It used to be that strange things happened at night, under darkness. People knew what they were doing wasn't socially acceptable and it even carried with it a sense of shame and guilt which is why it was done in the dark to begin with. These things slowly but surely, were brought out into the light and many people accept them as normal now to the extreme that they want all people to except sinful behavior, not only as acceptable but normal. It's paraded in front of us on TV, internet and in real life all the time now. Jesus came, not only to expose what we do in darkness but that He Himself would be the Light of Life. and there was a time when there was a clear line but nowadays, especially for students, the line is blurred but Jesus remains the Light of life. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook... Jesus said He was light of the world just after He said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.", which is fascinating because there were three things the Jewish people traditionally would do to celebrate the Festival of Booths.
The third we talked about a couple of days ago which was the pouring of water in the temple which is when Jesus said that those who are thirsty and come to Him will have rivers of living water flowing from their innermost being. The first and second traditions according to this Jews For Jesus article are... Just before dawn each day, they proceeded to the east gate out of the Temple area. As the sun appeared they turned away from it and faced to the west, toward the Temple. Then they announced: “Our fathers when they were in this place turned their faces toward the east, and they worshiped the sun toward the east; but as for us, our eyes are turned toward the LORD.” The second rite was performed at night. Four huge menorahs were set up to illuminate the entire Temple area. In actuality they were so large that each of the stems formed a torch. The wicks were made from the worn out linen garments of the priests. As smaller torches were carried to light the procession, the people danced and played harps, lyres, cymbals and lutes. The Levites chanted the Psalms of Ascent (120-134); one psalm on each of the fifteen steps leading from the court of the Israelites to the court of the women. Imagine what a glorious scene it must have been, with the majesty of the procession and the golden stone walls of the Temple bathed in the glow of the torch-lit night! read more...https://jewsforjesus.org/issues-v06-n07/issues-v06-n07/issues-v06-n07/sukkot-a-promise-of-living-water/ So it is in this context that Jesus declares that He is the Light of the World. Just imagine the people in awe as they watched the torches light up the temple and then Jesus basically says, That's nice but I'm the Light of the World! What a glorious Savior we serve. Jesus said, "Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Which is exactly what the Apostle John said he was in the introduction, "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. John 1:4 Let us walk not walk in darkness but in Christ who is our Light. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good!
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When we first moved to Stickney about 11 years ago, Dali my youngest daughter and I would love fishing the Des Plaines river. It was effortless, we just dropped our line in the water and almost instantly a fish would grab on. We would simply pull the hook from it and release it back into the river. Not everyone practices catch and release but we had to reason to keep the fish, especially since neither of us ate fish. There are those who see God as a relentless fisherman waiting for people to bite the bait and sin so He can condemn them instantly. This, of course is not true, He showed the world His patience and promise in the Garden when He did not condemn Adam and Eve but put them out of the Garden until the promised Messiah would come. There are some religious people who live in fear of God believing He is looking to condemn them and others who live in as if their obedience to the Law will win them favor with God. The funny thing is that until you are caught and you acknowledge your guilt His grace and love will not let you go. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook... I absolutely love the fact this portion of scripture allows us to see clearly the grace of God that finds the woman before she ever thinks of coming to Jesus. Paul tells us in Romans 1:4, "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" Few people have experienced God's kindness through the person of Christ in this particular way...condemned by the Law but released by the Son of God who would in His own body pay for her sin. Amazing love, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Thank you Jesus! Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! I still can't get over the fact Jesus declared, “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.’ and this was at the pinnacle or highest point of the feast of Boots when water is flowing in abundance out of the temple and God's people are reminded that a day will come when this would not be an illustration but reality. Jesus is that reality!
Ignorance of the law is no excuse. This is true in our day and before God we will be without excuse as well. The funny thing is the religious authorities said the people would be accursed because they didn't know the law but it was the people who were asking the right the questions and apparently knew the Law. In the end it will be the religious authorities who will be judged more harshly because of the knowledge of the law the did have and didn't receive the truth Jesus brought to them. All of this just goes back to the Apostle John's introduction, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:11-13 Thank you God for your will and work and that I have the right to be called a child of God. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! As I write this I'm enjoying a quite day at the home we rented here in Orlando, Florida. As much as I enjoy time to rest, one of fondest memories of our trip, so far, was the day we decided to do all the water rides at Universal Studios. We went prepared water proofed our phones and embarked our first ride, Popeye's Raging Rapids. We made our way through all the rides and as we stopped so my brother can buy a cotton candy bigger than two of our heads it started to rain. I meaning really rain! It poured for about 15 minutes and the sun came out again and we were able to enjoy the park for many more hours. There's something about water that is exhilarating and refreshing for both children and adults. Water played a key role in today's portion of thelifebook... An article from Jews For Jesus really gives us the context for what Jesus said, "On the first morning of Sukkot a procession of priests went down to the pool of Siloam to bring up to the Temple a golden container of water sufficient to last throughout the seven days of the feast. The water was brought up with great ceremony. The shofar was blown and the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the feast waved their lulavs as the priests carried the water around the altar. The great Hallel (Psalms 113-118) were recited. Then the priest on duty poured out the contents of two silver bowls: one held water and the other held wine. This was an act of prayer and an expression of dependence upon God to pour out his blessing of rain upon the earth. On the last or “great” day of the feast, the water libation rite reached its climax. The priests circled the altar seven times and then poured out the water with great pomp and ceremony. This was Hoshana Rabbah, the great “HOSHIANA,” (which translated is “save now”). Read more: jewsforjesus.org/issues-v06-n07/issues-v06-n07/issues-v06-n07/sukkot-a-promise-of-living-water/ I can only imagine the day that Jesus was having as the festival of booths (Succoth) was coming to an end and water was being poured out as an offering. The water poured out and the people having read the Hallel, which translated means praise, the great "Save Now" was thought to be finished. It was then that Jesus said out loud “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.’ ” To think of being at this festival year after year and this was the big finally but this time Jesus basically cries out... I am the Temple and from Me will flow the very Spirit of God who will save you! Taylor says she was taught that when she believed in Jesus as her Savior, the Holy Spirit came to live inside of her. According to the Apostle Paul who said by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit , "no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit." What an a gracious God we serve. The Father gives His Son, from the Son flows the Spirit and the Spirit draws us to the Son. Thank you God for doing everything that needed to be done so that we would spend eternity with you. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! It looks like the people of Jerusalem spoke too soon when they were saying, "...the [religious leaders] say nothing to [Jesus]." The funny thing is that it was their muttering that moved the hand of the religious authorities against Jesus. But Jesus, cool as a cucumber plainly states what WILL be. He first talks about Himself, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. Then says of them, You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
Every once in a while when Dalia questions my judgment I'll jokingly tell her...I said it, therefore it is. Of course I don't have authority like that only Jesus does. He speaks with real authority, not about what He hopes will happen but about what He knows will be and there's NO ONE who can thwart what God has purposed to do. Taylor makes a comment that Jesus is playing the ultimate game of hide and go seek but the reality is He is saying they will NEVER be saved. It must hurt the heart of God knowing that people will reject His Son and do so even today and because of that they cannot go where Jesus said He was going, to the Father. Even one of Jesus' own would betray Him but this do not keep Jesus from loving Him. There is much that we do not know with the degree of certainty that Jesus does. Let us do what we He has revealed as right and trust Jesus to direct in areas that are not as clear. We serve a good God that loves His own to the end and into eternity. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Sometimes it's easier to sit on the fence. To sit on the fence is a way of saying, I'm not one side of the other. There could be various reasons as to why someone is sitting on the fence. It could be small decision like which flavor ice cream to choose or something serious like life or death. In a real sense what the people in today's reading struggled to decide was life or death in an eternal sense. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook... Just this past Sunday Pastor Don talked about the authority of Scripture. It's not just the New Testament he was talking about either, it was also the Old Testament. The Scriptures is what the people of Jerusalem, as well as those whom they called authorities, should look to in order to make a case for or against believing that Jesus was the Christ. Instead they were using deductive reasoning.
They were thinking 1. They want to kill Him. 2. He speaks openly. 3. They do nothing. Therefore they must know He is the Christ. Then Jesus actually answers them and says they do know Him and where He came from but they didn't know the One who sent Him. The strangest thing happened after that, some set out to arrest Him and yet others believed. In the end there will be no one on the fence, either you believe Jesus is the Christ or you reject Him as such but NO ONE will be given mercy for being indifferent. Let us pray for our loved ones, friends and even enemies. That they would get on the other side of, or off the fence and believe that Jesus is the Christ. Together we could thank God for His mercy and grace for all eternity. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Being the only believer in your family can be anywhere from awkward to flat out dangerous in Jesus day and even now, especially in other countries. Like being married or being part of a family it's always better to have others with you when this get rough. There's one person who knows this better than anyone else, He is Jesus Christ. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook... Today's portion is still connected to the fact that Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath and that He made Himself out to be equal with God because He called Himself the Son of God.
You can sense the sarcasm in their voice as they taunt Him to go and teach in the city. It was during a festival so people from all over would come to celebrate. Like most of us nobody wants to NOT be liked, let alone have enemies but Jesus was not concerned with pleasing people. His goal was always to please His father and that should be our goal as well. May this fuel our day as we go out and enjoy the day God has provided for us. Have great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Being in a kid''s play is so much fun. Getting into character all dressed up and seeing the look on kid's faces is priceless, especially when they come up to you afterwards and treat you as if you were the person you were portraying. I played Jesus in play once and I couldn't get it out of my mind as I was reciting my lines which were straight from the Bible, the thought that people heard those same words out of the mouth of Jesus and had to decide if they would believed what He was claiming. As I read today's portion of thelifebook those same thoughts came to mind. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook.... ![]() Hearing Jesus say He was the bread of life and that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood was just too much to hear and receive for most people. I can't blame them, apart from the Holy Spirit's no one would be able to hear and receive those words as truth. There are times that difficult and seemingly impossible situations co einto our lives that people just want to walk away from Jesus and it's those words that come to mind, “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.” As we talked a bit about yesterday in class, we all have to come to the place where we know why we are in church. Is it because you want from Jesus or you want to follow Jesus? My prayer as a follower of Christ and one of your leaders is that you can say along the disciples, we have believed and have come to know That Jesus is the Holy One of God. Thank you Jesus that You are the Bread of Life! Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! A few years ago I went to the Men's Retreat for the first time at Silver Birch Ranch. It was my first time there and we walked around the camp we saw they had paddle boats that were free to use. There was a young man who came with our group and we decided to go for a ride on the paddle boat. We took the paddle boat out but it was rather windy that afternoon so we had such a hard time getting back to the shore. We knew where we were at and where we wanted to be but it was exhausting paddling against the wind. In today's reading we find the disciples exhausted as well... Jesus Walks on Water When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them,“It is I; do not be *afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. *I would’ve been scared too! Must be cool to walk on water though. - V For me there are so many questions as to why Jesus was walking on the water in the first place! Three of the four Gospel accounts record Jesus walking on water. This has to be the shortest and because the Gospel writers had a target audience and purpose in writing with a particular portrait of Jesus, I assume that this was what he wanted his audience to read/hear at this point in the Gospel according to John.
This Gospel of John is essentially written to the Church that they would know Jesus as God the Son. The multiplication of the bread and fish was the first miracle recorded and Jesus saying, "I am the bread of life." is the first of 7 I Am statements that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. Having just declared Himself the bread from heaven and saying they must eat His flesh so many walked away from Him but the disciples still follow Him. They are in this boat probably wondering and discussing what just happened when this wind and storm comes and it at the point of exhaustion Jesus shows up. The funny thing is that the text says, "Then they were glad to take him into the boat". They were exhausted and now terrified itt wasn't like they were expecting Jesus an dwould have said, Hey Jesus come on into our boat. Jesus tells them, “It is I; do not be *afraid.” Our English translation says "It is I", but Jesus actual said "I AM, do not be afraid." Knowing all the other followers of Jesus left and these needed to know that Jesus is God in flesh- their sustainer, power and Almighty God. Jesus walks on the very thing that was making their life difficult at that time! Jesus may not always show up walking on what makes our life difficult but He does strengthen our faith by allowing difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible situations so we would learn to trust Him. Our faith like muscles exercised becomes larger and stronger because of Him. What are you facing today that Jesus can speak into your life.. I AM, do not be afraid." If this is not your situation this may be God calling you to come along side another believer and Jesus in flesh to them. They may need to hear you say. Jesus IS, do not be afraid. Have a great Loved Ones and God bless you real good! There's nothing better than having a room or auditorium filled to capacity when your teaching or preaching. The sight of so many sitting under the Word of God brings an almost overwhelming sense or joy. I feel humbled and nervous knowing I carry such a precious treasure in this jar (more like a barrel now a days :) of clay. But after reading today's passage, I don't know if I'll ever see a crowd the same. Let's read today's passage in thelifebook... Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand John 6 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw *the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. *Sounds much better than going to my boring church. - V Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to *test him, for he himself knew what he would do. *Hate tests! V. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ”There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Big lunch for 1 boy. - D Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. Not sure I get how this happened. So, did the fish and bread just keep multiplying right in front of the people or what? Wonder what it looked like. - PB So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him *king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. *The Jewish people (God’s people) thought the Messiah was going to be their king here on earth. Kind of like if we saw someone doing amazing things we might want to make him our president. -Uncle G. John tells us why the people came to see and hear Jesus, "And a large crowd was following [Jesus], because they saw *the signs that he was doing on the sick." It could have been that they were curious and wanted to know more about Jesus or it could have just been a show. The crowd may have just built momentum while more and more followed the crowd, even Vanessa's comment hint's at that, "Sounds much better than going to my boring church." - V How many people fill our churches and even Bible study classes because they are there to be entertained or it's what we do on Sunday mornings. Sometimes we ourselves do not know why we do what we do. There are a few whose intentions are made clear, they'll ask questions that were sparked because they were listening and are curious to know more or maybe didn't understand something and how it fit into the bigger picture of what Jesus is doing in the world.
The crowds even wanted to take Jesus by force and make Him king. This just reminds me of when people say, they made Jesus king of there life. The truth is that we don't make Jesus anything, He simply is. Paul wrote that at the Name of Jesus EVERY knee will bow. You either bow now and recognize and receive Him for who He is or reject Him and bow to Him just before you are cast from His presence forever. Thank God for grace that draws us to the Son and humbly receives Him for who He is, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! |
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