You Are Loved by the Good Shepherd

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The Holy Spirit brings comfort and assurance to our sometimes-frail faith through meditating on the love of Jesus Christ for sinners like you and me. Through repentant faith, He is not only our Lord and Savior, but our faithful Good Shepherd. By focusing your mind on the following passage your heart will be ministered to through the words of Jesus.

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” (John 10:11-15)

Feed your soul on four assurances.

  1. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has already laid down His life for you (v. 11). When Jesus first spoke the words above, His death was still in the future. He would lay down His life for His sheep. But that is done now. His sin-bearing and debt-paying work is complete and our sin debt is already paid in full (Hebrews 9:27-28). By consciously remembering this past demonstration of His great love, our hearts are further assured of His continued love and care today…and everyday…into eternity.
  2. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will not act like a hireling by leaving His sheep to the wolves (v. 12). Instead, our faithful Shepherd stays by your side. When the wolves attack, He will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). He will never desert you or leave you to the Enemy of your soul.
  3. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is committed to, and concerned, for you—one of His many sheep (v. 13). The hireling flees because he is self-centered, but Jesus continues to lead, feed, comfort, and discipline us. Why? Because His commitment to His sheep is not found in empty words, but in His deep promises.
  4. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows His sheep–in relationship–just as He knows the Father in relationship (vv. 14-15). Jesus knows those who are His own and those who are His own know Him. What a wonderful truth! Especially when He, in the very next verse, likens His relationship with us to His relationship with His Father, which has been for eternity. Growing in Christ is more than gaining Bible knowledge (as important as that may be). but includes a deepening intimacy with our Shepherd as we listen to His Word and find security in His love. Find great comfort and assurance in the fact that not only do you fervently desire deeper intimacy with my Savior, but He desires it with us.

Not only does He desire our greater good, but He does so for His own glory. One of the most glorious benedictions in Scripture assures us of this truth. Ponder these words:

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21).

The Good Shepherd continues to love and care for those who repent and believe in His saving work and saving Name. When we set our mind on these things we find our heart resting securely in His love.

RESOURCE: Comfort the Grieving: Ministering God’s Grace in Times of Loss

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