Father, thank You for a good night’s sleep and for reminding me to get by blog ready to post right after I was up. I appreciate Your touch in my life – having that guidance and direction is most definitely a blessing. Amen.

1 Peter 2:25 (<<click here)

“Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.”

Lord, thinking of You as my Shepherd bring only good thoughts – comforting thoughts. The 23rd Psalm and Your teachings in John 10 come to mind. Peter’s words of shepherd and guardian make me think of John 10:6-10 which speak of you being the “gate for the sheep.”

In biblical times shepherds would construct a corral quite often topped with thorny brambles to ward off thieves and predators. These corrals would have narrow entrances through which a single sheep could enter and exit. Once the sheep were safely in the fold the shepherd would often place his body over the entrance to protect them.

Lord, that’s what You do for me. You are my shepherd. You are my guardian. You laid down Your life so that I might live.

Once again (and I don’t think this will ever cease to amaze me!) You tied in my opening thoughts with what you want to teach me. As my Shepherd, You guide and direct me. Life does not cease to unfold around me and just because You are my Shepherd does not necessarily mean that calamity or suffering will not come – but You will be by my side through it all. Things and people may attack – my body and mind may be injured or I may even be killed but you are the Guardian of my soul. Nothing can ever separate me from Your love (Romans 8:31-39). I am secure in Your hands.