Author: thesouldoctor

He Clothes You With Garments of Grace

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“Loose him and let him go.” (John 11:44).

Recently I spoke on John chapter eleven where we see Christ as the Resurrection and the Life, I felt like a tremedous vault of wealth was opened up to me. There were so many discoveries I had made about dealing with trial and it was a refresher course on Christ’s Mastery over death.  Well, I have heard preachers talk about getting rid of the grave-clothes all through the years. I will not claim to have greater insight than them but I think some may have overlooked that  not only was Lazarus wearing grave-clothes, but so was everyone else.  His sisters were wearing them, grief stricken with the loss of their brother. The disciples wearing burial clothes because they were worried Christ was going to be bludgeoned to death in a religious “rock concert” (11:8) and then they hear Jesus announced that Lazarus is dead (11:14). We admire their willingness to die with Christ (11:16)  but they have designer grave-clothes as well. In addition to all this where would we be if the professional mourners and comforters were not crying in their funeral wear (11:31)?

Some readers today have become used to wearing the old grave-clothes like their favorite pair of jeans, dress  or something that you keep in your closet that Stacey and Clinton from What Not To Wear would throw out!  Imagine if we could watch you on a video for a few days wallowing in depression or struggling with fear and guilt or  drooling with self-pity.  This is more than being “frump” man or “frump” woman. You get angry and upset because people criticize those death britches to which you are accustomed but for you, believer in Jesus, these clothes do not fit, they are ugly and they are out of date.  You are wearing clothes that have nothing to do with the life that God has tailor made for you.

When Christ saved you, he washed you with his own blood and it is his will for you to be rid of the filthy garments of the old life and behavior. Could you imagine working outside all day and then come inside take a shower and instead of putting on clean clothes you put on those same clothes that were dirty and sweaty? Yet you and I are so used to the clothes of the grave, the old ways of living; we wear them to church, work, home and bed. Is that not a picture of putting on the clothes of the old life after you have been saved?  The Bible says  to “put off” the old man (Eph 4:22; Col. 3:8-9), just like the grave clothes of Lazarus. Take off the old clothes, they represent a life you no longer live and put on the garments of grace! 

The Bible teaches that all feelings of fear, loneliness, anxiety and guilt all stem from the looming threat of death. We see these traits like fig leaves that covered the bodies of Adam and Eve  (Gen. 3: 7-10). The first fruits of sin were guilty feelings, isolation, fear  and throughout the years the effects of sin have made these filthy garments stained with the sins of old life  even more sophisticated and fashionable. We automatically reach into our closet for the old wardrobe when we believe our life, purpose and well-being is threatened. The deadly fashion designs are spun on the cursed looms of  trauma, exploitation and abuse and always seem to break out in trial. We revert so easily to the old ways!  We should not believe the lies of the old stinking, dirty old grave-clothes.

It does not take long to see that Christ continually confronts these burial clothes in his teachings. He shows faith in God as the antidote for these diseased garments. Only Christ can set people free who have, “lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” (Heb. 2:15). He calls you to start wearing some grace clothes: the clothing of forgiveness, acceptance and love.

Now Jesus may provide the clothes of life but the church must first help you to be stripped from the old bandages and  dress in the New Man Designer line. Notice that Christ did not take the garments off of Lazarus, his family and friends did. They unwound the bandages and set him free. Christ does not release you from these garments, your brethren in Christ do. They do so so because  are not only concerned about your look but your life. It does not seem approriate to be a living person dressed as a dead body.

I love Spurgeon’s comments from his message on the Unbinding of Lazarus. He says,  “A notable miracle was unquestionably worked, but it required a finishing touch. The man was wholly raised, but not wholly freed! Look, here is a living man in the garments of death! That napkin and other grave-clothes were altogether congruous with death, but they were much out-of-place when Lazarus began to live again! It is a wretched sight to see a living man wearing his shroud. Yet we have seen…hundreds of times, people quickened by Divine Grace with their grave-clothes still on them! Such was their condition that unless you observed carefully, you would think them still dead. And yet within them the lamp of heavenly Life was burning. Some said, “He is dead, look at his garments.” But the more spiritual cried, “He is not dead, but these bands must be loosed.” It is a singular spectacle—a living man hampered with the garments of death!”

You are not dead but you look drained, dying and dead when you allow fear, loneliness, anxiety and guilt to rule your life.  Ah, don’t you think that it is about time you let the pastor and the brethren help you with a new wardrobe? The church has some wonderful tailors who know about throwing out shrouds and new life clothing design.  Do you know someone whose spiritual quality of life  is being affected?  They are wound up too tightly you say? Brethren, loose them and let him go! Dear brethren are ready to peel that cheap death suit of you like an onion. Christ has made garments that belong to you. You are children of the king of kings. You are allowed to wear the garments of praise instead of the death clothes of heaviness. Lay aside the deeds of darkness, put on the armor of light. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:12-14).

One thing I noticed is that they did not strip Lazarus naked for all to see!  A bandaged dead man already put them on tilt, I think seeing Lazarus out there in his birthday suit…well you get my meaning. This would not be appropriate for a living man (Isa. 58:7). Like with old Mordecai you are the one the King of heaven delights to honor with his garments of saving grace! He says, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head.” (see Esther 6:8-9). These are God’s garments  which he has worn and never grow old. They all have the divine scent  of salvation of produced out of the ivory palaces for Christ and his own people (Ps. 45:8). One day mortality will be swallowed by immortality and you will be clothed in heavens garments (2 Cor. 5:4).  He now promises to clothes us who have such little faith (Mt. 6:30) with the best robe, shoes and rings (Luke 15: 22). He will clothe your disgrace with a more abundant heavenly honor so that the shame of your nakedness does not appear (1 Cor. 12:23; Rev. 3:18).

Once you take off those filthy clothes… hear the God of the scriptures say, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.” (Zech. 3:7NLT).

THE REAL MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE

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Dean Inge said once, “If you marry the spirit of your generation you may be a widow in the next.”

I fear that this may be a clear and present danger into which certain denominations are falling headlong if they do not deal with the lust that preachers and churches have in coddling the culture and spirit of the age instead of exposing it’s evil and offering Christ as the remedy for sin. 

Why are some ministries and churches working so hard to be like Jezebel who painted her face to impress the world that does not know or love Christ (2 Kings 9:30)? If Jesus Christ is not relevant in and of himself, dear friends, you can be sure that is not a gospel message you are hearing. Christ is alive now! He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13: 8) . That is genuine relevancy and a no frills, plain vanilla gospel.

During the 1960 Olympics (held strangely enough in Rome, Italy) the Saturday Evening Post featured a cartoon showing a runner carrying a message of victory. He came stumbling and gasping into the palace and fell prostrate before the King. He had a puzzled look on his face and he mumbled, “I’ve forgotten the message!”   All that effort and he forgot the message!

We are making much effort but it is becoming evident that we have forgotten the message. The reformation reminded Rome many years before the forgotten message of justification by grace alone through faith alone through Christ alone. God forbid that the church with all its resources and opportunities forget the message of the gospel! What is that message?

Jesus Christ is the real message of the Bible.

He is the Word of God speaking to man (John 1:1). Not just an idea, a concept, a philosophy, a way of living or a religion. He is God’s Word personified. God in these last days has spoken to us in final and full revelation in his Son (Heb. 1:1-2). Patriarchs and prophets spoke for God in the Old Testament piecing together symbols and types but God has spoken clearly for himself in his only beloved and begotten Son Jesus Christ.

Paul says that “the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things…” (Heb. 10:1). Christ was hidden in the Old Testament’s pages and was revealed in the New Testament.  As I first learned it,

“The New in the Old concealed, the Old in the New revealed.”

Jesus insisted that he was the true message of scripture with those that seemed to revere scripture but he knew did not love him (John 5:42)! “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.“ (John 5:39-40).  Imagine possessing such a reverence for scripture as they examined, studied and memorized it with admirable enthusiasm! They should be commended and imitated as far as that goes. Yet somehow the Word was not in them and the result was that they marginalized the message of the Bible by their traditions (Mk. 7:13) and they had no love for the Author in their hearts. That terrifies me! It causes me to examine my heart and pray with Augustine, “Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt!”

We should also realize that Christ is the subject of his own teaching. He says, “learn of me.” (Mt 11:29). The apostle referred to this when he talked about how they learned Christ (Eph. 4:20). He says, “Let me teach you about me.”  How does Christ teach us about himself today?   He does it by those things, “written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.” (Luke 24:44-45). The whole purpose of the Bible is to lead people to Christ!

“Christ is the end of the law.” (Rom 10:4) meaning Christ is the goal and fulfillment of the scriptures. God had him in view when he gave his law. The law was put in charge of us to bring us to Christ. “The law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.” (Rom. 7:12) and it tutored us about the nature and attributes of God and his perfect law which we see in his Son Jesus (Gal. 3:24).  We have a dire need to know all the doctrines of the Bible and a working knowledge of scripture, but has it lead us to Jesus? Is what we are learning leading us to praying? Does our theology birth and nurture affection and desire for communion with Christ?  Is the knowledge we have producing a growing love for Christ? Or is it all and end in itself?  Ah, it is Christ that fulfills the righteousness of the law in us (Rom 8:3) by his saving grace and pours the love of God in our hearts (Rom 5:5).  Obedience for us is not forced or coerced but willing. That desire to commune and obey is refreshed and cultivated by the scriptures true message, its wonderful theme, Jesus.

There are so many that take the truths of scripture and teach it like a science class. Then you have others who make micro-wave meals and junk food. This is not serving manna from heaven.  When scripture is read, studied and preached with understanding the Holy Spirit lights up the scripture with Christ.  This is not about commercialized religion where they try to sell you what you already own. It is not about a sterile religion clinically tested by egg heads in religious laboratories. It is about God speaking to men and women by the Lord Jesus Christ! You do not need man’s keys, principles, steps formulas or methods. The way has been made open into the holiest place, where Christ stands in the presence of God for us, speaking to us through the both the Older and Newer Covenants. When we read and ponder the truth of scripture, God’s voice speaks to us through those writings and they all cry out, “This is my beloved son, hear him!” (Luke 9:35).

A Healing Presence

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“Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?” (John 11:36-37).

I have been studying John chapter eleven for a sermon that I will preach in the next few weeks.  Mary and Martha were shaken by the death of their brother Lazarus and the conspicuous absence of Christ. These sisters have so many questions, and only Christ can answer them yet, all they have is to turn to are those who I like to call the “uncomforters.”

One of the things that struck me is that the people who you want around in a time of problems are never there and those that you do not want around are always there.

 It is still is quite a picture how the comforters follow Mary and Martha around. They are like Job’s friends they are better at crying than counsel. I think most of us would have been better off born without the ability to have an opinion.

 This waiting  is the best and worst of times, yet we desperately need a period where we wait. It reveals if we are sincerely resting upon the Lord and leaning upon his promises or still looking to other people or things.  For it is in that time when there is no answer, no light, no activity that faith is born, built and strengthened. Faith is always born healthiest as an only child.

Sadly, the longer people go through something, there is more opportunity there is for insensitive preaching, weird advice and bad counsel. People going through the pain are like the lame man who was in the temple that Jesus passed by many times.  In Acts 3 Peter and John prayed for that man with empty pockets but full spirits and he was healed in the name of Christ. 

The truth is that we see people in our church in pain with chronic issues and we are tired of looking at them, or we think they don’t “get it.” whatever “it” is.  In reality we are the ones who do not  “get it” and they definitely do not “get it.” So we give “it” to them anyway usually in the form of cheap spiritual advice. Look, if you cannot heal or help the problem people have, then it is better you throw them a few bucks or some “silver and gold” than talk them to death.

When people get around the religious cheerleaders, spiritual quacks and misguided guru’s  people’s faith is confused and even paralyzed. When you are going through something you feel like moving to another state and changing your phone number. Everybody knows what you should do except you. You get around well-meaning people who treat you like a religious lab rat and experiment on you with all the latest and greatest stuff.  We learn from Job that you can have people quoting the Bible to you and they do it wrong and have no wisdom. Even the best medicine administered in the wrong dose and at the wrong time can cause ill effects.

We should not intimidated by pain. Jesus never shied away from confronting pain with compassion. If you are breathing, walking and talking then God can use you by filling you with the Spirit of Christ as you just are there for others.  Pain can make us a healing presence because God shows his tenderness and strength through us.

Love drives us to those in pain, because we have learned from experience that Christ is not intimidated by life’s problems. He stayed with us and strengthened us in our past trials. We know what hurt is. It hurts us to see them hurt. We are able to bring comfort to others in need because we have received comfort from the God of every comfort so we can comfort others. People who have not learned from their pain are uncomfortable.

The more pain the more comfort we receive. The comfort we receive the more we can give to others so they can patiently endure suffering (see 2 Cor. 1:3-7).

Today, instead of going to make something happen, or counseling people with some religious guesswork and theories we should just go with the love of Christ in our hearts so his loving smile and his healing presence could be felt by them through us.

 

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

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Anatomy of Apostasy

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“For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.” (2 Chr. 28:19).

King Ahaz appeared to be a great solution to Judah’s problems. In the end he would be a nightmare. When we read the Bible we see these men as monsters with blood dripping from their fangs.  This is not true. He appeared to be a leader much like any politician appeared to be, with new ideas promoting the history of Israel as a nation, the need for economic recovery and bi-partisan leadership.  I am sure that the nation of Judah thought at first that it was about time that an open-minded, tolerant and progressive King ruled the land. Evil is not always so dramatic at first, in fact it seems so practical. Yet shrouded beneath this veneer God sees the heart and what he sees disgusts him, thus we see his record in the scriptures.

When Ahaz first began to reign, he reimagined and reinvented the worship of God by placing idols in God’s temple (1 Kings 16).  He did not completely replace the LORD with false gods; he just placed other gods side by side with Yahweh. This is called pluralism today, but we used to call it polytheism. It is an ideology that promotes coexistence of all religious paths as equally valid. The Bible describes people today in this horrible state,“A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.” (Hosea 4:12NIV). It is idolatry.

I thank God for the internet; it can promote biblical teaching and evangelism but it is clear that this philosophy has saturated our culture and all the religions once separated by continents are now available via the world-wide web. It has created confusion and has become a snare and a trap to people worldwide. There is so much religious noise, offering many ways to God and salvation. Christians cannot compromise. The Bible is clear: there is only one God (the Trinity) and one Holy Book (The Bible) and one way to Salvation (Jesus Christ). There is no other way, no other God. Yahweh is jealous he will accept no rivals. He decimates the competition for they are dead idols invented by the imaginations of men. It was no surprise that King Ahaz ended up shutting down all the worship of Yahweh because it is incompatible with idolatry (2 Chr 28: 24-25). He cut himself off from the salvation of God by closing the doors to God’s house.

Ahaz worshipped idols that involved the worst kinds of practices and lifestyle imaginable. He sacrificed his sons by burning them alive in offering to the false god Moloch or Molech. “The image of Moloch was a human figure with a bull’s head and outstretched arms, ready to receive the children destined for sacrifice. The image of metal was heated red-hot by a fire kindled within, and the children were laid on its arms and rolled off into the fiery pit below. In order to drown the cries of the victims, flutes were played, and drums were beaten; and mothers stood by without tears or sobs, to give the impression of the voluntary character of the offering.” (Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor International Standard Bible Encyclopedia” 1915; Public Domain).

I am sure they had someway even then of justifying these gruesome murders. They wanted to make it clear to do this was the choice of the parents, it was acceptable in that culture and all the arguments they used-we use. It is horrifying how they could present this as so relevant or even political in their day.

This is what the Bible calls an abomination or a practice that is repulsive and disgusting to God. God says, “I will resolutely reject that man and his family, and him and all who join him in prostituting themselves in the rituals of the god Molech I will cut off from their people…” (Lev. 20:5-7NLT). We may not bow down to statues in our country, and we may be taken back by the practice of the Molech worshippers in the day of Ahaz, but  what shall we say to this abortion ridden world, that is covered with torrents of blood from murder of babies by the millions. There are 42 million estimated abortions annually and 115,000 per day worldwide.  This is a holocaust of human life that has become the norm. God is sickened by this vile murderous demon that is worshipped worldwide.

God will come in justice!  “The earth will shake at the force of his word, and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.” (Isa 11:14NLT). This won’t happen with the bombing of some clinic as madmen in the past have done. No. God will repay them to the face. There will be no doubts. In this day and age where people do as they feel and reject God’s laws- they fail to see God coming with just anger against this vile practice. They won’t even see him coming but it will no doubt be Him.

Ahaz was eventually losing against the pagan nations around him. You would think Ahaz would turn to God in this time and repent of his sins but instead, Isaiah asks Ahaz, “Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” (Isa. 7:13).  Despite the warnings of Isaiah, Micah and Hosea the prophets-Ahaz worshipped every idol he thought would save him from his enemies, “In his time of trouble King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD. He offered sacrifices to the gods of Damascus, who had defeated him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me. But they were his downfall and the downfall of all Israel.” (2 Chr. 28:22-23NLT).  How sad is the life with no touch of God upon it!

Ahaz was like so many today, he starts looking at Christianity as just a traditional religion, a religion identified with a certain political party and desires to worship the new or more relevant, contemporary gods because he is deceived by the idol worshipper’s temporary success! Paganism has become vogue, the eastern religions that have destroyed their own countries with vile practices are now part of the pluralistic country in which we live. These false gods cannot save!  It is ironic to read that, “the LORD his God handed him over to the king of Aram. The Arameans defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to Damascus.” (2 Chr. 28:5)

This is a state everyone should be afraid of, a place where, a person, “is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.” (Prov. 5:22NLT).  How many addicts testified of this type addiction where they said there was a point when they stopped using drugs and the drugs started using them. But this is not just an addiction to drugs or alcohol but an addiction to sin: this where people stop sinning and sin starts using them. Sin runs unchecked! God deliver us from such a state! It is the worst form of spiritual slavery and self-deception. The Bible says, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thess. 2:11-12NIV).

 

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

 

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Take Out The Trash

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“Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.” (2 Chron. 29:4-5AV).

King Hezekiah has to clean up the mess left by his apostate father King Ahaz.  Ahaz had worshipped the revolting idol-demon Molech and set up golden images of the chief Phoenician idols or the Baalim (2 Chr. 28). He practiced idolatrous rites in God’s temple (2 Kings 16) and then prohibited the worship of Yahweh altogether. He refused to hear the prophets, led spiritual leaders astray and even killed the priests that did not compromise their faith in Yahweh. “For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD.” (2 Chr 28:19).   We all know that an idol is something that is worshipped other than the true God. It is a substitute for God. It is anything that conflicts with the rightful rule and supremacy of God in any aspect of our lives. It is an idolatry that is not obvious. It is hidden. It could be a secret sin, defiant attitude, malicious thought or anything that disturbs our fellowship with God. God sees it as trash, spiritual refuse, heart garbage, spiritual pollution. We must take out the trash!

Hezekiah had no program of reform other than restoring true worship. The king’s focus was not on turning the heart of the people, but pleasing the heart of God. He is an example  to us that we must seek to glorify God, and in doing that we base our confidence. Our confidence is not in the flesh, or human ability, manipulation or ideas. Hezekiah like Enoch, “had this testimony that he pleased God” (Heb 11:5). The questions we need to ask are, “Lord is this my testimony? Is this not only what people see but what you see? Is this your witness of my life?”   The purpose of cleansing the house of the Lord is that we might glorify Christ. How different is this attitude from those who want to use the programs and ideologies of men and slap a sticker of divine endorsement on what they do. They love the praise of men more than the praise of God. They are deluded and need to take out the trash. It is God we want first and foremost and as we do what pleases Him he will do what he promised. When Jesus is lifted up, He will of His own will and power, draw all men unto Himself (Eph. 1:11).

Hezekiah grabbed hold of the remaining ministers and Pastors that had not been corrupted or killed by Ahaz and said, “Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the LORD God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.”  (2 Chr. 29:4-5AV).  The call to clean the holy place was not an option, it was a command. Take the trash out of the house of God! Throw out the filthy pollution and garbage out from the Holy Place. The Awakening that took place in Ephesus involved bringing garbage not only to the curb but the incinerator. “Many of those who thus believed came out of the closet and made a clean break with their secret sorceries. All kinds of witches and warlocks came out of the woodwork with their books of spells and incantations and made a huge bonfire of them. Someone estimated their worth at fifty thousand silver coins.” (Acts 19:18-19 Message). That music is trash-silence it! That heretical doctrine is trash-toss it!  That practice is unbiblical trash-stop it!

“So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the court of the house of the Lord” (2 Chron 29:16). When the priests entered the holy place, they entered in secret before God. They were to remove those things which were defiling this sacred place. No one else had seen this desecration. They brought out the unclean things. What was unholy was exposed publicly and removed. It is our private, inner life which needs this deep cleansing. It is in this very place, this chamber of our deepest secrets that we must renounce those things hidden because of shame and, in humility of soul, receive Christ’s cleansing word (John 15:3).

This cleansing must become a way of life, but it does not have to take a lifetime. For Hezekiah and the people with him, it occurred in a matter of a few days. “Thus the service of the house of the Lord was established again. Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly” (2 Chron 29:35-36).  The key here is this: the cleansing of the temple was the highest priority of  Hezekiah’s life. When we are fully engaged in the process of repentance, breakthroughs can come about suddenly. Indeed, the prophet Malachi tells us that the Lord “whom You seek, will suddenly come to His temple” (Mal 3:1). As we restore the house of the Lord to purity and cleanse the holy place of our hearts for Christ, He will indeed come “suddenly” into our midst.

When Jesus returns suddenly he will come for a, “radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Eph. 5:27NIV). He calls to us and says, “It is time to plant righteous living and harvest mercy. It is time to break up the hard ground of your hearts, it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and rains righteousness on you. Don’t just show outward regret or sorrow, rip open your heart and return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you.” (see Hosea 10:12; Joel 2:13).

May He suddenly and wonderfully visit you today as you determine to take out the trash.

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

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The Lord Has Made Me Empty

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“I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? ” (Ruth 1:21).

FEW  of us have had to suffer such loss and trial like that of our friend Naomi. These are the words of an afflicted soul, a soul who like Job has suffered and has nothing left.  She went out a wife and a mother and she comes home a widow and childless. She went out pleasant and came back bitter.  The trials came in waves and billows and just would  not give her a chance to stop and breathe. What is worse are all the questions. You are a child of God, you love Christ, but where is the favor of God? Where is His mercy? Where are the tokens of his love?

It is not the trial, so much, it is over. It is time to pick up the collateral damage and pieces of a broken life. As she does it, she finds unsatiable emptiness.  She is empty. There are some even now, where you feel just like her, there is nothing left that brings a sense of relief. There is no spark of joy and your body is sickly and weak. She has reached the point where life has lost it’s meaning.  She feels like a failure. All she knows to do is go home. 

Do not be too harsh upon our sister Naomi. Pain is a language all its own and sometimes we should learn to be fluent in it. Doctors would give pain killers to anyone who was in extreme physical pain, but what numbs the pain of the heart, the agony of the soul and mind? We should be patient with those who are going through difficult times and are at the point of giving up. 

What a crushing blow this was but it is THE LORD that brought her home empty. God is in charge. She can deal with that, but now she is empty. Empty!  Oh my friends have you felt this recently?  Has everything exploded and then imploded. The tears won’t stop.  You are around people, but you feel isolated. You are angry that no one helps. When you are alone, you wonder where everyone has gone? The joy has gone out of life. I grieve with you! Everything reads “E” -whether it is your job, family, church and health and you are empty.

“Naomi heard that, “the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.” (Ruth 1:6). She was hungry. She was not just hungry but starving. When this happens there is sense of powerlessness to control circumstances and we desperately try to put a lid on Pandora’s box. This may annoy and even anger some of you: but the emptiness has been placed there by THE LORD! It is that hunger that drives you even now back to Christ. This does not mean that you have backslid, but everyday we must be reminded that Christ is our sole resource and so need drives us to him! You are empty for a reason. It is in your makeup, after you are born again that you become a person that only God can satisfy! This explains this disappointment, heartbreak and misery! You soul is parched and dry and your stomach is full of pain for God alone!

You think this trial will never end?  The old Puritan Richard Sibbes says, “Is it not an unreasonable speech for a man at midnight to say, “It will never be day?” So it is an unreasonable thing for a man that is in trouble to say, “O Lord, I shall never get free of this; it will always be thus with me.” Glory follows afflictions, not as the day follows the night but as the spring follows the winter; for the winter prepares the earth for the spring, so do afflictions sanctified prepare the soul for glory.” No afflicton is without purpose and trusting that God has “sanctifed to us our deepest distress” meaning that once the trial is over and it will end, the song you will sing is,

“If God should let me there review the winding paths of earth I knew, it would be proven clear and true : “Jesus led me all the way. “Jesus led me all the way, led me step by step each day. I will tell the saints and angels as I lay my burdens down, “Jesus led me all the way.”

Naomi began to move in the direction of the city of Bethlehem or Beyth Lechem which is called “the house of bread or food.” Is not your heart deeply touched by this idea? Naomi who calls herself Mara or “bitter” and feels the chastisement of the Lord has come home empty and yet He already has provided a way to secure her future and family by learning that she can be fed in the house of bread! Ah yes, dear Christian there is a place where God feeds his own precious people, even when there is famine all around us, God says, “there will I nourish thee.” (Gen. 45:11).

I am sure you realize that Elimelech and Naomi had no business living in a pagan country and allowing her sons to marry pagan wives.   Let me say for the record: those who have failed and those who see those that have failed returning to the Lord and the church: let the past go! Tragedy is not as bad as the bad advice and criticism of fellow Christians. We should see others and be warned and merciful for as Paul said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Cor 15: 10).

It was written that, “…All the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?” And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ruth 1:19-20). As strange as this may sound there is nothing more precious than a person who has returned fresh from God’s chastising hand. Call her pleasant, she feels bitter right now but call her pleasant. Weep with them, mourn with them as if it were your own sins and trouble for you shall see them restored for God’s glory and all our benefits! While it is true that she and her family at one time, “despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word.” (Ps. 106:24). She will be full once again and her sweetness will return! She will see her lines fall in pleasant places (Ps 16: 6).

I beg you, treat these wandering sheep as if they never left, for in God’s heart he has placed a hook in their jaw (Ezek. 38:4) and hedged up their way with thorns (Hosea 2:6) and he has detoured them from the troughs of the pigs (Luke 15:5) back home to be treated sons and daughters! God promises that in “returning and rest shall ye be saved” (Isa. 30:15) meaning they show evidence that they belong to God in coming back. They have had it with trusting the world and now they rest at home where they belong in God’s care. Let us with God give them the ring of honor and robe of fellowship and receive them as Christ has to the glory of God.

Hear his promise today! “I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” (Jer. 31:25).  That is good news to some reading today and yes, God does speak through his written Word in our time! Let your emptiness drive you home to your Father who awaits and will rush to your rescue and help, as a Father who loves his most precious child. He who made you empty, will fill you with  fulness of joy.

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

 All material may be reproduced and distributed for edification, just leave a note that it was our article, please.

Feed My Sheep 6: Beware of False Guides

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Finally, we state once again the scripture, “Jesus saith unto him, ‘Feed my sheep.’ ” (John 21:17).

Christ has called shepherds not only to feed sheep, but to protect the sheep from the foul works and agents of the Enemy of their souls.  It is difficult being a shepherd. Not only do sheep have a propensity for wandering, they are vulnerable to predators.  This is why the pastor must both feed and protect the sheep.  Paul tearfully predicts that after he leaves, “shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:29-30). 

John Calvin states: “Therefore we must have two voices, one sweet voice, to exhort them that shew themselves easy to be taught…another to cry out against wolves and thieves…”  How every preacher needs to pray that God would give him have these two voices!  Many people confuse this with negative preaching and being critical. They think we should only focus on the real and genuine and not waste time in exposing the fake and counterfeit.  This is unacceptable to Christ and the apostles (John 15:22; Eph 5:11).

It is not enough for a pastor to just preach about Christ and not against the anti-Christ. He cannot preach about grace unless he also condemns legalism. When it comes to truth and lies, “he must love one and hate the other.”  Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matt. 7:15). There is no side stepping these things, wolves come in sheeps clothing, left alone they will kill the sheep, a good faithful shepherd has to expose them.

According to Paul the danger will not only be external, “grievous wolves enter in among you”  but internal, “of your own selves shall men arise.”  It is hard enough to see the wolves, and even more difficult to see disease. Sadly, sheep are most victimized by people who carry the title, “Pastor.”  Jeremiah laments, “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.” (Jer. 23:1). Christ spoke of the men of his day who only sought self interest and not the welfare of the sheep (Jn. 10:8). These are false guides which “have caused them to go astray” to the point that “they have forgotten their resting place.” (Jer. 50:6). The sheep are devoured and broken (Jer. 50:17) and what was worse was that, “none did search or seek after them.” (Ezekiel 34:6).

The possibility of sheep being ripped off spiritually is always present. In John chapter ten Jesus mentions three enemies of the sheep, thieves, robbers, and hirelings. Christ teaches that religionists are “thieves and robbers” because they have not entered the door of salvation, Jesus Christ , but climb up “some other way.” (Jn. 10:1).  They are not only strangers to the sheep but the saving grace of God (John 10:5).  The possibility of unregenerate men posing as shepherds is plausible especially in our day and age.  This is no conspiracy theory. Christ in his day saw those in leadership that would eventually “die in their sins” despite the fact that they begin their name with a title of Reverend, pastor, bishop, deacon or elder (John 8:21, 24).

The often quoted words of Christ say, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).  These scriptures do not refer so much to  the devil as they do false religion and leaders who destroy the souls of men and women by employing worldly religion and legalism.  Christ sees deep in the heart of men in ministry who seek  through stealth manipulation or various forms of intimidation and angry domination to embezzle what belongs to the sheep (Mt. 21:13).

Later on in John chapter ten Jesus spoke of “hirelings” or hired men who are “absentee pastors”  who abandon the sheep when danger approaches on the pasture.  Churches today, like Paul predicted, hire them or “heap to themselves teachers”  piling them up, accumulating and surrounding themselves with false teachers who will scratch the itch of their love for lies and entertainment (2 Tim 4:3).  They have become the clientele of the devil and deception.

The hirelings or religious salesman are again hard at work and even God’s people are not immune to their marketing. What is sad is that they are selling them what is already theirs.  These religious salesman are  deceived and being deceived (2 Tim. 3:13). “They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,” says the LORD.” (Jer 9:6NLT). They have bought into what they sell. They are convinced, that they have an  interest in the welfare of the sheep: wealth, health and success. They preach this and tell others that as a hireling they should be good example of their doctrine.

In this day where men are captivated by religious salesmanship and management-who will listen to the true Shepherd?!  Where are the shepherds who will build on the only sure foundation of Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). He will come on, “the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12) the day of his “episcopacy” which according to Thayer is, “that act by which God looks into and searches out the ways, deeds character of men.”  Christ as building inspector will investigate the treatment of the flock, he will examine carefully all the building materials: teaching, preaching and worship practices (1 Cor 14:26). Christ, the purifier and refiner will test and clean all their construction by fire (Mal. 3:3). If  it does not meet the grade of scripture and godliness  it will be incinerated. The only things that can withstand that fire  are the precious metals and jewels of gospel truth (1 Cor 3:12-15).

God calls the pastor, “to maintain the pure doctrine of God, which is the food of life, to the end it be not taken from them, for whom God hath appointed it.”  (Calvin). The bread may fall to the little dogs in crumbs, but we should never allow it to be stolen from the mouths of the children for whom it was prepared (Mt. 15:27)!  Shepherds should watch over the flock with a godly jealousy (2 Cor 11:3) and if they will guide them to good pasture, Christ will feed them there and give them rest. God promises, “And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 23:4).

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

All material may be reproduced and distributed for edification, just leave a note that it was our article, please.

Feed My Sheep 6: Stay On Course

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We quote once again the words of our Lord to Peter: “Jesus saith unto him, “Feed My Sheep.” “(John 21:17). 

Paul, like his fellow apostle Peter, knew what the priority of pastors should be when he told the elders at Ephesus, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28).  Notice the wording here, “take heed unto yourselves.”  God wants the shepherd to make his sole priority Christ, after which follows the spiritual state of his heart and then the care of God’s people.  This phrase actually means a ship holding to its course.  He says, “Stay on course, pay attention!”

The shepherd must pay attention to the condition of  his heart.  Solomon warns, “Keep your heart with all diligence.” (Prov 4:23).  The heart is used to acting like a fugitive from God and we should guard our hearts like nothing else, otherwise it easily escapes. It is very, very difficult to guard.  If the tongue is the expression of the heart and it is humanly impossible to tame (James 3:8) the heart must be wild and reckless!  That is why we need the protective custody of the scriptures (Gal. 3:23NLT) and the Spirit of Christ with our hearts. The heart must be constantly wooed with the love of God and admonished with the holiness of God. The heart has such an influence for good and evil on our lives that we have no other choice but to diagnostically examine it by daily prayer and the pondering the scriptures.

The shepherd is called to navigate his life and his role as shepherd by the map of the written Word and the leading of God’s spirit (Rom. 8:14-16).  This navigation makes the faithful pastor well able to watch over the flock and protect them from being exploited by both players and haters: those who appear godly but are not  (2 Tim. 3:5) and haters of God and good men (Rom. 1:30; 2 Thess. 3:2 ). The pastor must stay on course with God’s Written Word, the Bible. It bothers me how pastors rely on so many others maps and directions offered in religious enterprise, worship center entertainment and ecclesiastical marketing rather than on the best guide: the Lord Jesus Christ as Captain of their own hearts directing them into a smooth and direct road into the love of God and the patience of Jesus (2 Thess. 3:5; Rev 1:9). Instead with many today and I mean many is that, “They that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me.” (Jer 2:8)

The pastor must stay on course with the Living Word, Christ. This is vital because the only way they can lead and guide the sheep is that they must have a loving relationship with Christ their Shepherd. After all, we are all sheep, there are no social classes of Christians. Man made religion begins when people begin to neglect their first love-Christ. It all goes beyond the command of the Lord (Num. 24:13) and becomes dead works, mechanical and oppressive.

Paul makes it clear that to be a pastor can only stay on course  when he knows  his work is not a career it is a calling, it is the choice of God (Heb. 5:4).  The Holy Ghost makes pastors. Only Christ chooses who will pastor (John 15:16). Oh for pastors that God has made! They are forged in the wilderness until He has them ready to go public (Luke 1:80). He who made fishers of men, makes shepherds of the flock.  Lord, give us men who are sent forth by the Holy Ghost (Acts 13:4)!

The shepherds primary responsibility is defined once again as feeding  or one with authority to provide pasturage or food (Thayer).  It is not just food but pasturage. I like that word! The Pastor should stay on course in this ministry. Christ feeds his sheep through shepherds.  Christ as a Lamb feeds his people while he leads his people (Rev 7:17). How we need to learn this! God has designed it that way. Christ says, “I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jer. 3:15). Those rare qualities are on the menu of the biblical pastor.  They are to bring God’s people to the “banqueting house” of the scriptures where Christ shows them his love (Song 2:4).  The lips of these righteous men, with pure hearts and skillful hands feed many sheep and give them their portion of meat in due season (Prov 10:21; Luke 12:42; Ps 78:72).

When God’s people have problems, it is a sign of hunger.  It should not knock us off course when the people he shepherds are just a mess. No matter the generation God’s people seem ridden with problems.

Just because they belong to God does not mean they will always be doing well.

Just because they belong to God does not mean they will always make wise decisions.

Just because they belong to God does not mean they will not fall into sin.

God’s people of all ages have been problematic! They are a high maintenance people. That is why God provides shepherds to guide and direct them. In their times of hunger a faithful shepherd directs them to Christ, who alone can satisfy. Thus shepherds oversee Christ’s own flock with careful attention and love. Paul said that he had a self-sacrificial love for the churches his pastored and was willing to die for them because they were so dear to him. He was like a gentle mother caring for her little children and as a father who encourages and comforts his children (see 1 Thess. 2:7-12).

Yet despite all their issues, no matter how large or small the pastor treats the congregation with a dignity, respect and love. They are the church of God. These are the elect people of God, the assembly and fellowship of those who have been called out by Christ. Lord, send us men who minister to the flock with an awareness that those to whom they minister have been bought “with the blood of God.”  That is powerful! Christ the Eternal Son has laid down his life for these sheep and they never will and never do belong to anyone but God. God is their Father (2 Cor. 6:18) and Christ is their brother (Heb. 2:12) and the Holy Spirit is their Comforter (John 15:26). The pastor loves them because the Triune God loves them.

At the same time the pastor is to treat the congregation of the Lord with such a concern as though they were his flock. “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” (Prov. 27:23). Gill says the Septuagint translates it, “the souls of thy flocks.”  The shepherd call  is to stay on course with a nurturing soul care.  Once again you see him guiding, not dictating; teaching not entertaining;  preaching not motivating.  The flock loves their Heavenly Shepherd and they already desire the will of God and they know his voice in the scriptures (John 10: 26-27).  Sheep are completely dependent upon their Heavenly Shepherd and they are never to be dependent upon another human being.

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care

 All material may be reproduced and distributed for edification, just leave a note that it was our article, please.

Come O Thou Traveler Unknown

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This is an old hymn By Charles Wesley. I have never read lyrics like this-SG

Come, O thou Traveler unknown, whom still I hold, but cannot see! My company before is gone, and I am left alone with Thee; With Thee all night I mean to stay, and wrestle till the break of day. I need not tell Thee who I am, My misery and sin declare; Thyself hast called me by my name, Look on Thy hands, and read it there; But who, I ask Thee, who art Thou? Tell me Thy name, and tell me now. In vain Thou strugglest to get free; I never will unloose my hold! Art Thou the Man that died for me? The secret of Thy love unfold; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy name, Thy nature know.

Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal Thy new, unutterable Name? Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell; To know it now resolved I am; Wrestling, I will not let Thee go, Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know. ’Tis all in vain to hold Thy tongue Or touch the hollow of my thigh; Though every sinew be unstrung, Out of my arms Thou shalt not fly; Wrestling I will not let Thee go Till I Thy name, Thy nature know. What though my shrinking flesh complain, And murmur to contend so long? I rise superior to my pain, When I am weak, then I am strong and when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-man prevail.

My strength is gone, my nature dies, I sink beneath Thy weighty hand, Faint to revive, and fall to rise; I fall, and yet by faith I stand ;I stand and will not let Thee go Till I Thy Name, Thy nature know. Yield to me now, for I am weak, But confident in self-despair; Speak to my heart, in blessings speak, be conquered by my instant prayer; Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move, And tell me if Thy Name is Love. Tis Love! ’tis Love! Thou diedst for me! I hear Thy whisper in my heart; The morning breaks, the shadows flee, Pure, universal love Thou art; To me, to all, Thy bowels move; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. My prayer hath power with God; the grace Unspeakable I now receive; Through faith I see Thee face to face, I see Thee face to face, and live! In vain I have not wept and strove; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love.

 I know Thee, Savior, who Thou art. Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend; Nor wilt Thou with the night depart. But stay and love me to the end, Thy mercies never shall remove; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. The Sun of righteousness on me Hath rose with healing in His wings, Withered my nature’s strength; from Thee My soul its life and succor brings; my help is all laid up above; Thy nature and Thy Name is Love. Contented now upon my thigh I halt, till life’s short journey end; All helplessness, all weakness I  On Thee alone for strength depend; Nor have I power from Thee to move: Thy nature, and Thy name is Love. Lame as I am, I take the prey, Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o’ercome; I leap for joy, pursue my way, and as a bounding hart fly home, through all eternity to prove Thy nature and Thy Name is Love.

Feed My Sheep 5: For the Love of Christ

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 “Lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (John 21:16).

Christ’s own people need to be fed by men he has called to pastor his flock. It still amazes me at how Jesus told them simply to feed his sheep.  I thought, “Is that all?” With the whole “Christians are getting spiritually fat and need to work it off” messages I have heard that just does not seem right.

But we have learned that Christ is the spiritual food and drink of His flock (John 6:35). Sheep need guidance into fertile and nutritious pastures (Psa. 23:5; Ezek 34:14). God’s people must be constantly directed and escorted to Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd by his teaching in the scriptures and Holy Spirit working in and through his shepherds (John 15:26).

Later in his writings, Peter echos the command of Christ to the “under-shepherds” of his day, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Pet. 5:2-3). This is one of the most direct biblical commentary’s we have on Christ’s command.  Peter tells these elders that it is a blessing not a burden to feed God’s people. There was a reason he needed to say that. To “feed the sheep” is the shepherds loving response to Christ. They should not feel sluggish but ready and eager to serve. The ministry of the shepherd is to lead by example and not by dictatorship. They are to excel at serving. They are not busy telling people what to do, but showing them how to do it.

“I know” you think, “it sounds good on paper but in reality pastoring people is difficult.” There is no doubt about it, but we must do it for love of Christ despite what people do.

As pastors we are not to do things from constraint. The word for constraint here in Greek describes a person who feels burdened by sickness or looking for relief from trouble. Understandably, pastors become drained and even “sick of” people and ministry with all its daily challenges.  It is easy to forget whom we serve when we feel unappreciated. We are reminded, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” (Col. 3:23-24). So if we take the Apostle Paul’s words and use them in light of what Peter is teaching he is telling us to feed the flock heartily, literally out of your very soul with the certainty you serve the Lord Jesus Christ not human beings.

Gill says, feeding the flock, “should be done with all a man’s heart and soul, and should spring from pure love to Christ; for no man is fit to feed Christ’s lambs and sheep but those who sincerely love him.”

When pastors become weary they can make the mistake of looking for their reward elsewhere. They look for recognition, power and even wealth. This was the great fault of the Pharisees (Matt. 6:1-6; Matt. 23; Luke 16:14). Christ calls its hypocrisy. It is amazing instead of feeding the sheep they will begin to feed off the sheep which is forbidden by scripture (Ezek 34:10). There is a fair warning here from Christ and he does not coddle us when he says, “they have their reward”  over and over again. (Mt 6: 2, 5. 16). That’s what they want, that’s all they will get and yelling, “Lord, Lord” in eternity will not save them from God’s payback for their sin.I

I realize we have all been in a job we hated at one time and we begin to feel unappreciated and underpaid. The ministry needless to say is the toughest job in the world. Yet Peter exposes the pitfalls of doing ministry for money or recognition. The minister of the gospel and those who labor for the church show Christ they love him by feeding and tending to, “his people and the sheep of his pasture.” (Ps. 110:3).

A.W. Pink comments, “It is only those who truly love Christ that are fitted to minister to His flock! The work is so laborious, the appreciation is often so small, the response so discouraging, the criticisms so harsh, the attacks of Satan so fierce, that only the “love of Christ”—His for us and ours for Him—can “constrain” to such work.” Is this not a reminder why and for Whom we do what we do. We serve others for Christ. We do it because we love him.

That clears it up.

You have no business in ministry if you do not love Christ. Some presume they love Christ because they are in ministry, but that means nothing. If a pastor stays in this lethargic, lazy condition the quality of ministry, or spiritual nurture he administers will be not only be soured but it will be as though the people are served a low grade, stale, spiritual food. They will be made to eat something other than the bread of life! Christ will contend with you on this. Christ cries out, “Give them to me!” or even better “Come unto me!” (Mt. 11:28).

The energy with which the shepherd works is directly connected to their love for Christ and the awareness that Christ is among the flock that is among us (Col. 1:27-29). I realize the most sincere pastor becomes weary, and they may make the mistake of looking to other things for their reward or other ways of making things happen in the place where they pastor, so they feel successful in their endeavors. This is a terrible mistake.  Christ never promised pastors they would have great success or large congregations. Some do, most don’t. Christ desires their faithfulness not their fame (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

They forget that their positions may be that of a shepherd but they are only sheep themselves and as such need to look as much and even more to Christ.

After the miracle of the great catch in John 21 Jesus calls to them, “Come and dine.” (Jn. 21:12). From this we draw the analogy that the fisherman catch the fish and Jesus feeds the fisherman with his own stash of fish.  Christ made them fish for breakfast that had nothing to do with the fish they caught. It is like Jesus is saying, “I still have meat that you know nothing about.” (John 4:32). I gave you the fish out there and I cook the fish here. I don’t need your fish I have my own. I will feed you, you will not need to feed me. This reminds me when God says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it.” (Psa. 50:2).  It seems Christ is demonstrating that our ministry is not about performing and appeasing men but it is all about how much you love Jesus. Jesus insists that there is nothing that you accomplish that I have not given your the power to produce. Thus shepherds feed the sheep and Christ feeds the shepherds.

Christ had no problem showing his first shepherds affection (John 13;1). Christ will give you dear pastor, all the love, attention and joy you need if you will come and dine with him. There is coming a time where every good and faithful servant will receive praise from God. (1 Cor. 4:5). Faithful shepherds see the opportunity to help others as though they were helping, feeding, clothing and visiting Christ himself (Mt. 25:31-46). We ought to see his face in the faces of our congregations. It should be our prayer that we ask God for the strength we need to serve for the sake of Christ and our love for him.

© 2011 Stephen S. Gibney Soul Health Care. Updated 2017

All material may be reproduced and distributed for edification, just leave a note that it was our article, please.