NO PASTOR NO PASTURE

Mat.9:35-38. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Do you know the reasons why you are in the Church you are right now?

Many a times, we just act through our feelings and not what God wants for our lives. Movement from one denomination to the other is now the era of the day within the Christendom. The above question is what takes many Christian from one church to the other; they really don’t know where God had placed them.

For every child of God, there is always a place for them in the body of Christ. If you look at Mat.9:35-38, Jesus had compassion because He found out that they were HARRASSED and HELPLESS just like a sheep without a Shepherd (Note that Sheep stands for you and I while the Shepherd are the Pastors).

The said sheep’s been under a shepherd were malnourished.

Wait and do not get me wrong here :- A shepherd has his or her own jurisdiction and cannot move above what God deposited in him or her, so we need assistance from God in other to enable us to get the right direction.

It’s only God that leads right. Let us look at Psalm 23:1-4 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

You can see that the psalmist said in verses 1-3 about God leading him, but while in verse 4, he went astray and found himself in the valley of the shadow of death.

 

As we have been able to ascertain that God is the only one that can direct us well as we have read in Psalm.23:1-4

I wish to let you know that you are not the one in control of your life any more. Your life belongs to God and not yours as some says. This is why Psalmist wrote in Psalm.37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

 

I need to let you know that without the right PASTOR (Shepherd), you cannot get a good PASTURE.  

You cannot feed your dog with Hay, hay is good for Horses and not Dogs (are you feeding yourself on hay while you ought to be on Fried-Rice). This will lead to malnutrition and might cause untimely death (May you not die before your time in Jesus name. Amem).

Jeremiah 23:3-4 “But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from the countries where I have driven them. I will bring them back to their own sheepfold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number. ⁴ Then I will appoint responsible shepherds who will care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one will be lost or missing. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

There is a sheepfold that God wanted you and I to be inside, are you in the right place, have you gone astray or simply lost in the crowd?

The way for you to know are all stated clearly in Jer.23:3-4

·        Lack of fruitfulness

·        Lack of Growth

·        Fear

·        Loneliness

·        Death (both Spiritual, Physical, material, and financial)

·        Non Guidance

·        Loss of Direction, just to mention a few.

Are you experiencing some or all of these, the pointer might be you being in the wrong SHEEPFOLD.

You need to check yourself before you are fed with wrong food (Spiritual food).

Remember Jacob in Genesis.28:12-15 ^“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;

¹⁴ And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

¹⁵ And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. But in Genesis.29:1 the scripture said “Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east”.

Are you in HARAN or heading towards Haran, or are you in BETHEL? Between Haran and bethel lies discomfort. You will found out that all the above i.e. Lack of fruitfulness, Lack of Growth, Fear, Loneliness, Death, Non Guidance and Loss of Direction were what happened unto Jacob when he left Bethel for Haran.

When you read Genesis.35:1 God specifically told him “And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother”.

Have you missed the way? Then harken unto God’s voice now the way Jacob did……