Sin, Righteousness, And Judgment

John 16: 7-11

But I tell you the Truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.
And when He comes He will convict the World concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Sin, because they do not believe in Me;
Righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;
And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this World has been judged. 

Jesus is telling His disciples to expect what will happen soon. Jesus will die, be buried, and then be Resurrected, and ascend into Heaven to stay until He returns. 

While He is gone from being with them physically, He is sending His Holy Spirit to be with each of them and us so that we won't feel abandoned. 

So when His Spirit comes, He will make evident to the whole World that: 

Sin: we are all born in sin, and those who refuse to believe in Jesus still remain in their sin (also see John 3:18). Those who refuse to bathe are still dirty;

Righteousness: Jesus has fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets, to fulfill and finish all that is right, and is returning to the Father to complete the circle; 

and Judgment: the ruler of this World is Satan, the devil, our enemy. When God made Adam He put him on the Earth to rule it (Genesis 1:26). But when Adam deliberately disobeyed the only rule given him, he gave up his rulership to the tempter, to rule, instead, and Mankind has built his World on this Earth under the rulership of our enemy. And Satan was judged at the Cross. And each person will also be judged by the Cross, whether they accept or reject what was accomplished there. 

So God's Holy Spirit in us is to let the World see God's ways in us. As His people, we are His witnesses, we are His spokesmen. Our lives, in having His power over the problems and sorrows and troubles we encounter, show the World God's character He is building in us. The rightness and transparency of our lives show up the deficiencies of the World, as we are complete in Christ. 

That is why the World persecutes Christians. That is why we are to expect this reaction, this push-back from the evil spirtual forces in heavenly places working through their minions in the World (Ephesians 6:12). 

Righteousness is the opposite of Sin, and Judgment evens the odds. In the end, all odds will be evened, all debts paid, all chaos put in order. We need never worry, it will all come out in the wash, the Blood of Christ that has more than enough currency to make everything brand-spanking new! (Revelation 21:5.) 

This World and the Earth it was built on and the Universe it sits in will all be re-made. It will have served the purposes for which it was made, and will be renewed as a New Heaven and a New Earth. 

Until that time, we have the responsibility, as God's people, to yield to His Spirit in us to learn, to be strengthened, to be strong, to be wise in our handling of this World's things and in our dealings with those we encounter; to be Christ in all things to everyone at all times. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Vine, Branches, Connection, Love, Joy

John 15: 1-11

The Vine and the Branches 

I am the true Vine and my Father is the Vinedresser. 
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ...
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the Vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 
I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 

A branch must be connected to the Vine to receive the life of the Vine and produce grapes. If it's not connected, it will dry up and not produce anything, even if it looks like it's connected. It will just get drier and drier until it's all shrivelled up and ready to be kindling. 

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 

If we are living our lives in accordance with His Word, delighting ourselves in the Lord, then He will put His desires for us in our hearts, and whatever we ask for will be what He wants for us! And the Father gets the credit!

Just as the Father has Loved Me, I have also Loved you; abide in My Love. 
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My Love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His Love. 

When you love someone, you want to do what pleases them. So if we really do love God, then we will want to obey His "Manufacturer's Instructions." 

And the more we learn His ways, and live our lives according to them, instead of our own ideas, then the better we'll know Him; and to know Him is to love Him. 

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. 

And all this knowing and abiding and obeying and loving will bring us the unspeakable joy of the Lord! Everything's connected and interdependent. 

O my Father, You are so much more than my puny imagination can conjer up. You are our Source of Everything! Existence, life, Universe, Earth, air, water, food, environment, relationships, societies, civilizations, etc., etc., etc.! 

Father, teach us how to abide in the Vine as a branch. I want to be intimately connected to my Source, so that I will drink deeply of Life, and produce the kind of fruit that will be self-reproducing, so that the fruit You cause me to produce would multiply 100-fold, over and over again, to continually bring You the glory!  

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What Is Authentic Love?

John 13: 34-35

A new command I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

All of God's laws and all the prophets' predictions are based on Love, God's Love for us and all Creation, and lay out how we are also to love one another to cooperate with how He designed it all to work. 

Because God loved us so much to provide everything we need, both in this World and for eternity, He wants us to love Him back. 

And when Jesus said He was giving a new commandment, He was enlarging on the commandment that said we are to love one another as we love ourselves. 

As I observe myself and the people around me, I realize that we already relate to one another according to how we see ourselves: those with a poor self-image will aso see others with little value or respect; and those who realize their high worth to God will also treat others with high value and respect. 

Jesus goes way beyond this. He has loved us with a Love greater than we can imagine, a Love that is unconditional and unvariable. There is no way that He could ever love us more, and nothing can cause Him to love us less. God is Love. He is our standard to measure our love against. 

And we are to love one another with this tremendous Love that we receive from Him. When we love each other with this Love, it will be so much beyond the love the World knows, that it will be evident that we are His disciples! No one can love with this Love who has not received it, because it is not in us humanly. 

No matter how much we hurt God's heart, with our rebellion and idolatry and self-centeredness, He still Loves us the same. And when we belong to Him by re-birth, then no matter how far we run from Him, He will always draw us back to Himself. That's how He Loves us. 

O my Father, You are so far beyond what my little human brain can conceive and understand! Your Love for me is what first impressed me when You came to me to save me, and I have learned so much more now about it.  I have experienced Your Love in the deepest sorrow, through the darkest bogs, soaring to the highest heights, and riding on the most glorious joy! Nothing can compare with You, Father; nothing in all Creation can come anywhere near Your magnificent goodness! Your sovereign authority! Your almighty power! 

It is only right and Natural for every knee to kneel to You! For every tongue in every language to lift up Your Name! For every creature in all Creation to worship You and ascribe to You all the praise, all the glory, all the honor, all the blessings that all belong to only You. 

I look eagerly, expecting the Glorious Appearing of my Lord, my King, very soon now; to vanquish all His enemies, to set up His Kingdom on this Earth, to fulfill all the rest of the prophesies spoken and written so long ago, and assume His glorious crown to rule in perfect righteousness. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Caiaphas' Fear

John 11: 47-53

Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, What are we doing? For this Man is performing many signs. 
If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said to them, You no nothing at all.
Nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that One Man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.
Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being High Priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation;
and not the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.

Jesus had just raised Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from death, having been in the grave for four days. And word got back to the Jewish leaders. 

Caiaphas didn't realize he was giving a prophesy to fulfill other, Old Testament prophesies; he was just reasoning out that if they murder Jesus, then the people wouldn't crown Him King and bring the Romans down on them.

These Jewish leaders were trying to hang on to their own power and authority and standing. They stood to lose everything--so they plotted murder.

Fear will entice people to do unspeakable things. These leaders of the nation were afraid of the Romans, and wanted to stay on their good side, so they could continue to lord their authority over the people. 

They didn't connect their own Scriptures to what they could see was going on in front of them, so they didn't believe in Jesus. They were afraid of Him. If His popularity continued to increase, then the people would make Him King, and the Romans would sweep down on them and wipe out the whole nation. 

So the only solution they could think of was just to get Him out of the way, by killing Him. Can you imagine the leaders of a big church or religious system today plotting to murder someone they thought threatened them? If word got out, they would lose their credibility. 

And these were supposed to be the most godly men in that society. They worshipped the true God, but they weren't very much like Him. They were more focused on their own status quo than they were on searching through their scrolls to find out who this Jesus Person could be. They didn't want to upset their apple cart, so they didn't want to know. 

And Caiaphas didn't even realize he was uttering God's message! But God used him, anyway, because he was the appointed High Priest that year. God respects the office, even when an unworthy man occupies it. 

O my Father, how much Caiaphas lost out on! He didn't realize his crucial role in Your Plan for your Son. Jesus had to die, as our Personal Sacrifice, fulfilling the first chapter in Leviticus, to save us. Only after that will He fulfill the rest of the prophesies, concerning His glorious Kingdom. 

Father, prepare us, Your Bride, to be ready to meet our Bridegroom. Strengthen us to withstand the severe persecution that is coming before His Glorious Appearing. 

Continue to send workers into Your mission fields, Father; that every creature will hear the wonderful Good News, that He has already done all the work to save each one of us. And those who respond to You will be brought into that One Fold with One Shepherd, and the rest will have no excuse. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Humility That Leads To Exaltation

Mark 10: 42-45

Jesus called [the disciples] to Himself and said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.
But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant;
and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. 

The two brothers, James and John, had just asked Jesus if they could have high positions in His Kingdom, and the other disciples were indignant with them, because they had not thought to ask. 

So Jesus wanted to make clear to them the Divine Order of authority: first be under authority, willing to serve; then you will receive honor. 

Jesus is our example. Although He really did have authority over all Creation, with all the honor and glory with the Father; He left it all to come down and become a Man with us. 

Paul wrote to the Philippians: 

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, being obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross. (2:5-8.)

So the highest Being who exists, the One who is the Creator and Owner of all, became the Servant of all, not lording it over anyone. He learned obedience through all that He suffered (Hebrews 5:8); that's why we can learn to do what is right by experiencing the consequences of wrong choices, our own and others'. 

This life is our school, where we learn, take tests, and learn more. But it's the tests that show us what is better than we have known so far, it's how we progress and grow. And it can be a real test to serve someone who is not appreciative of your service. 

Jesus knew that most people would not appreciate what He went through, and many would even refuse to believe He came at all. He came to serve us all, and even to be persecuted extremely, to be executed as a criminal--the criminal we all are. 

So He was rewarded by God:

Wherefore, God also has highly exalted Him, and gave Him a Name which is above every name: That at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, and things under the Earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11.)

That is why He told His disciples not to lord over others whatever authority they have over them, to lead by serving, and be willing to to give up anything or put up with anyone, to do what's right. 

Jesus did that, now He is exalted. And we are to take His example and live as He did. If we do that, then we also will be rewarded, in His Kingdom, forever. 

O my Father, please help us to do whatever we need to do, uncomplaining, cheerfully, even, to do what You have planned for each of us, to fulfill our part in Your great Plan of the Ages. Teach us to humble ourselves, to serve, and to expect everything You have promised. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Multiplied More!

Luke 18: 28-30

Jesus just talked about the rich man not being willing to give up his possessions to follow Him.

Then Peter said, Look, we've left everything and followed You. 
And He said to them, Truly I say to you, there is no man that has left house or parents or brothers and sisters or wife or children, for the Kingdom of God's sake,
who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come Life everlasting. 

This is more on "hating" our loved ones and ourselves to follow Him. We must be willing to give up close proximity with our loved ones, and be willing to consider our own lives not as important as God's Plan for us and the whole Universe. 

God is God, we are not. His great Plan of the Ages is unfolding before our eyes, and if we put our families or our possessions ahead of what God is calling us to do, then we are making them stumbling stones. We are refusing to follow His plans for us in our part to prepare for the coming of His Kingdom here on this Earth. 

We don't necessarily have to give them up, but we are to have the attitude to consider what God is calling us to do to have greater value than holding on to what we have; and if we need to let go, then we will let go. God must hold first place in our lives. 

My dream is to travel the World spreading the Seed of the Gospel. When I go off to do that, I will be leaving my family members here. With technology today, I may be able to maintain contact with them with the Internet, or Skype, but I won't be able to give them a hug or share a meal with them while I go to the uttermost corner of the World. 

I don't know yet how all this will work out, or how I should expect God to give me "manifold more" houses or parents or siblings or children, what that would look like, when I work out my dream. 

But my desire is to work where God is working, wherever that might be in the World, starting right here at home, and to use all that God has given me to promote His Kingdom, whether that be my physical ability to travel, my financial resources, my intelligence, my personality, the possessions I hold; whatever I have, however He would have me use it or give it up, that's what I want to do. 

O my Father, thank You for sharing Yourself with me! Thank You for opening the curtain to let me peer in to see more of Your workings! The more I learn of You, the better I get to know You, Father, the more I love You, and want to serve You, and desire to do whatever would bring You glory! 

You are the only One I need. You are the Source of everything I'll ever need or want. Only You can satisfy the desires You have placed in my heart. I agree with Solomon, that I was born naked, and when I leave this life, I will take nothing of this World with me (Ecclesiastes 5:15). So whatever You see fit to give me of this World, I will use to grow my wealth in Your Kingdom; that You would receive all the credit, all the fame, all the glory and honor.

And every knee will bow, every tongue will confess in every language, that Christ Jesus is Lord over all, to the glory of God the Father, forever and ever.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Are You Righteous?

Luke 18: 9-14

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself:
God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector;
I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all that I get.
But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to Heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner!
I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. 

We can brag on our good qualities, so that people will see us in a better light; or we can be honest with ourselves and others about our true state, without elevating or denigrating ourselves. 

I need to keep in mind that everything I am or have with which to exalt myself, I have been given by God, not myself. Without Him I have nothing, I can do nothing. Only in His power can I accomplish anything at all that is of worth. 

O my Father, thank You for giving me so much, lavishly, out of Your storehouse of bounty! Please help me to guard against any hint of pride of accomplishment of anything I would do; show me how to always give You the credit, the glory for it all, without sounding "holier-than-thou" with those who compliment me, or who would seek me out. 

Father, You are good, and You give us good gifts. Help us to use the good gifts You give us to help one another, to uplift the downtrodden, to build up Your church, and to promote Your Kingdom. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!