But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. John 10:2-3 ESV As we approached, the little flock of sheep crossed the small gravel road and huddled together with […]
He Knows My Name!
I am reposting this from my nursing home blog as it seems to be something important to remember in the middle of the chaos. Jesus is calling our name and He knows right where we are.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:1-2 ESV
The Lord is not only my shepherd He is a good shepherd for everyone who comes to Him and He fills our lives with blessings. It may be that having spent a lifetime learning that reality is why “Count Your Blessings” is one of the all time favorites at the Nursing Home meetings I lead every week. You might ask how people sitting in wheel chairs and often without any family or friends can sing about being blessed. It could be that because they are in a place where neither money nor position matter any longer they see more clearly what is truly a blessing. They have a perspective that includes delighting in different kinds of blessings. 
Walking into most rooms, you will notice that usually one of the personal items on the nightstand or hung on the wall includes a photograph of their family. Whether it is a faded wedding picture from many years ago or a more recent shot of children and grandchildren it is a reminder of blessings of a lifetime to be thankful for. Then if you stay for a longer visit some people will begin to show you hand written birthday cards from a grandchild or a box of candy from a friend. Stay a bit longer and they will tell you how much they appreciate you coming by to give them some of your time. Small blessings we pass by in our hurry to go places are instead savored by folks whose life is now lived day by day.
Last of all if you peek into the corner in some rooms you will often see a Bible, a cross or their rosary beads. Today; though the journey has not lead to where they ever imagined they have found that the greatest blessing of all does not lie anywhere here on earth. The blessing that they now value highest of all is the one that is to come when every blessing is found in Christ!
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 ESV
I was born left-handed, and I still painfully remember the upside down feeling of learning to write. At Hamilton Elementary, all children were taught penmanship right-handed. But I held my paper entirely upside down, gripped the pen the wrong way and on my report card every quarter appeared the inevitable F.
What I could never shake was the feeling of being upside down. That is the same feeling that Jesus is preparing us for with this verse. He tells us we are going out like sheep among wolves. Now if we stop to think about it we would all agree that there is no competition in a fight between sheep and wolves. The wolves have bigger teeth, are stronger and can run circles around sheep. Nevertheless Jesus confidently sends us out because we have one thing the wolf doesn’t have. We have the shepherd! 
When we get into a wolf-fight, our first tendency is to sign up for the “How to fight like a Wolf” seminar. We think if we could just try a little harder, change our tactics or develop a quicker response, we might come out on top. But that wasn’t the Lord’s idea at all. What Jesus wanted was for us to live life walking close behind Him. Being strong enough to protect ourselves can never compare to having the protection of the Lord. We are no match for wolves, but they will run away from us when they come face to face with our Shepherd. Then He makes us lie down in green pastures and turns our world right side up!
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