To Be Jesus

Sunday, March 29, 2015, 10:16 p.m.

I am an introvert by nature. I don't strike up conversations with strangers easily. I admit that frequently I don't even pay much attention to who is waiting on me in a restaurant or who is checking me out at a grocery store. I have to really work at starting conversations with people. So, I am working on that. And, I am doing better, but I am still a work in progress. It is so much easier for me to write than it is for me to talk with people.

So, I got thinking about Jesus. I am supposed to be Jesus to people, i.e. he, by his Spirit, lives within me, and I am to be his witness and his servant, and I am to love people with the love of Jesus. So, I started thinking about what that should look like. I mean, if I were Jesus, which obviously I am not, what would I do? If he was eating in a restaurant, and someone waited on his table, what would he say to the server? If someone carried his groceries out to the car for him, what words would he speak to this person in a minute or less? For those of you who know me, I am not very concise. So, it is hard for me to make conversations with people in such limited time. I do better with the hairdresser, because I have at least 30 minutes. So, then I have time to develop the conversation.

Anyway, so I was asking Jesus lately, when I am out in public, or when I am with other people, to help me to be Jesus to people. Most of the people I see in public are working, so I cannot get into in-depth conversations with them. But I can say something. I can plant a seed, at least.

I went to a new hairdresser the other day. We talked about several things. I learned we had some shared experiences. We got talking about church, and then I asked her if she knew Jesus. She said she did. Here in America, though, sometimes people say they believe in Jesus if they grew up in a church. I talked with her about who the church is, i.e. the body of Christ and not a building or an organization. I told her about a Bible study we used to have in our home for college students. I know we talked about Jesus and his church, his body. I believe she is seeking, and that she would like to be in a fellowship with other believers.

The next day my husband and I stopped at TCBY for a frozen yogurt. No one was in the store but us and the clerk. So, I prayed and asked Jesus to give me the words to say to her. I believe he said to ask her if she knew Jesus. I started by asking her if she went to church anywhere, and then I asked her if she knew Jesus. She also answered, “Yes,” that she knew Jesus. So, then I talked with her about what that meant to believe in Jesus. I shared part of Luke 9:23-25 with her:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Both the hairdresser and this girl seemed turned off to institutional religion. They both mentioned how they had visited several churches in the area, but they were not happy with what they found. It wasn’t “church” to them. I told this girl, too, that we used to have a Bible study in our home. I felt led to give her my phone number. I told her if she would be interested in meeting for Bible study to give me a call. She thanked me. Just then other customers came into the store. So, we left and let her work.

The next day we went to the grocery store. My husband was with me again. A young lady took our groceries out to the car for us. We chatted with her a little. I asked her if she went to church anywhere. She said she works on Sunday mornings. I told her we don’t have to meet with the church on Sunday morning or at a building called a “church,” but we can meet for a Bible study in a home any day. So, I asked her if she believed in Jesus. She said she did. She said she thinks if she just prays that is all she needs. I shared with her that believing in Jesus means following him in obedience and doing what he says. I also told her that we used to have a Bible study in our home for college students. She told me if we decide to start another one to let her know. She is also a college student.

So, in three days I met three different women who all say they know Jesus but they are not presently in fellowship with the body of Christ, and at least two of them expressed dissatisfaction with institutional religion as their reasons for not being in fellowship with other believers. I empathize with them. My heart hungers to meet, in person, with other believers for Bible study, prayer, fellowship and the breaking of bread, apart from institutional religion which is run by humans and has turned the church into a marketplace.

As I just read back over the passage in Luke, I realized that by me being willing “to be Jesus” to the people I meet out in the world that I am denying myself, which by nature (the flesh) does not easily make conversations with people I don’t know. So, God is working on me in this area. What I don’t do naturally, the Holy Spirit is able to accomplish through me if I am a willing servant to obey him and to do what he says in being Jesus to the world around me. So, pray for me that I will have the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit to people I meet out in public, and that I will not be content with remaining introverted, but that I will pray for the Spirit’s empowerment to give me the words to say, not just in writing, but verbally to strangers, too.

Willing / An Original Work / August 17, 2011

I am willing to obey You;

Have Your Spirit live within me;

Know Your power; be Your witness

To a world who needs You greatly.

Love within me spread to all men,

So that they might come to know Him;

Know His power; His forgiveness;

Be transformed into His likeness.

Holy Spirit, come in power,

Change our hearts within this hour.

May we be like Jesus always;

Be a light that shines in darkness.

https://vimeo.com/118532725

http://originalworks.info/willing/

By Your Grace

This is a prayer to the Lord for him to be to me all I need in order for me to serve and obey him. I am asking him to change my heart to be more like Jesus, and for him to guide my steps each day.

He changed my heart when I responded “Yes” to his invitation to make Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior of my life years ago, but he continues to change my heart day by day, and to make me more like Him. Like Paul, I am a work in progress. I don’t have it all together. I am not aware of any sin in my life, and I have sought the Lord concerning this, but I know I am not perfect, and I have not yet arrived. So, like Paul, I press on toward the goal of heaven, choosing to forget the things now past, and to believe God for what he has for me yet in the days which lie ahead. It is ONLY by the grace of God that I am who I am, and that I do what I do. If it were not for him, I don’t think I would even be here today.

By Your Grace / An Original Work / June 27, 2011

Speak Your words to my heart,

Let Your grace and love impart.

Be to me all I need

To love and serve Christ my King;

To love and serve Christ my King.

Change my heart; be like You;

Let me love and serve in truth.

Guide my steps ev’ry day,

As I bow my knees and pray;

As I bow my knees and pray.

Love You, Lord. You love me.

You died so that I’d go free

From my sin; pure within;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin.

Invite You in my heart;

Now I have a brand new start.

Repented of my sin,

So that I’d be cleansed within;

So that I’d be cleansed within.

Live for You ev’ry day,

List’ning to the words you say.

Make You Lord of my heart;

Be Your witness, grace impart;

Be Your witness, grace impart.

Obey Your ev’ry word;

Do the things I’ve seen and heard.

Your word, Lord, in me burns,

While I wait for Your return;

While I wait for Your return.

http://originalworks.info/by-your-grace/

Unless It Dies

Saturday, March 28, 2015, 12:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Living Water.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 12 (selected vv. ESV).

A Grain of Wheat (vv. 23-26)

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

What Jesus was saying here to his disciples is really the essence of the gospel of our salvation. Jesus Christ had to die on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, putting them to death, and then rising triumphant over sin, death, hell and Satan. If he had not done this, we could not be saved. His death and resurrection means the salvation of human lives. Through his death we have life with him everlasting. Amen!

Yet, it doesn’t end here. We must also die, with Christ, to our old lives of living for sin and self, we must be born anew (of the Spirit of God), and we must now walk in the Spirit and no longer after the flesh, though certainly not in absolute perfection. Jesus said that if we want to come after him we must deny our self-life, die daily to sin and self, and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on to our old lives of living for sin and self, we will lose them for eternity, but if we willingly die with Christ to our flesh and to sin, we will gain eternal life (See: Lu. 9:23-25; cf. Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6-8; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; Jn. 12:23-26).

Blinded Eyes (vv. 37-43)

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

“He has blinded their eyes

    and hardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

    and understand with their heart, and turn,

    and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

The ones who did not believe in Jesus were primarily the Jews. They were God’s chosen people at that time. They were the ones who had been trained in the scriptures, and they knew what the prophets taught and prophesied concerning the Christ who was to come, yet their eyes were blinded to the truth so that they could not see because of their stubborn and unbelieving hearts. As well, many who did believe the words and the miracles of Jesus would not confess faith in him out of fear of rejection, for they were more concerned over human approval than they were with whether or not God approved them.

Those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives today are now God’s chosen people, whether Jew or Gentile by birth. We are the body of Christ, the church. Within our gatherings of the church today in America, and perhaps elsewhere, there are people who are not believers in Jesus; there are those who profess faith in Jesus, but it is in form only; there are those who are believers in Jesus, but they are presently not walking with him, but have forsaken their first love to chase after idols of men; and then there are those who are following the Lord Jesus with their lives, though, again, not in absolute perfection, but by the grace of God and in the power of the Spirit within them.

I believe these unbelieving Jews of Jesus’ day, and the believing Jews who were more concerned with human approval than with God’s approval, if they were participants in the gatherings of the church today, would fit with either those who profess the name of Jesus but who, by their lifestyles, show they do not believe, or else with believers who have forsaken their Lord to chase after idols of men. Since they have participated with the fellowship of God’s people, and they have, perhaps, had some training in the scriptures, or else they have been exposed to them via sermons and small groups, they should have some knowledge of what Jesus and the apostles taught concerning our salvation and the life Jesus requires of his true followers. Yet, many of these have blinded themselves to the truth, because the lies sound better, and they fit better with the lifestyles they choose to live.

If Anyone Hears (vv. 44-50)

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

Jesus is the Light. The Light is righteousness, holiness, truth, revelation, and the Word of God and the gospel of our salvation. It is the opposite of darkness. Darkness is evil, sin, wickedness, deception, rebellion and unbelief. Jesus Christ did not die that painful death on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, just so we could escape hell and go to heaven when we die. He died so that those who believe in him would no longer walk in darkness but would walk in the Light (the Spirit; truth; righteousness). He died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See: 2 Co. 5:15). And, he died “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (See: Tit. 2:11-14).

One of the rules of Biblical interpretation is to interpret what is being said in light of the context it is written in. So many scriptures are pulled out of context and are made to say what they are not saying at all. Another rule is to interpret a verse in light of scripture as a whole, comparing scripture with scripture, because sometimes things are said in a way that is confusing, or else the translation from Greek to English (or any other language) may have difficulties because of language barriers, and so if there seems to be some contradiction, we need to look at other scriptures to be able to correctly handle the Word of Truth.

So, with that said, I will say here that where Jesus said that if anyone hears his words and does not keep them that he does not judge him, for he did not come into the world to judge the world but to save the world, I think we need to compare this with other scripture. Jesus also said that “the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son” (John 5:22). He said that as he hears he judges and that his judgment is just (Jn. 5:30). He also said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind” (Jn. 9:39).

Jesus truly made judgments while he walked the face of this earth, for he confronted people with sin, cleansed the temple, and rebuked the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and for their wicked hearts. Yet, I believe what he was saying here is that he did not condemn, at that time, those who refused to keep his words, but that a day of judgment would come in which they would be condemned. His focus while he was on the earth was on bringing people to salvation, not on condemning them to hell, although he did speak words of condemnation, at times, to some groups of people.

The point of all this, I believe, is that if we want to have eternal life with God, we must die with Christ to our old lives of sin, be born anew of the Spirit of God, and walk in the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. We must follow (obey) Jesus with our lives, and not continue to go our own way. This is why Jesus gave his life up for us, not just so we can go to heaven when we die. We need to not respond to Jesus’ words and miracles with blinded eyes and hardened hearts, and we also need to not take God’s grace for granted, and think that being “saved” gives us the liberty to continue in willful sin without guilt or remorse. We need to also not have this false idea that Jesus didn’t judge anyone or that he doesn’t judge sinful behavior, for he does, and he will. We should not take sin lightly.

So, if you have forsaken your Lord and have gone off to follow after the “gods” of men, God is calling out to you to return to him. If you are more concerned with people liking you than you are with pleasing God, who saved you from your sin, then I pray you would repent of that sin, and that you would now acknowledge your Lord before other people. And, if you have been putting off believing in Jesus, thinking you will get around to it later, please realize you may not have later. Give your life to him today while you still have today.

Living Water / An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

Living Water satisfies.

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

Living Water glorifies.

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

Living Water sanctifies.

https://vimeo.com/113088324

http://originalworks.info/living-water/

Why He Died

Tuesday, March 26, 2015, 9:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Above All.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 11 (quoting vv. 45-53 ESV).

In Context

There was a man named Lazarus who had two sisters, who were named Mary and Martha. Lazarus was ill, so the sisters sent for Jesus. Yet, Jesus, knowing what the outcome of this illness would be, spent two more days in the place where he was. Then, Jesus told his disciples that they were going to go to Judea again. The disciples were concerned over the threats against Jesus’ life which had previously taken place there, but Jesus responded to them with words of encouragement. And, then he told them that Lazarus had died.

When Jesus arrived at Lazarus’ home, he found that he had been in the tomb four days. Jesus comforted Mary and Martha. He told Martha that Lazarus would rise again. When Jesus came to the tomb where Lazarus lay, he gave instructions for the stone to be removed from the opening to the cave. Jesus prayed to the Father and then he said, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out. Jesus had raised him from the dead.

They Were Threatened (vv. 45-48)

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

Time and time again Jesus performed miracle after miracle, and yet so many of the Jews refused to believe in him, and, in fact, wanted him dead. Why did they hate him so much? Why were they so anxious to see him put to death? He healed the afflicted, cast out demons, comforted the sorrowful, spoke words of hope and healing, and raised the dead. What could be so wrong with that? Their hatred of him doesn’t seem logical. And yet I find several reasons that so many Jews and their leaders hated Jesus and wanted him dead.

Reason #1: They were jealous of him and his popularity (See: Matt. 27:18; Jn. 11:48).

Reason #2: He served as a threat to their own positions of power (See: Jn. 11:48).

Reason #3: They didn’t like him because he told them the truth about their sins.

Reason #4: They didn’t like him because he didn’t follow all their rules.

Reason #5: They didn’t like him because he claimed to be God (See: Jn. 10:33).

Better For You (vv. 49-53)

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

These Jews were oblivious to what they were really doing or to what they were truly saying, for their eyes were blinded to the truth due to their hardened, sinful and unbelieving hearts. It sounds as though they took this prophecy as an encouragement to put Jesus to death in order to save their own skins, and to preserve the political power of their own nation, only they didn’t get what Caiaphas was really saying. They were thinking in terms of removing their competition so that he no longer stood as a threat to their positions of power and to the continuance of their nation. Yet the prophecy was speaking in spiritual terms of Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin and their hope of salvation and restoration with their God.

Jesus Christ was and is their promised Messiah, but so many of the Jews and the Jewish leaders refused to believe in him. He was and is the one spoken about in the Prophets. He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He was crucified on a cross, not because he was a criminal, but because this was God’s plan of salvation for his people and for the people of the world. When Jesus died, our sins died with him, and when he rose from the grave, he rose triumphant over sin, death, hell and Satan. He did so that we might be set free of the curse of sin, which is eternal damnation, be set free of the control of sin over our lives, and so we could now walk in the power of the Spirit and no longer according to the sinful cravings of our flesh. Amen!

Our Salvation

So, how can we be saved? Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny his self-life, die daily to sin and self, and follow (obey) him (See: Lu. 9:23-25). Paul repeated similar words when he said that the way we come to know Christ is we need to put off our old self, be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and we need to put on the new self, “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24).

Now some people like to call this works-based salvation, but how can it be if it is what Christ and the apostles taught? So, let’s look further.

Paul also expressed similar thoughts in Romans 6 when he said, “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin” (See: Ro. 6:6-7). And, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness… For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness” (vv. 17-18, 20).

This is why Jesus died, to free us from slavery to sin so we could walk in his righteousness. He died for us so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us (See: 2 Co. 5:15).

In Ro. 8:3b-8 we read, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

What it Means to Believe

This is not about some one-time decision made at an altar and then you die and go to heaven one day. The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us “who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” This goes along with what we learned in John 3 and in John 6 -7 about the word “believe.” In many cases, with regard to our salvation, the literal translation of the Greek word, which in English we translate as “believe,” should read “is believing.” In other words, the kind of belief in Jesus that gives us the promise of eternal life with God is a continuous action belief, not a one-time belief.

Yet, we don’t do this in our own flesh, for this is not a work of the flesh. We cannot even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless the Father first draws us to Christ. And, even the faith to believe is a gift from God (see: Eph. 2:8-10). Yet, true faith in Jesus Christ involves death to sin, and it involves no longer walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. It is continuous, ongoing and enduring faith which lasts until the end, yet we don’t even endure in our own strength or power. Jesus Christ gives us all that we need to live godly and holy lives, and he empowers and strengthens us through his Spirit who now dwells within us to persevere in our faith and to remain faithful to the end. Some people will call this legalism, but this is what scripture teaches with regard to our salvation.

Jesus Christ gave his life for us, not just so we could go to heaven when we die, but so we would live for him and not for ourselves while we still live on the face of this earth. His grace which brings us salvation teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for his return. He died “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (See: Tit. 2:11-14; cf. 1 Pet. 2:24-25).

He wasn’t thinking about himself or how he might save his own skin when he died that cruel death on the cross for you and for me. He was thinking about us, and he put our salvation above his own life. So, let’s remember why he died, and let us not take what he did for us for granted. Let us now walk no longer according to our sinful passions and desires, but let us walk in the Spirit, in his power and strength within us, in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, as we yield the control of our lives over to God. Amen!

Above All /Artist: Michael W. Smith

Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7EPZV56PuA

Sheep and Shepherds

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 7:26 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Hear My Voice.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 10 (Selected vv. ESV).

Thieves and Robbers (vv. 1-6)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

A thief is “one that steals especially stealthily or secretly” (M-W). To steal is “to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice” (M-W). Jesus referred to the false shepherds of the people as thieves because they had not come in among the people to help them, nor were they present among them to give them true hope and healing, but they were there to rob them of any true hope, and to fill their minds with what is false and misleading. Jesus said that these false shepherds do not come through the gate, but they climb in by another way. Jesus also said that he is the gate (the door). So, he was referring to those who give off the appearance of being true shepherds of the people, but they have not entered into the sheep pen through Jesus Christ. We have many such false shepherds in our churches here in America today.

So, how do you recognize a false shepherd? There are many ways, one of which is by the lifestyle he lives, although we must be careful that we are not testing him against human traditions and rules, but against the word of God. There are several passages which list the qualifications for elders and deacons, and which give us insight into the type of lifestyle an elder or a deacon should live as his consistent way of life, though not in absolute perfection.

He must be above reproach, i.e. he must live an exemplary lifestyle free from legitimate accusation. In other words, he should not be involved in a sinful lifestyle either through conscious acts of sin or via allowing himself to be entertained by others’ sinful acts. He must be self-controlled, not over-bearing, not quick-tempered, holy, respectable, hospitable, and not quarrelsome, etc., and he must manage his own family well. He must also “keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” so he can “encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” This is a BIG ONE in today’s world. He must not be “greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to” him, “but being examples to the flock” (See: 1 Tim. 3:1-13; Tit. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-11). Amen!

The other big way we can recognize a false shepherd is by what he teaches and practices, which goes back to these qualifications where it states that “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Tit. 1:9). So many “shepherds” of God’s flock today no longer hold to the deep truths of the faith (a.k.a. “sound doctrine”) as was taught by Jesus and his apostles, but they have gone the way of the world, and the way of following after the teachings and philosophies of humans, instead, perhaps mostly out of greed, because they want to make names for themselves and build big “businesses” in order to compete with other churches (businesses). Some of these do hold to some of the fundamentals of the faith, though, while denying the others, so their gospel is only half true, which makes it false and misleading.

So, we must be regularly in the habit of testing everything we hear against the Word of God to see if it is consistent with the teachings of Christ and his apostles, and whether it is consistent with God’s divine character and will, and to test to see if it is actually teaching what is in direct opposition to the teachings of the apostles, which many are doing. We may be characterized as disunifiers, troublemakers, hatemongers, bigoted, judgmental and intolerant for holding to the deep truths of scripture, and for testing what we hear against God’s holy word, but that is ok. The lies need to be exposed and the truth needs to be revealed, for many are buying into a false grace gospel which does not save its hearers.

The Good Shepherd (vv. 7-15, 22-30)

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. He laid his life down for his sheep when he died on the cross for our sins. He crucified our sins with him, buried them, and then rose triumphant over sin, death, hell and Satan. He did this so we could go free from the curse of sin, and free from the control of sin over our lives; so we could have eternal life with God, and so we would be free to no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit in Christ’s righteousness and holiness, and in the power and working of the Spirit in our lives. Amen!

He died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (2 Co. 5:15). His grace that brings salvation teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for his return (Tit. 2:11-14). He said that if we want to come to him, we must deny our self-life, die daily to sin and self, and follow him in obedience (Lu. 9:23-25; cf. Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6-8; 1 Pet. 2:24-25). This is what Jesus taught, and it is what the apostles taught.

Believing in him is not a one-time decision we make at an altar, but it is a continuous action of believing in him, which involves repentance and obedience to his commands (instructions). Jesus said his sheep listen to him, and they follow (obey) him, and he gives them eternal life, and no one can snatch them out of his or the Father’s hands. Amen!

They Picked up Stones (vv. 31-39)

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

When we refuse to follow after these false shepherds of the people, and we expose their lies, and we teach what is true, and what is in accord with sound doctrine, and we test what is false against the Word of Truth, we will be hated and rejected even by our fellow Christians and by many of these false shepherds of the people because they won’t like it that we expose what is false and that we teach what is true, because that stands as a threat to their business plans and objectives in trying to build Christ’s church man’s ways. So, they may come out and attack us openly and try to discredit us, and try to turn other believers away from us, because they will be protecting their own territory, as they have been trained to do by those over them or by those who taught (instructed) them in the way they should shepherd the people and build their ministries (businesses) according to man, not God.

So, we need to rest in our Lord and trust in his Word, and call upon him in full confidence of faith, and rely upon him and his trustworthiness to us so that we do not become disheartened or discouraged when we come under attack from these false shepherds and/or from their followers. Our God will never leave us or forsake us. He will always be there to bring comfort, hope and healing to us. Even when others forsake us, he will receive us. So, be of courage! Be strong in the Lord! Put on the full armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against you, and then rest in the Lord for He is Good, all the time!

Hear my Voice / An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally.

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

http://originalworks.info/hear-my-voice/  

https://vimeo.com/119813963

Blind from Birth

Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 9:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “The Lord’s Anointed” (Is. 61). Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 9 (selected ESV).

Work the Works (vv. 1-5)

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

God is completely sovereign over all things. He has plans and purposes for what he allows in our lives far beyond our natural ability to comprehend. God allowed this man to be born blind so that when God/Christ healed him, God’s works might be displayed in his life, and they were indeed!

I have been sick with a bad head cold for a week now. Physically, I feel miserable. I am congested, coughing and am experiencing periodic bouts with sinus pressure and headaches. This morning I have had a terrible time keeping my eyes open. I have been struggling to stay awake. There is nothing in me, that is in my flesh, which has the strength or willpower to sit and to write just now. I just want someone to come over and take care of me. So, I am completely dependent on my Lord to display his works through me today.

Jesus said that we must work the works of God the Father while it is day for night is coming when no one can work. The next sentence, I believe, helps us interpret what Jesus was saying here. He said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” I believe he was saying that we need to be doing the work of our Father in heaven while we still have life on this earth, for when we die, the work he has called us to do here will be finished. So, what is our work here? It is very much the same as that of Jesus (See Is. 61). We are to be lights to the world around us in living for the Lord, in showing the love of Jesus to others, and in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ so that others can come to know him, too.

Go and Wash (vv. 6-7)

Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

I see many parallels between the story of this man blind from birth, and Jesus’ healing of him, and the message of the gospel of our salvation. We are also blind from birth, not because we sinned before we were born, and not as the result of the sins of our parents, but we are born into sin because the first man Adam sinned against God and thus all of humanity has been under the curse of sin since that time. Yet, God gave humans a free will to choose to sin or to follow him. He didn’t make us puppets on a string. He wanted people who would love, serve and worship him because they wanted to. So, basically he allowed man to sin by giving him that choice, then through salvation and the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit within us, God is thus able to display his works in and through us.

I find it particularly interesting, in this specific instance of Jesus healing someone, that Jesus did not just touch the man so that he would be instantaneously healed. He did something we might consider strange, or gross, or maybe even unsanitary. He used his spit, mixed it with dirt, which made mud, and then he put it on the man’s eyes, and then told him to go wash it off.

So, this got me thinking about our salvation. For one, Jesus is the one who initiated this healing, not the man. Scripture teaches us that we cannot come to Christ unless the Father first draws us to him. Then Jesus used something from his own body and applied it to dirt, perhaps representing our sin, and he then applied it to the man’s blinded eyes. So, why did Jesus see fit to do it this way? I don’t know, but I do see how it is a picture of our salvation.

Jesus Christ applied our sins (the dirt) to himself when he died on the cross for our sins, but he also applied his life (through death) to our sins (the dirt). Then, he applied what he did for our sins (the mud) to our lives (our blinded eyes). He put our sins to death on the cross and he conquered them in his resurrection. He did this so we could be set free (be healed) of the curse of sin, so we could be free of the control of sin over our lives, and so we could be free to walk daily in fellowship with him, living in his righteousness and holiness.

When we accept our Lord’s invitation to his salvation, by faith, we then die with Christ to our sins, which is represented by the man obeying the Lord in going to the pool and washing off the mud, representing the removal of sin’s curse and slavery to sin from our lives because of what Jesus did in providing for our salvation. It is still the Lord who heals and who saves. We do not initiate this, and we can do nothing to earn it or to deserve it, but we must obey our Lord in dying with him to the sins which once enslaved us and by submitting ourselves to the cross of Christ in our lives so that we can be saved (healed).

Persecution Arose (vv. 24-34)

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

When we are truly born anew of the Spirit of God, have repented of our sins, and have been empowered of the Spirit to walk no longer according the flesh, but according to the Spirit, and we begin to testify of God’s amazing grace in our lives in setting us free, we will face persecution. And, much of that persecution may come from religious people, too, because many religious people are righteous in their own eyes, but have not submitted to the cross. And, our testimonies and witness for Jesus Christ and his gospel will be an offense to them.

And, I am not speaking merely of those we consider to be legalistic, but most especially those who follow man-made religion and consider themselves to be liberated from legalism. Many of them have diluted the gospel to make it more appealing to human flesh, and thus they will find us to not fit in with their business plans for how to grow their churches, and they, too, may throw us out of their fellowships. I have been invited out of several.

Yet, I love this man’s testimony! He was not intimidated at all by these religious zealots who were trying to discredit the man Jesus who had healed the blind man. He knew where he was before. He knew he couldn’t see. And he knew Jesus had healed him. He didn’t have all the answers to all the philosophical questions these religious leaders might throw his way, but what he was convinced of was that once he was blind, but now he could see! Amen! And, that should be our testimony, as well. We know the sin we were born into. And, we know now that by the power of Jesus and what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins, we are now free from that bondage to sin, and now we are free to walk daily in his righteousness and holiness, not in our own power, but in the power of the Spirit within us.

Your Guilt Remains (vv. 35-41)

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

When we are persecuted for righteous’ sake, Jesus will always be there to comfort us with his love and mercy. We can count on him. He will never leave us comfortless.

Yet, to those who choose to follow man-made religion and who insist on persecuting the Lord’s servants and witnesses, who are sharing the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and to those who are diluting the gospel to make it more acceptable to humankind, Jesus has strong words of rebuke.

It is not that they are not blinded by sin’s deceitfulness. They are. The difference between them and the man who was born blind, though, is that the blind man knew he was blind, and thus he was willing to have Jesus Christ heal him. Those of man-made religion think they can see, i.e. they think they are right and that Jesus is wrong, and that they don’t need Jesus or his message. Although many modern day preacher would dispute the notion that he or his followers might be in that situation, many are right where the Pharisees were because they refuse to listen to Jesus and to follow his Word, but have instead become followers of humans and their philosophies over and above the Word of God. And, so their guilt remains because they don’t see that they are blind, but claim enlightenment, only not from Christ, but from humans who think they know better than God.

Teach Them / An Original Work / May 24, 2012

Based off various scriptures

Open up the blinded eyes of

Those who walk in sin’s darkness.

Turn them to the light of Christ

And to His righteousness.

Turn them from the pow’r of Satan.

Turn them to the peace of Christ,

So they may receive forgiveness

And eternal life.

Teach them to put off their old selves

And their former way of life,

And to put on their new self,

Reborn to be like Christ;

To not copy worldly customs;

Be transformed in life and mind;

Obey freely His word in them,

Pleasing unto God.

Teach them how to love their neighbors

Truly as they love themselves;

Be a witness; share the gospel;

Satan’s lies dispel;

Comfort all who mourn in sadness;

Share Christ’s love and joy today.

Do this through your life and witness

For your Lord always.

http://originalworks.info/teach-them/

An Attempt to Kill

Monday, March 23, 2015, 8:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Living Water.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 7:1-39 (Selected vv. ESV).

It Hates Me (vv. 1-9)

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

In America, so far, we have not, as the church as a whole, been threatened with the reality of literally losing our lives for our testimonies for Jesus Christ, though that time is most certainly coming. Many of us can see various ways in which a case for such a scenario is presently in the works. This does not mean, nonetheless, that Christians do not face persecution here in America for their faith and testimonies for Jesus Christ. We do, but not yet to the point of death for most of us.

Yet, it is not the casual and worldly Christians, usually, who are the ones being persecuted, but it is “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” who are facing persecution (See Rev. 12:17; cf. Rev. 2:13; 14:12; 20:4). It is the ones who preach the gospel as taught by Jesus and by his apostles who are being charged with being intolerant, judgmental, legalistic, fanatical, and/or out of touch with reality, etc., and who are most likely being pushed or kicked out of many modern-day church fellowships because they fail to compromise their convictions in order to appease the world.

Jesus said, though, that we would be hated and persecuted as he was for the sake of his name, and for the sake of his gospel message. If we are not offending people with the gospel, then maybe we are not teaching the right gospel, or maybe we are not sharing the gospel at all. If everyone likes us and we have no enemies, or very few, maybe it is because we are not separate from the world, and thus we are not a threat to anyone, and it may be that we have compromised our convictions and have blended in with the world in order to be accepted. Jesus did not call us to be liked and accepted by the world, though. He called us out from the world, and to be holy (unlike the world because becoming like Christ).

The people who wanted to take Jesus’ life, nonetheless, were not the people “out in the world,” per se, but were rather those among the people of God, and among the leadership of the people of God. And, those who persecuted him and who did not believe in him were some of those within his own family, too. So, this was close to home. This is the place where he was to be loved, cared for and cared about by those of his own flesh and blood, and those of his own Father’s household. Yet it was these who were his strongest opponents, and it was these who eventually did put him to death.

And, it may be the same for us. It has been for me. My greatest rejection and persecution has come from within the family of God, not because of some sin in my life, though, but because of my deep convictions of faith and my obedience to my Lord and to the truths of his Holy Word.

A Right Judgment (vv. 20-24)

The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

One of the reasons the world, and/or the worldly church, will persecute and reject us is because they are judging us by their own human standards, rather than by God’s standards. They will do so, as well, because they are living by worldly standards, and they will think we should join in with them and not be so radical in our faith. They may even try to convince us that their way is the better way, and “Why can’t we be more like them?” Yet, we will stand out like a sore thumb, because we don’t live our lives by worldly standards but by God’s standards, which stand in stark contrast to the world. And, so they may convince others that we, who abide by God’s word, are disunifiers and troublemakers, and that we need to be avoided or cast aside for the sake of “unity” within the body of Christ, but not unity with Christ, but with the world around them.

For the Pharisees, theirs was a legalistic religion based on following a set of external rules, thinking that by following these they would somehow gain salvation. In their attempts to escape legalism today, many modern-day church movements have swung the pendulum the other direction to an adherence to liberalism or to libertinism, yet theirs is still a faith based on man-made rules. It is just a different set of rules. Their rules dictate that you don’t share Christ with people until you have developed a friendship with them over a long period of time. Their rules state that you should not confront a brother or sister in Christ with sin, because that might offend them, and then they won’t want to come back to church. Their rules state that we need to entertain people, and that we need to “stay in our own lane,” so that the world will be comfortable in our meetings. Their religion is still focused on appearance and what is seen of men. So, although they claim to be free, they are not.

Their rules also state that one can come to faith in Jesus Christ by praying a prayer to “receive” Christ, but absent the cross of Christ in their lives. They don’t teach that we must die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, that we must be changed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we must now walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. They don’t teach that true belief is not just a one-time experience, but it is ongoing and continuous, and part of that is the problem with translation from Greek to English, because we don’t have a verb tense which shows continuous action. Yet, we learned in chapter 6 of John that whoever “is believing” in Jesus will never thirst, and that John 3:16 uses the same verb when it says that whoever “believing” in Jesus will not perish, but has everlasting life. They also teach that God requires nothing of us – no obedience, no repentance, no surrender, no death to sin – and that he is pleased with us no matter what we do. These “rules” are of human origin, though, and not of God’s Word.

So, not only is much of today’s modern church hating and rejecting God’s true servants and messengers, who teach the true gospel of salvation, but they are trying to “kill” them and the true gospel of salvation so that the worldly church can remain comfortable in their sin, and so they can continue on in their worldly ways using their worldly methods without interference from those who might try to bring to the light what God’s word really teaches.

If Anyone Thirsts (vv. 37-39)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus was not speaking here about physical thirst, but about spiritual thirst (or hunger). When God created man and woman and placed them in the Garden of Eden, they were without sin and they had perfect fellowship with God, their creator. Then they sinned against God, and thus all humankind has been under a curse ever since then. We are now born in the image of Adam (1 Co. 15:49), i.e. we are born with sin natures, separate from God, and destined to spend eternity in hell. So, we have a God-void in our lives. Yet, God placed within us the knowledge of him, and he reveals himself to us through his created works (see Ro. 1), so that we are without excuse. Many people try to fill this God-void in their lives, though, with many things other than God, and nothing ever satisfies.

To thirst for God means to desire him and to have a yearning for him as one might feel if he or she was truly physically hungry or thirsty. Jesus was saying that if anyone yearns for God, or to have that God-void filled in their lives, that they should come to him and drink. To drink means to swallow (accept), to take in, receive and/or to partake (participate) in this drink Jesus was offering, i.e. this “living water,” i.e. the Spirit of God. He said whoever “believing” (continuous) in him, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This “believing” has to do with no longer walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, partaking or participating in the Spirit via new life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. This involves death to sin, being born anew of the Spirit of God, and now walking in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. Then, out of our hearts should flow the Spirit of God.

Yet, many of God’s people are trying to “kill” the true gospel of salvation, and the working of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives, and in the church, and have, instead, gone to follow after a gospel of human origin, which is not the gospel at all. And, so God/Christ is calling out to his church to forsake their man-made religion and their idols, for they will never satisfy the thirst of their souls, and he is calling them to return to him as their only Lord, for only in Jesus Christ and in his true gospel can we have our hunger and thirst for God truly satisfied.

Living Water / An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

Living Water satisfies.

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

Living Water glorifies.

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

Living Water sanctifies.

https://vimeo.com/113088324

http://originalworks.info/living-water/

Flesh and Blood

Sunday, March 22, 2015, 10:56 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Living Water.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 6:22-71 (selected ESV).

Is Believing (v. 35)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…”

Young’s Literal Translation of v. 35 renders: “And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of the life; he who is coming unto me may not hunger, and he who is believing in me may not thirst -- at any time.” I am no Greek student, so I have to rely upon Bible study helps, but from what I understand of Greek, they have a verb tense in Greek we do not have in English. It translates to meaning a continuous action, such as “is coming,” and “is believing,” rather than “comes” and “believes,” which can sound like one-time events. So, what does this mean, and is it supported by other scriptures? What it means is that believing in Jesus Christ is not a one-time decision we make at an altar and “bam” we have our ticket into heaven and no one can ever take it away from us, not even ourselves.

One of the most misquoted scriptures I know is John 10:28-29 where it speaks of no one being able to snatch Jesus’ sheep out of his or the Father’s hands. In context, Jesus was speaking to unbelieving Jews. He told them that they did not believe him, because they were not his sheep. Then he gave a description of his sheep (v. 27): “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.” To listen is not merely to listen with our physical ears, but it means to pay attention and to be attentive, and it can involve following or heeding what is said. To follow means to obey. No one will do this perfectly all the time, but the Lord’s sheep should be characterized as those who generally and consistently are ones who are actively listening for and to his voice, and who make it a practice of their lives to do what he says. This involves continuous action on the part of the ones listening and following. These are they who are not able to be snatched out of the Lord’s hands.

So, is this supported by other New Testament passages? Yes. Evidently John 3:16 uses the same Greek word translated as “believing” instead of “believes” to describe those who will not perish but will have everlasting life. There are actually many such scriptures in the New Testament, which some people ignore or try to explain away, which clearly state that true belief is continuous belief, which goes along with what scripture teaches concerning our salvation, i.e. that we are saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved when Christ returns. In other words, we can’t pray some prayer at an altar and get our “get-out-of-jail free card” and guarantee of heaven when we die if we don’t continue in that faith, and if we go back to living according to the flesh and not according to the Spirit (See: John 8:31-32; Romans 11:17-24; I Co 15:2; Col 1:21-23; II Tim 2:10-13; Hebrews 3:6, 14-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11; I John 2:24-25).

The Bread of Life (vv. 41-44, 51)

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Bread is something which we eat, and we eat to sustain life. To eat means to take in, chew (consider) and swallow (accept). It also means to partake, which means to participate in, join in and experience something along with others, i.e. to be involved. So, to eat of this Bread of Life from heaven, we must trust in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we must continue in him, and we must participate in the life he now has for us. Jesus is also the living Word. We need him as our source of life, not only as our creator who gave us physical life, but as our Savior who has given us new (spiritual) life (new birth) via his death on the cross for our sins. The Word is also the written word, i.e. the scriptures, which are God-breathed. We need to be in the Word – Jesus and the written word – and have his word abiding in us, not just in listening to it (to him), but in doing what it (he) tells us to do.

Yet, we cannot do this of our own accord. The Father must first draw us to Jesus. We also cannot do this in our own flesh. We must have the Spirit of God dwelling within us via faith in Jesus Christ, and we must submit ourselves to the Spirit’s work of grace in our lives, so that we are empowered and strengthened by the Spirit of God to walk with him in obedience and to participate (be involved) in the life in the Spirit he now has for us.

A Hard Saying (vv. 52-65)

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

So, what did Jesus mean by all that he said here? Well, first of all, Jesus gave his flesh and his blood on the cross for our sins so that we could go free from the curse of sin, be set free of slavery to sin, be given eternal life with God, and be set free to now walk daily in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. Jesus died, not just so we could escape hell and go to heaven when we die, but so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co. 5:15). He died so we would no longer walk according to the flesh, but so we could now be empowered of the Spirit to walk according to the Spirit (See Ro. 6-8; 1 Pet. 2:24-25). He “gave himself up for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (See Tit. 2:11-14).

So if we eat his flesh and we drink his blood it means that we participate in his death by dying with him to our old lives of living according to sin and self, and by submitting ourselves to the cross of Christ and to the Holy Spirit’s work of grace in our lives, so that we are being transformed in heart and mind, and so we now daily walk in the Spirit in Christ’s righteousness and holiness (See Eph. 4:17-24).

Jesus said that if we want to come after him, we must deny our self-life, die daily to sin and self and follow him in obedience. He said that if we hold on to our old lives of sin we will lose them for eternity, but if we die with Christ to sin we will gain eternal life (See Lu. 9:23-25). In Jn. 6:56 we again have verbs which reveal continuous action. It should read “He who is eating my flesh, and is drinking my blood, doth remain in me, and I in him” (Young’s). Every day we must die to sin and self. Every day we must feed on his Word and obey it. We must keep coming to him, and keep believing in him, and our obedience should reveal that true faith exists within us. Yet, it is Jesus who sustains us and it is his Spirit who empowers us to continue in Christ, so all glory to God!

Many Deserted Him (vv. 66-71)

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Many people today who claim to know Christ, i.e. who call themselves Christians, have deserted Christ, too, because they find these words too hard, so they have adopted a false grace gospel, instead, which allows them to continue in sin without guilt and without remorse, believing that they have their ticket into heaven and that no one can take it away. They choose to believe that God requires nothing of them, and that he is pleased with them no matter what they do. They believe a prayer prayed at an altar once guarantees them eternal life with God no matter how they live from that moment forward. Yet, belief in Jesus Christ is not a one-time event. It is a continuous course of action in our lives in submitting ourselves to the cross of Christ and of feeding on his Word, not just listening to what it says, but doing what it says. It is there that our souls will be fully satisfied.

Living Water / An Original Work / November 21, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

My people have forsaken Me,

Their Savior, who died on a tree;

Made idols, and they worshipped them;

So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.

Those who turn away from You will be shamed;

The Spring of Living Water left behind.

Living Water satisfies.

The thirsty, let them come and drink;

Believe in Jesus as their King;

The gift of Jesus given them,

So they will never thirst again.

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.

It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.

Eternal life in heaven promised them.

Living Water glorifies.

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?

Obey Him and repent of sin.

Let Jesus come and live within.

Surrender all your life to Him.

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?

Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.

Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

Living Water sanctifies.

https://vimeo.com/113088324

http://originalworks.info/living-water/