OSCAR WILDE, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST … (The Bible’s Impact on Performance Art) [Nov 27]

Ever considered what you have been given? Ever considered what being a good steward looks like? Ever considered that you are given bread and seed, one to eat and one to sow? What type of seeds do you have? What type of seeds are you taking? What type of seeds are you planting? Are you planting or eating the seeds? If you don’t use what what you have been given as food (bread) for food but instead try to eat what was given so that you can reap a harvest later it will impact what is yet to come. If you try to go for the immediate or fast hit of eating the seeds rather than having the patience for the seeds to be planted, watered, germinate, and then grow, you will miss out on everything that was purpose and intended for those seeds. If you don’t sow you won’t reap. If you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly. If you sow generously you will reap generously. Don’t miss out on all that God has for you. Don’t miss out on the blessings of scattering the seeds. Trust God for the harvest. Trust God because what you sow not only produces a harvest but more seeds. Sow to the Spirit in order to reap eternal life. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked or fooled and sow to the desires of the flesh like sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these because such things reap corruption. Instead sow to the Spirit which reaps eternal life by keeping in step with the Spirit and producing the fruits of the Spirit against which things there is no law like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So where are you at today? Are you ready to trust God? Are you ready to do good?

Let’s check out today’s reading from Galatians 6:

Bear One Another’s Burdens

1Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5For each will have to bear his own load.
6Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 10So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Final Warning and Benediction

11See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.

—Galatians 6

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Today’s devotional from The Global Impact Bible on the theme of the Bible’s impact on Performance Art on the subject of Oscar Wilde and his play The Importance of Being Earnest. We learn in today’s devotional about Oscar Wilde who was an Irish playwright, poet, and dramatist. We learn that he was famous for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and his comic masterpieces. We learn that he was part of a movement in England that advocated art for art’s sake called Aesthetic: an intellectual and art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than social-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts. We learn that it wasn’t until late in his life that he sought religious help. We learn that the Catholic Church welcomed him on his deathbed. We learn in the closing of today’s devotional that many of his works included biblical references with the example of Miss Prism quoting Galatians 6:7 in Act 2 of The importance of Being Earnest which is part of today’s reading.

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‘Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ‘

—Galatians 6:7

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MISS PRISM: As a man sows, so shall he reap.

—The Importance of being earnest – Act 2 – p.277
The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays: Lady Windermere’s Fan; Salome; A Woman of No Importance; An Ideal Husband; The Importance of Being Earnest (Oxford World’s Classics)Jun 15, 2008
by Oscar Wilde and Peter Raby

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So will you be earnest?

serious · serious-minded · solemn · grave · sober · humorless · staid · steady · intense · committed · dedicated · assiduous · keen · diligent · zealous · industrious · hard-working · studious · thoughtful · cerebral · deep · profound · bookish · donnish · devout · heartfelt · wholehearted · sincere · impassioned · deeply felt · from the heart · full-hearted · fervent · fervid · ardent · passionate · intense · burning · urgent · passional · perfervid

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Interested in turning back to God and starting to walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh and starting to sow in the Spirit in order to produce the fruits of the Spirit?

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Let’s pray… Let’s first pray to commit our lives back to God

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Next as we prepare for this day, let’s take hold of the Lord’s Prayer and align with God’s plans and purpose for today…

Now let’s get going with today and live out our lives as living sacrifices so that in and through it all God will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Let’s pray to forgive others…

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Heavenly Father, Thank You for this new day and for all that will be in it. I pray Lord for Your healing touch as I have woken up this morning feeling ill. I give this day into Your hands Lord and ask for Your wisdom and help to accomplish all that You have planned for me. Help me Lord to live it out in a way that will bring You praise, honor, and glory. Help my friends Lords who are fighting sickness, dealing with loss, and pursuing You Lord. I ask all this so that in and through it all You will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Amen.

RAVENOUS ALIENS … (The Bible’s Impact on Performance Art) [Nov 24]

Does it make sense to sacrifice for someone you love? Does it make sense to sacrifice for someone who is good? Does it make sense to sacrifice for someone who is in need? Does it make sense to sacrifice for someone who has done wrong? Does it make sense for someone who has been bad? What if the sacrifice was to die for someone else? What would it take for you to be willing to give up your life for someone? Would you be willing to give up your life for your family? your friends? your neighbors? your community? your city? your country? Is there a limit? 

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Today’s reading comes to us from Romans 5…

 

—Romans 5

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In this world we will troubles but we can consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds. Today’s reading gives us another view on this truth where it says:

‘Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. ‘

—Romans 5:3-5

And going back to the questions which started today’s post, we read in Romans 5:7-8 which even aligns with today’s devotional where the Bible reads:

‘For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ‘

—Romans 5:6-8

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Today’s devotional from The Global Impact Bible on the theme of the Bible’s impact on Performance Art on the subject of Ravenous Aliens. We learn in today’s devotional how even movies like Alien can give allusion to biblical principles. Today’s devotional points us to today’s reading where in Alien 3 Ellen Ripley played by Sigourney Weaver is the sole survivor of a crashed spaceship which lands on a planet for prisoners living in a maximum security facility. We learn how in the movie the prisoners view her as a savior who has fallen from the sky. We learn how in the movie she reveals a Christ-like character when she sacrifices her life for them. We also learn of how at that moment in the movie she even stretches out her arms as if she is on a cross.

Romans 5:7-8

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So have you been saved? Have you received the incredible gift of life because of the incredible sacrifice? Have you receive the incredible gift of life through Jesus who gave up His life on the cross so that we can live, not just here on earth but also for eternity with God? Might today be your day?

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Let’s pray… Let’s first pray to commit our lives back to God

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Next as we prepare for this day, let’s take hold of the Lord’s Prayer and align with God’s plans and purpose for today…

Now let’s get going with today and live out our lives as living sacrifices so that in and through it all God will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Let’s pray to forgive others…

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Heavenly Father, thank You for this new day. Thank You for time yesterday as a family getting to go get our tree and celebrating Thanksgiving together. Thank You for my incredible wife and children. Thank You for my incredible friends and relatives. Thank You Lord for the incredible sacrifice of Jesus who cares so much for all of us that He would come and give His life in such a powerful and painful way to pay the price so that we can be saved. Thank You Lord for touching me and calling me and saving me. I give this day up into Your hands and ask Lord for Your help in allowing me to live int out in a way that will bring You all the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Amen.

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION … (The Bible’s Impact on Performance Art) [Nov 23]

Are you ready? Are you prepared? Are you living a life that shows what you believe in? Are you living a life that demonstrates your core values? What are people seeing in the way you live? What are people seeing in the way you carry yourself? What if they knew you when they couldn’t see you? Are you living your life as unto the Lord? Are you living your life in a way that will shine the light and bring God the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name? Do you love Jesus? Are you living out a life of servant leadership? Are you feeding and tending His sheep?

Today’s reading comes to us from John 21…

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

1After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
9When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19(This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

20Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
25Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

—John 21

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Today’s devotional from The Global Impact Bible on the theme of the Bible’s impact on Performance Art on the subject of The Shawshank Redemption. 
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne, who is sentenced to life in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murder of his wife and her lover, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following two decades, he befriends a fellow prisoner, contraband smuggler Ellis “Red” Redding, and becomes instrumental in a money laundering operation led by the prison warden Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton). William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, and James Whitmore appear in supporting roles. We learn in today’s devotional how this film was based on a Stephen King novel. We learn about the wrongful imprisonment, being put into a maximum security prison, the dangers of a calculating warden, how in a key scene the warden and guards come for a surprise inspection in hopes of convincing Andy to use his great accounting skills to help him launder money. We learn how Andy was digging a hole to freedom through a wall hidden by a poster when the warden had arrived. We learn about how the warden questioned Andy about the Bible he was holding and asked what his favorite passage was. We learn it was from Mark 13:35 KJV:

Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning

—Mark 13:35 KJV

to slyly reference the warden’s visit. The warden tells Andy he prefers John 8:12 to point out his plans

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

—John 8:12 KJV

We learn how when the warden hands back the Bible he says “Salvation lay within.” We learn how these words come back to the warden when Andy has escaped and blown the whistle on him how Andy speaks them back to the warden and we learn how when Andy opens it further it shows a cut out of where the rock hammer he had been using was hidden and had helped him escape through the tunnel.

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Are you looking for true freedom? Are you looking for a way out of where you are at today? Why not turn to God? Why to read His Word and hear His love story? Why not learn of the gift of grace through Jesus Christ? 

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Let’s pray… Let’s first pray to commit our lives back to God

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Next as we prepare for this day, let’s take hold of the Lord’s Prayer and align with God’s plans and purpose for today…

Now let’s get going with today and live out our lives as living sacrifices so that in and through it all God will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Let’s pray to forgive others…

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Heavenly Father, thank You for this new day and for everything within it. Help me Lord to live out my life in a way that will bring You glory. Help me to live out my life as a living sacrifice to You. Help me to live out my life as a servant leader who is watching and feeding Your sheep. Lord give me eyes to see and ears to hear so that in all things at all times I will be able to live my life that will bring You all the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name in every thought, word, and deed. Amen.

MEL GIBSON, THE PASSION … (The Bible’s Impact on Performance Art) [Nov 22]

What an interesting thing that appear as the devotional for today when today happens to be Thanksgiving Day in the US. This morning I saw a show about the people who gave and sacrificed in our military and I am so thankful that they were willing to serve, to go, and to give and and some to even lose their lives for freedom. Freedom isn’t free. As I was reflecting on that I was also reflected back on Jesus and His ultimate sacrifice in order for us to be reconciled back to God so that we can be free for who the Son sets free is free indeed. Freedom isn’t free. It has come at an incredible cost. Last night during the Thanksgiving-eve service a few interesting facts came up about Thanksgiving from US history. First 1621, where the Senate and the House petitioned George Washington the first president of the United States to issue a proclamation, declaring a national Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving. Second 1863, in the midst of the US Civil War, Abraham Lincoln’s Proclamation of Thanksgiving Day . In 1863, a year filled with pivotal historical events — the Emancipation Proclamation, the Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, and the Gettysburg Address — Abraham Lincoln issued what has become known as the first annual Thanksgiving Proclamation. As we can see it wasn’t always an easy time or a time of peace, but it was similar to Lamentations where in the midst of the trials and the troubles people are able to turn to God and give him thanks.

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

—Lamentations 4:19-24

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Today’s reading comes to us from John 19. Let’s take a read from there…

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

1Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
12From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus, 17and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.'” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, 25but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

The Death of Jesus

28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

Jesus Is Buried

38After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

–John 19

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Today’s devotional from The Global Impact Bible on the theme of the Bible’s impact on Performance Art on the subject of Mel Gibson’s The Passion. We learn about the movie’s portrayal of the crucifixion or passion of Jesus. We learn how Jesus has inspired many works of art, music, and film. We learn how in Mel Gibson’s 2004 production of The Passion of the Christ how it is one of the most successful portrayals of this story. We learn how it was nominated for three Academy Awards. We learn how it grossed nearly half a billion dollars worldwide. We learn how it was done in a very unique way by portraying the story in Aramaic which is the languages that was most likely spoken by Jesus and His disciples. We learn of some pretty incredible things that happened during the filming of the production to the actor Jim Caviezel who played Jesus like being struck by lightning, suffering injuries from the whipping, and during his hanging on the cross a separated shoulder.

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What do you have to be thankful for? No matter if you are at mountain top point in your life or in the valley lows, what can you be thankful for? Do you need to go to the point of Lamentation where because of God you can be thankful no matter what happens? Do you need to reflect on assumptions like “no matter what happens” and “you are alive” for all today() = Happy!! ? Yesterday is gone. Tomorrows isn’t guaranteed. So why not make the most of your today? Let today be Happy, no matter what happens, you can celebrate that you are alive. You can celebrate the promises of God! You can celebrate that you know where you are going.

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Let’s pray… Let’s first pray to commit our lives back to God

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Next as we prepare for this day, let’s take hold of the Lord’s Prayer and align with God’s plans and purpose for today…

Now let’s get going with today and live out our lives as living sacrifices so that in and through it all God will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Let’s pray to forgive others…

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Heavenly Father, thank You for this new day. Thank You for this time with my family. Thank You for this time to remember all that You have already done and are doing in and through my life. Thank You for my wife – the answer to a summer time prayer. Thank You for my children – the answer to continued prayer. Thank You for my home – the answer to a 8 year old boys prayer. Thank You for being with me every step of every day. Thank You for sending Jesus who made a way when there wasn’t a way. Thank You for the examples be it George Washington and the house and senate coming together during the first presidency which was fairly trying. Thank You for the examples of Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and setting time aside to celebrate Thanksgiving. I give all this into Your hands so that in and through it all You will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Amen.

KARLA SPETIC …(The Bible’s Impact on Performance Art) [Nov 21]

Leadership…Are you a good leader? Are you a good follower? Ever considered what it takes to be a good leader? Ever considered the qualities and attitude of good leaders? Ever consider how important being a servant is to being a leader? Ever considered that to be a good leader you need to serve others? Ever considered that you need to have vision? Ever considered that you need to have wisdom? Ever considered that you need God? Ever considered looking at the example of Jesus as a leader and trying to mirror that? Ever considered His instructions and direction? Ever invited the Holy Spirit into your life to help you become a leader? Ever considered the number of people who are watching you and looking for you to lead?

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Today’s reading comes to us from John 10…

I Am the Good Shepherd

1″Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
19There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

I and the Father Are One

22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one.”
31The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42And many believed in him there.

—John 10

Will you stay? Will you stand? Will you be? Will you run? Will you scatter? Will you hide? What kind of a leader will you choose to be? For yourself? For your family? For your friends? For your community? For your workplace? People are looking to you even when you don’t know it and so it is up to you to choose.

Today’s devotional from The Global Impact Bible on the theme of the Bible’s impact on Performance Art on the subject of Karla Spetic. We learn in today’s reading about how many of her dresses, tops, skirts in her spring/summer 2013 “faith” collection feature a prominent picture of Jesus — the Good Shepherd of John 10 with a lamb around His shoulders. Doing a bit of research I found an article that talks about her this way:

“Karla Spetic launched her namesake label in 2008 at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week, just two years after graduating from the Sydney Fashion Design Studio. The Croatian-born, Sydney-based designer confesses to being her own harshest critic and, while she is never truly satisfied with a collection, that doesn’t mean others aren’t utterly delighted. Regarded as pretty and playful, modern and minimalist, her pieces are worn all over the world with 24 stockists in Australia and four in New York, Dubai, Auckland and Jakarta. In 2009 she was nominated as a finalist in the Best Up and Coming Designer category in the Prix de Marie Claire awards. Never one to let success go to her head, Karla is still genuinely chuffed when she sees someone in the street wearing her garments.”

—KARLA SPETIC from Map Magazine

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So what are people seeing and learning as they watch you? What type of leader do they see you to be? What kind of leader do you want to be? Are you leading where others are or want to follow you? Are you just going on a casual walk? Like all of life the choice is up to us to decide.

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Let’s pray… Let’s first pray to commit our lives back to God

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Next as we prepare for this day, let’s take hold of the Lord’s Prayer and align with God’s plans and purpose for today…

Now let’s get going with today and live out our lives as living sacrifices so that in and through it all God will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Let’s pray to forgive others…

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Heavenly Father, Be with me today. Help me to walk out my today in a way that points people to You. Help me in my thoughts, words, and actions to be living out my life so that if or when others are watching me they notice the difference and come to the realization of who You are in my life and how having Jesus in the center makes a difference. Help me Lord to check my heart and my mind that I will be a servant leader. Help me Lord to consider who I am leading in order to better serve them and be a good shepherd like Jesus. Lord, I give all this up into Your hands as I thank You and ask all this in Jesus’s name so that You Lord will receive the praise, the honor, and the glory in Jesus’s name. Amen.