Jeremiah 23:1-5 (NIV)
1 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!" declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend My people: "Because you have scattered My flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the Lord. 3 "I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the Lord. 5 "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

In the last days when He comes I want to tell you something parents, shepherds, leaders, He's not going to beat the sheep up, He's going to come after the leaders. He actually promises that He will go and find the sheep that have wandered to the hills, that have been abused and misused and bring them back and place shepherds over them that have a pure heart, that love them enough to develop them and teach them.

People say, "The shepherds haven't visited" but the whole thing of it is, I tell our people, my leaders to make fifty phone calls per week, not to five people but one phone call per person and to not get caught up in building friendships where they phone people and talk to them every day. They are to find different people and phone them up and talk with them, fellowship with them. They are not to get into this friendship type of thing with five people and let the other forty five be out there wandering and then talking about them and judging them. Then you have the opposite side. I remember a woman coming to me and she said, "Look, I haven't been to church for four weeks and you haven't visited me. Doesn't the bible say that you have to leave the ninety nine and come looking for the one?" I said, "Yes it does, but the Lord told me to go looking for the lost not the rebellious, you know your way back here. Don't you manipulate me with the word of God. If you were offended and you were out there then I would go looking not because you just want to manipulate my time." We can make the word read whatever we want it to read can't we? I tell you we can. We can beat people bloody with the word, manipulate them; make them feel guilty or we can lift people up, we can develop their lives. We can bring them into a place where all of a sudden the word becomes alive. Isn't that powerful?
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