We Need the Good Shepherd in Our Lives.

What does being hooked up to the vine mean? Staying close to God.
What does being a sheep mean ? We are sheep, and our shepherd is God. It's Jesus. So what does it mean for us to be a sheep ? Baaaaaaa

1. Sheep are said to be foolish. Now I don't like to call myself foolish. No one would but to be honest it is the truth. How many times have I done something knowing It was not God's will for me to do it and knowing I would get in trouble for it later? How many times have you yourself did this? We are sheep and we need a shepherd. We need the good shepherd.

2.Sheep are slow to learn. This is true as well for us. Look at the children of Israel and how many times they doubted God even after he performed so many miracles for them. Why they saw the red sea parted. How could anyone ever forget that? Well we are no better. How many times have we ourselves seen miracles performed in our own lives but have doubted when another problem developed in our lives ? See we should never doubt God. That is why it is so important to stay in God's word and stay studied up. Cause Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, Romans 10:17. We need the word. It is what sustains us in the hard times. It is our sword of the spirit which gives us our shield of faith.

3. Sheep are ugly, smelly and dirt looking animals. Now listen here, I take a bath, I use deodorant so I want be smelly, lol., and I do try to look good. However What makes us ugly, smelly and dirty is our sin nature. We were born in sin, and sin is unattractive. It is a fowl smell to God,  Psalm 38:10. We need the blood of Jesus to wash away our sin . We need the color of red in our lives. Red is the color of redemption,
Hebrews 9. We need His saving grace.

4. Sheep are demanding. Now I know that is the truth by my own example. Sheep are constantly begging for food even after their feeding troughs are empty for a short time. They wine for this and wine for that. They demand grass constantly.  That's why God tells us not to worry about what we are going to do or what we are going to wear, that we are to trust in him and he would take care of our needs. He knows what we have need of before we even think or ask,. It says to seek him first and all these things will be added unto us.

5. Sheep are stubborn. If you ever tried to get a sheep to move somewhere you want it to go, you will see they want budge an inch. We are like that, we want our own way often times instead of Gods way. We think our way is better and that is another sign as to why we are foolish. Gods way is a perfect way and his ways are higher then our ways. The Bible says if we delight our selves in the Lord then he will give us the very desires of our hearts, Psalms 37:4 ,but the Key to this is we must delight our selves in the Lord and IF we do this then His Will , will become our will. We will want what He wants.

6. Sheep are strong. We are strong as well. God put us on top of the food chain. So we are strong. I think we are strong emotionally too. We can handle a lot of things. We have jobs and family's we support both financially and emotionally, and so on.

7. Sheep are straying. We are straying because the minute we get away from the shepherd we start to stray. That is why we must stay close to God by praying reading the word, fasting sometimes, and worshiping God . Every day we must pray and read our Bibles and try to worship him. Worshipping God in the midst of our troubles helps us to have joy in the midst of our sorrows. We need to stay hooked up , so we can go up.

8. Sheep are unpredictable. You never know what they are going to do. They could be far out into the field and all of a sudden there is one right out of the blue showing up there for no reason. We are like that as well, when we are not close to the good shepherd. We will find ourselves watching a movie or a video we know God does not want us to watch ,and it will be out of the blue. We sometimes let temptation get the best of us, but God's word says he will not but any temptation before you without a way of escape, 1 Corinthians 10:13.

9. Sheep copy everything.  When one does something they all do it. We are like that cause we are so easily influenced by people and things. That is why we are to set no evil thing before us and we are not to keep bad company. Which means hanging around with the wrong crowd, Psalms 101, 1 Corinthians 15:33

10. Sheep are restless. What does it mean to be restless ? unable to sit still or sleep good or disturbed or troubled. We as humans do all of these things. Sheep are very fearful and easily disturbed. That is why Jesus tells us to cast our Burdens up on Him. Let him carry our yokes. Matthew 11: 28-30; Psalms 55:22

11. Sheep are dependent. They can not live without the Shepherd. As we can not live without God. John 15:5  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

12. Sheep are the same . The charachter of the sheep all remain the same wether their white , black sheep or Asian sheep. They are all the same as we are all the same. We are all full of flaws and imperfections and we need the good Shepherd which is Jesus , God the Father and the Holy spirit  to guide us comfort us and lead us in the paths we should go and to protect us from the wolves and wolves in sheeps clothing which we know  as the devil and the devil uses people to carry our his task as well as demonic spirits and what have you. We needs Gods protection. We need Gods influence and guidance. We need God in our lives.

The LORD Is My Shepherd

23The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green [1] pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest [2] my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

By Bernice Bowling.