Beloved Names of God.... Good Shepherd

From the book ~ Beloved Names of God.......

 

Good Shepherd

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

John 10:11 NIV

 

 

Name of God the Son

 

Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd" twice in the NIV

 

In calling Himself the "good shepherd," Jesus was fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah (40:11)

 

In John 10 Jesus told the Pharisees that He knows His people and they know Him, and that He would live and die for His flock

 

As a boy, the future Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell loved hearing his mother sing about "The Ninety-nine and the One." Eventually she refused to sing it anymore. Eventually she refused to sing it anymore. Why? Because he cried every time she sang it, and she couldn't bear to see him so upset. But Eric pleased. So she sang about the Shepherd (Jesus Christ), who had brought ninety-nine of His sheep in from the storm- only to go out again, risking His life and searching the dangerous cliffs, all to rescue one little lamb. An ordinary shepherd would have been thankful for the remaining ninety-nine and his own safety. But the Good Shepherd gave His life so that every lost lamb might be saved.

The story goes that Eric Liddell would stand with his face to the wall, just so his mom would not see him cry over such a wonderful love.

 

Working as a missionary in China at the start of WWI, he sent his own family to safety then walked, alone, into a land being fought over by five armies. The Lord called him home before the war ended, but along the way Eric Liddell showed God's love to many lost lambs.