“Make me know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are The God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day”Psalm 25:4-5.

 

Psalm 25 

When I was a small child, my family raised two sheep. One was jet black, and the other was pure white. We called the black sheep “Bonnie” and the white sheep “Sugar”. They were beautiful, sweet, friendly and… NOT famous for their thinking skills. But I loved those sheep and as long as we took care of everything for them, they survived and flourished. I never guided sheep on a mountainside journey, but I learned enough about them as a child to be certain that, without a guide, they could never survive.
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 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),  so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” (Ephesians 6: 1-3)

 

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“My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart” (Psalm 7:10).

 

Psalm 7

The lyrics to Erik Nieder’s well-known worship chorus opens a picture window into a room filled with valuable heirlooms and treasures from the pages of scripture antiquity. The feature of the priceless treasury is a map to The Shepherd’s heart of protection for the lambs in His personally-adopted flock of believers.

 

“Faithful”

Where can I go from your spirit

Where can I hide from your face

Where can I flee from your presence

Where would I go, where would I go

If I rise to the heavens you’re with me

If I fall to the depths of the sea

Even there it’s your hand that will lead me

Wherever I go, wherever I go

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“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1).

 

Psalm 5

There are a million reasons why I hate porn. The entire industry is wretched. While using helpless and deluded young women, often sex trafficked against their will, the proprietors of it all line their pockets with 1000 dollar bills, and, in the process, create sex addicts out of children who carelessly log in on a smartphone or computer. To say porn is the worst drug ever invented is a drastic understatement.

To proclaim that porn comes straight out of the nostrils of Satan is equally clear. Porn is instantly addictive. Porn creates pictures that never leave the mind of the user. Porn degrades women. Porn disenfranchises wedding vows. Porn leads to higher forms of degradation. Porn turns honeymoons into horror shows. Porn destroys marriages. Porn creates slavery. Only The Shepherd can set the captive free. Only The Shepherd can empower the sheep to walk in the pasture of purity and safety.

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“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1).

 

Psalm 4

 

One cold and rainy night, a dear friend found a two-or-three-day-old fawn lost, and probably dying, in a drainage ditch. My friend knew of my heart for wounded and orphaned animals and came to me with the wet, shivering, helpless spotted doe. I warmed a bottle of goat milk and tried to place it into the terrified baby deer’s mouth. The fawn let out a deafening cry of horror as, drop-by-drop, I forced the healing formula in her system.

Three days later, the little, spotted girl was following me like a puppy dog and downing bottles of life-giving milk like a hungry child. Four months later, I set her free to join the wild herd that lives in the woods near my house.

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“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1).

Psalm 3

The successful football coach knows that the best offense is a good defense. The mission of the defense is to protect your goal line from your opponent’s aggression. The best way to prepare for a football game is to study the tactics of your opponent by watching film from his previous performances.

As it is in football, so it is in life. The adversary of our soul is in relentless pursuit of our demise in life and eternity. His attacks are repeated endlessly through the lust of our eyes and the bitterness, fear and anxiety of our heart. Our only sure defense is The Great Defender Of Our Soul – Jesus, our Shepherd and Warrior for our eternal salvation.

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“Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:10-11).

Psalm 2

Charles Wesley took this exhortation seriously. Indeed, he worshipped The Shepherd with almost every breath that entered his lungs. Wesley wrote 8,989 hymns by writing an average of 10 lines of verse every day for 50 years. His songs of praise included such favorites as “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”, “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”, and “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”. Adoration, admiration and appreciation are the bedrocks upon which worship stands. Praise, thanksgiving and biblically-focused singing are the pillars of worshipful expression.

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