Thursday November 6, 2025 - Good Shepherd

 Chapter 23: Good Shepherd Day 5

Praying the Name: 

Psalm 118:19-10 - Open for me the gates of the righteous; I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

John 10:7-10 -  Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[a] They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Lord, 

    I praise You Father for calling us into Your kingdom, I praise You that we were called to come home and be with You one day. I pray that day is close at hand in the next few months. I praise You for loving us enough to call us and blessing us in our lives each day. 

    I thank You Lord for watching over us so well, I praise and thank You for always standing with us and making sure that nothing comes into our lives that You do not allow to strengthen us in You. I ask that You continue to watch over us and protect us and come get us soon. 

    Forgive me for any failure in listening to You and Your voice in my heart, that I listen and follow You and forgive me for not going to the church building, I just cannot leave the house and go to a room of people, I am sorry for these failings and help me work on them. 

    Please stand guard over my heart and mind, that I continue to believe and listen to You and that You will change my heart and mind if You need me to go to church, I just cannot leave and go, I need Your feelings in me to do that. 

    

    When we think of a gate most of us imagine a pivoting gate attached to a wooden corral or fence. But Jesus was talking about a different type of gate. In Palestine, shepherds often slept, not in the house but out in the open where there was good grazing for their sheep. At the end of each day the shepherd would stand in a low circular sheep pen as he called to his flock each sheep would enter through an opening that was about six feet wide, only when the last animal was safely inside the pen would the shepherd close the gate, he did this not by shutting a physical gate but laying down in the opening with his staff and rod beside him. During the night the shepherds body became the living gate which no intruder could enter.

    That is the image that Christ wants us to have regarding the way He watches over us. By His sacrifice on the cross Jesus restores our relationship with God through Him we enter into eternal life so we are Christ's sheep purchased by the Good Shepherd, with His own blood. And we are called by His voice to enter His kingdom. 

    But in this world sheep are one of the most vulnerable creatures, scripture tells us that the devil is on the prowl like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Just as ordinary sheep lack the intelligence to protect themselves, we often lack the spiritual intelligence to know what is best for us. Fortunately, the Good Shepherd, is still vigilant, still watchful, still ready and able to protect His sheep. One of the ways He does this is by giving us His Spirit to guide us.

    In His letter to the Romans Paul says that those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. but those who live in accordance to the Spirit has their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 

Romans 8:5 - Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

    Your mind in fact is the gateway to the future because it shapes your will and emotions. Think a thought long enough and it will surlily lead you somewhere. Without the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit, the human mind often cannot distinguish the right path. 

    Spend time today thanking the Good Shepherd for watching over and protecting you then ask Him to show you any thought patterns that are at work to lead you away from Him. As you pray you may discover habitual thoughts anxious, greedy, lustful, complaining or envious thoughts, that tend to dominate your mind. Bring whatever you find before the Good Shepherd in prayer, telling Him that you no longer want these patterns to dominate your mind and heart. Then imagine Him as the living gate standing guard over your mind protecting you from anything or anyone who wants to enter without His permission. Ask for the grace to listen for His voice so that you may lie down in peace, confident of His watchful loving care.