John 10:7-18\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0<\/i>So Jesus again said to them,\u00a0\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you,\u00a0I am the door of the sheep.\u00a08\u00a0All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.\u00a09\u00a0I am the door. If anyone enters by me,\u00a0he will be saved and will go in and out and\u00a0find pasture.\u00a010\u00a0The thief comes only to steal and\u00a0kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.\u00a011\u00a0I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd\u00a0lays down his life for the sheep.\u00a012\u00a0He who is\u00a0a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and\u00a0leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and\u00a0scatters them.\u00a013\u00a0He flees because\u00a0he is a hired hand and\u00a0cares nothing for the sheep.\u00a014\u00a0I am the good shepherd.\u00a0I know my own and\u00a0my own know me,\u00a015\u00a0just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and\u00a0I lay down my life for the sheep.\u00a016\u00a0And\u00a0I have other sheep that are not of this fold.\u00a0I must bring them also, and\u00a0they will listen to my voice. So there will be\u00a0one flock,\u00a0one shepherd.\u00a017\u00a0For this reason the Father loves me,\u00a0because\u00a0I lay down my life that I may take it up again.\u00a018\u00a0No one takes it from me, but\u00a0I lay it down\u00a0of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and\u00a0I have authority to take it up again.\u00a0This charge I have received from my Father.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cSo Jesus again said to them,\u00a0\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you,\u00a0I am the door of the sheep.<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0Who are the sheep being referred to?\u00a0\u00a0Are they those who have believed in Jesus and committed to following Him?\u00a0\u00a0Or is He the door to all the Jews?\u00a0\u00a0He is the way and the opportunity.\u00a0\u00a0Is He the door to the world?\u00a0\u00a0Is He the door to all? From\u00a0John 3:16\u00a0<\/b>\u201cFor\u00a0God so loved\u00a0the world,\u00a0that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not\u00a0perish but have eternal life.\u00a017\u00a0For\u00a0God did not send his Son into the world\u00a0to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0and\u00a02 Peter 3:9<\/b>\u00a0\u201c\u2026not wishing that any should perish, but\u00a0that all should reach repentance.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Some have said that understanding of this verse in John is not the door \u201cfor\u201d the sheep but \u201cto\u201d the sheep.\u00a0\u00a0Certainly it is clear that Jesus died for the whole world and so all who come, and indeed all are invited, may come to Jesus who is the door and He will open and allow all who will believe and obey to come through Him to step immediately out of this world and eternally into the presence and reality of God.\u00a0\u00a0Each step here drawing us further into the kingdom of our God, and our steps here with Jesus are just as real, right now, as the ethereal kingdom of our God to come.\u00a0\u00a0The eternal journey starts with the first step through the only door Jesus and the journey never ends.\u00a0\u00a0Now we are here and then there, but it is all just as real and just as sure.\u00a0\u00a0Becoming a new creature begins by coming through the door that is Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0The new us learns and matures throughout eternity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0There were sheep who already recognized the Door and there were sheep to come later.\u00a0\u00a0These sheep recognized the Shepherd\u2019s voice when deep in their spirit they heard it.\u00a0\u00a0To them they came.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe they stumbled, maybe they were misled, but eventually they recognized and came. Jesus hold them secure to Himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.\u00a09\u00a0I am the door. If anyone enters by me,\u00a0he will be saved and will go in and out and\u00a0find pasture.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When my wife and I were on our honeymoon, we were tired and traveling late.\u00a0\u00a0My wife, ever our navigator, was studying a map.\u00a0\u00a0She told me that she thought she saw a short cut.\u00a0\u00a0She showed it to me and it looked like we could cut miles off of our journey.\u00a0\u00a0We decided to try it.\u00a0\u00a0We soon found out that we were traveling a very dark road that traveled beside a stream, or little river.\u00a0\u00a0There were no lights on this windy road with sharp turns.\u00a0\u00a0It was dark.\u00a0\u00a0I tried not to show any nervousness, but let\u2019s just say I was intently concentrating on the road while trying my best to show confidence so as not to alarm her.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was our comfort as we, two relatively new converts, travelled the winding road.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was telling us both that our journey would have dark times that could be scary but that He would always lead us to the light.\u00a0\u00a0His light.\u00a0\u00a0Suddenly we came around another dark bend and there was a large city with bright lights.\u00a0\u00a0Suddenly we were in the light.\u00a0\u00a0We profusely thanked God.\u00a0\u00a0Since then the Lord has always brought us through seemingly dark times into the Light.\u00a0\u00a0Now we know the Light is always ahead as Jesus leads.\u00a0\u00a0In fact the Light is with us even in the dark places and though we may not always see, we are always lead.\u00a0\u00a0How true that when a child of God comes to the door and walks through, He walks into a reality from which He is forever changed.\u00a0\u00a0How wonderful the change!<\/p>\n
All who His have come through the door know that they have.\u00a0\u00a0Someone may say that they never went through the door, but all that have know the silliness of the statement, just silliness.\u00a0\u00a0I remember entering the land of light and wonder.\u00a0\u00a0I remember who called to me and let me in.\u00a0\u00a0He is the Shepherd and He is the Door and He is Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0He is the only way to the other side of the door.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you Jesus!\u00a0\u00a0Praise our Savior and Lord Jesus!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/i><\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 10:7-18\u00a0–\u00a0So Jesus again said to them,\u00a0\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you,\u00a0I am the door of the sheep.\u00a08\u00a0All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.\u00a09\u00a0I am the door. If anyone enters by me,\u00a0he will be saved and will go in and out and\u00a0find pasture.\u00a010\u00a0The thief comes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[100,94,1874,90,17],"class_list":["post-2976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-peter","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2977,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2976\/revisions\/2977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}