WHO IS YOUR SHEPHERD? III

God never leads anybody outside the path of righteousness. Why? For his name’s sake! Because of his nature! His nature abhors his leading you in contradiction to his revealed will. One of the ways to know when someone is telling lies is when such a person says things that are not consistent with the revealed will of God. You don’t need to consult any pastor, just know that that person is lying.

As a child, I used to attend a Church where they loved to prophesy. In one occasion, as service was in progress, someone stood up and started prophesying at the top of her voice. As she was ‘prophesying, another voice resounded from the back shouting, ‘God did not tell you!, God did not tell you!’ I was told of another instance where a respected ‘prophetess’ was prophesying and another person stood up and started saying, ‘who is speaking what I have not spoken?’

Some people use the name of the Lord to tell lies, this is very common today. Why not keep quiet? If you study the life of Apostle Paul, you will notice that he is always very careful to differentiate between his personal opinion and that of God. The greatest lie anyone can tell is the lie that is told using the name of God. We must be very careful. There are so many easy believists today who take one scripture out of context and start making a doctrine out of it. God does not lead you into trouble. You have a will of your own to make choices and decisions.

The Psalmist said, ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’ because he knew that he had a right to choose. Your will is your right to choose and God allows you to have a will because he loves you. However, he expects you to know that you don’t have what it takes to choose right; it takes wisdom to recognize this though. God expects you to yield your will to his will so that you can be on track. That was exactly what Jesus Christ did. If we profess to be Christians, then, we should emulate Christ. When some people say “the Lord is my shepherd”, I believe that heaven’s response is “really?” Don’t ever jump into conclusion that he is your shepherd.

Be careful before you answer ‘The Lord’ when the question, ‘who is your shepherd’ is asked. Why? It is because you can also be the lord of your own life. Who calls the shots? In some cases, he can be Lord but very selectively. If he is not the Lord in all, he is not the Lord at all. So many people are looking for a God to use and not a God to serve or worship. He is only the Lord when it suits them. He is only the Lord when it comes to the appropriation of the blessings that God gives.

Jesus makes a clear distinction between the good shepherd and a hireling. In other words, there are shepherds and there are hirelings. John 10:11-13, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep”.

Pray –

• Dear Heavenly Father, I stretch my hands to you and worship you. I thank you for sending your son to die for me. Jesus, I receive you as my Lord and personal savior, and enthrone you as my shepherd. I completely yield my will to you and ask you to be the shepherd of my soul forever. Amen.

TO BE CONTINUED…..