John 10:1-5 Amplified Bible
Parable of the Good Shepherd
10 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from some other place [on the stone wall], that one is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider]. 3 The [a]doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture]. 4 When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Whose Voice Are We Following?
Internet, iPad, iPod—the “I”s certainly have it today!
At home and at work we call on Siri, we talk into our phones, we sit or stand or lie down in our living rooms or dining rooms, of kitchens or even bathrooms.
We will talk into our television remotes and search for a particular favorite channel or programming station, for whatever it is they call entertainment.
We call out to some voice identified only as Siri and ask her or tell her to call up some random search parameter – a recipe, or a song or list of vacation spots or whatever happens to land into our wandering randomized thought processes.
And in an instant a disconnected computer voice from our phones or Alexa chimes in with “okay, this is what I found…!” and we are on our way to read whatever information was “found” in less time it took to type this sentence.
At the beach, in the department store, on the college campus, everywhere people have “earbuds” wireless listening devices planted deep in their ears.
While both technology and music are gifts of God, I hope we also take time to listen to the springtime chatter of robins or to the hoot cry of a Barn Owl.
What we hear and what and who we listen to makes a difference in our lives.
What information we hear, and who we hear it from, will end up profoundly influencing our thought processes and will inevitably guide our actions, into how we respond to a particular life altering, life transforming circumstance.
How we make decisions, how we judge what is morally and ethically right and wrong, how we interpret whether what we see and hear is truth or a deception.
People will tell us anything to sell their products and increase their profits and their bank accounts, to sell us a bill of goods which ultimately has little value.
Do you read or listen to, or hear the lyrics of the songs your children listen to?
Do you take any quality time with your children to discuss their song choices?
Together, do you come to a place where you can share your thoughts with them, they can share their thoughts with you – come unto an “acceptable boundary?”
Do you know what they are hearing and how it impacts what both of you have both come to be known as “morally and ethically right versus wrong” truth?
Jesus is the good shepherd.
Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6)
He laid down his life for us on the Good Friday cross.
If we are to follow Jesus and avoid impostors, we must recognize his voice clearly and quickly in every situation we encounter.
To do that, we ought to be considering counseling others away from technology and spending more time studying, hearing, listening, to his Word in the Bible.
Spending quality devotional time with the children (whatever their ages are).
Talking about current events, their impacts on what is understood to be true.
There are words spoken through whatever social media medium which are worded with the intent of moving their version of truth into our forefronts.
“Words of someone else’s truth” specifically spoken, specifically manipulated, of what someone else desperately wants us to unequivocally believe as gospel.
Differentiating between the voice of someone else’s truth and God’s truth?
What possible difference could it make, what possible influence could it have to one life knowing what the difference is between the world’s truth and God’s?
Love Letter to my Ears, “Whose Truth Guides Us?”
John 10:1-5 The Message
He Calls His Sheep by Name
10 1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”
When I became a new Christian, hearing and knowing God’s voice and differentiating from the world were the things I struggled the most with.
How could I know whether I was hearing from God when I didn’t know His voice?
How could I be sure the Lord was speaking to me while reading Scripture, listening to a sermon, or going to Sunday school or a Bible study lesson?
I was so afraid of missing God’s instructions, warning, and encouragement that I often found myself paralyzed by raging questions of faith, my truth and doubt.
Sorting through what I had “known and believed” was truth and what the Word of God, the often complicated “Parable” teachings of Jesus and Paul was tough.
Unraveling and un-weaving of the mess I made of my own interpretation of the word truth along the long, winding and hardened concourse of my life – was a complex time of hardcore self introspection, challenging my life against God’s.
As I began studying the Bible, I learned how God’s voice matched the Scriptures.
Thus, if I wanted to know what God had to say on a particular topic, I had to devote considerable time to studying, to know what the Bible said on that topic.
If I heard a voice and was unsure whether or not that voice was the Lord’s, the Bible through Holy Spirit, would work with me to confirm whether it was Him.
I have learned the hard and soft way God’s voice will never contradict the Bible.
If the voice you’re hearing is encouraging you to take Scripture out of context to make it fit your situation, the voice is not of God and the truth is not of God too.
We can grow, we can mature to learn and discern God’s voice by studying the Holy Scriptures, praying, and asking and pleading with our Savior to teach us.
God invites us (not forces us) to ask and answer the question on all our minds:
In this time when our available resources are stretched nigh to invisibility;
Isaiah 55:1-5 The Message
Buy Without Money
55 1-5 “Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless?
Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”
Jesus, the good shepherd, says, “Listen, listen to me … that you may live.”
Those who have ears, let them truthfully hear and let them truthfully live!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Precious Holy Spirit, I come to you today asking for guidance. I feel lost and overwhelmed, and I need your help in finding my way. Please open my eyes and heart to the direction you want me to take. Help me to make wise decisions that will lead me closer to your path for my life. Give me the strength and courage to persevere when times are difficult. Lead me with your truth and love, so that I may live a life that brings glory to your name. Thank you for your guidance and protection. Amen.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 