Jesus Knows the Father

This title may seem a little self-evident, but if you stop to think about it, it’s pretty meaningful. With human beings, not every son can say that he knows his father well, understanding their Dad’s nature, motivations, and ultimate plans. But Jesus did know all those things about His Father.

Let’s read what the Scriptures say about this subject:

. . . just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (Joh 10:15 NASB)

All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him. (Mt 11:27 NET)

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. (Joh 17:25 NIV)

Jesus knows His Father so thoroughly and completely, that Jesus decided to come to earth in obedience to His Father’s plan of salvation for mankind.

Jesus became the perfect Lamb of God described in Revelation 13:8:

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 13:8 NKJV)

John, the Baptist, also described Jesus eloquently in the Bible:

The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! (Joh 1:29 NASB, emphasis added)

Jesus, our Savior, was destined to be the Savior who ‘takes away the sin of the world’ according to the Scriptures. He was even chosen before the world was made!

Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for your sake. (1 Pet 1:20 NCV)

Not only did Jesus know His Father intimately, but He reveals His Father to each and every believer who accepts Jesus Christ as their own, personal Savior and Redeemer. Glory to God most High!

Do Not Spread Lies

The Scriptures abound in warnings and in guidelines for wise people to follow. The question is, “Do you want to be wise?”

Wisdom tells us that we should not spread lies—not for any reason, under any circumstances, no matter how compelling or understandable our justifications may sound.

Let’s read some of the teachings of Scripture on this topic:

A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies. (Pro 14:5 ESV)

You are not to spread a false report, nor are you to join forces with the wicked to be a malicious witness. (Ex 23:1 ISV)

A false witness will not be unpunished, and he who speaks lies will perish. (Pro 19:9 MEV)

When a person tells a lie, they join forces with the wicked! Did you realize that? I’m sure you didn’t.

A lie is described in the Bible as malicious, which means malevolent, spiteful, cruel, or wicked. Clearly, we can understand why these attributes would be ascribed to the wicked. Wicked means evil, bad, depraved, immoral, sinful, impious, or fiendish. All of these qualities are linked to our spiritual enemy, the devil.

Furthermore, Proverbs 19:9 says that a liar will be punished, and will even perish. It doesn’t mean that the person will die immediately, but that if they don’t change their ways, that they will perish eternally.

Since we serve the Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6)—the God who is love (1 Joh 4:8)—we believers are to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus. Jesus asked His Father to forgive His tormentors in Luke 23:34, so we must forgive others. Jesus characterized Himself in John 14:6 as ‘the truth,’ so we can understand that TRUTH is very important to Him. Brothers and sisters, we are people of Light serving a living, loving, and merciful God. Show forth His attributes to the world each day, and your actions will generate glory and thanksgiving to God.

CAUTION: If You Dig a Hole, You Might Fall Into It

As Christians, we need to be careful about our attitudes and responses to other people. When people hurt us or spitefully abuse us, it is tempting to want revenge. But we need to resist that carnal urge, and yield to the Holy Spirit, instead. We must guard our hearts carefully and watchfully.

Remember, when each one of us was involved in sin and rebellion, God still loved us. In fact, He loved us so much that He sent His only Son to earth to suffer our penalty in order to save mankind and to restore peace between God and man. What a huge sacrifice!

God is love, and He always interacts with mankind in loving ways. In order to follow Jesus, we should endeavor to walk in love.

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him. (Pro 26:27 NKJV)

This Scripture above warns a vengeful person that digging a pit for someone else often results in us falling into the pit ourselves. It also suggests that if we roll a stone in order to hurt someone else, it’s possible that the stone will roll back onto us.

He digs a pit, even excavates it; then he fell into the hole that he had made. ¹⁶The trouble he planned will return on his own head, and his violence will descend on his skull. (Ps 7:15-16 ISV)

This verse in Psalms, above, reminds us that whatever trouble we plan for someone else may eventually return to harm us. The violence we wanted to do to someone else could arrive suddenly and unexpectedly at our own front door.

Enemies set traps for my feet and struck me down. They dug a pit in my path, but fell in it themselves. (Ps 57:6 CEV)

Psalm 57 demonstrates clearly that evil works intended for others have a dangerous way of rebounding upon the evildoers, themselves. Let this serve as a solemn reminder that God’s instructions are based upon sound wisdom, and upon His desire to bring us to full, spiritual maturity. God’s wisdom is also based upon His complete and perfect love for each and every one of us.

Love Light More Than Darkness

We, as believers and followers of Jesus Christ, are instructed to love light more than darkness! (Eccl 2:13 NIV)

One commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:13 says this:

. . . light sometimes signifies joy and prosperity, and darkness adversity; the one is used to express the light of grace, and the other the darkness of sin and ignorance; now as the natural light exceeds darkness, and prosperity exceeds adversity and calamities, and a state of grace exceeds a state of sin and wickedness, so wisdom exceeds folly.

(Source: Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ecclesiastes 2:13 – Bible Commentary (biblia.work))

Jesus referred to Himself as the “Light of the world” (Joh 8:12). In John 3:19-21, Jesus explains the meanings of “light” and “darkness” to Nicodemus, a Pharisee:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (Joh 3:19-21 NIV)

Jesus is the Light that has come into the world, and He also says about Himself:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (Joh 14:6 ESV) Jesus also says clearly that He is the TRUTH! So as Christians, we should love the Light and the Truth that is Jesus Christ.

One reason for anyone to prefer the darkness to the light is to hide their own, evil deeds.

And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. (Joh 3:19 NASB)

We have to prefer God’s opinion of us and our actions, and the glory that God will one day bestow upon every believer, in order to follow diligent lifestyle of preferring the light over the darkness.

. . . for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. (Joh 12:43 ESV)

God is light and has no darkness of any kind in Him. As we continue in relationship with Jesus Christ, living according to His teachings, He cleanses us daily and washes all our sins away. Glory to God!

Jesus told us God is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him. Now we are telling you. ⁶If we say we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. ⁷ But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. (1 Joh 1:5-7 CEV)

The Light of Jesus indwells each and every believer, so shine forth your light each and every day! God bless you!

How Should Believers Express Repentance?

Tearing of garments in the Bible can be a sign of grief and mourning, but it can also be a symbol of remorse, shame or repentance.

Then David took hold of his clothes, and rent them; and so did all the men who were with him . . . (2 Sam 1:11 RSV)

And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. (Joel 2:13 KJV)

God blesses those people who depend only on him. They belong to the kingdom of heaven! (Mt 5:3 CEV)

Joel 2:13 recommends that we “rend our hearts and turn to the Lord” which means that we should take our broken and sorrowing hearts to the Lord who will respond to us with mercy and lovingkindness.

Another way of expressing this is: ‘Let your broken heart express your sorrow and repentance, because tearing your clothes is not enough. Come back to the Lord your God because He is kind and full of mercy.’

As believers and disciples of Jesus Christ, when we do sin, we should immediately repent before God; and ask Him earnestly for His forgiveness and cleansing. Then, we should understand that He has heard and has answered our prayer. (Mk 11:22-24; 1 Joh 5:14-15) At this point, we should then rejoice by thanking and praising the Lord. Hallelujah!

Living Through Christ

We live through our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. When we accepted Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, He placed eternity in our hearts. Jesus is an eternal being and He shares His life with each and every believer.

God sent His Son to earth so that believers might learn to live through Christ.

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. (1 Joh 4:9 ESV)

As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. (Joh 6:57 NKJV)

And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 Joh 5:11 NASB)

The life that we receive through Jesus Christ, and the life that resides in Him, is perfect and eternal life. It is a holy, just and righteous life.

As we feed upon the written Word of God (the Bible), and nurture our relationship with the Lord Jesus (the Living Word), we are learning and growing in maturity. We are growing in our capacity to live through Christ.

This is a worthwhile and valuable spiritual pursuit for every believer. May God give you wisdom, insight and revelation into this beautiful topic.

The Spirit of the Lord Brings Freedom

Whenever the Holy Spirit of God is present, there is also an atmosphere of freedom. The Word shares this truth with us:

. . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (Joh 8:32 NASB)

If you read John 8:30-34, you’ll see that Jesus is speaking and is talking about the fact that His disciples follow and obey His teachings. The Jews who believed in Jesus, responded by saying that they were Abraham’s descendants and had never been anyone’s’ slaves. Jesus explained that anyone who sins is a slave of SIN.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17 NRSV)

Wherever the Spirit of the Lord is present and moving, there is also liberty, free will, and openness. Glory to God!

For the Spirit’s law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2 ISV)

Praise God, Romans 8 reminds us that every person who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior has been set free from the Law of sin and death. We are no longer slaves to sin, wickedness, and immorality. Let us meditate upon this wonderful blessing and benefit of our salvation, and praise the Lord most High!

Approved by God

God has approved every believer: isn’t that a staggeringly beautiful thought? Approved means:

Accepted,
Favored, and
Supported.

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. (Eccl 9:7 ESV)

In the above passage, we see that God has approved our eating our food and drinking our beverages with a merry heart. He approves this because He is the One who has blessed us with these gifts and blessings.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God. (Eccl 3:12-13 NASB)

In this Bible selection above, the Lord agrees that there’s nothing better for us than to rejoice and to DO GOOD in our lives. The Lord also likes us to appreciate our food and drinks and to value our work and our jobs because they are gifts from God.

. . . but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. (1 Thes 2:4 NET)

We have been approved (authorized and supported) by God to carry and to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout our lifetimes. We do this to please God, not people. We need to recognize that the Lord examines our hearts and will see clearly what our motives are for all of our actions. So, it’s important to have holy motivations for whatever we do in the Lord’s Name. Blessings upon you.

Be An Example

As servants of the Lord and followers of Jesus, we are instructed to be a good example to our neighbors, even as Jesus was our example. (See John 13:15; 1 Peter 2:21)

Here are some pertinent Scripture passages:

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Phil 3:17 ESV)

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Tim 4:12 NIV)

. . . in all things showing yourself to be a pattern [model] of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility . . . (Tit 2:7 NKJV)

We are challenged by the Word of God to live in unity and harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ. We do that by studying and memorizing the Word of God, and by pursuing spiritual maturity in our walk with Christ. We also fulfill this mandate by living peaceful and responsible lives.

We’re instructed to perform good deeds, and to be an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. Our lives will display integrity, reverence for God and for spiritual things, as well as an incorruptible spirit. As we live in this way, we will be following Christ’s example, as well as being a good example, too. God bless you.

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Month: June 2023