Thrive

There is something great inside of us all. There is something noble. There is something in us that wants to be something more. There is a craving to thrive. Do you think this is by accident? It was by divine design. That craving for helping others and making an positive impact on our world. Peter had to ultimate realize this when he received the Holy Spirit and must had a generally idea as he walked with Jesus. He walked with fear until he saw his Savior had risen. He also must have doubts after he ascended. However when he received the Holy spirit. He became bold. He knew he had a power with responsibility. He hosted the kingdom and began to let the Holy Spirit work though him. He made an impact on the world. We can to daily if we stay in tune and feed that desire to thrive.

The Good Shepherd

I have been in the book of John a lot since the new year has started. I have honesty starting to realize how truly unique this gospel is compare to the other. For me it is a great insight to another side of Jesus. It has helped me lot to see this side of him. 

My blog this weekend is about John 10. Jesus reveals two important things for us to consider in his words. Jesus is the gatekeeper and our shepherd. A common theme that's evident in John is that Jesus is the way of Salvation. Jesus states I am the gate. He is the gate of salvation. He is the gate of peace. He is the gate of joy. He is the gate of eternal security.

However, Jesus states something else here. Jesus says he is the good shepherd. I am going to start going beyond the book of John here. In Luke 15 Jesus tells three parables. The very first one is a story of 100 sheep. 99 of them are with the shepherd but 1 has went astray. The shepherd stops and goes after that one lost sheep. He finds it and picks the lost sheep up to carry it home. 

That's the love of a caring leader.  That's the love of a caring friend that is never going give up on us. He wants to care for us, he wants to lead us. We spent so much time searching for love. We spent so much time searching for someone to care. The answer has been sitting under our noses the entire time. A lot of time we don't accept those kind of answers. Sometimes it is truth we don't want to accept. Sometimes it is not in the form that we think we want or need. Sometimes we think we know best for ourselves. We are really being our own shepherd. We are trying to be our own leader. We can't lead ourselves. We can lead others but we can't lead ourselves. Even leaders need a leader. Even leaders need people who give advice.  

Moses's father in law Jethro understood this. Moses was a leader. However Moses's father in law knew that Moses needed help. He advise Moses to pick men of integrity to help to lead and deal with every day affairs of the camp. Moses wisely took this advice. However Jethro told him to choose men that also fear God. Why? God is the leader of leaders. (Exodus 18)

This brings me to my next point. Jesus says in John 10 that his sheep will know his name. Jesus will lead us. Jesus knows our needs, our wants, and the best means of handling them. Jesus also has work for us to do. He is the leader. He wants others to partake in the gift of salvation. See our work can never be something we can boast about. That why salvation is a free gift. However our work in the kingdom can help others experience that free gift. We can help other people find the gate of salvation. However we can only do this if we follow his leadership. We can only do this if we know his voice. I need to learn to hear his voice. Every Christian must work on hearing his voice. He has people he wants us to reach out to and show that he loves them. He can only do that though us and the Holy Spirit. We must follow our shepherd.