Our wonderful, patient Teacher, the Holy Spirit joins us at the time of Grace and actually invites us to be a partner with prayer.
You are living in one or the other of these. Do you know in which and where you live? Oh look! There is a sheep. Be careful! Is it really a sheep or a pig disguised as a sheep? In the sheepfold there is safety from wolves, robbers and other murdering, deceiving messengers from Satan’s stronghold. Cast not (Matthew 7:6) your pearls before swine in case they turn around and tear you to pieces. Why would they? Because the Truth of God, which you have, can penetrate their disguise and expose them for the pigs they really are. We have been warned (2 Peter 2:1) that false prophets would appear on the world scene and that false teachers will be among us. They will teach a false gospel, a watered-down version which exchanges (Romans 1:25) the Truth of God for a lie of deception and misleading. A pig can try to disguise himself by wearing a religious sheepskin, sometimes called a clerical collar, but that will not make him a sheep. He is still a counterfeit, a deceiver, a pig from Satan’s stronghold. Pigs are always selfishly greedy to fatten themselves with personal gain. Comforting, seducing, lying religious words are the bait they use to attract to themselves the largest crowds, growing popularity and the biggest salaries. If you scratch an itch, you will only heat up the blood and intensify the itch. When false teachers scratch itching ears, they heat up the desire for more comforting, seducing, mind-numbing lies and strengthen the chains forged in Satan’s stronghold. What are they saying about Truth? Listen! I hear them shouting (John 19:6) Crucify Him! Those shouts come right from their swine hearts but these pigs, who come from Satan’s stronghold to teach falsehood, doctor up their words by painting them with sweet, neat deceit camouflage paint. Only sheep teach Truth because they have been trained by the Good Shepherd in the sheepfold. If you are in the sheepfold you need to immerse yourself in God’s Word, fill your heart and mind with the Living Truth of the holy Scriptures. How else could you discern error and recognize the false teaching of pigs in the pulpits? - - the pigs will operate from Satan’s stronghold.
The Cross of Jesus Christ is the Gateway between Time and Eternity. If you receive and embrace the message of the Cross, it is your Gateway into eternal Life and the never-ending joy of citizenship in eternal heaven. If you refuse and reject the message of the Cross, it is your Gateway into the never-ending torment of eternal hell. The Cross is Eternity’s Crown. The message of the Cross, is based on the precious shed Blood and Atoning Death of the Good Shepherd and I want to be hugging-close to Him Always. The time is coming when there will be time no longer to alter decisions, they will be filed and finally whether for good or evil. It will be too late to change anything. The only time you have for sure is this minute right now. While it is still called to-day (Hebrews 3:13) to-day is the Day of Salvation. It is your choice if you will be safe in the sheepfold of eternal life or forever in the stronghold of eternal death.
I have a personal relationship with the Good Shepherd. The kingdom of God (Luke 17:21) is within me because Jesus is my Lord and my Master and the reigning King of my life. The risen and glorified Lord Jesus, Who is Incarnate within me, is never worried or upset about anything. Therefore there is never any need or reason for me to be worried or upset about anything. As our world shudders, heaves, quakes under the mounting disaster and distress, we Christians need to recognize God’s holy Sovereignty and to draw on His grace continually. The Good Shepherd is always busy because He is maintaining and sustaining the universe. He is busy with the affairs of the nations and the inhabitants of each. But He is never too busy for me. He fills my day, every day, with the amazing miracles of His amazing Grace. Not just for me but for each one of the billions of Christians in the world. He is closer than breathing and nearer than hands and feet. He is exceedingly precious to me.
As we dig into (Genesis 50:20) the words of Joseph and other Scriptures, we understand that there could be no sin if there was no holiness. Sin is not a creation but a perversion of the perfect goodness which God originally created.
The wickedness of Joseph’s brothers was a perversion of holy love for their brother into sinful jealousy of him. I think this understanding would make it easier to forgive anyone who intentionally harmed us. We know that God allows it and His intention is to use that very thing for our benefit. This is part of (Colossians 3:8) keeping our minds on things above, then whatever happens, we will have peace in every situation as we trust, obey and look/wait for our beloved Bridegroom. What kind of peace? Heart peace from God our Father (Philippians 1:2) and from our Lord Jesus Christ. There is sweetness far greater than the sweetness of honey, in the Rock Who is the stone (Daniel 2:45) cut out of the mountain of human history without hands. Without hands because Jesus did not come out of history, He came (John 3:16) into history. He will destroy every world empire and He will control and rule over the world in righteousness, justice and holy Sovereignty. He is the Good Shepherd and He protects all of us who are in His sheepfold. Also, he reassures us with His promises of our glorious future. Our glorious future is history just waiting to happen.
In the Holy Spirit’s school of prayer there is no graduation. There are only higher levels of deeper training in growing instruction and intimacy. We never stop learning and we become increasingly aware of our golden connection with heaven. Our wonderful, patient Teacher, the Holy Spirit joins us at the time of Grace and actually invites us to be a partner with prayer. So we can continue to learn about the miracle of prayer even as we pray. So we stack up our spiritual treasures and stay alert - - listening and ready for the sound of the trumpet.