https://images.app.goo.gl/R96Lm6PbAkDWM2PS8
The image above is for sale and so I don’t want to copy it. But please visit the Etsy shop for a glimpse. It shows a shepherd perilously reaching over a precipice to rescue a sheep/lamb as a bird (vulture?) circles overhead.
Yesterday at church, Phil Emerson (Pastor of Emmanuel, Lurgan) spoke at our church. He seems great, spoke with a gentle authority and clearly has a pastoral heart. (Check out their podcast s!). He had prepared his sermon in advance but on Friday evening,after taking a funeral service of 33yr old alcoholic man, he sensed he needed to change tack. So he stayed up late, wrote a new sermon. Because he sensed God telling him that there was one person in Grace who was hanging on by a thread. He used the verse from Isaiah 42:3
(NIV) 3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out
He talked a lot about fathers, and how they can have an impact on how we see God & expect Him to behave. If you feel that God is distant, or like a school master or even calculating THEN you are mistaken. Because our Heavenly Father says that His Divine Nature is as follows ( Same verse in TPT is paraphrased)
(TPT) 3 He would never crush a broken heart
nor disregard the weak and vulnerable
He is the Good Shepherd who is not content with having 99 safe sheep. He is the Good Shepherd who goes after the one, the broken one, the ‘worthless’ one, the seemingly hopeless one.
Because Zephaniah 3:17 says not only is He a mighty Saviour BUT He loves us, calms our fears and rejoices over us with joyful songs.
I have been in the place of the one, hanging on by a thread, thinking my life was worthless, imagining a better life for those I loved without me in it.
But God…
HE rescued me, he left the safe 99 and He found me.
Who is this coming up out of the Wilderness leaning on the arms of her beloved?? (Song of Somgs 8:5). Well, once it was me!
This week I was rejoicing to be one of the 99 and interceding for the one. Because I know, I’ve been there… I will not forget the rescue of my heart and then of my body.
🙏🏻May the one this week, find her place in the loving heart of the Shepherd. May she gain insight into the price He paid to pursue her and began to understand her real worth.
AngeLisa Crafts 