Ed Young - The Good Shepherd

August 29, 2025 | S25 E3505 | 29:0

The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young is the international on-air and online teaching ministry of Dr. Ed Young. The Winning Walk proclaims the proven truth of God’s Word to give men and women the world over a winning way to live life.

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The Winning Walk with Dr. Ed Young | Ed Young - The Good Shepherd | August 29, 2025
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  • Ed: we're all familiar with somewhat psalm 23,
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  • Even those outside of the understanding.
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  • We know that famous passage.
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  • We've talked about it.
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  • We've exegeted it recently, and it begins
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  • "the lord is my shepherd."
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  • And we hear that at funerals and we read it, and we've heard it
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  • Recited dramatically, and we just sort of--
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  • It's one of those phrases that's slick in our minds.
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  • It doesn't have the heaviness.
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  • "the lord is my shepherd."
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  • That's a sweet thing.
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  • But think about it for a minute.
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  • It's really a powerful confession of faith.
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  • For me to say, for you to say "the lord is my shepherd"
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  • In the first place, it means that you and i
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  • Have to understand that we're sheep.
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  • Now if you know anything about sheep, that's not a compliment.
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  • Let me remind you about sheep.
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  • Number one, sheep are perhaps the dumbest animal god ever
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  • Brought into existence.
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  • Sheep are dumb, and here it says, "the lord is my shepherd,"
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  • Therefore i'm a sheep.
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  • Therefore, you and i are dumb to begin with.
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  • Let's start there.
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  • And then we know that sheep have no sense of direction.
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  • They'll just go right into the wilderness.
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  • They'll go and walk right over a cliff.
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  • They have no sense of direction.
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  • They have no way to recall where they've been before.
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  • More than that, sheep cannot find food for themselves.
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  • They have the inability to do it, and when they got in the
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  • Pasture, they don't know the difference from poison, poison
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  • Grass, and nourishing grass.
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  • They can't even find water.
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  • They have no sense in which they can smell water and go
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  • To a spring or to a brook.
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  • You can't find any more helpless, pitiful,
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  • Directionless, ignorant, slow animals on the earth
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  • Than a sheep.
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  • So read, "the lord is my shepherd," oh, that means you
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  • And i, we're like sheep.
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  • That passage in matthew, it says that here are all these people
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  • Who are worried and confused, and they are like sheep without
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  • A shepherd, and sheep without a shepherd cannot live,
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  • Cannot survive on this earth.
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  • That's the powerful picture that we have there in psalm 23,
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  • And it is elaborated on by jesus in john chapter number 10.
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  • Look at it.
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  • I hope you have your bibles there with you.
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  • In john chapter 10, we read more about the relationship
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  • Between sheep and a shepherd.
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  • Verse 1, jesus is speaking, "truly, truly, i say to you,
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  • He who does not enter by the door into the fold,
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  • The sheep fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way,
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  • He is a thief and a robber."
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  • Now we have to know something about sheep
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  • In the first century.
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  • They would have two types of sheep folds.
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  • I've seen both of them in palestine.
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  • They'd have one type that would be in a town or a city.
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  • It would be a large, probably bricked in place, and the
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  • Shepherds would come into town and they'd put all their sheep
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  • In that sheep fold, and they'd have one of the shepherds
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  • Just stay at the door.
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  • And the next morning, the shepherds would come out
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  • To get their sheep, and they would speak to them,
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  • And we'll read about this.
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  • They know their voice, and they would call their sheep out of
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  • That community sheep fold, and they would go out to pasture.
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  • But the sheep fold we're most familiar with would be those
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  • That the shepherd would build out there were they were
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  • Pasturing their sheep.
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  • They would take thorns and stickers and all kinds of rubble
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  • There, and they'd build a sheep fold, and they would put it
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  • There, and that's where they would hustle all the sheep,
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  • Lead all the sheep to go in there at night.
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  • Look at the rest of the picture jesus gives us, "but he who
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  • Enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
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  • To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice.
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  • He calls his own sheep by name, leads them out, and when he goes
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  • Forth, all his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep
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  • Follow him because they know his voice."
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  • Interesting.
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  • Here's the picture.
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  • They didn't have sheep dogs, usually.
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  • A shepherd would go and lead the sheep,
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  • And they would follow him.
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  • He would lead them to the sheep fold at night, and they would go
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  • In, and the shepherd would lie down at the door.
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  • He says, "i am the door."
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  • This is jesus, and therefore, no sheep could get out,
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  • And no wolf could come in unless they went over the shepherd.
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  • So the shepherd himself was the door, protecting and defending
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  • The sheep, and when they would go out, he would examine every
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  • One to make sure there were no beggar lice, there was nothing
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  • Wrong with the sheep, and then they would go out to pasture.
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  • And the shepherd would walk ahead of them.
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  • And he says, "my sheep know my voice."
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  • It's interesting, sheep in this day were usually not used
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  • For mutton, not for food, not very much,
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  • And they were usually not used for sacrifices,
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  • Though sometimes, sheep were there for their wool.
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  • And therefore, a shepherd would have a flock of sheep for
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  • An extended period of time, and he named every one of his sheep.
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  • "floppy, curly, long-nose, spotted-foot," and he would call
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  • Their names, every one in the flock because he knew them
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  • Personally and intimately.
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  • That's the way we see the picture here.
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  • The lord is my shepherd.
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  • He walks ahead of us.
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  • He puts us in protective areas.
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  • He is the door.
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  • They have to go through him.
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  • The lord is my shepherd.
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  • And that's how he shepherds us.
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  • We are sheep in his flock, and therefore,
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  • He knows everything about us.
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  • Let me ask you something.
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  • Is there anything in your life, any little area of your life you
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  • Haven't yet surrendered to the good shepherd?
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  • You say, "lord, i give you all of my life.
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  • Take everything, but i'm going to keep
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  • This little part for myself."
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  • Let me tell you what i did years ago.
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  • I just sat down, and i said, "i want to list any area of my life
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  • That is not transparent to jesus christ," and i made
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  • A list, and i let the holy spirit deal with that
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  • In my life.
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  • Also, i'd recommend that you take things that may tempt you.
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  • You've fallen before.
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  • Slewfoot, the devil, knows how to trip us up again.
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  • Why not take a make a list.
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  • "lord, this is areas that i may fall in.
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  • Boy, my tongue will speak.
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  • I'll be impatient."
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  • Whatever it might be, write those temptations down and give
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  • Them to the lord.
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  • You see, he speaks to us.
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  • He talks with us.
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  • He tabernacles with us.
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  • He lives with us, and so we see the teaching here exactly of
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  • How, if the shepherd, he is our shepherd, we are to completely
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  • Yield to him, existentially, every moment of our life.
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  • It's his.
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  • And when that happens, freedom comes, joy comes,
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  • Transparency comes, and a new life begins to happen,
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  • And we realize that we're sheep, and he is the shepherd,
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  • And what a thrill it is to know that god in jesus christ
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  • Is orchestrating our lives every second of every day.
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  • So we see here exactly, the shepherd's relationship
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  • To the sheep.
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  • And then we see in the passage a wonderful thing.
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  • We see how also, the good shepherd defends the sheep,
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  • And the good shepherd blesses the sheep, and more than that,
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  • The good shepherd gives bounty to the sheep.
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  • Look at it in verse 7 of john 10,
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  • "truly, truly i say to you."
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  • Jesus once again saying, "hey, nail this down.
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  • Don't miss this."
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  • "truly, truly, i say to you, i am the door of the sheep."
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  • We already know that.
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  • "all who come before me are thieves and robbers,
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  • But the sheep did not hear them."
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  • As sheep, we do not hear all the siren calls.
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  • We're not follow all the dead-end streets
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  • That are available.
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  • We not, do not fall prey to mythology of foolishness.
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  • We not get involved in something that is called a church, but is
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  • Not obedient to the principles and the prescription of a church
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  • That we find in the bible.
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  • You see, we know authenticity.
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  • We know reality.
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  • We are enmeshed in the truth of god.
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  • Jesus says, "i am the door.
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  • If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and he will go in
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  • And out and find pasture."
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  • He said, "the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
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  • I came that they might have life--"
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  • Here it is--
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  • "and have it abundantly."
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  • Some people think that being a christian is slow and boring
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  • And dull and not exciting.
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  • Jesus says, "i came to give you life.
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  • To give you life that is overflowing."
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  • The word abundantly there means it's the picture of the ocean
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  • Coming in with the tides, and the tide comes in,
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  • And the wave swells and it recedes.
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  • Only another tide comes in, and the wave swells.
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  • It's a life of abundance, a life of over-flowing, a life of joy.
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  • The psalmist says god came to give you and me joy.
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  • Isn't that great?
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  • To give us joy, abundant life, over-flowing life,
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  • A plentiful life, a free life.
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  • That's what happens.
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  • That is his provision for us, and that is protection of us
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  • If we know his voice.
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  • We know his steps.
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  • We follow in his steps, in his wake.
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  • We're sheep, confident when he leads us into
  • 00:11:19.525 --> 00:11:23.095
  • The pasture into life.
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  • We know that we are coordinated with him.
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  • We're in his army, and that's a thrilling thing.
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  • See, you and i, we're the glory of god.
  • 00:11:31.771 --> 00:11:35.841
  • Go to an athletic event, and watch the parents
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  • As they're watching their children play.
  • 00:11:40.112 --> 00:11:43.249
  • That's sometime a better spectacle
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  • Than watching the game.
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  • I mean, they're into it. they're with it.
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  • Go, go to an exercise in a school when a child has a part.
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  • Watch the parents.
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  • Man, they are thrilled to death.
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  • Watch parents as they watch their children, and you're
  • 00:11:57.863 --> 00:12:01.467
  • Seeing an exciting thing.
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  • Their glory, their thrill is in those children.
  • 00:12:04.370 --> 00:12:09.175
  • By the same token, tragically, i've been there when parents
  • 00:12:09.175 --> 00:12:14.246
  • Watch their child coming out of a holding area where the child
  • 00:12:14.246 --> 00:12:19.084
  • Had been taken in by the police for drunken driving.
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  • Watch the face of those parents.
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  • How discouraged, how broken, how tearful they are.
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  • You see, jesus looks at you and me, and we are sheep
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  • In his pasture, and he rejoices with us, and he wants
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  • To make sure that we stay following him, close to him.
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  • We can hear his voice.
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  • We can know his direction because we know the father wants
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  • Everything that is great and full and abundant
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  • For you and for me.
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  • I'm afraid that those who preach the gospel of jesus christ have
  • 00:12:53.452 --> 00:12:56.989
  • Let one part of the bible being left out, because there's been
  • 00:12:56.989 --> 00:13:01.560
  • So much false interpretation.
  • 00:13:01.560 --> 00:13:04.330
  • "if i have enough faith, i'll always be healthy.
  • 00:13:04.330 --> 00:13:07.766
  • If i have enough faith, i'll always be wealthy."
  • 00:13:07.766 --> 00:13:11.403
  • That's not biblical truth.
  • 00:13:11.403 --> 00:13:13.405
  • But there is an element of truth there, because when i am a sheep
  • 00:13:13.405 --> 00:13:18.711
  • In the pasture of the shepherd, he's doing everything he can in
  • 00:13:18.711 --> 00:13:22.948
  • Sickness and in health, in the top of the mountain,
  • 00:13:22.948 --> 00:13:26.318
  • In the bottom of the mountain to give you and me a life
  • 00:13:26.318 --> 00:13:29.255
  • That is abundant.
  • 00:13:29.255 --> 00:13:30.990
  • We can't miss that because it's been abused.
  • 00:13:30.990 --> 00:13:33.692
  • The father, the shepherd wants what's best for all
  • 00:13:33.692 --> 00:13:37.229
  • His children.
  • 00:13:37.229 --> 00:13:39.098
  • So we see the relationship, the relationship that sheep have
  • 00:13:39.098 --> 00:13:44.003
  • With the shepherd, and we see the provision and the protection
  • 00:13:44.003 --> 00:13:47.873
  • The sheep have with their shepherd, and then we see
  • 00:13:47.873 --> 00:13:51.243
  • Something even better than this.
  • 00:13:51.243 --> 00:13:53.345
  • We see how much the shepherd loves the sheep.
  • 00:13:53.345 --> 00:13:57.750
  • Look at verse 11, chapter 10 of john.
  • 00:13:57.750 --> 00:14:01.053
  • He said, "i'm the good shepherd.
  • 00:14:01.053 --> 00:14:03.188
  • The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep."
  • 00:14:03.188 --> 00:14:05.357
  • Now i want you to notice something in verse 11 and all
  • 00:14:05.357 --> 00:14:08.460
  • The way down in verse 15 and in verse 17 and in verse 18
  • 00:14:08.460 --> 00:14:13.966
  • Jesus said, "a good shepherd lays down his life
  • 00:14:13.966 --> 00:14:18.837
  • For his sheep."
  • 00:14:18.837 --> 00:14:20.806
  • In other words, jesus puts his life on the line.
  • 00:14:20.806 --> 00:14:24.343
  • The word for there means instead of,
  • 00:14:24.343 --> 00:14:27.012
  • You could translate it.
  • 00:14:27.012 --> 00:14:29.048
  • A shepherd lays down his life instead of his sheep
  • 00:14:29.048 --> 00:14:32.685
  • Laying down his life.
  • 00:14:32.685 --> 00:14:34.787
  • So we look at the cross and we say, "what in the world
  • 00:14:34.787 --> 00:14:37.456
  • Is the shepherd doing on the cross"?
  • 00:14:37.456 --> 00:14:40.392
  • The shepherd is on the cross, laying down his life
  • 00:14:40.392 --> 00:14:43.662
  • For his sheep.
  • 00:14:43.662 --> 00:14:45.531
  • That's what he's doing, so you and i will have a straight
  • 00:14:45.531 --> 00:14:49.468
  • Entree all the way to the father in heaven.
  • 00:14:49.468 --> 00:14:53.639
  • When you say "the lord is my shepherd," that is a tremendous
  • 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:58.677
  • Statement when we're living out the role of the sheep.
  • 00:14:58.677 --> 00:15:03.782
  • Now, i want you to see something i bumped into that i thought was
  • 00:15:03.782 --> 00:15:08.988
  • Very, very interesting.
  • 00:15:08.988 --> 00:15:11.657
  • Look at verse 27 of this 10th chapter of john.
  • 00:15:11.657 --> 00:15:15.527
  • "my sheep hear my voice."
  • 00:15:15.527 --> 00:15:17.463
  • We've talked about that, "and i know them, and they follow me."
  • 00:15:17.463 --> 00:15:22.668
  • Bottom line, "and i give eternal life to them,
  • 00:15:22.668 --> 00:15:27.740
  • And they will never perish.
  • 00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:30.509
  • And no one will snatch them out of my hand."
  • 00:15:30.509 --> 00:15:33.512
  • Jesus said, "my father, who has given them to me--"
  • 00:15:33.512 --> 00:15:37.916
  • Sheep given to the shepherd--
  • 00:15:37.916 --> 00:15:40.185
  • "is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them
  • 00:15:40.185 --> 00:15:43.956
  • Out of the father's hand.
  • 00:15:43.956 --> 00:15:45.991
  • I and the father are one."
  • 00:15:45.991 --> 00:15:48.060
  • Jesus says when we are sheep and jesus is our shepherd, like
  • 00:15:48.060 --> 00:15:53.232
  • Jesus knows the father, so jesus knows us,
  • 00:15:53.232 --> 00:15:57.102
  • And the father knows us.
  • 00:15:57.102 --> 00:15:59.104
  • We're all in the family of god.
  • 00:15:59.104 --> 00:16:00.906
  • What a beautiful, fabulous picture.
  • 00:16:00.906 --> 00:16:04.343
  • It is a picture to me that is out of this world.
  • 00:16:04.343 --> 00:16:08.680
  • If you want to know, study 1 john, and 1 john teaches
  • 00:16:08.680 --> 00:16:12.818
  • All of us one simple thing: how to be confident of eternal life.
  • 00:16:12.818 --> 00:16:19.091
  • Isn't that tremendous?
  • 00:16:19.091 --> 00:16:20.793
  • That whole little book, 1 john, how to be confident
  • 00:16:20.793 --> 00:16:23.395
  • Of eternal life.
  • 00:16:23.395 --> 00:16:25.297
  • In other words, we've received christ, we are now sheep.
  • 00:16:25.297 --> 00:16:29.168
  • We're in the pasture of god.
  • 00:16:29.168 --> 00:16:31.737
  • The shepherd makes sure we're in the fold.
  • 00:16:31.737 --> 00:16:33.806
  • The shepherd makes sure that he leads us, he walks with us,
  • 00:16:33.806 --> 00:16:36.942
  • He forgives us, and the wonderful thing is,
  • 00:16:36.942 --> 00:16:39.511
  • That verse says,
  • 00:16:39.511 --> 00:16:41.246
  • "nothing can snatch us out of the father's hand."
  • 00:16:41.246 --> 00:16:44.149
  • Nothing, forever and forever.
  • 00:16:44.149 --> 00:16:45.884
  • Nothing!
  • 00:16:45.884 --> 00:16:47.986
  • Now, we get confused there.
  • 00:16:47.986 --> 00:16:50.823
  • That's the concept of once saved, always saved.
  • 00:16:50.823 --> 00:16:55.561
  • If that's true, why can't you and i live our life
  • 00:16:55.561 --> 00:17:00.032
  • Just like we want to?
  • 00:17:00.032 --> 00:17:02.101
  • Why do we try to grow in faith?
  • 00:17:02.101 --> 00:17:04.203
  • Why do we read the bible?
  • 00:17:04.203 --> 00:17:05.804
  • Why do we go to church?
  • 00:17:05.804 --> 00:17:07.406
  • You know, i've gone through the motions.
  • 00:17:07.406 --> 00:17:09.007
  • I've received christ.
  • 00:17:09.007 --> 00:17:10.442
  • Yes, i want him to be my shepherd.
  • 00:17:10.442 --> 00:17:12.911
  • You know, oh, why do i have to do anything else?
  • 00:17:12.911 --> 00:17:16.014
  • I can do anything, say anything, go anywhere,
  • 00:17:16.014 --> 00:17:18.917
  • Fulfill any desires.
  • 00:17:18.917 --> 00:17:20.919
  • I can be mean or sweet, it makes no difference
  • 00:17:20.919 --> 00:17:23.455
  • Because the father has me forever.
  • 00:17:23.455 --> 00:17:26.492
  • I'm always safe and secure.
  • 00:17:26.492 --> 00:17:29.328
  • Why is not this a license for sin?
  • 00:17:29.328 --> 00:17:34.299
  • Why is not this blessed promise saying, "you know,
  • 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:38.370
  • Now i can do anything.
  • 00:17:38.370 --> 00:17:39.972
  • I mean, i'm just free.
  • 00:17:39.972 --> 00:17:41.373
  • I don't have to follow god, don't have to keep
  • 00:17:41.373 --> 00:17:42.941
  • The commandments.
  • 00:17:42.941 --> 00:17:44.443
  • I don't have to be kind.
  • 00:17:44.443 --> 00:17:46.011
  • I can just be the kind of person that my flesh wants me to be."
  • 00:17:46.011 --> 00:17:49.715
  • What is that, that keeps us in the flock of the shepherd?
  • 00:17:49.715 --> 00:17:59.191
  • I was at the university of alabama.
  • 00:17:59.191 --> 00:18:01.560
  • An atheist challenged me about whether or not i believed in
  • 00:18:01.560 --> 00:18:04.062
  • God, and i turned around and discovered that god
  • 00:18:04.062 --> 00:18:07.799
  • Had been chasing me.
  • 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:09.601
  • I thought i was chasing god, and he became real to my life.
  • 00:18:09.601 --> 00:18:13.172
  • I transferred from the university of alabama
  • 00:18:13.172 --> 00:18:15.240
  • To mississippi college.
  • 00:18:15.240 --> 00:18:16.975
  • It was a christian school out from jackson, mississippi.
  • 00:18:16.975 --> 00:18:20.412
  • And so, i went to class, and we went to class then every day.
  • 00:18:20.412 --> 00:18:24.082
  • I took a course in world history, and i went there
  • 00:18:24.082 --> 00:18:27.920
  • For a week every day, and the second week i was there,
  • 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.524
  • And the assignment that dr. lee gave, who was a professor
  • 00:18:32.524 --> 00:18:36.762
  • At the college, was that we had to be able to trace the first
  • 00:18:36.762 --> 00:18:41.967
  • Two crusades and tell what motivated the crusaders
  • 00:18:41.967 --> 00:18:46.505
  • And also to explain how, when they returned home,
  • 00:18:46.505 --> 00:18:49.975
  • How this changed all the towns and cities
  • 00:18:49.975 --> 00:18:53.178
  • And countries that they passed through.
  • 00:18:53.178 --> 00:18:55.981
  • That was our assignment, and he said,
  • 00:18:55.981 --> 00:18:58.217
  • "i'll ask some people to stand and talk on that."
  • 00:18:58.217 --> 00:19:01.420
  • Well, i went to class.
  • 00:19:01.420 --> 00:19:03.322
  • I studied.
  • 00:19:03.322 --> 00:19:05.591
  • I didn't know much about the crusades before then,
  • 00:19:05.591 --> 00:19:07.492
  • But i studied rather diligently, and so i was seated there
  • 00:19:07.492 --> 00:19:11.563
  • In the middle of the classroom.
  • 00:19:11.563 --> 00:19:13.498
  • Didn't know anybody in the room.
  • 00:19:13.498 --> 00:19:15.434
  • Just had met the professor as he taught that first week, and all
  • 00:19:15.434 --> 00:19:18.937
  • Of a sudden, he says, "edwin young, would you
  • 00:19:18.937 --> 00:19:20.872
  • Come up and go to the map and trace those crusades
  • 00:19:20.872 --> 00:19:26.044
  • As i assigned the class and tell us how they influenced
  • 00:19:26.044 --> 00:19:29.214
  • The area at that time."
  • 00:19:29.214 --> 00:19:31.149
  • Now, this what you don't know.
  • 00:19:31.149 --> 00:19:33.252
  • Up to that moment in my educational walk through high
  • 00:19:33.252 --> 00:19:36.154
  • School, i made my lowest grades when i was asked to answer
  • 00:19:36.154 --> 00:19:41.860
  • A question in a class, when i was asked to make
  • 00:19:41.860 --> 00:19:44.963
  • A little speech or a talk.
  • 00:19:44.963 --> 00:19:46.865
  • I couldn't do it. i really couldn't.
  • 00:19:46.865 --> 00:19:49.167
  • I was mute.
  • 00:19:49.167 --> 00:19:51.236
  • I was so self-conscious, i was so unsure,
  • 00:19:51.236 --> 00:19:54.673
  • And i just would shake so much.
  • 00:19:54.673 --> 00:19:56.942
  • It was a pitiful sight to behold.
  • 00:19:56.942 --> 00:19:59.177
  • And here i was, new college, sophomore, asked to get up
  • 00:19:59.177 --> 00:20:03.148
  • And trace the crusades, the first two, and tell how they
  • 00:20:03.148 --> 00:20:06.551
  • Influenced people.
  • 00:20:06.551 --> 00:20:08.487
  • But because i didn't think i'd be called on, i tell you,
  • 00:20:08.487 --> 00:20:10.622
  • I think i know why i was called on.
  • 00:20:10.622 --> 00:20:12.557
  • My last name begins with a y and i'm always the bottom of the
  • 00:20:12.557 --> 00:20:15.594
  • List of any alphabetizing, and i think he looked down
  • 00:20:15.594 --> 00:20:18.630
  • And got the last one.
  • 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:20.532
  • "edwin young, come and do this."
  • 00:20:20.532 --> 00:20:22.200
  • I went to the map, and i--as best i could--
  • 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:24.936
  • I traced the crusades.
  • 00:20:24.936 --> 00:20:26.972
  • I told the influence.
  • 00:20:26.972 --> 00:20:28.540
  • I went up and down, and i talked maybe three minutes,
  • 00:20:28.540 --> 00:20:31.610
  • Maybe, maybe four, and i sat down.
  • 00:20:31.610 --> 00:20:34.579
  • And when i sat down, i hadn't realized that, you know,
  • 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:37.149
  • I'd stood up.
  • 00:20:37.149 --> 00:20:38.684
  • I was so upset, i just sort of spontaneously, you know,
  • 00:20:38.684 --> 00:20:42.154
  • Just tried to explain what i'd studied.
  • 00:20:42.154 --> 00:20:45.657
  • At the end of that class, everybody was walking out.
  • 00:20:45.657 --> 00:20:48.860
  • He said, "edwin young, would you wait with me a minute"?
  • 00:20:48.860 --> 00:20:52.264
  • I said, "oh me, what did i say?
  • 00:20:52.264 --> 00:20:54.866
  • What happened?"
  • 00:20:54.866 --> 00:20:56.802
  • And dr. lee asked me to come up, and he says, "i'm looking for a
  • 00:20:56.802 --> 00:21:01.039
  • Grader, a fellow who will grade the papers in my class,
  • 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:06.178
  • And i'd like to ask you to do it."
  • 00:21:06.178 --> 00:21:09.648
  • Well, i just--i said, "yes sir, what does that mean"?
  • 00:21:09.648 --> 00:21:13.652
  • He said, "well, we'll pay you this."
  • 00:21:13.652 --> 00:21:16.688
  • And that was big, because i'd worked my way
  • 00:21:16.688 --> 00:21:18.824
  • Through all to that time.
  • 00:21:18.824 --> 00:21:20.692
  • He said, "i'll pay you this, but you'll grade
  • 00:21:20.692 --> 00:21:23.395
  • All the papers, all my classes."
  • 00:21:23.395 --> 00:21:27.232
  • And i said, "well, what about this class"?
  • 00:21:27.232 --> 00:21:29.101
  • He said, "well, you'll grade the paper in here.
  • 00:21:29.101 --> 00:21:31.403
  • When we get through every test, you wait around.
  • 00:21:31.403 --> 00:21:33.872
  • Bring your test up to me, and i'll read your test,
  • 00:21:33.872 --> 00:21:36.675
  • And you can grade the rest of the papers
  • 00:21:36.675 --> 00:21:38.777
  • On the basis of your test."
  • 00:21:38.777 --> 00:21:42.114
  • Now, let me ask you something.
  • 00:21:42.114 --> 00:21:45.884
  • I graded for him another two years before i went into
  • 00:21:45.884 --> 00:21:49.988
  • Another occupation at a church my senior year,
  • 00:21:49.988 --> 00:21:54.493
  • But let me tell you something.
  • 00:21:54.493 --> 00:21:56.395
  • You think i said, "boy, i've got it made!
  • 00:21:56.395 --> 00:21:58.697
  • Man, i'm grading my own paper."
  • 00:21:58.697 --> 00:22:00.999
  • I'll tell you what happened to me.
  • 00:22:00.999 --> 00:22:03.034
  • I became a student of history, and when i would take a test,
  • 00:22:03.034 --> 00:22:09.574
  • And i would take my test up there,
  • 00:22:09.574 --> 00:22:11.576
  • Let me tell you something, i had worked, studied.
  • 00:22:11.576 --> 00:22:14.346
  • I'd looked at every angle, and i aced every test in history.
  • 00:22:14.346 --> 00:22:20.652
  • I took courses under him and other professors because i felt
  • 00:22:20.652 --> 00:22:24.589
  • I had to prove my worth.
  • 00:22:24.589 --> 00:22:27.359
  • He even taught sociology, and i graded the papers there.
  • 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:30.529
  • A lady who became dean of the school of education, i never
  • 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:33.732
  • Took a course in education, but i graded the papers there.
  • 00:22:33.732 --> 00:22:37.135
  • What happened to me?
  • 00:22:37.135 --> 00:22:39.604
  • Now i could just put--he even let me take the grades and
  • 00:22:39.604 --> 00:22:43.208
  • Put 'em in the book and record them officially, because in
  • 00:22:43.208 --> 00:22:47.145
  • Those months and years with dr. lee, he became my mentor,
  • 00:22:47.145 --> 00:22:52.317
  • And i wanted to please him.
  • 00:22:52.317 --> 00:22:54.486
  • I wanted to do everything exactly right, and there were
  • 00:22:54.486 --> 00:22:56.922
  • Some tough times.
  • 00:22:56.922 --> 00:22:58.824
  • One of my best friends roomed next-door to me, and he was
  • 00:22:58.824 --> 00:23:01.159
  • Struggling in history, and looked like he was going to
  • 00:23:01.159 --> 00:23:03.462
  • Fail, and i graded him as honestly as i did anybody else.
  • 00:23:03.462 --> 00:23:07.966
  • Another guy in the class, who i thought was an absolute
  • 00:23:07.966 --> 00:23:10.769
  • Egomaniac, and he was brilliant, and i graded the brilliant guy
  • 00:23:10.769 --> 00:23:14.906
  • I didn't like just like i graded my best friend.
  • 00:23:14.906 --> 00:23:18.276
  • Also, a final exam, another guy i played basketball with,
  • 00:23:18.276 --> 00:23:22.347
  • Against in high school and basketball with in college, and
  • 00:23:22.347 --> 00:23:26.284
  • We ran around together, he was a tremendous guy, and i saw
  • 00:23:26.284 --> 00:23:29.354
  • On a final exam as i was studying his exam, it looked
  • 00:23:29.354 --> 00:23:32.724
  • Like he had copied about 2 paragraphs right out
  • 00:23:32.724 --> 00:23:36.328
  • Of the textbook, and i went to dr. lee, and i said,
  • 00:23:36.328 --> 00:23:39.297
  • "i know this guy.
  • 00:23:39.297 --> 00:23:41.233
  • This is what he has done."
  • 00:23:41.233 --> 00:23:42.934
  • So what happened?
  • 00:23:42.934 --> 00:23:44.903
  • Dr. lee believed in me because i responded to his leadership,
  • 00:23:44.903 --> 00:23:50.408
  • And he was my shepherd, and i did not want to do one thing
  • 00:23:50.408 --> 00:23:57.883
  • That would disappoint or let down my shepherd.
  • 00:23:57.883 --> 00:24:01.953
  • Instead of letting up, i became, for the first time in my life,
  • 00:24:01.953 --> 00:24:06.791
  • I'd been average up to then, a student.
  • 00:24:06.791 --> 00:24:11.129
  • Do you see the point?
  • 00:24:11.129 --> 00:24:12.998
  • We receive jesus christ in our life.
  • 00:24:12.998 --> 00:24:16.101
  • We said, "the lord is my shepherd.
  • 00:24:16.101 --> 00:24:18.270
  • I am a sheep," and now we want to do, by the power of the holy
  • 00:24:18.270 --> 00:24:22.607
  • Spirit, everything we can to please him,
  • 00:24:22.607 --> 00:24:26.244
  • Who is running your life and running my life.
  • 00:24:26.244 --> 00:24:29.915
  • How do you know whether or not he is totally,
  • 00:24:29.915 --> 00:24:33.552
  • Completely your shepherd?
  • 00:24:33.552 --> 00:24:35.987
  • Elijah, the last day of his life, do you know what he did?
  • 00:24:35.987 --> 00:24:41.726
  • He went to bethel and preached.
  • 00:24:41.726 --> 00:24:44.129
  • He went to jericho and preached.
  • 00:24:44.129 --> 00:24:47.198
  • He kept his schedule.
  • 00:24:47.198 --> 00:24:49.100
  • Elijah did everything he'd been doing all of his life.
  • 00:24:49.100 --> 00:24:52.070
  • He didn't change a thing, though he knew it was
  • 00:24:52.070 --> 00:24:55.674
  • His last day on this earth.
  • 00:24:55.674 --> 00:24:59.711
  • If tomorrow is your last day, what would you change?
  • 00:24:59.711 --> 00:25:06.685
  • Or are you and i living a life following the great shepherd
  • 00:25:06.685 --> 00:25:13.191
  • That we would not have to change a thing in the world?
  • 00:25:13.191 --> 00:25:18.396
  • The question, can you truly say the lord is my shepherd?
  • 00:25:18.396 --> 00:25:27.939
  • Ed: there's never been a better time than right
  • 00:25:29.374 --> 00:25:31.876
  • Now to make god a priority in your life.
  • 00:25:31.876 --> 00:25:35.747
  • That's why we've created this 90 day devotional, "putting god
  • 00:25:35.747 --> 00:25:39.884
  • First," number one.
  • 00:25:39.884 --> 00:25:41.753
  • And when you and i do that, he is faithful to give the
  • 00:25:41.753 --> 00:25:45.023
  • Direction and guidance you and i need every day to walk
  • 00:25:45.023 --> 00:25:48.860
  • Through life.
  • 00:25:48.860 --> 00:25:50.228
  • It is my prayer that this devotional will help you to
  • 00:25:50.228 --> 00:25:52.597
  • Become all that god has designed you to become.
  • 00:25:52.597 --> 00:25:56.968
  • Male announcer: call today or go online at winningwalk.org to get
  • 00:25:56.968 --> 00:26:00.939
  • Your copy of dr. young's 90 day devotional "putting god first."
  • 00:26:00.939 --> 00:26:06.411
  • Ed: when we say the lord is my shepherd, we say it
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  • And don't understand maybe exactly what that means.
  • 00:26:10.915 --> 00:26:14.719
  • It means that you and i are sheep.
  • 00:26:14.719 --> 00:26:17.055
  • And sheep are ignorant and misdirected.
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  • When we say the lord is my shepherd, we are sheep,
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  • And we let him shepherd us and lead us in every step of life.
  • 00:26:22.827 --> 00:26:28.400
  • In christ, we can know the riches of this abundant life.
  • 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:31.469
  • When he is our shepherd, life is overflowing.
  • 00:26:31.469 --> 00:26:34.973
  • Are you experiencing this overflowing life?
  • 00:26:34.973 --> 00:26:38.510
  • Call the number on your screen.
  • 00:26:38.510 --> 00:26:40.045
  • We would love to share with you about how you can a life that is
  • 00:26:40.045 --> 00:26:44.015
  • Not half-full but overflowing.
  • 00:26:44.015 --> 00:26:47.786
  • It's not a mystery, the news is out.
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  • And jesus tells us how we can experience it.
  • 00:26:51.790 --> 00:26:55.226
  • And let me personally thank you for joining us today and make
  • 00:26:55.226 --> 00:26:58.196
  • Sure and tune in next week right here on, not the winning stroll,
  • 00:26:58.196 --> 00:27:03.334
  • But "the winning walk" with jesus christ.
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  • We always win when we let jesus be our leader, our shepherd.
  • 00:27:06.304 --> 00:27:12.410
  • He'll meet every need in every life.
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  • ♪♪♪
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