Studyin' w/ Lena's Journalin' Today to 3rd John - Who's voice Do you heed sheep or shepards?

There are friendships and there are friendships.
Our language is so narrow in it’s expression, people call their dog their best friend and then call a lifelong school chum a friend and them call their neighbor a friend and then call the dearest and closest person to their heart in life a friends also. We all know there are casual acquaintances and there are friendly friends, personal friends, then also co-worker relationships and then there are friendships that are based in the Spirit and the Word and live and grow there. This is the type expressed here. What else in life here on earth is as important as a relationship based upon mutual agreement and understanding of a continued growth in the spirit? There is really no deeper relationship in this life than that which is based on spiritual understanding. John is expressing the joy of a relationship based on Jesus as Lord.
There is no greater joy when a parent raises a child in the natural or in the spirit, and they become a son, and then a friend. Friends see eye to eye.
Is God our Father in the sense of He birthed us according to the spirit? Has He been able to raise us up yet? Then do we submit ourselves to His will and to the will of others He has set up in our lives to help lead and teach us? Have we grown into sons who willingly obey the Father to any extent? Lastly, do we see eye to eye and face to face with God? In that, we will have grown through stages and become as Abraham was, the friend of God. What greater joy a Father has to know His children submit themselves to the growth process, and thus are walking a walk of truth!
Vs 7 is quite interesting, for there are places in scripture that say the wealth of sinful men is laid up for the righteous to have and use. This is saying those who carry the burden of strictly working with and for God, with the spreading of the gospel message, have decided to not rely on men for food, clothing, or shelter, but have decided to put their trust in God through the avenue of the blessings from hearts of love of His people. We who get money by working for men, should be thinking towards storing up a bit of what we’ve worked for to contribute to the efforts of those who sow the word day in and out faithfully. In that we become a part of that work also.
Do you love to be the leader? Think about it before you quickly answer no.
Ask yourself, Do I mostly do what I want in life? Do you spend your time like you choose, spend your money as you choose, go when you want, stay when you want? Lead yourself through each day? Or are others allowed to initiate other activities into your schedules that are inconvenient to you and you lovingly adjust to their additions? This true attitude is found in the heart’s responses to changes made in what we have made our own plans for. Are your own plans easily adjusted, changed or even canceled? This is a good gage to see who the true leader is.
Another gage of you being your own leader would be, who’s voice do you listen to and follow after? A Shepard’s voice or that of another sheep? Who do you tend to go after, what the sheep has said to you, maybe even about the flock or Shepard? Or what the Shepard and other leaders have said? Are you in the center, on the inside of the pasture, or are you on the outskirts and wandering, wondering what to do and which way to go? Has your ear been lent to accusations against leaders? Do you speak ill of leaders?
If so, you are your own leader! You are also out in Wolfville and it is no one’s fault if you get hurt or divided out there, but yours. You choose to be “out there”. In fact, you probably had many choices up to this point, to follow Shepard’s, but for some reason you led yourself a lot more than you listened to what others said. Now you’re “out there”, you’re uncovered, uncommitted, unprotected, and about to be devoured. Satan roams about as a roaring lion, seeking who he is able to devour. Those on the outskirts, especially those who are there observing and spending a lot of time in deciding whether to be in the center or not, are the ones devoured first. Thoes in the center are protected.
Did you k now, you cannot successfully protect yourself. God set it up that way on purpose!
Get back into the center, before you are a contentious one. Follow, and don’t lead even yourself until you’ve been following faithfully for sometime.
Listen just being “a Christian” or going to church for years, does NOT mean you are a leader or a follower, either. These are heart issues. Remember God looks on the heart. You being on the outside shows where your heart is, your unwillingness to listen to a Shepard is evidence you have a heart issue that needs tending to. Your willingness to listen to and be convinced against shepards with sheep voices heeded is a serious heart issue, God will not deal with you or it, at all if you do not ask Him humbly or willingly submit yourself to the dealings. He’ll allow the enemy to devour you by your freewill choices.
Don’t allow bad examples to influence you.
Speaking ill of any leadership at anytime is a bad example!!!!! You know it is.
It does not even matter if they are wrong or not. Do you not believe God is great enough to correct wrongs, or are you the appointed one? The issue is this, you can’t trust God when a person is wrong, can you? This is always the issue. It is an authority issue, your issue shows up with men, but it is an issue with God.
Why do you have to settle every argument? (The reason I can say this today is this is where I was at, I repented of this serious heart problem and now know I must trust God, especially in the hardest of areas).
If I care how I speak about leaders, I care about how I honor God. If I care for the sheep and the bad influence in spreading a bad heart issue, I also care about my own relationship with God. If I give to those who do not deserve it, in my eyes, I am showing I trust God anyway! I am demonstrating my faith in Him who is greater than any situation. I want His blessings on both my life, and others’ lives, especially those I follow and support.
If I speak ill against one group of leaders, I’ll do it in other areas of my life, like my boss, or husband, or…..you name it. It is a heart issue that we will all stand before God on. He’s asking us to rise up now and be willing to clean the slate now, then we won’t have to stand before Him guilty of that, later on.
Repentance is the only way out of that. Repentance is getting face to face, eye to eye, and saying, “God You are right, I agree with You, and no matter how hard it is, I’m going forward, Your way! I trust You and refuse to trust my own self. I love You enough to obey You and Your word as the first word in my life.”
Our life before God is known by the fruit. The fruit, either good or bad, is a symptom for us to see that we need to steer this way or that, change or remain under influencers or not.
Who’s voice do you, as a sheep, follow? Not just Jesus The Great Shepard, but any earthly shepards also? Or a whole lot of other sheep?