~ Where Are You in the Christian Life?
~
How many of
the four steps characterize your present life? Are you a found (1) Lost Sinner, (2) a Loving Follower, (3) a Lowly
Disciple constantly learning at His feet, or (4) a Living Saint with full assurance that you are being kept by the
power of God?
Found (a Lost Sinner) ~ “Jesus said, ‘What man of you, having a
hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the
wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he
has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing’” (Luke 15:4-5).
Led (a Loving Follower) ~ “[Jesus said] ‘And when he brings out his own
sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they
do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this illustration, but they did
not understand the things which He spoke to them.
“Then
Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the
sheep. All who ever came before Me are
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone
enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
‘The
thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come
that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
‘I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a
hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the
wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and
scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep.
‘I
am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the
Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the
sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must
bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one
shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may
take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have
received from My Father.’
“Therefore
there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. And many of
them said, ‘He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?’
“Others
said, ‘These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the
eyes of the blind?
“Now
it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus
walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him and said
to Him, ‘How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us
plainly.’
“Jesus
answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My
Father's name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are
not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My
hand’” (John 10:4-28).
Instructed (a
Lowly Disciple) ~ “And she [Martha]
had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet
and heard His word” (Luke 10:39).
Kept (a Living
Saint) ~ “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a
living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Summary
~ “He
found him in a desert land and in the
wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled
him, He instructed him, He kept him as the
apple of His eye” (Deuteronomy 32:10).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
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