Good morning.  Jesus continues: but now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy make full in themselves. It is not a joy because of; but rather a joy in spite of. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. The word separates us from the world. If we follow the word, we will come into conflict with the people of the world. It would be bad enough that they do not want to follow the word; but they deliberately oppose those who do. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. If we wanted to keep our children safe, we would remove them from the situation where they might get harmed; but God deliberately keeps us in this world so that we can share His gospel with the people in the world. The word “one“ is in italics meaning that it is not actually written in the original. The word “the“ is in the original. You would not normally say keep someone from the evil, but rather just plain evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Remember the song “this world is not my home, I’m just a passing through“. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. Jesus had told them earlier, if they continued in His word, then they were truly disciples of His, and they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free. Jesus did just the opposite of Jack Nicholson, “you can’t handle the truth“. Father thank You that You gave us the truth of Your word in order to sanctify us. Help us to walk in the truth in order to be sanctified. Help the reader to have a great time with his/her family.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed

  Good morning. We left John at the entrance of the tomb, stooping and looking in. “Shy” Peter then arrives following John, and enters the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there. So the other disciple, John, who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. It does not say whether or not Peter believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes. I’m not exactly sure what it means by their own homes. They were originally from Galilee and would not have had homes in Jerusalem. Perhaps it means the homes where they were staying while in Jerusalem. Apparently, they were not staying in the upper room, or it would have said so. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped (just like John) and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been l...
Read more

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body

  Good morning. After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and he granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. Remember that myrrh was one of the gifts that the magi brought when Jesus was a baby. Also notice that he had 100 pounds of spices. Normally one does not have that much just lying around the house. Since most likely he was older, he may have been storing it up for when he himself was going to die. Or perhaps while Jesus was hanging on the cross, he went to the merchants and purchased it, because there was no time to do so after Jesus died prior to the beginning of the Sabbath. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. My Bible says that these were thin ...
Read more

Why are you timid, you men of little faith?

  Good morning. Remember that Jesus had given orders that they should depart to the other side (of the lake). While Jesus was asleep in the boat, there arose a great storm, so that the boat was covered with the waves. This was no afternoon shower; it was one of those “make the palm trees bend over and touch the ground" kind of storms. And Jesus just slept through it! He had confidence in His Father to protect Him. The disciples, however, were not confident. They were focusing on the circumstances and not on the word Jesus had given them. They awoke Jesus saying, “save us, Lord; we are perishing!” Jesus had told them to go to the other side; so they should've been confident that they would make it. They did not even think about all of the miracles that Jesus had just finished doing. But even if they had, they probably would've said “well that was one thing, this is something entirely different”. The same thing happens to us. God tells us to do something, and a storm arises....
Read more