My Online Faith Journal

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father- and I lay down my life for the sheep."  John 10:14-15    I want to outline for you five points that I see in the verses of John 10:1-18.  The first thing we should note is that this conversation in chapter 10 is related to what happened before in chapter 9.  Jesus heals a man born blind and Jesus refers to spiritual blindness.  The spiritual blindness and thief and robbers are the Pharisees from chapter 9.  In contrast, Jesus refers to himself as the true gate and Shepherd.    First, Jesus has a legitimate right to enter by the gate unlike the thief and robber.  The doorkeeper is a porter who has the keys.  The porter opens up the sheep gate  in order for the shepherd to lead the sheep out to pasture.  The thief wouldn't have access to the doorkeeper and would have to break in through illegitimate means.  The thief has the intention of using the sheep f

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness."  Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV     Jeremiah is often called the "weeping prophet" because of how much he lamented during his prophetic time period.  He was often ridiculed and laughed at, jailed and mistreated because of the Word of God that he preached to the people.  His prophetic message ranges from a period of around 626-629 B.C. until some time after Jerusalem is destroyed around 586 B.C.   So, he had a long period of trial.  During this time, because Jeremiah lived among the people even when in captivity when they suffered he also suffered.  It was bad enough that in Lamentations he makes mention of women cooking their own children due to starvation.       Jeremiah didn't have a very hopefully message.  He lived during a time period when the Babylonians were rising in power.  God ended up using the Babylonians

The Attributes of God: Love (part of this list is taken from web site: https://www.josh.org/resources/spiritual-growth/attributes-of-god/? A free Bible study site by Josh McDowell) as a father, God corrects His beloved children (Prov. 3:12) Discipline is proof of his love.  Discipline - yakach, reproves, corrects. In Hebrews 12:11 it says that the displine of God is painful, but produces a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who are willing to be trained by it.  Similiar to the idea of in Romans 5:3-5 where it says that suffering produces perseverance, endurance and character and eventually builds hope. Believers should imitate God’s universal love (Matt. 5:44-45) this comes right before where Jesus says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.  Then he gives the example of God who sends his rain upon the good and the evil. eternal plans are motivated by His love (Eph. 1:4-5)  God chose us in Him before the wor