Christian Commentary Encouraging Devotions

Basically the Bible is about good and evil, or rather evil, then good.

Bad things happen. God intervenes and things are made right.

Woe to the shepherds who only take care of themselves!

Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals,

but you do not take care of the flock.

You have not

1)strengthened the weak or

2)healed the sick or

3)bound up the injured.

You have not

4)brought back the strays or

5)searched for the lost.

You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

So they were scattered because there was no shepherd,

and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill.

They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

This is what the Lord says:

I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock.

I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves.

I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.

I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.

I will pasture them on the mountains, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights will be their grazing land.

There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains.

I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Lord.

I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.

I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away,

I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered (or exploited).

I will judge between one sheep and another.

I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.

I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill.

I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.

The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops;

the people will be secure in their land.

They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.

They will no longer be plundered (or exploited) by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them.

They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.

I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.

Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they are my people, declares the Lord.

You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Lord.

Ezekiel 34

If you can relate to any of the above, if you're in a situation of oppression...

Know right now that there is a God who made you, who loves you, who cares deeply for you.

As you submit to Him and follow the directives of His Word,

things are going to start to turn around in your life.

You will start to experience the showers of blessing talked about above.

Healing and wholeness will start to flow in your life.

No one who comes to Him with an open heart will He cast away or turn down.

He (God) longs to be gracious to you.

Won't you approach Him now?

Let Him shepherd you as only He can.

P.S. Read "The Lord is my Shepherd" at http://www.conditionofmysoul.blogspot.com/ for more insight.