Love the Good Shepherd...

John  21:16 ~ Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."  

We are called as was Peter to take and even more. We have talked about the great commission before us - Go out and make disciples of all nations. This is essentially taking care of His sheep. And, by our obeying the most important commandment "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" ~ Mark  12:30, we are also taking care of His sheep. How is that? 

Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength leaves little room for loving the things of this world. This is His commandment...so, we are to put God first not only because He asks, and not only because we are His but because its for His glory and our own good in the end that we glorify Him in this fallen world and glorify Him alone by first dying to ourselves.

 

You see, in that passage John 21:16 and Mark 12:30 are tied together. How? Let's first look at John 21:16 as to what was actually happening and what the message was.

The Lord addressed Peter by his original name, as if he had forfeited that of Peter through his denying him.  Peter answered, You know that I love thee; but without professing to love Jesus more than others. We must not be surprised to have our sincerity called into question, when we ourselves have done that which makes it doubtful. Every remembrance of past sins, even pardoned sins, renews the sorrow of a true penitent.

We need to have a conscious integrity as we walk with Christ and for Him now as we have been called to do. We must solemnly appeal to Christ, as He (who is Jesus Christ the Son of God) knows all things, even the secrets of our heart. For, it is through our failures and mistakes we are made more humble and watchful. 

You see, all in all...the sincerity of our love to God must be brought to the test; and it behooves us to inquire with earnest, preserving prayer to the heart-searching God, to examine and prove us, whether we are able to stand this test. Why? Because of what we read in Mark 12:30 ...love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. 

No one can be qualified to tend/feed the sheep and lambs of Christ, who does not love the Good Shepherd more than any earthly advantage or object.

A Good Friday Message...

Luke 19: 11- 27 ~ Parable of the Ten Servants

The crowd was listening to everything Jesus said. And because he was nearing Jerusalem, he told them a story to correct the impression that the Kingdom of God would begin right away. He said, “A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’

“After he was crowned king, he returned and called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what their profits were. The first servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made ten times the original amount!’

“‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

“The next servant reported, ‘Master, I invested your money and made five times the original amount.’

“‘Well done!’ the king said. ‘You will be governor over five cities.’

“But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, ‘Master, I hid your money and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with, taking what isn’t yours and harvesting crops you didn’t plant.’

“‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then, turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who has ten pounds.’

“‘But, master,’ they said, ‘he already has ten pounds!’

“‘Yes,’ the king replied, ‘and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. And as for these enemies of mine who didn’t want me to be their king—bring them in and execute them right here in front of me.’”

Why deliver this parable today? Because, Jesus died for our sin and now we are asked to do something for Him and His Kingdom. Go out and make disciples! 
 
The Great Commission ~ Matthew 28: 18-20.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”…

Narrow is the Door to God's Kingdom...

Jesus replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’ ~ Luke 13:24-27.

The teaching of the Master here is, that the door of salvation is a narrow one, and, to pass through it, the man must strive in real earnest. "See," he seems to say; "if only few are saved, it will not be because the Jews are few and the Gentile nations many, but because, of the Jews and Gentiles, only a few really strive. Something different from race or national privileges will be the test at that narrow door which leads to life. "Many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able." The reason for the exclusion of these many is to be sought in themselves. They wished to enter in, but confined themselves to wishes. They made no strong, vigorous efforts. Theirs was no life of stern self-surrender, of painful self-sacrifice. To wish to pass through that narrow door is not enough. MH

In my lay terms.... people who wish or 'dream about' entering will not as they lay sleeping thinking that they are already good to go. But, sinners that seek to find the door will be saved! This means that those who think themselves righteous (as having no sin) will lay sleeping wishing 'dreaming' about heaven but will not enter. And, those that know they are sinners will be looking for the door and will find it.

You see, 'work hard' is about 'faith' in the Lord. In this world, faith in God alone to provide everything you need and trust Him 100% that He will make good on His promise (Salvation~ loving you and forgiving your sin) is difficult work. So... difficult in fact that its all that God asks. Faith is the bedrock for us to produce fruits of the spirit... to go out and make disciples.

Worshiping false gods and post modern idolatry...

Like pagans of the past, we are just as capable as they were of creating gods in our own image. We’re just as likely to put our family or job in the place of God. We’re just as apt to try to meet God on our own terms, to take our personal and cultural desires and live as though these are the ways to reach out to God. We are just as willing to listen to the clamoring of surrounding culture and pretend as though these are the whispers of divine guidance. These otherwise good gifts of God become, instead, substitute deities, blinding us to the truth of the true God’s self-revelation.

We’re also just as likely as our “primitive” ancestors to find our ethics corrupted because we’ve put our ultimate hope in a limited thing. They called it “god,” but we call it ideology, identity, or progress. The effect is the same. We have placed our hope and seek our meaning in finite goods then wonder why our frail gods fail us.

We worship our autonomy then are shocked that abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia “suddenly” become palatable to the wider culture. We exalt sexual expression above all other goods then are puzzled that yesterday’s common sense ethic is today seen as the vilest bigotry and hatred. We treat gender and ethnic identities as the most important thing about us then we are amazed that our social fabric frays more each day. We disdain any understanding of God that violates our own desires, then we wonder that this “god” becomes a plaything for our worst impulses rather than the Creator of all. Our gods are too small.

We most often think of the dangers of idolatry in terms of disloyalty and infidelity, and this is true, but along with these failings come the inevitable destructive effects that our little gods have on our lives. Whenever we limit God to our personal, cultural, or ideological imaginations, He ceases to be the God of Heaven and becomes instead merely the projection of our passions and desires.

When we put our political agendas, national patriotism, or even our otherwise good works at the center of our understanding, then these demi-gods will not lift us up to the skies but bring us down to our lowest level. A god bound by the limitations of our preferences and confined by our judgments will only deify our already corrupted desires.

The above text was provided by ~ Breakpoints-  Timothy D Padgett
Category: Christian Worldview, Timothy D Padgett. April 5, 2019