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| << May17, 2004 - The I AM's of Christ |
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Vol. 1 issue 2b The 2nd part of this week??™s devotional. ?
? Day 3 ??“ ???Light of the World??? John 8:12; 9:5 (released Tuesday) John 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." (NAS) Try living one day without light. Not just with the lights off in your house but with absolutely NO light.. How easy do you think that would be? How important is light in our day to day lives? Take it even a step farther and look into a electricians bag, or a plumbers or even a mechanics tool chest, you will quickly find a flashlight. Not only do they need regular light in many cases they need more direct light. Some of what I am saying sounds very basic, but at the same time how often have you thought of what your life would be like without this very basic thing called light?? What about darkness, the total absence of light. Have you ever stood in a dark room for a few min then turned the light on.. Did you notice how the darkness runs from light? That darkness and light cannot dwell together; the light OVERPOWERS the darkness and chases it away. Darkness cannot dwell near the light, but light CAN and DOES shine in dark places. The reason I am going on so much about physical light and darkness is to help draw the visual needed to understand the spiritual meaning behind what Jesus taught us here. That as we follow Him we will have light, even in dark places, and the Light that Jesus gives will guide us and lead us in our lives. I spent some time looking at all the verses in the gospels to see what they called light and to learn about THIS spiritual light, and the conclusion I reached??¦. This Light is Jesus Himself and the gospel that speaks of Him, and any who believe and follow after Jesus will never be in darkness. John 1:4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (NAS) This light is the message that gives eternal life. Not only does it give life, it shines eternally and is there to be found, and like a city on a Hill it cannot be hidden. This is the message and reason Christ came.. To be light, and then Jesus charges us to be light in this world and to take this light, to chase away darkness wherever it is, and to find those lost in the darkness and give them light.. Matt 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. (NAS) What a Powerful charge given to us as a Christian.. Go be LIGHT, follow after THE one and ONLY LIGHT.. Be careful don??™t let darkness take hold in your life, in what you say, how you act, or even in conversations??¦ Don??™t stop being light.. But SHINE!!! ? ? ? ? Day 4 ??“???Resurrection and the Life??? John 11:25 John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, (NAS) Have you ever been to the funeral of someone you love? It??™s a time of morning and a time of sadness. But did you ever know Jesus to preach a funeral??? I don??™t remember Him doing that, but I do remember a child who Jesus said was just asleep or even smelly ole Lazarus walking out of the grave. In the presences of the Eternal God a funeral isn??™t possible for a believer. It??™s a resurrection party!!! Lazarus was a believer and loved Jesus greatly. So when Jesus came after Lazarus had died he wept, and mourned not because Lazarus had died, because death has no grip over Jesus. Jesus was morning because of the despair and pain of his friends. So letting Lazarus live even though he had died was the only thing to be done. Think about it.. Jesus the creator, the eternal, the ancient of days, said Believe in ME and you will LIVE!! This promise of salvation from deaths sting and its total negation of life is so wonderful so powerful and not only that it DEMANDS praise. Jesus holds Life in his very hands, not only that He commands death to let go of those it has a hold of??¦ Isn??™t that worthy of our Worship and our Praise?? Praise God our Father for salvation. Because salvation is nothing more than the gift of eternally dwelling with LIFE and in the presence of Him who commands DEATH to let go of its victims. ? ? Day 5 ??“???True Vine??? John 15:1 ,5 ? John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. (NAS) We have talked about a handful of different topics, but gardening is a favorite to my grandfather. He loves his garden, and knows a lot about plants. He even has a few grape vines and blackberry vines. Every year I have to take time to go visit them, and every year I am given homemade grape Jelly and blackberry freezer jam. But walk down to the garden with me for a second, and let??™s cut the vine away from the branches. How much fruit would we get this year? NONE! What??™s even more tragic about this, NO JAM!!!? You see with no VINE there is NO FRUIT, and with no Fruit there can be no REWARDS of the harvest. This is not our Fathers will. We are branches attached to a vine and we are to bear MUCH fruit. The only way I know to finish this devotional is to give you more scripture; it??™s the only thing that I can see as appropriate, what better teacher than Jesus Himself. So without further delay I give you the words of Jesus on this gardening topic. ? ? John 15:1-9 1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. (NAS) ? |
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