Lost Sheep… where are the shepherds a hireling is in the pasture…
This past week in the wee morning hours, I had a blessed encounter with the Lord . I had woken up and went into the tower area of my home which is a replica of a Victorian and it has a tower part extending up from the porch with two rows of windows.
The view it provided me was unexpected! For I saw a “shooting star” then soon another and I realized it might be a meteor show.
A strong sense of joy to worship the Lord overtook me and I also went to see if I could see anymore of these shooting stars streaking their way across the night sky. But I did not.
So, I went to prayer and after what I might call a brief dry spell in my previous night watches, I felt the Lord has opened up to me a “knowing”.
Do you know what I mean? One of those lovely cherished times when you hear His quiet voice and feel a sense of awe, wonder and joy! The peace that comes with this seems to be the part of the joyfulness that accompanied this feeling.
Lately there has been so much to do! With technology at our fingertips we can be “flooded ” with all of it. We have our favorite connections and please don’t get me wrong— as these have been a wonderful place of blissful learning and fellowship and connection to other dear believers.This post is of course a “blog”. I believe the Lord uses it all.
Our time emerged in our work, our living ministries of every day life, the sweet but busy times with our families, taking care of households along with our seeking to find sometime to “inhale’ the call to participate in the events around us… propel me forward. It is what I like to call, “counting all the bees in the hive” and can diminish the time to hear our “Shepherd’s voice”.
I had originally intended to post this reflection several days ago but my writing came to a complete standstill.. for the “bees in the hive” reasons but more than that!! Much more… which thanks to my spiritual cyber friends, Ultraguy, Garden Girl and Sue Bradley along with my face to face remnant believing brother and sisters family , Shirley, Peggy, Akwana, Jeannie, and Lesley including a leading “prayer shield captain” (whom I will not name) for our nation and Israel– we have a deep resounding cry to the church without walls to soldier up.
Gosh.. words fail me here friends.. to express the “incoming” strong spiritual sense of the need for discernment and agonizing prayer…
Where to go but to the Word of the Great I AM—
Joel 2:16-18 NKJV
16 Gather the people,
Sanctify the congregation,
Assemble the elders,
Gather the children and nursing babes;
Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber,
And the bride from her dressing room.
17 Let the priests, who minister to the LORD,
Weep between the porch and the altar;
Let them say, “Spare Your people, O LORD,
And do not give Your heritage to reproach,
That the nations should rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘ Where is their God?’”
then there is this strong admonition from
Ezekiel 34 ( ESV )
1The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. 6My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
7“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
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What are we seeing in our world events? Children being given as sacrifice to abortion, child abuse, child trafficking, obesity* of children ( very interesting now according to the Mrs. O an issue of National Security??? interesting what is stated in the Bible about this and idol worship which in which “fat” is attached to the gluttony of false gods. Since when in our history has any WH been more in our face about rejecting Christ for other religions?
Deuteronomy 31:20English Standard Version (ESV)
For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and *grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant.
We see our nation embracing the events of Mardi Gras whereas an array of startling pagan rituals is being played out on the streets of New Orleans amid the snoring shepherds who should be thundering to the sheep–danger, danger the wolf is in our mist but alas no such warning is making it’s way in the majority of the services of our the church or in the teachings of our children. We have lost our way…
If you want to learn more about how the celebration in this already beleaguered city is the epitome of embracing of the pagan idols of the ancient and existing “high places” go to the detailed and prayed over work at Garden Girl’s site at
http://runningfrombabylon.blogspot.com/ and Ultraguy’s work at http://newine.wordpress.com/ and Sue Bradley’s at
http://archivesmb.wordpress.com/2010/01/
Don’t we talk at our small groups and in our coffee times or Bible studies of how we cannot understand how the “Hebrew children” time and time again just fell to idol worship– How far we have fallen…
Oh have mercy oh Lord for it is so alive and being played out here in the churches, celebrations, and parades in AMERICA.
My heart is broken for the children in harm’s way.. the ones whose caretakers have decided that taking care of self via the darker or seamy side of thing ( drugs, sexual abuse, alcohol, neglect) or perhaps even more dangerous, those children in care of parents whose worship is self absorption. The subtle seduction and marketing of the idols of Hollywood and the children who don’t have conversations with a committed adult. Children who seem okay but languish in vulnerability to the ever present predators of our culture.
David Kupelin of World Net Daily tells it so well in his book ” The Marketing of Evil ”
Quoting …..
From abortion-on-demand to limitless sexual anarchy, from multicultural madness to banning God in school, millions of Americans today accept ideas and behaviors that would have horrified all previous generations. Indeed, much of what Americans once almost universally abhorred is today being packaged, perfumed, gift-wrapped and sold to us as though it had great value.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=42603
What does our Lord say?
In Matthew 18:10 (ESV version )
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. “
Then to our pop culture… whereas a young boy known for his kindness and tenderness was the mold from which Christopher Robin was fashioned.
The House at Pooh Corner.. Counting all the bees in the hive..
Christopher Robin and I walked alone 
Under branches lit up by the moon
Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore
As our days disappeared far too soon
But I’ve wandered much further today than I should
And I can’t seem to find my way back to the woods
So help me if you can, I’ve got to get
Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
You’d be surprised, there’s so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin
…And Pooh.
Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do
Got a honey jar stuck on his nose
He came to me asking help and advice
And from here no one knows where he goes
So I sent him to ask of the Owl if he’s there
How to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear
So help me if you can I’ve got to get
Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
You’d be surprised there’s so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin
,,,And Pooh
While counting all the bees in the hive.. we don’t know what to do..
we are lost just like this favorite child story which is almost prophetic to the events of the day…
Christopher Robin was described as
Justin Valentin’s Web site ends its summary of Christopher Milne’s life thus:
Christopher battled bravely for some years with myasthenia gravis, a neurological decease, and passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 20th, 1996. His life was celebrated in a small Quaker gathering of family and friends.
To the broader world, however, and whether he ultimately would have liked it or not, Christopher Milne will always be best remembered as “the real-life Christopher Robin” — something that I and many others would have counted a badge of honor. Probably few irreligious adults can say that as children, they so exemplified the basic traits that Jesus Christ honored in children and taught his disciples to imitate.
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General Traits: Master of the Forest. Has the best qualities of its other residents: intelligence, literacy, cleverness, helpfulness, modesty, humor, compassion, diplomacy, sensitivity, courage, physical and organizational competence. The yardstick against which the others are measured, and (in another sense) the pivot on which the stories turn (if not always the motivator of the action). Acts in loco parentis (in the place of a parent) to the animals. Generally aware of his limitations and willing to admit them.
Special Traits: Lives “behind a green door” in a tree “at the very top of the Forest”. In Classic Pooh, rivaled only by Pooh and (once) Tigger as the Forest’s champion tree climber. In Disney Pooh, the only one who can deal with Tigger’s fastball (barely); also one of the few whom Tigger never “bounces” (though Tigger barely missed him once when he was trying to squeeze into Piglet’s house).
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The “church” has a honey jar stuck on it’s nose with our seeker friendly cheap gospel of grace and feel good but don’t make me think about repentance messages…or the teachings from the Word of God in the Bible.
The “House at Pooh corner” could be a metaphor ( okay in my mind ) for the true church of the “First Born” where we knew what to do and the true Shepherd’s voice was heard…
Meanwhile we are sacrificing our children and the shepherds are wolf’s in sheep clothing..
May we revisit the scriptures above to see how to get to the place of crying out between the porch and the altar.
I think this is so serious and so a message for our time because the more I have pondered the actual seeing of the two meteors it makes me wonder about the “two minute ” warning that may be upon us.
How much longer can we keep counting all the bees in the hive… we must get back to the house on the corner the capstone… foundation laid by Christ
( the body of Christ ) that was intended in how our Lord set forth in the book of Acts ….
Time is running out..
http://solosong.net/pooh.html for credits for the House on Pooh Corner
High Hopes Abiding 