John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and they know me”

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep, and they know me” verse 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.”

"What is more helpless than a little lamb or what is sillier then a straying sheep? And yet we are the sheep of His pasture and we are His little lambs that need to be nurtured and protected by our good shepherd. One thing that is beautiful about our good shepherd is that He knows every one of His sheep – He knows all that are His own little flock – Jesus knows who we are, His own – He knows your name and He knows mine. He knows each of us personally and specially and He knew each of us that would become part of His little flock before the foundation of the world. He knew us before we were formed in our mother’s womb – He knows each of us intimately and has brought all those who trust in His name into personal union and sweet fellowship with Himself." (KnowingJesus.com)

Jesus also knows the sheep that are not in His sheep pen--YET. When Jesus was speaking this parable, He was speaking about the Gentiles as well as the Jews. This is an insight into his worldwide mission--to die for the sins of the world. People tend to want to restrict God’s blessings to their own group or even congregation, but Jesus refuses to be limited by the fences we build. That is the very mission of the Christian Caring Center (CCC), to share the gospel message through love by sharing food, clothing, shelter and other physical necessities without discrimination. The last two words are what grant funders and government agencies look for-but before those-Jesus spoke it first! The CCC serves everyone who comes seeking help, but we also go on outreach visits seeking those who need to know the shepherd. We do give all the physical necessities we can gather, but our primary goal is to give Jesus! We see so many hurting people, people in bondage to their sins not knowing how to get free and experience forgiveness. That was the case of “FG”. FG came in because he and his girlfriend where kicked out of a relative’s home they were staying with--again. We helped them with immediate emergency housing, helped them with job leads and both secured part time jobs. When FG came in to tell us of the landing of jobs, he asked us about coming back to Jesus as his personal savior. Unbeknownst to us FG had accepted Jesus a while ago and started doing many things that he shouldn’t have. But through the witnessing of the staff and volunteers, FG heard the shepherd’s voice calling him back. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

What a blessing that Jesus is our good shepherd and He knows us all so well. What an awesome privilege to know the Lord Jesus more and more each day as we listen to His voice, look to Him and follow His guidance. Thank you for your part in ministering, praying, supporting the Christian Caring Center with finances and volunteering to these precious souls. We can’t do it without each one of you!

Abiding in Him,

Madelyn C. Sutton