Seeking the Lord for direction, He instructed my heart that His people need to know and realize not only Whose they are, but who they are because of the work of Christ in us. So beginning today, we start a journey of discovery in this area in which God has been so greatly deepening my understanding of these things. Today we begin with our most humble position, which we must realize and submit to in order to fully grasp and press forward to the exalted positions found in Christ.

Read John 10

“…27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one. …”

Being sheep in the pasture of God does not sound very appealing, but it is a most blessed position in the Kingdom of God. Being followers who humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God to follow the Good Shepherd (Jesus Christ) in learning humility before God and complete reliance upon Him is the beginning position that prepares us for positions we would deem of greater worth. To skip learning first and foremost to be sheep who willing follow and trust the Shepherd is to invite opportunity for the wolf of the demonic to tempt us away through haughtiness that thinks more highly of self than we ought. So the first position we must learn to possess with glory in God who cares for our every need and positions us to be protected from falsehood and temptation is vital to our pressing forward to possess the higher ground He has for those who fully trust Him.

Through following the good shepherd we learn that He uses His staff to guide us and His rod to protect us because He loves us and desires the best for us. We learn to trust Him in these things, and the closer we follow to Him and the more attuned we get to Him, the more readily we recognize and surrender to His most gentle call.

For times when we become rebellious, putting ourselves, and even others in danger, the crook of His staff becomes an implement of rescue, to pull us back on track or lift us up out of pits we fall into. And His rod becomes an implement of discipline, used not to our harm, to destroy us, though it may feel that way, but putting us where we have opportunity to bond with Him and trust Him more.

He always leads us into good pastures where all our needs are met in Him, and where we may drink from the waters of His river in safety. As Psalm 23 tells us, even in the presence of our enemy, He feeds us from His table and empowers us for victory in the valley of the shadow of death, making us to pass through enemy territory with confident peace that the Good Shepherd is caring for us fully.

The good shepherd of a heard of sheep knows that a stubborn sheep that will not stay close to his shepherd puts himself and those who follow in danger of being snared by the wolves and other predators. To train that sheep to stay close and become one that leads others to do so as well, he will go so far as to use the rod to break the leg of the sheep. He then carries that sheep everywhere they go, keeping it close, loving on it as if a pet, tending its wound. By the time the sheep heals, it has bonded with the shepherd, trusting the shepherd fully, becoming teachable and easily led so as to keep it and those that would follow it safe.

Beloved, has God got you in a broken-leg place in life. He is not trying to be cruel. He cares for you and wants to keep you in safety. He is here to tend to your need and wants you to trust Him and rely on Him, being confident in Him that He will not fail you.

Being a sheep in the flock of God is not a shameful position for us. It is a picture of His great care for us who are followers of Christ. Learn to follow closely to the Good Shepherd and Watcher of your soul so that you may be led by Him to realize and possess all that you are in Christ through faith that fully believes and trusts His leading. (See John 3:18; Romans 10:9; 1 Timothy 4:10; Hebrews 3:12-19; 10:39-11:1, 6, AMP.)

Pray today for your faith in the Good Shepherd to grow strong, so that you fully trust His lead in your life and in the lives of those you love. Pray to remain close to Him. And pray for those you see with “broken legs” spiritually, that their faith in the Good Shepherd grow strong and that they will develop a teachable spirit, becoming pliable to all the good He has for them.

Psalm 23 ~ The Good Shepherd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLI8Sv8_HlA