His Love Ministries
We spread the gospel to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten. Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
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Episodes
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Wednesday Oct 18, 2023
Every day we miss the mark on the greatest commandment to Love God like He deserves. He deserves first place in all we do and the way we do it should be pleasing to Him. The second, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" is quoted from Leviticus 19:18 and is the most often quoted OT command (8 times in the NT), 3 in Matthew alone. This is one of the most fundamental laws that God has ever given! Who is my neighbor: all people whom I come in contact with and have a chance to help spiritually or contribute to their well-being. These two commands sum up the 10 commandments and should be our first and greatest desire as we start and go through each day.
Matthew 22:36-40 " 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him," 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." 12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has received the message that Lazarus is sick, but Jesus knows that he is dead at this point in time. So, Jesus waits two more days to test the sisters and the disciples. God loves to test us by making us wait on Him so our faith can grow and mature. Then He tells them lets go to Judea and scares the disciples because they know the Jews want to stone Him and they are in danger too if they go. Jesus tells us in the main point of the passage that there is only so much time for each of us to do what God has called us to do and so we better get busy while there is time to do His will. Then He tells them that Lazarus sleeps, they misunderstand, so He tells them plainly that he is dead. The last point of this section is Jesus testing them again because He says He is glad that He was not there when Lazarus died because He has something greater in mind. Did you know that God doesn’t always do what we think He ought to do because He has a greater plan and a greater purpose than any we can imagine? Faith means we trust God no matter what happens.
5 Now Jesus loved(agape) Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
He waited till the right moment in the Father’s plan. This is God’s Timing –Never late
Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, that is, in permanent death. Instead Jesus would be glorified in this incident (cf. 9:3). This statement is ironic. Jesus’ power and obedience to the Father were displayed, but this event led to His death (cf. 11:50-53), which was His true glory (17:1).
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
As we come to verse 6, we have a real tension with which we must grapple. John makes a point of telling us that Jesus deeply loves Lazarus and his sisters. His love for Lazarus is mentioned by Martha and Mary in verse 3, and John then repeats it even more emphatically in verse 5. In spite of this, and the urgency of the situation, Jesus deliberately delays His return to Bethany. He waits two full days, so that when He does arrive in Bethany, Lazarus is “good and dead.” How can Jesus love these people so much and yet speak and act in a way that causes them such pain? it seems that since Lazarus has already been dead four days when Jesus arrives, that he must have died shortly after the messenger was sent.
In other words, it was more loving to put Lazarus through death and his sisters through grief, if that would reveal more of God’s glory to them and more of the glory of Christ. Jesus loves us by showing us himself.
When delay occurs God has a better time and a Better way – grows their faith, love sometimes has to be tough
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
When these two days are completed, Jesus says to His disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” Notice, He does not say, “Let us go to Bethany, again.” To go to Bethany is to go to Judea, which is virtually the same thing as going to Jerusalem, a mere two miles away. To go to Martha and Mary in Bethany is to return to that place where the Jewish religious leaders want Jesus dead. The disciples know this only too well. They are amazed that He even considers returning to Judea, and they remind Him of the dangers awaiting Him there. No matter how ill Lazarus might be, no matter how much these women feel they need Jesus, the disciples do not seem to even entertain the possibility of returning to Judea.
8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"
3 times they sought to kill Jesus: John 5;16-18, 7:1, 10:27-30, 39-40
The “you” here is singular, not plural. At this point in time, any discussion about going back to Judea was, in the minds of His disciples, a personal trip for Jesus. They seem to have no intention of accompanying Him at this point
Martha and Mary must be mystified as to why Jesus is taking so long to get back to Bethany—if not to cure Lazarus, then at least to comfort them. Those four days after the death of Lazarus must have been especially difficult for them. The disciples have a different problem, however: they cannot understand why Jesus is even considering returning to Bethany, no matter what the circumstances. A return to Jerusalem would seem to spell certain death for Jesus, and for them, if they choose to accompany Him. I am not at all certain they are planning to do so—at least not until verse 16.
9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Joh 9:4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
This is walking in God’s will, His truth, As long as I and you are doing God’s will we are okay they can’t kill us because we are on God’s timetable. My hour has not yet come
Joh 2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
Joh 7:30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Joh 8:20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Joh 12:23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
The Jews and the Romans commonly regarded the daylight hours as 12 and the nighttime hours as the other 12. Literally Jesus was referring to the daylight hours. Metaphorically the daylight hours represented the Father's will. Jesus was safe as long as He did the Father's will. For the disciples, as long as they continued to follow Jesus, the Light of the World, they would not stumble. Walking in the night pictures behaving without divine illumination or authorization. Living in the realm of darkness (i.e., evil) is dangerous (cf. 1 John 1:6). "When there is darkness in the soul, then we will stumble indeed."
As long as He followed God’s plan, no harm would come till the appointed time. Applied to people then, they should have responded to Jesus while He was in the world as its Light (cf. 1:4-7; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5). Soon He would be gone and so would this unique opportunity.
Their problem is they don’t know the truth and they will die in their sins
11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
Jesus then said, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. The word “friend” has special significance in Scripture (cf. 15:13-14; James 2:23). Not only their friend, but His also.
Jas 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."
As was often the case in the Gospels, Jesus was speaking about one thing but the disciples were thinking about another.
The raising of Lazarus is not a “first” in the Gospels. Jesus had already raised the dead son of the “widow of Nain,” as recorded in Luke 7:11-16. He did so on that occasion as they were taking his body out to be buried, and without being asked to do so by anyone. (Who would have thought to ask Jesus to raise a dead man?) This was followed by the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43). In this latter raising, Jesus tells those who are mourning her death that she is not really dead, but is merely “asleep” (5:39). Our Lord’s disciples and others seem to have forgotten these earlier raisings, nor do they seem to recall our Lord’s use of the term “sleep” to describe a temporary lack of life.
The idea that people would awake from this sleep, while revealed in the Old Testament (Dan. 12:2), was not the common perception of the outcome of death. Normally people thought of those who fell asleep in death as staying asleep 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
The New Testament writers commonly referred to death as sleep for the Christian because our resurrection to life is a prominent revelation and is sure (cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). That Jesus was not teaching soul sleep should be clear from Luke 16:19-31.403
The doctrine of soul sleep is the teaching that at death the soul, specifically the immaterial part of man, becomes unconscious until the resurrection of the body. The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 shows that people are conscious after death and before their resurrection.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. – There is no hope now in earthly terms, it’s too late
This is a picture of us being dead in our sins and trespasses,
15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
Wants them to have more faith
When death occurs God has a better plan and a better purpose
His absence, He tells them, is for their benefit. His delay has been by divine design, so that they might believe. Frequently in the Gospel of John, reference is made to the fact that our Lord’s disciples “believed” in Him (1:50; 2:11, 22; 6:69; 13:19; 14:1, 29; 16:27, 30, 31; 17:8; 20:8; 20:25-29). It is apparent that the faith of the disciples continues to grow, the more the person and work of our Lord becomes evident to them. It is my conviction that our faith, likewise, should never be static, but that it should always be growing as our knowledge of Him increases.
Jesus was glad that He had not been present when Lazarus died because the disciples would learn a strong lesson from his
resurrection that would increase their faith. The sign that Lazarus' death made possible would be the clearest demonstration of Jesus' identity so far and would convince many people that He was God's Son.
Unto him (πρὸς αὐτόν). Most touching. To him, as though he were yet living. Death has not broken the personal relation of the Lord with His friend.
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
I believe this is a declaration of strong devotion to Jesus.
He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
Wednesday Oct 11, 2023
In Exodus 19 God used Moses to speak to them all the information (The Word of God) they needed to live in such a way as to please Him. The people affirmed all that God said was good and said they would obey the commands. They made two mistakes as we often do too. First they underestimated their ability to keep the covenant and secondly they underestimated God’s standards for them. God is holy and says be holy as I am holy, but on our own we cannot do this, that is why we need to trust in Christ for salvation so we will be able to live for Him. Even then many times we try to rely on our own strength and not the strength of the Holy Spirit that comes from God. One man said when I try I fail, but when I trust I succeed. Whose strength are you depending on to live like Christ? Do you know Him as Savior?
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. (Exodus 19:7-8)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
This is another section of Scripture which we find to be so familiar to us, but as in all Bible Study we need to look deeper than the surface of what is going on here. Lazarus is a man that Jesus loves, as He does all of His children, the ones who have trusted Him as Savior. But he also loves the sisters Mary and Martha, yet he allows them to go through trouble because ultimately He will be glorified in the end. That is why the Bible says we exist. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. One man put it this way, we exist to glorify God and praise Him forever. How do we do this? By first of all reverencing God and keeping His commandments. Second we do this by becoming more like Him every day. Romans 8:28-29, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. God is bringing us back to the place we were at in the Garden of Eden before man’s fall and our sinfulness dragged us down. The only way God can do this is by allowing us to go through trials that make us more like Him. So, have you looked at your situation and said that this is not something that is ultimately bad, but through it God is going to be glorified because I am trusting in Him and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5)
Death is the great horror which sin has produced (Rom. 5:12; James 1:15). Physical death is the divine object lesson of what sin does in the spiritual realm. As physical death ends life and separates people, so spiritual death is the separation of people from God and the loss of life which is in God (John 1:4). Jesus has come so that people may live full lives (10:10).
This chapter with Lazarus being raised is the demonstration of John 10:10
Rejecting Jesus means that one will not see life (3:36) and that his final destiny is “the second death,” the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15).
1 ¶ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus (name means one whom God Helps) of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
This Bethany ("house of the suffering) is about two miles (11:18) east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of Olivet and is now called El Azariyeh, from the name Lazarus. Lit. Place of Lazarus
When John wrote, it was as Jesus had foretold (Matt. 26:13), for the fame of Mary of Bethany rested on the incident of the anointing of Jesus.
Luke 10:38-42, where Martha was distressed because Mary was not helping her prepare the meal.
Lu 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
It is true the Martha and Mary do not specifically ask Jesus to do anything, but the word “look” or “behold” is not used lightly (see John 1:29, 36, 47; 3:26; 5:14; 7:26; 11:36; 12:19; 16:29; 18:21; 19:4, 14, 26, 27). They expect Jesus to drop everything and come to Bethany to heal him.
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." John 1:14
The words recorded in verse 4 are not spoken solely for the benefit of those who overhear this conversation between Jesus and the messenger, but as a message for this messenger to take back to Martha and Mary. Notice our Lord’s words to Martha later in this same account:
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” V11:39-40
Verse 4 is our Lord’s response to Martha and Mary, sent back by the same messenger who brought word to Him of Lazarus’ grave condition.
This crisis has a divinely intended purpose—to bring glory to God the Father through the glorification of the Son of God. If we grant that the words of verse 40 are also sent to the women by the messenger, Jesus also encourages them to have faith, so that they too will see God glorified in all these things.
I am convinced that this is not what the women “hear” the messenger say when he returns without Jesus. I believe they “hear” (i.e., understand) the messenger say, “Jesus told me to tell you that Lazarus will not die.” The problem is that by the time the messenger returns to the women, Lazarus may already have died. Can you imagine their bewilderment if this is the case? They have already suffered the torment of Lazarus’ death and burial. Then, the messenger returns with word from Jesus which appears to assure them that Lazarus won’t die! Their faith in Jesus is really put to the test.
In this Gospel, God's "glory" is usually a reference to His self-revelation rather than the praise that comes to Him (cf. 1:14-18; 5:23; 12:28; 17:4).401 Ironically this miracle displayed Jesus' identity as God's Son, but it also led to His death that was the ultimate manifestation of His identity and glory.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
Wednesday Oct 04, 2023
In Exodus 16 God fed the Israelites with the food that came down from Heaven. Jesus said He was the bread that came down from Heaven (John 6). This manna was the only food they had for the 40 years of wilderness wandering. Christ is the only (spiritual) food we need during our earthly “wilderness wandering” on the way to the promised land (heaven). Nothing else satisfies, nothing else gives spiritual strength and life. It also represents his humiliation as His body was shattered before and after He was put on the cross. He gave His flesh that we might have life and we remember that each time we celebrate the Lord’s supper. They went out early to get it as we need to feast on Jesus’ word and Spirit before our day starts. Let us start each day with time in the Word and with the WORD OF LIFE.
They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” (Matthew 20:33)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 "I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? 35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." 42 And many believed in Him there.
In this great section of Scripture we see the eternal security of the believer expressed again as Jesus says, No one is greater than God, so they cannot take anything away from God that belongs to Him. Then Jesus tells them again that He is one with the Father. In every way possible Jesus is like God the Father because He is God in human flesh. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. These verses tell us that Jesus is God, He created everything, He holds it all together, and He is the preeminent one (the one who has first place in everything). Then the Pharisees want to stone Jesus and He asks them why, for what good work do you stone Me. They understood He was saying He was God, so they say it is not for a good work, but because you claim to be God. Jesus tries to tell them again He is God and came from the Father, but they still won’t believe and so they try to seize Him and He escapes from them because it is not time for Him to die yet. He then goes to where John had baptized and many believe He is the Christ and are saved at that location.
“Snatch” (“ravenous wolves, robbers”). This is a fitting word here for the same verb is used in 10:12, “the wolf attacks” (lit., “snatches away”).
The sheep feel secure (3:16; 6:39; 17:12; 18:9).
29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
The greatness of the Father, not of the flock, is the ground of the safety of the flock.
He makes it very clear that the salvation and (eternal) security of the sheep are not the result of our sheepish efforts, but rather the sovereign will and working of God.[1] The Father chose us for salvation and gave us to the Son. It is the
No one overrules His will. No one overpowers Him. No one nullifies what He has achieved. No one takes away those He has purchased.
Jesus had promised this security in Galilee (6:37, 39). No wolf, no thief, no bandit, no hireling, no demon, not even the devil can pluck the sheep out of my hand. Colossians 3:3–4 (ESV) 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
It is obvious that the only one who can separate us from God’s love is ourselves (cf. Rom. 8:38–39; Gal. 5:2–4).
30 "I and My Father are one."
Not one person but one essence or nature. Colossians 2:9 (ESV) 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
They have the closest possible unity of purpose. Jesus’ will is identical to the Father’s regarding the salvation of His sheep. And yet absolute identity of wills involves identity of nature. Jesus and the Father are One in will (and also in nature for both are God; John 1:1, John 5:18, John 8:58, 10:18
He meant that He and the Father were one in their action. This explanation also harmonized with the context since Jesus had said that He would keep His sheep safe (v. 28) and His Father would keep them safe (v. 29).
The Jews had asked Jesus for a plain statement about His Messiah ship. Jesus gave them far more, a claim that He fully and completely carried out the Father's will that strongly hinted at Jesus' deity
This statement is the climax of Christ’s claims concerning the relation between the Father and himself (the Son). They stir the Pharisees to uncontrollable anger.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
It is not the word that is used before (ch.8:59), but great stones, stones that were a load, such as they used in stoning malefactors. They brought them from some place at a distance, as it were preparing things for his execution without any judicial process; as if he were convicted of blasphemy upon the notorious evidence of the fact, which needed no further trial.
32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"
it was not for His works but for His words that they were going to kill Him. The reader should realize by now that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be, one with the Father and more than a mere mortal. A man was not making Himself out to be God, but God had made Himself a man (1:1, 14, 18).
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
If Jesus did not really claim to be God, He could easily have corrected the Jews' misunderstanding here. The fact that He did not is further proof that the Jews correctly understood that He was claiming to be God.
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?
35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
The psalm ends: “Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.”
Can they not see what both our Lord and this psalm are saying? This psalm is not just a text Jesus has chosen to stump His adversaries. It is not a cute trick, which shames those who would pose trick questions to Messiah. He is the fulfillment of this psalm, as they are. They are the “gods” whom God is coming to judge. They are the “gods” who will die like men; He is the God who will die to save His sheep, only to rise again from the dead. This text says it all, but they cannot see it, for they are blind, while He is the light of the world. They cannot hear, for He is not their shepherd.
His critics. He wanted them to see that the divine terms that He was using to describe Himself were terms that the Old Testament itself also used of human beings. They could not logically accuse Him of blasphemy because the Father had set Him aside and sent Him into the world with a special mission. He was a legitimate Son of God for this reason.
If your judges could be called gods, are you going to call Me a blasphemer because I say I'm the Son of God when your judges were here on earth and the word came to them, and I came from there with the Word? Don't I deserve even a greater title?"
As the Jews had sanctified their temple after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanies, so God had sanctified His Son. The Jews celebrated the sanctification of their physical temple with the Feast of Dedication, but they were unwilling to accept the spiritual temple that replaced it, namely, Jesus.
36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
John presented Jesus' departure from Jerusalem as the result of official rejection of Him. The event had symbolic significance that the evangelist probably intended. Jesus withdrew the opportunity for salvation from the people there because they refused to accept His gracious offer of salvation. Evidently, Jesus went from Jerusalem back to Bethany in Perea on the east side of the Jordan River where the Jewish rulers had no authority to pursue Him (cf. 1:28).
41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."
42 And many believed in Him there.
It is not yet His appointed time to die for His sheep, and so Jesus retreats to the more desolate and distant places along the Jordan river, which John the Baptist used to frequent in his ministry. We do not know exactly where this was, and likely, our Lord’s enemies do not know either. That is the point of His retreat. While our Lord’s enemies do not come to Him there, many others find Him in this place. It would seem that Jesus performed a number of miracles there from the words of those who compare His ministry with that of John: “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!”
These words are recorded by John here for a reason that is very much related to the point of this passage. I have suggested that while the theme of shepherding is prominent, so is the relationship between our Lord’s words and His works.
My point is this: Many of the Jews believed that John the Baptist was a true prophet (see Matthew 21:26). They believed his words, even though he did not perform any miraculous works. And yet the Jews in Jerusalem (especially the religious leaders) will not believe Jesus’ words, even though He does many miraculous works. What a contrast John draws between these “Jordan River” Jews and the sophisticated Jews of Jerusalem. In contrast to our Lord’s rejection in Jerusalem, many are believing in Him who come to Him at the Jordan River.
And so we see that those who are His sheep have more than enough reason to believe, and that those who are not will never have enough evidence to believe.
First, this text strongly teaches the sovereignty of God, especially as it relates to the salvation and the security of His sheep. Those who resist such teaching should consider the fact that the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is not a flattering one. Is this not the principle reason we are inclined to reject it? The doctrine of God’s sovereignty glorifies God, and not men. It stresses His work, and not our works. It is this very teaching that the Jewish opponents of our Lord react to so strongly. Does this not serve to warn those who would seek to reject this teaching today, here in our text? This does not mean that the Bible ignores human responsibility, but it does mean that our salvation and our security are in His hands, and not ours. For that we should rejoice, not resist.
Second, this text reminds us of the necessary link between what we say and what we do, between our profession and our practice. Jesus constantly challenges His adversaries to consider the relationship between His words and His works. He also rebukes the Pharisees for their lack of consistency in these matters. Let us take heed. Let us be sure that what we say we believe is also what we behave.
Third, this text says much about leaders and leadership. It reminds us that leaders have been given their place of authority to carry out their roles as God’s agents. It certainly indicates to us that those of us under such divinely ordained authority should submit to it, as to the Lord. But in addition, the message is loud and clear that those leaders who fail to fulfill their mission as “good” shepherds will someday stand before the Great Shepherd and give account for their deeds. In this day when leaders seem to be getting away with murder, let us never forget this truth.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Morris puts it this way: “It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on His firm grip on us.” Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971) p. 521.
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
Wednesday Sep 27, 2023
The law was given through Moses, but the truth (the law) can only condemn. It is God alone who can see us for who we really are inside and yet give us the grace that we don’t deserve. Sometimes it is hard to remember that this is true. Later in Mark 9:24 a man says to Jesus, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Do you ask God to help you as this man did to help you daily to trust in Him, to believe His promises, to know that even though you are not perfect and make many mistakes as Peter did, He says to you I have prayed for you that you may not fail? (Luke 22:32) Remember believer, you are His and He will never leave you nor forsake you and nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Heb 13:5, Ro 8:35-39
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
In this famous section of Scripture Jesus, the Light of the World is walking around at the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah). The Pharisees confront him and ask Him again, who are You, tell us plainly? They ask this as if they don’t know, like He hasn’t already told them time and time again. They have seen the signs, they have heard His Words, and yet they WILL NOT believe. Jesus says that all the signs that He has done for His Father in Heaven prove He is God (the Messiah) and they will not believe because they aren’t His Sheep. You see in this section Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. God calls people to be saved and they cannot be saved unless He draws them (Divine Sovereignty), yet God says we are all responsible because the Scriptures says whosoever will, let him come, whoever believes. (Human Responsibility). He tells them that they cannot hear Him because they aren’t His Sheep because His Sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Then He finally tells them that if we are saved we are eternally secure for all time. Romans 8:31-39 confirms this, as do many other places in the Bible. It says whoever believes HAS eternal life. John 17:3 says eternal life is KNOWING the true God and Jesus whom He sent. Nobody is greater than Jesus and so no one can snatch them out of His Hand.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
Wednesday Sep 20, 2023
The disciples were alone with Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration in Mark 9 and Matthew 17 and they got a glimpse of who He truly is and heard the Father speak of how He was pleased with Jesus. They were able to hear a word from God and see a glimpse of His true glory only because they were alone with Him on the mountain. Have you seen Jesus for who He truly is and realized that in Him alone we are to look to for our salvation, comfort, strength, and joy? The bible says in Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Have you been alone on the mountain with Him that you might hear from Him today?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
John 10:17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." 19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" 21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
In this section of Scripture, we see the Father’s special love for Jesus and all who obey His commandments. We don’t work to be saved; rather we work because we are saved. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jesus came with a purpose to lay down His life that we may take up the new life that He gives us. Jesus tells them that He has the power over His life and His death; no one will do anything that He doesn’t want them to do to Him. He also says He will live again and all the things He said caused division among the Jews as usual. Jesus always creates division, not because He is mean and nasty, but because some people want to know the truth and others don’t. Those that don’t want to know the truth are the mean and nasty ones who cause the problems. Finally, they cannot speak to what He says intelligently, so they attack Him verbally as they have many times in the past. Isn’t that what we all do when we can’t win the discussion, we begin to attack the others and so it always ends?
Romans 3:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God 18 and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth— 21 therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law. 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:17-24).
The Gospel of John is written in a way that links the declarations of Jesus to His deeds. John does this to show that Jesus’ words must be taken seriously, because of the works that accompany them.
30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).
So it is in John’s Gospel that Jesus is continually performing some miraculous deed, which validates a declaration He has made, or will make shortly. These “signs” that our Lord performs demonstrate that He is who He claims to be. The One who claims to be the “Bread of Life” (6:35) is the same One who feeds the 5,000 (John 6:1-14). The last words Jesus speaks before giving the man born blind his sight are: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). While many of the Jews object to the teaching of our Lord, accusing Him of being demon possessed, many others protest, “These are not the words of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, can it?” (John 10:21). They take Jesus’ words seriously because of His works. In our text, Jesus claims to be “the resurrection and the life,” assuring His listeners that anyone who believes in Him will live, even though he dies (11:25). This is just shortly before He calls Lazarus out of the tomb, where he has been for four days!
After Jesus feeds the crowd of 5,000 men, the people respond: “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).
When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he acknowledged that Jesus had “come from God,” based upon the deeds He had done: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).
In our text, the Apostle John continues to employ the imagery of sheep and shepherding, but he does so with an emphasis on the relationship between words and deeds. Hypocrisy is not just the sin of the Pharisees. If you and I were honest, we would admit that we are all hypocrites, and in a big way! This text has a great deal to say to us about Jesus, about words and deeds, and about hypocrisy. Let us listen and learn what the Spirit of God has to say to us through His inspired Word. Let us resolve ahead of time, that by God’s grace, we will do what this text teaches us we should do, and that our deeds will conform to His words, as well as our own.
20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?"
Jewish religious leaders are more determined than ever to put Him to death. It is now only a matter of the right opportunity.
21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
The Gospel of John is written in a way that links the declarations of Jesus to His deeds. John does this to show that Jesus’ words must be taken seriously, because of the works that accompany them. John 20:30-31.
So it is in John’s Gospel that Jesus is continually performing some miraculous deed, which validates a declaration He has made, or will make shortly.
This is not an entirely new thing. Throughout the Gospel of John, men strongly differ as to who Jesus is (see John 6:52; 7:43; 9:16). Those opposed to Jesus are becoming more and more intense in their opposition. They have already purposed to put Him to death (see 5:18; 7:1, 19-20, 25; 8:37, 40).
In this section of Scripture we see the Father’s special love for Jesus and all who obey His commandments. We don’t work to be saved; rather we work because we are saved. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jesus came with a purpose to lay down His life that we may take up the new life that He gives us. Jesus tells them that He has the power over His life and His death; no one will do anything that He doesn’t want them to do to Him. He also says He will live again and all the things He said caused division among the Jews as usual. Jesus always creates division, not because He is mean and nasty, but because some people want to know the truth and others don’t. Those that don’t want to know the truth are the mean and nasty ones who cause the problems. Finally they cannot speak to what He says intelligently, so they attack Him verbally as they have many times in the past. Isn’t that what we all do when we can’t win the discussion, we begin to attack the others and so it always ends?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z897g-aad45f
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Hi, I'm Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. In Colossians 1 Paul prayed for them to have wisdom and spiritual understanding. In Chapter 2 Paul said all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. He also said do not let anyone deceive you with philosophy and useless deceit. The world is constantly trying to adjust our attitudes and thinking through the media. James 1 says if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives it liberally and without reproach. Where do you get your opinions and attitudes from, the truth of the Bible, or from Man’s opinions?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
In this section of Scripture Jesus is contrasting Himself as the Good Shepherd with the Pharisees, the ones He calls thieves and hirelings. He tells us that He came to give us life and life more abundantly. That He will give His life for the sheep, but the hireling (Pharisees and other false teachers) will run when the sheep are in danger. Jesus says three times in this passage He is the Good Shepherd. This is one of the seven great I AM statements in this Gospel which shows that Jesus is Yahweh, the Self-Existent One, the One who was In The Beginning with God, the One who IS the WORD OF GOD, the one WHO IS GOD that came in human flesh. Jesus tells them that He will give his life for the sheep, in other words He will die on the cross for our sins. He also tells us that He will bring all the people together that believe in Him into one flock. Just as the tower of Babel separated man from man, Jesus will make us one in Christ. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary
“This is a proverbial or well-known way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life (the Synoptics might have preferred to speak of entering the kingdom, although entering into life is also attested there), only one source of knowledge of God, only one fount of spiritual nourishment, only one basis for spiritual security—Jesus alone.” Carson, p. 385
That they (people) may keep on having life (eternal, he means)” as he shows in 10:28. He is “the life” (14:6). And may have it abundantly (Repetition of (may keep on having) abundance. “To have a surplus,” true to the meaning of overflow
Romans 5:20 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Jesus: The Good Shepherd (10:11-18)
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Note repetition of the article, “the shepherd the good one.
“Jesus continues I am the good shepherd, really: the shepherd, the good one. The adjective is stressed! This adjective, however, is not agaqo" but kalo". The basic meaning of this word is beautiful. Here it indicates excellent. This shepherd answers to the ideal both in his character and in his work. And he is the only one in his class.”
Mr 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
To say he is good based on this passage, Jesus says you have to be God to be good and He is in effect saying I AM GOD
Ps 23 says the Lord is my Shepherd
For illustration see I Sam. 17:35 (David’s experience) and Isa. 31:4.
In Judges 12:3, it means, “I risked my life.” The true physician does this for his patient as the shepherd for his sheep. The use of ὑπερ [huper] here (over, in behalf of, instead of), but in the papyri [huper] is the usual preposition for substitution rather than [anti]. This shepherd gives his life for the sin of the world (1:29; I John 2:2).
The words ‘for (hyper) the sheep’ suggest sacrifice. The preposition, in John always occurs in a sacrificial context, whether referring to the death of Jesus (6:51; 10:11, 15; 11:50ff.; 17:19; 18:14), of Peter (13:37-38), or of a man prepared to die for his friend (15:13). In no case does this suggest a death with merely exemplary significance; in each case the death envisaged is on behalf of someone else. The shepherd does not die for his sheep to serve as an example, throwing himself off a cliff in a grotesque and futile display while bellowing, ‘See how much I love you!’ No, the assumption is that the sheep are in mortal danger; that in their defense the shepherd loses his life; that by his death they are saved. That, and that alone, is what makes him the good shepherd.” Carson, p. 386. The good shepherd lays down his life for the benefit of the sheep, but the only way in which he can benefit the sheep, saving them from everlasting destruction and imparting everlasting life to them, is by dying instead of them, as we learn from Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45, where the preposition anti (instead of, in exchange for) is used.
Five ministries of the Good Shepherd
The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Gives up His life (soul) not just his breath and the things of life. Gave His entire being, felt the pain of hell, the curse of sin, the hate of men.
In the OT the sheep died for the shepherd (their sins), in Jesus the Shepherd dies for the sheep.
12 "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
These are the religious Pharisees; they are in it for the money and things this position brings to them.
Tit 1:10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.
1Pe 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
2Pe 2:3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
The Good Shepherd Loves the Sheep
Knows His sheep, and am known by My own –
Know implies love. Adam knew his wife
14 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Lays down His life for the sheep
15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
5. He unites the Sheep John 17
16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
By : Emil G. Hirsch Immanuel Benzinger Herodotus (i. 195) and Strabo (xvi. 746) assert that among the Babylonians every man carried a ring and a staff, which latter was decorated at the upper end with a carved representation of a flower or something similar. It seems to have been the universal custom among the ancient Hebrews also to carry a staff (comp. Gen. xxxviii. 18)—a custom which perhaps dates from the time when they lived the nomadic life of herdsmen. The staff was indispensable to the herdsman, for by means of it he kept his flock together (Ex. iv. 2; Lev. xxvii. 32; Ps. xxiii. 4; Micah vii. 14; Zech. ii. 7); the upper end of the long staff was bent, as Egyptian illustrations indicate. Nor was the staff to be despised as a weapon (Ps. xxiii. 4). Similarly, a long, perhaps straight, stick, with a goad at the end, was used by the peasants for driving and guiding the oxen before the plow, and also for breaking the clods behind it, as the peasants still use the stick to-day; this also was an effective weapon (Judges iii. 31; I Sam. xiii. 21, xvii. 43). Finally, the staff was indispensable to the wanderer, and a support to the weak and sick (Gen. xxxii. 10; Ex. xxi. 19; Zech. viii. 4). In the hands of the overseers it became an instrument of punishment, and therefore a badge of office (Isa. ix. 4, xxx. 31, et al.).E. G. H.
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z897g-aad45f
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Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In the passage of Scripture we are studying today, we will see that Jesus is not only the door leading us out of our false ways, but also the only door leading to eternal life. I know many think that most people are going to heaven and that there are many ways to get there, but Jesus states with no stutter or stammer there is but one way and HE is it. Somehow He protects those who will trust Him from becoming totally swayed by false teachers so that one day we will trust Him and Him only to save us. He tells the people standing around that the Pharisees and all others who said you could get to heaven some other way than Him are thieves and robbers. He also tells us as we go about everyday life He is with us and takes care of us just as the Shepherds did with their sheep. He also says the thief will do anything to get the sheep and only cares that he gets what he wants. Jesus also says that if we want joy, peace, and a life that is wonderful in spite of our problems we need to trust Him as Savior.
Jesus: The Door Of The Sheep. He Says HE is the Door Twice
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
First, He shifts from the more general third person (“the one who,” “he,” “him,” “his”) to the very specific first person singular (“I,” “me”). He makes it very clear from here on that He is speaking of Himself as “the True Shepherd” and “the Good Shepherd.”
He is the door who makes it possible for them to leave the fold of Judaism and come into salvation through Him
The door of the sheep. Meaning the door for the sheep; not the door of the fold. “The thought is connected with the life, and not simply with the organization.”
The door to the truth. 1Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Jesus brings us out of the mixed sheepfold
Eze 20:37 "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 "I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
8 "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
All who preceded him accordingly must be thieves and the like working in the darkness. All the more is this likely to be the case in that Jesus does not say that they ‘were’ but that they ‘are’ thieves and robbers. The emphasis is on His own day.
Lu 16:14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Mr 12:38 Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 "the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 "who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."
Mr 11:17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves.
9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus brings us out of the mixed sheepfold and into the true fold of His love. Once the flock was led out of that fold, from Israel He gathered His own, took them out to a new pasture in the paroimia. Now it's true, and this is a beautiful thought, when a shepherd and his sheep were way off from the village, they wouldn't go back every night, too far to go. So he would build a little sheepfold on the hillside just for his own sheep. That's the sheepfold in view here, not a mixed sheepfold anymore. These have been led out, these are God's own and God has made a little sheepfold for them out on the hillside. And it represents the place of blessing. And the picture is like leading them out of Judaism into the new sheepfold which is the place of the Father's blessing. And to that sheepfold, Jesus says, "I am the door." He not only leads a man out of the bondage, but he leads him in to the new blessing in God, doesn't He? And He says I'm the door.
Now watch this. That little hillside sheepfold was just a little simple wall out of mud or stone or wood and it had an opening. No door, just an opening. Jesus says, "I am the door." How does that work? Just this, at night the shepherd would take all of his sheep, put them in the fold, and you know what he would do then? He would lie down across the opening and no sheep could ever go out or in without going over the body of the shepherd. Literally the shepherd was the door. So Jesus says in one breath, "I'm the Shepherd." In the next one He says, "I'm also the Door." For in the truest sense that shepherd on that hillside became the door to the sheepfold and he knew every sheep that went in and out. You cannot enter the presence of God through any other door, you must go over the broken body of Jesus Christ, that's the only way. The shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep, right? Jesus, Paul says, is the only way to have access to the Father, Ephesians 2:18.
Saved – means to be delivered safe and sound, someone recovered from a severe illness, come through a bad storm, survived a war, or was acquitted in court.
You'll also find pasture. Did you know the Shepherd not only takes care of us but He feeds us? You say, "What's our food?" Right here, isn't it? The Word of God, that's our food. And, you know, if there are some feeble sheep, that's because they're not eating. Tragically the Shepherd has to lead very slowly because we have a lot of sheep who are dragging along. If you want to be a healthy sheep, feed the Word to your soul and you can go in and out and find pasture, God's sustaining Word, feast on it. Be a healthy sheep.
There is no good reason to restrict the meaning of the verb in this passage, as if it meant no more than, ‘he will be safe.’ To be sure, safety is implied also in the words, and will go in and out; but this is only part of the meaning. Not only will he go in and out, i.e., experience perfect freedom from all real harm and danger, and this even in the small affairs of every-day living, and feel himself entirely at home in the daily routine of God’s people (see especially the beautiful words of Ps. 121:8), but in addition, he will find pasture; i.e., life and abundance, as the following verse indicates. The pasture which the true sheep finds in the study of the Word is certainly included.” Hendriksen, vol. 2, p. 109.
[1] “By going in and out, Scripture often denotes all the actions of the life, which means, to dwell. These words, therefore, present to us a twofold advantage of the Gospel, that our souls shall find pasture in it, which otherwise become faint and famished, and are fed with nothing but wind; and, next, because he will faithfully protect and guard us against the attacks of wolves and robbers.” John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume 7: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc., n.d.), p. 772.
Find Pasture (in sense of growth) 1 Chronicles 4:40 40 •where they found rich•, good pasture, and the land was very broad•, xquiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham.
Ps 121:1 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills-From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. (NKJV)
Destination Sickness – Arriving where you wanted to go and not wanting anything you have.
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary
[1] “This is a proverbial or well known way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life (the Synoptics might have preferred to speak of entering the kingdom, although entering into life is also attested there), only one source of knowledge of God, only one fount of spiritual nourishment, only one basis for spiritual security—Jesus alone.” Carson, p. 385
That they (people) may keep on having life (eternal, he means)” as he shows in 10:28. He is “the life” (14:6). And may have it abundantly (Repetition of (may keep on having) abundance.“to have a surplus,” true to the meaning of overflow
Romans 5:20 20 Now ithe law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, jgrace abounded all the more,
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Hi, This is Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. Why do you think God gave us the 10 commandments? Is it because you think that God is some kind of cosmic kill joy, and that He doesn’t want you to have fun? You wouldn’t let your child play in the middle of a busy highway would you? God gave the 10 Commandments because He is Holy and to show us we aren’t, but it’s also to keep us from getting hurt. When we sin we hurt others and ourselves. The Bible says sin is fun for a season, but it also says whatever a man sows that shall he reap. Sin does have consequences.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Aug 28, 2023
Monday Aug 28, 2023
John 10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
In this message we will see that Jesus is the True Shepherd and He is the only one who can get to His Sheep (Those who will trust Him for Salvation). He leads us out of the old false ways we are in, whether it is religion, drugs, alcohol, or any other wrong thing that we are involved in. He says that His people (His Sheep) will flee from the false teachers because they ultimately will belong to Christ. Somehow, because we are elect, God protects us from the false teachers (shepherds) and keeps us from following them into an eternity in hell. This is a passage that has many applications for our lives. Are we following the false teaching of philosophy, religion, psychology, worldly ways or anything that leads us away from Christ? Are we teaching our children to follow the True Shepherd, or are we allowing them to find their own way that may lead them to hell? Do you know the voice and are you following the ONE TRUE SHEPHERD JESUS CHRIST? Hear His cry today, for He says today is the day of salvation.
The doorkeeper opens the door for the True Shepherd
Verse 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
The doorkeeper could either be John the Baptist who opens the way for the Lord to minister or the Holy Spirit who opens the door to our heart.
Several flocks might be herded in the same fold overnight. But the shepherd knows his own sheep (verse 27) and calls their names. They love and trust their shepherd.
Verse 4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Goeth before. As the Eastern shepherd always does. He brings us out of whatever false religion or ideology that we are in.
Having pushed them forth, he now leads them.
John 11:52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Staff in hand he leads the way in front of the flock and they follow him. What a lesson for pastors who seek to drive the church like cattle and fail. The true pastor leads in love, in words, in deeds.
The Sheep recognize His voice and follow Him
Verse 5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Follow. “It is necessary that they should be taught to follow, and not stray away into the unfenced fields of wheat which lie so temptingly on either side. The shepherd calls from time to time to remind them of his presence. They know his voice and follow on; but if a stranger call, they stop, lift up their heads in alarm, and if the call is repeated, they turn and flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers. This is a simple fact. [1]
They simply will not follow such a man or woman, these well-trained sheep will not. But will flee from him
If only pastors had the sheep (old and young) so trained that they would run away from and not run after the strange voices that call them to false philosophy, false psychology, false ethics, false religion, false life.
Luke 15 the lost sheep, the lost coin and the parable of the lost son. God pursues sinners and has great joy when they turn in repentance and come to Him for salvation.
Verse 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
As David was designated the king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, so also Jesus, the Son of David, was designated Israel’s King by the prophet John the Baptist. The sheep in the sheepfold are the Jews to whom our Lord came[2] as the Messiah. His flock is but a portion of the sheep in the sheepfold. His sheep are the “elect,” the sheep whom God the Father has given to the Son (6:37, 39), and thus Jesus calls them “His own sheep” (verses 3, 4). Because they are His sheep, they “know His voice,” recognize Him as the Messiah, and trust in Him as their Shepherd. These sheep, who belong to the true Shepherd, also know better than to follow any false shepherd. Instead, they avoid such “shepherds” by fleeing from them.
Ps 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Call his sheep by name – Each one must come on his own, and He knows all of us
Leads them out or puts them out just as Pharisees did, but for a good reason. An other centered religion
Goes before them, He doesn’t leave you alone
Sheep Trust His Voice
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
[1] Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word studies in the New Testament (Jn 10:4). Bellingham, WA:
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Acts 13:48 says When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed. Luke again stressed that the results of the preaching of the gospel were due to God's work. The Christian evangelists were only harvesting the souls that God had already prepared. "Once again the human responsibility of believing is shown to match exactly with what God in his sovereignty had planned." Good news spreads fast, and the good news of the gospel "spread through the whole region."
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Jesus: The True Shepherd of Israel 10:1-5
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
In this section of Scripture we will learn what a real shepherd is and how he behaves towards his sheep which is a picture or type of the Pastor/Leader and how he treats his people that he is supposed to be leading towards Godliness. Jesus tells these people to listen up what He is about to say is real important since this section is a continuation of the story of the blind man being put out of the Synagogue by the Pharisees (false shepherds) and being found by Jesus (The True Shepherd) and how He cares for us and will even go out of His way at the expense of His own life to see us saved eternally. Jesus tells it like it is in this section as He always does, but here He begins to really hit the Pharisees hard by telling them what had been prophesied in Ezekiel Chapter 34. In that section of Scripture it speaks of the Pharisees being false shepherds and those who take care of themselves at the expense of the sheep (the people). Finally it speaks of the True Shepherd (Jesus Christ) coming to love, feed, and care for the people of God. Are we following the True Shepherd who is Jesus Christ? If not we are lost forever and headed for hell.
Read Ezekiel 34
Jer 50:6 "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.
Speak about how Shepherds bring the sheep into the fold with others and then out in the fields they have their own fold
3 Characteristics of the True Shepherd
Enters by the door – Comes the right way
The doorkeeper opens the door
The Sheep recognize His voice and follow Him
Enters by the door – Comes the right way
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Verily, verily, the formula never begins anything quite new, but connects what follows with what precedes. This discourse grows out of the assumption of the Pharisees to be the only authoritative guides of the people (9:24, 29) They have already been described as blind and sinful.
The sheep are the Jews, the sheepfold is Israel and many false shepherds have come and led the sheep the wrong way. Jesus leads them out of the false way of Judaism and into the flock of His people the saved
All through Israel's history false shepherds have come in and taken the sheep, fleeced the sheep. And the only rightful Shepherd, the only one who has messianic authority to come in the door and take His elect sheep and lead them out of Judaism is Jesus Christ. The sheepfold is clearly Israel.
Some of God's are in that sheepfold. And Jesus is the Shepherd Messiah who comes to lead them out of Judaism into a new relationship with God through Him. And all the false leaders of Israel have been trying to climb the walls to impose their false messiahship on the sheep. But here's the rightful Shepherd. The door represents messianic authority. Nobody else had the messianic right to go in that door and lead out God's elect sheep but Jesus Christ Himself. Nobody else. He comes in the right way; He fulfilled all the messianic promises. He was the virgin-born Son of God, born in Bethlehem. He was declared so by the Father who said, "Thou art My beloved Son." He was declared to be so by His words and His works. He was declared to be so by John the Baptist and the testimony of others.
He came meek and humbly. The Pharisees came proud, arrogant, haughtily.
Jesus conformed to every messianic promise. He was the rightful Shepherd, the one sent from the Father to take those who would believe of Israel, lead them out of Judaism to form a new flock, soon to become His glorious church.
Some other way Lit., from some other quarter. The thief does not, like the shepherd, come from some well-known direction, as from his dwelling or from the pasture, but from an unknown quarter and by a road of his own. This from is significant, because, in the previous discourses, Jesus has laid great stress on the source from which He proceeded, and has made the difference in character between Himself and His opposers turn upon difference of origin. See 8:23, 42, and 44. In the latter part of this chapter He brings out the same thought (vv. 30, 32, 33, 36).
How industrious are wicked people to do mischief! What plots will they lay, what pains will they take, what hazards will they run, in their wicked pursuits! This should shame us out of our slothfulness and cowardice in the service of God.
Jesus uses this familiar scene to demonstrate how He is Israel’s true Shepherd, and how the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders are evil shepherds. Evil shepherds—to whom Jesus refers as “thieves and robbers”—do not dare present themselves to the doorkeeper, because he will know them for what they are, and will not grant them access to the sheep, since their intent is to steal sheep and to kill them
Mt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
They thought they had just “slammed the door” in the face of the man who was born blind, but in truth he just found the “door” in Christ and entered into eternal life.
Mark 11:17 (ESV) 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
Here the man jumping over the wall comes to steal and to do it by violence like a bandit. He is both thief and robber.
2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus is the true Shepherd, Israel’s Messiah.
Shepherd - Old word with a root meaning to protect. Jesus applies it to himself in verse 16 and implies it here. It is used of Christ in 1 Peter 2:25 (ESV) 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him
Mt 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
The psalmist said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The psalmist said in Psalm 77, "Thou leadest Thou people like a flock." In Psalm 79, "We, Thy people, the sheep of Thy pasture, will give Thee thanks forever." In Psalm 80, "Give ear, O shepherd of Israel," the psalmist said, "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." Psalm 95, "He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand." God was a shepherd to Israel.
Eze 34:31 “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.
Hebrews 13:20 (ESV) 20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
Paul applies it to ministers in Ephesians 4:11 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
Jesus uses the verb ποιμαινω [poimainō], to shepherd, to Peter John 21:16 (ESV)16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Peter uses it to other preachers 1 Peter 5:1–4 (ESV) 5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Paul uses it for bishops (elders) in Acts 20:28–29 (ESV) 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Our word pastor is simply Latin for shepherd. Christ is drawing a sharp contrast after the conduct of the Pharisees towards the blind man between himself and them.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
Wednesday Aug 16, 2023
In Psalm 107 When God's people were sick because of their sins and they cried out to Him, He restored them to health. The reference to God's Word having a part in their healing shows that spiritual nourishment plays a vital part in physical restoration. Such salvation should move God's people to make sacrifices to express their gratitude and to tell other people about the Lord's goodness. Have we cried out to God in desperation and asked Him to heal us and restore us from our sins, and told others how great He is?
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving kindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! (Psalm 107:19-21)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Monday Aug 14, 2023
John 9:28 Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. 29 "We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." 30 The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." 34 They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. 35 ¶ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" 36 He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" 37 And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." 38 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. 39 ¶ And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.
In this section of Scripture we will see the formerly blind man being confronted by the “religious” leaders (Pharisees) of the day. Instead of jumping up and down and rejoicing for his newly found sight, they mistreat the man because they want to find the Man who broke THEIR Sabbath. These Pharisees think they are somebody and they confront this man, but little do they know that he has a new found confidence and will soon have salvation too, while they end up lost and headed for hell. This man when confronted says that Jesus is not a sinner but from God and who has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of the blind! So the religious leaders remove him from fellowship with any Jew by kicking him out of the Synagogue. Well, Jesus goes and finds the man and asks him if he believes in the Son of God (Messiah), then man says who is He that I might believe and Jesus says I am Him. Right then and there the man believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and is saved. Then the Pharisees meanwhile demand to know whether they are the blind Jesus is talking about who are lost and Jesus says yes, you are. Are we blind, yet think we see and know the truth, or do we really know the Jesus of the Bible?
V28 The controversy exposes another deceit. No, they are not disciples of Moses. Because Jesus said in John 5:46, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” Now we start to see who is really blind in this story.
V 35-38 And that’s the last thing we see or hear of him. That is the point of the story. Jesus does the works of God. Jesus is the glory of God. Jesus is to be worshipped. The man was blind. And then he called Jesus “the man.” And then he called him a prophet. And then he defended him at huge risk. And then fell down and worshipped. This is why Jesus came into the world. He is seeking worshipers.
39–41 The same light that leads one person can blind another
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
Wednesday Aug 09, 2023
In Iconium the Jews and Gentiles tried to stone Paul and Barnabas, so they left as any sensible person would. They didn’t want to remain and be stoned or lynched by this mob. It is a wise Christian who always knows when to stand his ground and when to leave for the glory of God. Paul and Barnabas were following the directions the Lord Jesus gave to them and so they left to go to Lystra and Derbe where they began sharing the Gospel again as it says in Acts 14:7. Notice they didn’t quit because they were scared, but moved to another location and began again. Are we fearful of what others might think or do to us if we share the Gospel? May God give us boldness such as these men had.
And there they continued to preach the gospel. (Acts 14:7)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Monday Aug 07, 2023
John 9:14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 "but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." 25 He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." 26 Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?"
In this section of Scripture we will see the effects of Jesus healing the blind man. It affects the blind man in that he can see now, but also begins to see who Jesus really is. He is a picture of us who are spiritually blind and cannot see the truth unless Jesus opens our eyes to it. It affects the Pharisees because they get mad that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Instead of rejoicing that a man blind from birth can see, they want all the details, especially those pertaining to the sin they believe the healer has committed. It affects the parents, they are not sure what to think, but then they are also scared and intimidated by the Pharisees who will kick them out of the Synagogue if they admit that it was Jesus. So these parents who have probably taken care of their son all their life suddenly want him to stand on his own two feet and take care of himself, especially when it comes to talking to the Pharisees. Lastly it affects all the people who knew the man and saw the difference in him. How about you, has Jesus coming into your life affected all the people you know or have you forgotten to share that new sight with all who do not know the truth of Jesus and His saving grace.
14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
Why would he do this? To show that he was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). He defines the Sabbath. To show what the point of Sabbath rest is. The point of Sabbath rest is healing. That’s why you rest. Healing! The point of Sabbath rest is that we are helpless and God creates, God sustains, God heals, we don’t. What day could be better for God incarnate to find a broken man and heal him—to give him and his parents rest from all the struggles of blindness? That’s what the Sabbath is for—God-exalting blessing to broken and weary humans.
15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.
Blind Man’s Spirtual Progress –
Verse 11 - All he knows is A Man called Jesus
Verse 17 - then comes to realize Jesus is a Prophet
John 9:25 He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."
Believes He is From God - John 9:31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."
John 9:38 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. Then he believes Jesus is from God then He believes in Him and Is Saved
As He sees more and more of Jesus his courage is strengthened more and more to the place where He does not care if he is thrown out of the Synagogue and directly confronts the Pharisees, go back to John 1 where the disciples see more and more of Jesus, John 4 the woman at the well, the man whose son is healed, Peter on the day of Pentecost and all believers who truly understand who Jesus is and will stand up for Him even to death
Note the Spiritual Digression of the Pharisees and others nearby
Not from God - Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.
He is a Sinner - John 9:24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner."
Would not believe, so they remain unsaved - John 9:39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.
Jesus has himself done the works of God. And those who have eyes to see say with John 1:14, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That’s what the blind man saw. That’s what the Pharisees did not see, which is why this chapter ends with blindness just like it began, only of a worse kind.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. 37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" 39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: 40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." 41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
This is what Jesus was after: Clear sight of who he was, courageous confession of faith, and worship. And the expression of tragically blasphemous hearts.
V24 Give glory to God (cf. Josh. 7:19; 1 Sam. 6:5; Jer. 13:16) was a call to admit his guilt in siding with Jesus, whom they called a sinner. When they said We know, they were pressuring him. Unbelief often claims to be scientific, but here it was just stubborn and willful.[1]
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Wednesday Aug 02, 2023
Acts 16:40 says A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Lydia being a rich woman was another of God’s unlikely candidates to get saved to start the Philippian Church. God also saved the cruel gentile jailer and a demon possessed woman. These were the first converts. God used all of them to build a mighty church on the Ignatian Way which was the road which was the lifeline between the Western and Eastern parts of the huge Roman Empire.. The establishment of this church meant that all people who came through this area could be exposed to the Gospel and the missionaries could easily move into all areas sharing the Gospel.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 31, 2023
Monday Jul 31, 2023
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 ¶ Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." 10 Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." 12 Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
We are taking a second look at this section of Scripture because there is so much that is going on that we missed last week. Jesus cares more about the blind man than He does His own life, because it says as He passed by He saw the man. He was leaving the Pharisees who were trying to stone Him and yet He stopped to help this man. Oh, that we were like Jesus and cared about people like He did and still does. Jesus knew He was on a divine timetable and that He had a limited amount of time to work and accomplish the purposes that He was sent to do. We need to realize our time is limited too and we need to work like Jesus said to, because a time comes when our time to do God’s will is done. There are no do overs, no un do’s, no deletes, what is done is done and what has not been done will never be accomplished by us. Lastly, life’s circumstances ought to draw us closer to Jesus and when people look at us they ought to be like the people who saw the blind man and said in verse 8 "Is not this he who sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he. We should be so different after Jesus has saved us that people wonder if we are the same person and then we get to testify that we are, but we are changed totally, completely, and only by the grace given to us by Jesus coming into our lives.
The Controversy
John 9:8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"
9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he."
They weren’t sure if it was him or not because when we are changed by Jesus and given spiritual eyes to see, we are not the same person. Also having eyes now instead of sunken in places on his face changed his looks.
God changes the way we look to the world when we begin to see the light of Jesus and respond to it.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
10 Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" Looking to find a violation of the Sabbath, not worried about him and his healing, Asked How, not who
11 He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight."
12 Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."
John 9:13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.
9:13-14. Since this miracle was so unusual, the people brought the man to the Pharisees, who were highly respected in religious matters. To the Pharisees, healing (unless life was in danger) and making or kneading clay violated the Sabbath Law.
14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
Why would he do this? To show that he was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). He defines the Sabbath. To show what the point of Sabbath rest is. The point of Sabbath rest is healing. That’s why you rest. Healing! The point of Sabbath rest is that we are helpless and God creates, God sustains, God heals, we don’t. What day could be better for God incarnate to find a broken man and heal him—to give him and his parents rest from all the struggles of blindness? That’s what the Sabbath is for—God-exalting blessing to broken and weary humans.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Psalm 107:43 says Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD. The Lord not only controls nature as stated in an earlier verse, but He also controls the experiences of people. He humbles the proud, but He also exalts the humble. The godly observe this and rejoice, but the unrighteous keep silent. A wise person will reflect on these matters and meditate on God's loyal love. How often do we reflect on God’s faithful love and all He has done and continues to do for us?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
This is the chapter that illustrates Chapter 8:12 Jesus is the Light of the World
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
In this very familiar Scripture we need to make sure we don’t think we know everything that is going on here since we have heard this story so many times. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes as in any Scripture we read. That is why we have to be very careful when we study to make sure we are really getting the meaning behind it that GOD wants us to have. Number one his disciples assume the man is born blind because of someone sinning. We also need to understand that sometimes God allows circumstances in our lives so that He might get glory from the way we respond to it. Third, there is a limited amount of time we have to work for God and do His will for our lives. Lastly, we have to go to the source of every solution to the problems of life. Note that He doesn’t always fix everything, but He enables us to handle all the ups and downs of life, no matter how bad things get. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
His Compassion
There are more miracles of the giving of sight to the blind recorded of Jesus than healings in any other category (see Matt. 9:27-31; 12:22-23; 15:30-31; 21:14; Mark 8:22-26; 10:46-52; Luke 7:21-22).
In the Old Testament the giving of sight to the blind is associated with God himself (Exod. 4:11; Ps. 146:8).
It is also a messianic activity (Isa 29:18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.;
Isa 42:7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Lu 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." and this may be its significance in the New Testament.
It is a divine function, a function for God's own Messiah, that Jesus fulfills when he gives sight to the blind."
Ex 4:11 So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
Ps 146:8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
1Jo 2:11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
This whole chapter is steeped in Controversy, Why was the man born blind v 2, was it really him 1) The Beggar and His Neighbors (Verses 8–12), The Beggar and the Pharisees (Verses 13–17) Why did Jesus do this v14, who is He really v15-41? Controversy between The Pharisees and the Parents (Verses 18–23), Again- The Beggar and the Pharisees (Verses 24–34) Controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees (V39-41)
This chapter presents the sixth of seven special miracles recorded in John’s Gospel as witnesses to Christ’s deity (20:30–31). The first three signs show how a person is saved: through the Word (water to wine), by faith (healing the nobleman’s son), and by grace (healing the impotent man). The last four signs show the results of salvation: satisfaction (feeding the 5,000), peace (stilling the storm), light (healing the blind man), and life (raising Lazarus).
The man has the characteristics of the lost sinner.
(1) He was blind (Eph. 4:18; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 4:3–6). The unsaved, though intellectual like Nicodemus, can never see or understand spiritual things. See 1 Cor. 2:14–16.
(2) He was begging. The unsaved are poor in God’s sight, though perhaps rich in the eyes of the world. They are begging for something to satisfy their deepest needs.
(3) He was helpless. He could not cure himself; others could not cure him.
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
He is more concerned with the man than His own life. Lu 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Probably Jesus healed this man in Jerusalem (8:59). John apparently noted that the man had been blind from birth to prove his helpless condition and to compare him with those who were spiritually blind from birth (cf. vv. 39-41; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1-3). While the Synoptics record several instances in which blind people received their sight, this is the only case of this happening to a man who was born blind. The miracle also illustrates the origin and development of faith.
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork”
He is a prepared vessel to show the Glory of God, he was a miracle waiting to happen
So when Jesus said in verse 3, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him,” this is the work of God—that the man see natural light and that the man see spiritual light. That the man be given natural eyes, and that he be given spiritual eyes. That he see the glory of this world, and the glory of its Maker, Jesus Christ. And worship him.
Romans 8:28 –
God is worth more than all the troubles we go through Romans 8:18
Psalm 63:3 says, “Your steadfast love is better than life.” And Jesus said to the prisoners in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Being loved by God, and being with God forever, is better than having eyes and better than being alive in this world. If we don’t believe that, then saying that God has wise and good purposes in all our losses, will not be much comfort. But if we do believe it, not only will God’s purposes comfort us and strengthen us, but they will make us able to patiently, and gently help others through their times of darkness.
His Purpose
4 "We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
There is an urgency to this command to Do God’s works, not ours, the time is short
All of us must tell others about Christ through our life, actions, words, and sharing with others about who He is
A time is coming when all work for God in leading others to Christ will be over and it will be too late for them and too late for us to get another chance to tell them. There is a time to discuss theology or Biblical teaching, but all the time is the time to share Christ.
Jesus tells them WE must work, then He proceeds to do the work Himself, see this is the way it really works because when we do our part God is really the one who is really doing the hard work that changes lives. We are partners in this work.
Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." He is the truth, righteousness, holiness, and morality that only comes from God.
Eph 3:20 – He is able to do, His Power working in us
8:12 I am the light of the world
John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them
He will be hidden from all who do not believe one day. He is even now hidden to those who do not want to know the truth
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. Spit on his eyes, may have motivated to get it off too because it was nasty
Jesus deliberately causes a controversy
Jesus did it because it was against the law to do it on the Sabbath—against the Pharisee’s understanding of the law—and He meant to unleash the controversy that would bring out both blasphemy and worship
1Co 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
Lu 12:51 "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
God’s part – God’s Sovereignty the work He will do in our life and others if we follow Him like we ought to.
Ge 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
His Power
7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
What else did Jesus say to the man? Does the man have any idea of who He is at this point and if not why does he obey
John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
2Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Man’s Responsibility - If he had not went, he would not have been healed. Maybe this is where we get the term blind obedience.
God doesn’t need man, but He uses man, He sent this man on a mission and he did it and God worked, we must listen and obey God
The second reason for the mud is to show that God usually uses means in doing his wonderful works in this world. Jesus could have simply spoken and the man’s eyes would have been opened. Most of the wonders of God in the Old Testament were brought about by the use of human means. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). God is decisive in the victory, but he uses means. He doesn’t need the horse, but he uses the horse.
The Siloam Aqueduct: Opposite to the main part of Silwan is the "Virgin's Fount," ancient GIHON (which see), whose waters are practically monopolized by the villagers. It is the waters of this spring which are referred to in Isaiah 8:5, 6: "Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly,.... now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the River." These waters are sent from God, Jesus is the Living Water Chapter 4 and
Remember back in John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
Early each of the seven mornings of the feast the high priest would lead a procession from the Pool of Siloam to the temple. Another priest would first fill a golden ewer with water from the pool. He would then carry it through the Water Gate on the south side of the temple and into the temple courtyard. There he would ceremoniously pour the water into a silver basin on the west side of the brazen altar from which it would flow through a tube to the base of the altar. Many Jews would accompany these priests. Some of them would drink from the pool while others would chant Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." This was such a happy occasion that the Mishnah stated, "He that never has seen the joy of the Water-drawing has never in his life seen joy."301 The priest would then pour water into the basin at the time of the morning sacrifice. Another priest would also pour the daily drink offering of wine into another basin at the same time. Then they would pour the water and the wine out before the Lord. The pouring out of water represented God's provision of water in the wilderness in the past and His provision of refreshment and cleansing in the messianic age. The pouring out of wine symbolized God's bestowal of His Spirit in the last days. Every male present would simultaneously shake his little bundle of willow and myrtle twigs (his lulab) with his right hand and hold a piece of citrus fruit aloft with his left hand. The twigs represented stages of the wilderness journey marked by different kinds of vegetation, and the citrus fruit symbolized the fruit of the Promised Land.302 Everyone would also cry, "Give thanks to the Lord!" three times. Worshippers in the temple courtyard would then sing the Hallel (Ps. 113—118).303 This "water rite" had become a part of the Israelites' traditional celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. Essentially it symbolized the fertility and fruitfulness that the rain brought. In the Old Testament, God likened His blessings in the messianic kingdom to the falling of rain (Ezek. 47:1-7; Zech. 13:1). The Jews regarded God's provision of water in the wilderness and rain in the land as harbingers of His great blessings on the nation under Messiah's reign. Thus the water rite in the feast of Tabernacles had strong messianic connotations.
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Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023
Psalm 108:5 says Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth. Here David praised God mightily for His great love and His amazing faithfulness. He wanted God to exalt Himself over all the earth and to deliver him from his affliction. Have we praised God mightily today for His great love and amazing faithfulness even though we many times are unfaithful? Have we praised Him even in pain and suffering and asked for His deliverance not looking to our own means and ways? Are we praising Him and exalting Him as we should? Let us do this today and commit to do this every single day. Amen!
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 ¶ "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." 52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' 53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.(NKJV)
This is the section of Scripture right after Jesus tells them if the Son sets you free you shall be free indeed. They say they never have been in bondage, they are Abraham’s descendants and then Jesus tells them the truth about who they really are, so they start accusing Him of all kind of things. They accuse Him of being demon possessed, that He is a half breed Samaritan and finally say He is an illegitimate child. But Jesus has the last word as usual and tells them if they keep His word they shall never see death, nor taste it. He says He honors His Father, but they dishonor Him. They finally hear Him say that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and they are incredulous and say you are not even 50 years old how could you see Abraham. Then Jesus lets them have it by saying He is the great I AM, Yahweh, Jehovah, the Self Existent One, the one who has always existed and will always exist. Then they try to kill Him again, but as usual they fail since His time had not yet come.
John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Samaritans were a mixed race with a religion the Jews considered apostate (cf. comments on 4:4). To call Jesus a Samaritan was to use a term of abuse, referring to a heretic or one with a faulty worship. Their charge that Jesus was demon-possessed (cf. 7:20; 8:52; 10:20) suggested they thought He was mad, unclean, and evil. How ironic that after He said their father was the devil (8:44), they said He was demon-possessed![1]
49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
When accused, Jesus did not seek to justify Himself
Jesus says, in effect, I don't need to defend myself, because God the Father seeks my glory. In other words, if you dishonor me, instead of glorifying me, you set yourself against God. If you oppose me, you oppose the one who is committed to honor me.
50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
But all through this whole book, the message has been: The Son of God did not come for judgment but for salvation. He did not come to condemn, but to save. John 3:17: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
So Jesus finishes his response to their indictments like this (verse 51): "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." In other words, you have gotten to the point where you are blaspheming me, calling me a half-breed and demonized. And you are in great danger of God's judgment, but I hold out to you once more the gift of salvation. If you will keep my word, you will never see death.
51 "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
(cf. comments on 1:51(Similar expressions are “hear” His Word [5:24] and “hold” to His teaching [8:31].) It means to observe, pay attention to, or to fulfill.
John 11:25–26. He says to Martha at Lazarus' grave: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Though he die, he never dies.
Yes, We Die—And, No, We Don't
Yes, we die: "Though he die, yet shall he live." No, we don't die: "Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Lazarus' body lay dead in the grave. But Lazarus was not dead. His body was dead. But he was not dead. He had not died.
John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."
When we were born again, we received the gift of life. Spiritual life (John 3:6–8). When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive (Ephesians 2:4–5). This new life is eternal life. In this new spiritual life, we are able to fellowship with God, know God, experience God, speak with God, hear from God through his word, sense the love of God shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). This is the work of the Holy Spirit
Our Bodies Die, But We Do Not
Our bodies die. They lie—looking like they are sleeping, which is why the New Testament sometimes calls death falling asleep—they lie in the grave until the last trumpet. "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). But when our bodies die, we do not die. We have passed from death to life. Eternal life. Unbroken, unending life.
52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Joh 4:12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
Either Jesus is a blasphemer or he is God.
54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great "I am" of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, "Before Abraham was, I was." But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, "Before Abraham was, I am." Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"
Hebrews 2:14–15 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews says that the fear of death produces a pervasive, lifelong bondage—even when we don't realize it, fear is haunting our choices, making us cautious, wary, restrained, confined, narrow, tight, robbing us of risk and adventure and dreams for the sake of Christ and his kingdom and the cause of love in the world. Without our even knowing it, fear of death is a slave master binding us with invisible ropes, confining us to small, safe, innocuous, self-centered ways of life.
Jesus Sets Us Free
Becker has no solution for this bondage, but Jesus does. "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Or as he says in John 8:32, "You will know the truth [about death], and the truth will set you free." The world desperately needs the courage and the Christ of fearless Christians who know they will never taste death. Be one.
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Leviticus 24:16
Joh 5:23 "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Joh 5:41 "I do not receive honor from men.
Joh 5:44 "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
Joh 8:54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
Joh 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Jn 5:41 | I do not receive glory from people.
Jn 7:20 | The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
Heb 11:13 | These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Ex 3:14 | God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Jn 7:28 | So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 10, 2023
Monday Jul 10, 2023
John 8:37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 "You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 ¶ "Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.
In this section of Scripture we will see the difference between the true children of God and the false professors. Many people say they belong to God, but Jesus tells us here that if we were truly His children (Abraham’s children), then our walk will match our talk. It is easy to say you are a follower of Christ; it is another thing to have that ring true by the way you live and talk day in and day out. The Bible always matches saying and doing together. James 2:14 says what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? In other words if you say you have faith, but are not backing it up by working for God, then you are not really saved. He says can this kind of faith save him. It is a question that is asked with the implied answer of no it cannot and will not. He puts it this way in James 2:20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? That is why Jesus can tell these Pharisees that they are not His children, but the devil is their father and that they are liars and murderers too.
God hates sin
2Pe 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.
Romans 6
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
We think we are secure because of things, Baptism, communion, church membership, grew up in the church, etc.
Claim to be Abraham’s seed and therefore the children of God by the use of three arguments.
Bloodline of Abraham
Ethnicity - John 8:33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?"
Jesus refutes their claim
Joh 8:37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
Ro 4:13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Ro 4:14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Religion 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, (Spiritual Father) - Romans 9:6-8, Romans 2:28-29
Ge 18:1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 "Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
Mt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 "and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
1Th 1:6 And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.
Mt 21:28-46 Parable of the Son and the Vineyard.
1Jo 3:10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. 13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
Morality 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
Jesus is speaking a language they do not know (understand) so they cannot understand the content of His words.
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” [1]
Galatians 3:23-29
Jesus is telling us in this text that one’s “father” is known, not by one’s parents, or even by one’s profession, but by means of one’s practice. Our father is the one who behaves as we do. The Jews who oppose Jesus are liars and murderers, just like their “true father,” the devil. Who your “true father” is will be evident by your walk.
Word – 6 times
Joh 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
Joh 8:37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
Joh 8:43 "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
Joh 8:51 "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
Joh 8:52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
Joh 8:55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
Father - 11 Times Jesus speaks of His role with the Father
Joh 8:16 "And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.
Joh 8:18 "I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."
Joh 8:19 Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."
Joh 8:27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
Joh 8:28 Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.
Joh 8:29 "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."
Joh 8:38 "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."
Joh 8:39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham.
Joh 8:41 "You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God."
Joh 8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
Joh 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
Joh 8:53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Joh 8:54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
Truth – 5 times
Joh 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Joh 8:40 "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.
Joh 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
John 8:45 "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 "Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
Wednesday Jul 05, 2023
I know many today wonder whether God is truly with them and try all kinds of means and methods to get what they want or get out of problems. It seems like people want don’t want to trust God for anything but as a last resort. God did everything necessary to save you and will be with you. It is also a great reminder to those of us who are or have been in the path of the storm that all of these things are just things and what is important is knowing the Lord and putting our trust in Him. David was so sure of God that he spoke in Psalm 20:8 as if it had already happened. The name of the Lord refers to God’s character, reputation, and nature.
David gained confidence as he reflected on his God. Who do you trust? God can be trusted.
1Jo 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. (NKJV)
2Sa 22:47 "The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation!
Ps 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 20:7-8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. 8 They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 03, 2023
Monday Jul 03, 2023
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. 37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."
In this very familiar section of Scripture we see Jesus get down to the heart of the matter. This is one of the most crucial truths in Scripture regarding whether we are truly saved or not. If we are truly saved, we will continue to believe His Word, follow His Word, and obey His Word. The old song says Trust and Obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. If we are to be truly saved we have to first trust that His Word is true and believe it, then we have to follow or obey it. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. We need to examine ourselves to see what we trusted in and who we trusted in and did it make a change in the way we live. Those are the tests outlined in the Book of First John, which John also wrote. If you say you are saved and the way you live has not changed and if your want to’s have not changed (I used to “want to” live in sin, now, I “want to” please God”) then you need to ask yourself am I really saved. Jesus said this way in another passage Luke 6:46 "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say? (NKJV)
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
25 YEARS OF MINISTERING TO THE FORGOTTEN
Please help us reach out to those the World has forgotten. Everyone we minister to is locked up in some way, shape, or form. Those in Nursing Home facilities are locked up in bodies that do not work, in a wheelchair or in a bed. We minister to children and youth who are locked up because of behavioral problems. Some have told us, “We want to have a Real Family”, because their parents have lost or given up custody of them. Other kids are locked up because they have committed crimes. We also minister to those locked up at the jail/prison; to those locked up in addictions to drugs, alcohol, depression, and suicidal thoughts; to those locked up in a variety of other things that keep them from becoming who Jesus wants them to be. He came to give us abundant life, joy, and set us free, and these people that we minister to are not free. Our desire is to show them whatever their background, no matter what they have done, to see how much God loves them; We seek to help them receive forgiveness and freedom from their sin in Jesus Christ. We minister in the local area of Savannah, Georgia and surrounding Effingham and Chatham area. We have recently expanded our ministry to the Lexington/Columbia SC area. We do over 700 services every year. We hope and pray that you will support us in some way so we can continue our mission. Go to His Love Ministries.net and Click on the Donate Now button or send it via regular mail to PO Box 1881 Lexington, SC 29071. We hope and pray that you will do that. Thank you and God bless you.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
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