Blessed Promises From The Good Shepherd

Blessed Promises from the Good Shepherd - Psa 23

Quote:

HUDSON TAYLOR(founder of China Inland Mission) used to hang in his home a plaque with two Hebrew Words on it: EBENEZER & JEHOVAH JIREH They mean ‘Hitherto hath the Lord helped us’ and ‘The Lord will see to it or provide’ One looked back while the other looked forward. One reminded him of God’s faithfulness and the other of God’s assurances.

We are all in need of assurances, security and promises for every moment since we are the sheep of His pasture. In today’s world of financial, political and emotional uncertainty everyone is looking for some kind of assurance.

Illustration:A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.

God’s presence -- "I will never leave thee" (Heb. 13:5)

God’s protection -- "I am thy shield" (Gen. 15:1)

God’s power -- "I will strengthen thee" (Isa. 41:10)

God’s provision -- "I will help thee" (Isa. 41:10)

God’s leading -- "And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them" (John 10:4)

God’s purposes -- "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 20:11)

God’s rest -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28)

God’s cleansing -- "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)

God’s goodness -- "No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly" (Psalm 84:11)

God’s faithfulness -- "The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake" (1 Sam. 12:22)

God’s guidance -- "The meek will He guide" (Psalm 25:9)

God’s wise plan -- "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28)

Our Daily Bread, January 1, 1985.

OH how the world needs assurance from the Good Shepherd who has laid down His life for the sheep. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Sheep need constant reassuring of their protection, provision and piloting. Without the good shepherd the sheep tend to stray in to paths of danger, destruction and vulnerability to attack. Sheep are dependent upon the Good Shepherd since they are incapable of figuring out the solutions to their problems because they do not have it in their nature to know the way through the difficult valleys of life. Sheep may think that they know what is best but they are in need of a personal relationship with their Good Shepherd if they are to experience the fullness of His comfort in the indwelling Holy Spirit that empowers us to do, be and think the way the good shepherd intends. Let us let at several of the most precious and magnificent promises (His contract, oath, undertaking and guarantee) offered to us in the Good Shepherd that provides us with everything we need for life and godliness through the true knowledge of Christ, the good shepherd.

Illustration:Dr. Andrew Bonar told me how, in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn’t get out of. The grass on these mountains is very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can’t jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death. "Why don’t they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" I asked. "Ah!" He said, "they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did!" And that is the way with men; they won’t go back to God till they have no friends and have lost everything. If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.

Moody’s Anecdotes, pp. 70-71.

1. The Good Shepherd assures us that He is MY personal shepherd, guide and care taker. We do not have to fear when we know that He is with us caring, guiding and protecting us from evil that seeks to discourage us, defeat us and detour us from where He wants us to achieve.