Recovery Devotional 317 Scattered Sheep

JMD Devotional 317 Zechariah 13:7-9 Scattered Sheep

Awake, O sword, against My shepherd and against the man who is My associate, says the Lord of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep [of the flock] shall be scattered, and I will turn back My hand and stretch it out again upon the little ones [of the flock]. And in all the land, says the Lord, two-thirds shall be cut off and perish, but one-third shall be left alive. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined and will test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will hear and answer them. I will say, It is My people; and they will say, The Lord is my God.

Why would God strike His own ‘associate’, the Shepherd of His people? His striking the Shepherd ushered in a time of trial and testing, a season of suffering, chaos and turmoil. It had to be necessary for their purification, to rid them of idolatry, and for their maturity. During difficult times the weak and the false are weeded out; people show what they are really made of. Is our commitment to Christ strong enough to stay faithful to His teachings even when it seems that His representatives (our pastors) are struck down? Are we so used to being fed and led that we go astray and starve without a shepherd? Do we have lazy faith?

Matthew 26:31-35 Then Jesus said to them, You will all be offended and stumble and fall away because of Me this night [distrusting and deserting Me], for it is written, I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I am raised up [to life again], I will go ahead of you to Galilee. Peter declared to Him, Though they all are offended and stumble and fall away because of You [and distrust and desert You], I will never do so. Jesus said to him, Solemnly I declare to you, this very night, before a single rooster crows, you will deny and disown Me three times. Peter said to Him, Even if I must die with You, I will not deny or disown You! And all the disciples said the same thing.

We all say the same thing the Disciples said; but will our actions deny the reality of Christ in us? The truth comes out only when our status quo is turned upside down and the smooth road becomes rocky and the work of the Kingdom falls into our hands, because the Shepherd has been struck. He warned us of trials, tribulations and persecutions; He trained us to carry on His ministry; but we become so dependent upon others carrying the load that we do not know what to do when our time has come and our shepherd is struck down.

Dear God,

How I crave the easy way, the broad road, a smooth path: but broad is the way that leads to destruction! How uncomfortable is controversy, confrontation, and fighting for righteous causes…but Your Kingdom is not enlarged by ‘barrack rats’. The war is in the world; Your soldiers need to engage that world. I am beginning to understand that Satan would have us comfortable and isolated in the barracks; but You are a God of War, and we have a mission and an enemy and souls to rescue. If it takes shaking up our world to wake us up from our passive slumber, so be it, Lord. But fill us with Your Holy Spirit, and empower us for the challenge that we might pass the test and glorify Your name. Help us to see past the present pain to our glorious future with You in Paradise. Give us vision…

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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