Do You Need a Shepherd?

From Jerry on Mar 13th:

This is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible. I use it often at funerals, but is is a comforting scripture anytime that we are bothered by lifes everyday trials. Just to know that we have a Saviour that will never leave us is so comforting to know. That should give us a desire to keep living for him.
God bless everyone and have a great day, the sun is shinning around the Atlanta area and that is a blessing in itself.

From Janice on Mar 13th:

I am happy to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd." There is such peace and calm in those words and the thoughts behind them.

In the past I had a friend who sort of made fun of Christians for being like sheep. I have not seen her for a few years but I still pray for her so she might know Jesus as Lord and accept her place as a blessed sheep in the care of the Good Shepherd.

There is a humbleness in being one of the sheep, a part of the group of followers. It is a gift to recognize I need the leadership of Jesus. Praise Him for the awareness He gives of our status in relationship to Him and the Father God. Isn't it nice to know He is in control?

From Grant on Mar 13th:

Janice - It sure is nice!

We all face challenges in this life. John Piper once preached that we can have three responses to tough times:

1- We can "pull ourselves up by our bootstraps". We can set our jaw and rely on our own strength, ability and determination. We can accomplish a lot that way, but in the end we all finsh at the same place. "Vanity of vanities..", as Solomon wrote.

2- We can be afraid. Fear is a terrible place to be. It is one of the devils favorite tools. Fear cripples us and drives us to bad decisions and painful outcomes.

3 - We can trust that God is in control. He doesn't promise that he will take away the trouble or the suffering, but he does promise that he will never leave us or forsake us. In fact, he promised the opposite - that in this world we will have many troubles. It's part of life. Beware the "health wealth and prosperity" preachers.

I choose the third option. That doesn't mean that I don't exercise most of the outward activity of the first option, but I know that I cannot assure my own eternal victory. Jesus already did that and it's in him that I will find my peace.

God Bless you all.

PS: I'm in one of those times right now, so all prayers are much appreciated.

Jerry, where's your church? I'm sure that a lot of us would love to visit you sometime.

From DonB_asinner on Mar 13th:

Long after my mother stopped communicating with us during her transition, she continued to recite this psalm. She was an Alzheimer patient who could remember little else except Psalm 23. Some people want to go in their sleep or suddenly. I want to go reciting Psalm 23. Amen

From Jerry on Mar 13th:

Grant,
It is Cornish Mountain Baptist Church. It is between Covington and Loganville off Hwy 81. If anyone ever want to visit just post and I will give directions. I would love to see any of you, even Eric and Jonathon. Everyone have a great service tomorrow.

From Grant on Mar 13th:

Thanks Jerry. Hope I'll get to meet you one Sunday.

From JCO on Mar 13th:

Thanks for the invite Jerry, but I'll pass. The only time I visit churches is to see very old ones with lots of history in Europe. In the States? Nah.

I actually went to church as a kid. My parents dragged me. Now they never go either and I've convinced my mother that there isn't a god, of any description.

From Grant on Mar 14th:

Gee JCO, that's really something to be proud of.

From Jerry on Mar 15th:

JCO it is such a shame that you would cause your parents to think that way. I feel sorry for someone who is as negative as you are. I hope that one day you will see that science doesn't have all the answers to lifes problems and that you will find that true science does line up with the Bible. I know we differ on that, you say I am a fool to believe and we say according to the Bible you are a fool to not believe. We will have to wait till we die to find out which is right, you or us. But wouldn't it be sad to find out you were wrong and we was right? If we find out that we were wrong we haven't lost anything but a little time in this life that we spent living the way the Bible says we should live, if you find out you were wrong then you have Hell to face and then a lake of fire. Think about it, we tell you this because we care about you.

From JCO on Mar 15th:

Grant, it is something to be proud of! I got my my mother to question the psychological meme of religion that's been passed down from generation to generation without any evidence. What could be wrong with that? Likewise, I've "converted" my sister to atheism, my wife, and a few other friends...

But you know, a lot of these people realize it's all extremely silly, but society pressures them into not coming out and offically saying, "No...I'm not buying this anymore."

Jerry. Your arguments are weak. What if you are wrong too about the Great Jube Jube Up the Mountain? Why bet on Christianity other than the fact that you were born into it (or born in the USA)?? Why not place your bets on Zeus? You are an atheist too Jerry, with respect to the 1,000s of gods invented by man in which you don't believe in either. I just go one more god further.

From Janice on Mar 15th:

JCO, I pray God will open your blind eyes and heart to Jesus by whatever method it takes. Jesus once put some mud on a blind man's eyes and he could then see. I pray for mud in your eyes if that is what it takes for you to have new vision that includes knowing Jesus as Lord.

You talk as though you have been the facilitator of several conversions to your religion of atheism. Do you come to this site with those same expectations? You are the blind trying to lead the blind. There will be a time of knee-bowing and confession of Jesus is Lord at some point in your future. I pray for those you have led astray. Jesus is Lord but you just haven't realized it yet. I hope it happens for you soon and not when it is too late.

From Jerry on Mar 15th:

JCO,
you are the most incorrect human being I have ever heard of. If you want to think that there is no God then that is your choice but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when the Dr's who are scientists told my family that there was no way for me to live through the night and that they needed to call the family in to see me for the last time. My pastor told them that they would be praying for me and to the Dr's surprise I made it. They even said they would have never believed it if they hadn't been the one who was working on me. That my friend is a miricle that no man, scientist Zeus or anybody else had anything to do with. Last night I had a friend to call me and told me about a daughter of a friend of mine that had flat lined twice in the ER and was rushed into a 6 by-pass surgery and was told by the Dr's who also was scientists that she would not make it through the surgery. She did. Your science and opinion stinks in the nostrils of the almighty God. Your arguments are very scattered and weak and I for one am getting tired of having to read the same arguments from you. If you don't believe then why bother? You have lied many times and said you wouldn't bother looking on this site again. Either believe or don't, that is your choice, you certainly are not going to change anybody on here, if you changed your families mind then their hearts wasn't right in the first place. You don't impress or intimidate me at all, I have had discussions with people like you before who believe what they read only, I believe what I have read, investigated, studied and experienced. Have a good life.

From JCO on Mar 15th:

Jerry, I'm glad you are fine, and you made it through surgery, but what makes you think the Christian God was responsible for this “miracle”? How do you know it wasn’t Ra the Sun God, or something else entirely?
By the way, I think you are confusing doctors (who are not scientists) and scientists, both of whom make errors — just like anybody else. Isn’t it possible that the doctors simply miscalculated your chances, either through a lack of knowledge, or a mistake in judgement? Forgive me if I’m speaking out of line for I don’t know your personal situation.
Janice and Jerry — no I don’t come to this site to covert anybody to anything. You see, I am a believer in the Freedom of Thought and Religion. But my big issue with faith is that we can’t have an open dialogue on anything other than your one 2,000 year old book. Come on, you all reject the Koran — you know how it feels ;)

From Grant on Mar 15th:

You cannot argue someone into believing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You cannot frighten them into belief. As Paul says often, belief comes by faith, and faith by the grace of God that none might boast of their own salvation. You cannot choose to be a Christian; you are chosen. But, you can choose not to believe. I pray that those who come to this site in unbelief will find something here that helps to change their hearts and to open them to the work of the Holy Spirit. Those who consider themselves too enlightened to believe, who think that Christians are just folks clinging to superstition and myth, will not be persuaded by arguments. They cling to their own god; science (or worse – their own wisdom). I believe that science reveals God. They believe that it refutes him. They don’t like the idea that there is God and what his existence would mean for them, so they are in rebellion against him.

From Janice on Mar 15th:

Thank you, Grant and Jerry, for your appropriate and excellent comments.

JCO, somehow you are mistaken about the purpose of this devotional site. It is about Jesus and to encourage those who do or would believe in Him. It is not about other gods or how to be an atheist. Surely there are other sites that will cater to your desired topics of discussion.

From RFTH on Mar 15th:

Goodbye JCO. You have proven over and over that all you want to do is slander and mock the beliefs that are shared by the overwhelming majority of people who comment on this site, and most certainly by RFTH. If you gave any indication that you were genuinely seeking to know the truths espoused here, it would be different. But that is not the case. You simply delight in creating chaos and that, our friend, will not be tolerated any more on this site.

From JCO on Mar 15th:

Did you ban me?

From RFTH on Mar 15th:

I guess that will be up to you.

From Grant on Mar 15th:

PS to Jerry -

I once had an atheist answer the 'what if you're wrong' question by saying.

"If I'm wrong, I look forward to shaking my fist in God's face and telling him what I think about the way he ran this world!"

I laughed and said that when he met God Almighty he would be shaking, but it wouldnt' be his fist!

RFTH - Thank you. Earnest and sincere questions regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ are good for our growth. The kind of attack on Christianity that we have been enduring (and foolishly engaging) is not conducive to the purpose of a Daily Devotional. There are other "arenas" for that kind of debate. I look forward to the experiences, comments and encouragements of Christian dialog to start my day. What has been allowed here has diminished the whole value of what you probably intended and the reason most of us are here.

Tolerance has it's place and disruption has it's limits.

God's blessings to all. I look forward to a bit of fresh air in the weeks to come.

From JCO on Mar 15th:

"the truths espoused here."

See, that's where we differ. And don't you think it's extremely arrogant to suggest that you have some kind of truth? Some kind of deep secret?

As I've said before many times, you can continue to believe what you want, but if you are so certain of these "truths", why feel threatened by what I am saying? Why can't you people answer simple questions from Erik and I?

I think we should be very thankful that we live in countries that allow us to think freely about these things. Questioning ancient nonsense in some other countries might result in a trip to the chopping block.

From RFTH on Mar 15th:

No, Jonathan, we don't believe we are arrogant. We, like you, are simply discussing our faith as to what we believe is true. Please find a place where you can find people who will share in what you believe. The last time we checked, we still live in a land where we are free to believe what we choose to believe, based on what we feel is Truth. We believe the Truth to be that God, in His Sovereign power, created the earth and everything in it - and then because of the sin committed by Adam and Eve, He chose to send His very own Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for all of our sins on the cross - even your sins. But that isn't all - Jesus rose from the dead and that is what makes it truly possible for us to accept the free gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven.

Now, you may choose to believe that this is a fairy tale. That is your choice to make and we honor that choice. But we, as followers of Christ, choose to believe, in faith, that the Bible is true.

It's as simple or as complex as you want to make it. We simply are tired of trying to convince you of something that you seem to be completely against. If that is the case, we are at a stalemate. We suggest that you move onto greener pastures for your belief system. You aren't going to change our minds, and obviously, we aren't going to change yours. However, we can promise you that many folks will continue to pray for you and love you in the name of Jesus.

Be blessed.