John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
     Jesus is the Door and the good Shepherd in Jesus’ parable. He’s a good shepherd because He will do whatever it costs to save His sheep—even to laying down His life. He is prophesying what He will do to save us and give us abundant life. God’s love: the sustained direction of the will (He lays) toward the highest good (salvation) of others (the sheep) no matter what the cost (His life). What a good shepherd we have!  We are His sheep. We are saved!  We are loved! Jesus, You are good indeed!

Live to Love Scripture Encouragements

Live to Love Scripture Encouragement John 10.11

1 John 2:11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
My guess is that most of us have tripped over something in the dark. That’s the scene John painted in this verse as he described those who have hatred in their hearts for a brother or sister. When someone walks in darkness, he can’t see where he’s going—namely, to Judgment Day when he will give an account of his life to Jesus. John said he’s not only walking in the darkness, he is in the darkness. 
Jesus described the person who walks in darkness as someone who also has the darkness in them. “But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matt. 6:23). When we live for self, we are consumed with the darkness of unbelief—the lack of faith in God. That inner darkness is revealed on the outside by a hatred for one’s brother or sister. Jesus taught that those who live in the inner darkness will eventually be thrown into the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). 
Presently, we who live to love with Jesus as walking in the Light because we have the Light of His life dwelling within. With Jesus, we are the outer light to those who are in the darkness and therefore walk in darkness. As long as the darkness in them is the “light” or the guide to how they live, they cannot see His love revealed in Christ or in us. However, at any point, God can open the eyes of their hearts to see His light. There is still hope for them as long as the outer light shines. We pray for God to open their eyes to the Light of His love in Christ and in us as we live to love them with Jesus.

The one who hates is in darkness

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
We are encouraged today to know that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s provision in the flesh for salvation and have the testimony of His  love by the Spirit, that God is the source of our lives. He is our power source. If God, who is love, is the source of our lives, then it makes sense that faith and love would be the fruit of our lives. Being born of God, we abide in Him. It is a comforting truth that we lie in His lap, so to speak. We are protected by His power, and we can’t be snatched out of that place of love, safety, and comfort. 
In stark contrast, everyone who isn’t in Christ, lies in the lap, in the power, of the evil one. I’m reminded of Jesus’ scathing rebuke of the Pharisees in John 8:43-44. 
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Paul also verified this great reality when he wrote to the Ephesians in 2:1-3.  
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 
The whole world lies in the power, under the influence of the evil one.
The only power capable of rescuing or saving anyone in the world from the power of the evil one is Jesus Christ. God sent His Son as “the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 Jo. 2:2. John didn’t mean Jesus would save everyone in the world, he was saying that Jesus, through His propitiation for sins, is the only one God has provided to save anyone in the world who lies in the power of by the evil one.
The evil one can’t snatch us out of Jesus’ lap, but Jesus can snatch them out of his lap. Our living to love with Jesus on a daily basis is the way God snatches those laying in the lap of the evil one. His love reaches into their hearts through hundreds of small and big acts and words of love. Don’t underestimate the power of God in your life as you love with Jesus. Remember, your power source is God!

We know our power source.

This is the monthly blog by Norm Wakefield from www.livetolovewithjesus.com. To love like Jesus loves, one must believe and think the way Jesus believed and thought. This month, Norm, unpacks the first of three foundational truths that Jesus believed that are the bedrock of loving with Him.

We know our power source.

Norm Wakefield

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