A few weeks ago, Randall in his series on sheep, put a word picture in his writing on July 6 that I can’t get out of my mind. We have not done this much, commented on each other’s blog, but I think I want to, on this picture. Not that I am thinking that the series on the subject is lacking - just feel to share my meditation on the picture shared in that blog.

This picture is this - when Randall was talking about he and his wife watching the sheep as they ate - on their recent trip to Germany, he said they “seemed to be walking in a single file all in one direction and then after a while they would turn as if on cue and go in the opposite direction, grazing all the while, rather oblivious to their surroundings.”

What a picture - we are like sheep. The Bible makes several references to the comparison.

What I have been pondering on this picture over the past six weeks is where I am in the single file of the sheep and the responsibility of each of the sheep in the row.

What if we were the leader - not the shepherd - but one with some influence over the others? What if we walked into a dangerous path? The others are not paying attention but trusting our direction, and walk into danger. We are all sheep - probably without much more instinct about spiritual danger than a sheep - the Bible compares us more than once. Here is one of those references, in Is. 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way . . . "

What if the front sheep in the flock walked where there was not much to eat - then the others would suffer from hunger too. What a responsibility of that sheep at the head of the file.

What if we were one of the others - fifth or six in the file - walking along - what about the others following us? Are we leaving good cues for those behind us so that they will not fall or be hurt?

No need to go on and on but you get the picture that I am pondering. Where am I in the file of sheep? What leadership do I give for those following behind? What will happen to those behind me if I suddenly go off the path, or otherwise go where I shouldn't? Every sheep in the single file has a special responsibility - to those following.

Thank God for the book of directions - for all of us sheep - His Word. As we study, there is no reason to go astray. However, we must always be careful who we are following, who has influence over us. Then, even more importantly, we have to be careful in how we walk, the paths that we take . . . because of those following us.

Submitted by Naida

Remember the blog that was inspired from Luke ch. 15? THE ONE ABOUT THE LOST SHEEP, THAT ONE OUT OF A HUNDRED? In that same chapter 15, in fact in the opening verses, the Pharisees(scumbags) accused Jesus of being a friend of sinners. Wow! What a slap in the face. Imagine calling the Lord Jesus Christ your Friend.But that is just what the Bible calls him In fact it is the greatest news mankind has ever heard and the Pharisees announced it although they thought they were insulting Him. Imagine....the Pharisees were proclaiming the Gospel. And isn't it ironic....they hated the Gospel...at least most of them did.

It seems that Jesus had a reputation; He was a friend of sinners. That would make Him my Friend then. In the book of Proverbs it says in chapter 17 verse 17, "A friend loves at all tiimes."

Friendship is based on love and it is unselfish and only wants what is best for the other.

I came across this story and I am sharing it with you. It is the story of a soldier in the trenches during the First World War. He saw his wounded friend lying out in no man's land(the ground between their trenches and the enemy trenches)and he asked permission from his officer to go and rescue his friend but was denied. He was told " no man can survive out there, and I would just be losing two good men instead of one." The man disobeyed the order and went anyway and returned with his friend but was mortally wounded in the process. The officer was angry and said, "that is why I told you not to go. Now I am losing both of you, it was not worth it." But the soldier replied, "Sir it was worth it because when I got to him he said to me ...Jim, I knew you would come"

The best friend you or I will ever know left His home and came for us and He gave His life also.

And He comes today in your circumstance and He who has given His life will carry you back this time to safety. Like the soldier who was rescued by his friend even though it was too late, I too on many occasions have called on Him and He always comes but never too late.Jesus is not only called my Friend, but he calls us His friends as well.

The old hymn writer puts it like this, "A friend of Jesus, oh what bliss that one so weak as I, should ever have a friend like this to lead me to the skies....FRIENDSHIP WITH jESUS, FELLOWSHIP DIVINE, oh what blessed sweet communion, Jesus is a Friend of mine."

Last night at the church house I talked about sheep and I received many
comments about them that I had not offered in my sermon/lecture/talk. It sparked some ideas from the congregation, I guess. We are talking about the names of the Lord in this blog and in our last blog I said that
Jesus was the Door to the sheepfold.
As a matter of fact, He said that an individual who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but tries to enter some other way is a thief and a robber.

It's there in John 10:1. Vs. 2 says "But he who enters by the door

is the shepherd of the sheep."

In the 14th. chapter He tells Thomas (doubting Thomas) that He is the Way, verse 8, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
There is only one Way to heaven and that is through Jesus. There is no other way.

You see Thomas had asked Jesus a question, "how can we know the way?" It was a perfectly legitimate question. It was such an important question that Jesus took the time to address it not only for Thomas but for you and I as well. He is the way to Heaven but HE IS ALSO THE WAY OUT OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ARE OVERWHELMING YOU TODAY AND THE BURDEN THAT IS TOO HEAVY FOR YOU TO BEAR. WHATEVER SITUATION YOU ARE IN THIS DAY -- AND it matters not how you got there....He is the way out of that situation. He is also the grace that you need in the situation. Remember the song that says "He has opened the way to the Father" I am so glad that He is the Way. The old song says "let's be true to Jesus, though a thousand voices from the world may call, t'was He who died to save us and He demands our life, our loyalty, our all" "The name of the Lord is a strong tower."

The name of the Lord is a strong tower....the righteous run into it and are safe..Proverbs 18:10. In John's gospel ch.10 vs.9 "I am the door" and Jesus is referring to a sheepfold when He makes that statement. The sheepfold was a natural enclosure, if the shepherd could find one, or else he would take some stones or other natural material such as wood and build a sort of corral.

Then at night he would round them all up and lead them in to the fold.

When the fold was being built, the shepherd always left a "narrow" opening or gate for the sheep to enter and exit through. "Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads unto life, and there are few that find it."Matt. 7:13b. Then the shepherd became the door. He would literally become the door because after the sheep were all herded into the sheepfolds at night, he would lie down across the doorway and close off the exit. Jesus is not only the way to the fold but He is the door also.

This is in total agreement with our theme and we are safe there in the sheepfold or the strong tower because we are trusting in that name and one of the names is the Door.

This is the tower series from Prov.18:10 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower...Isaiah says that He shall be called the Everlasting Father. Now I don't know about you but I cannot say that I have all the answers when it comes to the Godhead. Some Pentecostals believe in the oneness doctrine while most believe or accept the popular version....the trinity. I personally believe the Bible is to be taken at its face value and that it says that He is called The Eternal Father. I am not going to try to explain that but I just know that is what the Bible declares in Isaiah 9:6.



He is the Father of eternity; the Amplified Bible calls Him the Everlasting Father of Eternity.



What it does say is that of the increase of His government there shall be no end....even forevermore. What a wonderful promise we have here to look forward to. The Bible says that He shall reign forever and forever. Exodus 15:18. Then 2 Tim.2:12 tells us that "if we endure, we shall also reign with Him." That is the first part of the verse. The next part is sobering..."if we deny and disown and reject Him, He will deny and disown and reject us." You should read the whole context. The important thing to remember is that He is eternal and so are we going to live eternally if we hold fast to the truth and are faithful to Him.



What a tower of strength to know beyond a shadow of doubt that He is the Everlasting Father. Let us run to Him this day and be safe. You can expect Him to receive you with open arms.

As stated earlier to understand the Godhead may beyond most of our comprehension, we try to make our God fit our doctrines but all we really need to know is that Jesus came to show us who God is and what He is like. That's why Isaiah calls Him the Everlasting Father and justifiably so because Hebrews tells us that He is the exact representation of His being. Heb. 1:1 NIV. PAUL TELLS US IN COL. 1:15 THAT He IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD.

I'm glad that we have this eternal Father and that is going to last forever. I may not understand everything yet but I believe it with all of my being. He is truly our strong tower.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower is our theme for a while and Isaiah prophesied that He shall be called .....the Mighty God. This Jesus is the Mighty God. When we were visiting one of our missionaries in France, in a suburb of Paris recently I was given the opportunity to speak in one of the services and I had left my Bible back at the hotel, however the Lord enabled me to speak on a particular subject and it was on the title "Emmanuel" which means God with us.
The fact is according to John 1:1 that He is God and always was God from eternity to eternity but He took upon Himself humanity. John tells us that "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us....Emmanuel! That is what Emmanuel means.....God with us. And if He hadn't done that...became flesh and dwelt among us, it would not have mattered that He was the Mighty GOD because we would forever have been lost. Yes! He truly is the Mighty God but He is Emmanuel too, which means He is with us today as always He will be and His name ...The Mighty God; is our strong tower. Run into that name today and be safe. You can claim the covering of His blood for your own protection today.
The Mighty God spoke into existence everything that is made. Hebrews tells us that we understand through faith that the worlds were framed by the word of God and Hebrews tells us that He (the Son who is the Mighty God) made the worlds. Those two references are found in Heb. 11:3 and Heb. 1:2 He created the macroscopic with its fiery planets and its incomprehensible reaches of intergalactic space, but He created the microscopic as well, the eyes of an insect, the bell in the lily, the six sided snowflake...every one different. He told the bumble bee to fly even though science says it can't...you see it's body is too big for it's wings, only the bee doesn't know it yet. How frail is man and yet this Mighty God loved us so much that he came to earth, became flesh and dwelt among us so that He could give Himself for us on a cruel Roman cross and by claiming Him as our savior today we have eternal life... now! It is His guarantee to us. Run into that name today!

We are using the text found in Proverbs 18:10 for this series and I'm inviting Naida to contribute a blog, when she finds the time and I am calling these several blogs the "tower "
series. Proverbs says "The name of the Lord is a strong tower You can run into it and be safe. The Bible says in Isaiah ch. 9 vs. 6, that one of HS names is Prince of Peace.

This world seeks for peace and cannot seem to find any peace. Even the peace brokers can't find peace. I think of the time and money spent by the U.S. for example in the Middle East and today those countries are as far apart as ever. Canada gained respect from other nations as a peace keeping nation and yet today we are at war in Afghanistan. And I don't say we should or should not be there. We are not at peace in this world and there will never be peace until the Prince of Peace comes back and He has promised that He will do so.

However you can have peace if you allow the Prince of Peace to come into your heart. And you have that peace when you surrender your life to Him. He is a strong and mighty tower that we can run into. Perhaps the Prince of Peace is already living in your heart but you are not feeling all that peaceful today due to circumstances and trials that have come into your life. Maybe you are hurting.

And you can't change that but you can let Him have His way in you. It's easier said sometimes than done, but you can allow Him to take control of your thoughts and actions. Just ask Him to give you His peace today; it is yours for the asking. Listen to His promise and claim it from John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." That's the Prince of Peace talking , not me. Trust Him for His peace today.

Oh yes, forgiveness brings peace, whether you need forgiveness or you need to give it to someone and that may include yourself. Forgive and receive forgiveness. Remember the name of the Lord is a strong tower. His name is Prince of Peace.

As you know, or if you didn't know, our dear friend Naida is part owner of this blog. It was she who felt inspired to do this blog, it was she who encouraged me to do what I can do to contribute something to the blog. And she doesn't realize it just yet but she provided the inspiration for today's blog. My wife and I were recently in Paris and she is one for taking loads of pictures and she brought back some superb pictures of the Eiffel tower. And Naida used one of these pics to create a calendar and in so doing added this verse found in Proverbs 18:10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, The righteous run into it and are safe." Hence my inspiration and hence the subject of today's blog. Like grace and like forgiveness this also is an inexhaustible subject....the name of the Lord.

The passage in Proverbs says that the name of the LORD is a strong tower. You have to see the Eiffel in order to really appreciate it. It stands out as one of the great landmarks of the world and can be seen from all over Paris. Or so it seems. As Judy was taking pictures of other landmarks, even though she and I hadn't noticed at the time, there in the background as we viewed a picture of another area would be the tower. Sometimes we had not noticed it but it was there. The lesson here is that even though you may not notice in your trials and in your circumstances, the name of the Lord is still there...a strong tower.

When we are facing temptation we can run into that name; when persecution comes, when troubles mount....perhaps overwhelmingly so, we can run into that name. The Bible says it is a strong tower...it can be seen from everywhere. You can get on an elevator inside the Eiffel Tower and safely go up along ways and rise above the crowds. The name of the LORD is greater than any man made tower and you can rise above the trials and circumstances when you run into that name and cast your cares upon Him.

When you are hurting..run to that name. Sometimes even friends will let you down...run to that name. That name is called Wonderful, Counsellor in the book of Isaiah ch.9 vs. 6. I don't know about you but I need a Counsellor outside of myself. None of us can really rely on our own wisdom and others can't understand many times just what we are going through.

A counselor is a person who advises, instructs, and guides in directing the judgement and conduct of another. He is involved in the intimate things of that person's life, directing him or her through the crisis and those times of tremendous strife and decisions to hard for us to make on our own. A counselor has to be close, accessible. Jesus is as close as the mention of His name...you can even whisper His name and He is there. A strong tower......run into it today and be safe.

The test of our spirituality is in forgiving.

“Brethren, if any person is overtaken in misconduct or sin of any sort, you who are spiritual [who are responsible and controlled by the Spirit] should set him right and restore and reinstate him, without any sense of superiority and with all gentleness, keeping an attentive eye on yourself , lest you should be tempted also. 2)Bear (endure, carry) one another’s burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking (in your obedience to it).” A quote from the Amplified Bible found in Galatians ch. 6:1-2. The next verse 3 really should make us squirm if in fact we have been guilty of judging somebody else in their indiscretions. It says “For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority, except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”
What a responsibility we have for each other as Christians and it brings to light the importance of the scripture found in Hebrews that says “exhort one another daily while it is called Today”. Heb. 2-13. That means to warn, urge admonish and encourage one another every day. Wow! Have we missed the mark or what? That verse in Hebrews goes on to talk about the deceitfulness of sin by the fraudulence, the stratagem and the trickery which the delusive glamour of sin plays on an individual. The delusive glamour of sin. Now that is a mouthful isn’t it? But oh, how true and how many times we fall for it. I believe we can do more and we need to do more. When I look around at many of what were once thriving congregations filled with a good contingency of young people and young families, and today our numbers have been decimated and our average age is somewhere in the fifties or sixties, is this part of the reason …..we have not been caring for each other like we should be? Are we spiritual? Let us encourage each other and exhort each other….daily the Bible says. Do you pray for a specific individual each day? I’m talking about somebody outside your own family, someone you may or may not like all that much, maybe. I have a friend who will remain nameless who prays for me each and every day. And I pray for him, although I have to confess I am not as faithful as he is. (Forgive me brother) But I am going to get better. I am determined to do better and I can because the Bible says I can. In the book of Romans ch. 12 and verses 9&10 it says “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. I have been doing a kind of series on forgiveness and the responsibility is ours to forgive one another when we fall into sin. Whispering and murmuring and backbiting have no place in the life of a Christian. It is the opposite of forgiveness, in fact it is judging another person and in itself (I’m still speaking of the backbiting et al) in itself is sin. May God convict us and may we ask His forgiveness and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

Entry #7 Provision for strays :sheep that wander.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one to his own way; these words found in Isaiah 53:6.
We were in Germany recently and the house in which we were staying was in a picturesque setting in a little town nestled in a valley and on the hillsides were flocks of grazing sheep. It was interesting to watch them as they ate; they seemed to be walking in a single file all in one direction and then after a while they would turn as if on cue and go in the opposite direction, grazing all the while, rather oblivious to their surroundings. And I thought how easy it would be for them to stray if that lead sheep decided to go out of his territory and get lost. It would depend on the rest of the flock whether or not they decided to follow or if they were content to stay in their own pasture. And a lot if not all would depend on the shepherd. Jesus said “My sheep know My voice.” He also said that HE Was the Good Shepherd (see previous blog) and the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. That’s found in John chapter ten. Try verse 11. Then in verse 12, “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 “The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep .” Jesus gave His life for the sheep. In fact back in Isaiah it says there in ch. 53 vs. 6 (that I purposely did not finish), “And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” LATER IN VERSE #10 it says that “it pleased the LORD to bruise Him.” “He has put Him to grief.” Why would it please the Father to bruise Him and put Him to grief? Because it meant your salvation and mine and He loves us so much that He would rather die than live without us …and if that doesn’t stir your soul then I am at a loss as to what will. “He poured out His soul unto death” “He was numbered with the lawbreakers(the transgressors) And He bore the sins of many.” AND GET THIS…..He made intercession for the lawbreakers (transgressors) Would you make intercession for those who were crucifying you? I’d be hard pressed to. But that is just what Jesus did. Remember when He was on the cross? He said “Father forgive them…they know not what they do.” Forgiveness is from God.

Forgiveness: more sheep (entry 6)
Jesus testified of Himself and said in John 10:11, “I am the Good Shepherd..”
Recently we visited the city of Rome or Roma as it is spelled and pronounced in Italiano. While we did not visit the famous, or perhaps a better term, infamous, Catacombs there, I have learned that there are some wonderful third century paintings there on the rock walls. These paintings bear a revealing testimony to the life and thought of the early Christian church. One of these paintings is a familiar one to many; it is the picture of Christ the Good Shepherd, carrying a sheep over His shoulder. It has indelibly portrayed Him as the Good Shepherd in the hearts and minds of all who have seen it, saints and sinners alike throughout the centuries.
When I turned on my computer this a.m. I picked up my Bible and turned to the “Shepherd’s Psalm, 23 and I realized that the Shepherd has an intimate knowledge as well as a close relationship with His sheep. In the gospel of John chapter ten Jesus really lets us know just how close that relationship is, as does the Psalmist.
In verse 7, “Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8) All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. Vs. 9…I am the door. If any man enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” Then in verse 11 He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” What a verse this is. Think about that when trouble comes your way. Think about that when you are feeling down and depressed. Think about that when you are murmuring and complaining. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Forgiveness is when the good shepherd gives His life for you and for me. TRULY THIS IS FORGIVENESS.Good Shepherd come and lead us beside the still waters…come and lead us in paths of righteousness….yes, Lord pick us up and carry us on Your strong shoulders …..for Your name’s sake I pray.