Thoughts From the Bible

John 15: 5-8- We Americans can be very independent people. We have been educated in many things and many of us have spent many years working to provide for ourselves and our families. We have been told by many modern-day gurus to be proud of who we are and confident in our abilities. We are encouraged to be independent thinkers and we are congratulated on our accomplishments whether great or small. We are taught not to depend on other people and stand up and be strong individuals. To a great degree, that is all an illusion. Jesus tells us in verse 5 of this chapter, “Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ” Jesus is telling the disciples so much of what we do is reliant on the strength and guidance of God. God grants us the abilities we have and the talents we have. Many don’t acknowledge this because of the pounding of their psyche by the message of personal independe...

Read John 15: 1-4- “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. (2) He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. (3) You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. (4) Remain in me and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." This is a very well-known passage in the New Testament. Jesus is speaking about something the disciples can related to. This lesson is simple. If we work to stay close to God, He will stay close to us and continue to work to develop us into the people He needs for us to be. We pray, we read the Bible, and we worship God to stay close and continue to learn. Christianity is not complicated. The most difficult part is exercising faith in God and allowing Him to work within us.    

  Read  John 14: 27-30- There are times when I think about how many people in the world today refused to acknowledge God as described in the Bible even exists. They talk of religion being a crutch for weak people. These people may promote the ideas the Christian religion is a fantastic fantasy many people believe and there is no proof there is a God and certain no recognized proof Jesus was the Son of God. When faith in God is exercised, one begins to understand the reality of the presence of God and the gifts God provides to those who do believe. Jesus said this, “I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” I ask you, can the gift of peace of mind and heart be underestimated in the world we live in 2023? God provides the spiritual peace of mind and heart that gives us the confidence to live our lives as God would have us live. Is believing in God a crutch? I see my bel...

Read  John 14: 22-26- Jesus continues to teach the disciples. He also continues to prepare them for the next few days that will change their lives and so many more lives forever. Jesus prepares the disciples for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Verse 26, “ But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative; that is, the Holy Spirit, He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” The first two things we learn about the Holy Spirit are His ability to teach us and His ability to help us in our lives. The Holy Spirit enlightens our lives by helping us more fully see the words Jesus gave us. The Holy Spirit causes us to remember the great words of the Old Testament and how God shaped the lives of people through the prophets and there teaching and writings. The Holy Spirit is our empowerment in our spiritual lives and is there in our everyday lives if we allow Him into all facets of our lives. It is so hard to give a brief description ...

 Read   John 14: 22-24 - It is interesting in our day and time, how many people are turning their backs on God, or they are adopting some other type of religious philosophy. Much has been written and discussed how the church is not relevant to people today and how the church needs to make all types of changes to be attractive to people. I will admit, some church services are boring. Are they boring because of how people construct their church services or are they not putting enough emphasis on Jesus Christ? Maybe it is less about what is done in the service and more about making sure people quickly hear how Jesus Christ loves them. Are people being given a chance to love Jesus Christ? Verse 23 is short but says a lot, “Jesus replied, ‘ All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.’” There is so much God has given us in the Bible, our responsibility is to read it. Many are afraid of the Bible and ...

  Read  John 14: 18-21- Jesus is working to get the disciples to understand the things that are about to happen. He is trying to assure them their faith in Him is real. Without telling the disciples step-by-step each thing that will happen in the next few days, Jesus is preparing their faith in Him. Then Jesus gives them a directive in verse 21, “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” The people around Jesus have been taught by Him. They have seen Him live His life each day. Jesus has reinforced the principles of living in the different books of the Torah to them. Jesus told all of us to live according to His commandments if we want to show our love to Him. Christians of today have been saved, rescued, by what Jesus was to do in the following days and we show that reciprocal love when we live according to the standards God ha...

Read John 14: 16- 17- This is the introduction of the Holy Spirit to the disciples. God’s plan for us is so encompassing and unfortunately too many people are missing the power of this plan God devised for man. God planned for man by first showing himself to Adam and Eve and then later to Moses. God provided Himself in the form of His Son to teach man what He needed to know for future generations and all the changes those generations would need. God then provided Himself through the Holy Spirit to continue to provide guidance to Man. This is an awesome display of His love for us. That would all be staggering by itself but God did even more and did even better by cultivating the writings of so many followers and binding them together in the Bible so we could have something tangible and powerful to help us through our lives. The power of the Holy Spirit is understated in our churches today but this verse-by-verse review of the book of John shows Jesus providing the discipl...

Read  John 14: 15 - “If you love me, obey my commandments .” This isn’t very complicated. Jesus told the disciples bluntly that it is important to follow His principles if they profess to follow Him and love Him. The Bible is full of commandments or principles we are challenged to follow. In our everyday lives we are faced with decisions that cause us to decide to follow those principles or not. Is it easier to lie in a given situation rather than tell the truth? Is it easier to ignore a needy parent because it just takes too much time to help them? Do you decide your co-worker will never miss that expensive pen left lying on a desk and decide to take it? Do I enjoy behavior God labels as an abomination? There are many things that we face where God’s principles should guide how we live our lives. We can live successful and peaceful lives if we follow God’s commandments. If we don’t follow those commandments, we can expect issues but more importantly, we will experience a...

Read  John 14: 12-14- As Jesus was talking to His disciples, He wanted them to start seeing Him as they saw God. He wanted them to see them as one and the same. I can see why this type of instruction was necessary when I consider any claim such as this would be considered blasphemous and was considered blasphemous by many. No one had the right to equate themselves to God and yet, here was Jesus doing just that. Jesus pushed the disciples a little further and said in verse 3, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” Instead of the way they had prayed all their lives, now Jesus was telling them to ask for things in prayer using His name. That was another major shift for the disciples. This didn’t mean they should start praying for shiny, new chariots but it did mean they were to pray in Jesus’ name to show His honor to God. Many of the disciples had been taught about the coming Messiah and the disciples were see...

Read John 14: 6-11 -  Philip wanted to be clear about what Jesus was telling the disciples.  Jesus was very clear what He was telling the disciples.  Jesus told the disciples He and God were one. John 14: 11- "Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.  Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do." This is one mention of who Jesus said He was and how it relates to the concept of the Holy Trinity.  This statement by Jesus was made prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus' transfiguration.  I can fully understand why there were people who were highly skeptical of what Jesus was saying.  I can understand why there are those who thought His words were blasphemous.  This was contrary thinking as far as many were concerned and those people were very concerned because so many people were beginning to follow Jesus.   Why were so many following Jesus?  They heard His words.  They observed and...

Read John 14:5-6-  Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to Father except through Me.”    I think it is interesting in early Christianity there was much debate over the deity of Christ.  People were still struggling about who Jesus really was.  There were the letters written that were widely circulated detailing so much of what Jesus did and spoke.   When we get into talking about spiritual matters there gets to be so much “semi-educated opinion” about it all.  I think there are times when people spend too much time telling us what something may mean versus taking what Jesus said at face value.  Jesus was very clear.  If we want to know God, we have to accept Him.  If we accept Jesus, we get the Holy Spirit.   God’s plan for all of us was clear and simple. It is...