Feed My Sheep.....PLEASE.

2 Corinthians 3:18
"18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

 

How are we are transformed?  By beholding Jesus!  When we hear of His great love for us, what He endured on our behalf at the cross, how He healed everyone everywhere He went and how He provided for all their needs we just can't help but fall madly in love with Him!
 

It is critical that we understand we are forever "made" righteous.  That means it was done "TO US" and cannot be UNdone  "BY US."  There is NOTHING we say or do that can change our right standing with God.  That knowledge sets us free from all condemnation, just as Jesus intended, and enables us to live holy lives.....effortlessly!

 

We need to hear this over and over again.  We need to be reminded of just how madly in love Jesus is with us!  The more we hear anointed teaching and preaching about His FINISHED work and our righteousness in Him and His love for us the more effortlessly we love Him right back and live right.
 

"FEEDING THE SHEEP" means pastors and teachers telling us the above over and over again,  giving the Holy Spirit the necessary raw materials He needs in His work to transform us into Jesus' likeness.

But when His name is BARELY mentioned in church...if at all...except in a judgmental, disapproving way He has nothing to work with.  Know what the saddest thing of all is?  That very same well-meaning pastor has not only stymied the work of the Holy Spirit but has given the devil great delight.  It's his agenda!

WE DON'T WANT THAT!

 

Hearing messages about what Jesus would do, how He would think or act in any given situation OR what we should do, how we should act or think, not only doesn't unveil Jesus it backfires on the unwitting pastor who, no doubt, desperately wants his or her congregation to succeed.  He...or she...is helping his people to live UNholy lives, to fail, struggle with sin and die young.  Why?  Because that's what teaching LAW does.  

Law is DEMAND:  It is the ministry of condemnation and death.  Grace, on the other hand, is SUPPLY.

CONDEMNATION KILLS......literally; spiritually AND physically.  Please don't get the wrong idea that we can lose our salvation. That’s IMPOSSIBLE.  But because of the teaching of law MIXED with grace, which I've heard called "balance," our people are sick, in want and dying before their time.
 

At the risk of teaching law, let me say this:  If you're in a leadership role and are truly serious about helping your people love Jesus more, to share Him with everyone they meet without being told, to live holy lives and prosper in every area then stop trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit.  It is His job to lead them from within on paths of righteousness, not yours from the pulpit.  That qualifies as an abuse of the privilege.

 

The Pastor's job is to "FEED."  That's what Jesus admonished Peter to do......THREE TIMES.
That being said, there is a place for correction: IN PRIVATE.  It's not something you expound from the pulpit, whacking the rest of the flock most of whom are not only NOT guilty of whatever sin you're talking about but came hungering and thirsting to see Jesus but they went away empty. 

The last thing they need is to hear your brand of law--rules and regulations--about behavior.  This isn't kindergarten and that kind of "message" is just your reluctance to confront the wayward person face to face.  It isn't easy...but it's Biblical.  It's the right thing to do and I think you know that.
 

The sheep are hungry to see JESUS.  So show them!  That's how they are transformed.  

PLEASE; do them a favor.  Heed Jesus' admonition to "FEED MY SHEEP."