Being a Shepherd

UV 414/10,000 Isaiah 44 v 28 Being a shepherd Isa 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid Cyrus, the king was declared by God to be His shepherd. Cyrus though he was not born a Jew and he did not traditionally believe Jehovah was declared to be a shepherd. The Word says that “ the Lord stirred up the spirit of the king Cyrus “ to declare the mission to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem. A shepherd in the Lord’s eyes is the one who feeds His sheep. He is the one who performs all that pleases the Lord. Once in a time of prophetic prayer, I was disappointed to hear that my name was not yet written in the “book of the Shepherd.” The Book of Revelations speaks of the books in plural that the Lord opens: one book is the book of the Living in which the names of all those who believe in Jesus is written. The second book is the Book of the Shepherd. After I started this daily meditation series – the Uni-verse, the Lord confirmed that I am now included among the shepherds of God. We need to find out what pleases the Lord and do it daily. It pleases Him that we spend time at His feet in our daily quiet times. It pleases Him that we dwell on and in the Word of God. It pleases Him that we live righteous lives. It pleases Him that we do not seek revenge and we forgive those who harm us. It pleases Him that we bear witness to His love and mercy. It pleases Him that we teach others to live in fellowship with Him. It pleases Him that we give for the needs of the saints. It pleases Him that we do all we can to build the Kingdom of God. It pleases Him when we pray to the Lord to stir up the spirit of kings and authorities all over the world to show favour to Israel, Jerusalem and the building of the church or the kingdom of God. One of the ways we minister is to declare in faith that Israel be redeemed, that the children of God be built up and established as the temple of God. Re-birth by faith as well as spiritual growth are both goals that the Lord sets before all mankind. Recently, the Lord affirmed that He was pleased with my faith as He said to me, “ your body is my church of prayer.” When a person is lead into the faith, we must ensure by patient labour that firm and strong foundations are laid. The Word of God, prayer, fellowship and witness are the four pillars that hold up the foundation. On that strong foundation, we need to build up with a life that is marked by good deeds, noble thoughts, pleasant words and kindness. The superstructure can be built with hay and stubble or with gold,silver and precious stones. The choice is ours depending on how sensitive we are to the move of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Prateep V Philip