God Never Gives Up
WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!
Finding and returning what is lost to its place brings Extreme Joy and a desire to celebrate and tell others.
* God desires us all to be in community/relationship with Him.
If we don’t take ungodly thoughts captive, they will take us captive.
* “Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word. “Jeremiah 6:19
*Spiritual discipline is allowing God to get me to a place I am not at———- Discovering MY sins!
*Sin brings consequences (Jer. 6:19-21). Even when we repent and are forgiven the consequences may remain. Let us not bring these consequences upon ourselves.
WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!–GOD NEVER GIVES UP!
“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? (Luke 15:4).
Jesus is speaking here of a sheep that had been in the fold. Clearly, this
represents a member of Christ’s flock, one that has been well fed and led by
a loving shepherd.
Yet this sheep has gotten lost, so the shepherd has gone out looking for it.
*There seems to be a HIGH Value placed on sinful people in the eyes of God.
*What may have caused the one sheep to get lost?
* He took is eye off of his Shepherd.
We too Become distracted. Worldly things,etc. , pleasures of life.
* Inability to control ones appetite. The living word of God is what we should have an appetite for.
*Maybe Because he heard wolf noises.
* Maybe Caught in the thickets, couldn’t get out of it.( my people know my voice).
Note what Jesus says about the shepherd here: “He goes after the one that is lost until he finds it”
* God NEVER gives up on anyone who belongs to Him and has gone astray. *Instead, He goes out to find that sheep, embraces it and brings it back into the fold.
*Retrieval brings celebration. All of Heaven rejoices when a single life is restored to God’s family.
Simply put, you can go so far into sin that you come to very brink of hell, and
God will still pursue you.
David testifies, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Psalm 139:8).
We have all heard the expression “hell on earth.” That is what life is like
for those who run from God. Their “bed in hell” is an awful, terrible
condition.
*It means to be captivated by sin, drifting so far from the Lord that
you eventually fall into a lifeless slumber.
This slumber is accompanied by a
nagging fear that whispers, “You are going deeper and deeper into hell. You
may not ever get back to God.”
Christ’s message to us is, “You may have made your bed in hell, but you are
not too deep in sin for Me to reach you and receive you with open arms.”
When the shepherd finds the lost, injured sheep, he carries the wounded
creature into his house.(The sign of the shepherd, carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders shows imagery of intimate care. The lost sheep that was found does not walk back, but is carried by the shepherd).
* Then he calls all his friends and neighbors together, exclaiming, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost”
(Luke 15:6).
“Likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).
I know my tendency toward self-indulgent individualism, going my own way and doing my own thing. That’s to much me. I’m a sheep. And if Jesus Christ is to be my shepherd, I have to Admit that I need one daily!!!
It is difficult, but that is where we must start. Once we admit that Need, we discover the Truth of what David is saying. We shall not want. (Read Psalms 23).
* In this psalm David enumerates the ways in which the Good Shepherd meets our needs.
* The first thing He does is to Meet the needs of the Inner Person, the basic needs that we have for nourishment within.
*He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul (Psalm 23:2-3a).
In times of deep, dire need, when we cast about for help, it is no farther away than God’s Word. Everything we need to nourish the inner person is right there. As Peter says,
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
*Everything we need that relates to life and to living godly lives in the world is available IN Christ. I ask am I employing that resource?
Jesus is in the business of redemption! I believe The Church(the Body of Christ) is a hospital for sinners, NOT a country club for the rich and respectable. We in our nice middle-classed churches and groups must Not be too wary of welcoming the Lost of this world. We have to follow Jesus’ example.
*As the Father has sent the Son, the Son has sent us. What will we do to help with Gods great search for that one lost
soul?
**What drives us to search for something, is the VALUE that we assign to it.
**Imagine this… If we who have been found—- would Truly Value those who may be lost.
*****WE ALL ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!
Lord, though I am a sheep who is prone to wander, come and be my shepherd today. Bring me to that place where I can say, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want”.
Take away from me Lord any feelings of emptiness, loneliness, despair, frustration, hopelessness, or wants that exist in my life– Help me daily to recognize Your call to rescue me and then Truly Value those who may be lost.
Lord, thank You for Your Word. May it be to me like green pastures and still waters, leaving me fully satisfied in You.
Lord, help me to continue learning to find green pastures and still waters in the written Word and see there the Good Shepherd who IS our Life!!!
Lord, I ask that you help me to say Yes to you each and every day and moment so that I don’t miss out on your perfect will for my life. Continue to magnify your Holy Word in my life that it continues to mold and shape my thoughts and life for Your Glory and my Joy. In Jesus Name, Amen.