Sheep vs. Goats
Studying sheep and goats this am. Did you know sheep will follow the oldest sheep in the flock? Goats will follow the strongest and most dominant goat in the flock.
This is one of the main differences between shepherds and goatherds...they have to lead their flocks differently.
We are supposed to be like sheep, not goats...
Matthew 25:32“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
Jesus, if He is real to you, is the oldest person you know:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2He was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Everyone is supposed to learn to follow Jesus individually, and that voluntary following will create a flock...a community of people voluntarily following one leader because He is the oldest...the uncreated Ancient of Days.
This is true Jesus-centered unity.
Many, even in the church, will try to show themselves dominant in many ways...the most educated, charismatic, wealthy, beautiful, interesting, anointed....but there is only one uncreated God who became a man...He is the only one to follow, if you know Him to be real. That is the key...do I know Him to be more real than anyone else I might be tempted to follow? We submit ourselves to authority, not because of the dominance of authority, but because that is what Jesus did!
John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
The more we look at Jesus...the more we listen to Him....the more we actually wait for Him to tells us what to do and say, the more our lives produce what His does!
Matthew 7:19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
To know Jesus IS to obey Him, because of the truth of who He is... If you really know Him, you can't help but submit to Him.
Many name the name, go to the meetings, even do things in His name...but they aren't following Him. They aren't learning to hone their ability to hear His voice and do what He says. They might do things they "think" He approves of, but they haven't learned to hear Him and know what He is saying. He is harder to hear than dominant leaders...he mostly speaks in a still small voice...it takes real desire to get to know Him...and even more desire to believe His leadership is good when it goes against what my heart or eyes may tell me...but, this is the basic qualification for salvation...to follow Jesus. That is why there is NO salvation without repentance. Salvation is entirely about knowing Him....to know Him is to follow Him...and He leads us into greater works:
John 15:1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Right now, Jesus is sifting the nations...finding out who is in each nation...separating people out of them, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. There are sheep in every people group...and goats. There are sheep in the churches, and goats. There are sheep on the streets, and goats...there are sheep in the theaters and bars and offices...and goats.... World events are being orchestrated to find out who I am...who you are...
He will take them from here and there, "one from a city and two from a family", and build a flock from those who really want to know Him...
Ezekiel 34:9‘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.”
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.
Jeremiah 3:14“Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
This is one of the main differences between shepherds and goatherds...they have to lead their flocks differently.
We are supposed to be like sheep, not goats...
Matthew 25:32“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
34“Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?
Jesus, if He is real to you, is the oldest person you know:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2He was in the beginning with God.
3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Everyone is supposed to learn to follow Jesus individually, and that voluntary following will create a flock...a community of people voluntarily following one leader because He is the oldest...the uncreated Ancient of Days.
This is true Jesus-centered unity.
Many, even in the church, will try to show themselves dominant in many ways...the most educated, charismatic, wealthy, beautiful, interesting, anointed....but there is only one uncreated God who became a man...He is the only one to follow, if you know Him to be real. That is the key...do I know Him to be more real than anyone else I might be tempted to follow? We submit ourselves to authority, not because of the dominance of authority, but because that is what Jesus did!
John 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20“For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
The more we look at Jesus...the more we listen to Him....the more we actually wait for Him to tells us what to do and say, the more our lives produce what His does!
Matthew 7:19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
To know Jesus IS to obey Him, because of the truth of who He is... If you really know Him, you can't help but submit to Him.
Many name the name, go to the meetings, even do things in His name...but they aren't following Him. They aren't learning to hone their ability to hear His voice and do what He says. They might do things they "think" He approves of, but they haven't learned to hear Him and know what He is saying. He is harder to hear than dominant leaders...he mostly speaks in a still small voice...it takes real desire to get to know Him...and even more desire to believe His leadership is good when it goes against what my heart or eyes may tell me...but, this is the basic qualification for salvation...to follow Jesus. That is why there is NO salvation without repentance. Salvation is entirely about knowing Him....to know Him is to follow Him...and He leads us into greater works:
John 15:1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3“You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Right now, Jesus is sifting the nations...finding out who is in each nation...separating people out of them, as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. There are sheep in every people group...and goats. There are sheep in the churches, and goats. There are sheep on the streets, and goats...there are sheep in the theaters and bars and offices...and goats.... World events are being orchestrated to find out who I am...who you are...
He will take them from here and there, "one from a city and two from a family", and build a flock from those who really want to know Him...
Ezekiel 34:9‘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.”
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.
Jeremiah 3:14“Return, O backsliding children,” says the LORD; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
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