Bible verses to build your life on

Jesus said: “… whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock…” ~ Matthew 7:24

Introduction

A somewhat brief study of John 10

Wow! This has been another amazing journey in God’s Word! Thanks for joining me in this study and discussion of one of the most foundational chapters about Jesus being the Good Shepherd and how we identify if we are His sheep and how we identify hirelings – false shepherds (aka. False teachers). For those of you who joined me in the study of Matthew 13 (another powerful, and I believe, foundational chapter that touches so many areas of our lives!) ~ Thanks for joining me in this next journey. John 10 has several themes and is also the framework of who the Good Shepherd is, how we identify the false shepherds that don’t care about the flock of God, and it also highlights another aspect of the church today! And to those who are just joining me in these adventures in God’s Word ~ Welcome! Glad to have you join us and I look forward to discussing God’s amazing truth!

ATTENTION! This is an important announcement! God is looking for qualified under-shepherds that will with all of that they have – teach His Word and seek to learn daily what it means to follow Him and please Him! [By the way, that invitation list includes you, if you will take His offer seriously!!! Kind of exciting ~ yes?] Yes, that invitation is extended to all who are willing to take Him serious enough to obey Him, learn what is truth, what is lie, what is fantasy, and be willing to learn from Him, through the trials and His blessed disciplining how to communicate His truth to a lost, confused, and dying world. But, we also have to remember God’s definition of a Bible teacher – it helps us keep perspective. You ready? Bible teacher – someone who studies God’s Word, takes it seriously themselves, is trying hard to learn to obey what they read, and someone who passes on what they are reading and what God is showing them. That’s pretty simple – yes? No title needed, no Ph-D, no special commendation from anyone who is a respected Bible teacher already. Just someone who studies God’s Word regularly and tells others about what they are reading… It’s an amazing offer – and if we accept this wonderful offer, it will transform our lives, and God will teach us more and more amazing things about Him each day! Sounds great! Are we in?

Just 2 brief notes before I get to this study: 1) This study on this amazing chapter has led to another study on ‘The Good Shepherd, Hirelings, and Faithful Under-Shepherds’… so, I’m planning to work on that soon, and I’d appreciate your prayers on that! 2) Most of these notes came from the best study of God’s Word I could do, then I studied John MacArthur’s notes and Matthew Henry’s notes and included here and there notes from other studious Bible teachers. And all of the verses in this study were copied from 2 sources: the Libronix Digital Library System – for more info, I encourage you to check out their website: www.libronix.com; and www.blueletterBible.org.

(You will notice that I pulled notes out of Pastor John MacArthur’s study Bible and I also borrowed some notes from a few other respected Bible teachers. Also, the majority of text I use is New King James Version (NKJV) – it is well respected and is an accurate translation. J) And, you will notice that I explain things in a little more extensive detail, that is to help the younger students of God’s Word to understand, also I have found that the more I study out the details, the more God’s Word comes alive for me! I hope that makes sense… At least a couple of people that have been reading these studies have been asking how they can get a study Bible like this, etc. I highly encourage you to get Pastor John MacArthur’s Study Bible, called ‘The MacArthur Study Bible’ (NKJV) and you can find it at most Christian bookstores or you can order it online: www.gty.org. It costs a little bit, but investing in a good study Bible like this will be a huge blessing to you for the rest of your life! I can tell you some of that from experience!)

Again, thanks for joining me in this journey! It’s always exciting to follow God with everything we have, because we never know what He will show us about our own hearts, and what He will show us about His beautiful character and what He will teach us to help us follow Him with more of our heart, soul, mind, and strength! So, here we go!