Jesus Promised an Abundant Life—So Why Is Life Still Hard?

Has anyone ever thought, like, you're by yourself, you're kind of just thinking, what would I do if I had a million dollars, right? Maybe I should ask, when's the last time you sat by yourself and thought, what would it be like if I had a million dollars? Or have you ever been like, I wonder if out there somewhere, like I have a distant relative that's got some cash. Not that I want them to die or anything, but if they did, they might just give a little bit to me. Or if I ever won the lottery. Everybody wants a better life. We can define it in different ways. Sometimes it is cash, sometimes it's more freedom. Maybe it's if you're single, getting married, or a different career, better marriage. We all have different definitions, and we all want this thing called the better life. But I want to put a question in play this morning. What if what you and I are calling the good life, however you define that, what if what you and I are calling the good life isn't actually the abundant life? Here in your copy of God's word, we're in John chapter 10, and he says something that I hope maybe you hear perhaps for the first time, or you hear it different than you've heard it other times. Because it's not lost on Jesus that all of us are looking for a better life. We're all looking for something that's just a little bit better. That doesn't make you selfish, it just makes you human. And so Jesus, understanding this, he says to us in John 10, you know the life that you're looking for, that's the life I came to give you. He said that I have come to give you life and to give you abundantly. Are you living that life? Does it feel like your Monday is the abundant life, is Tuesday afternoon, is Sunday night when you're thinking about going back to work tomorrow, or school, or whatever's going on, does it feel like you're experiencing the abundant life?

You know, we have been traveling through our journal this year, and eight months, eight months into this whole idea of how to make the world better when you and I become more like Jesus. And so you have eight months of messages and notes filled up, and today we start this new section titled The Rabbi. What's interesting is in Jewish culture, and in those days, the rabbis were influencers. Would you think of an influencer today? Somebody who has 500,000 followers, somebody who's got a million followers, right? The influencer, that was the rabbi in the day. He went to rabbi school, all the Jewish boys go to the rabbi school, and one of the qualifications to get out of rabbi school is they had to memorize the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, Genesis, anybody got that checked off, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It's safe to say most of the boys didn't graduate from rabbi school, so they went back to work on the farm, they went back to fishing, and life didn't reach the pinnacle for them. And then what would happen is these rabbis who graduated from the school, the influencers, like think about an influencer on your TikTok, on your Instagram, they show up at your house and they say to your kids, to you, hey, I think you've got what it takes to be kind of an influencer like me. I think if you'll do what I do and post the way that I post, you're gonna have a half a million followers by the end of the day. You'd be like, really? Me? Okay. I'll follow you. That's what it was when a rabbi would come through a town, and maybe that's a light bulb for you when you think about when Jesus came and those 12 guys, and Jesus says, hey, listen, drop your nuts and come follow me. It was huge. Leave that text collecting behind and come follow me. Jesus, he is influencing them.

Rabbis would show people how they lived and how they can live the same way. We all want better. The abundant life isn't a destination that you discover. It's a life that you receive from Jesus. So let's check it out. In verse number one, check it out in your Bible. Verse one, and really to check this out, let me just backtrack for a minute, is you gotta understand what's going on in chapter nine. Because in chapter 10, he's gonna be talking to all the rabbis and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, all these religious leaders, because they are upset with Jesus. They are mad with Jesus. Well, why are they mad about? In chapter nine, there's this old boy, and he was born blind. He never saw his parents, never saw a sunrise, a sunset. He doesn't know what a pretty girl looks like, like nothing, right? And so on one particular day, Jesus makes a couple mud pies, right? He gets some dirt and he spits in it, and he puts it together, and he puts it on the boy eye, and the old boy goes from blind to seeing. You would think everybody is gonna get excited. You think we got selfies going, it's posting, it's going viral. The blind boy now sees.

The religious guys, they're upset. Why? Because Jesus did the whole mud pie, blind eyes to seeing eyes on, are you ready for it? The Sabbath. And they're like, that's not allowed. Stay blind. It's not good. They corner this blind boy, right? And they get his parents, and they're like, hey, listen, we know what's going on. Like, that fake news thing, it's not like a 21st century thing. It's going on them. He never was blind. We know. You have been faking it. And the parents are like, no! Let me show you. Here's the pediatrician notes. Here's the eye doctor. No, no, no, no, no, our boy can't see. He's never been able to drive, nothing, nothing. And so they finally go to the boy and say, hey boy, what's going on? Who did this? He's like, listen, I know you guys are upset. I know you're fussing, you're feuding, and you're mad and all that kind of stuff. I get it.

All I know is this, is this cat, this dude named Jesus, he did this mud pie thing, put it on my eyes, and I was blind, and now I can see. And life is just really good for me. Let me just pause and ask you, what's your story? Do you have that kind of response to people about your life? Like, oh, I don't have everything about Jesus figured out. All I know is, is Jesus touched my life. And who I was, I'm no longer, like life is really good now with Jesus. And these guys, man, they are mad. They kind of like, they push Jesus away. They tell this blind guy, don't ever show back up in our temple services ever again. And chapter 10, Jesus is addressing it. He's trying to communicate with these religious guys to show them how they're missing it. And I think this morning, if we'll open up our eyes, we'll see how perhaps potentially we have settled for the good life. Dare I even say, you've settled for the American dream, and you've missed out on the abundant life that Jesus has for you. Notice what he says in verse one. Truly, truly, I say to you, he's talking to religious guys. He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. That's what's happening. These religious guys, they're trying to go around Jesus

rather than seeing that Jesus is the son of God. Oh, they knew the scriptures. They just didn't recognize the shepherd. They knew the rules. They knew the tradition. They know the theology. But when God stood directly in front of them, clueless. And you can know the Bible and still miss the Jesus the Bible is all about. Go to verse two. Jesus continues, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens, the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all. his own, he goes before them. And the sheep follow him. Why? For they know his voice. A stranger they won't follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. And immediately, like the people listening to this, it would be like, they would understand the story that Jesus is telling. Like if I were to say something like this, like about a story, you know, there's a story about this girl, and she said, I'm not afraid of the cold anymore.

Would you be familiar with that story? You get it. You're like, what? You don't have kids, that's why you don't know about it, right? Frozen, watch it this afternoon, right? Hey, it's hot outside. Watch it, it's frozen, make you cool. But you're not, I'm not afraid of the cold anymore. Some of you parents have watched that 10,000 times. You see, the language, the story, people had observed shepherds. It was a common career. And the sheep would follow the shepherd all around. The sheep would even go to a shared well. And there you have maybe 40, 50, 60, 70 sheep all drinking from the well, but they all have different shepherds. When it was time to leave the well and to go back into the field, the shepherd would say to the sheep, yo, sheep people, come on, let's go. We getting up out of here. We rolling out, let's roll. Now, I don't know if they said it like that, but they knew his voice. Now, parents, I don't know if this is your story, but when my girls were small and sometimes I needed to get their attention in the yard or at the beach kind of deal,

I kind of developed this little whistle. I mean, just kind of just real quick, right? To kind of get their attention. Yesterday, I'm over at the Fast Aquatic Center and I'm swimming laps with Katie. She got her laps done a whole lot faster than me. And so she got done with the swim and she's gotten changed and I'm kind of lagging behind, but I wanted to catch up with her to see if she was coming over for lunch or what's going to go on. And so she's out in the parking lot, right? And I'm trying to catch up. She's like 300, 400 yards ahead of me. And so I'm going, I'm trying to get, and I can see that she hears me, but she doesn't know where I am. So I started having some fun. I started hiding under the cars. And she's looking around, she turns around, she starts kind of walking back towards the facility. And I kind of sneak back around like this, like, yeah, girlfriend, I'm waiting on you. What's wrong? Been waiting on you all this, all right? I mean, it's this, she knows that little whistle from her dad. That's exactly what Jesus is teaching here. See, the abundant life begins

when the shepherd's voice becomes louder than the world's noise. Hey, what if the shepherd's voice was louder than ESPN news to some of us? What if the shepherd's voice was louder than whatever that Instagram or TikTok? Notice how he continues in verse number six. And he addresses the problem. These religious leaders, they're really not listening to Jesus. They're hearing it, but they're not connecting. Jesus gets that they're not connecting. They really don't understand. So he's gonna pivot. Hey, have you ever had a conversation with somebody and like you can tell it's going right over their head, like they're clueless. And you say, let me be clear. Anybody ever done that? Let me see if I can help you understand what I'm trying to say. And that's what happens here in verse number six. The figure of speech Jesus used with them, they did not understand what he was trying to say. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. Again, I am the door.

If anyone enters by me, he, she will be saved and will go in, out, find pasture. Jesus says, let me be clear. Let me clear this stuff up for you guys. I am the door. He doesn't say, I know a door. He doesn't say, I'm gonna show you the door. He doesn't say like behavior way. He doesn't say religion is the way. He says, I am the door. A little bit later in John 14, Jesus says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody gets to God, the father, except through. Me and this this makes so much sense again Because they understood the language of the story of a shepherd in a sheep Like somebody today telling you a modern story that you knew you would begin connecting the dots Because in the field the shepherd right he's out there He's got the sheep and you know the sheep were kind of jumping around doing their thing Right and they're eating the grass and they're getting a little drink and but but the day has come to an end and it's nighttime And there's bad guys. There's coyotes There's wolves there's bandits who want to kill steal and Destroy the sheep so the shepherd would build like a little home a Sheepfold he'd go look around for sticks and logs He'd he'd make it and he'd get some rocks and stones and put it there, but there was a problem There's not supplies For a door So what the shepherd would do is the shepherd?

would Sit down and lie in What you would call the doorway and the only way that a sheep could get out is to go through the shepherd and the only way that a coyote a wolf a Bandit could come in is through The Shepherd He was giving them the picture of who Jesus is who came and you'll see if you read your Bible this week verse 11 through verse 18 four times Jesus says I am the Good Shepherd and I lay my down my life for The sheep he laid his life on the cross. He gave his life so that we could have a better Life he is the door Jesus says to you. He says to me you want salvation come through me You want forgiveness come through me you want reconciliation come through me you want the abundant life it is through the shepherd Mark this down Jesus did not come to improve your old life. He came to give you a new life This is a problem that many of us in this space have we want Jesus to improve our life You're like mark my life's not that bad. I mean, I got this I got friends I got this all right, and if he would just make my marriage a little bit better If you make my health a little bit better If you would help me in my classes, you know, I already have homework and I'm a my goodness I got this done if you just kind of help me pass this test if you help me on Friday night catch that ball and Score that touchdown. I mean if you would just kind of come alongside and make my life a little bit better. Jesus is God He did not come to improve your life. He came to give you a New life, that's why in John 10. He makes it clear for you and for me the thief Comes only to steal only to kill and to destroy Contrast compare Jesus. I came that they might have life and have it Abundantly, there is a real adversary. The Bible calls him the devil We've tried to tame the devil put it under kind of the auspice of of Halloween or horror movies But there is a real opposition

Force to God who wants to kill you steal your joy destroy your family. He wants to Destroy your family. He wants to destroy a culture. He wants to destroy your business. His purposes are Painful in your life. He wants that marriage to be destroyed. He wants your integrity to be lost He wants your identity to be confused. He wants to take away your peace, but Jesus says I've come I've come to restore what sin destroyed Jesus entered into our broken world Didn't have to but the Good Shepherd said I want to So he could rescue us because you can't you can't rescue you you can't fix you I I'm I'm not You're not we're not good enough to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps Jesus comes and says I want to give you life freely. I want your life to be saved. I want you to discover a better way Abundant life. That's why in verse 9. He makes it clear whoever enters through me Your life We live in a time and space you were born on a certain day. You are so many years old right now You're in a certain season of your life this sheepfold. The salvation is when you come through Jesus he is the door. There's not a window that you climb through. There's not a back entrance There's not some way that you You kind of behave your way in, we come through Him alone. Jesus never promised us an easy life, but He did promise us an abundant life. And we've confused the two. We've thought the abundant life means that all the pressures, all the problems, all the setbacks, all the pain would be minimized from our lives. And you know that that simply isn't true. Some of you have experienced real pain this week in your own families, people who a week ago, two weeks ago, a month ago,

were here in the little neighborhood that I live. A neighbor of mine, 57 years old, on his way to work on Friday, passed away. I said to Linda this morning, I mentioned the family by name, I said, you know, their entire world, everything in their world, he has children, he has grandchildren, a wife, completely, completely changed. Somewhere along the line, we came to this idea that following Jesus was safe. They're like, somehow, when you made a decision to follow Jesus, that you'd be in this little bubble and no problems and no pressures, and it would be, you know, ♪ Kumbaya, my Lord, kumbaya ♪ ♪ Have no problems, went to church, right? ♪ Like, it'd just be like, everything would be just so fine. You understand it's a lie. And let me, can I just say something else since I'm on a roll? Thank you for permission. Like, following Jesus is not safe. Let that settle on you for a minute. See, safe is, you know, vacation Bible school, youth group, some little church moment where you say some little prayer, and it's like, yeah, God, like, I don't wanna go to that bad place down there. I wanna go to that place up there.

So like, God, would you save me of my sins? But then you really pivot and kind of live however you wanna live. Following Jesus is a declaration. I can't save me. I've sinned. I can't fix me. I can't straighten this up. There's no Southern behavior attitude. There's no voting my way out of this thing. Like, I'm stuck. I'm in a need of rescue. I can't get back to the shore. I don't have what it takes. Jesus Christ, save me. I was in DC last year. Some of you were with me. We traveled up to the Museum of the Bible. And on one of those trips, on a couple off hours, they were showing a live presentation of C.S. Lewis's book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And it's a story of these children who would walk through kind of this closet and into this space. And this space had evil and it had a king. And it looked like the evil was overcoming the king. And the king was known as Aslan the Lion, right? And you had these two girls, Susan and Lucy. And at one particular point,

they were talking to Mr. Beaver, who was kind of the guide, helping them through this kingdom. And Susan and Lucy asked him if the great lion, ah, the lion, Aslan, was safe. Is he safe? And Mr. Beaver famously replies, safe. Who said anything about safe? Of course he's not safe, but he's good. He's the king, I tell you. He's good. That's the shepherd. The shepherd, many a times, I promise you, is guiding the sheep. And they're like, ah, this is not safe. Ah, ah, we wanna do, ah. The shepherd knows best. Shepherd's guiding, following Jesus. This isn't this safe marked moment. Rather, it's understanding he's good. He's the shepherd. He knows what's best. He wants what best. He said he came so that you and I would have the abundant life. No TikTok influencer can promise you that. They can market you driving the newest and latest SUV. You can have the highest of educations. You can have everything that this world promises. And in a millisecond of time, it can vanish.

But Jesus comes and says, I want you to have life, and I want you to have it abundantly. So we come back to the original question. What does abundant life look like? And what if what we call the good life isn't the abundant life and you've actually settled for the American dream and you've missed what Jesus has for you in the abundant life. I'm gonna give you just four what I think are beautiful pictures about this story and then I'm gonna give you two action steps. Here's the first picture. It's the picture of protection. The sheep come in, he said they come into the sheepfold. Inside the sheepfold the shepherd protects them. Following Jesus doesn't mean nothing bad will happen to you but what it does mean is that nothing can happen to you that would ever separate you from the shepherd. The shepherds got you. You have somebody in your life they'll often tell you know if there's a problem there's a pressure and that kind of like that that mom or that dad or a friend or kind of a partner will look at you and say yo bro I got you. You know what I'm talking about. Yo. You want your your teammates to look at each other and say yo I got you. I know you missed it. Don't worry about it. Next play. I got you. That's that's what Jesus says to you and to me. But here's the issue. Someone was like hey but Mark I know you say that he's supposed to be protecting me but I don't feel very protected. I mean my goodness this happened and this happened and someone said this and someone did this. Here's the issue for a lot of us. Hey hello hashtag the reason you're not having the protection is you ain't in the sheepfold. You out in the in the fields and you're doing your sheep thing. Oh okay the shepherds up there but I'm kind of doing my thing. Oh let me see what's over there. Oh I'm gonna I'm gonna eat the I these are poison berries but I don't know why. Oh I feel sick to my side. Why didn't the shepherd protect me from them bad berries and I don't even have tums cuz I'm a sheep and it's back to the Bible times. Because you're not in the sheepfold. Stop blaming God for what you've done. The promise of protection is in the sheepfold. The sheep go in. The abundant life isn't a life without trouble. It's a life that knows who has

you in the trouble. In the sheepfold. Jesus said he made it clear in this world there are trials. There are tribulations. There are problems. There are pressures. Things go bump in the night. It's unfair. It's unjust. This world is soaked by sin but be of good cheer. Why? Because I King Jesus have overcome this world. Second word that I want you to see beautiful picture is the word provision. Remember Jesus says that they will find pasture. They come in and out. They find pasture. For sheep that's provisions and food and water and rest. It's the sustenance of life. Perhaps you've memorized or been comforted by the words of David in Psalms 23. The Lord is my shepherd. See you already know it. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Hey is that how you describe your life? Are you living the life that I shall not want? He's causing me to lie down in green pastures. See maybe the reason that you're not is because you you're riding that American dream horse rather than an abundant life that Jesus wants you and I to have. The abundant life abundance itself isn't having everything that you want. It's knowing the shepherd will provide everything you need and I promise you we could start on this side of the room and go person by person by person by person person person person and I could say hey tell me something in your life that you wanted on one particular day. I want this and then you got what you wanted and you're like oh my goodness what was I thinking? I was convinced if I could have her oh you had no idea she was the devil's daughter. You said if I if I could if I could have had oh man do you see him? Do you see them? Have you seen the traps on that boy? Let me tell you something I seen him from the backside man he got whoo he got some he got some hands you know what I'm talking about? And so you finally got the ohammy boy but then you found out you know what that's Satan's son. I'm saying, there are things you said, oh, if I could, if I could just drive that car. Oh yeah, and then the next month, that car payment came. And then that, remember, you remember it. Remember when you drove it to the Walmart parking lot

and you came out and you looked down the side of your car. Oh, when you pay $80,000 for an SUV and somebody scratches it, yeah, you should be upset. You're convinced, listen, the abundant life isn't getting everything that you want, it's understanding, it's knowing the shepherd will always show up. He will always provide everything that you need. And then the word, the word peace, right? He leads, Psalms 23, he leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. I mean, how many of us are really living that? See, we think it's just a metaphor. That's the abundant life. The abundant life is so much more than possessions and many of the things that we've defined it as. You know, some of us in this space, we have spent our entire life, we have been climbing whatever that ladder is, accumulating things, trying to have the right image, whatever it might be, trying to undo things from the past that perhaps were less than best. And Jesus sits right next to us and he says, hey, let me restore your soul. I was on my back porch, lanai, at my house. It's hot out there right now. And I had worked out earlier in the day and so I was still trying to cool down, I was really hot. I really wasn't sure initially if I was having

maybe some type of heat stroke or something because I was just, I became very emotional. For whatever reason, I had not thought this thought and an experience that I had about 18 years ago. And it was so vivid in my mind. I'm sitting on my couch, I'm looking out over the backyard and it just was overwhelming. I mean, I felt like I was right in that moment, 18, all the feelings and everything. And then it was like in an instant of time, God was showing me how for 18 years, I've been trying to prove to the world that what was said, what was done about me wasn't true. You know what I'm talking about. There's something in your life, right, that maybe you did or someone else did and you spent a lot of time and a lot of energy, right, to fix it. To prove to the world, I'm not really, that's not really me. And you work at it and it's energy and it's effort and it's effort and it's energy. Or you cover it up. You gotta cover it up. I'm just, I'm gonna hide it away from me. Or you try to control those feelings and you push them, you push those feelings back, right? Or you just like pretend in your mind, maybe that really didn't happen. Maybe that was just a bad dream.

It was Taco Tuesday and I ate too many and I don't know, maybe it was, maybe it's not really real except for it is. And I sat there and I'm supposed to be teaching today and I'm supposed to be teaching on this word, peace. And like the spirit of God says, okay, Mark, this moment happened. Mark, for 18 years, you're trying to work hard, good intentions, way to go, big boy. You're working hard, you're doing the right efforts. You're trying to prove to the whole world that what was said and what was done isn't true. Mark, the whole time I've been sitting right next to you saying, I've got the peace that passes all understanding. Hey Mark, I can restore all that energy and effort that you're trying to do to convince the world to undo it. Like Mark, I'm sitting right next to you. So hey, let me ask you, what's your moment? Where are you expending a whole lot of energy and a whole lot of effort to prove to the world that I'm really not that bad? Right, the first marriage didn't go how you wanted it to go. And so now you're trying to prove everybody, no, I'm not that person. Or they post or they put it on TikTok about whatever. It's a parent, it's a coach, it's a teacher, it's something. But here's the deal, the abundant life is that you go to the shepherd and you let the shepherd's presence

give you the peace of God. That's what Romans 5 says, I will give you the peace. We have peace with God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and that peace always brings freedom. I'm just telling you, on Thursday afternoon, I stepped off that couch with a fresh freedom. See, this is a picture of the sheep that they come in and they go. They go out and then they find pasture. It's a picture of security producing freedom. The sheep aren't prisoners. I think sometimes as Christ followers, we feel like we're prisoners, kind of locked in. Don't say anything bad, God'll zap you. Don't look at anything, don't watch that. It's like we're just, we're kind of caught in this thing. And following Jesus doesn't feel free. That's what the religious leaders, they're trying to make everybody act, Sabbath, Sabbath, stay blind, stay broken, stay miserable. They're trying to keep everybody in this little tight space where the shepherd is saying, I am the door. The freedom that you're looking for, the sheep can come in and come out and find pasture. We are protected enough to live freely under the shepherd's care. John 8, Jesus says, if the son, that's Jesus, Jesus sets you free, you will be free indeed. Sin, as tempting as it is, it offers freedom only in the moment

and builds a prism for a lifetime. Jesus asks for surrender in the moment that feels like, wait a second, I want to be a little lamb and I want to go out there and eat berries wherever I want to eat berries. And I want to go into mud pits and do whatever I want to do. Jesus says, surrender, trust me, I got you. And he opens up the door for you to experience the abundant life. Jesus, the good shepherd, didn't run from the evil. On the contrary, he became the shepherd and he lied down in the door, protecting us, restoring us. What sin destroys, Jesus restores. What sin will steal a person's innocence, Jesus restores our identity. Sin will always destroy relationships. Jesus always brings reconciliation. Sin produces shame. Jesus gives grace. Sin creates bondage. Jesus brings freedom. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. Sin produces death. Jesus came to give us life. That's what God does. He restores our soul. Maybe that's your word, restore. Maybe that's what you've been looking for is restoration.

Your past doesn't intimidate him. Your failures don't surprise him. Your brokenness doesn't overwhelm him. Psalms 23, the shepherd says, I restore you. He restores my soul. So I'm gonna give you two action steps to take now. They're simple enough to remember and they're significant enough to change your life. But you have to do it. We don't just hear the word, but we do the word of God. Number one is this, you've got to enter the gate. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. You cannot experience Jesus abundant life without first receiving Jesus eternal life. Christianity isn't trying harder, behaving better, believing more, practicing religion. It simply begins with coming to Jesus. You know, knowing about the shepherd isn't the same as belonging to the shepherd. I think there's a lot of people in this space, you know about the shepherd, but it's different. You know about him, yeah, that's the shepherd up there. Yeah, I kind of believe, but you're not following him. Make that decision today. Pivot from just knowing about him to choosing to follow him. The abundant life always begins with the surrendered life. And I know for us guys, sometimes that can feel like, oh my goodness, you're asking me to surrender.

I'm a dude, man, I don't surrender nothing. Man, I'm, kind of a deal, right? Let me say something. The strongest man or strongest woman in this space, the wisest man, the wisest woman in this space understands that in our weakness, he is made strong. The invitation to invite the strength of the resurrection. He who was dead became alive again. Inviting that kind of power in my life, that is ultimate power. And then the second thing I told you, I said two things. One, enter the gate. Two, follow the shepherd. tempered, and only you can do that. Your spouse can't do that for you, a pastor can't do that for you, your meemaw, your pawpaw can't do that for you. The Bible says, his sheep follow him, why? Because the pastor said so? Nope. Because the spouse put pressure on them? Nope. Because they knew his voice. Know his voice. A couple ideas to help you with that. This week, before you make decisions, ask, what is my shepherd saying?

Hey, how many lefties? Do we have anybody that's left-handed in the house? Let me see, lefties, raise it up in the air, you proud, proud lefties, all right? How many are just, yeah, I'm just right? Yeah, yeah, okay, I got some righties, right. Hey, I'm gonna give you an idea. So kind of put your righting hand up kind of like this, or put your, if it's right, left, I'm gonna give you a tattoo idea. Find your favorite tattoo artist, and right there on the inside of that forearm, I want you to tat. What is my shepherd saying? Oh, yeah. It gonna change how you text. I mean, you're gonna take, you stupid, no good, oh, wait, what is my, oh. Calling you out, wait, what is my shepherd saying? I'm calling you up. Put it right there, that email before you get angry, before you start that relationship, but you might wanna get that, because he might be the wrong girl for you. So wait, now, okay, scratch it. What did Mark say? Get a girl, no, no, wait. What did the shepherd say? Before you quit, before you compromise, listen for what the shepherd says.

You say, okay, Mark, how do I do that? So glad you asked. He has given you his word that you can open up and read. Okay, Mark, I don't know where to start. Hey, start right where we are today. Starting today, for the next six days, until I see you next Sunday, just read John 10. Read it every single day. You will hear the shepherd's voice. Talk to him, have a conversation. Connect with him. Talk to him. Do you know how to, do you talk to people? Let's do a rep. Look to the person to the left and just say, hi. Yeah, hi. Now look back to the person on the right and say back, hi. Look at the person on the left and say, hey, how are you? Hey, look at the person on the right and say, hey, how are you? Now look back at him and say, hey, where are you taking me to lunch today? Don't tell me you don't know how to pray. Pray is a conversation with God. Listen to him. The voice you listen to determines the life that you live. So if you don't like the life that you're living right now, change the voices that you're listening to, including yours. You'll never experience the shepherd's destination if you ignore the shepherd's direction.

Corbin, the team are coming. I wanna leave this one last thought with you. It's so, it meant to me so much on my back porch. I wrote it down and now I'm giving it to you. See, for 18 years, I was trying to find where the pasture is. Okay, I'm gonna get to this spot. I'm gonna be good enough. I'm gonna be smart enough. I'm gonna be fast enough. I'm gonna be, dare I say, famous. Whatever the thing is, once I get there, then I'll find that pasture and things will change. And here's what I learned that afternoon, is that sheep, a guy named Mark and a guy named you, sheep don't have to know where the pasture is when they know who the shepherd is. Talk about freedom. Thank you. Being together in this space today is really good. If you've never begun a relationship with Jesus, I'd like to invite you today to start following Jesus. It's not about your behavior. It's not about your church attendance. It's about the reality that Jesus is for you. God's not mad at you. He's madly in love with you. Would you right now pray this prayer with me? Hey God, it's me. I've sinned and I know it and I can't fix me.

But today I receive you, Jesus, as my savior. I believe that you died on that cross for me and that you were buried for three days. And then. you became alive again. And I invite you into my life to guide me and direct me all the rest of the days of my life. And with that prayer my friend, welcome to God's family. I'd like to continue our friendship. If you would email me pastor at HopeInOcala.com. I'll follow up with you and together we'll celebrate Jesus in your life. Peace.