PSALM 23<\/b><\/p>\n
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.\u2026 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me<\/i><\/p>\n
(Ps. 23:1, 4)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Whenever anyone comes face to face with the glory of God, they inevitably respond with fear. Ezekiel, the disciples, Moses, Isaiah, and others who beheld the glory of God all fell on their faces, terrified. The humble shepherds who watched their flocks outside of Bethlehem certainly responded in this way when suddenly the glory of the Lord shone about them. They had never seen anything so glorious, so frightfully pure.<\/p>\n
But God did not leave them trembling. The angel said, \u201cDo not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.\u201d In the same way, God does not leave us in a state of terror, but He comforts us, cares for us, and fills us with joy. That\u2019s because Christ is our Good Shepherd, the episkopos, or bishop, of our souls.<\/p>\n
A bishop is an overseer, one who watches over the flock entrusted to his care. The New Testament church appointed men to be overseers, to proclaim the Word, to instruct the people, to care for their physical and spiritual needs, and to protect them from the dangers of this world through warning and exhortation.<\/p>\n
One of the greatest examples we have of a faithful shepherd, aside from Christ Himself, is Paul. Think about the various ways he fulfilled his duties as an overseer. He prayed for the churches, made provision for the poor, taught good and sound doctrine, exhorted the congregations, trained others for the ministry, suffered for the church, encouraged the weak and humbled the proud, disciplined the wayward, and restored the penitent. By faithfully watching over the churches entrusted to his care, Paul emulated Christ, the Shepherd of our souls.<\/p>\n
Isaiah, who beheld the awesome majesty of the Lord, cried, \u201cWoe is me for I am undone!\u201d when he came face to face with the glory of God. Yet he also wrote one of the most tender descriptions of the gentleness of our Lord: \u201cHe will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.\u201d While you must fear the Lord in all His glory, remember that He is also your Good Shepherd who makes you lie down in green pastures, leads you beside the still waters, and restores your disquieted soul.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 33\u201334<\/p>\n
Luke 1:24\u201356<\/p>\n
Pray today for your pastors, elders, and deacons. Write your pastor (and associate pastors) a letter encouraging them and thanking them for faithfully watching over their flock and caring for you. If you have problems with your pastor, pray that God will help him to be a faithful shepherd, following Christ\u2019s example.<\/p>\n
For further study: Isa. 40 \u2022 John 10 \u2022 Heb. 13:7\u201325<\/i><\/p>\n
thursday<\/p>\n
march<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PSALM 23 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.\u2026 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me (Ps. 23:1, 4). Whenever anyone comes face to face with the glory of God, they inevitably respond with fear. Ezekiel, the disciples, … Continue reading “OUR GOOD SHEPHERD”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12937\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}