Dead Eye

He was king of the ram pen.  We called him, “Dead Eye’ because he had lost an eye in his younger days.  Missing an eye for a sheep is like missing half of life because you literally cannot see half of life.  This disability had shaped his personality and perspective.  No one or no thing ever approached him from the blind side that did not get the same response, fierce aggression.  Dead Eye would lower his head and bunt anyone who surprised him from the blind side.  Hit first and look later was his motto.  This aggression and stance in life made him king on the hill with the other rams.  He was fearless when it came time for annual “ram the head” activity male sheep used to establish dominance.  (Maybe he had suffered brain damage when his eye injury occurred and had the least to lose!!!)

He reminded me of the “boss ewes”.  In every lot of sheep there were a few ewes that assume leadership.  They always get their way and lead the other ewes in any group activity.  They had the choicest feeding spot and forced their way to the front of the water fountain.  They led the way through the gates and they were found in the front of the whole flock walking down the path to the pasture.  Every so often, a new ewe felt like she wanted to take one of the coveted “boss ewe” spots and she would challenge the boss ewe.  Some head knocking took place followed by some pushing around and soon the younger ewe was put in her place.  Boss ewes constantly had to guard their place.

This leadership and hierarchy always intrigued me.  I wondered if sheep had so much leadership, why do they need a shepherd?  Why not just leave them alone and let them to themselves?  Why is a shepherd important to sheep?  Is it just because there are predators with sharp teeth and hungry stomachs as natural enemies?  Is there a deeper reason why sheep inherently need a shepherd?

29 years of raising sheep as a shepherd has brought me closer to the answer.  Let me explain.  Sheep have genetic tendencies and desires that cause them to self destruct.  I have seen a 500 ewe flock display multiple reasons why they needed me as their shepherd.  I admit, every shepherd wants to be needed but sheep have legitimate needs that only a true shepherd can meet.  Let me elaborate:

1.  They flock together.  Sheep in a group tend to follow a leader for the sole reason of following a leader.  If cornered in a pen to be worked, one of the ewes will break away and run to the other side of the pen and every other ewe in the group will break with it.  There is no practical or logical reason for the first ewe to break away and it has no real place to run but soon the entire flock finds themselves in the same place.  And not one of them knows why they are there or what to do!  Literally, if one ewe would jump over an inconspicuous cliff, the rest would be right behind.  They follow blindly.  They have a mob mentality.

2.  The “Dead Eye” ram and the boss ewes, the leaders, often make decisions based on selfish desires and motives.  They never stop to ask, what is good for the whole flock.  They always default to, what is best for me.  If it is best for me, it must be best for everyone else.  So the whole system of leadership is based on “push and shove’ and dominance and submission.

3.  No sense of direction.  The flock will follow leaders who lead by whims and wishes driven by selfish desires.  They seem to repeat past errors and circle around without a sense of direction or purpose.  Somehow, comically but tragically, it is the blind leading the blind.

4.  In this system, the weak and struggling are left out.  If a sheep is weak or ill, or has a bad leg or is smaller, it had no place of advancement.  In fact, it is reminded daily of its pathetic and proper place.  It is not uncommon for the weaklings to be left so far behind that they die.  They have no place of rest or healing.  They have no hope of a new tomorrow.  The weak and powerless die off and only the strong survive.

5.  In the sheep world, leaders see other sheep as objects.  The main flock is there to follow.  The better the leader, the more sheep it has to follow.  Then one day, a sheep leader’s strength falters and fades and a new leader takes his spot.  There is no level of care and service rendered by the leader.  No, a leader is to be followed.  Leaders are not pushed out front to lead because they have the care and interest of the flock in mind.  Leaders are there because single desires and motives matched with physical strength drive sheep leaders to take the lead spot regardless of others.

If you observe these and other tendencies of sheep played out in a flock, you will conclude like I have, sheep need a shepherd!  Not a shepherd that is like the sheep leaders.  No they need a good shepherd who is there to serve and protect and nurture.  A shepherd who can give direction and always seek the welfare of the sheep first and foremost.  Sheep need a shepherd to guard them from themselves and their own leaders.  Sheep need a shepherd so they have someone to watch out for the weak, powerless, and the struggling.  A shepherd who notices the left behind and left out.  A shepherd who steps in and brings healing and rest.  A shepherd who understands the flocking tendency and understands the dire consequences of the “blind leading the blind”.

Isaiah the prophet spoke in the Old Testament, 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each has turned to his own way.  He expressed our greatest reason why we need a shepherd, each one of us has gone astray and we go our own way!  We need a shepherd to keep us from ourselves.   The human race is so much like sheep and every one of us desperately needs a good shepherd.  Isaiah also expressed how he saw his Father God as a shepherd in 40:11  He tends his flock like a shepherd:   He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart;  he gently leads those that have young.

Isn’t it time to quit being “Dead Eye” or the boss ewe and bow down at the feet of the Good Shepherd?  Isn’t it time to stop blindly following and call out to the Shepherd of heaven?

Is it time to come like a lamb and let the Good Shepherd gather us in His arms and carry us close to His heart?

 

 

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Student of the flock…

I never intentionally set out to like sheep.  In fact, growing up meant being around cattle on the farm and to most cattlemen, sheep is a dirty word.  I guess it was destined because without notice it happened.  My dad came into the house and told my brother and me that he had purchased 9 ewes at the sales barn.  We ran out to the barn and huddled in the corner of the barn was nine scared sheep.  Little did I know how much these woolly creatures would come to impact my life.  My older brother and I split up the new flock evenly, he took 5 ewes and I took 4 ewes as my own. (did I mention he was older?)

I knew nothing about sheep.  To complicate matters, no one in our area had anything good to say about raising sheep.  I was left with one thing to do, learn.  I would become a student of the flock.  I would read, research, and pursue every avenue that led  me to understand these amazing creatures.  I began to notice scriptures in the Bible about sheep and shepherds.  I found that Jesus used many sheep illustrations and stories.  Armed with a head full of knowledge and a self inflicted degree, I dubbed myself-Master Sheepman!

Then life in the sheep pen happened.  My sheep got sick and the books couldn’t make a diagnosis.  One of the ewes didn’t breed and I needed to know what to do with a barren ewe.  I found I was missing the other half of the flock, a ram, and I didn’t have money to pay for one.  I eventually borrowed a neighbor’s ram and found out later that I had diluted my flock genetics.  Health issues, nutrition, genetics, hard work, and death were just a few of the classes I took on the road to being educated.  It seemed like one step forward and two backwards.  I avoided looking at the report card.

I thought about giving up.  I even planned on how to liquidate my flock and join the ranks of the western heroes-the cattlemen.  It would be easy to throw my hands up in the air and say, “I am through, I can go back to raising cattle like everyone else.”  I could not, but why?  I was drawn to the sheep.  In a strange way, their uniqueness and dependability on a shepherd made me want to become better.  They challenged me to overcome my inadequacy as their caretaker and find ways —or learn ways to help them thrive.  I could handle the subtle humor about sheep people from others but to face a failing flock, well that was unacceptable to me.

What changed?  I think it started when I cried out to God for help.  I had done all of this sheep raising on my own.  But now, I wanted desperately to become a master shepherd.  I never wanted to  just get by and accept a “normal” that was far short of what could be.  I asked God to help me.  “God, I can’t do this alone.  All of my best efforts have achieved….what I can get…so little.” I prayed. ” My sheep deserve the best shepherd and I come up short.  Will You help me?”

It became a passion and a burden.  Strange huh?  Somehow in God’s divine plan for my life, He inserted sheep!  When I wasn’t looking, He gave me a love and a passion for animals who are often discarded and minimized.  He showed me how to stand up for sheep when it is unpopular to do so.  I could not turn my back on these sheep.  Even if no one else valued them, I did.  Their incoherent behavior and apparent lack of intelligence drove me to frustration and anger.  But they needed a shepherd.  But even more, I needed a shepherd.

God showed me how to become a student of my sheep.  I wanted to know my sheep better than any other person.  So I invested years of my life observing and becoming a student of sheep.   God opened my eyes to see life from a sheep’s perspective and I began to understand how God wired them.  In addition, I was reminded how God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ to earth and called him the Lamb of God.  Jesus walked in my sheep boots.  He lived life not from a lofty vantage point from heaven but in the sheep pen of life with all of its smells and challenges, just like me.  He understands.  He had every reason to walk away.  He must have felt like I did so many times, frustrated with “slow” sheep.  How many times did He feel the discouragement and disappointment in me?  Why did He stay and complete the path to the cross?

I guess Jesus had a burden and a passion too.  He climbed into the muck and mire of life and took on the pitiful condition of mankind and provided a way out.  He was left stained and crushed for me, for us. Having conquered sin and death, He desires to shepherd me down the path of life.  I am overwhelmed when I think of how undeserving I am to be HIS sheep. John 10:14-18  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.  The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

For me, when the door to the sheep barn was opened and 1000 eyes are fixed on the you, you step up.  You stay with it and you become the very best student of the flock under your care.  You ask God everyday to open your eyes and heart to understand the sheep in your sheep pen.  You submit yourself to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and you become a student of the flock…….you put down the beating stick and pick up the notepad and pencil.

Four scared ewes in the corner of a cattle barn.. God has His ways…God has His plans……  I can hear Jesus saying, “I am going to make a shepherd out of you even if it kills me.”

It did.

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Downwind..

The sky was deep blue and the sun reflected off the fresh water I filled in the trough for the lambs.  They had just been weaned, (taken away from their mothers) and would now become a new community of feedlot lambs.  One particular buck lamb who had every markings of being a leader of the pen cautiously inspected the new water trough.  He slowly approached the tub of water and peered over the edge.  When he saw his own reflection, he bolted back and ran away.  He scared himself.  Gathering courage, he made another attempt to get a drink.  The water looked inviting but he was not sure about that strange creature he saw in the water.  His thirst eventually overtook his fear and he came face to face with himself.

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.   But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:23-25  God has provided a mirror for us.  It is His word.  Most people think that the law was given to bind and restrict but God’s word sets us free if we apply it’s truth to our lives.

One man put it this way, it is good for a man to get downwind of himself every once in a while.  What do you see when you look into the mirror of God’s perfect law?  Do you bolt away like feedlot lamb?  Does it scare you?  If you could get downwind from yourself, what would you smell?  What kind of a person heads to work in the morning and looks in the mirror and sees tussled hair, an unshaved face, food stains on the cheek, and yellow teeth and walks away and acts as though he never saw the mirror?

The world has many distorted mirrors.   The world constantly stacks you up and measures you and seeks to conform you to its own image.  But where does a true Christ follower go to see his true self?  Where does a sincere believer go to find true reality and reflection?  In the mirror!

IN the mirror, freedom and blessing are offered.  If I look into the mirror and deal with the reality of my life, I am set free and blessed.  Wow!  Or I can walk around life looking like I just got ejected from a garbage truck.  I can let God put His mirror in front of my face and I can deal with the image.  I can ask God to do a makeover.

Or I can walk away scared.

What do you smell?

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Upside Down Time…

It is not a pretty sight!   A sheep lying on it’s back with four feet sticking up in the air has a great view of the sky but will soon be in big trouble.  Sheep were not created to look upward.  If a sheep is placed on it’s back it begins to experience dangerous consequences.  Even though it has a nice (wooly) rug to lie on, a sheep’s body cannot function upside down for very long.  The digestive process begins to produce gas and expands the body cavity.  If left too long, it will squeeze the life out of the victim.

I must confess, I used this bit of knowledge to my advantage.  My wife would feed a group of sheep (we called that a sheep lot…as opposed to “those sure are a lot of sheep”) and there was a sheep buck that would be mean to her.  When she went to cuts the twine off of the hay bale, he would come up behind her and try to hit her with his head.  (maybe that is why they also call them rams!)  They can do serious injury to someone who is not careful.  I would then feed that sheep lot the next day and wait for this ornery fellow to show up and try to “ram” me.  I would set him up by showing him the target…a hem..my rear end..and catch him when he tried to pummel me.  Then it was my turn to have fun.  I would flip him over on his back and settle him down on the bedding so he could not turn over.  With his feet sticking straight in the air, I would leave him stranded.  I would go and do other chores and come back in about a half hour.  By that time he was beginning to get bigger!!!  I would turn him over and help him up.  He would wobble like a drunk man and cough and snort.  His eyes would sink back into their sockets and he would slowly move away from me.  Ta da! The next day, he had a completely different attitude.  (It was good for about 30 days and then he needed a reminder again.)

Sheep that have fallen or been bumped on their backs have died.  If you ever see a flock of sheep and one of them has its feet in the air, don’t take pictures first, flip it over.  You will save a life.

Makes me wonder…. how do I treat other sheep?  Am I guilty of knocking them over?  Do I find enjoyment in turning them upside down?  Or am I the kind of person who loves to rescue and flip them back upright.  If we will look around, we will see people who have their world turned upside down.  They are struggling to make it and some are in great danger.  Though they kick and flail, they are unable to right themselves.  They will surely become filled with self and perish.

I realize that Jesus found me in that condition.  I was young and strong and ready to live life, upside down.  I was filling my life with me and it was leading to destruction.  Then the Good Shepherd reached down and turned me over and saved me.  When I was helpless to help myself, He came to my rescue.

For God so loved the world (me) that He gave His only (begotten) Son that whoever believes in Him should not PERISH but have everlasting life. John 3:16

No wonder sheep need a shepherd!

A little down time can be good, upside down time is a killer.

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I can handle it….

Never leave the door to the feed shed open!!! Sheep are curious by nature and when they find there are “goodies” behind an open door, they go crazy. It was a part of life in the sheep pen.  More than one time a gate was left open and an observant ewe seized upon the opportunity. Sometimes the “criminal” would eat so fast in fear of getting caught, they would end up gagging and losing the whole lunch. Mom always said, “Chew your food slowly!”  So much feed, so little time! If left unchecked, a ewe will eat grain until they can hardly breath. (reminds me of some holidays!)

Later, what seemed delicious and innocent begins to turn deadly. Sheep cannot gorge themselves on grain and escape without consequences. Their body begins to suffer from “Overeating Disease.” The digestive track literally begins to produce toxins from the overload of grain and poisons the system. Depending on the amount of grain eaten, a full grown ewe can die within hours. Their dream opportunity and appetite has turned into a nightmare. They bloat and become so internally toxic that they die in a coma like condition.

They think they can handle it.  Over the years I have buried too many sheep that thought they could handle it. Unfettered desire plus freedom to indulge equals four legs sticking up in the air!

But what about the human flock? Is this any different from life in the human sheep pen?   How many times have you heard someone who is in a mess say, “I thought I could handle it.” It is the famous last words of an alcoholic, a drug addict, a sex addict, or an over-eater. Maybe it comes from a person who is into pornography and cannot stop. Or someone who gets angry and violent and abuses someone? Or maybe it is the person who loves the abuser and tolerates abuse?  Have you heard this from an stealer or a cheat?  How about a little fooling around with gambling?

Jesus warned his followers about an enemy who would try to steal, kill and destroy the sheep. He is like a wolf and he preys on sheep. The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10  The enemy’s greatest weapon however is unseen and sly.  He tells lies.  Big lies.  He is the best liar of all time and he is the father of lies.  He has destroyed many a sheep with his lies and deception.  And it works.

You can handle it!  (Can you hear him?)

Time out!  Huddle up.  Here is the truth!  We cannot handle it.  We are born with a defect.  We are powerless withing ourselves to get rid of this bent to do things wrong.  We gravitate towards sin and indulgence.  We cannot hold back our desire for evil by ourselves.  We can try all our best but at some time and at some place in our lives, we will let loose and indulge in a behavior that is destructive.  Hopefully, in our sheep pen,  the gate is shut and we are barred from destroying ourselves, but sooner or later the gate is left open.  In today’s world, it is not politically correct to have gates.  The world and our enemy screams: Go for it!  Grab all the gusto you can because you only go around once in life.  You can handle it.  Eat, eat eat!

And it sours in our gut.  It produces toxins that suck the very life from us.  And it holds us captive.  Why do we keep coming back for more?  Why can’t we stop? No amount of effort or grief can tear us free from this prison of self inflicted agony.  If we sink low enough, we become honest and admit we cannot handle it anymore.  We need help.  God we need your help!

Jesus knows we cannot handle it.  He died on a cross to break the grip of our fatal flaw, a sinful nature.  He purchased our souls so we could be set free.  He paid the price for our failure and loved us and offered us abundant life.  He offers new life and new hope.

But it all starts when I realize that I cannot handle my sin and my defect.  If I try on my own, I will end up bloated and poisoned.  I will never be able to handle it without God in me, the Holy Spirit.

The next time the Holy Spirit tells you to stop and you say to yourself, “I can handle it,” beware, you are on the edge of a slippery slope of no return.

The natives of Alaska have perfected a technique to catch wolves.  They take a very sharp knife and cover it with blood and freeze it.  They repeat this process several times so that it results in several layers of blood added to the sharp knife.  They anchor the knife in the snow.  The wolf is attracted to the blood guided by his keen smell and extreme desire for blood.  He begins to lick the blood.  Layer by layer, the wolf indulges in the tasty sample.  He becomes incensed with the flavor as he eventually licks the blade clean.  But he does not stop!  He cannot.  He continues to lick the sharp blade and consumes his own blood from the cuts on his mouth.

The next day, the hunter will find a dead wolf next to a clean knife.

He can handle it!  Right.

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Rejected….

Something goes wrong.  In the natural order of creation, the ewe nurtures her newborn lambs with passion and zeal.  She will defend her lambs to death, literally, if they are threatened by an enemy.  It is part of the miracle of birth to see a ewe bond with her lambs.  Together they develop a communication that helps them to distinguish and identify each other even if randomly placed in the midst of 1000 other lambs and ewes.  They instinctively mother the newborn through to the age of weaning.

Unless…. something goes wrong.  A few lambs get rejected.  It may be for various reasons.  Mastitis (infection of the udder) can cause swelling and pain and the ewe pushes the lamb away from nursing.  The lamb may get separated from mom during the birth process and the lamb dries off and loses its initial smell that identifies it to its mother.  She thinks it is another ewes lamb and she rejects it.  There are a few ewes that are “bad” mothers.  They give birth and walk away.  No matter the cause, the end result is a brutal reality.

Lambs that have been rejected will go from ewe to ewe and try to steal milk, usually by nursing from behind.  Typically a ewe lets her lambs nurse by her side.  She smells to make sure the lambs attempting to nurse are her offspring and any intruder gets a swift bunt from her head.  The rejected lamb, or “bum or orphan” lamb is on its own to survive.  Often you can pick them out because of their dirty heads.  They resort to stealing milk while the ewe is relieving herself and the lamb ends up getting marked.  The lamb either steals milk or dies so this seems like a small price to pay to get a quick lunch.  The lamb spends its existence in the early years, craving nutrition as it stomach is never full.  It can never rest for a moment and lives with the reminder of rejection every time hunger calls.  The lamb is marked and rejected by the flock.

In life’s sheep pen, there are people who feel like a “bum” lamb.   They know the sting of rejection.  They live with the constant reminder that they do not fit in and they are not welcome.  If you could crawl under their skin, you could feel the unfulfilled longing and the unmet hunger for acceptance.  They sense the “mark” on their lives and so desperately want to be like everyone else.  They grow up tough and learn how to fend for themselves and learn how to survive on the streets of life.  Each day brings with it a brutal reminder that they are the ones who get bunted away.  This unmet soul hunger and the excruciating pain of rejection drives them to do crazy things.  They either curl up and die inside or they fight for life.  This is not the way life was intended.

Some of these “bum” lambs live in our neighborhoods.  Some of them go to our church and live in our own families.  They try so hard to blend in but if you look closely, you can see the mark.  They are all around us and even some of us have been one of them at one time or another.  Orphans looking for a home.  Wounded souls seeking love and acceptance.  There is a “bum” inside all of us.

Religion doesn’t help.  Religion is man seeking God and it just adds another layer to the rejection list of life.  How does the rules and regulations of religion help to heal a rejected spirit?  It is an empty box of hope that turns into a casket. Religion only brings constraints to an orphan who needs a savior.

What a “bum” lambs needs more than anything is adoption.  He  needs to find someone who is willing to accept and love and nurture a famished soul.  Someone who understands rejection and being pushed away.  Someone who can do something about restoring and healing a broken spirit.  An orphan needs someone to take them in their arms and give them what they have never been able to find and can never get on their own.  Sure a orphan can learn to survive and become tough on their own, but they cannot make someone else give them unconditional love and acceptance.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd understands.  He suffered unspeakable rejection and cruelty without a word of retaliation.  He walked his final path of agony alone.  There was no one to his right or left at his crucial moments.  He hung on a cross by himself and felt for the only time in eternity, his Father turn aside because of the sin he carried.  He was a marked man.  Every lash of the whip, every pound of the hammer reminded him that he was rejected.  Even the men for whom he died mocked him and said,  “If you are God, why don’t you come down from there and save yourself!”

No Jesus, I am so glad you didn’t come down from there.  If you had, I would forever live as an orphan.  I would never know what it is like to have you shepherd me and accept me with unconditional love.  If you had backed out, I am doomed to be a “bum” forever.  If you had failed,  I would forever roam around life seeking to find what I cannot have.  I would be in hell.

But you took my mark.   You carried my shame and hopelessness.  Now I belong to You!  You are my God and I am your child.  His unchanging plan has been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave Him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5

I have heard it said, “Being a Christ follower is like one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread.”  I think it is one “orphan” telling another “orphan” where to find our Father.

We have a Savior who understands. He calls today, “Follow me!”

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The perfect lamb

Every shepherd looks for the perfect lamb.  Shepherds take great pride in the genetics of their flock.  It is common for a shepherd to spend hours observing the flock and identifying the few who might meet the standard of “perfect.”  They seem to fit the picture of an ideal lamb.  Great body constitution and excellent muscling put together on solid legs and a well proportioned body structure makes any owner swell with pride.  If you can produce such an animal, then you have the genetic stock to improve the entire flock.

I have found after 29 years of raising lambs that finding the perfect lamb is an unending pursuit.  It is also illusive.  There is no perfect lamb.  After years of livestock judging and developing a critical eye in this area, I realized that there is always an imperfection.  Still, it remains the ultimate pursuit in sheep production even if only in the mind of the shepherd.

It is not just sheep that have to deal with imperfection. News Flash!  There is no perfect human being.  We are flawed and blotched.  Our lives are stained and tainted just like a lamb that has white wool with black hairs.  Our genetics sets us up for imperfection and we pass it along to our offspring.  If these imperfections were only matters of cosmetics, we could do a “makeover” to hide them, similar to show lambs being prepared for show.  Fluff up the wool here, trim there, whiten up this area, dye black there and trim the hooves…  (Come to think of it–we do some of that stuff !)  There is nothing wrong in being attractive but cosmetics never erase the imperfection.

Our imperfection runs deeper.  In the case of humanity, we are talking about deadly imperfection.  All of us (sheep) were born with a lethal flaw.  If left unchecked, it will destroy our lives and our destiny.  It is known as sin.  It stains our life and sticks out like a blot of ink on a white piece of paper.  It is like an insidious cancer eating away at the members of our body with relentless aggression.  If we are honest with ourselves and our Shepherd, we are far from perfect.  We, in ourselves, have no hope of perfection, nor does anyone else around us.  We share a common malady, we miss the mark.

BUT WAIT!

There is a perfect lamb.  There is hope.  His name is Jesus Christ, the lamb of God. You were redeemed ..with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect 1 Peter 1:18-19 He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. 1 Peter 2:22 Jesus Christ fit the bill.  He measured up to the requirement of perfect.  There was no spot or wrinkle, blemish or stain found in this lamb.  He became our only hope to change our genetics.  He was our only way out of this pit of hopelessness.  The precious and innocent Lamb of God gave His life for us, once and for all.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6  The price for our fatal flaw was paid.  We exchanged our guilt and shame for his life.  His blood spilled for our freedom and he bore our stains and our spots.  The beating and flogging of Jesus brought our healing.  His nails and his crown purchased our cleansing.  His scars secured our forgiveness and our future.

Now we can stop looking for the perfect lamb.  I can stop trying to be good enough to make it to heaven.  If fact, if I will admit how imperfect I am and turn to follow the Lamb of God, I will be saved.  I will become a new person with a new spiritual birth.  I will receive new genetics and new life through the Holy Spirit.  Every day I follow Jesus, I will be changed and transformed to become more like the perfect Lamb of God.  I will become a thriving member of the flock of Christ, the church.

It is said there are two ways to live with God forever; one is to be perfect and the other is to know the Lamb of God.

Here are the words to a song that expresses our second option:

Your only Son     No sin to hide     But You have sent Him,   From Your side
To walk upon this guilty sod    And to become the Lamb of God

Your gift of Love     They crucified     They laughed and scorned him as he died
The humble King     They named a fraud and sacrificed the Lamb of God

Oh Lamb of God,   Sweet lamb of God     I love the Holy Lamb of God
Oh wash me in His precious Blood      My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God

I was so lost I should have died     But You have brought me to Your side
To be led by Your staff and rod      And to be called a lamb of God (Lamb Of God Lyrics)

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Fearless ……

A sheep is a bundle of desires and fears.  If you have ever watched a sheep before a flowing stream you will see a shaken animal.  When sheep are confronted with hard water (ice) they simply plant their feet and avoid it at all costs.  Once our feeding area filled with snow and melted allowed ice to form.   Out of 500 ewes that needed to pass over the ice to eat, not one ewe moved. Not a single one.  You would have thought the ornery rebellious ones would have tried, but no!  Interesting, out of fear, a sheep will stand next to a rapid flowing stream and die of thirst before venturing in to drink. ( a wet rug does not move well!)

Fear isn’t always a bad thing either.  Fear of predators can save a sheep from becoming a mutton meal to a hungry coyote.  But fear is often an unproductive emotion.  It tends to rob of life and liberty.  Fear has the effect of stopping its victim in its tracks like the ewes refusing to advance.  It is an internal issue that manifests itself in many different ways.  Sometimes the shaking is hidden to the external but vibrating like crazy on the inside.  Fear can become a shackle that binds.  It sucks the lifeblood from its victim like a leech.

Listen to how one shepherd expressed his concern for his flock in Ephesians 4.  You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Did you catch the part about putting off and putting on?  Part of being a follower of Christ is to put off the old things and put on the new things.  What kind of shells are we carrying around?  Fear can be one of those shells.

Does this mean I can put off my fears?  Can I really be free of the shackles of fear?  Can Jesus Christ break the chains that bind me?

Everyone of us has a core fear.  This is a fear that is deeply ingrained into our physic and emotional being.  We live with it at some level of consciousness everyday.  It affects our decisions and directions in life.  It also has a profound affect on our attitude.  Our core fear can keep us from experiencing the abundant life that Jesus has to offer.  When I was a child, my father died unexpectedly so I wrestle with the fear of catastrophe.  No matter how great life is, I have this nagging feeling that dire crisis is right around the corner.  I know it makes no sense and is counter to God’s promises but it is still real.  It shadows my decisions and attitudes.  It weighs me down and robs me of celebration of life.  How about you, what is your core fear?

Let me say how grateful I am that the Good Shepherd understands my fear.  He does not give me  a boot in the seat of the pants and shove me onto the ice while exclaiming to the whole flock how foolish I am.  He understands.  He does not mock me when I bring this fear to Him.  He takes my fear and addresses it.  He provides for me to overcome and defeat my fear.  When the sheep would not cross the ice, as their shepherd, I  covered the ice with sand and straw so they had sure footing.  I made a way.  I see God doing that in my life.  He does not want His sheep living in fear.  He loves all of us enough to help us overcome our fears, even our core fear.

So now I have to decide if I want to follow Him and put off this fear that is clinging to me.  Will I trust Him or my fear?   Could it be that the Good Shepherd wants me to be FREE from fear?  YES!

God wants me to shed my fear like taking off dirty clothes… to undo the shackles that have bound me for too long…. to discard that empty shell of fear so I can run free and be whole….

“Nail scared hands reaching out to me —-To the cross I run, holding high my chains undone, now I am finally free,  free to be what I’ve become, undone!”  (Mercy Me)

Fearless…..

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Coyote bait…

The biggest natural enemy of our sheep flock was coyotes.  We never worried about losing sheep to this sly and dangerous thief because our sheep were raised in confinement.  They were protected by fences and they lived in the farmyard.  Until one summer.  It was a dry year with little rain.  The USDA opened up the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for grazing.  Our farmyard was surrounded by lush CRP grasses that would make ideal grazing for our flock.  We installed electric fence around the outside edges of 160 acres of prime CRP and turned the sheep loose.  It was like heaven.  The grass was taller than the sheep and they would disappear into the forest of forage everyday.  It was a perfect setup. Well, almost.

As a shepherd I had this nagging thought in my mind.  Could there be coyotes lurking in this tall grass stealing our sheep?  One day I decided to take a long walk around the entire CRP pasture.  After an hour of difficult walking I came on to a “killing site.” I found 6 partially eaten carcasses on the far end of the pasture!  The coyotes had been having a feast.  I had provided the coyote bait!  The sheep had no chance of getting away in such heavy cover.  Of course, the coyotes picked off the young lambs and the weak older ewes because they were easy targets.  I called in the Game and Fish expert and he began to trap them.  They also flew over with airplanes and eradicated several of them from the air.  The trapper determined two particular coyotes (by their paw prints) were the main killers and when he trapped them we were greatly relieved.  By then, they had taught the others to kill. (Not like they needed too much education in killing sheep).  He told us, they could eliminate all of the coyotes in a 10 mile radius and within 6 months other coyotes would move in and re-populate the entire area.

This would be a lifelong struggle.

I studied and learned about the tactics of the coyote.  I have seen his schemes and his tricks and I know how crafty he can be.  I have awakened in the morning to the howls of the coyotes in the distance wondering if they picked off one of my lambs.  You never forget those killing fields.  I wanted to turn my head and leave being filled with grief and anger at the sickening sight.  However, as a shepherd, I had to deal with it.

What are the schemes of a coyote?  He uses his senses and instincts.  It is in his nature to kill sheep.  He always picks on the weak and vulnerable.  He observes the flock and spots any sheep that wanders or strays from the fold.  He is silent as he positions himself for the kill.  In a sudden and swift surprise attack , the coyote give chase.  He tactic is to separate the victim from the rest of the flock. Once accomplished, the vulnerable sheep is completely exposed and defenseless.  He will spring from the backside of the sheep and sink his teeth into the throat area.  He hangs on with all his might.  Once attached, there is little hope for the victim.  Ironically, the sheep’s struggle  to be free causes a quicker death.  Only the presence of a shepherd would cause the coyote to let go and flee.  Only the intervention of a greater power can save this wounded sheep from certain death.

I have provided medical care for more than one ewe that was attacked and left with “gaping wounds”.  They were scared for life and crippled.  The trauma of the attack was evident the rest of their life.

I often go back to my lessons with the coyotes and my sheep flock.  In ministry and life, I have felt his attacks.  I have seen the enemy destroy sheep.  Just like a coyote finds an isolated and vulnerable sheep, our enemy seeks to kill and destroy.  He does not intend to just scare and intimidate but to kill and destroy.  He intends to rip apart all that is good and Godly.  He will pursue his dark instincts until he is locked up for eternity.  Stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil.   He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour, 1 Peter 5:8.  He is not someone to play with.  He is not a figment of someones imagination.  However, he is no match for the Great Shepherd.  But his menu has one entree’ – sheep!  Who among us wants to become coyote bait???

What are the lessons? 1.   Stay with the flock and the shepherd.  Lone ranger sheep are prime coyote bait.  If you are trying to follow Christ by yourself, the enemy is breathing down your back right now.  Surround yourself with other strong sheep and stay close to the One who is all powerful and protects.  2.  Stay clear of the killing grounds.  There are places that are rift with the stench and smell of death.  You are not stronger and faster and wiser than those whose carcasses lie in decay.  There are places of darkness that sheep have no place hanging around, especially alone.  If you live and play in these areas, you will become the victim, guaranteed.  3.  Only the Shepherd knows the best way.  Let God be God.  When sheep rejects the shepherd’s direction and care and wanders off after its own desires, the chase is on!  The sheep may feast for a while and fill the stomach to its fullest, but never forget, a full content sheep weighted down by its own indulgences is a “super sized” meal.  There will be a happy coyote in the future of every sheep who will not follow the Shepherds path.   4.  The thrill of living it up always turns to pain and suffering.  Sheep need a shepherd.  Left to their own nature and desires, sheep will chase after the next best tidbit in sight.  Sheep will follow other sheep right into a pit of destruction and have a party doing it.  But payday always comes.  Often the price for rebellion and fleshly desires leaves people to live with a lifetime of pain and suffering.  The scars and wounds remain long after the thrill is gone.  5.  There is no better place than the Shepherd’s feet.  He defeated the enemy.  Jesus crushed the enemy on the cross.  Under his care and protection, His sheep are safe and nurtured.

A guy by the name of David spent a big portion of his life in the wooly sheep pen wrote this in Psalm 23:  God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.  Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I’m not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd’s crook makes me feel secure. You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.  Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life. Message

Lush meadows, quiet pools and blessing    or    coyote bait   ……..

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Sweeten it up!

It was troublesome.  Our goal was to shepherd a highly productive sheep flock with a high lambing percentage.  We had addressed critical areas of sheep production and felt like we hit a glass ceiling.  Hours spent pouring over flock records began to reveal a culprit.  Low grade infections.  The kind of infections secretly existing on a daily basis unnoticed by the untrained eye.  They sapped the productivity of the sheep.  They would occasionally erupt into an observable outbreak and then die down to go unnoticed.  Every sheep flock has this malady.  In the sheep world, this hidden nemisis is a reality of life  but to us, they were unacceptable.

Why were the sheep struggling with these infections?  (low grade fever, mastitis, disgestive disturbances, coughing and wheezing,  lethargic behavior)  What was the source?  If we could find the source, we could take steps to eliminate the bacteria that caused the loss of production and life.  Often lambs that were poor “doers” or died could be traced to a ewe that had low grade mastitis issues.  The ewe was literally passing contaminated milk to her young.  Our operation required us to funnel our sheep through common facilities so they were exposed at a higher rate.  If the flock was exposed to a toxic environment in certain areas, we could also greatly increase the benefit of reducing that threat by focusing on that common area.  Example:  Every ewe lambing went through a series of small pens known as lambing jugs.  When they left the lambing jug they were moved to bonding pens (about ten ewes and lambs per pen).  Once they were bonded and worked, they were moved to larger barns of about 100 ewes and lambs.

Every ewe shared a common ‘infectious area”.  Our common practice was to clean the pens daily and put down new straw as bedding.  These pens when inspected closely were laden with bacteria.  When the ewe would paw the ground and nest, she would stir up the fresh bacteria.  The ewe and lamb would lay on it and spread the infectious agent.  We made every effort to keep the pen clean and smelling fresh.  However, in reality, we had a system of infecting sheep! 

 Until it all changed.  One day I discovered barn lime.  You can buy it by the 50 pound bag and it looks like white chalky kitty litter.   When spread on any surface, it changes the PH and coats everything with a  fresh white color.  It absorbs the surrounding foul odor and leaves a fresh smell.  It is called a sweetener because it changes the acid surface to a base surface.  It helps to elimate the toxic acidity of the surface to a sweeter PH.  Bacteria love an acidic surface and a sour environment and cannot thrive in a sweet enviroment.  In response, we moved our pens off the ground and used expanded metal for flooring, (lets the waste fall through) and coated the pen with Barn Lime.  We experienced an amazing jump in sheep health and production.  The  low grade infections began to disappear and the flock benefited from a healthy enviroment.  Many visitors to our sheep barn commented how it actually smelled good! 

There are some great parallels to our life in God’s sheep pen.  The world can be a sour place.  You can pick up unhealthy things that can rob life of it’s abundance. There are particular places in life considered a cesspool of sourness.   How many of us have experienced life in a toxic environment? We come to expect a hostile environment in the world.  Surely, life is different in the sheep pen.   I wish I could say, church is always different.  Sometimes church can become a sour and  toxic place.  It can spread this life killing disease to people who pass through the doors.  It can spread by default in the church’s common areas.   In fact, people walk in the door infected!  Church can resemble the lambing jugs in the sheep pen.  (except for some, they have not experienced new birth for far too long)  Instead of bringing health and life to those who “bed down”, we pass along contamination.  If not careful, we can become the source.

This contamination is too often accepted as a normal consequence of living life together.  But as good shepherds of God’s sheep, we must never find this acceptable.  We have to live in reality.  We can spray deodorizer and hide the messes, but the infection lives on, often right below the visible surface.  In these pens, people suffer and struggle.  The young are especially vulnerable.  The flock is not productive and a weakened condition sets in.  We tend to put bandaids on the symptoms because it is too painful to address the root cause.  (Sin)  We find over time that we learn how to deal with the smell and decay.  After all, the other sheep pens have the same problem.  Our sickness passes on from one generation to the next.

What if…. we faced our reality.  What if we found a ‘spiritual barn lime’ that could change the PH of our sheep pens?  What if we consistently coated our time together with a sweetener?  What would spiritual barn lime look like anyway?  Let me suggest one that I have seen work. Just like barn lime, it has been around a long time.   It is called God’s Word applied by the Holy Spirit.  If we can coat our churches with God”s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to make it stick, the church environment will be sweet.  (Notice, it is not applied by the sheep.  The Good Shepherd applies the ‘spiritual lime” to our lives.)

It reminds me of Jesus’s words to the religious leaders of his day, Matthew 23:27: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharasees, you hypocrites!  You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”  Instead of taking care of the sinful infection in their lives and church, they painted it white to make it look pretty and clean.  They covered over the deadness inside.  These men studied and memorized scripture daily.  They were religious in their behavior.  They were the best of the best.  They appeared to be God’s people.  But God’s word had no real application in their lives.  They lived in a rigid toxic environment.  They never let God’s Word sink in and change the PH of their lives.

Jesus offers more.  He can take the toxicity of our lives and make it sweet.  He can take the sourness of our churches and make they ‘smell with sweet fragrance.”  People will notice when they come in contact with us that this is a people and place for which they have longed.  When we let God apply His Word to our lives through the Holy Spirit, we are changed.  Our environment is changed.  Our home is changed.  Our world is changed.

How is your sheep pen?    Get some spiritual barn lime ….face your reality and …..sweeten it up!!!

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