Stranger

John 10:1-18
10:1 "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me- 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
NIV

What do we recognize?
Are we aware what we lay out in our speaking of tomorrow, we have either life or death? Are we aware of the importance of truth?
What should be the "stranger" to us would be someone who does not speak as we speak! They have their own agenda and it is far from God.

Thieves can come in many sizes, colors and plans. But in the normal day, life even some T.V. might turn into the thief that steals time from you when prayer might have been a better choice.

I always think about the People's Choice Awards.........and such programs that dole out awards. In that thinking, awards are good for choosing something that is helping to progress in growth.  In any endeavors as in swimming, playing tennis, a golf match, or hiking, one must consider the price paid for patience. If you are the one swimming, awesome, but if you are the one watching the other swim and exercise, then the "waiting" time is ahead for you.
Seriously though, in the verse above in 13-14..........the wolf has come. The hireling has abandoned the sheep. He simply runs away. The wolf scatters the flock. Sheep are left. But Jesus laid down His life for the sheep.


I also think of the passage in Matthew 15 in the verse where the disciples have come up to Jesus and asked HIM to have the Canaanite woman to leave them alone. Verse 23 of Matthew 15 is this: But he did not answer her a word. And His disciples came and implored Him, saying, Send her away, for she is crying out after us.
Actually the woman was crying out to Jesus, "Son of David". She never mentions the "disciples".
She was certainly crying out for Jesus.
The one who really knows the 'comforter" will regard Him as so. Those who see Him as their "Healer" will call it true!


The unfolding of the passage revealed that the Canaanite woman was a woman of faith.
She recognized His portion. She knew Him to be the "Messiah". Being called a "title" nailed her faith to what she believed in her heart to be in regards to Jesus being "what she needed".

It is true and evident when the thief appears. He will steal, kill and destroy.
He will steal your time, your family, and try to steal your life. He will kill your tomorrow, kill your ideas and destroy any thing you might have regarded as a real goal for your life. The thief will not care, but take you on a ride usually in pride or such a path that ends in tragedy.
But Jesus came to bring us life. He came to remind us what was spoken over us as babes. He reveals what He told us in dreams and He gives us glimpses as the rain washes the dust of yesterday and asks of past sorrows to be completely cleared away.


Seeing through the lens of God's Word reveals the "stranger" in our lives. Through that lens, we come face to face with righteous, holiness and redemption.(1 Corinthians 1:30)
That which brings real life, will bring a refreshing to you, a breath of fresh air, if you will. The real is seeing the beauty of Jesus and how He served others. Everyone wants to make a difference in their lives. Everyone wants a name and to be known. And to succeed in peace and love of God is the greatest thing I think anyone could participate in and with for God. Jesus was Jesus! But those who knew Him as the "MESSIAH" saw Him for Who He really was.

Being a "watchman" is watching out for the stranger. It is watching and staying close much like Habakkuk.
Hab 2:1-4
I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.

2 Then the LORD answered me and said:

"Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.

4 "Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.
NKJV

This prophet sets himself to hear. It was for the correction, counsel and comfort.
One who brings a "message" will be one who has the vision and the word for the appointed time. So in humbling himself, the prophet here in this is looking for that which the Lord would speak. Either to correct or just encourage should still incite "faith".

Our Shepherd will not walk out. He remains.
Cultivate a relationship with the MESSIAH. Cultivate a prayer life for hearing. Hirelings will continue to climb over walls, come into board meetings, disrupt town hall meetings, but going with God in your heart will set you to recognize His truth and help you speak against that which speaks as a lie.

People of faith recognize others of faith. The proud come and go. But the just will live by his faith. They will hear the good Shepherd speak. They the sheep will recognize and follow His direction. Taking the oracles of God, we view life through His lens. Viewing life through the lens of God's Word reveals to us and encourages growth in us to become all that He meant us to be for the future. May the richness of this Word of God hold you in comfort. For He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Coming to Him, we are directed always to His place on the Cross and the promise of His life in and through us. Amen.

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Notice: 

The Voice of Prayer  has a new teaching published:

Looking Through The Len's of God' Word: AVENUE OF FAITH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Kg1OMVvnk

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV

Would You Have Time for Me?

If I, the stranger, showed up at your work place, would you have time for me? If I came to where you are directing a lab and leading others in a hospital scene, would you have time for me? On Superbowl Day, if I came for prayer at your house, would you have time for me? Would you really stop your day for me, the stranger, to ask about why I was there? Or would we be embarrassed  IF someone showed up at the workplace asking for just a few minutes of time for a prayer in Jesus' name and a word?

What about our priorities? Yes, what about those priorities in the workplace, home and even in city the square? Do we consider ourselves too busy and of importance to come down from a cloud of "important me" to help a stranger who could use a timely word from God?
Do we tell others, "well, I will catch you next Sunday" or " I will catch you next Saturday evening for church"?  Are we just connecting with those "church folks"?
Is Jesus the Lord and Ruler of our hearts in our home and the workplace? What about having a simplicity of life that is one of perfect order, that is quiet filled with the Presence of God? Or do we operate in a place that promotes us, that is very loud, and  carries the promotional neon sign flashing..............."see how I am doing"! "Look at me, look at me!"
Before this day, started, did we truly seek the Lord, submitting the entire length of our day and every encounter with others into His mighty hands for safe keeping? And did it include a stranger?

Let's look at John's ( you remember John the Baptist, right) busy day..........baptizing those who confessed their sins..........calling to those that the "kingdom of God" was at hand!

Matthew 3:4-17.......4 And John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. 14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?" 15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him. 16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  NKJV

God is order! Jesus had a need to be baptized by John the Baptist! Interesting truth, is this not?

What if God wanted to deliver to you a word in person, and we would not permit the person ( maybe a stranger ) to come to deliver it?  What if another young person comes for prayer and tell of his trouble, and we are all dressed in our pretty white uniform and looking all business, but have no time for the troubled young man and he possibly could be the next Billy Graham? 

God decides the package when He delivers a "message", a prayer, or even a "Word". We do not get to choose that delivery person.

So what if you had been "John the Baptist" and sent Jesus away............"sorry, I am busy here........."!
The religious folks in John's day surely resented him and his way of dress. They did not seem to take him at his word.

They came and asked who he was!

John 1:19-28........................19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21 And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22 Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 23 He said: "I am

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
"Make straight the way of the LORD," '

as the prophet Isaiah said."

24 Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26 John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." 28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.   NKJV

What I believe is that John was looking for the Promised One, for he speaks, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."

He, John, expressed his looking for the One to come and did not mind telling those religious leaders of the day that they were vipers!
John's day was changed. He was ministering the Word for repentance. He was telling of those Who was to come and changed his day when Jesus arrived!
Now if John had to change his day, should we not be willing to do the same?


We find when reading about Paul, his day was changed. In fact his whole itinerary changed. Let's read it here below!

Acts 16:6-10...................6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.  NIV

Paul and his companions tried to cross the border to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to do so. It was then during he night Paul had the vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
Paul's itinerary brought him to Philippi and made his first convert in Europe. We know her as Lydia, " a certain woman named Lydia......who was a seller of purple. (Acts 16:14)
Then Paul and his companion were followed by a slave girl with a spirit of divination. (This is found in Acts 16)

Of course, the final city we find him in before leaving Macedonia for Athens, Greece was Berea (Acts 17:10-14). It was here that he left Silas and Timothy for a short period of time to assist in the work. (Acts 17:15 and Acts 18:5)

Paul was to become acquainted and work with Macedonians like Gaius in Acts 19:29, Aristarchus in Acts 19:29;27:2, Secundus in Acts 20:4, and Sopater in Acts 20:4.

What if when Paul had the vision, he told God, "sorry, I am super busy here!" "Catch me next month!"

In the workplace, we are very busy and do our job well, but when we give God glory ahead and give HIM praise for what He will do in that place that will bring new converts to His kingdom, we should be willing in heart to say, "yes, Lord, change my day and bring whom You will so that I might pray for them, give them a word of encouragement or just a hug"!

I always think of this scripture:Matthew 10:32-33.................32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. NKJV

Are we willing to confess Jesus before men when our "peeps" are not around? Or could we be like the Pharisees and Sadducees.......?

On our trip out East back in the Fall of  2014, we prayed and believed for much success in that trip of gathering information on the health of all my family who lives there. They certainly were important to us, and it was our desire to get there and help for the time we could! On our trip back, my prayer was one of how we might together as a family minister to someone, and the Lord certainly gave us someone to minister to in the workplace.
It was on the third day out, and we wanted a good "breakfast" place to eat, but it seemed that either the place we chose was closed or was nowhere near the area we were driving through on our way west. Finally around or close to noon, we find a restaurant. Still off the main Interstate with some twisting and curving of side road, we arrived at the final destination for "breakfast" food.
It was when we were seated and this young, tall man came out to serve us and he certainly was the "one" God wanted us to minister to on that day! He surely needed an encouraging Word according to what the Lord was showing us and we were certainly excited to deliver it! This young man had such a "spirit of excellence" on him to do a wonderful job! Before we left that place, all of us hugged and looked forward to eternity with Jesus. The young man, as well as us, were invigorated with the breath of life that comes from God and Him alone.  Yes, that place was busy, but we were not intimidated to minister God's life and love to this young man in front of others who were there just to eat.

Yes, we had opportunity to stop many places to eat before arriving back at home, and we saw some people who did not dress for opportunity and offer to go beyond in any manner of their serving patrons at a few restaurants. A couple places, we felt like we should have gotten the food ourselves.

Do we really have time for others?  Do we look out to minister to those "WE DO NOT KNOW" OR ARE WE JUST LOOKING FOR OUR FELLOW PEEPS? You know what I mean, those, who will stroke the kitty cat fur and puff us up TO BUILD OUR EGO, or can we really step out and minister without any stroking and remembrance other on the part of the stranger when they remember we prayed for them in PUBLIC! Like John the Baptist, will we look for those to minister to while they are on our pathway?
What if we need to change up our day, or change up a trip to accommodate what God wants to do for someone He loves?
We are going through once in this life and there are no dress rehearsals. What will people remember about our attitude and character towards others? Will we only embrace those nearest to us and look like us or will we go "to Macedonia" when God calls?



Father, we pray today in Jesus' name that when YOU call, we want to answer with an emphatic "yes". Help us to see where changes can come in our daily life of living and to reach the "stranger" You love with all Your heart.
Like John the Baptist and Paul, You interrupted their lives and brought such change and glory to Your name, we pray for that same kind of move in our lives. May we move from the mundane to the adventurous, from the spectator to the participator in Your plan for the strangers that come across our paths.
 Father, I know we all have questions about our needs, desires and wants. and even what our future looks like, but in reality may we know that we exist to glorify You.  That when days come and we feel beaten down, even by some kind of adverse circumstance, HELP us to know YOU are with us and that YOU desire us to participate with You in meeting with the stranger. Today, we choose not to seek our "peeps" to give us that old familiar pat on the back and shove us forward, to get us up and get us going, but we seek the Supernatural in You. I pray that we would never be confined to the material world but know YOU are our source and In YOU we are not limited!

We are of the Light and dressed in the righteousness of God. We are those with a home that has seated us at the right hand of the Father of glory. We carry His name and are empowered from on high. It is today that we expect our lives to change to minister to the "stranger" and may we never be the same in Jesus' name. Amen.

You can also visit my Youtube channel The Voice of Prayer for more teaching at http://bit.ly/1tNyBhV