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I lay down My life for the sheep.....‏
Posted : 10 May, 2011 11:12 AM
Brothers,
Sorrow and grief are not easy things to face. We would avoid them if we could. We know that even God Jesus wept at times. But who is God if He is ready to weep with us? He said that He is God of LOVE and mercy. His compassion is deep. Some of us could suffer when people abuse us or insult. It could happen even in our local churches. But God is protecting us because we belong to Him. We are His Property and He is going to defend us because His heart is close to us. Let�s read today the Holy Scripture about such God. God who is our Shepherd and Loving Father. But in the beginning listen to my conversation with Kamal Ibrahim El Gadi:
Kamal said:
Sazie and Bahira...
The Global Press and TV channels never to be free of some news concerning churches sexual abuse SCANDALS... courts are busy trying the trial of VICTIMS everywhere....
I need you both to tell us your previous experience or rather history with such big issue ...
I am sure your history is rich in information concerning such topic because apparently you spent and still spending lots of time inside churches with smart and handsome priests ....
My answer to Kamal:
Kamal brother,� The CHURCH is like Ummah i.e. a fellowship of believers in God...global community of Christians
saved by Jesus. We have ONE Pastor. He is our God that's why no one abuse us. God is protecting us like Shepherd. I gave you a link to visit a very good 'local' Arab Christian church called Kasra al Dubara where you can see God in people who are CHURCH!
In this church no one is able to abuse you because we all control the moral state of each other. Name of such church is an EVANGELICAL Christian church. I'd recommend you to attend such churches. If any priest would even try to touch me, he would not be priest anymore. Do not worry we all are responsible for what happens in church. And I have never heard about such sexual scandals with priests which you can see in Catholic Church. Catholic church is
is a man-made institution which is NOT established and founded by God!!!!!!
Do not go there and do not be follower of madness. Because if people do not live
with God and sleep with each other they are UNBELIEVERS and they all will be in hell.
Re-read my answer. I do not claim that we are the only saved faction...there are saved Christians in catholic church too. There are also saved Christians who are also 'born again' in orthodox church too...but the concept of madness in these churches is evident. We are forbidden by God to kiss hands of priests or cross or to worship any person like they worship mother of Jesus.
God, described in the Holy Scripture called Bible, considers it as abomination and idol worship! That's why we are against madness we could see in these churches.
But the concept of CHURCH is UMMAH or all who are saved by Jesus (some of them are Catholics, some Protestants, some from Orthodox Church or Baptist church....some of them live in Saudi Arabia and do not have chance to go to church and they worship God Jesus in mosques but they all are CONSIDERED by God as the CHURCH of God). You can be also member of the Church if you will believe in God Jesus, but if you will sleep with women without marriage
you will be in hell no matter which NAME you bear Muslim or catholic or just Arab or Christian. So, who are SAVED by God? Only such people who BELIEVE in God Jesus, REPENT and TURN from their sins. Kamal, be one of saved children of God! Amen."
Sorrow and grief do force us to examine life from a different perspective. We need to be attentive to what God might want to teach us through difficult times--things that He may not be able to teach us at other times. We need to be sensitive to what God would have us learn through this experience. But we should always REMEMBER what is in the heart of our God- His profound LOVE, deep compassion and the unlimited mercy toward every one of us. How do we know that? God said it to us and His words are gathered in the Holy Scripture called the Bible. Let�s read about such perfect God who is WORTHY to be worshipped by our hearts and lives. I would like we to look at how God reveals Himself to us as a Shepherd.
God Jesus said: �I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep." John 10:11
John 10:14--"and know my sheep, and am known of mine."
1. It is our Shepherd who makes life abundant (10:10)
2. The Shepherd gave his life for us (15, 17-18)
Heb. 13:20--"Jesus, the GREAT shepherd of the sheep . . . " Our Shepherd rose from the dead, demonstrating to us that there is a resurrection from the dead, life after death.
1 Peter 5:4--"And when the CHIEF Shepherd shall appear . . ." The shepherd is going to reappear, and we will stand accountable to Him.
Jesus the Good Shepherd. He said, �I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.� Here in this verse we can see that God is GOOD. He was ready to die on the cross to give us eternal life. Jesus took all our sins to His holy body on the cross when He was crucified. Why did He do it? He is God and He had power to forgive our sins. His LOVE toward us made Him to save us. We are saved through our FAITH that He is the Son of God. Accepting our sins, crimes and iniquities to His holy body on the cross He-God Jesus- made us FREE of them and holy. This is the LOVE..the highest LOVE toward human kind. Brothers Muslims, God said about you here: �and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.� Brothers, God is going to SAVE you all from hell and eternal separation from God. He is talking to you, listen to Him! And you all will be ONE flock, one nation, one people who will worship God in the Kingdom of Heaven. God Jesus had power to lay His life down, and He had power to take it again. He died willingly for every Arab and Muslim. But do you need such perfect God? Do you need such salvation of your sins? Do you need the Kingdom of God Jesus? Do you need such loving Father who is ready to adopt you into His family? Do you need LOVE from the pierced hands of the Son of God Jesus? These hands were pierced instead of you. He died instead of you. You will not be in hell anymore because God Jesus saved you. He justified you and you will pass from the death into another world�marvelous world described by God in the Bible.
John 10 (New King James Version)
John 10
Jesus the True Shepherd
1�Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.� 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 Then Jesus said to them again, �Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 �I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
17 �Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.�
19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, �He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?�
21 Others said, �These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?�
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon�s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, �How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.�
25 Jesus answered them, �I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father�s name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone 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 My Father�s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.�
Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, �Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?�
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, �For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.�
34 Jesus answered them, �Is it not written in your law, �I said, �You are gods��? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, �You are blaspheming,� because I said, �I am the Son of God�? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.� 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
The Believers Beyond Jordan
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, �John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.� 42 And many believed in Him there.
Ezekiel 34
Irresponsible Shepherds
1And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 �Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, �Thus says the Lord GOD to the shepherds: �Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.�
7 �Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 �As I live,� says the Lord GOD, �surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock�� 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 10 Thus says the Lord GOD: �Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.�
God, the True Shepherd
11 �For thus says the Lord GOD: �Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,� says the Lord GOD. 16 �I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.�
17 �And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: �Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 18 Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture�and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.�
20 �Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: �Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. 21 Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, 22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them�My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
25 �I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. 30 Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,� says the Lord GOD.��
31 �You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,� says the Lord GOD.
1 Peter 5
Shepherd the Flock
1The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Submit to God, Resist the Devil
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
� God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.�
6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Farewell and Peace
12 By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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