The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I want to make your life beautiful, the most beautiful life ever lived and I do this by blessing you with benefits.
Bless the (אֶת־) LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy (אֶת־) name. Bless the (אֶת־) LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalm 103:1-5.
Today I want to talk to you about receiving these benefits by belonging to the flock of your great good Shepherd.
Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20-21.
When I talk about a shepherd and his sheep I am referring to you as My flock and Me as your Shepherd, which is fulfilled in My Son living among you as one like you to be your Savior, Sacrifice, Shepherd, and Teacher.
“As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord (Adonai) LORD (Yahavah). Ezekeil 34:31.
I made a promise to you spoken through My prophet Ezekiel, that I Myself would shepherd My sheep, but I told him that it would be Adonai Yahavah doing so and I would appoint one Shepherd over them who would be on the throne of David. And I fulfilled this in Jesus, a descendant of David according to the flesh but My Son and one God with Me in the Spirit.
The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” Luke 1:30-33.
A shepherd takes care of, protects, feeds, and leads his sheep. They are easy prey to wolves with no shepherd. Sheep are loyal to their shepherd and know his voice to follow him. Sheep cannot thrive without a shepherd. And neither can you. And that is why I call Jesus your great good Shepherd. You cannot thrive without Him. For I was in Christ reconciling the world to Myself. He is the arm that I reached down to not only save you, but also shepherd you and gather you into His body, the Church, where He would be the head to lead and guide you by the Holy Spirit who testifies to Jesus and tells you of the things to come. He did not leave you orphans when He returned to Me in Heaven. He still is taking care of you as your good Shepherd and your great High Priest.
With Him as your Shepherd there is nothing you shall want. I supply all your needs according to My riches in glory in Christ Jesus. He emptied Himself of everything so you could have everything. He became poor so that you by His poverty would be made rich. He took all your sins into His own flesh and gave you His divine righteousness. He truly is the good Shepherd who laid down His life to save His sheep, but there is more, it did not stop there. He not only laid down His life for you but took it up again for you with all your sins gone.
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” John 10:14-18.
And just as you died with Jesus by His substitutionary sacrifice whereby He paid your judgement for sin and the loss by Adam of eternal life for all his descendants, I also raised you up with Him totally justified to walk in newness of life as a new creation in Christ.
When He ascended to Me, He gave gifts to the church of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the believers for the work of service, to the building up of the His body, the church, until you all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the My Son, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13.
But never forget your one true Shepherd, Teacher, Pastor and guide is Jesus and if anyone on earth preaches another gospel or anything contrary to My Word, do not stay under their teaching and be led astray. Discern by the fruits of their words and their lives. Loyalty to false doctrine is misplaced. As Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees even well intentioned manmade traditions that appear holy and religious that do not impart the truth of My Word and the joy that comes through My Word of forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, good things and perfect gifts, and rejuvenation to bear fruit even in old age are not of Me and lead people astray, like sheep with no shepherd.
And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men . . invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.” Mark 7:6-8,13.
They made serving Me a burden and not the joy I planned it to be between you and Me.
They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. Matthew 23:4.
But what does your good Shepherd tell you is the truth?
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
And this is something I need to discuss with you. When you gather together and assemble as the Body of Christ, the Church upon earth, the anointing on your head, that is, Christ, should flow over that assembly for the anointing flows from the Head down onto the Body. And I am very clear about what that anointing is: “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy above Your companions.” Hebrews 1:9; Psalm 45:7.
The body has the anointing of the head and when the members of the body assemble together JOY is flowing there. If there is no joy in you from the gathering (the church service), it is not an assembly of Zion (the mountain of grace and the heavenly church of the firstborn) and you did not get a pure and unadulterated preaching of My Word.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:22-24.
And the body of Christ gathers as assemblies on earth of the church of the firstborn on the heavenly Mt. Zion.
Then the LORD will create over the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a wedding canopy. There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain. Isaiah 4:5-6.
Jesus has opened a new and living way for you to come into the Holy of Holies with Me, right to My throne of grace in all your assembling together:
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a [h]sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:19-25.
Do you see? Your church services as a gathering with Me as the body of My Son, should take all right to holy place by the new and living way with full assurance of faith and a clear conscience washed in the blood of the Lamb without wavering, stimulated one another to love and good deeds. Assemblies of the joy of the redeemed on the Highway of Holiness following Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life and I have rescued you out of the realm of darkness and brought you into the Kingdom of My beloved Son, by whom your sins have been forgiven. And He is the Light of the world, and no follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the light of life. For in Jesus I have made you holy and blameless before Me.
A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks the Way, and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting and singing to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:8-10.
I have redeemed you and Jesus has paid your ransom. You are a blood-bought, beloved, church, the bride of Christ whom He cares for as one cares for his own body to nurture and sustain it. He is your good Shepherd leading you to the promised land of the Kingdom.
The opening of My Word gives light and understanding but above all it gives you joy. Why? I am My Word and in My presence there is fullness of joy. Come share your Master’s joy!
And it is not just any joy. It is a joy that no one can take from you. It is the joy of My love for you, as personally experienced by you in your fellowship with Me, that comes through knowing My love as manifested in what I did for you in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as your Messiah. I introduce Myself to you through Jesus, your great good Shepherd. In seeing Him in action among you, you are seeing Me, for He is My Word made flesh.
It is resurrection joy, knowing that your sins are gone, out of the way forever, and you are holy and blameless before Me in Him and that you will be with Me in the Kingdom forever.
And I did this for you for only one reason and that is love, My personal and immense love for you and My desire for you to know Me as I am, your Father, your beloved and your friend and to have you with Me forever as My beloved family reigning with Me in the Kingdom I prepared for you since the foundation of the world on the cornerstone of My Son as your Messiah and Lord, your great good Shepherd who leads you in paths of righteousness out of the dark valley of the shadow of death to the table of plenty, as I anoint your head with the oil of joy until your cup overflows with it. All I give is goodness and kindness as you walk with Me into the delights of My abundant and glorious home as your home with Me forever.
I love you and I care enough for you to make you whole, complete in Christ, for a perfect life of shalom by giving you My Son to live your life through Him as one loved, forgiven, blessed and favored. And with Me, that is the story of your life.