Advent Devotion: Our Shepherd/Peace

MONDAY: REVELATION- how is Jesus being revealed as our Shepherd/Peace?

• Read:
  • Psalm 23
  • John 10:10-11: “… I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
  • John 14: 27 (Jesus gives us His peace)
  • Ephesians 2:13-17 (peace with each other and God)
•  Reflect:
  • On Jesus as our shepherd:
    • Being under the stewardship of the good shepherd means having life abundantly. Looking at Psalm 23, what does the Lord as your good shepherd offer you as a sheep in his fold?
    • Which of these most resonates with you?
    • Which challenges you?
  • On Jesus as our peace:
    • The peace that we’re offered in Christ is received through faith in Him. His peace allows us to live in peace, free of anxiety, and to live at peace with God and others.
    • In what way do you most need to see The Lord revealed as your peace?
  • Take a moment to reflect on the reality that Christ is your good shepherd and that He offers peace to you in all circumstances, preparing a table for you in the presence of your enemies.
• Pray:
  • Father, You are my good shepherd. You offer me provision, rest, spiritual restoration, guidance through the wise counsel of Your word, and protection from my greatest enemies all out of Your lavish love for me. Help me better understand the fullness of the perfect care you offer me. And reveal to me to greater depths the truth of who you are as my peace and peacemaker. Thank you, Jesus, for the abundant life and peace you offer me.

WEDNESDAY: REVERENCE- take time to worship Jesus as our Messiah

• • Worship Jesus as the Good Shepherd and your peace.
  • You can use the playlist HERE if it is helpful.

• FRIDAY: Response – how do we live in response to Jesus as our Shepherd/Peace?
  • Read:
    • John 10:14-15
    • Isaiah 26:3-4 (we receive His peace by setting our minds on Him)
    • Philippians 4:4-9 (meditate on anything worthy of praise and practice what we’re taught in scripture)
  • Reflect:
    • On our response to Jesus as our shepherd:
      • Throughout this passage in John Jesus says that He knows his own and that they know him, that He calls them and they follow Him. What is the responsibility of the sheep in relation to the shepherd?
      • What would it look like for you to more faithfully seek to know His voice and follow him in obedience?
    • On our response to Jesus as our peace:
      • By the power of the Holy Spirit we receive His peace when we focus our minds on Him and choose to trust Him. In order to focus our minds on Him we need to surrender the worries of this world to Him. Choosing to trust Him with them “…in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
      • What is weighing on your mind that The Lord would have you surrender to Him, perhaps for the hundredth time, trusting that He will care for them?
      • We can position ourselves to receive the peace He offers us by meditating on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise.
    • Pray:
      • Father, I desire to know and be known by you. Show me what it looks like for me to seek you more faithfully so I can hear from you more clearly and follow you more fully. And stir an even greater desire in my heart to follow that revelation in obedience. Lord, I acknowledge that you are my peace. Help me bring everything to you, surrendering every worry, concern, and fear to you. Give me the faith to trust that you care deeply for the things that are important to me, and to trust that you are moving in my life and in the lives of those I love.