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28th April 2025
MondayReflection
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Sharing Bread
is a ministry led by a single family
"I am the good shepherd"
John 10:14-15
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"I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them."
.... John 10:14-15 GNT
Isn't it the most wonderful thing to be known completely - and yet still be loved (smile)?
With all of our flaws and fooleries, with all of our pettiness and "little" peccadilloes, not to mention our selfishness and propensity to sin, it is no wonder we find it amazing that we as believers can be both fully known and totally loved by our Lord.
Jesus states that He is intimately acquainted with His sheep - He is completely aware of their every detail with full and complete knowledge.
He knows how we are knit together, He knows our likes and our dislikes, He knows our strengths and our weaknesses - we never take Him by surprise.
He bears patiently with our infirmities and does not cast us aside because we are erring or wayward.
Even with all this knowledge of His fallen ones, He loved us enough to lay down His life for us.
God's love is amazing to be sure - that the God of all creation would willingly die for you and for me is certainly beyond my limited comprehension.
It is a love that passes knowledge.
Scripture gives us the following Truths regarding this:
For when we were still helpless, Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose. It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!
.... Romans 5:6-8
Our verses also show that there is to be a close personal relationship between our Saviour and all of His believing people.
Just as He knows us, we are to seek to know Him - ever growing in His image - He being the firstborn among many brothers.
We are to know each other well connoting affection and intimacy.
This is an important point we do not want to miss.
Do we know our Lord well?
Are we familiar with His ways, with His desires, with His longings?
While our Lord certainly knows His people, His people, on the other hand, are to know Him.
They are to maintain a loving trust and confidence that quite frankly baffles the unbelieving world - indeed, onlookers dismiss it as foolishness.
Yet wisdom is proved right by her actions.
We as believers know Jesus as our friend, observing Him through the eyes of faith and therefore are able to rest our head between our Saviour's shoulders.
Tasting and seeing that the Lord is good only whets our appetites for more and more knowledge of Him.
What were we made for?
To know God.
What aim should we set ourselves in life?
To know God.
What is the eternal life that Jesus gives?
Knowledge of God.
What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else?
Knowledge of God.
What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure?
Knowledge of Himself.
J.I. Packer
Lastly, amazingly, Jesus likens His unity with us to the unity He has with the Father.
Let that sink in for just a minute -
The Father knows Jesus just as Jesus knows the Father, indeed Jesus states they are One having the exact unity of purpose.
In like manner, Jesus knows the believer just as the believer knows Jesus - the believer seeking to achieve the exact unity of purpose with the Lord through the knowledge of Him who loved us and gave His life for us.
Scripture tells us:
"I and the Father are one." John 10:30 (NIV)
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This is an edited version.
The full article is avaiable on request
Sharing Bread
is a ministry led by a single family tree:
We believe that one person growing up in Christ will transform an entire family.
Betsy was raised in a family that cultivated four primary spiritual disciplines:
reading God's Word, prayer, memorizing scripture, and mentorship.
These disciplines yielded fruit that included a vibrant lifestyle, marriage, family, and connection with God.
During the Interregnum
March 2025 to ....
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