๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข How dependent are you on online maps for direction? Briefly explain.
โข Where do you go to recharge whenever you feel tired or need to clear your thoughts? How did you discover this place?
โข Recall a time when someone made a bold prediction and then saw it come to pass. How did you feel?ย
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ, โ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ.โ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ณ-๐ฎ๐ด
Jesus entered our world set apart with a clear missionโto redeem us from sin by giving His life. Before He fulfilled this, Jesus prepared His disciples for the things that were about to happen. He told them that ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ of them would ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ. But with this news came the assurance that He would go ahead of them and meet with them after He was ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ. Despite their best intentions, Jesusโ disciples failed Him. Like His disciples, we too can fail Jesus. And just as Jesus extended grace and forgiveness to them despite their failures, He offers the same to us. Today, we will look at how Jesus was set apart so that we may be reconciled with God, enabling us to live for Him from a place of graceโthe finished work on the cross.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ณ๐๐น๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ, โ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โ . . .โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ข, ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ.โ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ณ,๐ฏ๐ฒ
Jesus prophesied the scattering of His disciples, quoting Zechariah 13:7 to highlight His fulfillment as the promised Shepherd. This declaration emphasized Jesus' role in God's plan, foreshadowing His sacrifice. When Jesus prayed before His capture, He addressed God intimately as Abba, Father, expressing His submission to the Fatherโs will despite His human apprehension. By surrendering to Godโs plan and accepting the cup of suffering, Jesus demonstrated His obedience by sacrificing His life for us. Amidst challenges and hardship, we can rest assured that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, went to the greatest lengths, including sacrificing His own life, for our good. How has this truth helped you persevere in faith during a critical season in your life?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐, ๐ด๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐.
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฆ.โ . . . โ๐๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ.โย ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ด,๐ฏ๐ด
(Read also ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ฒ:๐ฒ-๐ณ.)
Even though He knew that His disciples would fail Him, Jesus showed His concern for their spiritual well-being. He informed Peter of his three denials and yet prayed that his faith would not fail (Luke 22:31โ34). When Jesus went up to Gethsemane and instructed His disciples to ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ, He caught them sleeping. In the same way, Jesus knows how we could fail Him. And just like how He restored Peter and the rest of the disciples through the women who saw the empty tomb (Mark 16:6โ7), Jesus will remain steadfast in His commitment to be our loving Shepherd. Despite our shortcomings, He will lovingly guide and restore His flock. His unfailing love and grace remain constant, and He is calling us to heed His guidance, remain watchful, and rely on prayer to navigate lifeโs challenges. What does 2 Corinthians 12:9โ10 say about the grace of God?
Despite facing suffering, Jesus did not retaliate but instead entrusted Himself to God. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, He bore our sins, offering redemption and healing for our souls (1 Peter 2:22โ25). As we follow Jesus, we are enabled, by His grace, to live set apart for Him, imitating His humility and willingness to endure suffering to fulfill His purpose. Jesus guides, protects, and cares for us as our Shepherd and overseer, leading us toward salvation and eternal life.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข In what area of your life is there chaos and uncertainty? How would you apply what you learned today in this situation?
โข Is there an area of failure in the past that still haunts you today? Talk to someone you trust about this. Allow Jesus to bring healing and restoration upon you, and enable you to live the victorious life you have in Him.
โข How can you encourage someone to allow Jesus to guide them this week?ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending Jesus to be our loving Shepherd. Ask God for the grace to enable you to follow Jesusโ example and walk in obedience.
โข Ask that you would know Jesus more as the loving Shepherd. Pray for the grace to overcome any trial or temptation through His strength.
โข Pray for people in your circle of friends and family who need Godโs guidance in specific areas in their lives. Ask God to open doors for you to minister to them this week.