to dwell in the green pastures You have ordained for Your elect, Your people.

We live in times where every one does what is right in their own eyes. We are surrounded by the false doctrine of the gods and the lost of this world who say that all religions, all systems no matter how vile, violent or void of any sort of human decency, love and mercy, those people, from the top of most so-called religious to the rulers of this world, say these things lead to You. And they are correct, these systems dreamed up by man do lead to You. They have an appointment before the Holy High Priest of Heaven and His Great White Throne when all the books are open and Judgment begins. 

But yea, though Your people are persecuted, have their churches and villages burned and their children beheaded or sold into slavery, yea, do they and too many oppressed in their spirit - those who are captives all over to world, to sin, self and satan...yea though they walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, may they fear no evil. Because by the hook of Your Shepherd's rod, we know You doth pull us out of the pit. We know that Thy Rod and Thy Staff comfort the broken-hearted; keeps the temporarily blind and disobedient from falling into a trap and keeps us moving in the direction we should go.

Thank You, heavenly Father, for Your Amazing Plan to send the Good Shepherd Jesus, for His Work, while finished on the Cross for the Salvation of the World, continues even now as He intercedes and advocates our case minute by minute before Thy Throne, since we are His flock. Father, thank You with all our hearts, that the Great Lamb of God, sacrificed and sent to us, is now the Great Shepherd of His little lambs. I would rather be one of His Sheep, following my Master, resting in the Truth of His leadership of my life, than a king or a rich man in this dirty dying world of sinful death. The Lord, He is my Shepherd, and I will never want any other, or any other thing. In that promise, I abide in my leader, and am thus, able to need nothing else, but Jesus and it is in His Name I pray, amen. Oh thank You, most Gracious God, thank You. Amen.

THE KINGDOM IS FOR A CHILD... PART 1

But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matthew 19:14 NASB)

Many people...and not just the lost secular ones, but Christians look askance at young people and children as to be quiet and "wait their turn". It is NOT so in the Kingdom of God. Do NOT despise, look down or treat our children - who seek the Lord - as those who don't know what they are talking about. They could well be saved and called by the Lord than some adult in a pew, including the guy up there preaching!

Here is the LORD JESUS on this from Matthew 18 NLT: "10 "Beware that you don't despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father. 11 12 "If a shepherd has one hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one? 13 And if he finds it, he will surely rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish.

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)