May_30

SHARING BREAD

¹ It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

John 13:1 (NIV)

Our Lord’s appointed “fullness of time” was nearing.  His death and resurrection were now imminent and He was readying for His departure home.  We find Him telling His disciples this a little later in John:

²⁸ “I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”   John 16:28 (NIV)

 

In Christ’s incarnation, He came from the Father.  In Christ’s humiliation, He uncloaked His glory, entered this world and subjected Himself to the despising of those He came to save.  He further humbled Himself by taking on His sinless body the full chalice of God’s wrath against every sin committed by man – past, present and future.  Nailing these sins to a cross – bearing the full weight on His body – He lovingly provides a way for mankind to regain access to God.   Every evil deed, every act of gross vileness, every sinful word spoken, every slight, every selfish act – all depravity and all evil – He bore upon His perfect flesh.  Therefore, in Christ’s exaltation, He was resurrected and ascended back to His Father’s side in all glory.  Praise His Name!  I am reminded of Paul’s words to the Philippians:

 

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!  ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.    Phil 2:5-11 (NIV)

Realizing His time was drawing near, Jesus is about to demonstrate to His sheep – those He dearly loved – the full extent of His love.  What actions do we choose to do when we leave someone we hold dear?  How is it that we manifest our love towards them?  I think it extremely interesting what Jesus is about to show us regarding this expression of love.  This love He is readying to demonstrate appears to be all wrapped up in selfless serving.  In reading the Biblical definition of love we find the following:

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   1 Cor 13:4-7 (NIV)

“Love seeks one thing only:  the good of the one loved.”   Thomas Merton

 ⁸ Love never fails.    1 Cor 13:8 (NIV)

 

Jesus was patient with His guys, bearing with their infirmities and never taking away His loving kindness from them.  Though He reproved them, He never removed His love from them and they remained in His constant care and concern.  He rejoiced when they “got it”; He protected them; had high hopes for them; persevered to the end with them; He served them.  He perfectly demonstrated Biblical love to His closest companions.  This remains true of His disciples today.  He has a warm and friendly love for those that are His own.  Nothing can separate the believer from the love of Jesus.  I am reminded of Paul’s encouraging words to us in Romans:

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.     Romans 8:31-39 (NIV)

 

What I glean from this:

 

• Jesus came from the Father and returned to the Father.
• Jesus bore the weight of all my sin on the cross.
• Jesus demonstrated His love toward me selflessly – that is how I should love others.     

 

 

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May_27

SHARING BREAD

⁵⁰ “I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

John 12:50 (NIV)

Jesus’ purpose in His first Advent was to save and to reveal God to mankind.  It was positive – He came neither judging nor condemning.  Yet to reject His revelation by hardening our hearts ultimately results in God’s righteous judgment.  Jesus did pronounce the decision on the ungodly by His Words – those who were “blind “- those who admitting their helplessness and inability – would come to sight while those “seeing” – those who were filled with self-righteousness, self-trust and pride – would become blind.  Those with blindness see no beauty or excellence in our Lord’s message.  We are told by our Lord:

³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”    John 9:39 (NIV)

Jesus does not condemn by making unbelievers blind, rather they blind themselves by rejecting His Truth – Satan also contributing to that blinding.  The gospel was and continues to be rejected by those who willingly refuse to embrace it and continually harden their hearts:

⁴ The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.   2 Cor 4:4 (NIV)

 

I am writing this from the Holy Land and the above verse has come to mind over and over again.  Truth clearly presented in constant flow through fulfilled prophecies, landmarked miracles, even knowledge of God’s Word yet the blindness remains.  We open the door for the enemy to blind when we allow darkness to abound by our constantly clinging to the worthless over the precious.  In our verse for today our Lord states emphatically that He knows His command leads to eternal life.  There certainly appears to be no vacillation on Jesus’ part to me – He is totally assured of the Truth He speaks.  As a faithful Witness, He spoke the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.  We can be rest assured of this fact.  He is fully aware that by our rejecting His Word, we are rejecting life everlasting.  Peter was thoroughly convinced that Jesus’ Words would lead to life and rightly confessed:

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”   John 6:68-69 (NIV)

“By an unfeigned belief in every Word of Christ, and an entire subjection of soul to it, we must give Him the glory due to His name.”   Matthew Henry

The Truth that our Lord’s command leads to eternal life certainly should have a practical effect upon our faith.  We should live as those who believe in the truth of the judgment, and of heaven and of hell.  While believers will not be judged for condemnation, our works will certainly be judged and tested by fire.  Paul tells us:

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.   1 Cor 3:10-15 (NIV)

“Christ has told us He will come, but not when, that we might never put off our clothes, or put out the candle.”   William Gurnall

Who wants to enter heaven with a charred back-side and no crown to lay at our Lord’s feet?  Jesus deserves our all and we are the ultimate losers if we choose not to live that way, refusing His best for our lives and opting rather for the poor substitute of our wills.  We can never serve God too much – Christ died for us – nothing is too great for us to do for Him.  Paul writes to his beloved Timothy the following which also sets forth for us a wonderful example:

¹¹ And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. ¹² That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.   2 Tim 1:11-12 (NIV)

 

“Don’t slack off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted people to strive for, and a degree of which you have had in conversion. Thus pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive sight, that you may know your self and be brought to God’s feet, and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. Those that have most of these things still need to pray for them; for there so much blindness and hardness and pride and death remaining that they still need to have that work of God upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them. This will be a further bringing out of darkness into God’s marvelous light, and a kind of new conversion…”  Jonathan Edwards, Advice to Young Converts.

 

What I glean from this:

• Jesus came to save and to reveal God to mankind.
• I become blind when I am filled with self-righteousness, self-trust and pride.
• Fire will test the quality of my work done on earth – I want to build with gold, silver and costly stones in lieu of wood, hay and straw – redeeming the time for the days are evil.   

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May_25

SHARING BREAD

⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.

John 12:48-49 (NIV)

God spoke decisively and finally through His Son.  To reject the Word of Jesus would be to reject the Word of God.  Jesus also gives us the following verses regarding this Truth:

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. ¹⁷ If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.   John 7:16-17 (NIV)

 

¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. John 14:10 (NIV)

 

²⁴ He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.     John 14:24 (NIV)

 

The writer of Hebrews also tells us:

¹ In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.    Heb 1:1-2 (NIV)

 

Jesus gave proof of His union with the Father in three ways – through His character, through His Words and through the miracles He performed.  Our obedience to Jesus will grow out of our love for Him and out of our love for His Word demonstrating to a lost world our union with Him.  He tells us that if we love Him we will obey Him.  This will result in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit abiding with the one who obeys – equipping the servant to both hear and heed the Lord’s will.  Rebelling against Jesus Words – going our own way – is to rebel against God.

“Where the banner of the gospel is displayed, no neutrality is admitted.”  Matthew Henry

 

Jesus came first to offer salvation to the whole world – we are at fault if we reject the Truth.  Nothing is more dreadful than abused patience and grace that is constantly trampled on.  There will be a certain and unavoidable future judgment on those refusing to believe the teaching of Jesus – the day of the righteous judgment of God.  The very Words Christ spoke will themselves judge those who willingly choose not to believe them.  The idea behind the word “reject” in our verses for today is one of despising – deliberating refusing to acknowledge Him as the Messiah in spite of all the miracles He performed – nor will he embrace in his heart the doctrines preached by our Lord.  The rejection and unbelief of those who despise our Lord will not go unpunished no matter what people choose to believe. 

“But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”   Matt 11:19 (NIV)

It will be impossible to deny the Truth and wisdom and mercy of Jesus’ Words on the last day and they will be used against those who despised Him. This will leave them speechless, unanswerable to the Words of Christ.  Be assured, the Words of Christ never fall to the ground – they are always operative.  Scripture tell us:

¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.   Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

 

The writer of Hebrews states as well:

 

¹² For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.   Heb 4:12-13 (NIV)

 

Our Lord warns us that it is a serious sin to refuse His words and not to believe them.  We are to take heed.  These were not our Lord’s Words alone but the very Words of God the Father.   Jesus was sent on commission to this earth given what to say and speak to men.  He spoke the True counsel of the Most Holy God.

            

“I’m seeing how robust and cogent, how versatile, sweeping and effective is the message and life of our Jesus. He fits. He is not ‘foreign’ to any person no matter their origins. His teachings work in ANY culture. His Being and Life resonates to all who hear of Him, to all who hear Him.  He infuses and changes us forever.”   Paula Kirby

What I glean from this:

• God spoke decisively and finally through His Son.
• Jesus proved His unity with the Father in three ways – His character, His Words and His works – my life should display the Father as well.
• It is a serious sin to refuse God’s Words. 

 

 

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May_23

SHARING BREAD

⁴⁷ “As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.  For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”

John 12:47 (NIV)

Simply put, Jesus came to save, to make whole, and to preserve from danger those who would trust in Him.  He came speaking God’s word to the people who had “ears to hear”.  We find in Hebrews:

¹ In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.   Heb 1:1-3 (NIV)

Moses had prophesized regarding the great Prophet who would come and speak for God ending the prophecy with the command that we were to listen to Him.  Furthermore, God stated that if they did not listen to His Words He Himself would call them into account:

¹⁵ The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. ¹⁶ For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” ¹⁷ The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.   Deut 18:15-19 (NIV)

 

None would be like Moses until the Mediator of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, arrived on the scene.  Jesus came with God’s Words on His lips and salvation in His hands – providing deliverance for the people.  In Acts, Peter explained that their search for the great Prophet should have stopped with Christ Jesus:

²² For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. ²³ Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’   Acts 3:22-23 (NIV)

Jesus’ Words in our verse for today indicate that His first Advent was not for judgment rather one of salvation – not to punish and smite as a conqueror but to heal and save as the Great Physician.  Wicked as unbelief was, He did not come first to punish rather He came to save. This, of course, had the Jews confused as they thought He was coming to set up His earthly kingdom in which He would have judged His enemies.   John tells us:

 ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.   John 3:16-18 (NIV)

This certainly does not mean that Jesus came and saved all men from hell – the dangerously held, widely acclaimed and very palatable universal salvation doctrine – which would flatly contradict many plain passages of Scripture – rather it means that He first came to provide salvation.  He made the world savable by dying for its sins.  Yet no one would benefit from this salvation except that they believe.  Christ’s first advent was to set up the throne of grace while His second a throne of judgment.   Perhaps that is why both Moses and Peter emphasize the point that we are to both hear and heed our Lord’s Words.   No one receives Christ’s benefit of salvation unless they believe and true belief effects behavior as we will always live what we truly believe.    

“In our presentation of the Gospel we often focus on what Jesus can do for us.  Now don’t misunderstand, Jesus does do much for us.  He forgives us, reconciles us with God, gives us meaning and eternal life.  But the most important thing about Jesus is He gives us Himself.  We have so emphasized the rewards of following Christ that we have forgotten that following Him, being with Him, knowing Him, and calling Him ‘Friend’ and ‘Elder Brother’ are far more wonderful and important than anything else.”   Steve Brown

 

¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.    John 1:10-13 (NIV)

 

What I glean from this:

• The first advent, Jesus came to save – setting up a throne of grace; the second to judge – setting up a throne of judgment.
• I am to hear and heed Jesus’ Words.
• Belief in Christ changes my behavior.

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May_20

SHARING BREAD

⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

John 12:46 (NIV)

Here Jesus proclaims yet again His mission for coming into the world – He came as the source of life and light and peace to a world that was filled with darkness and death and sin. No longer would we be forced to dwell in the darkness of unhappiness, death or ruin.   Through belief in the Lord Jesus we are delivered from the futility of our ways and the dominion of sin to walk in the freedom and fullness of life in abundance.  Isn’t that wonderful news?  Jesus came as the Savior for all mankind – just as the sun shines and exists for everyone.  We are told in the all-too familiar verse of John 3:16:

 ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16 (NIV)

Those who are willing to believe in Him are delivered from spiritual death and darkness and enabled through the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in spiritual life and light.  Why on earth would we want to remain in the dungeon shackled with unbelief – chained to sin and death?

“The quantity of precious truth taught and implied in this verse is very note-worthy.  The world is in darkness.  Christ is the only light.  Faith is the only way to have interest in Christ.  He that believeth no longer abides in darkness, but has spiritual light.  He that does not believe remains and continues in a state of darkness, the prelude to hell.”   J. C. Ryle   

Jesus clearly states the following Truth:

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”    John 14:6 (NIV)

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”    John 10:7-10 (NIV)

 

Christ has come for our benefit – offering us life which is not constricted but rather overflowing.  He sees in us beauty and value and desires for our lives to be a reflection of His love.  He sees what we were created to be.  People who are loved unconditionally seem to have nothing to prove – serving and loving without hindrance.  As God’s children we are dearly loved and that will reflect in our love for others.  Jesus also came to set the captive free – proclaiming our freedom.  He came to bind up our wounds and heal us, to restore our sight and proclaim the year of God’s favor.  Certainly we were created for a far greater purpose than to simply die wallowing in our depravity.  God has plans to prosper us and not harm us – plans which give us hope and a future.  Why would we want to remain in darkness missing out on the very reason for which we were created? 

Earlier John writes regarding Jesus:

⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men.   John 1:4 (NIV)

 

Jesus came to lead people out of Satan’s kingdom of darkness into God’s wonderful kingdom of love and light.  I am reminded of the lyrics to the first verse of the hymn “We’ve A Story to Tell to the Nations”:

 

“We’ve a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right, a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light, a story of peace and light.  For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright; and Christ’s great kingdom shall come on earth,

the kingdom of love and light.    H. Ernest Nichol

 

Indeed, Jesus is the story of Truth and mercy – the story of peace and light.  Satan on the other hand is the father of lies – he is the thief that takes life.  He cares nothing for us – masquerading around as an angel of light to deceive, destroy and devour us.  Paul tells us:

¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.   2 Cor 11:14-15 (NIV)

 

Peter also gives us the following description of our adversary:

 ⁸ Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.   1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV)

 

“Only two things have ever changed the human soul: the fall and grace, the power of Satan and the power of God.  And God is infinitely more powerful.  Nothing is stronger than grace. Satan doesn’t have any. God is defined by it.”  Larry Crabb

What I glean from this:

• Jesus’ mission was to bring light into the world so that we would no longer have to remain in darkness.
• Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life.  He is our only access to God.
• Jesus came to free me from the dominion of sin – He sees beauty and value in my life.

 

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May_18

SHARING BREAD

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.

John 12:44-45 (NIV)

Make no mistake about it, when we reject Jesus, we reject God.  There is an entire unity between Jesus and the Father – there is a complete and mysterious Oneness.  In our verses for today, Jesus boldly and earnestly declares this Truth, desiring that all might take notice of it.  To trust in the Son – the sent Savior of sinners – is to also trust in the Father – the One who sent Him to save.  Though distinct Persons of the Trinity, they cannot be divided.  The unity of Jesus and the Father are so complete that to honor God is to honor the Son as well and conversely, to dishonor One is to dishonor the Other.

²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.   John 5:22-23 (NIV)

God makes Himself known through the face of Christ.  Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God therefore to believe in Jesus is to believe in God.  God’s essential nature is disclosed in our Lord Jesus.  Knowing God comes through knowing His Son – reading His Words, paying attention to His deeds.  Jesus came to make God known to us. Scripture gives us the following Truths:

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.   John 1:18 (NIV)

 

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.   2 Cor 4:6 (NIV)

 

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.    Col 1:15 (NIV)

 

³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.   Heb 1:3 (NIV)

 

When we look upon Jesus with careful observation of details – beholding Him closely – we will see also the One who sent Him as well.  This was certainly a point our Lord wanted His original disciples to grasp.  isHWe find Jesus answering Philip’s request to “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” with the following response:

 ⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.   John 14:9-11 (NIV)

 Jesus carries this even further.  As believers and followers of the Son of God, we are to be reflecting His glory.  He tells us in Matthew:

⁴⁰ “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.”   Matt 10:40 (NIV)

¹⁶ “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”   Luke 10:16 (NIV)

Paul tells us quite clearly that we are to be a reflection of our Lord’s glory in ever increasing measure:

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.   2 Cor 3:16-18 (NIV)

 

As believers manifest more and more of the fruit of the Spirit, they are progressively being transformed into the likeness of Jesus.  Christlikeness is the goal of every believer.  Scripture tells us through the pen of Paul that we are to be about taking off the old self and putting on the new!

⁷ You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸ But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹ Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.    Col 3:7-10 (NIV)

 

“Being changed and sweetly breathed upon by the Spirit of God, the will desires and acts not from compulsion, but responsively.”   Martin Luther

“When we allow the love of God to move in us, we can no longer distinguish between ours and His.”    Austin Farrer

What I glean from this:

• When we reject Jesus, we reject God.
• God is made known through the face of Jesus – I am to be a student of His Word and His ways.
• I am to become more and more like my Savior.

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May_13

SHARING BREAD

³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn–and I would heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

John 12:38-41 (NIV)

Few of the Jewish hearers believed the message of the Suffering Servant and because they willingly refused, their eyes became blinded and their hearts deadened.  Such pregnant proofs our Messiah performed met with so much opposition among the Jews that their unbelief was quite astounding.  Christ Himself was astounded by their lack of belief.   The Lord states through the prophet Isaiah regarding this:

¹³ The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
 but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. ¹⁴ Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”   Isaiah 29:13-14 (NIV)

 

Isaiah also clearly spelled out the lack of acceptance our Lord would receive when he wrote regarding the life of the coming Messiah – He would be rejected and despised by men, He would take up our infirmities and carry our sorrows, He would be crushed for our sins and in place of the punishment due us, we would receive His perfect peace.  In light of this extreme demonstration of mercy and grace by our Lord, the lack of belief among God’s people was greatly lamented – so few believed the report of the Gospel. Sadly, many continue to hear this same message of Truth refusing to heed and embrace it.

“The method of conversion is implied here.  Sinners are brought to see with their eyes, to discern the reality of divine things.  To understand with their heart, not only to assent and approve, but to consent and accept.  To turn, and effectively turn from sin to Christ.  Then God will heal them; will pardon their sins, and subdue their corruptions, which are as lurking diseases.”  Matthew Henry   

¹ Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  ² He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. ³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away.  And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. ⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. ¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.   Isaiah 53:1-12 (NIV)

 

These Jewish hearers and seers of the miraculous could not believe because they would not believe – they were obstinately resolved in their infidelity – remaining morally impotent; they desired rather to relish in their ways shunning Truth rather than embracing it.  Divine justice comes to those who persist in unrepentance and their resistance to the divine light given them.  It comes as the greatest spiritual judgment when God gives us over to the ways of our will.  

 “We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences.  If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.”  John Newton

 

“One thing only must never be forgotten.  God ‘willeth not the death of any sinner’.  He is willing to soften the hardest heart, and to open the blind eyes of the greatest sinner.  In dealing with men about their souls we must never forget this.  We may well remind them that by hardened impenitence they may provoke God to give them up.  But we must also press on them that God’s mercies in Christ are infinite, and that if they are finally lost, they will have none but themselves to blame.”     J. C. Ryle  

What I glean from this:

• When I willingly and repeatedly refuse to embrace Truth, my eyes become blind and my heart hardened.
• God desires for me to embrace the Truth of His message – the Gospel.
• It is a heavy judgment indeed if God gives me over to the ways of my will.

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May_11

SHARING BREAD

³⁷ Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

John 12:37 (NIV)

Once again, John sounds the trumpet on the theme of persistent unbelief among those privileged to be both eyewitnesses of Jesus’ miracles and hearers of His Word.  These serve as red flag warnings for us as well.  The Israelites continuous unbelief of our Lord – even in the midst of His miraculous signs and wonders – certainly demonstrates irrational behavior.  Such strong evidence they witnessed of the Christ’s Messiahship and yet they continued to hardened their hearts and turn their backs on the Truth.  Sin always presents itself thus – at its very core it is irrational – as it always results in death.  Not willing to put their faith in our Lord, not persuaded in the truthfulness of His message – they continued on in their hardness.  Not too dissimilar to Pharaoh when confronted with the miracles Moses produced through God’s power.  He, too, was unwilling to embrace the Truth.  Readers beware – Pharaoh continued to harden his heart and refused to listen – over and over again he was unyielding – until at last the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  We definitely don’t want this – to say the least!  We find the following verses in Deuteronomy:

³⁴ When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. ³⁵ So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses.   Ex 9:34-35 (NIV)

 

²⁰ But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go.   Ex 10:20 (NIV)

 

Ezekiel’s words ring in my ears as a wakeup call and plea to us today as well:

³⁰ “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD.  Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.  ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.  Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!   Ezek 18:30-32 (NIV)

 

We are individually accountable to our Creator who loves us with an everlasting love and whose desire is for us to live – both abundantly now and eternally later.  He demonstrated this love by sending His Son to save us when we were all yet wallowing away in our sins and powerless to do anything about it – no exceptions.  The Bible tells us there is no one righteous not even one:

¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.   Romans 3:10-11 (NIV)

Our sins have separated us from God in Whom is Light and in Whom no darkness dwells.  Holy and Perfect we all fall short of His glory.  Paul tells us in Romans:

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,   Romans 3:23 (NIV)

 

Scripture tells us the wages of our sin is death – even one sin would prevent us from the holy presence of God:

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Yet God in His great love and mercy provided a means for our salvation through His Son Jesus Christ:

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)

 Jesus is our only access to God – He is our only provision for sin:

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”   John 14:6 (NIV)

 

By grace through faith in Christ we receive Him as our Savior and Lord and we are given the privilege to become children of God:

¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–   John 1:11-12 (NIV)

 

⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.   Eph 2:8-10 (NIV)

 

Yet these onlookers of Jesus’ ways and Words held staunchly to their unbelief.  Of these King David’s words ring true:    

 

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. ² The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. ³ All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.   Psalms 14:1-3 (NIV)

 

May this not be said of us.  It is not a small thing to be God’s friend.  

 

What I glean from this:

• It is amazing that unbelief can still persist in the face of miraculous signs and wonders.
• I must beware of hardening my heart.
• God loves me and sent His Son to die for my sins – unworthy as I am.

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May_09

SHARING BREAD

³⁵ Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. ³⁶ Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

John 12:35-36 (NIV)

Jesus is the Light of the world – those who follow Him will never walk in darkness.  Light in Scripture is always symbolic of God and His holiness.  Contrast this to the world which abides or walks in darkness – symbolizing evil, ignorance and sin.  Jesus came to shine a light on this darkness – to open our eyes to it.  Light always dispels darkness.  In an expression of pity and compassion, Jesus came to alleviate our misery and suffering caused by our own choice of sin.  In His divine favor and mercy, grace was demonstrated in the removal of misery and peace was granted in its place for those who would believe.  Believers who once were doomed to destruction are now given hope – once dwelling in the shadow of death, in Christ, our feet are now on the path of peace. The prophet Isaiah prophesizes the following regarding Christ:

² The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.   Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)

Indeed, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist – the forerunner of Christ- prophesized the following regarding both his son and the Son:

⁷⁶ And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, ⁷⁷ to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, ⁷⁸ because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven ⁷⁹ to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”   Luke 1:76-79 (NIV)

Earlier in John we find the following words from our Lord:

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.“   John 8:12 (NIV)

In our verses for today, Jesus stresses the duty of using our present opportunities – we are given the light but for a little while – we must walk in the light while we have it.  Our time on this earth is both short and limited.  The throne of grace will one day be displaced by the throne of judgment.  Scripture states the door of salvation through faith in Christ will not always be open neither will the time for doing good remain.  The fountain that cleanses sin will not always be accessible – the way to it will one day be barred and there will remain nothing but the lake of fire.  Our day of opportunity is now at hand.

“Many of us are not thirsty for God because we have quenched our thirst at other fountains.”   Erwin Lutzer

These are solemn thoughts yet true – causing us to search our own hearts – arousing us from our own drowsiness and lethargy to walk zealously in a manner worthy of the Light.  Shunning and wasting our time in idleness, carelessness, selfishness and indifference, we are rather to walk while we have the Light.  How we live our lives matters greatly both presently and for eternity.  We make our choices and then our choices make us.

“If you keep in step with God, be out of step with the world.”   Anonymous

We must make good use of our limited time – things do not remain the same.   And old saint from the past once stated that the recollection of lost and misspent opportunities will be the very essence of hell.  Scripture tell us:

⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.   Gal 6:7-10 (NIV)

It is Jesus’ desire for all to be sons of Light yet sadly many do not choose this path.  Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that many will follow the path of destruction – while few the path of Life:

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”   Matt 7:13-14 (NIV)

 

“The conviction of the Holy Spirit is always precise:  He identifies root causes of sin, and He moves the heart to specific acts of repentance and obedience.  All those who trust God sufficiently to desire to obey Him, and who are patient in waiting upon Him, will find unfailingly that HE gives clear guidance.  ‘In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths’, promises Proverbs 3:6.  For those who love God everything is aboveboard.  To know Him is to know what He requires and more than that, it is to have the power to carry it out.  In fact these two—enlightenment and empowering—go hand in hand, and where they do not, then the Lord is not in it.”    Mike Mason

 

What I glean from this:

• Jesus is the light of the world – I am to walk in the light and not in the darkness.
• My time for opportunity is now – I must not carelessly waste my life.
• Jesus desires for all to be sons of Light yet sadly, many do not choose this path.

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May_06

SHARING BREAD

³⁴ The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

John 12:34 (NIV)

Give the crowds their due – they were pulling their knowledge from the prophet Daniel yet unfortunately they disregarded a major point of Scripture as they held steadfast to the wrong idea of a non-suffering, glorious, eternal Messiah.  They totally dismissed the suffering servant part and that the cross must precede the crown.  How like human nature to deal with the pleasant and palatable and not the difficult and dreaded – fleeing from the shadows when indeed it is the shadows which give the depth and full meaning to the picture.  The Jews could not and would not understand that the Messiah was to suffer as well as reign – to die as a Sacrifice as well as to appear in glory.  They could not and would not reconcile the two in the One person of Jesus.  We must be careful not to pick only the palatable parts of Scripture while disregarding the rest.  Having half knowledge of Scripture – suppressing some texts while misapplying others – account for a large number of mistakes in lives as well as religion.

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.  And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others.
Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”   A.W. Tozer

The Scripture the Jews were focusing on in our verses for today are from the prophet Daniel:

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.   Dan 7:13-14 (NIV)

 

What they seemed to dismiss were the verses the prophesized by the prophet Isaiah:

³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ⁸ By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. ⁹ He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. ¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.   Isaiah 53:3-12 (NIV)

 

Interestingly, Jesus had been clear with His disciples regarding His mission.  Scripture states He spoke plainly about this.  They did not like what they heard either – Peter taking our Lord aside and rebuking Him – not one of Peter’s more glorious moments to be sure!  Matthew, Mark and Luke all give this account:

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. ²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”   Matt 16:21-22 (NIV)

 

Jesus was unenamored with Peter’s impetuous words to be sure.  Like our Jews in the verses today and like most of us, Peter was missing God’s big picture clinging rather to the plans and desires of his own heart.  Peter wanted the kingdom established now.  He was not in the mood to entertain the idea of his King not physically reigning. Satan is a student of human nature to be sure and he knows who will best “get to” God’s servants.  Here he uses Peter’s mouth in an effort to somehow thwart our Lord’s mission and tempt Him to set up His kingdom now rather than to suffer for the sins of mankind.  Our sinless Savior being fully God as well as fully man was, of course, not duped.  He gives the following reply to Peter:

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.   Matt 16:23-25 (NIV)

 What I glean from this:

• I am not to pick and choose what I want from Scripture – all of Scripture is God breathed and profitable for me.
• Jesus was clear regarding His mission and thankfully for us He did not veer from it.
• The cross preceded the crown for the Messiah and the cross precedes the crown for His followers as well.  

 

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