Walking in Truth

A parent naturally protects a child. They watch for danger, hold tightly to your hand, and stand in the gap to prevent anything evil from getting to you. Pastor Johnny will be telling you today how incredible your Heavenly Father is because He does the same for you – but on a much grander scale! God sent His only Son, Jesus, to save you from death. To forever save you from the enemy’s grasp. And just like a child, all you need to do is to trust Him – because He is completely trustworthy.

You can hear from God! He does speak, and He wants to have that kind of relationship with you. But as Pastor Johnny will talk about today, there could be something that you’re doing that’s hindering your ability to hear Him! Is there sin in your life that you know about, but are unwilling to repent of? Or maybe you’re not setting aside the time to actually spend with the Lord! Whatever the problem is, take steps to remedy it today. Your life will be richer with the presence and voice of God in it daily!

When you have a toddler, you have to be careful because they’ll put anything in their mouths, thinking it’s something yummy to eat. But what they’re grabbing could be bird poop, or a penny, or some other thing that could be damaging to their body. So as a parent, you look out for them and stop them from doing something harmful. Well, Jesus is the same in His care for you! Today, Pastor Johnny reminds you that Jesus is a caring and Good Shepherd, who looks out for you and protects you from harm.

When you think of your parents, you may not appreciate everything they did while you were growing up. But as you become a parent, you realize that what they did was for your good…because they cared! This is what Pastor Johnny is getting at today as he shares about Jesus being a Good Shepherd. Sometimes, He leads and guides in ways that aren’t preferred, but He knows what’s best, and He’s looking out for you in every possible way! So trust His shepherding of your heart!

Wouldn’t it be appropriate to have a little league team named after sheep? They don’t know what they’re doing, but they’re just following whatever their coach tells them to do. They’re just learning and sometimes might really mess up. This is exactly how sheep tend to be….following the leader, but getting themselves into danger or situations that they weren’t aware of. Thankfully, Pastor Johnny tells you today about a Coach who will guide, protect, and lead you in a way that will help you in the long run!

There’s a difference between being a rule-follower for the sake of keeping the rule, versus understanding the heart behind a law or a regulation. When you follow the speed limit, is it to make sure you’re following every detail of the rule, for the sake of obeying, or is it because you realize there’s a reason for it? It might be for your safety, or for your good. In today’s passage, Pastor Johnny takes a different spin on the rule-following mentality. People in Jesus’ time were all about following the rules and missed the heart.

Light has a convincing effect on everything that it touches. It exposes the criminal that’s spraying graffiti. It puts someone in the spotlight when they’re on stage for all to see. The light of the sun has a way of lifting moods and bringing a sense of hopefulness. So if light is such a good thing, why do people insist on staying in the dark? Well, it’s easy to hide things in the dark, and that’s exactly where your enemy wants you to be! But Pastor Johnny calls you to something else today, so open your eyes!

Imagine being in a dark cave, where you can’t see anything in front of you. The darkness is nearly maddening because there’s nowhere to go, and you don’t know what to do. Think about how much easier it is with even just a flicker of light in that cave. You can find a path, or discover a treasure, but it’s because of that helpful light that assists your sight. Today, Pastor Johnny wants you to see that the light you need is Jesus in your life. Without Him, you’re walking around blindfolded, and you need to see Him!

When your life has all played out, whose opinion of you is going to matter most? Your spouse? Your children or grandchildren? Your students, co-workers, or people you’ve mentored? How about caring most about how God views you? This isn’t talked about in society, but today, Pastor Johnny wants you to take much consideration of God’s opinion of you…not the world’s. What have you done that would honor and please God? If you’re not sure how to answer, hear more today for some clues.

Sometimes, history repeats itself. This can be a good thing, or it can be a really bad thing…like when you see some horrible genocide happen or a war that could’ve been prevented. In today’s teaching, Pastor Johnny mentions something that happened before Jesus’ time, but it was pointing to the very reason that Jesus came to earth….to die. There’s so much purpose in what God has to share through the people and stories in the Bible, and He wants you to be part of that story too!