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John 10:11, 12a, 13-14, 16 - (Jesus said) "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand ... flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. ... And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd."
If you want a dog to herd your flock of sheep, you may want to take a look at a Border Collie. If you want a dog to protect your sheep, you need to get a Great Pyrenees. The "Pyr," which looks like a white St. Bernard, is willing to fight and to die in the protection of the flock.
Roland Hendel of Santa Rosa, California, had two such dogs. One protected their flock of goats during the day; the other did the same job through the night.
When the wildfires started to cross the valley toward his home, Hendel decided to evacuate. He got his children, their dogs and cats. Sadly, the goats had to be left behind. There was no room for them.
On his Facebook page, Hendel wrote, "Odin, our stubborn and fearless Great Pyrenees would not leave the goats."
As they drove away, the family cried because they were certain they were saying goodbye to their dog and their goats. It took some time before Hendel and his family could return to what once had been their home. The house was gone, and some of the trees were still smoldering when they arrived.
Everyone agreed that nothing living could have survived that inferno.
Everyone agreed, that is, except for the goats who showed up, seemingly out of nowhere. And Odin, their dedicated caretaker? Well, Odin didn't run to them. His limping leg prevented that. Nevertheless, Odin did show up, along with a few baby deer who, like the flock, had been preserved, in some miraculous way, by that big hero of a dog.
Two-thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the "Good Shepherd."
Everyone agreed nobody could ever survive that cross. And everyone would be right. Jesus did die.
But Jesus also ended up defeating death. He showed to all the world He was alive, and instructed His undershepherds to increase the size of the flock. They were to bring in all who had been saved by the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we, like sheep have gone astray. On our own we would have died. But we have been saved by the Good Shepherd who laid down His life to save us. May we gladly follow Him all the days of our lives. In His Name we pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one carried by CBS a Francisco Bay Area on October 16, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: click here.
John 10:11, 12a, 13-14, 16 - (Jesus said) "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand ... flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me. ... And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd."
If you want a dog to herd your flock of sheep, you may want to take a look at a Border Collie. If you want a dog to protect your sheep, you need to get a Great Pyrenees. The "Pyr," which looks like a white St. Bernard, is willing to fight and to die in the protection of the flock.
Roland Hendel of Santa Rosa, California, had two such dogs. One protected their flock of goats during the day; the other did the same job through the night.
When the wildfires started to cross the valley toward his home, Hendel decided to evacuate. He got his children, their dogs and cats. Sadly, the goats had to be left behind. There was no room for them.
On his Facebook page, Hendel wrote, "Odin, our stubborn and fearless Great Pyrenees would not leave the goats."
As they drove away, the family cried because they were certain they were saying goodbye to their dog and their goats. It took some time before Hendel and his family could return to what once had been their home. The house was gone, and some of the trees were still smoldering when they arrived.
Everyone agreed that nothing living could have survived that inferno.
Everyone agreed, that is, except for the goats who showed up, seemingly out of nowhere. And Odin, their dedicated caretaker? Well, Odin didn't run to them. His limping leg prevented that. Nevertheless, Odin did show up, along with a few baby deer who, like the flock, had been preserved, in some miraculous way, by that big hero of a dog.
Two-thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus Christ referred to Himself as the "Good Shepherd."
- In the verses which followed that statement, Jesus explained exactly what that term meant to Him.
- It meant that because He loved His sheep He would lay down His life to save them.
- It meant that He knew His flock, and they would follow Him to safety.
- It meant that He would call together a great flock of those who trusted His voice.
Everyone agreed nobody could ever survive that cross. And everyone would be right. Jesus did die.
But Jesus also ended up defeating death. He showed to all the world He was alive, and instructed His undershepherds to increase the size of the flock. They were to bring in all who had been saved by the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, we, like sheep have gone astray. On our own we would have died. But we have been saved by the Good Shepherd who laid down His life to save us. May we gladly follow Him all the days of our lives. In His Name we pray. Amen.
The above devotion was inspired by a number of sources, including one carried by CBS a Francisco Bay Area on October 16, 2017. Those who wish to reference that article may do so at the following link, which was fully functional at the time this devotion was written: click here.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: Jeremiah 41-42; Hebrews 11:1-19
Jeremiah 41:1 In the seventh month Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, the son of Elishama, of royal blood and one of the chief officials of the king, came with ten men to G’dalyahu in Mitzpah. While eating a meal together there in Mitzpah, 2 Yishma‘el and the ten men with him rose and attacked G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, the son of Shafan, struck him with their swords, and assassinated the man whom the king of Bavel had appointed governor of the land. 3 Yishma‘el also murdered all the Judeans who were with G’dalyahu at Mitzpah, as well as the Kasdim soldiers they found there.
4 The next day, before his assassination of G’dalyahu had become known, 5 eighty men from Sh’khem, Shiloh and Shomron came with beards shaved off, clothes torn and gashes on their bodies; they had grain offerings and frankincense with them to present in the house of Adonai. 6 Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu went out from Mitzpah to meet them, weeping all along the way; on meeting them, he said to them, “Come to G’dalyahu the son of Achikam.” 7 But once they were inside the city, Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu and the men with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern. 8 However, ten of them said to Yishma‘el, “Don’t kill us, for we have stores of wheat, barley, olive oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he relented, and did not kill them along with their comrades. 9 The cistern in which Yishma‘el threw the corpses of the men he had murdered with G’dalyahu was the one Asa the king had made in fear of Ba‘asha king of Isra’el; it was this cistern that Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu filled with the slaughtered men. 10 Then Yishma‘el carried off captive the rest of the people in Mitzpah — the king’s daughters and all the people left in Mitzpah, whom N’vuzar’adan the commander of the guard had committed to the care of G’dalyahu the son of Achikam. Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu carried them off captive and left to cross over to the people of ‘Amon.
11 When Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him heard of all the crimes committed by Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, 12 they took all the men and went to attack Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu. They found him by the big pool in Giv‘on. 13 When all Yishma‘el’s captives saw Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him, they were overjoyed. 14 So all the people Yishma‘el had carried off captive from Mitzpah turned and joined Yochanan the son of Kareach. 15 But Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu escaped from Yochanan with eight men and went on to the people of ‘Amon. 16 Yochanan the son of Kareach and the military commanders with him then took all the rest of the people he had freed from Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, those Yishma‘el had taken from Mitzpah after assassinating G’dalyahu the son of Achikam — the heroes, the soldiers, the women, the children and the officers he had brought back from Giv‘on — 17 and they left there to stay at Kimham’s Lodge, near Beit-Lechem, intending to go on to Egypt 18 and thus escape the Kasdim. They were afraid of them, because Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu had murdered G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, whom the king of Bavel had appointed governor of the land.
42:1 Then all the military commanders, Yochanan the son of Kareach, Y’zanyah the son of Hosha‘yah and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached 2 and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, “I beg you, approve our request: pray for us to Adonai your God for all of this remnant. For, while once we were numerous, only a few of us are left, as you can see. 3 Pray that Adonai your God will tell us what direction to take and what to do.”
4 Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them: “I hear you. All right, I will pray to Adonai your God, as you have asked. And whatever Adonai answers you, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.” 5 They said to Yirmeyahu, “May Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do any part of what Adonai your God gives you to tell us. 6 Whether it be good or bad, we will listen to what Adonai our God says. We are dispatching you to him so that things will go well with us, as we heed what Adonai our God says.”
7 Ten days later the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu. 8 So he called Yochanan the son of Kareach, all the military commanders with him and all the people, from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “You sent me to present your request to Adonai the God of Isra’el. This is what he says: 10 ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up, not pull you down; I will plant you and not uproot you; for I am relenting from the calamity I inflicted on you. 11 Don’t be afraid of the king of Bavel — of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Adonai, ‘for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. 12 I will take pity on you, so that he will take pity on you and cause you to return to your own land.
13 “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ thereby not heeding what Adonai your God is saying, 14 and instead say, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt; because there we will not see war or hear the shofar sounding its alarm or be short of food; so we’ll stay there’; 15 then hear what Adonai says, remnant of Y’hudah — this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and stay there, 16 the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, of which you are afraid, will pursue you relentlessly there in Egypt; and there you will die. 17 This is how it will be for all the people determined to go to Egypt and stay there — they will die by sword, famine and plague; none of them will remain or escape the disaster that I will bring upon them.’ 18 For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so likewise my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt; so that you will become an object of condemnation, astonishment, cursing and reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
19 “Adonai has spoken concerning you, remnant of Y’hudah! Don’t go to Egypt! You know for a fact that I have given you fair warning today. 20 For you have been behaving deceitfully, against your own interests. You sent me to Adonai your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Adonai our God; tell us everything Adonai our God says, and we will do it.’ 21 Today I have told it to you, but you haven’t heeded any part of what Adonai your God gave me to tell you. 22 Therefore, know for a fact that you will die by sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go and live.”
Hebrews 11:1 Trusting[Hebrews 11:1 Habakkuk 2:4] is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. 2 It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old.
3 By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.
4 By trusting, Hevel offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead.
5 By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.[Hebrews 11:5 Genesis 5:24] 6 And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
7 By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting.
8 By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out[Hebrews 11:8 Genesis 12:1] to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. 9 By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.
11 By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. 12 Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky,
and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.[Hebrews 11:12 Genesis 15:5–6; 22:17; 32:13(12); Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22]
13 All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[Hebrews 11:13 1 Chronicles 29:15] 14 For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. 15 Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; 16 but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz’chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises, 18 to whom it had been said, “What is called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”[Hebrews 11:18 Genesis 21:12] 19 For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him.
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11 When Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him heard of all the crimes committed by Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, 12 they took all the men and went to attack Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu. They found him by the big pool in Giv‘on. 13 When all Yishma‘el’s captives saw Yochanan the son of Kareach and all the military commanders with him, they were overjoyed. 14 So all the people Yishma‘el had carried off captive from Mitzpah turned and joined Yochanan the son of Kareach. 15 But Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu escaped from Yochanan with eight men and went on to the people of ‘Amon. 16 Yochanan the son of Kareach and the military commanders with him then took all the rest of the people he had freed from Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu, those Yishma‘el had taken from Mitzpah after assassinating G’dalyahu the son of Achikam — the heroes, the soldiers, the women, the children and the officers he had brought back from Giv‘on — 17 and they left there to stay at Kimham’s Lodge, near Beit-Lechem, intending to go on to Egypt 18 and thus escape the Kasdim. They were afraid of them, because Yishma‘el the son of N’tanyahu had murdered G’dalyahu the son of Achikam, whom the king of Bavel had appointed governor of the land.
42:1 Then all the military commanders, Yochanan the son of Kareach, Y’zanyah the son of Hosha‘yah and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approached 2 and said to Yirmeyahu the prophet, “I beg you, approve our request: pray for us to Adonai your God for all of this remnant. For, while once we were numerous, only a few of us are left, as you can see. 3 Pray that Adonai your God will tell us what direction to take and what to do.”
4 Yirmeyahu the prophet said to them: “I hear you. All right, I will pray to Adonai your God, as you have asked. And whatever Adonai answers you, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you.” 5 They said to Yirmeyahu, “May Adonai be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do any part of what Adonai your God gives you to tell us. 6 Whether it be good or bad, we will listen to what Adonai our God says. We are dispatching you to him so that things will go well with us, as we heed what Adonai our God says.”
7 Ten days later the word of Adonai came to Yirmeyahu. 8 So he called Yochanan the son of Kareach, all the military commanders with him and all the people, from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “You sent me to present your request to Adonai the God of Isra’el. This is what he says: 10 ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up, not pull you down; I will plant you and not uproot you; for I am relenting from the calamity I inflicted on you. 11 Don’t be afraid of the king of Bavel — of whom you are afraid. Don’t be afraid of him,’ says Adonai, ‘for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his power. 12 I will take pity on you, so that he will take pity on you and cause you to return to your own land.
13 “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ thereby not heeding what Adonai your God is saying, 14 and instead say, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt; because there we will not see war or hear the shofar sounding its alarm or be short of food; so we’ll stay there’; 15 then hear what Adonai says, remnant of Y’hudah — this is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and stay there, 16 the sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, of which you are afraid, will pursue you relentlessly there in Egypt; and there you will die. 17 This is how it will be for all the people determined to go to Egypt and stay there — they will die by sword, famine and plague; none of them will remain or escape the disaster that I will bring upon them.’ 18 For here is what Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el, says: ‘Just as my anger and fury were poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so likewise my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt; so that you will become an object of condemnation, astonishment, cursing and reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
19 “Adonai has spoken concerning you, remnant of Y’hudah! Don’t go to Egypt! You know for a fact that I have given you fair warning today. 20 For you have been behaving deceitfully, against your own interests. You sent me to Adonai your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Adonai our God; tell us everything Adonai our God says, and we will do it.’ 21 Today I have told it to you, but you haven’t heeded any part of what Adonai your God gave me to tell you. 22 Therefore, know for a fact that you will die by sword, famine and plague in the place where you want to go and live.”
Hebrews 11:1 Trusting[Hebrews 11:1 Habakkuk 2:4] is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. 2 It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old.
3 By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena.
4 By trusting, Hevel offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead.
5 By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.[Hebrews 11:5 Genesis 5:24] 6 And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
7 By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting.
8 By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out[Hebrews 11:8 Genesis 12:1] to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. 9 By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God.
11 By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. 12 Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants
as numerous as the stars in the sky,
and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.[Hebrews 11:12 Genesis 15:5–6; 22:17; 32:13(12); Exodus 32:13; Deuteronomy 1:10; 10:22]
13 All these people kept on trusting until they died, without receiving what had been promised. They had only seen it and welcomed it from a distance, while acknowledging that they were aliens and temporary residents on the earth.[Hebrews 11:13 1 Chronicles 29:15] 14 For people who speak this way make it clear that they are looking for a fatherland. 15 Now if they were to keep recalling the one they left, they would have an opportunity to return; 16 but as it is, they aspire to a better fatherland, a heavenly one. This is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
17 By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz’chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises, 18 to whom it had been said, “What is called your ‘seed’ will be in Yitz’chak.”[Hebrews 11:18 Genesis 21:12] 19 For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him.
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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