Thursday... So lets be on the watch?

John 10:10 (AMP), "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [to the full, till it overflows]."

Thursday... So, lets be on the watch?

We live in a community where we have no real fences and we do all we can to protect us. There was a gang of thieves who broke into homes even in the middle of the day. They were caught but changes happened to make our homes more secure.

We have a dog that we really love and he is a great protector for us but we also must protect him. There are coyotes that wander through our community so we do all we can to protect him from them.

Now Jesus here in John 10 is talking about his sheep and of how he has them in a place that the only way in is through a door. Now some can climb over the stone walls but if they do it is for no good. Yes, inside that wall is safety and an abundant life in other words a more and better life.

Jesus says in John 10:10 (AMP), "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [to the full, till it overflows]." But our problem is, we want freedom but their are thieves out there who will use our desires against us because they want to steal and kill and destroy what God has for us.

Now Jesus in verses 1-5 (MSG) says, "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good - a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it."

Now he later says that that stranger is a thief and a robber who wants to rob them of what the shepherd has for them. And there are so many different thieves in our lives. So let's be on the watch for them. They do not have our interest in mind.

John 10:10 (AMP) says, "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [to the full, till it overflows]."

The NLT says, "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life."

The Message Paraphrase says, "A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed."

Memorize one of those translations or paraphrase. Let it be there in your mind to protect you from those thieves. Yes, let's be on the watch.

Jesus died so that we may have life, real life, and eternal life but we must accept him as our shepherd and follow him. That is the reason why Jesus, God's Son came to this earth. He came to give us a more and better life than we ever dreamed. So let's be on the watch for the thieves whose purpose is to steal and kill and destroy that life.

So let's be on the watch fpr those thieves and follow our shepherd. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...

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