Wednesday, June 27, 2007

JESUS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD-OPENING THE EYES OF THE BLIND

READ JOHN 9:1-7

1-2) Who sinned that this man should be blind? Does God punish us with illness when we sin? This was a common enough belief among Jews in Jesus day. "...the disciples assumed the sin must have been in the part of his parents or during his time in the womb. Song Rabbah 1:41 (a later rabbinic work) states that when a pregnant woman worshiped in a pagan temple, the unborn child also committed idolatry. This is one example of how in rabbinic Jewish thought, an unborn child was capable of sinning." (The Bible Knowledge Key Word Study) They had forgotten what God had said in Ezekiel 18:20, "...The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." Only God knows with certainty why some babies are born with defects. It is not our role to assign blame where blame is not applicable.

3-5) The purpose of the blindness of this man is so that the works of God would be displayed in him. Who sinned is not the issue here. The truth here was that Jesus is the light of the world. All of us are born spiritually blind. We are not sinners because we sin, we are sinners because we are born with a sin nature. Proving that we are in need of a Savior. Jesus is that one and only savior who can open the eyes of the blind.

6-7) Jesus applied clay to the eyes of the blind man and than tells him to go wash the clay off. The man believed Jesus' Word and did as commanded, coming back seeing.
FATHER, IN CHRIST WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO TRUST AND OBEY YOU JUST LIKE THIS MAN WHO WAS BORN BLIND. THANK YOU FOR A MOST COMPASSIONATE AND LOVING SAVIOR. AMEN.

Friday, June 15, 2007

LISA, CHRIS, MIKAH, AND GAVYN: A TRIP TOTHE ZOO!

"I AM"

READ JOHN 8:48-59

48-59) The "I AM" denotes absolute eternal existence, not simply existence prior to Abraham. It is a claim to be YHWH of the O.T.. That the Jews understood the significance of this clam is clear from their reation to the supposed blasphemy.
FATHER, THANK YOU THAT JESUS IS TRULY WHO HE SAYS HE IS. LET US NOT DISHONOR HIM BY THINKING THAT HE IS ANYTHING LESS THAN GOD. AMEN

Saturday, June 09, 2007

JESUS IS OUR FREEDOM

READ JOHN 8:20-47

20) No one could take Jesus, arrest Him or do anything to Him unless He or the Father allowed it. Praise to the Father that He is Sovereign!

21-30) Unbelievers are walking dead men. These Jews were headed to destruction, if they do not believe in Him. Not only where they blind to the truth, but had a bad case of hearing lose. "Who are you?" they asked. Jesus had been telling them all along who He was. Jesus had even been spoken of ever since the beginning of creation; the Old Testament had pointed to Him. He speaks later in the chapter (v. 56-58) that before Abraham was born. "I Am."

31-47) Freedom! Is this not what so many people long for? The cause of true freedom is to abide in Him and the effect is that we become His disciples, we will know the truth and that truth will set us free. Ravi Zacharias, in his book Deliver Us From Evil, says, "Our grand privilege is to know Him, to bring our lives into conformity with truth that leads us to that coherence within...In a world increasingly enslaved by error and alienation, how wonderful to be freed by the truth to His peace. The Scriptures tell us that the enemy of our souls is the father of all lies. He will do anything to keep us from coming to the truth, because it is the most valuable thing in the world and leads us to the source of all truth to God Himself."
Jesus shows his listeners that truth and freedom come from Him.
1) v.34-38 You are enslaved to sin and only through Jesus can you be release from that bondage.
2) v.39-40 Abraham believed in Jesus (the seed to come), he did not seek to kill Him in unbelief. (See Hebrews 11:17-19).
3) v.41-47 They were not listening to His Words. If they knew God they would love Jesus, but as a consequence of not listening to Jesus, nor the father and prophets of old, but listening to the father of lies, the devil, they do not hear God's words.
God's Word is reality; the object of a Christian's faith. The Christian's work is to trust in the rality of His Word, because what He has said will be accomplish!
FATHER, THANK YOU THAT YOUR WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH. AMEN

Monday, June 04, 2007

JESUS IS THE TRUTH

READ JOHN 8:12-18

12) Cause: Jesus is the Light
Effect: Whoever follows Him is not walking in darkness but in the light.

13-18) The Pharisees try to turn the tables on Jesus. He had accused them of bearing false witness and now they say that He is the only witness He has and His witness is untrue.
Jesus' answer: 1) Even if He was bearing witness of Himself, His witness would still be true, because He has come from the Father, 2) His judgment is true because He has not done it alone, but is in complete harmony with the Father, 3) The law requires the testimony of two men (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). Because Jesus and the Father are ONE and could do nothing apart from each other (see John 5:19-20) they both are witnesses. Other witnesses mentioned by Jesus is in Chapter 5:31-40 1) John the Baptist, 2) His works, 3) and the Scriptures.

Twice in verse 15 Jesus talks about judging. He says that He does not judge anyone, yet in verse 16, if He did judge His judgment is true because His judgment is the same as the Father's. The first coming of Jesus was to provide the way of salvation and when He returns then will the judgment come because today is the day to make a decision. Will you believe Him or not? (See John 5:22-29)
SWEET SAVIOR, THE WORLD OFFERS NOTHING BUT DECEPTION AND FALSE HOPE. THROUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR WORD WE CAN KNOW TRUTH AND AS IT SAYS IN JOHN 8:32 THAT TRUTH WILL SET US FREE. AMEN.