The story of the shepherd tells how one lost sheep was found after the shepherd left the rest of the flock to search for it.

(Luke 15:3-4) (3) "And he spake this parable unto them, saying," (4) "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he finds it?"

(Luke 15:5-6) (5) "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing." (6) "And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost."

Luke 15:7) "I say unto you, that likewise, joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

Dear readers, this parable speaks volumes about the lost sheep that left the others, and did you not know that the lost sheep that went astray would never have been able to save himself?

Beloved, we discover in the parable of the lost sheep that the shepherd left the ninety-and-nine sheep that were safe to seek after the lost sheep which would have fallen to the wolves and utter destruction.

Dear Saints, can you imagine with me a Shepard going out to count his sheep, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, and ninety-nine, but wait a minute, Jerry is missing, and can you see him leave the others as he picks up his Shepard staff to go searching for Jerry.

Beloved readers, notice his actions when he hears my faint cry discovering that I am lodged between two rocks, and notice as he extends the curved end of his staff around my neck lifting me to his awaiting arms, and notice how he kisses me telling me that I am special to him gently caressing my head as he whispers in my ear that he is glad he found me before the wolves could get to me.

Saints, watch as he pulls me into his bosom allowing me to feel his heartbeat, and notice how he did not scold or whip me but placed me upon his shoulders.

Beloved readers, notice as he carries me back home, and notice how for days he did not place me with the others but let me stay with him making sure that I understand that he loves me with unconditional love assuring me that I can never stray far enough for him not to love me.

Beloved, this parable speaks volumes in my life concerning the lost sheep for I have lived through every part of it, and not only this parable, but all three parables that are listed in this fifteenth chapter of Luke's gospel.

Dear Saints and fellow peers, the parables listed in the fifteenth chapter of Luke, reveal unto all of us the pure unchanging love God has for the lost which I discovered for myself in a cruel world where I became the lost sheep that encountered and accepted the grace of God that is searching for lost sinners like me.

Dear readers, this testimony is personal but if God can use it to help someone else, then let me become a worm that he may be glorified and exalted.
Dear readers, throughout my entire life and ministry around the world, I have discovered that God not only receives the lost back into fellowship with him but he is actively searching for lost broken humanity in places many people would never go.

Beloved, I can relate to the shepherd's love for his sheep in that I was living a life encountering nothing but abuse including rejection from family members, friendships including relationships some of whom wanted someone else and me but did not want to lose me, with many of the ones who abused me wanting me back.

Beloved, I thought I had found paradise when I received the call from God to enter the ministry but boy was I fooled as I encountered harsher treatment in the church than I had received growing up in the streets.

Dear readers, after suffering through three years of abuse by elders in the evangelical churches who were living two lives, I decided that I had endured enough of this religious showmanship with people in leadership looking down on others because of the way they were dressed or the color of their skin did not qualify them to be in their churches as if they had some kind of disease.

Saints, what got to me was one of the religious elders in a worldwide organization that I was licensed in had strict rules in place that if any minister in his organization would visit or preach for another organization without permission from the council, they would be brought before the review board and be stripped of their credentials.

Dear readers, this very thing happened to me, and did you know that when this religious elder who founded this worldwide evangelical organization came down on his deathbed, he made the statement in tears to his leaders that he was afraid to die?

Dear reader, I remember as I started toward the world in what would end up in a seven-plus year plus mental breakdown that I heard the audible voice of God speak to me saying, "Jerry, deep down inside, I know that you love me."

Beloved Saints, I started driving the big rigs as hard as I possibly could which I had worked on most of my young life even to the point of relying on dangerous drugs to get me from one coast in the Americas to the other in three days.

Beloved, it was during these troublesome years that I met real Angels of God who looked just like us in human form but they knew way too much about me to be fake and they made sure to inform me that the Lord God Jehovah had sent them to me, and beloved, they spoke about him with eyes filled with adoration for who he is to them.

Dear readers, everywhere that I went, I had some type of supernatural encounter such as entering a fast food restaurant only to discover a bible lying on the table in front of me with a black man appearing out of mid-air looking right at me causing me to forget all about food as I made a beeline for the exit thinking within myself, "if that is another Angel, I do not want to stick around to hear him tell me that God has had enough of my backslidden attitude.

Beloved readers, did you know that the rest of my Angelic encounters after the first two were of the black race mainly because God had plans to bring me back into the ministry and send me to minister for more than twenty years to his lost sheep throughout the inner cities of America?

Beloved, the living God knew in his fore-knowledge that I was going to make many mistakes, but chose to help me get through that dark nightmare to re-instate me like he did Peter back into his ministry opening up platforms and doors of opportunity in magazines, radio, and TV to reach people around the world.

Dear readers, did you know that a sheep will drown when it gets near water if someone is not there to care for it, and did you know that it will bleat for the other sheep, but will run in an opposite direction from them, and did you know that if the Shepard walks among them at night and even though they hear and recognize his voice, they will not come to him unless he lights a lantern and allow them to see his face?

Dear Saints, you can read more about my visitations and encounters with Angels by reading some of my books, especially the "Eighteen Wheels and Jesus" which can be downloaded for free from our website: witheredhand.org.

Dear readers, be sure and send me an email asking me to email you a free PDF manuscript download of my new book, "A Day after Salvation."