Episode #60: Who is Jesus, the Good Shepherd

The fastest way to lose peace is to confuse the Shepherd with the thief. Today we slow down in Scripture to draw a bright, freeing line between what Jesus does in your life and what the enemy tries to do to it. If you’ve ever asked, “Why would God let this happen?” this message gives you a Bible-based lens that brings clarity without minimizing your pain.

We read through John 10 where Jesus calls Himself the door of the sheep and the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His people. We talk about salvation, protection, and the promise of abundant life, and we name the thief’s work for what it is: stealing, killing, and destroying. Then we get practical about spiritual growth, because hearing God is not a mystery reserved for a few. We build the habit of recognizing His voice through reading the Word, meditating on Scripture, and staying connected to a spirit-filled church.

From there, we rest in Psalm 23 and let it paint a picture of what shepherding feels like in real life: green pastures, still waters, restored souls, right paths, comfort in dark valleys, and a life marked by goodness and mercy. We also end with prayer and an invitation for anyone ready to receive Jesus through a simple salvation prayer.

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Transcript

Welcome And Mission

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well Podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Hello.

Who Is The Good Shepherd

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Welcome to episode 60. Do you know who the Good Shepherd is? Well, the Good Shepherd is Jesus. So in today's episode, we are going to learn about the Good Shepherd, who He is, and what He does in our lives. So let's get started.

Jesus As The Door

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So let's turn to our Bibles to John chapter ten verse seven. And it reads Then Jesus said to them again, Most assuredly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. Who are the sheep? We are the sheep, his people are his sheep. All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and come out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. So right here Jesus is identifying who he is and who the devil is. They are both different. Sometimes people like to put the responsibility of what the devil did onto God, but that's not the case here. It says, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in out and find pasture. So Jesus wants to save us. But it says in verse 10, the thief, which is the devil, does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. So anything in your life that's been killed off, that's been destroyed, is from the devil. Or anything that has been stolen from you, that was the devil that was not from God. But God says, I have come. He says, I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. That's who God is. The devil is the one who wants us to remain stuck, who doesn't want us to have anything, but God wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly.

The Shepherd Lays Down His Life

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Verse eleven, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And what did he do when he died on the cross for us? He gave his life for us. But a hairling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep. So the devil does not own us, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. But a hairling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The herling flees because he is a hairling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep. God knows us, and I am known by my own. As a father knows me, even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore my father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on myself. I have power to lay it down and have power to take again. This command I have received from my Father. So you can tell the love that Jesus has for us. He is the shepherd. A shepherd takes care of his sheep. And Jesus takes care of us. And he identifies who he is. He says, I want people to come to me. He says, I am the good shepherd. I don't steal, I don't kill, and I don't destroy. That's what the thief does. Don't confuse the two, don't combine the two. Don't combine both things into what God does. God is not both. He is only one. He is the good shepherd. Look what it says here in verse 14. I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep, and I'm known by my own. So not only does Jesus know us, we know him too. That's how we're his sheep because we know him. That's how we need to know him. How do we know him? As I always have said, reading his word, meditating on the word, meditating on the words in the Bible, going to church, feeding yourself with the word of God every day. That's how you know who Jesus is. And you'll know that he is the good shepherd.

Psalm 23 And A Peaceful Life

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Now let's head on over to Psalm 23. In Psalm 23, it says, The Lord, the shepherd of his people. We talked about it in John, what the shepherd is. The Lord is my shepherd, and the shepherd guides us. So in verse 1 in Psalms 23, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Because a shepherd takes care of his sheep. The shepherd takes care of our needs and takes care of our wants. It doesn't mean that we don't want anything or we shouldn't want anything. It's that God, our shepherd, takes care of those things for us. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. How does that sound right there? Does it sound chaotic? I don't think so. It sounds very calming. That's who Jesus is. It's peaceful. And he leads me beside the still waters. And being at that calm, peaceful place, it says he restores my soul. He restores our soul. It's not broken, it's not damaged, he doesn't leave us where we're at. But the good shepherd takes care of us spiritually, physically, mentally, in every way possible, because his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He's not there to try to make things harder for us and heavier for us, but he is the shepherd and wants to make things lighter for us, easy for us. Verse 3, he restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, which means he only wants us to go in the right path. He's going to lead us into the good paths, not in the paths where we shouldn't go. If we go down that path, that was our own decision. But he'll lead us down the good path, like a shepherd does. Verse four, he through a walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff they comfort me. So it says, When I walk through those places, through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because God is with me, my shepherd is with me. When my shepherd is with me, I'm not afraid anymore. Why? Because he will take care of it for me. He's there to protect me, to guide me, to lead me another way, to show me the right way to go, to show me the right way out. My shepherd takes care of me because why? I am his sheep. That's his job. That's who he is. Verse five. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. That's favor right there. That people will watch you be successful. That people will watch you get blessed. God doesn't hide it when he blesses us. He can do it in private, but he likes to do it out in the open. He likes to bless people. He likes to favor people. He likes to do things for people. So it says, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. People are being blessed in front of other people. There's favor. What is favor? When things go well for you. By obedience to God. It says, You anoint my head with oil. We're anointed. My cup runs over. That's a blessing. We're not just barely getting by. We're not wondering when we'll have just enough. No, my cup runs over. When our cup runs over, what does that mean? We have more than enough. Because it says here, my cup runs over. Your cup can only run over if it's filled to the top and it keeps going on and going on. So in every single air of our life, our cup runs over. Verse six, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. God's goodness and his mercy will follow me when all the days of my life. Do you see that? All the days of my life. Every single day, even on Mondays, even when you're having a difficult time at work or with your family, whatever it is, it says, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Goodness will follow, good things every single day. That's what God's word says. Remember, as we read in John, don't confuse God with the devil. The devil steals, he kills, and destroys. Jesus does not do that. The good shepherd does not do that. The good shepherd cares for us. He tends to us. He guides us and leads us. So goodness, God wants goodness in our lives. It says, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I will live in the house of the Lord forever. I will be with him. And how good does that scripture sound? How good does Psalm 23 feel when you read it, when you know who our shepherd is and what his responsibility is and what he wants to do for us and who we are. We are his sheep. He tends to us, he cares for us, he leads us, he guides us, he protects us, he blesses us, he favors us, he comforts us, he restores our soul. There's no chaos, there's no confusion, there's no hatred, there's none of that. It's calm, it's easy, it's light. That's who Jesus is because he can take it all, he can handle it all. We just need to let it go and he can take care of it all for us. He can handle these situations and he can take care of them better than what we ever could. We may think we may have the best plan or the best idea, but he can certainly do better than what we can.

Hearing Jesus And Following Him

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So let's go back to John chapter 10, verse 25. It says, I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. So if there's someone who doesn't believe who the shepherd is or what the responsibility of a shepherd is and does, it says here, then you are not my sheep. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Do you hear Jesus? Do you follow him? Read his word. What is he telling you in his word? twenty eight and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. So you can see how great and how powerful our shepherd is. I like it here in verse 29 where it says, My Father who has given them to me, the sheep, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hands, and I and my Father are one. Jesus and God are one. They are strong. They are guiding us, they are leading us, they're giving us eternal life. We will never perish as long as we're with them. We will not be removed. No one can take us, snatch us away from the hand of the Lord because we are his sheep. We belong to him. Remember, we were bought at a price. So Jesus, he died for our sins. We're made new in his image. We're made new. So he is our shepherd, we are the sheep. It shouldn't have to be, why did God let this happen? Why did he take this thing away from my life or this person away from my life? The devil does that. He steals, he kills, and destroys. Jesus doesn't do that. Know the difference between those two. You'll know the difference between those two is when you read the word. Because it says here, my sheep know me. My sheep know my voice. They're not going to go another way. They're not going to do anything else that I haven't instructed them to do because they know me, they hear me, and they follow my voice. Are you hearing God? Are you listening to his voice? Are you doing what he's telling you to do? Remember, he leads us and guides us into all truth. It's peaceful, peaceful, it's not chaotic. He puts us near still waters that sound so peaceful and beautiful. He's there for us. He takes care of us. He lifts us up. He blesses us. He favors us all the days of our lives. So

Prayer And Final Encouragement

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before we close, let's say your prayer. Thank you, God, for today for everyone that is listening. Thank you, God, that we are the sheep and you are the shepherd. Thank you, God, that you are here to guide us, to love us, to lead us, to favor us, to bless us. And thank you, God, so much that you are our shepherd, and we are the sheep. Thank you, God, that we hear your voice and not anyone else's, and that we do and follow what you say. In Jesus' name, amen. Well,

Share The Message And Salvation Prayer

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if this message helped you in any way, share it with a friend or a family member, and thank you for tuning in. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say the salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now, I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved. In Jesus' name. Amen. I'm glad you prayed that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.