Praising Him in Insufficiency

 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.  17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”—John 10:11-18

Two things from this passage of Scripture this morning caught my attention.

Love = Sacrifice

1. Verse 11: (Jesus is speaking) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

Love is a decision

1. Verse 18: (Jesus is speaking) No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.—John 3:16 (emphasis mine)

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?"  29 Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is: 'Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Which is the first commandment of all?—Mark 12:28:31 

One cross-reference verse for above is Romans 13:8-10:

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.  For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Feeling overwhelmed by the impossibility of loving as Christ loved yet?  Wait…there’s more. Below is something I journaled a while back about Romans 13:8. I am crediting it to John MacArthur. 

Love is the debt that is never paid...it is always owed.  Love is the summation of our obedience for in love the whole law is fulfilled.  Love is a decision and is always an action.  The love that God has shed abroad in our hearts by His Spirit involves teaching and speaking the truth in love to others, (faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God) The love that God has poured out in our hearts also ministers to needs, sets an example that does not lead people toward sin, covers faults, forgives, endures and sacrifices on behalf of others.  

As a believer, my spirit truly desires to love others with the love God has so graciously shed abroad in my heart.  Sadly, I fail so much more than I succeed. Even now, as I write this, I am failing miserably and contending with the people God has so graciously and lovingly given me. (HEAVY SIGH).  I feel a lot  like Paul must have in Romans 7…with my mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.  Or maybe even like Solomon did as he became king…overwhelmed. 

Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.—1 Kings 4:7

If you feel similarly, you are in good company. It is the right feeling. In our flesh nothing good dwells.  Without Christ we, like Paul and like Solomon, can do nothing good.  

Beloved, thankfully God can even work our insufficiency for our good and His glory. This morning then ,  I, for one, will praise Him for my insufficiencies, my weaknesses and my infirmities.  They are good things!  Things to thank God for because they cause us to lift up our voices, our hearts and our souls to the One who is sufficient…to the One who can give us all we need in this life and in the one to come. 

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.—Romans 7:24-25

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.—Psalm 34:5

My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.—2 Corinthians 12:9-10

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.

13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.—2 Corinthians 4:7-15