Living With Our Shepherd Of Love

Book excerpt: Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer to teach us how to live a life of prayer – with our identity as a child of God, a vision to bring God's Kingdom on earth and the mission to do God's will as it is done in heaven. We are to pray for God's daily providences, pardon and protection from evil so that God's Kingdom, power and glory will be seen in our lives and in the world.The best way to live the Lord's Prayer in our daily lives is to enthrone Jesus as Lord so that He will be our Shepherd. We can then be S.H.E.E.P. - Seeing Heaven Everyday in Every Person as our eyes are opened to see God's abundance. God wants us to live our lives out of love and not out fear. To do so we address the myths of scarcity – False Evidence Appearing Real. We are living in a meritocratic, materialistic and goal centred society. Jesus came, died and rose from the dead to be our Good Shepherd so that we can live peaceful and joyful N.A.T.O. lives – lives that are Not Attached To Outcomes. Jesus came to give us the perfect rest in a busy world. Discerning God’s guidance for our lives is not a tedious journey when we learn to dance with God. We can seek God’s perfect will through the guidance of the Holy Spirit when we see GUIDANCE as God-U-I-Dance. Our relationship with God determines the way we pray. When we see Jesus Christ as our Divine Lover, the disciplines of surrender, repentance, self-examination and confession become a rhythm of God’s grace.The Christian journey is not a walk through a rose garden for we need to face the reality of suffering, death and evil. Death is inevitable but in Christ we can have the L.A.T.E. (Love Always Trumps Evil) faith. Jesus guides us with His rod of discipline and leads us out of temptation so that we can live a life without fear of evil.Our Shepherd of Love came not only to lead us out of the valley of the shadow of death – He came to be the sacrificial Lamb of God to set us free from the prison of guilt. Heaven is not just a place we go after we die. When Jesus is our Good Shepherd, heaven is the celebration feast of our restored and redeemed fellowship with God. Jesus came to give us the Holy Communion as God’s means of grace. God’s G.R.A.C.E. is free but not cheap – it is sacrificial for it is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Living in crazy and capricious times lead us to F.A.I.L. – Find Answers In Life. It is folly to expect the right answers when we are asking the wrong questions. Even when we are asking the right questions, wrong answers can be the runways to find the right answer. To F.A.I.L. (Find Answers In Life) is to live out the answers to the questions that life throws at us through spiritual discipline that keeps us close the our Shepherd of Love. As we learn to rest in the Lord, we will SeeHis EternalPlanHelping Everyone Rest toDiscover peace in His everlasting HandsWith Jesus as our Shepherd of Love, we can live a life of prayer that is rooted in our identity as a child of God, filled with a vision to bring God’s kingdom on earth and a passion for the mission to do God’s will on earth as it is done in heaven. And we will be filled with the blessed assurance that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.