We be shepherds
Gen 46:28-34 every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
- Egypt – perfect place for a man like Joseph with administrative gift
- clean people (daily baths, shaved heads, cosmetics, perfume & breath mints – always sought to look their best.)
- Well administrated, had a program for everything – centered around an administrative head, everyone dependent on the king/ Pharaoh
administration, when done properly, facilitates a vision which benefits God’s people, without placing the administrators Above the people, or separate from the system.
- Shepherds smell like sheep, are rough and gritty – down to earth kinds of people PHOTO
1 Cor 1:26-29 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble…
God’s people are not created to get “plugged in” to a program, (as if they are mere cogs in a machine) but rather to mature in Christ until each one BECOMES His program, bringing glory to God in a unique way which administrations of men could never reveal.
Ezekiel 34:11-24
23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
- We are all cut from the same cloth as our spiritual ancestors – all called to serve like the good shepherd
Word of the Lord – Gerald Davis (June 2001)
13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries,
Shepherds Gather: We cooperate with the Good Shepherd when we gather His people to Him. When all His people serve Him by helping keep His flock unified and walking together in love.
Luke 11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.
15-16 “I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest,” declares the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick;
Shepherds Nurture The Good Shepherd nurtures His flock through fellow members of the flock, who care for one another as they care for themselves. A mature flock “makes increase of itself in love.”
1Co 12:25b-26 …so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another..
20-22 … I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep… I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.
Shepherds Protect The greatest danger to God’s flock are wolves who look like sheep. When we become aware of “bullying” in the flock, we must work to protect the one being harmed.
Spiritual bullying looks like: legalism, condemnation, shaming, manipulation, control, threatening, treating people like servants of men rather than sons of God, which is all a failure to honor Christ in every one.
John 10:10-13 …He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees… because he is … not concerned about the sheep.
- Do we care for God’s people as slaves or sons?!? VIDEO
Word of the Lord – Gerald Davis (June 2001)
The Lord’s really called you to build a solid church. Nothing weak is to be built. You’re not to use gimmicks, you’re not to grab the newest rage that comes in the body of Christ. But pray, seek the face of God and do that which is solid. Amen. Built that which is strong. Amen. I am not looking for a big church numerically. But I am looking for a spiritual church. Amen. Whether your church grows to be big or not, that’s not going to really matter that much. But if the people never grow, then you’ll be held accountable for that. So build solid, saith thy God. And the eyes of that area are looking upon you…you will win the area by your stability, by solidness, by being there, amen. Through the hardships and the storms and the adversity that even hit that area, amen. For when the adversity hits the community, you will be there to rise up and minister to them, amen. And they will see you as a blessing in this community, a blessing in this area. Not some kind of strange cult that came down from outer space, but ones that have come in to care and to build the house of the Lord. Now know this: the Lord’s not cloning churches. He’s just not into the cloning business. Amen. He is in the business of producing originals. Your church shall be an original. People walk in and say, ‘Well, I thought it would be just like this church over here, or that church over there, but this is totally different.’ Amen. And some might even be a little disappointed in that, but they’re the ones that I didn’t call for that place. But I’ve called you to do a particular work. You can’t use somebody else’s weapons, you’ve got to prove your own. What worked for one won’t work for you. But there’s a word and there’s a blend and there’s a chemistry, a chemistry that the Lord is building in that place. Amen. The bringing together of different elements, oftentimes contrary one to another, but when brought together they make a powerful, powerful chemistry, and a powerful healing potion, amen. So the Lord’s called you to be aware of these wonderful things…There’ll be people in days to come that will relocate and move just to be there.
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