“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 What does the passage above mean to you? What does this teach you about following Jesus? This past week we have touched on three kinds of relationships. All of these relationships are interdependent with one another. ” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you(abide), that you also love one another(connect). By this, all men will know (share) that you’re My disciples if you’ve loved…
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Followers of Christ Share With The World
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13 …
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Connecting With Others
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was…
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As a Jesus Follower – Abide
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” John 8:28-29 Today, we will read the Scripture passages from John 8:28-29; 14:10-11, 15:5, 19; and 17:3. Read it a few times, slowly and carefully. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just…
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Embracing Relationships As A Jesus Follower
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9 Read the following passages: 2 Corinthians 11:3, ” But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be…
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Burdened
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 How would you describe a person who follows Jesus? What should their life look like? What would you say their goal would be for their life? We all have opinions of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. We get things opinions from our families, friends, and church culture. Let’s take some time and learn from Jesus and His word on how to follow Him. How often do we as Christians make following Jesus about what we…
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Our Mighty I AM
I am who I am. Exodus 3:14 Read Exodus 3:1-14. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do…
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The Seven I AM’s
I Am the Bread of Life. John 6:35; I Am the Light of the World. John 8:12; I Am the Gate. John 10:9; I Am the Good Shepherd. John 10:11; I Am the Resurrection and the Life. John 11:25-26; I Am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. John 14:6; I Am the True Vine. John 15:1 Jesus’s seven I AM’s statement. Many times we need to go back to a truth ( more truths than one) and have to study, meditate on it numerous times before it sticks. Let’s review all of these I AM’s. Bread Of Life Apart from Jesus, there is no true satisfaction. There are…
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Jesus’ Final Words: Part 2
I am the True Vine. Luke 15:1 Yesterday we left off about the Holy Spirit being our advocate, helper, and counselor. Today let’s dive in some more. The Greek word for advocate is parakletos. This means: called to one’s aide or an advocate, intercessor. A console, comforter, helper. Let’s read some verses that talk about the Holy Spirit, our advocate. John 14: 16-17 says this, ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with…
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Jesus’ Final Words – Part 1
I am the true vine. John 15:1 Read John 15:12-27. Is this the type of final words you expected to hear from Jesus? Have you felt God speak you about your hearts’ desires with His words and His love? Do you feel a sense of lack in your life? This may be because you have a love deficiency. We all get busy going and going, doing, and doing. We feel the grind to keep up and to check off every item on our to-do list. This is what I have felt this last month. Then I sit back and wonder when I have had a real true connection with…