My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. -John 10:27–30.

Jesus describes a true believer: someone who hears, believes, and then follows, our Lord Jesus. Their life gives evidence of a true conversion experience.

These people (those who have embraced and now follow, Christ) have received eternal life immediately. We are guaranteed Heaven because it is given to us as a gift. This gift humbles us, encourages us, and motivates us to deeper service to the King.

The Bible tells us to "examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith." Do you see the heart of Jesus growing in you? If you don't, ask God to open the eyes of your heart so you can see and embrace and follow Him. If you see that you are being made new by our Lord Jesus . . . know this: Once you are in the family He will never let anyone or anything take you from His hand. Thanks be to God.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

(John 10:11).

The picture of the Lord as a Shepherd is a familiar one. It is so familiar at times that forget that He is the Shepherd and not us. He leads, we follow.

Even as followers of Christ we sometimes find ourselves "advising" God. He leads . . . we follow. He is the Shepherd, we are the sheep. He is God, we are not.

We will have a much better life if we keep this perspective. Our task today: listen obey, follow. And in those times when you resist the clear teaching of HIs Word remember what He has done for us and then repent before Hm.

train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7–9).

It is likely you work out, are on a diet, or you believe you should be doing one or both of those things. Paul raises a question with His words: Are you training yourself in godliness? Are you disciplining yourself in spiritual matters?

What does that look like? It involves prayer and Bible study. It is about monitoring what we put into our minds and heart. It also includes pursuing contentment, love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and encouraging the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Paul argues godliness is more valuable than other forms of discipline because of its eternal nature. So, make a plan. He who fails to plan, plans to fail. Give God every opportunity to develop the new person inside of you.

Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:7–11).

Most scholars believe this to be a true story, but they don't know where it should be in the various gospels. But we must not miss the message of grace and mercy we see here.

A woman was caught in her sin. Whether she was set up or not, she was guilty and she knew it. The leaders wanted to use this woman's pain to trap Jesus. (The world is filled with people who want to advertise our failures to advance their own cause.)

Jesus writes in the dirt. We will speculate until we stand before Him about what our Lord wrote. Whatever it was, it seemed to bring some conviction to the accusers. When Jesus finally said, "Let him who has no sin cast the first stone" the accusers had to walk away.

We are all broken. Every one of us has failures. There will be those who point their boney finger in your face and tell you that you are no good, and they will beat you up with your failure until you feel there is no hope. But Jesus, Jesus is different. He opens His arms to hold us as we weep.

Jesus came to pay for the sin and failures of our lives. He offers us a new beginning. He died to pay for that sin that haunts us. It is time to leave these things at the cross and begin the new life that He gives us through His staggering grace.

When you look around at the angry and condemning faces . . . keep looking for the One who has mercy in His eyes and love in His heart. He is your new beginning.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 103:2–5.

There is a bunch of bad stuff out in the world. If you watch the news you are bombarded with stories that encourage despair. This text sets out to change our focus.

Take a few moments to slowly read and ponder all the statements after the pronoun "who." It will remind you of the great blessing that is ours every moment of every day as a child of the King. (The rest of the Psalm lists even more blessings.)

Choose your attitude today: despair and discouragement; or humility and joy-filled gratitude.

Hear my prayer, O Lord;

let my cry come to you!

Do not hide your face from me

in the day of my distress!

Incline your ear to me;

answer me speedily in the day when I call!

For my days pass away like smoke,

and my bones burn like a furnace. (Psalm 102:1–3).

I love reading the Psalms because they contain a full range of emotion. I have often said Amen and ached with this prayer.

You may be facing distress. It could be from a job, a relationship, medical bills, violence, flooding, wildfires, health issues, a big decision, or trying to discern God's will for your life. We have many occasions to feel distressed.

In these times of distress, the best place to turn is to the Lord. We can be more honest with Him than we can be with anyone else. He can help us in every situation. Sometimes He helps us immediately, sometimes He guides us step by step through a maze of circumstances. If we fall along the way, He will pick us up. But, He can only do this if we turn to Him and rest in Him.

Exchange your distress for His peace.