“So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come close to God and God will come close to you. Wash your hands you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up in honor.”
(James 4: vv. 7-10, NLT)
Category: Scripture
The Work of the Holy Spirit
“”But now I am going away to the One who sent Me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. and when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.”
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring Me glory by telling you whatever he receives from Me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever comes from Me.”” (John 16: vv. 5-15, NLT)
Jesus, the Way to the Father
“”Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me. There is more than enough room in My Father’s home. It this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you , so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
“No, we don’t know, Lord, ” Thomas said. “We have no idea where You are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus told them,”I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. If you had really known Me, you would know who My Father is. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him!” (John 14: vv. 1-8, NLT)
The Unbelief of the People
“”But despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in Him. This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted:
“Lord, who has believed our message? To Whom has the Lord revealed His powerful arm?”
But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said,
“The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts- so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to Me and have Me heal them.”” (John 12: 37-40, NLT)
“”Jesus shouted to the crowds.” If you trust Me, you are trusting not only Me, but also God who sent me. For when you see Me, you are seeing the one who sent Me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear Me but don’t obey Me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject Me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. I don’t speak on My own authority. The Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say it. And I know His commands lead to eternal life; so I say wherever the Father tells me to say.””
(John 13, vv. 44-50, NLT)
The Good Shepherd and His Sheep
“”I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know Me, just as My Father knows Me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to My voice and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
The father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I won’t to and also to take it up again. For this is what My Father has commanded.”” (John 10: vv. 14-18, NLT)
Division and Unbelief
“When the crowds heard Him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But He can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” So the crowd was divided about Him. Some even wanted Him arrested, but no one laid a hand on Him.
When the Temple guards returned without having arresting Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?”
“Have you been led astray too?” the Pharisee’s mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in Him? This foolish crowd follows Him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them.!”
Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
“They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself- no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”
Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.” (John 7: vv. 40-53, NLT)
Jesus Promises Living Water
“”On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds,” Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from His heart.’ “(When He said “living water”, He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.)””
(John 7: vv. 37-39, NLT)
Jesus and His Brothers
“”After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But soon, it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, and Jesus’ brothers said to him, ” Leave here and go to Judea, where Your followers can see Your miracles! You can’t become famous it You hide like this! If You can do such wonderful things, show Yourself to the world!” For even His brothers didn’t believe Him.
Jesus replied, ” Now is not the right time for Me to go, but you can go anytime. The world can’t hate you, but does hate Me because I accuse it of doing evil. You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because My time has not yet come.” After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee. (John 7, vv. 1-9, NLT)
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
“”Many of His disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
Jesus was aware that His disciples were complaining, so He said to them, “Does this offend you? They what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe Me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and He knew who would betray Him.) Then He said, “That is why I said that people cannot come to Me unless the Father gives them to Me.”
At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go.” You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
Then Jesus did, “I chose the twelve of you, but one of you is the devil. He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.”” (John 6: vv. 60-70, NLT)
Jesus, the Bread of Life Part 3
“”I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
Then the people began arguing with each other about what He meant. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat? ” they asked.
So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person in the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Anyone who drinks My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on Me will live because of Me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as you ancestors did (even though they ate the manna), but will live forever.”
He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.””
(John 6: vv. 48-59, NLT)