11/16/2021

Psalm of the Good Shepherd Part 6

“11 ¶ Do not stay so far from me, for trouble is near, and no one else can help me. 12 My enemies surround me like a herd of bulls; fierce bulls of Bashan have hemmed me in! 13 Like lions they open their jaws against me, roaring and tearing into their prey.” (Psalm 22:11-13 NLT)

At times it seems the angriest and meanest people are those who are religious. Jesus ran into those people in His day.

Over the years I have come to believe that religious people are angry because they are trying to fulfill every jot and tittle of the law. Unable to do this they are left angry at themselves and at the God who “made” them do this. They are also angry at those who do not suffer as they do.

But God doesn’t ask us to come to Him through religion but through an admission we cannot keep the law and thus need to seek forgiveness through Jesus so we can have a relationship with Him.

Have you been hurt by someone in the Church or by the Church itself?

If you are honest was it a personal attack or someone seeking to call you to repentance?

If it was a personal attack how does it make you feel that Jesus suffered personal attacks?

Who is Jesus asking to stay “not far from Me”?

Do you think this would be a proper response for you to personal attacks?

Did Jesus give up on the Church because religious people attacked Him? Should you?