Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – The Perfect Shepherd (1/11/24)

Jesus, the Good and Perfect Shepherd, always acts with integrity and can be fully trusted. He doesn’t scatter or harm his sheep, but personally interacts and calls each one by name.

John 10:1-5 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Jesus leads His sheep in the right direction. He doesn’t always hold and carry each sheep and doesn’t have any of His sheep on a leash, but He is always there to protect, call and lead. As His sheep, we have the responsibility to listen and follow, even through difficult terrain. In order to do that, we must know His voice. To know His voice, we need to hear it regularly.

How do you and I plan to hear Jesus’s voice regularly in 2024?  

Where might Jesus be leading you and me in a new direction for 2024?

Jesus, the Perfect Shepherd, personally loves us, cares for us as individuals and is always there to lead us!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - Love in Word and Action

Last summer James was constantly telling us he loved us. It was great to hear most of the time, but it got to be excessive. Maybe he needed to hear it from us that much! Before my Grandfather passed away last July, he gave us great advice to try to beat James to the punch, at some point each day. That way we were initiating the “I love you” and not always saying it in response to his “I love you.”

I think James still says “I love you” more than most children, but it isn’t constant anymore. He’s a genuinely loving and caring boy. So, this year we’ve talked numerous times about how our actions show our love. If we truly love God, we will listen and obey. If we truly love our parents, we will listen and obey.

Jesus challenged Peter to live out his love in action.

John 21:15-17         ¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Saying “I love you” can be easy, but living a life of love is quite challenging. Peter did spend the rest of his life living out his love in action (feeding Jesus’s sheep).  

Do you and I love God as Peter did? What would our all-knowing God say about our love? If you and I do truly love Him, how has He asked us to show and live out our love in action? How well are you and I caring for His people?

Alice

Thursday Devotional: God Died

I’m deviating from where I was in our adoption story to share some recent developments…

I previously mentioned that the kids like “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” as one of their favorite Christmas Carols. Well, at dinner on Christmas Eve, Sarah (2 ½) asked me to sing the song about “God died.” I could not figure out which carol she meant. Most Christmas carols are about Jesus’ birth and not His death! (I eventually started singing different ones until she either gave up or decided she wanted me to sing “Angels We Have Heard on High.”)

Anyway, over the next few weeks she would bring up that “God died.” This led to several conversations about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins but not staying dead! So, recently, instead of randomly declaring “God died,” Sarah now randomly declares “God die on cross!” In fact, last night during our prayer time together, the one thing she decided all on her own to thank God for was “God die on cross.”

It’s exciting to watch the kids grow in their understanding of who God is and what He has done! Jesus laying down His life for us, so we don’t have to eternally die for our sins, is amazing!          
John 10:11-18 ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus did die. He died willingly, purposefully, submissively and lovingly for you and me. He’s the only One who could! Have you accepted His death in your place? If so, you are His sheep and will live forever with Him!  


As Sarah has said several times recently “I not die cross.” No, we don’t have to die for our own sins. Jesus already did!