Michael Harrison's e-devotion

  Reminders are good things.  In fact I have heard some of this stuff for years, but because I am not from the country, don’t know sheep very well and have never been a shepherd, these are good reminders. Our church continues through a series titled “Get to Know the Shepherd” where we are looking at Bible passages that teach us about sheep.  Pretty awesome passages so far like Psalm 23 and John 10.  Yesterday we looked at Ezekiel 34, and this is good stuff.  Follow these reminders … Ezekiel 34  NLT  11 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13 I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where p...

  Our current series at The Community Fellowship is “Get to Know the Shepherd”, and Sunday I shared a message from Psalm 23.  David shared his experience as a shepherd and how it led him to know and follow God. Psalm 23:1  KJV The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. That is a personal word from personal experience.  Literally David that that God supplies his need through the relationship he has with God, the supreme shepherd.  What an awesome truth we need to hold to as well. 1 Peter 2:25  NLT   Once you were like sheep who wandered away.  But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. That is why Jesus came.  He is our shepherd and makes a huge difference because He seeks us, He died for us and He guides us all the time. Psalm 69:33  NLT   For the Lord hears the cries of the needy; he does not despise his imprisoned people. No matter our need, He knows and is ready to help.  Claim this truth.  He...

  John 10:3  NLT   The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  We are in a series at The Community Fellowship that is all about sheep and shepherds, and I have been so excited to share what I am learning.  “Get to Know the Shepherd” will take a look at some of the passages in the Bible that point out what sheep are like and how shepherds care for sheep. This coming Sunday we will focus on one of the most familiar passages.  Psalm 23 is exciting and is packed with promises.  Come join us Sunday morning at 10:10 and bring someone with you. But I draw your attention to the verse I started this e-devotion with.  There are a few things that every sheep passage in the Bible shares or assumes.  This is so good. “The sheep recognize his voice.” That one phrase is powerful and is a promise.  But the biggest problem is when we don’t know this truth....

  Jesus called us sheep.  God through the writers of the Bible talked about the sheep who went astray, and the facts are in on sheep.  They aren’t the brightest animals in the barn.  But the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep is an incredibly important one.   John 10:3-4  NLT The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.   Notice the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep and how there is comfort, strength and protection, yet the most important word here is relationship.   The sheep recognize the shepherd’s voice.   We can know the voice of God.  What makes it easy to recognize is the fact that we’ve heard it a lot.  We’ve talked.  We’ve listened.  We’ve enjoyed time in His presence....

I love the 23rd Psalm.  I have shared it many times over the last few weeks.  One of the things that is difficult, if you follow my train of thought, is that Jesus called us sheep.  Sheep aren’t the smartest of animals, but they have something so good going for them.  That would be the shepherd. John 10:3-4  NLT The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.   The relationship between the shepherd and the sheep was special.  That relationship brought comfort, strength and protection, and there are some parts about this relationship that I want to remind us about.   The sheep recognize the shepherd’s voice.   We can know the voice of God.  We recognize His voice because we spend time with Him.  We’ve talked.  We’ve l...

One of the things that we all look forward to is growing up.  Well, most of us want to grow.  We want our kids to grow up.  We want to grow up ourselves.  But then when we are grown it is like we growing too much, and our thought is we should be a kid again. There is a constant struggle going on.  Growth is natural.  We are made to grow.  Yet to stay a kid forever and not grow up is not natural.  Do you get that?  When someone is not growing, there is a problem.  Think of that physically.  And the same is true spiritually.   Without growth there is a major problem.  That is true in our bodies.  That is true in us spiritually.  That is why we need to make sure a few things are happening. First, I need to make sure I am growing.  Stay close to God.  Be in the word.  Spend time in church.  Be with people that help you grow.  Make sure there aren’t things in the way. Second, I am to help othe...

Jesus called us sheep.  God through the writers of the Bible talked about the sheep who went astray, and the facts are in on sheep.  They aren’t the brightest animals in the barn.  But the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep is an incredibly important one. John 10:3-4  NLT The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. Notice the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep and how there is comfort, strength and protection, yet the most important word here is relationship. The sheep recognize the shepherd’s voice. We can know the voice of God.  What makes it easy to recognize is the fact that we’ve heard it a lot.  We’ve talked.  We’ve listened.  We’ve enjoyed time in His presence.  The sheep found that the shepherd...

Matthew 9:36  NLT When he saw the crowds, he had   compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like   sheep   without a shepherd. Problems arise quickly when someone has no guidance.  It is much like the verse we are using with our theme at The Community Fellowship this year of #2020Vision that says people perish or run wild without God-given vision or truth. I would say this is a problem rampant through our culture and around the world that we live in today.  The verse above says it well.  In fact go back to the Bible and notice that the words are most often printed in red meaning Jesus spoke them. Jesus said that people were on His heart because they needed a shepherd to guide and love them.  That is what God wants to do for each and every one of us.  He is guide and life.  He is strength and confidence.  He is peace and giver of truth.  Why d...