No Fly Zone

Mount Calvary online Bible Study

Psalm 23

No fly zone

He anoints me head with oil and my cup runs over

November 1, 2012

We have now reached a point in our time together where everything has finally been put into place.  The sheep are where the shepherd wants them to be.  The sheep are eating the greenest grass and drinking the coolest water.  The Shepherd is right there with them.  They are in table land a plateau, a higher elevation the next level if you will.  The sheep and shepherd are now close they have formed that intimate relationship.  Everything is good everything is lovely.  It is a perfect situation: The mountain lions have been tamed and the snakes have been chased away and the poisonous plants have been plucked up.  This is what the Shepherd has been trying to move the sheep to all along.

Has it ever been that way with you and God?  Prayer is easy, studying Gods word brings nothing but pleasure.  You can’t wait to get to church.  You can see and hear God at work, at home and even at play; you are in an intimate relationship with your Savior.

Oh beloved just when everything is going well, its summer warm days and cool nights, but with all that perfection there is a literal fly in the ointment.  You see beloved it’s now summer and its fly time!

Hoards of flies invade sheep territory in the summer.  This is a serious problem for the sheep and the shepherd relationship.  Yes beloved flies, show up not just your run of the mill ordinary fly but special flies that have their own agenda!

• There are warble flies, Bot flies, heel flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats.  There attack can and will ruin the perfect rest and relationship of sheep and shepherd.  They drive the sheep to distraction.  But beloved the most notorious of those flies are the nose fly.

Flies with an agenda! /Distraction

1. He wants to plant his eggs in a vulnerable place on the sheep

1. In the nose mucus membranes

1. The eggs hatch and crawl up the nasal passage into you guessed it the head of the sheep
2. Once he plants them and they hatch and crawl up to his head they dig themselves into his brain and they cause the sheep pain swelling 
3. The problem is this, the sheep need relief from these flies, so they deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, post, bushes thorn bushes.  They rub themselves in dirt.  Just trying to get some respite from these flies.

Keys to the Lesson: Distractions come from the enemy!

If the enemy can’t get you with the big stuff he will send bugs, flies the small stuff to distract you.  He realizes by now because of your relationship with the shepherd he can’t get you with a mountain lion or a snake or a poisonous plant.  

He will attempt to drop the egg of:

• Doubt
• Fear
• Negativity
• Stinginess
• Hoarding

Because of the irritation some sheep have gone blind and some have even killed themselves just to escape relief from the flies.  

Keys to the lesson: Fear/Distraction

So when the sheep even see the flies hovering around he takes his eyes off the shepherd and becomes afraid he becomes frantic with fear and panic.  

The results of this fear:

The female sheep stop milking the baby sheep/ death

The larger sheep in an attempt to escape run over baby sheep/ death

The sheep become so afraid that they even refuse to go out into the pasture because that is where the flies hover, in the green grass.

Confess to the Lord:  Lord I am a sheep because it is the small stuff that drives me crazy.  Notice if you will the flies are always trying to get into the head of the sheep

Keys to the Lesson:  Attack the head and the body will fall!

Why do you think the fly attacks the head?

What happens when the enemy gets in your head?

Stinking thinking!

Not just your physical head but the spiritual head

Remember the enemy wants your life and your soul!

The Cure

Only the watchful eye of a shepherd can cure these issues.  He is always watching the sheep even though they take their eyes off him and when he notices there behavior pattern changes, he gets the remedy.  When he notices that they are bugging out he gets the remedy.

He gets some oil and sulfur and tar and he mixes it together and then he rubs it all over the head of the sheep and guesses what, instantly the behavior of the sheep changes.  The sheep begin to eat, drink and graze.  

Keys to the Lesson 

Notice that the shepherd does not remove the sheep from the situation he just adds an agent into the mix, the Holy Spirit!  He anoints the head of the sheep in the presence of the flies.  The Holy Spirit is the oil of my life.  When petty annoyances begin to drive me crazy the Holy Spirit is the cure.