July 11, 2021 | John 10:1–30 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The well-known “shepherd hymn,” Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, describes the compassionate care the Lord gives His children. “Savior, like a shepherd lead us, Much we need Thy tender care; In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use Thy folds prepare.” The author, […]
July 10, 2021 | 2 Samuel 12:1–14 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Literary scholar Leland Ryken describes the meeting between the prophet Nathan and King David as a “confrontation story.” He explains: “Usually the confrontation implies some tension or dissonance that needs to be acknowledged and resolved . . . [C]onfrontation stories imply an element of […]
July 9, 2021 | Luke 15:1–7 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A. W. Tozer wisely commented: “The only safe place for a sheep is by the side of his shepherd, because the devil does not fear sheep; he just fears the Shepherd, that is all.” Today’s reading is often called the “parable of the lost sheep,” […]
July 8, 2021 | John 1:29-42 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue In William Blake’s poem “The Lamb,” a child asks the small creature, “Dost thou know who made thee?” The answer is found in the second stanza: “He is calléd by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb: He is meek and he is mild, […]
July 7, 2021 | Luke 2:8–20 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue The pilot episode for The Chosen, a popular television series depicting the life of Christ, tells the story of Simon, a poor, lame shepherd. Simon longs for the coming of the Messiah. One day, he encounters Mary and Joseph and kindly gives her a drink […]
July 6, 2021 | Isaiah 40:1–11 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue Many famous paintings have pictured Jesus as the Good Shepherd, carrying a lamb over His shoulders or in His arms. In fact, some of the earliest artistic depictions of Jesus found in the Catacombs of Rome portray Him not on a cross, but as a […]
July 5, 2021 | Micah 5:1–9 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue For about seven years, Moody Bible Institute graduate Caleb Fetterhoff has been living and ministering to semi-nomadic shepherds high in the mountains of Lesotho in southern Africa. These shepherds care for flocks that belong to wealthy owners down in the valleys. Their lifestyle put them […]
July 4, 2021 | Psalm 80 DEVOTIONS This Month’s Issue A famous hymn, often sung to a Welsh or Irish tune, celebrates God as our Shepherd: “The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever. Where streams of living water flow, […]