Shepherdess

Soon to be released:

 

Shepherdess

by Linda Grace Byers

I am having a most wonderful time, editing my latest book. I feel as though I am time travelling, with the past revisited, and the future prophetically hinted at and next confirmed, as days become weeks, months and inevitably, years

What I know, is God gives discernment; that may seem magical, but really, dear reader, He speaks to us through scripture, and when we heed Him, we are the richer for it, in countable and, more often than not, unseen ways.  

The LORD is my Shepherd, He has appointed me as a Shepherdess, and given me the mission of Tend My sheep, and I have, and I shall.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

Run Away Train

Keep it all

I don't want to be you, best you, or beat you: with a left eyebrow lift and a half grin, I am entering into the peaceful place of suggestion that you and I, get to be just that: peaceful.

I don't have designs on your life, your people, or your stuff. I don't want any of it. You get to keep it all, without theft or threat of dispossession from me dear reader. More on you and me later,,,

Legally binding contract

Noncompete clause: a contract between an employee and employer in which the employee agrees not to enter into competition with the employer during or after employment. These legal contracts prevent employees from entering into markets or professions considered to be in direct competition with the employer

Red ink to paper

I have something to share with you. My employer asked me to sign a noncompete contract when we entered into our agreement of my employment. I was willing at the time, and quickly put red ink to paper, neatly laying down my signature. I was thrilled to land this job, and excited about the work I would be doing.

Time passed, as it is want to do, and I admit, I began cooking up my own ideas and interests, you know, some moonlighting possibilities to get me some quick results on the side. What if I do this, and what if I do that: somehow, my employer always seems to know about my clandestine plans. I narrow my eyes here and wonder, does he have spies watching me, informants keeping him abreast of my thought life and secretive activities? Guilt and shame surface as I acknowledge my disloyalty. Soon enough, that I-have-been-sneaky-and-caught feeling fades only to be replaced by one of recollection, followed by conviction.

I had signed a legally binding noncompete contract, and I violated the clause that clearly stated  I would not directly compete with my employer. My employer, generous and forever faithful, deserves better from me.

Honour system

I mentioned above, that somehow my employer always seems to know about my obvious to him but clandestine to me, plans. What I didn't share, is how he handles the situation, how he handles me, when he knows and I know he knows, you know? I am going to describe the handling in a metaphor and invite you in as a participant. 

Speeding train

Image being at the controls of a speeding train, headed fast and furiously toward
your chosen destination with the path ahead of you clear. Whoa whoa, you cheerfully sound your whistle. You are getting to where you are going in no time flat. With imagination running wild, you barely contain your excitement, knowing that what you want is waiting for you just up the tracks.

Without warning your peripheral vision is invaded. You spot a travel companion you had ignored and all but forgotten, reaching for the emergency stop button. Nooooooooo, you slow motion yell while hurling yourself in their direction in an attempt to prevent their push-the-button-hand from hitting its mark. Too late, you are in a heap on the floor: fully stopped. You shake your head, checking for pain in your collapsed parts. Satisfied that you are slightly rattled and without injury, you slowly rise to look out the windows to check your location. Upon examination of your whereabouts, you inhale with a gasp... 

Dear reader, indulge me as I end this vignette with a cliche: 

... you inhale with a gasp, as your eyes fill with wonder at the sight before you. You, crazy run away train, are stopped on tracks that end just before a washed out bridge. You have been retrieved from the edge of certain death.

The players

Ah, dear reader, you know I am a Christian, right? In our run away train scenario, I am relating my own experiences of course. In case you are not picking up what I am putting down, let's name the players in our mini series

God is the real train conductor 

You have attempted to commandeer the controls

The Holy Spirit is your ignored and almost forgotten travel-everywhere-you-go companion

You were saved by grace from what you didn't know lied ahead; certain death

Competing by commandeering 

Shamelessly, I share my commandeering tendencies and perhaps, you have them too? Recall above, that I stated I don't want to be you, best you, or beat you. This is all true. While some people compare  themselves to others, I don't: I can one up most people on that front. I compare myself to God for goodness sakes! I would be super embarrassed in admitting this if I didn't find it ridiculously entertaining. I mean seriously, me playing God, to and for me: can you see how silly this is dear one?

I suffer from over confidence

I sometimes joke, that I suffer from over confidence with bouts of insecurity. I jump in feet first without hesitation, where few would dare to dip a toe tip. My confidence gets crushed and insecurity sets in, when I look around me and blank eyes stare back, sometimes with mouths agape, hanging open in shock. This is when I recognize that I have derailed somehow; I have forgotten for whom I work, and I have ignored my God's commands and His voice of truth, causing injury to those He would have me serve. 

Then I recall: the train isn't mine to conduct; the work He has for me isn't for my own benefit and entertainment. It is, all about Him. Again, not all about me, all about Him.

We are called to do this:

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him (Colossians 3:17)

Dear reader, I type with my head turned to the right and slightly cocked with a smirk on my face. I make myself into a mini god all the time and God, in His faithful Fatherly way, treats me as though I am one of His trusted kids, by allowing me to work within an honour system. It never takes long for me to recognize when I have deviated from my noncompete clause, signed-in-the-ink-red-blood-of-Christ-on-the-cross contract. Yes, that was a very long sentence, allow me to be direct.

Jesus died for me. I owe Him my life, eternally. In this worldly life, my allegiance is to Him, and periodically, I feel the need to take over in order to make things happen with a sped up agenda, because I think God is taking His sweet time, and mine is being wasted. 

Recall the precipice in our vignette: when He applies the brakes in my life, it is for my own safety and ultimate good.

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14)

Mini god mischief

Thankfully, when I am full of myself, there is an empty feeling that settles in almost immediately, that cannot be ignored. I know the difference between self-absorbed, self-indulgent, mini god mischief me, and who I am when I honour my Heavenly Father:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust (Psalm 91:1-2)

This verse gives me great rest, as I trust in the Most High.

Your turn

Now it is your turn dear one. I invite you to confession, which is really good for the soul. 

• Are you on your own crazy train, heading for a precipice? 
• Have you commandeered the controls of your life, wrestling them out of the hands of your Protector? 
• Can you hear the Holy Spirit, whispering trust in Me; telling you He can see what is ahead on the tracks you are traveling? 
• Is He applying the brakes in your life already, as you read these last sentences? 
• Are you willing to full stop, and give God the leading role in your life?

Allow Him to be your refuge and fortress, trusting in Him as your God. He is the best crazy train conductor known to man.

Why not let Him take the controls in your life, today?

Romans 8:31

I wrote this January 5th, 2016... it is ever so slightly revised, formatted for easier reading. I could not have predicted what is happening, but just as scripture states, and Simon Peter spoke, Lord, thou knows all things

Romans 8:31
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 

It is like this: the world is an interestingly strange place, and we are continually sorting, aren't we? Making sense of what is going on all around us, in us, in others~this makes for much work and confusion. 

We are NOT

I am about to clarify what the stand is for those who believe in God, the One and Only God. This is what we are NOT: wishful thinkers; hopefully naive; deceived with misplaced trust. We know we are mortal, human, and live in a world that can be vicious and cruel. 

AND, we are fearless in Christ. Christians are willing to give their lives for Christ on the mission fields; as priests and pastors; as servants of justice missions; as food providers to the hungry, homeless, poor and lastly; with a gun to the head and the question, Are you a Christian?. We are not subject to the same fear, attachment, or human clinging to a life, and world, that will one day pass away, just as we do, since we all die. 

Denying knowing Jesus

The disciples lived in close communion with Jesus for the three years of His ministry. They scattered when His time of crucifixion drew near. One of Jesus' closest companions, Simon Peter, denied knowing Christ when asked if he knew Him, three times before the rooster crowed the day that marked the end of what was, and the beginning of what is, the day Jesus was nailed to a cross. 

His own safety

Shame, remorse, stricken with his cowardice, and the fear that had him deny his friend, Simon Peter was broken hearted. His own safety had taken precedence over his loyalty and love for his friend. Alas, second, third and sometimes hundreds of chances are given to us, to choose or choose differently. Simon Peter got his, when Christ was crucified, rose again, and appeared to His disciple on the beach: 

He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, loves thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Loves thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knows all things; thou knows that I love thee. Jesus sayeth unto him, Feed my sheep (John 21:17)

He said to him the third time, he said unto him the third time, Loves thou me? 

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, Loves thou me? 

His response was, Lord, thou knows all things; thou knows that I love thee After this exchange, during which Simon Peter got to be in the presence of the one he had denied publicly, Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. 

God gives us many opportunities to privately worship Him. That is wonderful and rich, but it serves no one, if we do not honour Him in our public life, in front of others that may be affronted by the God we serve. Simon Peter had the uniquely astounding experience of meeting the living God before, and after His crucifixion,  in the flesh! The risen Lord gave Peter a mission too, Feed my sheep

We believe

Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to many. We believe in the crucified Christ, that He died and rose again, that He is the living God, everywhere all the time. The disciples learned this, and and bore witness to what I am reiterating, and they willingly died for Him, knowing the undeniable Truth. 

When I have Him, when you have Him, all else pales in comparison, all else falls away, and is foolishness, and chasing after the wind. 

The mark of a Christian is joy, unspeakable, incomparable, abundant, overflowing joy. Jesus is the bread of life and our Manna from Heaven. Life is our greatest God given gift: mine is devoted to His glory. 

What have you dedicated your life to?

January 5th, 2022

Addendum: It pains me to say that those espousing to believing in the living God, those that had purportedly, dedicated their lives to feeding His sheep, have turn coated, revealing their cowardice, revealing the inner workings of their heart. 

Like Simon Peter, prior to the crucification, many professing Christians, have considered their own safely more precious and valuable, than living the Great Commission. In fact, they have not tended the Lords sheep, they have willingly become accomplices to their demise, displaying their status of hirelings. 

For shame: they will answer to God for their compliance with wickedness 

 

Comeuppance

Comeuppance is defined as: a punishment or a fate that someone deserves

These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19)

 

Let's break this scriptural declaration into bite sized thoughts, shall we?

Firstly, you read that correctly: the LORD hates, and there are seven things that are an abomination to him: 

1. a proud look: arrogantly superior and disdainful
2. lying tongue: speaking deceptively
3. hands that shed innocent blood: murder
4. a heart that wicked imaginations: invent by careful thought, evil or morally wrong plans
5. feet that be swift in running to mischief: excessive speed or urgency of movement or action to cause trouble
6. a false witness that speaketh lies: a person who deliberately gives false testimony 
7. one who soweth discord among brethren: someone that deliberately plants seeds of disagreement, namely, amongst family; those that belong to Christ

What say you dear reader? After reading the above, is it clear to you that what the LORD hates, is exactly what we are currently being maliciously subjected to, by power drunk self-delighting and delegated demigods? It is a sickening thing to witness the corrosiveness of:

Prideful lying tongues that willingly shed innocent blood; their hearts inventing evil plans; then they swiftly run to cause trouble, deliberately giving false witness, and sowing discord among brothers

Abhorrent capability

Let me call your attention to something before we go too far in this piece of writing. We have to want to be lied to, in order to buy someone else's falsehoods. We are born truth detectors, with the capacity to lie almost shamelessly. It is an abhorrent capability that should cause us disgust and self loathing, but alas, so many prefer lies over truth, because to face reality is far more painful than the vast majority of people are willing to bare. The weakness of their character and the self-indulgence of an easy life, without friction or standing up for a cause, outweighs their desire to speak truth, first to self, and next, to others. 

Flaccid faith

This, dear reader, is the reason you and I are in mortal moral danger: The Road Less Travelled is the one that few want to take, and it is Truth that they are avoiding at all costs. Even Christians, the ones that have had it good, with ease all of their comfortable lives, have forgotten the price Jesus Christ paid in blood, on the cross for their sins. A flaccid faith of Christian Convenience is marking many as weak and ineffectual, for the Great Commission. 

How, I ask you, can we the faithful, be seen as fearless in Christ, who can do all things through us, and strengthens us, when we are succumbing to the repeated, mentally debilitating messages, to stay safe? 

What happened to For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)?

The Way

I will tell you what happened dear reader: it is far easier to go along with the crowd, then it is to stay committed to Christ. It is far easier to be a lap dog and eat the crumbs off of a human masters table, than live with the knowing that to reject the worlds ways, to live in The Way, means certain rejection from the very people you just want to get along with. The price for the safe selling of your soul to the lowest bidder is exorbitant, because Jesus shed His blood for our freedom, not for us to bow down to earthly Baals. 

Compare Christ

Why not be the spear of truth that breaks the chains of bondage, setting people free from captivity, in Christ? Why not? Jesus is Truth. Compare, I dare you to dear reader, compare Christ and the Truth of His Word, to what you are being force fed daily in media, driven by pretend utopia pushing blood thirsty sickos that don't give a wit about you, or your family. It is your compliance they crave, that is what feeds their ravenous never enough egos. 

Psychopaths that propagate 

I can blame them, for their wicked ways, but I am pointing the finger at every human being that has access to history, and can research brainwashing techniques and double speak messaging, designed to confuse and conform thoughts to a pseudo reality that benefits the few psychopaths that propagate, and catastrophically decimates the many. Oh dear, dear reader, the Kool aid has been laced with mind bending acid, and I fear that so many have drunk it, they are wearing masks to prove they have done the right thing. 

Now hear this

If this is you, I will comfort you here for a moment and tell you we have all been lied to and we have all lied: there is a point in time where we get to decide that that isn't okay anymore, and that we are willing to acknowledge the err of our ways, and turn our lives around, starting with facing reality as it is, and not as we want it presented to us. That was your comforting moment. Now hear this:

Snap out of it, snap out of it before it is too late. This is my request, my prayer, my hope. 

I end with this bit of scripture and warn, that those that are not in Christ, those that refuse to take the less travelled road of Truth, will have their comeuppance: 

Be not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he will also reap (Galatians 6:7)