Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Bible Doctrine Series-Jehovah-Rohi

Jehovah-Rohi. The Hebrew word rohi is from the root meaning “to tend as one cares for sheep.” Inclusive in this definition is feeding, governing, guarding, nurturing, healing, and delighting in all that is in one’s care; this is Jehovah-rohi—the Lord, our Shepherd. Isaiah foresaw the time when the Lord God Himself would come like a mighty shepherd to tend His flock; He would gather His lambs into His arms, nurture, and carry them close to Himself (40:10-11). The gospel of John records the words of the Lord Jesus Christ who said…”I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” Jesus called Himself the good shepherd who guards the sheep with His life; He does not flee in the face of the enemy. He knows each of His sheep intimately, caring for their well-being, speaking to them until they are familiar with His voice and will safely follow His direction. If one of His flock strays, He does not abandon it to its own wanderings but searches it out, cleansing, and restoring it. The 23rd Psalm is a beautiful word-picture, drawn to help us understand the character of our Shepherd 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” As our Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ wants the best for us. It is His desire, therefore, that we die to our own way of doing things. When we choose to honor Jesus Christ as Lord, we will follow Him wherever He leads. When we choose to honor Him as Jehovah-rohi, we are acknowledging Him as our shepherd. As Shepherd, He leads us by the way of death to the flesh; only then is His life expressed from our soul/spirit to be exhibited through our body. As we live the crucified life, God receives the glory. We know that Satan purposefully comes as an angel of light in order to deceive us. He also wants to steal glory that belongs to God. That is accomplished as he controls our lives in anyway. Demonic forces want to prevent us from practicing Godly principles; when they succeed their efforts are honored. Should we act upon that which evil forces interject into our minds, we manifest their evil schemes. If they can achieve any level of influence, they, rather than God, are glorified by the believer. It is one thing to choose to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior. That step transfers us into eternal life. However once we have the life of the Lord in us, He desires that we make Him Lord by choosing to obey Him in everything. We learn to be obedient, as we come unquestionably under His leadership as Shepherd. A shepherd will lead his sheep into areas of pasture that are best for them; our Shepherd does the same, He knows our every need. In our journey, He will lead us in ways that will bring death to our own fleshly desires and ambitions, so He can be the controlling factor in our lives. He wants to exchange His life for ours, thereby living His life through us. Our enemy wants us to think that is as horrible, frightful way to go. The devil says "you will loose control!" God says we begin to live the abundant life when He is in control. The truth of the matter is we frequently allow other people to be the controlling factor in our lives. An example might be when we fly with a commercial airline. We board an aircraft and allow the pilot and crew, whom we have probably never personally met, to take control of our destiny for several hours. It may be foggy, cloudy, or snowy yet we will literally trust them with our lives, and expect them to deliver us safely to our destination. Satan and demons do not care if we trust the aircraft’s pilot to deliver us to our destination. However, they become highly irate anytime we decide to trust Christ as the Pilot of our life and let Him lead us as Shepard. We must learn to keep our eyes upon Him and listen for His voice. He is our Jehovah-rohi who has our welfare at heart. He is our supply of every need. He feeds us with rich, life sustaining truth in the quietness of His peace. He restores us by guiding us into all righteousness for His glory. He, who is our eternal life, removes all fear of death with His comforting presence. In the face of our enemies we may feast on every spiritual blessing in security, anointed, and overflowing. His goodness and loving kindness continually surround us, for our life is hid with Him in God. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.

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