The Shepherd

Hello there! It has definitely been a little while since I have wrote on here. These past couple months I have been doing a lot more reading than writing. I have fallen in love with both and they go hand in hand together! In the season of pioneering, we have been learning how to be “self-feeders,” learning how to read God’s Word for ourselves and how to be dependent only on God. I have been reading a few books and there are two books that have impacted me deeply. They both speak of the character of Jesus, His actions, His words, and His love for us. (A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller & Gentle & Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane Ortlund")

In Gentle & Lowly, a big takeaway and reminder that I needed in my life is that “when we sin, the very heart of Christ is drawn out to us.” I believe that God has an infinite amount of love & grace for His people when we sin. However, sometimes I say that I wholeheartedly believe that for others, yet when it comes to myself I do not receive His grace. I dwell on it, I beat myself up instead of coming to Jesus’s feet. In the book, the author expands on John 6:37, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” & Matthew 14:14, “And he had compassion on them.” The author uses the story of the leper that Jesus runs into in Matthew 8. The leper asks, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Jesus says, “I will, be clean.” The word “will” in both the leper’s question and Jesus’s response is the Greek word for wish or desire. My heart fluttered at the fact that Jesus said “I desire to heal you.” He runs to us every time. It is simply who He is. His heart so passionately & compassionately reaches out to us and draws us into Him. Sometimes I still feel the need to clean myself up before I come to God, which is pointless because He’s already with me. Every part of His heavenly being is drawn to us in our sin. That’s why the story of Jesus is so impactful. God sent His beloved to take the shame & weight of our sin. Willingly! There was no hesitation. We were meant to be His sons & daughters who knew their place with their Father, who knows that we can come to Him knowing that He will forgive us because He’s already paid the price for us. He cares so much that He gives us His Holy Spirit to show us more of the nature and character of God. I could go on about this book, but I recommend that you read it instead.

In A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, the author is writing his observance of Psalm 23 as an actual shepherd. He breaks down each part of the Psalm and gives so much more meaning behind each part. The part that really spoke to me was when he referred to “He restores my soul.” Sometimes we are distressed and need restoring. Sometimes sheep get cast down which means that a sheep has turned over on its back and cannot get up again by itself. It is helplessly stuck. If the shepherd does not arrive on time, the sheep will die. When sheep are missing, the shepherd urgently searches for the missing sheep because time is of the essence if they are cast down. “One of the great revelations of the heart of God given to us by Christ is that of Himself as our Shepherd. He has the same identical sensations of anxiety, concern, and compassion for cast men and women as I had for cast sheep…..It explains His magnanimous dealing with down-and-out individuals for whom even human society had no use. It reveals why He wept over those who spurned His affection. It discloses the depth of His understanding of undone people to whom He came eagerly and quickly , ready to help, to save, and to restore.” Even as believers we become cast down sometimes. The author talks about how sheep choose very soft and comfy parts of the land to rest, yet it is dangerous because they can roll onto their backs and not get back up, therefore becoming cast. Is that not like us sometimes?? Sometimes we become too comfortable and never suffer hardship, nor have need for endurance, no demand on self-discipline. This actually a dangerous spot for us, too. When we don’t depend on the Lord and let Him lead us through the pastures Himself, we become comfortable and trick ourselves into thinking we are in control or we have it all together. But usually that happens right before we fall.

I realize I want to be/need to be desperate for God every day. Sometimes it looks like being very uncomfortable, but that is okay because I want to be so close to the Shepherd because I know He has my best interest at heart. He actually runs to me when I become cast down and desires to set me back on my feet. Jesus is so beautiful. There is so much to learn about His heart. I pray & desire that you will fall in love with the genuine, real love that Jesus has to offer you every day.