Jesus: The Good Shepherd , Are You His Sheep?

In many verses of the bible, Jesus is portrayed as the Good Shepherd, a tender and loving caretaker who watches over His flock with unwavering devotion. This profound metaphor not only illustrates His deep care and sacrifice but also invites us to reflect on our own place in this divine relationship.

In the biblical context, the sheep represent the believers — those who follow Jesus and seek His guidance. Sheep are known for their dependence on their shepherd, needing constant care, protection, and direction. Similarly, believers are depicted as needing the loving oversight and guidance of Jesus.

Jesus Himself reveals His role as the Good Shepherd in John 10:11 (NKJV), saying, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." This declaration underscores the extent of His commitment to His followers, showing His readiness to sacrifice everything for their well-being. He continues in John 10:14 (NKJV), "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own," illustrating the personal and intimate relationship He has with each believer.

The Good Shepherd knows His sheep individually. As John 10:27 (NKJV) states, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." In this verse Jesus not only leads but also listens to and recognizes each one of His followers, guiding them with wisdom and care.

The relationship between Jesus and His followers is one of profound security. John 10:28 (NKJV) assures us, "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." This promise of eternal life and unbreakable protection highlights the depth of His care and commitment.

Jesus’ compassion is vividly illustrated in Matthew 9:36 (NKJV) and Mark 6:34 (NKJV), where He sees the multitudes as "sheep having no shepherd" and is moved with compassion. This imagery reflects His concern for those who lack spiritual guidance and His mission to bring them into His fold.

In Luke 15:4-7 (NKJV), Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find one that is lost. The joy of finding the lost sheep represents the immense value He places on each individual. This parable reveals the boundless love and joy that Jesus experiences when even one person turns back to Him.

In a profound moment after His resurrection, Jesus specifically entrusts Peter with the care of His flock. In John 21:15-17 (NKJV), Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" Each time Peter affirms his love, Jesus responds, "Feed My lambs," "Tend My sheep," and "Feed My sheep." This commission highlights the responsibility of shepherding the believers, emphasizing the importance of nurturing and guiding them in their faith.

Finally, Revelation 7:17 (NKJV) envisions a future where "the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters." This verse promises that Jesus, the Lamb of God, will continue to shepherd and care for His people eternally.

Are You His Sheep?

Reflecting on these scriptures, consider your own place in this divine metaphor. Are you listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd? Are you following His guidance and trusting in His care? Embrace the reassurance and security that comes from being one of His sheep, knowing that the Good Shepherd is always watching over you with boundless love and protection.




Blessings.

State and national Republican Party leaders are suing the State Board of Elections again, days after the board criticized GOP leaders for filing a lawsuit based on what the board called "categorically false" allegations about the potential for voter fraud.

Monday's complaint is the second lawsuit making election integrity-related claims that GOP leaders say call into question whether large numbers of immigrants are illegally voting in North Carolina — echoing false claims former President Donald Trump made in the 2016 and 2020 elections. State elections officials say the GOP's claims are based on a skewed version of the facts, and that the lawsuit's proposed solution is itself illegal [because it is now too close to the election to purge them].

The Republican Party leaders claim in their lawsuit that some of the people in the database without matching information could be immigrants illegally registered to vote, although it offers no evidence of such cases.

Sure, purging them sounds like the right solution.

Harris, who replaced President Biden atop the 2024 Democratic presidential ticket last month, has been accused of flip-flopping on a number of issues since jumping into the race against Trump, including support for Medicare for All, banning fracking and legalizing illegal immigration, in an attempt to appeal to a larger set of voters.
In each case, Harris’ revised position has been announced by her campaign rather than confirmed by the vice president herself.

She needs to be called out on what she has said in the past. She is far to the left and her policies will crush America.

Greetings and blessings, everyone! I'm Robert from North Carolina. My user name is storypeddler. I am a writer and retired (since May) college English professor. Looking forward to learning my way around the site.

Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery where the former president participated in a wreath laying ceremony, NPR has learned.

A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members are authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.

When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.

In a statement to NPR, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign spokesman, strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation, adding: "We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.

The Trump campaign declined to make that footage immediately available.

In a statement to NPR, Arlington National Cemetery said it "can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed."

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This former CNN anchor went to several different states asking people about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. It looks like Don Lemon didn't like what he heard.

“I wanna get a law passed […] You burn an American flag, you go to jail for one year. Gotta do it — you gotta do it,” Trump said.

On Monday, Trump complained about pushback to a proposal to sentence people to a year in jail for burning the American flag.

“They say, ‘Sir, that’s unconstitutional.’ We’ll make it constitutional.”

In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson that while the desecration of the flag may be objectionable, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”

A New Hampshire state representative will pay two drag queens $100,000 each in a settlement after they sued him for falsely calling one a sex offender and accusing another of acting inappropriately with children.

Rep. David Love (R) made the comments in 2022 while introducing a bill to require library employees and volunteers to obtain background checks. He was driven to do so, he told his peers in the New Hampshire legislature, because of drag queens.

Now the allegations — which Love reiterated despite the drag queens, local officials and community members contesting them — will cost him $200,000.

[And the apology]

“After being provided with inaccurate information, information that I failed to verify, I publicly accused Robert Champion aka Monique Toosoon of being a registered sex offender and Michael McMahon aka Clara Divine of ‘rubbing butts’ with children,” Love said in his retraction. “... I have since learned that those assertions were completely false. I wish to publicly retract those statements and apologize to Robert and Michael.”

With their settlement, they join a slew of drag performers who have successfully sued over false accusations of sexual misconduct. In May, a jury awarded Idaho drag performer Eric Posey more than $1 million after a conservative blogger falsely accused him of exposing himself to children. A U.K. judge in January ordered a conservative commentator to pay a British-Canadian drag queen Colin Seymour around $200,000 in a libel case after falsely calling him a pedophile, Deadline reported.

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Former President Trump has added former Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to his transition team, broadening his coalition of supporters "across partisan lines." "As President Trump’s broad coalition of supporters and endorsers expands across partisan lines, we are proud that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard have been added to the Trump/Vance Transition team," Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes told Fox News Digital. "We look forward to having their powerful voices on the team as we work to restore America’s greatness," Hughes added.

The Biden administration repeatedly pressured Facebook to censor information about the COVID-19 crisis in 2021, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told House Republicans, adding he regrets taking down certain posts.

Mr. Zuckerberg said in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan that the administration repeatedly pressured the social network for months to remove virus-related material, including humor and satire.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Mr. Zuckerberg told Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican.

Mr. Zuckerberg also said his company erred in demoting a story about President Biden’s son, Hunter, and a laptop that seemed to have information about the Biden family’s foreign business ties. The platform’s maneuvers made it less likely for users to see the story.


Anyone who participated in this assault on the Constitution should be fired.

...and no, "orders are orders" is not a valid defense.

The states challenging the new program argue that it is bypassing Congress, whose job is to legislate such issues, and accused the Biden-Harris administration of doing so for “blatant political purposes.”

I fear a lot of damage has already been done. I bet they will try a workaround or violate the order, after all, what jury would convict such an old gentleman who has lost a few steps steps?

I am losing hope because my life is going down the drain fast. I am wondering whether or not someone cursed me because this is beyond the ordinary and all of the misery of my life has made me feel dead inside and depressed. I hear an inner "voice" that is not very distinct from my own and the voice claims that it is my crush from upper secondary school. At first I thought this was the Lord supernaturally connecting me and her but this has to be something strange and schizophrenic. I honestly want to die. My life is going nowhere and I do not understand why things had to turn out this way. I WANT COMPLETE HEALING BUT THE DOCTORS ONLY GIVE MEDS that do not cure the condition. I WANT TO BE FREE BUT WHY WON'T GOD HEAR MY DESPERARE PRAYERS?

John 20:

29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

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Hebrews 11:

1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

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2 Corinthians 5:

7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

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All three verses indicate that faith is not-seen. Is faith, by definition, not-seen?

Would God be happy with a person (M) who believes in His promise (P) to him with 0 physical evidence, or worse, the evidence is against P's fulfillment?

What kind of physical evidence did Noah have to believe that God was going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens?

God says P to M.
V1: M believes P because God says it and acts accordingly before seeing P fulfilled.
V2: M asks to see evidence that P would come true.
Would God be more satisfied with V1? We need to look at the issue from God's point of view, not from man's point of view.

Can anyone give me a concrete example of blind faith in God after God has spoken P to him?

There is no such thing because blind faith is faith.

Berean Literal Bible, Matthew 18:

3 Truly I say to you, if you are not converted and become as the little children, you shall never enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

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Strong's Greek: 3813. παιδίον (paidion) — 52 Occurrences

BDAG:
① a child, normally below the age of puberty, child
ⓐ very young child, infant, used of boys and girls. Of a newborn child
② one who is open to instruction, child
③ one who is treasured in the way a parent treasures a child, child

When my daughter was 5, I placed her on a high spot and told her to jump. Unhesitantly, she jumped, and I would catch her. She looked forward to this exercise with laughter. When she was 8, I repeated that experiment. It took me a couple of minutes to convince her to jump

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Who would have guess it? Well everyone with a functioning brain actually. In the land of the free freedom of speech is not so free apparently. Truth is what the government tells you it is. Everything else is misinformation and disinformation.

Your COVID-19 and Biden's laptop stories are the untruths because big tech companies like Facebook (Meta) said so. And Facebook said so because Biden persuaded (ordered) so.

What is more horrid is the press release by the administration. It is nothing short of doubling down on gaslighting us. "You" should think of "your actions" on the American people. While the biggest affect on the American people is done by the administration and the media/tech cartels.

In a statement issued to the website Politico, the White House stood by its actions.

It said: “Our position has been clear and consistent: we believe tech companies and other private actors should take into account the effects their actions have on the American people, while making independent choices about the information they present.”

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Here I thought chairman Xi has the race for world most obvious liar in the bag. Good to know Biden is still in the race and has some good chances to win.

Gambate! Biden-san! Can't let China have all the glory. USA! USA! USA!

Video showing Kamala casting deciding vote.

Let's look at what her actions produced:

The Democrats’ overstated claim that the Inflation Reduction Act curbs debt, inflation​

Ex-Democratic 2020 Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Endorses Trump​

Tulsi Gabbard—a former Democratic lawmaker and 2020 presidential candidate who has since left the party—endorsed former President Donald Trump on Monday, years after the sometimes-controversial politician became nationally known for sparring with Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 primaries.

In the view of mainstream culture today, there is no such thing as a principled case for the Christian view of marriage that limits it to one man and one woman. Opposition to same-sex marriage, in this view, can only spring from bigotry, hate, or fear. And once these labels are applied, the debate is typically viewed to be no longer necessary, just as one would avoid engaging in reasoned debate with someone who is racist or sexist.

There are, however, good reasons that Christians embrace a biblical view of marriage, and we’ll explore the most important one in this article, followed by a critique of a common argument justifying same-sex relations. Though critics may not recognize the Old and New Testaments as authoritative texts, the following will show that orthodox Christians base their viewpoint on reasons grounded in what they believe to be God’s revelation, rather than visceral emotional reactions.

The creation model of marriage

Continued below.

This was Paul writing to the church in Rome. And by “church” I don’t mean institutions of human origin, buildings built by human hands, businesses (not-for-profit) incorporated under the state, church denominations, civic centers, and social clubs. I mean the body of Christ comprised of all who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ across the globe, i.e. the universal body of Christ. We the people of God, who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, are the church.

These whom he was thanking were those of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, whose faith in Jesus Christ was being proclaimed in all the world. And the faith that Paul taught is not what is commonly being taught as faith in Christ today. For if you read all of his writings, you will see that he taught that genuine faith in Christ results in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but daily, and us walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living and in submission to him and to his will for our lives (see Romans 6:1-23).

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Php 2:5-11: Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

So Paul was thankful to God for those of genuine walks of faith in Jesus Christ, and he prayed for them regularly. And he prayed that he would be able to see them in person in order to encourage them in their walks of faith and in obedience to the Lord, and to minister to them and to their needs. He prayed that he might impart to them some spiritual gift to strengthen them in their walks of faith in the Lord Jesus in obedience to his commands. And he desired that they all would mutually encourage one another in the Lord.

And this is what the purpose is of the body of Christ, that we might encourage one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord in holy living. Yet this isn’t just about saying “nice” things to make people feel good about themselves, but this involves exhortation (holy urging) so that none of us are led astray by sin’s deceitfulness. And this involves us speaking the truth in love to one another so that we are not led astray by the cunning and craftiness of other humans in their deceitful scheming.

All this, too, is to help strengthen us in our walks of faith in obedience to the Lord so that we will be those who are not only living the truth of the gospel, but who are sharing the truth of the gospel with others. And it is so that, via mutual encouragement, that we will all grow together to spiritual maturity in Jesus Christ, our Lord, as each part does its work and is allowed to do its work within the fellowship of the body of believers in Jesus Christ. Speaking the truth in love to one another we, thus, can all grow in Christ together.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Gal 6:1; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:11-27; Eph 6:10-20; Php 2:1-8; Col 1:9; Col 3:12-16; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; Jas 5:19-20; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6; Jude 1:22-23]

And this is what the gatherings of the church are to be all about. Our gatherings are to be for the purpose of mutual fellowship in the Lord and in exhorting (holy urging) one another in our walks of faith and obedience to our Lord in holy living, and in praying for one another’s needs. And each one of us is to have a part in that where we minister to one another the love of God and the truths of God’s word so that we will all walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and in sharing the true gospel.

And this can take place in person with people anywhere that we want to meet together, any day of the week, and any time of day or night agreeable to everyone. We do not have to be locked into specific times or locations for our gatherings for them to be gatherings of the church. Therefore, these gatherings may also take place virtually, on the internet, where we can gather together with other believers in Christ in order to mutually encourage one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Love Must Be Genuine

An Original Work / October 22, 2013
Based off Romans 12:9-21

Love must be genuine.
Hate what’s evil; cling to good.
Love each other with affection.
Show respect for ev’ryone.
Never lack in your zeal.
Serve the Lord with diligence.

Rejoice in steadfast hope.
In affliction, patient be.
Keep on praying; share with others.
Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute.
Feel with others sympathy.

Be not filled with conceit.
Daily sit at Jesus’ feet.
Live in harmony with others.
Live at peace with ev’ryone.
Repay not to someone
With the evil he begot.

Do not take your revenge;
Leave it to the wrath of God.
If your enemy is thirsty,
Give to him something to drink.
Do what’s right for mankind.
Evil: overcome with good.

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How should evangelizing be approached that would be considered ethical.

1. Drunkenness, this can cause early death and catastrophe
2. Gluttony, this causes long term negative effects on the body and early death
3. witchcraft, God speaks very strongly against any witchcraft. There are accounts of those who practice it having severe mental health struggles maybe there is a link
4. Fornication, consequences can be a STD or an unplanned pregnancy
5. Leaving the faith (To those who believe this is possible)

Democrats are in no hurry for Vice President Kamala Harris to do a sit-down news interview and are making the unprecedented case that their presidential candidate shouldn’t risk answering questions.

Ms. Harris has dodged the media, refusing to do an unscripted interview or a press conference in the five weeks since she made her late entry into the presidential race — inviting comparisons to President Biden’s “basement strategy” in 2020.


Heaven forbid that she would reveal to he voters who she is and what she stands for. Knowing that she has a D behind her name is all that Independents need to know

Feel free to read the report. It's not just you, people are getting dumber.

In recognition of this scientific discovery, I'm returning to my old profile pic.

This exactly how your hardcore commie thinks!