A Few Thoughts From the Gospel of John

The Apostle John frequently referred to himself as 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. Which is a wonderful way all of us can relate to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

John also is the apostle who penned 1 John, the book that says God is love and that we love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4:8 & 19)

John heard Jesus say that, (Christians), will be known for our love of one another. (John 13:35)

By saying he's 'the disciple Jesus loved' is not taking a high title. It is recognition that the relationship we each have with Jesus is special because He loves us.

There is a very fascinating short statement in the gospel of John.
"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" John 11:5.

Knowing that John says he is 'the disciple that Jesus loved' it is a great testimony to his knowledge of Jesus that he willingly shared that distinction with another.

Let us each share the awesomeness of the love of God for each of us, and recognize that Jesus loves all Christians as equals.

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John 10:40,41."And He (Jesus) went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. Then many came to Him and said, "John preformed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."

Quiet, orderly, consistent witness brings people to know Jesus' saving grace.

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Jesus prayed for me 2000+ years ago! 

John 17, the Lord's Prayer: (Jesus praying) "I do not pray for these alone, (the disciples), but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me" John 17: 20,21.

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John 10:16. (Jesus said) "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there shall be one flock and one shepherd"

Jesus included me in His word about 'other' sheep. Seeing down through time, Jesus knew I would become a sheep in His sheepfold.

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Christianity is not a man-made religion--it is a God-originated faith in Himself which He gives to the world to receive. (Ephesians 2:8-10)
I have received this faith! And I have accepted this faith that Jesus saved me from my sin, is saving me from my sin, and will save me out of this world of sin. Praise the Lord for His Grace, Love and Mercy on me.

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me."

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Get Over It & Get Useful!

For who makes you differ from another? And what do you

 have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, 

why do you boast as if you did not receive it? 

1 Corinthians 4:7

Is God honored by an over exuberant expression or emotion when He does something through or to us?

Where do we get the right to pat ourselves on the back for the supernatural experience of the filling of the Holy Spirit? If a confessed Christian makes a scene about God's powerful manifestation, do they actually understand the Spirit is Almighty, Holy God, who is due all reverence,  honor, and praise? 

"I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" John 14:18

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me" John 15:26 

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, as God the Father and Jesus are one and the same. God is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One part of the Trinity does not manifest Himself differently than the others. Nor should we expect God to do anything contrary to what He has shown of Himself in the Bible. His power is His own and He does not share it. When we are surrendered to be used in a supernatural way by God, God will honor Himself as Almighty God, not as an emotional experience, or exuberant display.

"Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever" Hebrews 13:8

Our examples in the Bible, in their relationships with God, didn't talk about having a spiritual experience when God used them some way.

When Ezekiel was taken up by his hair in a vision, he was astonished by the vision, not because of the Spiritual encounter. (Ezekiel 8:3)

Daniel wasn't emotionally giddy when God showed him the interpretations of King Nebuchadnezzar's dreams. He gave God glory for His work, not taking glory that God spoke to Daniel himself. (Daniel 2:19)

On the rooftop, when God showed him the sheet filled with things to eat, Peter didn't jump up and down and run around exclaiming of his awesome Spiritual experience. It was the work of God he declared when he understood the true meaning of the gospel going to the Gentiles. (Acts 10)

Let God be God and be useful when God wants to use you. After all, we are commissioned to simply to obey in giving the gospel (Matthew 28: 18-20). It IS exciting to know we have the supernatural power of God to help us do His work, but that doesn't makes us anything except a born again Christian, created for every good work (Ephesians 2:8,9,10). We all have the same God and access to His power to work through us whichever way God prefers to glorify Himself. 

"But to each one of us grace 

was given according to the measure

 of Christ's gift" Ephesians 4:7.

Get over it and get useful!

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When God Says No

We give thanks to You, O GOD, we give thanks! 

For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near. 

Psalm 75:1

God has answered my prayers. In fact, I have just received an answer. It was not the one I was hoping for, but God did answer me. 

Though I am disappointed, the fact I RECEIVED an answer is so awesome as to take away all disappointment in the denial of my request.

How many times has God answered a prayer with Yes, No, or Wait and it's taken for granted because you received an answer?  A bit cheeky isn't it? The Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, the Mighty Redeemer, Savior, Holy God gave YOU an answer. The reply shouldn't be treated as an average daily occurrence, should it?

Ask yourself this, "Who am I that Almighty God should take note of me? What did I do to deserve such condescension from such a One as GOD?"

Although what I was hoping heartily for received a No, Wait, Trust Me answer, I am in awe that my God truly cares enough for me to speak so gently and kindly to me even while saying No to my request. I am His child and He knows what is best for me.

The next time you receive an answer to prayer Thank God no matter what the reply to your request. 

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Body Parts

"For in fact the body is not one member but many" 1 Corinthians 12:14.

There's a popluar trite saying "Grow where you're planted." Good advice---for a plant.

God calls the Church a Body. Because we can learn what the physical body does, we should be learning what the Body of Christ can do.

God says His church is a body, with many parts. The human body can preform many things. Physically we can do things with our hands. We walk with our feet. We talk with our mouths. We see with our eyes. We hear with our ears. We think with our brains. We love with our inner heart. We feel pain through nerves. We breath with our lungs. We pump blood through veins with the physical heart. We exert pressure with muscles. We digest with our internal organs.

There are atoms, cells, DNA, RNA, vessels, bones, minerals, water, air, and more that God made into the form that is us. God's design does millions of things, because God wanted it to do all those things. Everything that the body does brings God glory.

Praise the LORD!

It stands to reason, if God's physical design does that for which it was made, then the Body of Christ--His Church--should also do everything He designed it to do for His glory.

I believe the Bible 100% of 100%

No one has been able to explain, apart from the Bible, how the man Jesus fulfilled over 300 prophecies about Himself. If you can’t believe the Bible, then you try to explain how Jesus did it without being the God who wrote it previously to show He was coming.

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16.

Hold your breath and say your name. -------It's impossible.

2 Timothy 3:16 says the Bible is God breathed. God spoke it. If you cannot speak without breathing, then believe God spoke every word with His breath, inhaling and exhaling. God is real.

You don't want to believe in God? Okay. You can believe anything you want to imagine. You can have any faith in any afterlife you want to imagine. You can reject faith in the God of the Bible and you can refuse to believe Jesus is God come to earth born of a virgin, lived 33 years, died on a Roman cross for your sins, was buried three days and resurrected again. After which He returned to the heaven He came from. (cf 1 Corinthians 15: 1-5)

You can refuse to believe all of that. God lets you and that should tell you something about His love for you. (Romans 5:6)

But to believe in any other god, you have to ask yourself why you have to have another god.

Why do you want to go somewhere after you die? Since you have in mind a perfect place or a safe place to go after you die, you have to believe "I am good enough to get to my paradise". 

So, what are your standards for getting to your dream paradise? Compared to another, are you actually good enough to make it? Do you're standards of accpetance to your imagined paradise fluctuate with your circumstances?

I believe the Bible. The Bible says Adam kicked me out of God’s perfect light. Because I am a progeny of Adam, I perpetuate his sin in myself. I can't get to Heaven because of my imperfections. I'm a sinner. So there!

God cannot accept imperfection. God cannot overlook imperfection. Imperfection cannot live in the presence of God’s perfection. God has to kill and destroy all imperfection. I’m imperfect. God has to kill and destroy me; body, soul and spirit. That's Hell and Damnation and the Lake of Fire for eternity. (Romans 3: 23, & 6:23)

Jesus, God the Son, came to earth in the form of a Man to die-- being God, He lived as the perfect Man. Because Jesus was the perfect Man, He died for Adam’s progeny, us. For Me. (John 3:16)

I believe this and I asked Jesus to forgive me for the imperfection in me, MY sin. I asked Him to accept me into His death on the cross, where God destroyed my imperfecion, my sins. Because Jesus loves me, He died in my place, my substitute.

When I asked Him to save me, Jesus did.(Romans 10:13)

I cannot explain this to you if you have never asked Jesus to save you but I know it inside me it is true.(1 John 5: 13)

"Jesus answered and said... "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (cf John 3:3)

You can keep your belief and discover if you have a perfect place to go after you die. But I know 100% I am going to perfect heaven to be with God. I have given up all the gods of this earth that replaced the God of the Bible and I know I am going to heaven to be with my God someday.

If you want to know 100% you are saved and going to heaven, get a Bible and read the verses offered in this blog. Ask the Living, Holy, Merciful, Almighty God your questions. I guarantee, God will answer you through some person, or some word.  When you hear Him, then its up to you to believe Him or not.

Romans 10:17

Your Price Tag

When you get gifts, do you want the giver to leave the price tag on?
Does price have significance?
Is the expense of a gift your measurement to the value someone places on you?
What does it mean to have someone place a price tag on you?

Satan owns many slaves.

"Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave to sin" John 7:34
"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves to obey, you are that one's slaves to whom you obey..." Romans 6:16a.

Satan parades his slaves everywhere, leading them around by their sin. He leads them through daily, public life the world over. Unnumbered crimes, hatred, lawbreaking, anger, stealing, murder, addictions, rape, extortion, bribery, corruption, violence, and more. The 'marketplace' is full of them.

But one day, God came through the market and said, "I'll buy them and set them free." Satan couldn't counter the cost with a higher bid and he lost hold of many his slaves.

Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross at Calvary, was buried three days, rose from the grave and returned to heaven to sit down at the right hand of the Father.

The theme of the Bible, (Scriptures), from cover to cover, is all about His act of purchasing the slaves of Satan and freeing them. The slaves of Satan had no money with which to purchase themselves. They had no way to escape their slavery. One Greater then Satan came and paid the price for them. He gave them the gift of freedom. It's a gift from God, given to a helpless slave of Satan without thought of the expense.

So, is the expense of a gift your measurement to the value someone places on you?

"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a. The slaves of Satan are working very hard for to die at his pleasure.


"...but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 6:23b. Through spending His own life on the cross, Jesus' gift is life for all. The price of death that sin costs, Jesus paid to free many slaves.

"Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, ... but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" cf 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

"You were bought at a price;...cf 1 Corinthians 7:23

If you consider yourself of great value, follow the loving Master, (1 John 4: 19), leaving the cruel master who is a murderer from the beginning. (cf John 8:44)

The Joy of Handmade Christmas Ornaments

There are millions of selections of decorations for your Christmas tree and surrounding décor but what about making your ornaments for next year. By simple internet search, you can find simple or elaborate patterns for many items with which to decorate. or go to a craft store for instruction books. Or just get creative and have fun! The possibilities are endless!

• Tinfoil stars twinkling in the light.

•   Shiny foil snowflakes gently turning sending myriads of sparklers around the room.
• Colorful paper or felt crafts dangling merrily from branches.
• Pipe cleaners, empty paper rolls, scraps of Christmas wrap and glitter all fashioned into Holiday Happiness by yours, and the hands of your children.
• Popcorn, Cranberries, Apple slices, twists of Holly leaves, and Beads, all strung into festive garlands to wrap around a tree hung with homemade Reindeer, Santas, Nutcrackers, Bulbs, Hats, Mittens, Sleighs, Globes, Animals, Doodads, Doohickeys and Thing-a-ma-jigs, Nativities, Magi, and Baby Jesus, all with love and care.

Among the reasons for homemade decor is the wealth of quality family strength, emotion and togetherness. The tree is usually the central focus of Christmas. It is where the most fun happens. The cameras come out to record the moments as paper flies in all directions. Faces light up and laughter peels throughout the house. Children of any age get involved with the joy of giving and receiving. It’s the best family gathering for anyone.

There is another Family involved in Christmas: God the Father sending His Son Jesus into the world as His gift. The first Family and the First Gift.

There is another Christmas Tree: the Cross. Jesus came for only that purpose. Jesus came only to that destiny.

        He did not come to be a Good Teacher. 

When Gift Giving Generates Sadness In the Giver

Ever try giving a GIFT to someone, yet they refuse to believe you CAN give them a gift?

It makes me sad when people cannot accept that I want to give them something. 
When I give a gift to someone as an offering to my God, and yet the recipient insists on paying me, I am hurt and saddened that I am not considered capable of serving my God through serving them.
Am I so poor to actually not afford to buy something to give them? If they insist on paying me for the gift, they have not accepted my gift at all.
That hurts.

David said he would not offer anything to God if it costs him nothing.

To graciously accept a gift is as much a thank you as the words spoken.

For the recipient to graciously accept a gift can bring so much joy to the giver.

"And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" Colossians 3: 17.

Not only is this good advice for the giver but also for the receiver.

The Book of Acts-A Work In Progress

When Jesus ascended back into heaven, God the Holy Spirit came to us to continue the work of getting the Gospel to the lost and dying world.

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of Truth," John 14:16, 17.

God never lies--so we know the Holy Spirit is God. He is in us and empowers us to do the works of God while we are living in this world.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" Acts 1:8

Reading in the Book of Acts how the early church gave the Gospel in any and all circumstances encourages us to stand for the Righteousness of God and tell people how to receive Jesus Free Salvation.

Paul said, "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" 1 Corinthians 2:2.

Let us continue to preach Christ and Him crucified.