June 16th
The Good Shepherd
Make No Mistake... We're In A Fight! 1 Peter 5:8 And The Wolves Want To Devour Us... BUT... Thank God We've Got A Shepherd Who Fights For Us.
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And just to be clear... Our Fight Is NOT With Carnal Weapons But Spiritual... (Matthew 10:16) Wisdom... Prayer... Claiming God's Promises... Staying In The Center Of God's Will... Staying Close To Our Shepherd and being a good shepherd to those He puts in our care. 2 Corinthians 10:4
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The Bible is chalked full of examples. There was never a humbler man than Moses... and probably nobody ever faced as great a challenge as Moses did... BUT... WOW... Look What God Did!
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Jesus facing death didn't grab a sword and start hacking away... He said... "My Kingdom Is Not Of This World... If It Were... Then Would My Servants Fight!" John 18:36
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What won the Roman Empire to Christ was not a physical revolution... but a Spiritual Revolution. What sold the crowds on Christ, was not a knife at their throats... but the way Christians went to their deaths in the Colosseum... Praising God... Loving Their Enemies... Doing Good to Those That Despitefully Used Them and Persecuted Them. Matthew 5:44-46
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I remember this one girl we won to the Lord in Communist China (Her Christian name was Silk). She had been a member of the Red Guard... helped beat and persecute many Christians... and what won her was the way they died. Her leader held up a Bible over them and said "Your book says `to turn the other cheek"... and he would beat them and everyone would laugh and jeer.
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It left such an impression on her that she said to herself, "if I ever met anyone who really lived this... I'd want to be like them too." Years passed the Red Guard disbanded and she met my Missionary friend Joseph who witnessed to her and she received Christ.
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"The Blood Of The Martyrs... Is The Seed... Of The Saints." - Tertullian
(PS. Joseph & Silk went on to become the 1st Missionaries back to Tibet in 1986.)