THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Jesus said, ‘I am the good shepherd…’. A shepherd takes absolute responsibility for the wellbeing of his sheep. He ensures that the sheep are well catered for.

David wrote, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd…’

For David to have written this piece, there must have been a cordial relationship between him and the Lord. 

David was a shepherd, he understood the responsibilities of a shepherd as well as the attributes of a sheep. He could see life from the two different perspectives. 

As a sheep, he enjoyed the tender-mercies of the Lord, and leveraged on His goodness to explore the blessings that emanated from his relationship with the Lord, the good Shepherd.

As a shepherd, he went after the bear and the lion, putting his life on the line in order to secure the lives of the sheep. Furthermore, he led the people of God with a tender heart of integrity and skilful hands (Psalm 78:72).

Some of the responsibilities of the good Shepherd to His sheep include (but are not limited to) the following:

He provides for their needs (Matt. 6:31-32).

He leads/guides them in the way (Psalm 25:4-5, 9).

He teaches/instructs them (Isaiah 48:17).

He protects/shields them (Psalm 3:3; 46:1-11; 91:1-16).

He gives His life for them (John 10:11).

It begins with GOD! In the beginning, GOD…! It’s all about His goodness. 

A man can receive nothing except it has been given to him from heaven (John 3:27). 

Except the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it (Psalm 127:1). 

Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3).

Is the Lord your Shepherd? Are you one of His sheep? 

He said, ‘My sheep hear My voice…’ They have a hearing device that enables them to hear the voice of the Master. 

He that has ear(s) to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says…

Furthermore, the Spirit of the Father dwells within the sheepfold and endears them to the Father. Through the life of the Spirit, they differentiate the voice of the Shepherd from that of a stranger (Romans 8:9, 16).

Do you acknowledge the Lord as the good Shepherd? Are you willing to follow and obey Him totally in 2018 and beyond?

As you begin to walk in this path, goodness and mercies will follow you. 

All the things that the Gentiles run after will pursue and overtake you (Deut. 28:2; Matt. 6:32-33).

PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

RESIDENT PASTOR

Kindly like our facebook page and follow our post at www.facebook.com/gacikeja and tweets at www.twitter.com/gacikeja.

I’M A PRODUCT OF GOD’S GOODNESS AND MERCIES.

I’M A PRODUCT OF GOD’S GOODNESS AND MERCIES
Psalm 100:1-5

Surely, the Lord’s goodness has been the means of our sustenance. It is by His mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not… (Lam. 3:22).
His kindness endures to all generations.

In Genesis 37, we see Joseph whose life typifies that of a man, who is a product of God’s trans-generational goodness. He was a descendant of Abraham (a man in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed).
Joseph enjoyed the goodness and mercies of the Lord all through his life. He was a type of Jesus, the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased (Matt. 3:17; 17:5).
The ‘coat of many colours’ given to him was just a shadow, symbol or pointer to the multi-dimensional grace and goodness of God, upon his life. The love of the father generated much hatred from his brothers.
Sometimes, you become an object of envy, jealousy and hatred, because of the goodness and mercies of God upon your life. You may even experience opposition from people you least expect it from, it’s as a result of your position with God and in Him… In spite of all these, God’s goodness and mercies prevail…

He told them about his dreams, yet they hated him the more, but God’s goodness and mercies prevailed in his life… Unknown to his brothers, they were also partakers of the Lord’s goodness, they were the patriarchs and of course, they were equally blessed. They didn’t need to envy him after all…

Don’t allow the plague of envy to settle in your heart, it destroys! It makes you to become so embittered that you easily forget that you are a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, whose responsibility is to bring forth sweetness and good fruits, to the glory of God (Judges 11:11).
A heart that is filled with envy, jealousy or rivalry will never produce any reasonable service before God (Gen. 37:11-12).
You are a product of God’s goodness and mercies, even if you are going through a turbulent situation right now it’s just for a while, the Lord will bring you out of it… (Psalm 30:5; Romans 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17).

Joseph came to look after his brothers in Dothan, but they conspired against him, to kill him, but through the mercy of the Lord, they cast him into the pit. The pit here, signifies a place of dryness, emptiness and death…
In all these, the goodness and mercies of the Lord still prevailed upon his life!

They eventually sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver and took him all the way, to Egypt.
Joseph’s brothers thought they could shut down his dreams by selling him far away to live as a slave in a strange land. This, they opined, had finally brought all his hopes and aspirations to an abrupt end. But unknown to them, the vision is yet for an appointed time… it would eventually speak…
The journey of Joseph into the land of Egypt led to new dimensions, new discoveries about his life.

In spite of people’s schemes and devices, the determinate counsel of God will be established.

He disappoints the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise (Job 5:12).

He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. – NIV.

He frustrates the plans of schemers so the work of their hands will not succeed. – NLT

Every plan of the ungodly upon my life is frustrated, all their schemes are thwarted, the Lord nullifies the counsels of the heathen and makes their devices of none effect, because I’m a product of God’s goodness and mercies!!!

- Pastor Nathaniel Sadela

     Resident Pastor

THE GOODNESS OF THE LORD

2 Chronicles 17:3-13

The goodness of the Lord is the key to life in abundance. Without the Lord’s goodness, the best of human efforts will yield nothing fruitful.

Even when Moses requested to see God’s glory, His response was, ‘I will make all My goodness pass before you...’ (Exodus 33:19).

While we agree that the goodness of the Lord is not dependent on the faithfulness of men, a demand has been placed upon everyone to a large extent, in order to ensure the fulfillment of God’s purpose for his or her life.

One of the people who enjoyed the goodness and mercies of the Lord, in the Bible was Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. However, we want to examine some of the decisions he made and the consequences thereof.

He strengthened himself against the king of Israel, He also beefed up security around the fortified cities of Judah. 

To fulfil God’s purpose for your life, you must strengthen your hearts against the counsels and advice of some ‘kings’, ‘chiefs’, associates and relatives, who could lead you astray.

He sought God and walked in His ways. His heart took absolute delight in the ways of the Lord, therefore, he enjoyed the presence of God.

He engaged the people of the land in spiritual development, through the teaching of the word of God. As a result of this, the Lord brought his dread upon all the cities around Judah, such that they made peace with him and brought tributes to him…

He consolidated his strength… became increasingly powerful (waxed great exceedingly), built fortresses and storage cities in Judah.

He cultivated the spirit of enterprise (he had much business in the cities of Judah)…

He raised up men of war (mighty men of valour).

In all these, the Lord strengthened the nation under the leadership of Jehoshaphat such that he had a peaceful tenure.

It is also important for us to note that Jehoshaphat made some negative decisions that got him into trouble. These, we must avoid as we take a ‘walk’ with God in year 2018:

He formed a strategic alliance with Ahab, the king of Israel (2 Chron. 18:1-3). This ungodly relationship almost cost him his life (2 Chron. 18:28-34).

Later on, he entered into a business relationship with Ahaziah, another king of Israel who was very wicked. This resulted into a huge loss for him… (2 Chron. 20:35-37).

‘For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope’ (Romans 15:4).

In this season, we will experience the goodness and mercies of the Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ…

Remain blessed!

PASTOR NATHANIEL SADELA

RESIDENT PASTOR

Kindly like our facebook page and follow our post at www.facebook.com/gacikeja and tweets at www.twitter.com/gacikeja.