He tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them in the fold of his garment. He gently leads the nursing ewes. The idea of God as a shepherd didn't begin in the New Testament. It runs through the entire Bible like a thread that holds the whole story together. Long before Jesus stood up and made His claim in John 10, the people of God already knew this language....  Read More

"What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?" Shepherds in the ancient world counted their sheep constantly. Morning and night. Leaving the pasture and returning to the fold. It wasn't a habit born out of anxiety, it was the natural rhythm of someone who cared about each one by name...  Read More

"I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me." There is something about being known that reaches a place inside of us nothing else can touch. You can walk into a room filled with hundreds of people and still feel completely invisible. You can be surrounded and still feel alone. But the moment someone calls your name, something shifts. You go from being a face in a crowd to being seen...  Read More

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?" Devotional Thought:And so here we are. Five days of looking at the joy that expands the kingdom, the joy that thrills heaven, the joy that causes the Lord Himself to shout over us as we celebrate the one. It all begins with...  Read More

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them.'" In Jesus' day there was a group called the Haverim, the associates of scrupulous people. They were devoted to purity beyond what God had ever asked of them. When the Old Testament law said not to boil a young goat in its mother'...  Read More

"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." There was a man who once left the comforts of heaven, the security of His throne, and even, though temporarily, the relationship to His Father... just so He could celebrate the return of those who were lost...  Read More

"The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." If God is the source of all joy, then what makes God show great joy? What makes Him rejoice? Because if we are carrying His Spirit inside of us, whatever moves Him should be moving us too.So what I'm seeing is this... all...  Read More

"Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance." We talk a lot about joy in the church. We sing about it, we preach about it, we tell people they should have it. And most of the time when we think about joy we think about our own well being, our own happiness, our own peace of mind. That's not wrong,...  Read More

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us, not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit." The Samaritan did not simply look at the man with compassion and walk away feeling good about his emotions. Compassion without action is just sentiment, and sentiment...  Read More

"But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine." There is an all-important word that shifts the entire story, and it is the word "but." The priest passed by. The Levite passed by. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was (Luke 10:33). Everything before this mome...  Read More

"holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people." Two religious men came down the same road. The priest walked by first, and the text says he passed by on the other side (Luke 10:31). He did not even look. He saw enough to know there was a problem and made a deliberate choice to avoid it. Then the Levite came, and at least he looked at the man, but after looking he also...  Read More

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." The parable opens with a man making a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, and that detail matters more than most people realize. Jerusalem was the city of God's presence, the place of worship and safety. Jericho sat below it, and the road between the two was notorious for danger. It wound through desolate terrain where bandits waited for tra...  Read More