John 12 We Must Die To Self

Walk In Him

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (Col 2:6-7 KJV)

What exactly is the point of receiving Jesus into your life if you are not going to walk with him? What is the point if you are not going to follow him wherever he goes. If he abides in you and you in him how is it that you are not going in the same directions as he is?

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (1 John 2:6)

May the Lord our God help us to follow in the way of Jesus with both joy and thanksgiving. May the Lord our God help us to live with and in Jesus the Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

I Live By Faith

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 KJV)

There you have it. How great is that!? We don't have to fret about whether we are doing what we must do or not; what laws we must abide by. By faith, Christ lives in and through all who believe. The one who lived and died and lives again for you is with you. He abides in you. He abides in all who believe. It is not by the law; but, by faith that he brings forth much fruit through you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Who or What Abides In You?

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (John 15:5,8 KJV)

It is only in Christ that the Father is glorified. All power and authority resides in him. His disciples are those who abide in him, that they might bear much fruit. The works of Christ's disciples will always glorify our Father in heaven and not themselves. 

There are three tall (about 100 feet tall), beautiful pine trees in my backyard. At least, last summer they were beautiful. Something bad abides in them. They are called tree beetles. The trees are dying. There is nothing left to do. They are so huge that there is no pesticide that can heal them. They will one day fall to the ground unless we have them removed before then. We have protected the other trees in the yard with pesticides that will protect them from the beetles. The three though were noticed after the beetles had already invaded them and began abiding in them.

Be careful then what you allow to abide in you. May Christ abide in you and you in him that you might have life!

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

                                                                                   (Matt 7:19-21)

May the fruit that is produced be produced by the abiding presence of Christ for it is by him that the Father is glorified. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

I Am Still Here!

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

                                                                                      (Phil 1:20-24 KJV)

Have you ever woke up and thought, "Oh, I am still here!" Life is a privilege, indeed! We get to live and to love. For the most part, we get to enjoy life. We get to enjoy the world around us. But, we also know that there is something even better and that is to be with Christ in his full glory. And... that is a promise to all who believe in him.

St. Paul loved the Lord. Although he had once despised Jesus and persecuted his followers; once he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, his whole life turned around and he desired to live life with Christ. So it is with many who love Jesus today. We long to be with Jesus! We long to be with the one who loves us so much that he was willing to suffer horribly and die so that we might be forgiven all of our sins and live in his presence.

The good news is that we do not have to wait until death to this world to live with him. He is with you now. He will be with you always. We can live in his peace no matter what this world throws at us. 

It would be very nice. It would be absolutely awesome to depart and to be with him even as St. Paul desired to be with him. But, it is also pretty awesome to abide in the flesh in this world and to also be able to abide in him. It is also a privilege to be able to bring the good news to those who do not know Jesus. It is a privilege and it is needful for followers to make more followers of Jesus so that all may look to the day when they will depart to be with Christ in the fullness of God.

God's Peace - Pr. J

See Dimly Now

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.                                                                                           (1 Cor 13:12-13 KJV)

There is no way that, as humans, we can acquire the complete knowledge of who God is. Our egos just get in the way. We tend to recreate God in our imagine. But, we can and do know Him dimly. Faith and hope allow us to see Him as though through a glass, dimly. We know He is there on the other side; but, we cannot see Him completely.

So within us abides hope and faith in the God who loves us so much He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son for our sakes. Because of this great love for us; we love in return whether we can see Him fully or not. Because of faith and hope, we can love others and help them in their every need. These three things: faith, hope, and charity are, in themselves, gifts from God.

Thanks be to God that even though we see and know Him dimly now, one day we will know Him fully as we see Him face to face.

God's Peace - Pr. J