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(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)<\/em><\/p>\n By singing praises and hymns, awake your soul, open your heart to the Lord, and prepare yourself to welcome the presence of God and receive the Word of God that will be given to you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Petition with thanksgiving to God for a wonderful day and pray sincerely for a focused Scripture reading time! (Do not rush into reading the Bible without starting with prayers!<\/strong>) (e.g., you may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what will you be speaking to me today?)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Get the following items ready in advance: your devotional notebook, paper, pen, and\/or electronic devotional articles so that you can easily write down the Bible verses, questions, and thoughts you have noticed! You are encouraged to open your Bible and vocally read out the scriptures (Try to practice this reading method daily or once a week)!<\/p>\n Scripture Reading: John Ch. 10 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Take a moment to quietly reflect on today’s Scriptures. Through such exercises, let God’s Word be gradually written into our hearts and be inscribed to our mind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read the devotional articles prepared by CBCLWA (*Read the Bible first before reading any devotional materials.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (vv.1-21)\u00a0There are seven \u201cI AM\u201d statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. They are:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI am the bread of life\u201d, \u201cI am the light of the world\u201d, \u201cI am the gate for the sheep\u201d, \u201cI am the good shepherd\u201d, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life\u201d, \u201cI am the way, the truth, and the life\u201d, and \u201cI am the true vine.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0This chapter is about Jesus being the gate for the sheep as well as the good shepherd.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The relationship between the shepherd and the sheep is often used in the Bible as a metaphor\u00a0to illustrate\u00a0the relationship between God and His people. Psalm 23 is a perfect example. Here Jesus said that he is the gate for the sheep, anyone who enters through Him shall be saved, and will come in and go out to find pasture. Jesus said that there is only one way to be saved, and it is through Him, as in Acts 4:12\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThere is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Jesus promised that those who believe in Him will not only have provisions in life (v.\u00a09), but also have life, and have it abundantly (v.\u00a010).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus went on to say that He is a good shepherd. He lays down his life for the sheep, and he does it voluntarily. He has the authority to lay it\u00a0down, and\u00a0has the authority to take it up again. He demonstrated his own love for us while we were still sinners.\u00a0(Romans\u00a05:8).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n How can you be\u00a0like\u00a0an obedient lamb? Knowing their characteristics, they listen to their master, can distinguish his voice from others, and they follow the guidance of the shepherd\u00a0by his\u00a0rod and staff. What else can you think of?\u00a0\u00a0As stated in\u00a0Isaiah 53:68,\u00a0\u201c<\/span>All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned\u2014every one\u2014to his own way.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0May each one of us\u00a0acknowledges\u00a0our own sinful nature and weaknesses\u00a0and\u00a0cling to God\u2019s promises. May we\u00a0take the time to study God\u2019s words, which will help us discern the truth. Let us obey God\u2019s guidance and\u00a0discipline, and\u00a0have faith that we\u00a0would lack of nothing as\u00a0Jesus\u00a0is\u00a0our provider.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another thing worth noting is that the Lord Jesus recognizes His sheep, each of which has a name with his own special meaning and worth. You and I are all precious lambs in Jesus\u2019 eyes. We\u00a0belong together as a flock under His\u00a0name\u00a0and we\u00a0support and encourage\u00a0each other. We should\u00a0consider each other as precious and serve the Lord\u00a0together\u00a0with one unified heart. The Lord Jesus also said that He has other scattered sheep out there who are still wandering. Are you willing to go out to preach the gospel for the Lord and lead people to Christ?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.\u00a022-42) During the Feast of Dedication, the Jews decided to challenge Jesus so they gathered around him and asked, \u201c<\/span>How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.<\/span><\/b>\u201d It might seem that they really want to know Jesus, yet this group of people blamed Jesus for their own disbelief. Despite the fact that Jesus had said numerous times that He is the Messiah, their hearts were\u00a0hardened\u00a0and\u00a0they\u00a0chose not to\u00a0believe\u00a0Jesus\u00a0(v.\u00a025). They clearly heard the message\u00a0from Jesus, yet they pretended\u00a0they did not hear it. They saw what Jesus had done, yet\u00a0they turned a blind eye to\u00a0it.\u00a0Even though\u00a0Jesus performed the miracles\u00a0in front of them\u00a0and\u00a0the power from the Father could testify for Him,\u00a0this group of people\u00a0were unwilling to\u00a0respond to God\u2019s message. Therefore, they could not understand. Jesus said that they were not His sheep.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In verse 27, Jesus said: \u201c<\/span>My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Those who hear the voice of Jesus, respond to the work of God, whether it is in His miracles, teachings, or\u00a0counsel. Those who believe in Jesus are the Lord\u2019s sheep and\u00a0they\u00a0will follow Jesus. Such people have eternal life in the hands of Jesus and cannot be taken away\u00a0because they are protected by Jesus and belong to Jesus and the Father.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Praise God! Brothers and sisters, we have become\u00a0the\u00a0children of God by faith, and our greatest dependence in this life is our Savior\u2014Jesus, who is our Great Shepherd. Let us take some time to contemplate: how do I respond to the voice of the Lord? Do I pay more attention to people\u2019s voice, my own voice, or the Lord\u2019s? How can I know my Lord better? How can I follow Him closely? Will people believe in Jesus because they see Christ\u2019s work\u00a0in my life, just as someone believed in Jesus because of\u00a0the testimony of\u00a0John the\u00a0Baptist?\u00a0Can people feel that\u00a0all my testimonies\u00a0about\u00a0Jesus are true? May the Lord guide\u00a0me.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Give thanks to God for His enabling us to read the Scriptures and for our response for living out the Word of God today! (e.g., You may start with a simple prayer like this: \u201cDear Lord, what\/where are you going to lead me to today?”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abiding-in-the-lord","category-pastor-mickey-hsiao"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2339"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2386,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2339\/revisions\/2386"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Worship<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Scripture Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Meditation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Devotional<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Pray<\/strong><\/h3>\n