Promise for Today - Direct and Protect

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

John 10:10-11 (NLT)

Sheep are essentially defenseless animals, so a shepherd carries a few tools to care for and protect his sheep. He has a rod for guarding and protecting, and he uses a staff with a little crook in it to rescue the sheep.

We are like lost sheep in need of protection and direction, so Jesus came to earth to be our Good Shepherd. He said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11 NLT).

Just as a shepherd uses the physical tools of the rod and the staff for direction and protection, God wants to direct and protect you. Here are two ways he does that:

If you follow him, Jesus leads you in the right direction.
You need a guide—a shepherd—to go before you in life. You need Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who leads from the front and calls you forward. This is different from a cowboy, who drives cattle from the back. Jesus is not going to push you through life. He gets in front of you and essentially says, “Watch how I do it. Look where I go.”

John 10:4 says, “When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice” (CEV).

If you bring your hurts to him, Jesus is compassionate.
Jesus has compassion on us because he knows that we are helpless without him. Matthew 9:36 says, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (NIV). The sense in the original Greek text is that Jesus hurt deeply for the people in the crowd and wanted to help them.

In the same way, when you bring your pain to Jesus, he doesn’t put you down; he lifts you up. He doesn’t hassle you; he heals you. Because of God’s goodness, Jesus directs and protects you. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 ESV).

Talk It Over

When have you sensed God going in front of you to lead you? In what ways did that experience grow your faith?

How have you seen Jesus’ compassion bring healing in your own life or someone else’s?

In what direction is Jesus leading you right now? In your work? Your family? Your community? Your church? Your relationships?

- by Pastor Rick

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Prayer:

Father,

          We come before You with open hearts. Guide our steps so they align with Your will, and light the path when the way ahead feels uncertain. Grant us wisdom to make choices that honor You, and courage to walk in faith even when we cannot see the whole road. Cover us with Your protection - shield us from harm, guard our minds from fear, and keep our spirits anchored in Your peace.
          Surround our loved ones with Your care, and let Your presence be the constant compass that leads us safely through each day. We trust that You go before us, and walk beside us. Watch over us always. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Promise for Today - Value - Part 2 (Pastor Rick)

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.” 

Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)

God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. The Bible says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV).

But many people are spiritually lost. This means they’re following their own plan for their lives rather than God’s plan. But what do spiritually lost people actually lose? 

They lose several things, but today we’ll look at just two: their direction and their protection.

You can see this in the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15:3-6. It’s about a shepherd who leaves 99 saved sheep to go and search for his one lost sheep. He doesn’t say, “I’ve got 99 saved sheep, so forget the lost one!” No, they all matter to him. And when he finds the lost sheep, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home” (Luke 15:5 NIV) to celebrate.

Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction. In fact, all humans are this way. You don’t intend to get lost. You just think, “That grass over there looks greener.” And soon you follow your own way and lose your direction.

The Bible says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6 NLT).

Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away from their shepherd, you too are vulnerable when you don’t have a shepherd to protect you from the wolves of life. That’s why you need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, you are alone and defenseless—and you lose God’s protection.

The Bible also says, “My people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd” (Zechariah 10:2 NLT).

But when you place yourself under the Good Shepherd’s care, you get direction and protection. This doesn’t mean you will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28 BSB).

Maybe you or someone you know is lacking God’s direction and protection today. Remember: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

Talk It Over

When did you first realize you mattered to God? What circumstance or person helped you realize this?

What daily habits keep you close to Jesus, the Good Shepherd? What habits make you more likely to wander from him?

Who in your life doesn’t appear to have God’s direction and protection? Make plans to tell them how valuable they are to him.

Have you opened your life to Jesus Christ? You don't need to know what's going to happen tomorrow. You don't need to know what the future holds; you just need to know who holds the future! When you have a relationship with your Creator, you'll have the security of his unwavering love and unbreakable promises.

Prayer:

Dear God, 

               I want my security to be in something that cannot be taken from me. I want my security to be in my relationship with you, as I trust in your promise to never leave me. I want to claim that promise today. As much as I know how, I open my life to you, Jesus Christ. I confess that I have lived life my own way and sinned against you. Please forgive me. Come into my life and change my priorities, my values, my purpose, and my direction. Transform me into the person you want me to be. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Where Would We Be?

In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:12-13 NLT

Think back over your life before Christ. What were you in to? Where were you headed? What was threatening to pull you under? Over and over, maybe with no hope of getting out of the circumstances you were in... Have you ever wondered where you would be if Jesus hadn't come into your life? I know I would be dead.

I think it's necessary to remember where we were so that we'll remember to give thanks for our deliverance, our salvation, our future and hope, according to His Word. And then remember all the things He has brought you through - and give Him praise. Thank Him again. He's worthy!

According to our Promise for Today, You [we] lived in this world without God and without hope. I know I did. It was awful. Indescribably awful. Maybe you're there now. Without God. Without hope in your life. I don't know anything worse than living in a state of hopelessness. 

The Good News is you don't have to stay there. There IS a way out. It's Jesus. He tells us in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth and the life! Ask Him to be Your Lord and Savior. 

Prayer:

Father,

           Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for all of our sin by dying on the Cross at Calvary. We believe He rose again on the third day, forever defeating the work of the devil in our lives. Thank You for having a plan for each of us and for promising to always be with us. Thank You for our future and our hope. We are so grateful! Thank You for letting us see where we would be without You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Pointing the Way or Providing It?

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

Psalm 37:23 NKJV

When people give directions, I get a mental picture of them standing and pointing in the right direction. And it dawned on me tonight that I tend to think of the Lord doing exactly that same thing while He's directing my path. That is until I read this particular verse in the Amplified Bible. It reads differently.

The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord, and He delights in his way [and blesses his path].

Think about that for a minute. Pointing the way to go is one thing. Establishing my steps is a whole 'nother story (Texan for completely different)! God may be pointing me down a rough path, one with twists and turns, steep hills and lots of obstacles. My first inclination would be to find a go-around. How in the world will I walk that path?!? How? The only way possible - with Him.

His Word tells us in Isaiah 45:2 that He goes before us and makes the crooked places straight, levels the uneven places, flattens the mountains and hills. Not only that but according to our Promise for Today, HE ESTABLISHES our steps. He's right there to make certain that our steps are sure. The next verse (Psalm 37:24) promises that even if we fall, the Lord holds our hand and we won't be utterly cast down.

If God is pointing you to it, trust Him. His Word promises there is nowhere we can go that He isn't already there (Psalm 139:8-12). And truthfully, wouldn't we rather be on a rough road WITH God than a smooth road WITHOUT Him?

Prayer:

Father,
           Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen