{"id":2293,"date":"2012-10-06T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-06T07:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2012-10-06T07:32:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-06T07:32:00","slug":"the-good-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/?p=2293","title":{"rendered":"THE GOOD SHEPHERD"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE GOOD SHEPHERD<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cRemember the words of the Lord Jesus<\/em>, how He said,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep \u2014 and My sheep know Me.\u201d <\/em>\u2014 John 10:14<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Good Shepherd\u201d<\/em> \u2014 well can the sheep who know His voice, attest the truthfulness and faithfulness of this endearing name and word. Where would they have been through eternity \u2014 had He not left His throne of light and glory, traveling down to this dark valley of the curse, and giving His life <\/strong>a ransom for them? Think of His love to each separate member of the flock \u2014 wandering over pathless wilds with unwearied patience and unquenchable ardor, ceasing <\/strong>not the pursuit \u2014 until<\/em> He finds it.<\/p>\n

Think of His love now \u2014 <\/em>\u201cI AM the Good Shepherd.\u201d Still that tender eye of watchfulness <\/em>following the guilty wanderers \u2014 the <\/strong>glories of Heaven and the songs of angels unable to dim or alter His affection \u2014 the music of the words, at this moment coming as sweetly from His lips as when first He uttered them, \u201cI know My sheep.\u201d Every individual believer \u2014 the weakest, the weariest, the faintest \u2014 claims His attention. His loving eye follows me day by day out to the wilderness \u2014 marks out my pasture, studies my needs, and trials, and sorrows, and perplexities \u2014 every steep <\/strong>ascent, every brook, every winding path, every thorny <\/strong>thicket!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe goes before them.\u201d <\/em>It is not rough driving \u2014 but gentle guiding<\/em>. He does not take them over an unknown road; He Himself has trodden it before. He has drunk of every \u201cbrook by the way;\u201d He Himself has \u201csuffered being tempted;\u201d He is \u201cable to support those who are tempted.\u201d He seems to say, \u201cFear not! I cannot lead you wrong; follow Me in the bleak wasteland, the blackened wilderness \u2014 as well as by the green pastures and the still waters. Do you ask why I have left the sunny side of the valley \u2014 carpeted with flowers, and bathed in sunshine \u2014 leading you to some high mountain alone, some cheerless spot of sorrow? Trust Me! I will lead you by paths you have not known \u2014 but they are all known to<\/em> Me, and selected by<\/em> Me \u2014 Follow Me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sheep know Me!\u201d<\/em> Reader! can you subscribe to these closing words of this gracious utterance? Do you \u201cknow\u201d Him in all the glories of His person<\/em> \u2014 in all the completeness of His finished work<\/em> \u2014 in all the tenderness and unutterable love of His every dealing <\/em>towards you?<\/p>\n

It has been remarked by Palestine travelers, that not only do the sheep there follow the guiding shepherd \u2014 but even while eating the herbage as they go along, they look wistfully up to see that they are near <\/em>him. Is this your attitude \u2014 \u201clooking unto Jesus?\u201d <\/em>\u201cIn all your ways acknowledge Him \u2014 and He will direct your paths.\u201d Leave the future \u2014 to His providing. \u201cThe Lord is my Shepherd \u2014 I shall not lack.\u201d I shall<\/em> not lack!<\/em> \u2014 it has been beautifully called \u201cthe bleating of Messiah\u2019s sheep.\u201d Take it as your watchword during your wilderness wanderings, until grace <\/em>is perfected in glory<\/em>. Let this be the record of your simple faith and unwavering trust, \u201cThese <\/strong>are those who follow \u2014 wherever He <\/strong>sees fit to guide them.\u201d \u201cHis sheep follow Him \u2014 for they know His voice.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John MacDuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE GOOD SHEPHERD \u201cRemember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said,\u201d \u201cI am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep \u2014 and My sheep know Me.\u201d \u2014 John 10:14 \u201cThe Good Shepherd\u201d \u2014 well can the sheep who know His voice, attest the truthfulness and faithfulness of this endearing name and word. Where […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,61,72,34,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-john-macduff","category-believers-assurance","category-christ-and-his-church","category-gods-love","category-pictures-and-types"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2295,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2293\/revisions\/2295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}