Episode 1209
Whose Voice Are You Actually Following? The Good Shepherd Reconsidered | John 10:1-10
The primary focus of this podcast episode is the profound notion that each individual is known and cherished not merely as a statistic, but as a unique identity, as articulated through the metaphor of the Good Shepherd. We delve into the Gospel of John, specifically chapter 10, wherein Jesus emphasizes that He is the gate through which believers may attain a life of abundance and fulfillment. Our discussion highlights the distinction between being counted and being named, underscoring the intimate connection between the shepherd and his sheep. We explore the significance of personal recognition in the divine relationship, wherein God calls each of us by our name, affirming our individuality and worth. Moreover, we reflect on the broader implications of this passage, advocating for an understanding of faith that encourages inclusivity and abundance rather than exclusion and constraint.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of individual recognition, highlighting that God knows each person by name rather than viewing them merely as numbers.
- Listeners are encouraged to engage with the Bible from a progressive perspective, making the teachings relevant to their personal lives.
- The concept of the 'gate' presented in the podcast signifies an invitation to abundance and life, rather than exclusion or judgment.
- The podcast discusses the need to discern which voices to listen to in our lives, advocating for those that promote peace and freedom.
- Listeners are urged to take moments of quiet reflection in their daily lives to connect more deeply with their personal experiences and the divine.
- The podcast advocates for a personal and intimate relationship with God, where each individual is valued and loved uniquely.
Links referenced in this episode:
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is presented each day by Rev. Dr. Brad Miller who has a goal of speaking a bit of the bible into two million ears (one million people) in three years (2025-2028).
He is the author of "The A, B, C-1,2,3 Bible Study Guide" Free to you by clicking HERE.
Brad served as a local church pastor for forty years and has a background in radio and podcasting. Moreover, he is a life-long student of The Bible.
He believes in the words of Jesus that “scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)
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Transcript
Hello, my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker A:This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.
Speaker A:In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.
Speaker A:The reading is understandable.
Speaker A:I use the message version relatable.
Speaker A:Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.
Speaker A:We pray and are done in less than 10 minutes.
Speaker A:It's all brought to you by voiceofgoddaily.com which is the home of your free personal Bible Study Guide, the ABC1, 23 Bible Study Method.
Speaker A: lionaires a million people by: Speaker A:You can help by saving and subscribing to the podcast and tagging your friends.
Speaker A:Here's today's reading.
Speaker B:Reading today from John, 10th chapter gospel of John, 10th chapter verses 1 through 10 from the message he calls his sheep by name.
Speaker B:Let me set this before you as plainly as I can.
Speaker B:If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, do you know he's up to no good?
Speaker B:A sheep rustler.
Speaker B:The shepherd walks right up to the gate.
Speaker B:The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice.
Speaker B:He calls his own sheep by name.
Speaker A:And leads them out.
Speaker A:When he gets them all out, he.
Speaker B:Leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice.
Speaker B:They won't follow a stranger's voice, but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it.
Speaker B:Jesus told this simple story because he had because they had no idea what he was talking about.
Speaker A:So he tried again.
Speaker B:I'll be explicit then.
Speaker B:I am the gate for the sheep.
Speaker B:All those others are up to no good.
Speaker B:Sheep rustlers, every one of them.
Speaker B:But the sheep don't listen to them.
Speaker B:I am the gate.
Speaker B:Anyone who goes through me will be cared for, will freely go in and out and find pasture.
Speaker B:A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy.
Speaker B:I came so they can have real and eternal life.
Speaker B:More and better life than they ever dreamed of, I got to say.
Speaker B:For that ends the reading here.
Speaker B:So, my friends, this is one of my favorite passages of Scripture.
Speaker B: John: Speaker B:It says I have come that they can have a real and eternal life.
Speaker B:More and better life.
Speaker B:I love that than you ever dreamed of.
Speaker B:So let's get into this with a couple of let's dig into this passage with a couple of points to ponder.
Speaker B:That I just think are relevant to your life here today.
Speaker B:Point to ponder number one.
Speaker B:He, the good shepherd, calls them by name, which means that you are known, not just counted, not just a number.
Speaker B:Verse 3 is the one that stops me cold every time he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
Speaker B:This is so different than a lot of religions around the world and a lot of way people think, a lot of way people think corporately and governmentally, more than a number way many of culture has worked over the centuries.
Speaker B:So much of institutions, and I'll say particularly institutional Christianity, has treated people like numbers, membership roles, attendance, souls, saves baptisms, butts in the seats we used to call it when I was a pastor.
Speaker B:But Jesus paints a very different picture.
Speaker B:The shepherd doesn't count sheep.
Speaker B:He names them.
Speaker B:So a progressive reading of this text takes that seriously.
Speaker B:God doesn't love you as a part of a category, not as believers or members or the elect.
Speaker B:God knows you, the particular, specific, imperfect, beautiful you.
Speaker B:The you who wakes up anxious some mornings and delighted other mornings.
Speaker B:The you who love certain songs for reasons you can't explain.
Speaker B:And the you who carries grief sometimes from your deep past that no one else sees, sometimes, sometimes triggered by those same songs, if you know what I mean.
Speaker B:I kind of sometimes think about this in regards to my own granddaughters.
Speaker B:It's very important to me that I call them as often as possible by name.
Speaker B:And I use their full names, not their nicknames.
Speaker B:It's just something that I particularly do.
Speaker B:And when I call them my name rather than, hey, come over here, you know, their face lights up a little bit because they hear their name.
Speaker B:Because being named by someone who loves you is important.
Speaker B:It's a powerful human experience.
Speaker B:I hope you agree with that.
Speaker B:Your name matters.
Speaker B:That's what this passage is saying, God does.
Speaker B:Your name matters.
Speaker B:Not a head count, not a check mark, not a digit on a fact sheet.
Speaker B:It's not a head count, it's a heart count.
Speaker B:And your name is on the list.
Speaker B:Point to ponder number two.
Speaker B:The gate is about what you walk into, not who you keep out sometimes.
Speaker B:This text has gotten weaponized over the years and I really hate that.
Speaker B:Verse 9 says, I am the gate.
Speaker B:Whoever enters through me will be saved.
Speaker B:That verse has been used kind of like a heavenly bouncer or a velvet rope or you're in and you're out kind of a theology.
Speaker B:Oh, that is so wrong.
Speaker B:Look closely at what Jesus actually says.
Speaker B:The gate is verse 10, one of my life verses.
Speaker B:I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
Speaker B:Did you get that?
Speaker B:To the full.
Speaker B:This gate is not about exclusion.
Speaker B:This gate is about abundance.
Speaker B:It's not a checkpoint.
Speaker B:It's an invitation to the kind of life that's wider, deeper, richer than anything fear or religion or shame can give you notice.
Speaker B:Verse 9, what it says there, they will come in and go out and find pasture.
Speaker B:Don't forget the pasture.
Speaker B:That's kind of.
Speaker B:Pasture is sheep language for freedom and love.
Speaker B:That to find a pasture that's wide open with all the room to graze.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's.
Speaker B:That's great for a sheep, right?
Speaker B:Room to breathe, room to be.
Speaker B:That's what I want.
Speaker B:That's what all of us want.
Speaker B:So the kind of Jesus that shows up in John 10 isn't standing guard to keep people out.
Speaker B:He's standing at open doors saying, hey, come on in.
Speaker B:Come to live, really live to the full.
Speaker B:In dealing with cancer patients, on my cancer and comedy podcasts, people go through hard times and they don't really need rules and things like that to help them understand that.
Speaker B:They don't need more religion.
Speaker B:They just.
Speaker A:They just want life.
Speaker B:You know, want to celebrate life, abundant life, life more into the full.
Speaker B:And when something gives you a laugh or gives you just a.
Speaker B:A friendly moment, a moment of engagement or moment of peace in a season of storm, that is pasture, my friends.
Speaker B:That's what Jesus is pointing to here in John chapter 10.
Speaker B:Here's your action step.
Speaker B:Pay attention to the voices you're listening to.
Speaker B:I think you know what I mean.
Speaker B:Pay attention.
Speaker B:If you're paying too much attention to social media or to the news or the things that are going to bring you down or to the inner critic in your head, you know, there's a lot of voices competing for that space between your ears, are they not?
Speaker B:And a lot of them are not like the Good Shepherd.
Speaker B:They're not encouraging.
Speaker B:They're not saying, look for the wide open pastures.
Speaker B:So maybe you just take a moment to be quiet, maybe take 10 minutes to try to be just quiet and listen to the good stuff.
Speaker B:Listen to what gives you freedom and pasture.
Speaker B:So put the phone down.
Speaker B:And not only put it down, put it in a different room, put in a drawer or something.
Speaker B:Go outside.
Speaker B:If it's nice weather, touch the grass.
Speaker B:What I mean by touch the grass, I mean go outside and with your hands, reach down and touch the grass.
Speaker B:Listen to the wind blow, listen to the birds sing, listen to children playing in your neighborhood, and listen to the inner voice that says, you are beloved and you deserve it.
Speaker B:You are here to have life and to live it.
Speaker B:What does it say?
Speaker B:To the full?
Speaker B:Because the shepherd voice sounds your name and listens for your name.
Speaker B:The shepherd's voice sounds like peace, not panic, like love, not shame.
Speaker B:And the more you listen, the more you're going to be able to tell the difference and get it.
Speaker B:To get the difference.
Speaker B:We're going to pray here just a minute about all this.
Speaker B:Before we do, just a quick reminder.
Speaker B:Hey, you need to do this at home Bible study, don't you?
Speaker B:So we've got a tool for you.
Speaker B:It's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.
Speaker B:Head over to our website, voiceofgoddaily.com free to you.
Speaker B:Pick it up.
Speaker B:Let's pray.
Speaker A:God help me.
Speaker B:Tune out the voices of fear and shame today and hear the one that calls me by name.
Speaker B:Lead me into abundant life.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker A:My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.
Speaker A:The Daily Bible Refresh is completely listener supported.
Speaker A: on years, a million people by: Speaker A:I would be so grateful if you would go to voiceofgodddaily.com and share your gift of any amount.
Speaker A:Thanks much.
Speaker A:My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker A:Please subscribe and tag your friends until tomorrow.
Speaker A:Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.
Speaker A:His merciful love hasn't dried up.
Speaker A:It's created new every morning.
