Where we allow God’s Direction, We Walk in God’s Protection ...

Dear friends, God sees everyone as valuable and worth seeking, finding, and saving. The Bible says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Sadly, many people are spiritually lost today. This means they’re following their own plan and agendas for their lives rather than God’s plan.

But what do spiritually lost people actually lose? They lose their direction and their protection.

In (Luke 15:1-7) Jesus tells a story of a Shepherd and a lost sheep.

The Shepherd leaves 99 saved sheep to go out and search for the one lost sheep. He doesn’t say, “I’ve got 99 saved sheep, so forget the lost one!” No, they all matter to him. And when He finds the lost sheep, “he joyfully puts it on his shoulders” (Luke 15:5) and goes home to celebrate.

Like sheep, people who are spiritually lost lose their direction.

In fact, we are all this way. We don’t intend to get lost. We just get curious and think, “That grass looks greener over there.” And soon as we follow our own way, well that’s when we lose our direction.

The Bible says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6).

Another thing spiritually lost people lose is God’s protection. Like sheep who wander away from their shepherd, you too are vulnerable when you don’t have a shepherd to protect you from the wolves of life. That’s why you need to follow Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Otherwise, you are alone and defenseless—and you lose God’s protection, not because He withdrew Himself from you, but because you withdrew yourself from Him.

The Bible also says, “My people are wandering like lost sheep; they are attacked because they have no shepherd”

(Zechariah 10:2).

But dear friends, when we place ourselves under the Good Shepherd’s care, we get direction and protection! Amen! How wonderful is that?

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we will be free from trouble. But it does mean that God will work “all things together for the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28) Maybe you or someone you know is lacking God’s direction and protection today. Remember, if you have believed and received Jesus into your life but have not fully surrendered to His will and are living rebellious and astray, Father God is calling you back home. Back to your first love.

And if you don’t know Him at all and you are still searching for purpose and Salvation, then dear friends, there is great news for you! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who sees everyone as extremely valuable and “desires all people to be saved.”

John 3:16-17 says -16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Just open your heart to Him, confess, and ask Him to be the Savior and Lord of your life, and dear friends He will surely come in and dwell in you. May God bless you and keep you always in Jesus Name. With Love, Your Brother in Christ, Pastor Billy Montes

(Editor’s Note: This column is written by a different Littlefield pastor for the Leader-News each week. The columns are published on this page on Wednesdays.)