Category: John

Empowered and made Righteous through Faith in God…

John 16:1-15

“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The intentional words used by Jesus are meant to strengthen us as we wait. He tells us flat out that our advocate is with us. This advocate, the Holy Spirit, is here to help us get through this world in such a way that we can walk with His authority. This advocate is our means to understanding and communication with the Father through Jesus Christ. It is He who leaves us with authority and power over the condemned one. Power over evil and sin in the name of Jesus.

He will be back. He will come for those that know Him and believe in Him. He will come for those that seek Him.

Today, have been made whole and clean again. As you take this opportunity to confess your sin to Him, know that He has taken your sin and removed it. He does this daily. Your repentance is required, but you must know that you are forgiven. You must walk in His forgiveness and not give in to the idea that somehow you are not worthy. You are. You are not only worthy, you are RIGHTEOUS! Jesus has saved you. Now walk in that Grace, Mercy, and Empowerment that He paid for. Don’t give in. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

We have been given so many gifts. He came to save us…

John 15:(26-27)
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Testify! Give your testimony, and give your story to the world. Jesus has ensured that we will always have an advocate in Heaven, speaking to the Father on our behalf. Just to know that He loves us to that degree, to that unknown level, is awesome! #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

You will be hated…as they hated Him that made you.

John 15:18-25 (NIV)

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’[c]

Jesus has directed and commanded us to love. Therefore, anyone who hates, does not know Jesus, and therefore does not know the Father. If you do not know the Father, then you have not ever known Jesus, and you are still living in sin.

How do we throw out the sin? Once we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are saved. Upon receiving that Salvation, we will be prompted to love more than we ever thought possible. Our cup will overflow with so mich, that we will not have the ability to hold it in. That is precisely the way that God designed you. We are made to receive love and give love. Daily.

Picture yourself as a machine. A machine so perfectly made, that the only fuel required to efficiently operate is love. Love of God. Love of yourself. Love of your neigubor. You are God’s perfect machine, and you are called to love all mankind. Even when you are hated. Not if you are hated. When you are hated. That time is upon us now.

Hold fast to the Lord, and speak in the name of Jesus Christ. Whatever is asked for in His name will be given to you. Believe that what Jesus says, is key to activating your machine. You will love beyond any level that you have ever dreamed. #JesusSaves

Amen.
DK

Servant and Friend…Jesus Christ.

John 15:1-17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

The move from Servant to Friend of Jesus is where we move toward as we walk with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who makes us whole and comolete. Jesus describes us as the branches. We are that part of tree that serves a purpose for Him. We are not the root or the fruit. We are not the vine. We are the branches.

Branches must be pruned and cut away to make room for new and stronger growth. That is what God does in our lives faily, as we get to know Him more and more. As we read and become steiner and more faithful believers, He begins to cut away branches that are no longer needed, or perhaps never were. This is a lifelong process, just as with any tree that continues to grow.

Have faith that God knows exactly which branches to cut as He prunes us all. Believe that although a branch to you may be pretty, God has a plan to grow you bigger and better than you ever though possible, so that He is glorified. Rest assured that the pruning process is a painful, yes, but one that is necessary and right. For God has come into your life to make you more and more like His son, Jesus Christ…our friend and advocate. Our Savior and Redeemer. Our Creator. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

John 14:15-31

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 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 you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.

The Holy Spirit. That still, small voice that you hear. Your conscience. That voice that tells you what is right, and what is not good. Yes…the one you have ignored many times. Yes, that one.

His gift to all of us, so that we would come to know the Father more through our own personal advocate. The Holy Spirit. The third all important part of the Triune God. The God of all Creation. He left me a gift. A blessing. I will not let it rest.

Jesus is advocating for us in Heaven with the Father, and we are down here. But we are not alone. We possess the same power as Jesus, and by Jesus own mouth we are the Righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.  #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

Ask in the name of Jesus Christ, and it will happen…

John 14:5-14
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know[b] my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Jesus left us with this promise. That if we ask of the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, it will be done. When we ask in the name of Jesus, He will do it. He has told us that we WILL do greater things than even He did here on earth.

I have to be honest with you…I am mind blown right now. For years I have been praying with “In the name of Jesus Christ”, not knowing that when I did, it guaranteed that I would receive it. I did not know. Beautiful! I know now.

The battle between the kingdom of God, which is good and righteous, and the kingdom of evil, which is hell bent on destroying you, are both at war constantly. When we pray and activate God’s power in our lives, at the very same time the devil is working to tear that down through what we see. When we ask for something in the name of Jesus, there is no choice but for the world to submit to what we have asked. However, our humanity and bodies can prevent us from receiving the full on miracle that has been given. Once asked for, we must walk having faith that what we have asked for in the name of Jesus will become real.

It is Faith versus sight, and the battle rages on. Keep fighting and asking and praying, all in the name of Jesus. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

Incentive…He knows our hearts.

John 14:1-4

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

The promise from Jesus Himself, God with us. He has gone ahead of me to prepare a table for me so that we would be together forever. He gas done so for all of us. The promise of no longer having the weight of this world on our shoulders. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

He loves us still…

John 13:31-38

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him,[c] God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

The last days of Jesus are days of continuous teaching and revelation for the Disciples. As Jesus nets His death, He begins to let those closest to Him learn about themselves. Many of them show betrayal, doubt, fear, and in this case they deny even knowing Him. Yet Jesus continues to teach.

The examples of humanity demonstrated through His speaking to the Disciples are incredibly revealing. They stress the all too important fact that regardless of what we do, we belong to Him who created us. We are His beloved. We are His treasures. Love demonstrated unconditionally through not only the forgiveness of sin, but the free and unearned gift of salvation.

Through these verses, we are able to see ourselves reflected through them. It brings to light just how amazing the recent murders of 21 Christians through public beheading actually is. Many people, including the closest people to Jesus, denounce Him. They said that they did not know Him. Yet the 21 that died for their belief in Jesus Christmas did not, even when given the chance to unordered to save their lives.

As believers, we must sound the bell. We must spread the word. Jesus is coming, and in these last of days, it is our directive to share the Good News that Jesus Saves. Speak His name today. Speak the name of Jesus Christ. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

Jesus paid it all.

John 13:18-30

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned[a] against me.’[b]

19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Prophecy would be fulfilled through this act. Judah would turn against Jesus out of greed. But…before you point fingers, there us a reason we hear of this happening. Jesus loved Judas, ad He loves us. And just like Judas, there are times when we betray Him and choose our own selfish desires rather than what Jesus wants us to choose or do. Lastly, guess what? Jesus stills loves us.

I don’t say this to condone the action of Judas, or to say that somehow sin is OK. What I mean is that if Jesus came to die for us. If Jesus cane to lay down His life so that sins are forgiven. If Jesus took all of our sin upon His shoulders and took them to the grave. Don’t you think He included the sin of Judas also? Or by some weird means of qualification that sin did not get forgiven?

There is no selection process for sin people. Think of the ugliest most horrible sin you can imagine…got it? Ok, now…when a person gives their life to Jesus, that sin is forgiven. Yes it is. Wiped clean by the blood of Jesus. Jesus did not come to judge, He came to deliver and to save. He did that.

If you believe that God sent His only son to earth to carry your sins to the grave on the cross. If you believe that Jesus cane back from the dead, rose into Heaven and will come again to judge all of mankind. If you believe those true events that occurred on this earth, your sins are forgiven and you are saved. At that point, there is no limit to how He will use you to make this world better. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK

We have been called to serve…

John 13:1-17
1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. It is repeated time and time again throughout the Gospels. We are to follow His example. But, boy is it hard.

By the way, I fail daily at this. I’m sure many do, and that I am not alone. I won’t let that fact hold me back though. I will preach the good news and the forgiveness of our daily failures. As we all should as well.

The act of washing another’s feet is pure service to another. An act of showing that others are first, and that it is our job to serve all people. As hard as that is sometimes, such as on the highway as you drive, it is important that we try and try again. Small acts become big acts in the eyes of our Father.

Jesus served us. He forgave us through His own death on the cross. The ultimate service was bestowed upon us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. #JesusSaves

Amen
DK