I had the privilege of speaking to a lovely group of ladies in Florida over the past weekend. Never have I seen such a group of women, eager to hear the Word of God and to show so much grace to me, as their speaker.
I was able to make BOLD statements about my wonderful Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, because not only is His Word perfect and TRUE, but because He has shown Himself so GREAT in my life!
Once, many years ago, when Wyatt and I first traveled to England to pursue the ministry that we believed the Lord had charged us with, we had lunch with a godly older man. You may have heard of him – Roy Hession. (He wrote “The Calvary Road” and “My Calvary Road.”) After we ordered our food, and had talked about our lives, and common people we knew, etc, tears filled the eyes of this gracious man of God. He said, “Why are we wasting this time talking about us? We should be talking about the Lord Jesus and HIS work!”
I never forgot this lesson that I learned at the age of 25. Are we making much of Christ, and little of ourselves? That’s what I shared with the lovely ladies I met in Florida last weekend.
Mary Glynn Peeples penned and illustrated a wonderful book called, “All We Like Sheep.” This picture here is the one that spoke most poignantly to my heart. The little sheep is standing over his friend, who has fallen over. He’s asking, “Do you want me to get the Shepherd?” This sheep can see the problem but knows he is not the solution. But he knows THE ONE WHO IS.
In these days of so much information, we sometimes start to believe that we can give people a book to read, or tell them ourselves what they need to DO to have a better life. Never have we had so many “answers” at our fingertips. So many self-help courses to choose from and such a variety of APPS. There are apps for everything! Apps to help us with our weight, our focus, our happiness and our success. I’ve explored many of them. And it all comes back to one thing. I need to be taken to the Shepherd. It is HIM, and HIM alone who I need a touch from.
Remember the woman who had been bleeding constantly for 12 years? She came up behind Jesus. She knew if she could just touch the hem of His garment, that she would be whole again. Jesus turned around and told her that her faith had made her well. Do you see how much God values our faith?
He wants us to believe before we see.
We need to be taken to the Shepherd, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. As women, we understand the importance of touch in our lives. In Mary Glynn Peeple’s book, she explains that each day, the shepherd walks amidst his flock of sheep, touching each one individually and personally. The shepherd knows that this is vital to the health of his sheep.
Since we are so much like these sheep, perhaps we should be more intentional about putting ourselves in the position each day where we can be touched by the Hand of God, the Presence of God, and the Heart of God. We need to know that He is there and that we are safe in His care. We need to be intimately and personally connected to the Shepherd, to experience peace and well-being.
Every day of our lives, but especially now, in this world Pandemic that we find ourselves in the middle of . . . . have we had a touch from the Good Shepherd in our lives today? Never have we been so needy. Never have times been this uncertain.
The word I chose for 2020 is INTIMACY. With others and with God. How can I get close to others and to God, if I don’t let them near me? I say it’s time for us to walk by faith and not by sight. We can only please God when we have faith. How can we walk by faith and not by sight today? How can we encourage others to do the same? Let’s continually be leading one another back to the Shepherd of our souls, knowing that He alone can fix our brokenness. May His work in us bring Him so much glory! Praying for you all today.
This Is Our Life 