Dear Student of the Word,
I am sitting in my seminary class but wanted to get this week's study out to you. I missed last week because of school work, but I'm back on schedule now as classes wind down. This week, we move into John 10 where Jesus preached that He was the light of life and He had come to give life abundantly, as He confronted and was confronted by the Jewish leaders. This week I wrote on day two of this seven-day study:
Jesus is the shepherd of the sheep. It seems that shepherds sometimes put their sheep into a pen with stone walls, even mixing flocks. Yet when the shepherd came and called his sheep, those who were his would come out immediately to follow him. Jesus was using an analogy and metaphor that His audience would have easily understood. When you teach, do you do the same? You are a teacher, aren’t you?
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! (Hebrews 5:11-12).
Jesus was indicating that there were those who are His, assigned to Him by the Father, and they will know His voice and follow Him. We just saw that a man born blind was one of those the Father gave Him, but the leaders of Israel, including the Pharisees, were not among those given to Him. They did not know is voice, but God held them accountable that they did not.
So do you know the voice of God? You probably do even more than you realize. It is my opinion that God is always speaking to you and me. For instance, we often say, “Something told me to take my umbrella!” No, it wasn’t something, it was Someone! When I hear people say, “I don’t hear God,” I don’t believe it. Usually when I pursue it, I find they do but they just haven’t understood the process or how He speaks.
After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too” (1 Kings 19:12-14).
So in light of this, what is God saying to you at this point in time?
v. 4 – Jesus is your leader. He leads you and you follow Him. That is why it’s so important to recognize that He is speaking to you, whether through His Word, His still, small voice or other people. Don’t over-spiritualize this process. It is as simple as a shepherd leading his sheep.
As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. You can write them or find the studies to Corinthians, Colossians, First Timothy, and Matthew's and Mark's gospels on the site where this week's entry is posted. You can also go there to sign up to receive each week's study.
Plus my website archives contains a complete collection of all
my verse-by-verse Bible studies from Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans,
1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2
Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, Hebrews
and Revelation, along with the unpublished volumes of The Faith Files.
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1. THE SOPHIA FUND UPDATE: $155 came in last week for The Fund and I wired $500 to be used in Zimbabwe. As I reported last week, I am having more fun with this than any one person should be allowed to have and thank you for your faithful support. Yet the purpose of the Fund is not fun, for we are using the money to feed AIDS orphans and widows in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
I wrote an update and a thank you for those who have given to the Fund two weeks ago and you can read it here. You can also read about my rationale for The Fund here (named after my late mother) that will help feed widows and orphans in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Please consider a contribution of at least $5 toward the fund and hopefully more. You can use the "Chipin" widget on the Monday Memo site to contribute, or go directly to my website to contribute there through PayPal, or send a tax-deductible check to PurposeQuest, PO Box 91099, Pittsburgh, PA 15221. Make sure you let me know it is for The Sophia Fund. Don't delay; give today and make a difference in the world.
If you give a gift of $25 or more during the month of June, I will send you a free copy of my book, Strictly Business, while supplies last (I sent out five last week). Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you play a part in addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS and world hunger.
2. REVELATION: I still need your help. I still cannot find a publisher for an important book I have written, which is a devotional focusing on the book of Revelation. So I feel an urgent need to self-publish this work, which will cost about $2,500. I wrote about this project in my blog a few months ago and encourage you to read what I wrote there. You can also read some sample excerpts of the book here.
In that post, I explain my urgency in wanting to get it out for people to read. Once you read my rationale, please consider if the Lord wants you to help me to restore an important book of the Bible that has been obscured by so many weird interpretations. I was ready to remove this appeal this week, but I sense someone is out there who is going to help. Just do whatever God is telling you to do.
3. DAILY PROVERB: I am now posting a short daily devotional focusing on one verse every day on my blog site. If you would like to read it or subscribe to receive it, just go to my site and register there. I promise to have it updated every day.
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