As believers in Christ who are learning to shepherd the saints according to God, we need to live God, be one with God, shepherd according to God’s nature and desire, and even become the same as God in life and nature to be the reproduction of Christ, being one with God in our shepherding.
Lord Jesus, we open to You! We love You! We want to be one with You! You are the Great Shepherd. You are the good Shepherd. You are the Chief Shepherd. You are in us. Reproduce Yourself in us. Live in us a shepherding life. May we be one with You today to shepherd the sheep, even to receive the shepherding from You and from the Body! Amen!
Thank the Lord that we believers in Christ are the Lord’s sheep, part of His flock. He died for us. He laid down His life for us so that we may have His divine life.
When we see His dying love, when we see how much He loves us and what He did to save us, we simply believe into Him, and we are brought into an organic union with Him.
We become the Lord’s sheep when we hear His voice and are regenerated with His life. He is our Shepherd. Our entire Christian life is filled with experiences of the Lord’s shepherding.
We need His shepherding all the time. There is no point in our life when we don’t need His shepherding.
The Lord’s very nature is a nature of shepherding. God dwells in unapproachable light, but the Lord Jesus as the embodiment of God came to be our Shepherd.
How we love His shepherding. He shed His blood for us, and His blood enacted the new covenant. Now He is shepherding us into the enjoyment of Himself as all the riches of the good land.
He is our pasture. He is the waters of rest. And He also set some subordinate shepherds, the elders in the churches, for the shepherding of the saints.
How we thank the Lord for the elders. The elders are not here to direct us what to do or merely arrange for things in the church or the meetings.
The elders’ primary function is to shepherd. We need to pray for the elders to release their function of shepherding.
We need the Lord’s shepherding and the shepherding of the elders in order for us to grow in life in a proper way for the building up of the Body of Christ.
How we thank and praise the Lord for being the Shepherd of our souls, overseeing our inward condition and caring for the situation of our inner being! How we love the Lord Jesus, our dear, wonderful Shepherd!
To Shepherd According to God is to Shepherd According to God’s Nature and Desire; For us to Shepherd According to God, we need to Become God in Life, Nature, Expression, and Function!
On the one hand, we enjoy the wonderful, sweet, and tender shepherding of the Lord Jesus, for we are His sheep, part of His flock. On the other hand, as seen in 1 Peter 5:2, we need to shepherd the flock of God according to God.
What does it mean to shepherd the flock of God according to God? We need to look at what the Bible tells us regarding this matter and be before the Lord concerning it.
According to God means that we live God (1 Thes. 3:8; 5:10). The word according means in agreement with, in accord with, in conformity to, and in conformity with.
To be according to God is to be in full agreement with God. This means that we need to live God and be conformed to God.
When we are one with God, we become God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead, and we are God in our shepherding of others (Rom. 11:24).
Of course, we do not become God in His Godhead, for only God is the almighty, the sovereign One; however, we become the same as God in His life and nature, which we possess by our regeneration, and also in His expression and function.
We shepherd one another by being filled with God, being one with God, being joined to God in an organic union.
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to God’s nature, desire, way, and glory, not according to our preference, interest, purpose and disposition.
God’s nature is holiness; He is holy. God’s desire is to have the church, the Body of Christ. God’s way is the way of life. God’s glory is His expression.
To shepherd according to God is to be according to His holy nature and shepherd according to His desire to gain the Body, His way of life, and His glory for His expression.
We should not shepherd according to our own preference, interest, or disposition.
In shepherding others, we should not exercise our preference. God’s love has no regard for persons; God loves all men. This is the love that He put in us for us to shepherd others with.
To shepherd according to God is to shepherd according to what God is in His attributes (Eph. 4:18; 1 John 4:8; Rev. 15:3).
He is love, light, holiness, and righteousness; all these attributes of God need to become our human virtues for our shepherding of others.
This shows us that, in order to shepherd according to God, we need to become God in life, nature, expression and function. Only God can shepherd according to God; we need to become the same as He is.
We need to be filled to the brim with the divine life, enjoying the Triune God as the fountain, the spring, and the river to become the totality of the divine life, even to become the divine life itself (John 4:14; Col. 3:4).
We need to come to the Lord in His word with the exercise of our spirit to receive His life and be filled with His life.
When we exercise our spirit to call on His name and pray over His word, we drink the Triune God, and we flow Him out as shepherding to others.
The more we take in God as the divine life, the more we can flow Him out as life to others. As we enjoy God in Christ as the Spirit in His word, we become God, the same as He is, in His attributes of love, light, righteousness, and holiness.
This is what needs to happen. We need to become the reproduction of Christ, the expression of God, so that in our shepherding we express not ourselves but God.
In our shepherding others, we should not express the self with its disposition and peculiarities but God Himself, the One with whom we are filled and who constitutes us.
We need to become God in His function of shepherding the flock of God according to what He is and according to His goal in His economy.
May we open to the Lord concerning this. He wants us to shepherd according to God, and He Himself can make us the same as He is.
We can shepherd according to God when we become God in His function of shepherding the flock of God, so that we shepherd the saints according to what He is, not according to what we are.
We cannot be presumptuous and heretical when we think of becoming the same as God; we become the same as He is in His life and nature, in His expression and His function, but we never become the same as God in His Godhead.
The Godhead is only His. But He wants us to shepherd according to God, so He works Himself into us and constitutes us with what He is so that we shepherd the flock of God according to what He is in us!
Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with You today to shepherd the flock of God according to God. Amen, Lord, may we be those who live God and do all things according to God so that we may shepherd according to God. May our shepherding be not according to our preference, interest, purpose or disposition but according to God! Amen, Lord, may we shepherd according to God’s desire, nature, way, and glory! We open to You, Lord, so that You may work Yourself into us and constitute us with Yourself. May Your attributes be our virtues today. Make us the same as You are in life, nature, expression, and function. Fill us to the brim with the divine life so that we may become a totality of the divine life, even to become the divine life flowing God out into others! Oh Lord, make us the same as You are in Your function of shepherding the flock of God according to what You are and according to Your goal in Your economy! Amen!
If we would Shepherd According to God, we need to become one with God!
If we would obey the Lord’s commandment to shepherd one another according to God, we need to become one with God (John 14:20; 1 Cor. 6:17).
When it comes to the matter of shepherding, we cannot and should not use any gimmicks or props in a worldly way. We shouldn’t desire to be great speakers nor should we invite famous persons to give their testimony of how they believed into the Lord.
The listeners may be touched by the gospel message or the gospel testimony, but who will shepherd the new ones according to God afterwards?
The Lord’s way today is not big gospel meetings with well-known or famous people testifying but small groups preaching the gospel in oneness and vital groups caring for the new ones to shepherd them according to God.
The way people can be saved effectively must be by the small vital groups, and everyone in this small vital group needs to be a shepherd.
If we all function in this way, the church will be revived. This is the prevailing way.
It is in the small groups that we can all learn to teach the truth, that is, be apt to teach by giving home teaching regarding the Lord to one another (1 Tim. 3:2).
We may not be a teacher who can teach from the front, expounding the scriptures for a whole hour, but we can be constituted with the truth and we can shepherd and teach one another in the small groups.
May we all pray that we would be revived to be a shepherd according to God.
May we all take the Lord’s commandment to shepherd His sheep and feed His lambs, and may we be one with the Lord as we carry out the shepherding (John 21:15-16).
The Lord shpeherded us and all the other sheep to make us one flock under Him as the one Shepherd (10:16).
He flocks us together. He made peace between us, and He made us one. This is His shepherding.
We can be one with Him to shepherd others according to God. If we would shepherd according to God, we need to become one with God.
We are one spirit with the Lord, and He as the Shepherd, is in our spirit; we can be one with Him to shepherd others according to God.
The basic principle of the Bible is that in His economy God is making Himself one with man and man one with Him (John 15:4; 1 Cor. 6:17).
It is in this oneness of God and man that we should live our daily life, and we should be one with God when we shepherd others.
God desires that the divine life and the human life be joined together to become one life that has one living (John 6:57; Gal. 2:20).
We can eat Him and live because of Him, and we can live one spirit with Him so that it is no longer we but Christ who lives in us.
As we enjoy the Lord both personally and in the home meetings and in our small group vital meetings, we are filled with the Lord, we become one with God, and we can shepherd others according to God.
May we take this way. May we rise up to seek after the Lord so that we can be the overcomers to bring forth the building up of the Body of Christ.
This will give the Lord a way to consummate this age and bring in His kingdom to celebrate His wedding day for His pleasure and satisfaction.
And we will be one with Him to be there with Him, the overcoming saints as part of the bride of Christ.
Eventually, this will consummate His eternal goal, the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth.
Today we can live a life of shepherding by becoming one with God to shepherd according to God, and this is to live an overcoming life for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem!
Lord Jesus, make us one with You in every possible way so that we may shepherd others according to God! Amen, Lord, we open to You. We love You. We allow You to shine in us and expose us. Remove from us anything that is not according to You. Make us one with You and make Yourself one with us. Keep us in the mingled spirit today, living one spirit with You in all things. Amen, Lord, we rise up to see after You so that we can be the overcomers You need today! We want to overcome in our daily living by being one spirit with You! We want to remain in our mingled spirit and shepherd others according to God by being one with God! Hallelujah, shepherding according to God is for the building up of the Body of Christ, consummating in the New Jerusalem! Amen, Lord, may we have one life and one living today. May we eat You and live because of You. May we live in the organic union of God and man. May we remain in the vital groups You put us in so that we may be one with God and shepherd according to God for the building up of the Body of Christ!
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References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother James Lee on this topic, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” ch. 13, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Experiencing, Enjoying, and Expressing Christ (part 3 – 2025 Summer Training), week 34, Shepherding according to God – day 5.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Dwell we here on a high mountain, / Wet with the morning-fresh dew, / Slaking our thirst at the fountain, / Water so living and new. / Christ is our rest and enjoyment, / Here we have nothing to fear; / Here all the sheep dwell securely, / Kept by His presence so dear. (Hymns #1221 stanzas 4-5)
– We give ourselves the flock’s steps to follow / Knowing the Shepherd’s care. / Now in the churches Jesus is leading / And He is speaking there. / We give ourselves to Thee, O Lord Jesus, / Never to turn aside; / Where’er the Lamb goes, there we would follow, / Follow whate’er betide. (Hymns #1246 stanzas 3-4)
– Thy saving arm a refuge is, / My Savior God, to me; / Thou as the Father keepeth them / Who put their trust in Thee. / The sheep and shepherd are of one, / The head and body same; / None e’er can pluck from out Thy hand / The child who trusts Thy Name. (Hymns #960 stanza 5)
About aGodMan
Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994-1997, vol. 4, “Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John,” p. 451
We need to not only enjoy the Lord’s shepherding but also cooperate with Him to shepherd according to God.
We do this by being one with God and by becoming the same as He is in His function of shepherding.
And we do this in the small vital groups, where we learn to shepherd and teach one another for the building up of the Body of Christ.
Amen brother.
Our Lord said: I am the Good Shepherd.
We should take Him as our pattern, and learn to feed, to shepherd, and to flock together.
We must overcome the inertia & indifference of Christianity, and press forward to carry out the organic service of building up the Body of Christ.
To shepherd “according to God” means in full agreement and conformity to God!
It is to live God, become God in life & nature, according to God’s Holy nature, His way, desire & glory (Heb. 13:20-21), and not according to our preference, interest, and disposition.
To shepherd, we need to become one with God!
This is to be constituted so much with God such that His attributes must become our human virtues, a reproduction of Himself, where God and man are mingled together as one entity – one life with one living for His goal! (Col. 3:4; 1 Cor. 6:17; Gal. 2:20).
Appreciated these two matters this morning:
Footnotes from the Holy Bible, Recovery Version.
Bro, the way that can save people effectively is by the vital groups and every member the vital group must be a shepherd.
For the shepherding in the vital group, there must be the healthy teaching for feeding, shepherding, and flocking. We should not he held back by the satisfaction of the judicial aspect.
We should give our full attention to the organic section of God’s salvation through shepherding not missing the critical point of the fulfillment of God’s economy. This is the critical need of the Lord’s recovery today. May we rise up to seek after the Lord so that we can be the overcomers to bring forth the building up the Body