Category: Jesus

“’You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:4-6)

The Way is not connected to any political party; following the Way does not require being a certain nationality; the Way transcends human leadership. The Way is Jesus Christ the Son of God, who defeated sin and death.

‘Self’ is often our greatest hindrance. When tempted to think selfishly, John the Baptist replied, “He must be greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30) Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to those who would follow this path. “If you love Me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of Truth.” (John 14:13-17)

The Way includes Truth and Life. The enemy hates us, but Jesus overcomes. “The thief comes only to steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

I’ve written before about an Indian brother named Prabhu Das. He and his wife Sheeba visited our home this week and he shared about finding the Way. On the run after committing violent crimes, Prabhu Das was invited into the home of a Christian family. Sensing he was in trouble, this family fervently prayed that God would speak to their guest. During the middle of the night, the young criminal heard a clear voice say, “Son, I want you.” His testimony was similar to the familiar story of Saul, an enemy of the Gospel who became an ambassador for Christ.

Praise God for the Way!

“Meanwhile Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, ’Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,’ He replied, ‘now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.’” Acts 9:1-6

“Mr. Davis, don’t you want to complete your meal before you eat your dessert?” I was not aware that Jell-O was dessert, but Mrs. Harris, my fifth grade teacher, viewed it that way. She was determined that we all learn manners while in her class. My friend Tommy asked a question that must have impressed our teacher: “Mrs. Harris, may I retire to the lunch line to retrieve some butter to refresh my potato?” Tommy’s language ability soared far beyond mine.

Actually, my mom had already taught her children to finish a meal before eating dessert. To this day, I follow the practice, but I’ve realized the reason goes beyond the rules. If I eat sweets, I lose my appetite for nutritional food. I have a friend who always eats dessert first, so all people are not the same, but ‘hunger’ is necessary for me.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) What if one of the devil’s strategies in this world is to feed people with things that eliminate the ‘hunger for righteousness’? I heard an evangelist from South Africa once say he never wanted to speak in the West because there was no hunger for God. In the villages where he preached in the nations of southern Africa, he witnessed an intense desire to hear God’s Word among the multitudes who had never heard the Gospel.

Do I ever get so ‘filled up’ with sports or politics or work or pleasure that I have no desire for God? It is not that it is wrong to work or to have fun or to play a sport… it is all about where we find our fulfillment. Though I want no person to go through the trials of cancer, ‘life and death’ situations do have a way of clearing the mind of things that don’t really matter. After diagnosis seventeen years ago, I remember thinking: “Why are all these people so consumed with their college team on game day? Don’t they realize one day they are going to die?” But the further I got away from the most critical stages, the more ‘game days’ returned to more of a normal phenomenon.

We hunger for what we desire. God wants us to hunger for Who we need. The Holy Spirit can produce this longing in any soul, but I think we must learn to see with eternal eyes. A huge bonus only satisfies for a season; a big win is only remembered a little while; the pleasures of life are fleeting. But if we hunger for righteousness and discover that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment, we shall be filled. As He brings about His focus, perhaps we’ll help others realize Who truly satisfies our hunger.

“It is because of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” I Corinthians 1:30-31

“If you love Me, keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” John 14:15-20

Jesus wants us to live in this realization: He is in His Father, we are in Him, and He is in us. This is the life the Father has given us and it is a blessed life.

Jesus knows everything we go through because He also experienced life on earth. The Son of Man had friends and family and community; He also endured temptation, affliction, and mistreatment. But every step, Jesus knew He was not alone – He was in His Father and the Father was in Him.

“Do not believe Me unless I do the works of My Father. 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 in the Father.” (John 10:37-38)

Now He tells us that we are in Him and He is in us. If this is true, what can come against us? Of course the same forces that oppose Jesus can oppose us, but in Christ we cannot be defeated.

And why should we be anxious? If we are in Jesus and Jesus is in us, we should be more confident than the sparrows who do not worry about their next meal. “Are you not much more valuable than they?” In Christ, we are safe in the Father’s hands.

But what will I accomplish in life? What good can come from this realization? “You will bear fruit,” Jesus promises… and we should believe Him. We can trust the Gardner as we live in the Vine.

“I am the true Vine and My Father is the Gardener… I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:1, 5

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 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 8:37-39

“Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father… Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in Me? The words I say are not My own. Rather, it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…” (John 14:9-11)

Just as Jesus attributed everything good to His Father, so we are to attribute everything good to Jesus. Joy, peace, love, self-control, kindness… any fruit evident in our lives comes from above. Such thinking perhaps sounds boastful, but our boasting is in the Lord. When we know we cannot generate godliness on our own, we can honestly say: “What you see is Jesus!”

Perhaps it should be normal for believers to give testimonies and explanations that give all credit to the Father, Son, and Spirit:

I do not reflect Him perfectly, but if you knew me before, you would see there has been a change of heart. That’s what God does… He gives us a new heart. Jesus lives in me. I cannot explain this fully, but it is the mysterious way God has chosen to work: “Christ in us – the hope of glory.”

Jesus taught that a disciple could do nothing apart from Him. So the secret for the believer is simply to be a branch who abides in the perfect Vine. “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the Vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in Him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Don’t you see? Anything good is because of Christ. Jesus not only forgives us; He changes us! The “old me” is dead, but I am now truly alive. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

He gave Himself for you too! He gave Himself for the whole world so that every person could have a relationship with our Father in Heaven. This is God’s heart of love: He gave the most precious gift – His Son – so that anyone who puts faith in Him will be saved. I just wish everyone could understand this good news.

“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” I Corinthians 2:12

“It is because of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” I Corinthians 1:30-31

A fisherman named John (and many others) witnessed the glory of Jesus and received new life. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

But not everyone recognized the glory of the Father. “In Him was light, and that light was the life of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:4-5)

Worse, John further explained that the light was rejected because of a love of the opposite. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Though God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” there is an ongoing battle. Paul shared that the light must penetrate the heart for a person to really encounter the glory of God. Satan wants darkness to rule.

“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… 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.” (II Corinthians 4:4,6)

Jesus is the Light and the Answer for spiritual darkness. He lives in those who put their faith in Him. Paul calls this God’s mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) We want to bring glory to our Savior and He wants us to witness His glory.

May we live for the glory that counts.

“Father, I want those You have given Me to be where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.” John 17:24

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 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.” II Corinthians 3:16-18