Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Being surrounded by God’s favor is a great advantage! One touch of God’s favor can shift you into a whole new realm of success. Take advantage of the advantage given you by Him. His favor is truly as the dew upon the grass!
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Does it seem impossible to cope with life in the midst of all the darkness and negativity around you? A little girl used to go with her mother to pick berries in a swamp; there was a pond and in it were growing and blossoming the most beautiful white water lilies. They were so glittery, white and fresh with water drops as big tears in the midst of the white blossoms, shinning in the sunlight. How can they grow and blossom so beautifully in a swampy pond? The answer: they have a hidden life in them. That pond was very deep, and the bulbs of the water lilies lie in the mud at the bottom of the pond. The hidden life in the heart of those bulbs cries for something higher; young life springs out and begins rising until it reaches the surface and then opens the beautiful blossoms of the water lilies. You can be like the water lily, all the way from the bottom rising up through the darkness to the surface and shining with radiance. We all have hidden potential. There are many aspects of life that remains behind the curtain because we’ve kept them there. It may be because of all the past hurts, disappointments, failures, and put downs that have tainted our self-image. The only way to expose these potentials is to allow them to spring forth from the darkness to the light. Potential comes from character development and having within us what we want to give to the world. We may contest that our potential is limited because of all the times we have failed, but unless effort is put forth to reach our higher potential, failure is guaranteed. Therefore, in order to rise above failure, we must recognize our hidden potential and reach beyond all the obstacles. Life is not handed to us premade and ready to enjoy. There are efforts that must be made to succeed. Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self denial, no brains, no character are required to set up in the grumbling business. But to blossom and shine with beauty requires unleashing the hidden life in the heart that cries for something higher.
Do you ever find yourself thinking that you will finally be content or happy when you can acquire some desired object, or realize some special goal, only to realize when you reach that point that happiness still has eluded you? Man’s quest for happiness has been in the wrong direction. He has mistakenly equated happiness with the pleasure found in material things. The material things which man acquires are temporary, and man by his very nature is seeking a state of permanence. Therefore, his quest for happiness has often ended in despair and anguish when his quest has been in the direction of materialism. The reason man has often failed to attain happiness is because he has failed to seek God. Man will never find contentment and ultimate happiness until he is at peace with God, his Creator. Man has been “designed” to find his purpose and happiness only in his Creator. Our lives must revolve around God and not our selfish personal desires. This is why people do not find happiness when they seek it by means of material things and pleasure. Just visit a restaurant and observe how many people bow their head in thanks to God before consuming their meal. Very few people do. The reason is most are too selfish and caught up in the materialistic life -style, which is so prevalent today. We were made for communion with God; for intimacy and closeness with Him. All of our joy, all of our peace, and all of our being finds fullness in a relationship with God. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: a n d a g a i n I s a y , R e - joice.” (Philippians 4:4) Scripture makes it clear that God is the ultimate source of happiness. Our problem is when we start seeking happiness in things that are secondary instead of primary. That’s where idolatry begins. We take things that God has made (which are in and of themselves good, intended for our benefit by God) and we make them what our life is all about. We elevate them to a place of lordship, and they become idols in our lives. God wants us to be happy and flourish, but the only way to seek after it in a way that fulfills our deepest need is found in aligning ourselves with God’s desire, and that is for us to serve and worship Him only. “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:4-5) The lasting happiness we all seek simply can not be found in worldly things—another dollar, another bottle, another bite. To find enduring peace and contentment, you must look beyond yourself and look unto God, your Creator.
Time decides who you meet in life, your heart decides who you want in your life, and your behavior determines who stays in your life. So, if you want to be popular, live so that a blind person would like you. The point is that lasting popularity depends not on having good looks or other surface personality traits, but upon inner qualities that somehow communicate themselves to others. Such qualities include a friendly voice, a sense of humor, kindness, thoughtfulness of others, sincere praise, gratitude, and encouragement. How well would a blind person like you? It is never too late to expand your horizons.
If you want to be miserable, think about yourself, about what you want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay you, and what people think of you.
There is a children’s book, used in nursey schools years ago, which shows a little boy visiting a farm to thank the cow for the milk he had for breakfast. Then he goes to the hen house to thank the chickens for his eggs; he thanks a sheep for his warm bathrobe and so forth. The idea, of course, is to help children become aware of the bigger world on which their small daily rounds depend. Most adults would balk at thanking animals whose gifts are unintentional, but all of us could use thanks as a door to awareness of much that we take for granted. Most of the time you will never know what effect your thanks have on the recipient. Though you can be sure that occasionally they will be more important than you dream, arriving at a low period in another person’s life. The story is told of a housewife who came across an old geography book while cleaning in her attic. As she leafed through its dusty pages, the woman remembered the spinster teacher who had taught the course, telling stimulating stories which painted indelible pictures of far away places in the minds of her young students. The housewife, who loved to visit new lands, loved to read about the people and customs of other countries, realized that the seed had been planted by this teacher. Taking the book to her desk, she wrote a note thanking the teacher for “doing more than teaching geography.” A short time later, an answer came to the housewife. The teacher, since retired, wrote in scrawling letters, telltale of her age, “You are the first student in all my years of teaching who ever said thank you.” Appreciation can make a day— even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. Though response to your efforts is unpredictable, the effect on your own life is certain. You will be training yourself day by day in seeking out the good and praiseworthy around you, rather than the more attention catching evil and annoying things. Thankfulness toward other people is, of course, both a preparation for and an indication of our thankfulness to God. It is probably easier to develop a sense of gratitude to other human beings just because their goodness to us is of necessity limited and specific, but from God “all blessings flow.”
The sun is a perfect picture of love. It is continually pouring forth its own life in the form of heat and light, to everything that will receive it. Light longs to unite and to become one with all things. It is therefore a perfect picture of the heart’s desires of the Creator who continually imparts His own life to all that He creates. All life upon our planet depends upon the heat and light of the sun. John begins his Gospel with the statement that light is the source of life and that our physical senses should recognize as the form in which God mediates His life to us. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). It is the nature of light to give itself to all who will receive it. There is an individual ray of light streaming forth from the sun to each thing on every planet and throughout the whole solar system. The light offers itself to every blade of grass, to every leaf on every tree and to every living creature. Love also is just like that. Love comes to every created thing and says, “I give myself to you. Open and receive me. I want to become one with you.” The apostle John grasped the conception of love’s infinitude when he said, “God is love.” It is true indeed that God is love, and hence the spiritual atmosphere of the universe is love, filling all space, and comprehending the essence of all creation; the light of the stars, the verdure of the woods, the beauty and fragrance of the flowers, the warmth and glow of the sun, the music of the spheres, the smiles and voices of nature, the thrill and throb of universal life, joy, and happiness, and even the glory and ecstasy of heaven itself. Therefore, because God our Father is love, love is at the heart of our being. Herein we behold the definition of infinite love, far too big for words! As one has quaintly written:
Could I with ink the ocean fill, Were the whole earth of parchment made, Were every blade of grass a quill, And every man a scribe by trade— To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though spread from sky to sky
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Do you feel like you’re always in the valley and never on the mountain top? It’s a common feeling among us all. The mountain top is hard to achieve, and the valley is so quick to find. The mind gets in a rut and seemingly reacts like water—takes the path of least resistance. No one reaches the mountain top except, there is first a desire to reach it. The extent of our desire will determine whether we strive for mastery or settle for the remnants along with so many others that are dwelling in the valley and bemoaning their circumstances. Trouble makes life bigger if your attitude toward it is a large one. So much trouble in life is self-manufactured, caused not by conditions or by other people, but by ourselves. Maybe your trouble came from making a mistake. We all make mistakes, the man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all—doing nothing. There are voices that say, “See, you messed up! You might as well give up.” That’s the common road for many, but should not be for you. No matter if everything seems shattered by trouble, you can put life together again. Difficulties, troubles, and mistakes have their value. Did you ever stop to think how successful a failure can be? Many men owe the grandeur of their lives to their tremendous difficulties. Thomas Edison, with his light-bulb invention, did not succeed until after he had failed hundreds of times. What if he had given up after his first failure? Unfortunately, so many would have. Storms make the mighty oak tree take deeper root so the next storm has a lesser impact on it. Did you know life will keep going on without you? It doesn’t stop to pick you up when you are down and discouraged. The conductor of a train doesn’t stop the train to throw a rock at a barking dog. The train just keeps moving on and the conductor keeps doing his job, and the dog is left to deal with its own problem. The same will apply to you if all the strength you can muster up is to bark (bemoan your circumstances) at the passing train (life). Life continues on, and you can choose to remain (in the valley) or go with it (to the mountain top). From the Bible, the Apostle Paul so wonderfully wrote of his attitude concerning trouble, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). What vehement determination Paul expressed to us in his writing! No doubt, he was in the midst of one of his many trials when he wrote this. Thus, having the same attitude as Paul, will determine whether you succeed in reaching the mountain top of life.
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly” (Proverbs 18:24). I went into a bank a few days ago; it wasn’t the bank I normally deal with, and had to talk to the teller through a glass shield. I find it awkward to conduct business with a barrier present between me and the person I’m dealing with. In fact, needing a room late one night, I walked away from a hotel because the main doors were locked and the clerk was positioned behind a small glass shield in the entry foyer. What the shield indicates is, “I don’t trust you. I need to know more about you before I can let you in.” I understand the reason for the shield, but still I don’t like it. How often it is we walk around with our “shield’ in place. Not wanting to be bothered by anyone unless it’s someone we are well acquainted with already. There’s a feeling of comfort and security associated with the shield, but showing ourselves friendly involves taking away the shield, letting them know you trust them
One day, a professor entered the classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They waited anxiously at their desks for the test to begin. The professor handed out the question paper, with the text facing down as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked his students to turn the page and begin. To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions….just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor seeing the expression on everyone’s face, told them the following: “I want you to write about what you see there.” The students confused, got started on the inexplicable task. At the end of the class, the professor took all the answer papers and started reading each one of them aloud in front of all the students. All of them, with no exceptions, described the black dot, trying to explain its position in the middle of the sheet, the size of the dot, etc. After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor began to explain: “I am not going to grade on you this; I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot.” The same happens in our lives. We have a white paper to observe and enjoy, but we always focus on the dark spots. Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care, and we have many reasons to celebrate – nature renewing itself everyday, our friends around us, the job that provides our livelihood, the miracles we see daily. However, we insist on focusing only on the dark spots – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointments we have, and so on. The dark spots are very small compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the dark spots in your life. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you.
Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no personal gain.
The average person, when he is thrown into a crisis, finds himself completely out of plumb. He has to stop his machinery and run out and crank himself up, or prime his pump, wind himself up, or whatever you want to call it, to put himself into balance long enough to meet the situation as best as he can. Then, as soon as the crisis is over, he relapses into his habitual state of unbalance again. Just think what a waste of time this is. Would he not be much better off to always be prepared and balanced? Let us watch the cat for a moment. Pick it up and hold it upside down and then let go of it and see what happens. Without any fuss or hysterics, with one or two silent motions, it rights itself and lands quietly on its feet. It has a continual sense of balance and knows instantly how to react when forced to fall. Things seem to happen when we least expect it. Therefore, that’s when we are caught off guard. A number of years ago, when I was much younger, I got laid off from a job that paid well and that I enjoyed. Needless to say, having bills to pay, this initially upset my apple cart, but I immediately set out to find another job. Within a few short days I had landed a job and my life continued on as before. We must learn that when things are running smooth is when a crisis will happen. We need also to learn that when one will keep and retain his balance, he stands a much better chance of being successful. The general thought processes of the mind will attempt to persuade one to launch an attack rather than have a positive and balanced reaction. When stressful situations occur, your mind may go in a thousand directions and some of your thoughts may be negative. I will confess, my initial thoughts were not positive, but thoughts of retaliation. Having a sense of balance though, helped me to understand that fuss and hysterics wouldn’t help my “fall” any at all. I landed softly and upright without shutting down the machinery and cranking, priming or winding to get things in balance to meet the situation. The point here is: always be prepared. It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. — L Hubbard
Let us ask ourselves as we arise each morning, “What is my work today?” We do not know where the influence of today will end. Our lives may outgrow all our present thoughts and outdazzle all our dreams. God puts each fresh morning, each new chance of life, into our hands as a gift, to see what we will do with it.
People can get really hung up on how a thing is said and miss the whole point. Two guys were arguing about whether a chicken is sitting or setting when she’s on the nest. And so they asked a farmer, “When a chicken is on the nest, do you say she’s sitting on it or she’s setting on it?” He thought a moment and replied, “I don’t really care. What I want to know is when she cackles, is she laying or lying?”
Food For Thought: Let your words be tender and sweet, for tomorrow you may have to eat them! You can’t draw on the bank for what you used to have. You can only check out what you have in it now. Don’t make a permanent mistake in a temporary wilderness. Many a man who thinks he’s too big for the little job turns out to be too little for the big job. Every now and then you meet a man who enjoys the reputation of being the most remarkable person he knows. Telling all you know is as bad as believing all you hear. Speak when you’re angry— and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret. Avoid disputes: you never get as much out of an argument as you put into it.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. Booker T. Washington
Someone said that the two most important days in our lives is the day we’re born and the day we find out why. A lot of people never have experienced the second day
The Bible
The Bible, although it is a library, is also “the Book.” It is a story, a grand story that moves on from commencement to finish. Here surely is something that is phenomenal in literature. Suppose, for instance, you were to cover the great fields of knowledge, such as law, history, philosophy, ethics and prophecy, and you were to bring these different subjects all together and bind them up into one book? Then what unity could one possibly expect to find in such a jumble of subjects? Such an infinite number and variety of themes and styles as are found in the Bible, brought together across not a few generations in the history of the people, but across centuries, makes the likelihood of any unity being present amazingly small. It would seem that no publisher would risk publishing such a book, and if he did, possibly nobody would buy it or read it. That is, however, what is done in the Bible. We can begin at Genesis and read on through to the end. We can pass from one style of writing to another as easily as though we were reading a story written by one hand and produced by one life, and indeed we have here a story produced by one Mind (II Peter 1:21) though not written by one hand. So we have here a book unlike all others. The Book, a divine revelation, a revelation of God to man communicated through men to all people of every race and generation. Behind and beneath the Bible, above and beyond the Bible, is the God of the Bible.
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