Second Week of Lent ~ Thursday

​He cares

Our God is looking to bring in the lost and alone, He’s actively searching to bring His people home, back to safety. We read in today’s scripture that from far and wide, His people have been scattered, they have been led away and taken apart from Him. But all He wants is His people returning to safety.

There are many ways that we have been led off the course of the road that God has laid before us, but we will read in today's passage that His passion for His people to return is fierce, but some of that fierceness lies in our own responsibility to bring in the hurting, broken and lost.

- Read Ezekiel 34

I like this passage in the simple and easy to read New International Version.

- Devotional Thought

​The Scriptures are full of promises of goodness. In this chapter alone there is talk of rescue, safety and relief. But sometimes we can wondering how it is possible that in our life today, with all the chaos brewing all over the globe, how we can comprehend this level of goodness that the Lord promises for us.

Maybe it's too much for you to comprehend right now, maybe you just can't see it happening in your life you can’t. Maybe things seem too difficult, too painful and too ongoing to find the peaceful pastures He promises for us.

But that is exactly why we need Him and that's exactly the perfect place to come to Him in.

We read in the chapter how even things that are associated with good can lead us off the right path. We read of these so called 'shepherds' who have been mimicing His guidance but instead of leading out of love, they've led out of selfish intent.

We’ve all seen this, we’ve all placed our trust in something or someone that has led us astray. And God knows this too! In our world today, it's true that we are surrounded by false hope that promises our best but ends in our worst. God is not angry with us, His desire is to come in and scoop us back into His Kingdom.

The valley only proves that there is a mountain, the darkness only proves that there is light, the rocky only proves that there is soft...

All that we face and struggle against in our world now only proves that there is a God above it all.

Otherwise what your the point be? If the world is unfair and there is war and natural disasters taking peoples lives in some places, and in others, we see millionaires sitting comfortably and glamourously and still landing up depressed and suicidal.... if EVERY ONE of us didn't feel the need to overcome our difficulty in our sphere of the world then maybe we would survive on our own.

But we can't

And so we do need a good and loving God.

We are sheep that need a shepherd because we are prey that neeed protection. And that is good news. That is the news that reminds us that it's not all up to us!! It's not a message about God picking upi up and removing you from what you face but Him renewing and refreshing your heart, soul and mind in the middle of what you face.

- Passage to focus on 

“I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭34‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus didn't come for the already perfect, He came to save and He came to heal. He came to restore and He came to refresh.

- Image for today 

Today’s image is of a lamb. Lambs are gentl and innocent, they follow and they don’t lead. But when one changes the way, the rest follows. They need a sheoherd, they need safety.

We are sheep and we will be at our best in His pasture.

- Prayer 

​Father God,

You are our shepherd and we want to follow you. Please keep our eyes on you to find the pastures and pathways you have for us. We need you because there is danger all around us in this world but we trust that you have our best intentions and are looking to bring us home, we want our hearts to be home with you!

- Active idea

Get a big blank piece of paper and write the words "Good Shepherd". And then sit and meditate on what Jesus being our good shepherd means in your life.

Thank you for joining me today! Hope to see you again soon!

Have a blessed Lent

~ X ~