I am the gate/door 

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV

Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV
It’s always fun to read scripture in context. I never realized that when Jesus said “I am the door,” which really means “gate,” he had just finished healing the man at the pool near the sheep gate. And in my ever living curiosity I wanted to find out more about the sheep gate.

It turns out that the sheep gate was the first gate to be rebuilt in Nehemiah’s temple. They could have started to rebuild at any point in the walls, but the sacrifice for their national sin had to be paid first. Brick by burnt brick, the priests actually rebuilt that gate with their own holy hands. Unwitting sheep filed into this gate and, of course, never returned through this gate because they were lead to the altar for sacrifice. As a song once claimed, you can check in any time you want but you can never leave.

So I think the disciples found it relevant when Jesus said He is THAT gate and the sheep COME and GO through Him. Come to think of it, the lame man at the pool may have exited through that very gate.

Early on, John the Baptist recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus, as the gatekeeper, calls his sheep in, but then GOES AHEAD of them. (More about that next week) Then in a finishing act, he becomes the only living sacrifice we will ever need. We enter His finished work through Him and only Him, the Gate, and we exit that door in the life and power of His resurrection.

He is the door I want to stay in, waiting patiently for His Voice.

John 10:1-5, 7, 9-10 NIV
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Proverbs 8:32-36 NIV

“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.” 

Week 21      I Am the Good Shepherd 

John 10 & Psalm 23
11 I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep…14 I am the Good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own know and recognize Me– Even as [truly as] the Father knows Me and I also know the Father–and I am giving My [very own] life and laying it down on behalf of the sheep. And I have other sheep [beside these] that are not of this fold. I must bring and impel those also; and they will listen to My voice and heed My call, and so there will be [they will become] one flock under one Shepherd. 
John 10:11, 14-16 AMP
THE Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters. He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him–not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake. Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

Psalm 23 AMP
During Jesus time on earth many sheep came through the sheep gate for sacrifice. I imagine that the crowds of sheep could get mixed together and external appearances would not be the best way to find your own sheep. So each shepherd would call and the sheep would ramble towards the sound of their own shepherd’s voice. 

I think about the crowds that pressed Jesus as recorded in Mark 5. It doesn’t say that anyone in the jostling crowd was healed. But then there is this one woman with the issue of blood, she was drawn to His Voice and received restoration as she followed her Shepherd.
In Psalm 23 I read all the wonderful benefits of following my Shepherd: provision, rest, refreshing, guidance, peace, protection, nourishment, restoration and best of all, a home with Him.

  
***Artwork is water color with no prep (still making daily hospital visits with dad.) 

Song “You are the Great Shepherd” by David Olinger.

Week 19  
I am the Bread of Life
John 6:32-35, 47, 49-51, 58 NIV 
Exodus 16:4 NIV 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.”

You may recall in Exodus 16 the story about God’s supernatural provision of manna in the wilderness as Israel fled Egypt and went after God’s promise. Jesus refers to this in John 6. He then goes on to explain that He himself is the Bread of Life. He Is God’s daily supernatural provision to sustain us as we leave the captivity of the world and go after the promise called eternal life. 
I work in historic Old Salem, where I teach children about 18th century life. We have a couple of bake ovens in the district. One is fired up to bake 90 loaves of bread daily and the other once a week. 18th century adults consumed around one pound of bread per person, per day. That’s a LOT of bread! But the amount of physical labor needed to survive in a remote community required more calories than someone could hunt down. 

If I’m going to live a powerful spiritual life I’m going to need my daily bread, Jesus, the bread of life. It won’t be enough for me to eat the stale bread of yesterday.

Week 18. I am… 

 Have you ever been going about your mundane daily business and noticed something out of place that stopped you in your tracks? Maybe you just shrugged and carried on as usual, or maybe you turned aside to see. There were times I was so result focused I didn’t even notice the flicker in my peripheral vision.

Whenever I have noticed and turned towards the flame I have learned yet one more thing about God. I can sum up every new facet I see in two words, “I am.”

He is: present time, 

                 present place, 

                        and present tense. 

Whatever I’m doing He is doing with me. Whatever I need He is providing for me. 

He is I Am… Everything, right now.

John 8:58

Exodus 3:1-14

May Theme: “I Am”

This month I will be studying the “I am…” based on the Gospel of John, but illustrating supporting scriptures from other verses.

In John 8:58, Jesus says before Abraham ‘I am’… It sounds awkward in the present tense. Any grammar nazi would correct that to ‘I was.’ I believe He phrased it so that they would recall God’s name in Exodus.

Where will you find ‘I AM’ this month?

Exodus 3:1-14 NIV 
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘WHAT is HIS NAME?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “ I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’