Ian’s lets listen to Jesus

As I sit at Jesus‘s feet this morning – looking up at His face – waves of love flow over me, yet I remind myself I cannot rely on my emotions because emotions are volatile, I must rely on a choice I make daily, even more often a choice I make regularly through the day – to love God, through Jesus with all my heart, body, soul and mind and to let that choice determine my actions, attitudes and words – praise the Lord hallelujah!

”You are coming to understand the statement in 1 John – “God is love”. If you see Me as Love personified you will experience every part of your relationship with Me as My expression of love to you. This will make it easier for you to respond in love to Me. Even as the high point of the demonstration of that fact was My death upon the cross, it continues to flow into every part of society, into every heart that responds, calling the many who are lost to come and drink of the Living Water from the Eternal Fountain. Yes make a decision to respond to Me in love and I will promise to overwhelm you with every aspect of My love for you”.

Now to John 8:12 – 20. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus has been speaking at the temple during the feast of Tabernacles. One of the traditional customs at that feast was to light a strong light in the temple to remind the people of the pillar of Fire which God used to guide His people through the desert on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. Here Jesus identifies Himself as the reality of that light to show once again His fulfilment of a picture from the Old Covenant.

This is also one of the “ I Am” statements in John’s Gospel, which show that Jesus is identifying himself with the name that God gave to Moses when He met him. Remember: “I am who I am.” The other things to note in that sentence in verse 12: “Who ever follows me will never walk in the darkness…” are firstly that in the Greek the word never is a double negative which actually reads, “never, no never will you walk in the darkness. Then the Greek word which is translated as follow has a much stronger sense about it than the English. It involves more than just walking behind a person but denotes embracing the values of the one whom you are following and actively participating in his purpose.

From vs 13 to 18, the focus is very much on Jesus‘s identity. The Pharisees challenge him saying that He has no standing to testify about Himself as to who He is, so Jesus calls as His second witness his Father. The passage does not identify how the Father is the second witness but he is probably calling on the supernatural signs that He has been performing as the witness of His Father to prove His identity

What is important is His statement in verse 19 where He challenges them, suggesting that the reason they don’t accept His identity is because they actually don’t know the Father. Later in his gospel John is going to expand on how important this concept is. It is actually impossible to fully grasp the identity of Jesus without coming to know God as Father. This is the great barrier that prevents the Pharisees from understanding who Jesus is and how His own testimony points to His identity.

Once again we see the interesting reference in the last verse to the appropriate timing of Jesus‘s life on Earth. It is easily possible for us to think that it is only Jesus’s life which was appropriately timed, where in actual fact everyone of us has a time schedule with God which is hugely comforting.

So as we wrap this up I ask myself the question who do I really think Jesus is and I’m I truly following him according to the biblical concept? I am hugely comforted by Jesus’ promise that I will never walk in the dark again. I am also challenged as to my relationship with the Father because knowing God is a privilege we have through Jesus and that relationship with Jesus and the Father is the basis of our lives with Him which constantly needs to be practised and refreshed.

May you all experience God’s closeness and love till next week.

Singing Psalm 8 and 71 with Aaron Shust. “Oh Lord, my Lord, how majestic is your name In all the world, who is man that you remember him. Even when I am old and grey do not forsake me Lord”.

“Majestic is My name. I am described and My nature revealed by the names which I am known by in My word. Do you really grasp the meaning of the word Majestic? The full extent of My Majesty extends far beyond how I may look, to My Almighty power as Ruler and Creator of the Earth. I am everywhere, everything you see, handle, smell, taste experience – it all has my hand upon it. There is nowhere, nothing that is beyond my reach, after all I made it all and am still creating and sustaining everything. And within that I am inviting you into an intimate relationship with Me – made possible by the greatest love act in the history of the world – Jesus, my beloved Son’s sacrificial death upon the cross. The gap seems impossible for you to bridge, the power to do that, the power to understand it all comes from Me. Welcome to all of you as you draw closer to Me by My personal invitation through Jesus”.

We go on in John’s Gospel to chapter 8: 1–11. As John continues to reveal who this Man Jesus is, he re-visits the concept of condemnation vs 11, he had raised in chapter 3 : 17 and 18. Jesus makes it quite clear that His aim in coming to the world as a human was not to bring condemnation upon a people who had rejected Him. Instead He came with the idea to rescue us from the awful plight mankind is in. He came to rescue us in fact also from ourselves and all our evil intentions and the pain which spins off from that

It is clear from this passage that the Pharisees were using this woman who had been caught in adultery as a pawn in an effort to catch Jesus out in his interpretation of the law. They had no interest in her personal feelings or plight, or for the good name of Yahweh, they were simply using her to try and catch Jesus out. As far as they were concerned she was already written off as a human being and simply deserved to be snuffed out. However Jesus shows that no matter the sinful state of the woman she still mattered to him as a human, struggling and lost in a world which is broken.

This does not mean that He condoned her sinful life, as we read in His last words to her, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” vs 11.

I have been told by a neuro scientist that the human brain is programmed by default to keep comparing yourself to other people. This results in the way we see others and how we deal with them. This is mostly subconscious and we are usually not aware of it. It is a powerful force however and can clearly affect relationships on every level. Reading this passage reminded me of the importance of the Gospel power available to us through the Holy Spirit and the need to constantly reaffirm our attitude towards others of regarding everybody of deserving greater honour than ourselves. (Philippians 2:3).

I was also reminded of the importance of seeing each person we come into contact with as a human created by God in His image and no matter how difficult or evil they may seem to be, we should follow Jesus‘s example and not write them off or condemn them, but rather see them as deserving Jesus’s rescue and love.

May you continue to experience His love. Till next week then.

I am overwhelmed at the thought that the awesome, Almighty Creator of the whole universe, as large and as powerful, as magnificent in Majesty, should be concerned about me, about us – not only concerned but loving to the point of visiting us in human form to experience our lives and then to die on our behalf. What an awesome God we serve.

”If your eyes could only see, really see and perceive the vastness of My creation you would be even more taken aback, but I have revealed and am revealing enough that you can bury yourself in worship, that you can drown in the reality of all this. it is indeed a gift to have some insight into this universe – focusing on this world and the people in it. Each one known intimately by Me, loved to the utmost. The enjoyment I experience when they/you respond in worship and adoration. But also in being obedient and demonstrating your love for Me by loving one another. So – yes here I am in the midst of you all enjoying every minute of it”.

We continue in John ch 7 from vs 37. The key in this section comes in the second part of verse 37 and 38 as Jesus repeats the statement that he made to the woman at the well John 4:13. This closes the bracket around this whole section of teaching that Jesus is reported to have done. The main focus has been on his metaphor of being the Bread of life. Bread and water are the basic requirements for life. Jesus uses these metaphors to bring home to the listeners and us His very nature and purpose. Do you see that? He is the only provider of these essentials which are necessary for us to receive eternal life. Notice that it is not good enough to only know this, but one must actually partake of what he is offering. So we see in 6:53 that it is necessary to eat the flesh of the son of man and to drink his blood to have life and in today’s verse, it is necessary to drink of the living water to benefit from it. Notice also in vs 38 how Jesus equates drinking the water of life with believing in him. We have seen from the beginning of John how he has emphasised the role of faith in our developing and maintaining a relationship with Jesus.

To believe in him it is necessary to understand who he was/is. John is using the bystanders in their discussion about who Jesus is for us to draw our own conclusion. We can see here that there are basically two groups of people. One group who is for him and one group who is against him. The group that is for him discuss various possibilities as to his identity. John takes us right in to the community to hear what they have to say so that we can draw our own conclusions.

He makes a point of reminding the reader that the Spirit has not yet been given. This is important information since way back in chapter 3 and in other places Jesus has pointed out that no one will really understand who He is without the Spirit’s help and he had not been given yet. However we have the benefit of the Spirit’s help as we study this passage so that we can come to the correct conclusion. Ultimately he wants the reader to see that everything points to him being expected Messiah. The information about his birth is wrong as we know that he actually was born in Bethelehem not in Galilee as it was thought by those people.

What do we do with all this information? Surely it should bolster our faith, reminding us that faith is not just about believing but actually trusting and living by that trust and our hope for eternity is ultimately based on placing our trust on the Messiah who gave his life on the cross for us. Hopefully as we read through this Gospel our understanding of who Jesus is will grow stronger and more clearer over time thus strengthening our ability place our trust in him alone.

May he continue to bless you all with His living Presence during this coming week.

Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me – surround me please Lord with yourself.

” You are in Me – not because of anything you have done or achieved – but because I chose you before you were born, I predestined your life as part of my greater plan, I forgave your sins and sealed you into myself and all this I did because of my love, covering you with my grace. You are safely buried within me and my love – my death on the cross made that not only possible but certain. So every one out there who has encountered my love and is sealed within me may have absolute assurance. All that you need now is to realise the full extent of my love for you and all the saints. What a glorious community you are part of even though it doesn’t always look like it! It is My community and My family and I am building it into My glorious kingdom which will last forever. So rejoice in Me, keep rejoicing always.“

We continue in John 7:25 – 36. In his narrative John is casting his net wider now to get more opinions about who Jesus is. The key verse in this section is perhaps verse 27, “But we know where this man is from, when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from”. We have already seen in verse five that his own family did not believe in him being the Messiah because they knew him too well. Probably we should not blame them, having grown up with him through all the phases of childhood into his present adulthood.

Later in the chapter in next week’s reading we will see a number of opinions about who this man really was. What struck me as I read through this passage was the fact that the Creator God had come to identify himself with mankind and done it so successfully that it was difficult to distinguish him from anyone else. The only way to know who he was was by the unique characteristics that he displayed in being able to do supernatural miracles and the amazing teaching that he gave whenever he opened his mouth.

This concept of God coming to earth to experience and identify himself with mankind is totally unique amongst all religions. Divesting himself of his supernatural Divinity he was able to so mingle with us here that people had difficulty in identifying him as the expected Messiah king. Not only did he fully identify himself with us he also suffered with us and on our behalf. This placed him in a unique position to be able to understand exactly how we experienced all the different facets of life from great joy and elation to deep pain, suffering and rejection..

In Hebrews 2:17 ff we read, “ for this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.“ It bears meditating on the uniqueness of this ministry of God through Jesus to us and the incredible comfort that brings us.

Back in John’s gospel we read in verse 31 that many in the crowd put their faith in him. This concept of people putting their faith in Jesus is mentioned several times in this early part of John and it appears that it was often just superficial belief. Of course it would only be possible to really trust Jesus once he had gone through the crucifixion and resurrection, showing what his mission really was intended to accomplish. I suppose John was trying to differentiate between those who wanted to believe and follow him from those who sought to harm him and were actively planning against him.

Wrapping this up I found new meaning in Jesus’ humanity and his ability to identify with me as a person in my particular circumstances. What an incredible comfort that is. At the same time I needed to ask myself how deep is my faith really? Do I really understand these amazing revelations and do I really fully trust in my Saviour Jesus?

Bless you till next week.

Christ is risen – arise my soul! The thought of your resurrection explodes on me again. Against all the laws of this world you took back your life – as a demonstration of your dominance and control of your creation.

” The act of my resurrection was not only or primarily to demonstrate my control of creation, although it does do that. It was primarily to demonstrate the finality of the victory which I won on the cross. The victory over the forces of darkness, the victory over the sinful nature of all those who would choose to share it. The victory over the curse my Father has placed on the earth. The victory which shows that I have the final say. There are many convulsions going on in the world as the forces of evil try to fight a rearguard battle – but I have news for them – the battle has already been won – and you all participate in that victory although the dust of the battle is still all around you. Look up and see the light – my light shining brighter than the Sun and calling you Home.”

We are reading John 7:14 – 24. Jesus follows his brothers to the Passover festival at Jerusalem secretly. He is not yet ready to expose himself to the possibility of a premature conclusion to His ministry by being put to death at this stage. However He is seen teaching in the temple courts and the crowd is amazed by His teaching. This reaction of amazement is mentioned a number of times in the gospels as a response by the hearers to the demonstration of His supernatural nature in His actions and teaching.

This section makes two important points. The Pharisees have been beating Jesus with the law and here Jesus addresses His relationship to the law. The first important point that we can see from this section is that the law was intended to bring life and wholeness. We see that in verse 23 b: “Why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the sabbath“?The law was never meant to limit and judge. We read in Paul’s letters that the law was given so that we may understand what sin is. However the ultimate purpose of the law was to lead us to Christ. In Romans 10:4 we read that “Christ is the end of the law”, in other words he was the ultimate fulfilment of the law. He personifies the law in all His actions and teaching.

Although the Pharisees held the law up constantly as a standard by which people should live, they themselves were guilty of breaking the very spirit of the law which was to give life. It is so important for us today to understand the role of the law so that we live our lives according to the gospel of Jesus who is the fulfilment of the law and not by trying to legalistically obey each letter of the law.

The second point in this message comes from verse 17, where Jesus says, “if anyone chooses to do God’s will, he find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own”. The underlying message of that statement is that for us to understand the whole of the interaction of the law and Jesus we have to have an attitude of willing obedience to God’s will. We see elsewhere where Jesus explained this in his parables for instance in Matthew chapter 13 where he says, “whoever has will be given more and he will have an abundance”. This is an underlying principle which is necessary for us to understand if we are going to fully grasp the whole teaching not only of the law but of the Bible.

This spiritual principle pervades the whole New Testament. On the one hand there are the insiders who are willing to receive and obey the teachings of Jesus of whom it is said they will receive more and understand more clearly. On the other hand are those that are sceptical and are called outsiders. What little understanding they have is drained away from them. The Pharisees were a clear example of this latter group. Despite the clear evidence that had as to who Jesus was they did not understand and continually rejected him. This reminds me of the importance of our attitude towards the Scriptures when we read them. Are we ready to receive them and put them into practice or are they simply words which may be interesting or not?

It is also important to note that Jesus continues to hold up His relationship to His Father as a vital part of understanding who He is and what His mission is.

There is plenty here to consider and apply to ourselves. Be blessed till I see you again next week.

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene – the living God. I never cease to be amazed at the fact that the Creator of the universe invites me and each of you to meet personally with him. He who flung the stars into space has more than enough time for little old you and little old me. What a privilege that is!

”As I am gathering people from all over the world to sing to me and laud my name the prospect ahead is of a mighty multitude all together singing in harmony. A multitude identified by one single characteristic – that they have been washed clean by my blood which I shed on the cross. A multitude who are identified by that single characteristic – they are in Jesus – in Me. So all that separates has been washed away and there will be a mighty bond of love – fired and fed by my love which is immeasurable and the source of all love between my people. As you imagine this huge crowd you are able to get a small foretaste of what this is all about. The whole of this life I am preparing you for that wonderful gathering at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”

John Ch 7:1 – 13. There is a lull now in John’s manuscript before the next body of teaching. In the background we must remember that the main theme of this Gospel is iterated in the questions, “Who is this man?” and then, “What did he come to do?” In today’s message we see how even Jesus‘s own brothers didn’t understand who he was at this stage. (vs 5). They were no doubt basking in the growing popularity of Jesus as he did amazing miracles. They didn’t understand that the real purpose of his Mission was going to be accomplished through his death, which was obviously not a popular thought.

In the background the clouds were gathering (vs 7) But for Jesus the time was not yet ripe for this final act to play out. Therefore he was keeping himself with a low visibility especially when he came to Jerusalem where the religious leaders were obviously more active.

John keeps the question of his identity alive through the discussions amongst the various players in his story. So we see for instance in versus 12 and 13 how the people were speculating about who this man is. The reader is invited to take the evidence that is laid before them and and make a decision for himself.

For me the key moment in this passage is in vss 6 & 7. Here Jesus repeats the statement twice that the time for me has not yet come. He is obviously referring to the final act of his life which would still be sometime ahead. This reminds me however very clearly of how carefully God plans out his creative purpose. Now you may be thinking it was obviously clear that he would have a plan for Jesus, but what about us? I want to make it clear that God is as much interested in each one of us and his timing in our lives is always perfect. I can attest to a number of incidents in my life which showed to what fine degree God timed certain events to accomplish its purpose.

It is a hugely comforting thought in my life when things just didn’t seem to be working out and sometimes even if there was apparent chaos, to know that in the background God was busy working out the plan that he has for me and those around me.

The other interesting point in this passage is the fact that Jesus’s own brothers, having grown up with him did not yet believe in him. Obviously familiarity breeds contempt. I don’t think that we should be too hard on them as it appears that later at least some of them came to believe fully in him and to follow him, for example we have James and Jude. Just like Jesus‘s mother Mary had to step past seeing him as her little boy and place her faith in him to be saved, so his brothers would have to do the same thing. This reminds me so clearly that we cannot inherit faith or membership of the kingdom of heaven. It is something which is acutely individual for each one of us.

May our Amazing Saviour continue to be the centre of your thoughts this week.

Oh Lord, how majestic is your Name, I am completely humbled at the thought of your mighty Majesty, power, wisdom and not least your (chesed) love.

” Ian look up to the heavens and see the multitude of stars in the sky. Each one has been crafted by Me. I know the properties and idiosyncrasies of each one – yet against that vast backdrop I have made a Home for you on Earth. That home is designed with you and your brothers and sisters in mind– To fit you and to fit My plan completely. It is good that you are filled with wonder and want to worship Me – but maybe the most amazing fact is that I have cared so much for you all that I sent my Son to die on the cross to make it possible to be at peace with Me and carry on a relationship with Me. Receive all this by faith and wonder and enjoy my Presence with you.“

We are in John chapter 6 from verse 60. Last week we saw how Jesus escalated His teaching about being the bread of life to revealing that it would be necessary for every disciple to eat of his body and his blood, if they are to have a relationship with Him into all eternity (vv 53-56). Today we see what the response of the folk that had followed him up to now was.

In verse 60 the disciples said that this is a hard teaching, according to the NIV. A better translation may be that they were disgusted by his teaching. Now we need to ask ourselves why they were disgusted and why they found this teaching so unacceptable. Going back to verse 26 we remember that Jesus accused the people of simply following him for what they could get out of him. This followed after he had fed the 5000 miraculously and it seemed that this idea of a miraculous provision was sufficient to attract many people.

in verse 53 Jesus escalates the concept of him being THE bread that they should eat. Bread would indicate sustenance. Now he starts speaking of them eating his body and drinking his blood. This speaks of death. He is introducing the fact that his mission is much more than just revealing his ability to provide sustenance. To complete his mission He would have to die. What is more this was not an esoteric idea. It was something that his followers would have to take to heart and participate in. While Jesus spoke these words it is probable that the majority, if not all those who follow him would not have understood the full implications of what He was saying. So why were they so disgusted?

Jesus was doing what He often did, that is to use physical lessons to teach spiritual truths. One of our greatest problems is to be able to understand spiritual things which we cannot see. Yet as we read this passage today we must understand that the real lesson is spiritual. Those original disciples may have had a much greater difficulty in relating the physical to the spiritual than us. So being told that they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood must have brought pictures of cannibalism to mind.

Even His chosen 12 were mostly slow to really understand the full meaning of His teaching. We should not be too hard on them though because we ourselves are mostly slow to understand. Sometimes even things which should be quite obvious. There is a dimension in the spiritual which requires His revelation for us to fully grasp the meaning and we need to be ready to respond to what He is saying to receive the full revelation.

In verse 61 we are once again told that the disciples were grumbling. This attitude of dissatisfaction reveals the opposite of faith and an open mind to receive Jesus’s revelation. As the chapter comes to the conclusion we see that many of the disciples are disillusioned and stop following him. He challenges his own disciples who confirmed that they won’t turn away. In the process we can see how fully Jesus knew all these people when he warns that there is one of the 12 who would later betray him.

Now friends, one of the prominent lessons from this passage is a reminder that there are many who appear to follow Jesus as long as it suits them. The church is probably full of people like that. When difficulties arise these people turn away from Jesus in disappointment because they had the wrong expectations from him. I had to examine again my own expectations from my relationship with Jesus to be sure that I don’t fall into that category even in a small way.

Another important reminder in this chapter is the danger of grumbling along with others who you feel that you agree with. The reminder here is that when we grumble we are demonstrating the fact that we don’t really believe that the circumstances that we are experiencing are completely providential from God. It is often the most visible symptom of a lack of faith.

The story of the path to the cross was one which was obviously going to be very difficult for those disciples to understand and to appreciate. I suppose it is the one aspect of Christianity which puts many people off from believing in him. We should never be tempted to play down the importance of the cross because that is the the key moment in the whole of the gospel and in history in general. Without the cross there is no Christianity.

God bless till next week. Enjoy the Spring.

As I sit here at my desk in the room where I meet with my lord every day – I imagine Hm sitting on a chair here with me. I don’t need to go into a special “prophetic” mode, I can simply speak to him and listen to what he says.

“This presence of mine which I am glad you are learning to appreciate, is available to everyone of my dear children. I am speaking continually to you all, yet the noise of the world and your heart’s desires drowns out much of it. That is why you need my written word to bring you back to what you know is true and you can take your communication forward from there. As you have said at the beginning – ours is a real relationship, an interaction between the two of us, so as you speak to me I am answering you in various ways. When you look back at the end of the day you will be able to detect how I have guided you and be able to just rejoice and enjoy our daily togetherness.”

Today we are looking back again at John’s Gospel from chapter 6:34 to 59. Last time we focused on God’s grace in calling us and including us in his kingdom plan. We focused on the reality that on our own we would not come to God, but that he draws us to himself. With the important reminder that we have to accept this gift by faith for it to become real.

Before we go on, let us take a step back again and look at the wider context of this passage. It started with a miraculous feeding of the 5000. We saw that this event happened at the time of the Passover. (v4). We reflected that the miracle was a reminder to the people and to us of God’s rescue of his people from Egypt, which was celebrated at the Passover annually. Having rescued the people God took them into the desert. One of the things that they had to learn was to be totally dependent on Him for everything. To teach them this in the desert surroundings where there was nothing else available he fed them with manna every day. This was a reminder that they were able to and should depend on him entirely for their sustenance. This is a very real reminder to us today as well.

The people demonstrated their lack of faith and appreciation by grumbling, instead of being thankful. This made God very angry. Today, we are reminded in chapter 6:43 of this attitude which demonstrates a clear lack of trust in the fact that God does provide and knows what’s best for us.

From verse 44 Jesus returns to the central message of obtaining eternal life. He first reminds the reader that the initial step is to listen to the Father which will lead them to Jesus. However, he takes this a step further in revealing that he represents the Father. That in Him we can actually meet with and listen to what the Father has to say (vv45, 46).

He now escalates his message by saying that true faith is demonstrated by actually eating the bread. He then reminds them, verse 48, that he is the bread, Verse 51. He then takes this a step further and reveals that the bread is actually his flesh which he will give by his life for the world. Going on from verse 53 he takes this concept of eating the flesh and drinking the blood a step further. What he is doing here is drawing this whole teaching of the bread to a point which indicates the central teaching of the gospel. The teaching that he has to die on the cross. for the sins of the world. And what is more it is not just enough to know this but that one must actually partake of this by faith represented by actually eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Saviour.

Standing back and looking at the bigger picture we can see that setting the whole narrative against the backdrop of the Passover was pointing to the real Passover which happened in the week when Jesus was crucified. Placing this teaching of the centrality of Jesus‘s work on the cross to provide eternal life against the backdrop of the Passover in the center of the first half of the gospel highlights its centrality in the life and mission of Jesus.

Reading this message and seeing how John has structured it to enable us, the reader to understand the real nature of Jesus’s mission to the world and how we need to relate to that to benefit from it as we believe it and trust in the One who the message is about, has been really exciting. Making it all the more real. I trust that this has been an exercise which has strengthened your faith. If there is anyone who who may read this and has not yet placed their trust in Jesus, maybe this will encourage you to do that.

May our Lord bless you all. Till next week then.

” Your Grace still amazes me, your Love still a mystery.“ These words from this song speak to the depths of my heart and soul.

” You are right to be amazed by my grace. My grace is the starting point in the entire creation process. It is the engine which keeps the whole of my creation going and it covers the wonderful, glorious conclusion of my process to bring my kingdom about. While you are already amazed at my grace you, like most of my children have not yet plumbed the full depths of what it truly means, because it is an attitude which is so foreign to the self-centred attitude of mankind in general. So it has been and still is my purpose to continue to introduce you and all who read this to new and greater insights as to what my grace is all about so that as you respond, you will be more and more amazed.”

As we tackle the next section of John chapter 6:34–59, I want to deal with it in two sessions. The golden thread that has been running through the text till now has been the word “belief” or faith. In the first paragraph from verse 35 John repeats the word believe three times. But in this paragraph he brings the full impact of that to a point out.

Can you see that? In verse 37 Jesus states, “ All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” He then goes on to say that what he is speaking about is access to eternal life; verse 40. Stop and consider the full impact of what that statement is saying. If we take these words at their full meaning then our entrance into eternal life depends entirely on God.

Yet we have been continually reading about the key response that each person that was accepted by Jesus had is belief. So here is the conundrum. On the one hand God has chosen His people even before he has created them. On the other hand from our perspective we will not be accepted into eternal life unless we exercise faith or belief.

Perhaps verse 44 throws some light on to this apparent mystery. “ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me, draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” If we stand back and ponder this mystery, we may see that while we have the responsibility of responding to God’s revelation and actions, the whole process is under his control. This is what I call the “truth in tension”. The truth lying in tension between two apparently opposite ideas.

Standing back again to get a better perspective, there is one word that comes to mind that covers this whole process. That word is Grace. The whole concept of God’s grace is perhaps so foreign to our human nature that we find it difficult to fully take it on board.

So this is how I understand it. God has a plan, a magnificent plan, which includes every person that he has created. Within that plan he has created a people who will eventually become part of his kingdom into eternity. You and I are part of that plan. He has a specific plan for each one of us. Your eternal destiny has already been determined as part of that plan. However it is necessary in some mystical way for us to buy into that plan, as it were and to receive this blessing of being part of his chosen people – by faith. The only action from our perspective is that we need to respond by receiving what he wants to give us. It’s just that – a gift. Any effort on our part to do something to enable us to be part of this great plan is counter-productive and acts against the whole concept of grace.

But you say to me, if the destiny of each person has already been determined, why would it be necessary for us to be witnesses to this fact, to go out and share our faith and take this message, this incredible message to the ends of the Earth? The closest that I can come to an answer to that question is that, that is the way God has determined that his message should be spread. In just the same way as he has determined that for him to give us eternal life as a gift is necessary for us to receive it by faith before it is activated, as it were.

The huge and basic difference between Christianity and all the other religions is this whole concept of grace. God has done it all! We only need to believe and demonstrate that by receiving. Go and digest this fact. I have been struggling to do that the whole week. May our dear Lord bless you all till next week.

I become acutely aware that my time spent in singing worship songs as I prepare myself for my special one on one time with my Lord – is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition, a rote – while my mind is really not focused on actually meeting my Lord one on one.

” How hard it may seem for you to keep your focus on Me and My loving communication with you. But, this is in the nature of the human condition, surrounded by spiritual forces dragging your attention away from Me. And touching the deep core of sin which remains in each one of my children even when they have been redeemed and set free. However, even as you became aware of the danger of a mechanical repetition – it was Me calling you back to My side where you can experience My real love – even though I am not physically present. Remember though, every person who loves you and expresses that in My name is acting on My behalf.“

Let us turn now again to John’s telling of the story of Jesus. We are looking at chapter 6:25-34. The setting, just to remind you is the feeding of the 5000 and the subsequent walk by Jesus on the water as He moved to the other side of the lake. In short order we have seen two amazing miraculous signs. In verse 25 we now see that the crowd has followed Jesus and found him again.

In verses 26 and 27 Jesus puts his finger on a subject which should resonate universally. The question is, “Why was the crowd so eager to follow Jesus”? That is perhaps the same question everybody who prays to him should ask themselves, including us. Jesus points out to the crowd that the reason they are following him is because of the bread that he had produced. What he was meaning is they were following him for what they could get out of him. Many, many people who pray to Jesus simply see him as someone who will respond to their needs, without recognising that what he desires is something far greater.

In verse 27 Jesus points out to them that the miracle was a physical representation of what he wants to do spiritually for them and for us. His aim, as he puts it, is that they should have “food that endures to eternal life which only the Son of Man, (Jesus) can give them”.

Then comes the key statement which governs the whole of our relationship with him. When the people ask him what work they must do (presumably to attain eternal life), Jesus replies the only work that they need to do is to have faith in God. That is really the key to the whole of the gospel. As hard as it must have been for them it is perhaps universally true that mankind in general finds it difficult to appreciate the full extent of God’s grace. Our whole relationship with him is governed by the concept of grace. There is no work, nothing that we can do to enable us to receive this huge gift of eternal life. As much as we would like to believe that we in someway can contribute to it, it remains a free gift and any attempt by us to earn it totally nullifies its amazing value. All we need to do is to receive it by faith.

This was true for those people following after Jesus then, but it is equally true for each one of us. Even though we may have received this gift, there is always the possibility that when we do anything of value for the Kingdom, we may think that in some way what we have done has earned us something more of God’s love and attention. The true secret of living the gospel life is understanding this important aspect of God’s grace. He loves us to the maximum and nothing we can do will make him love us more.

In verse 32 we see Jesus taking this teaching one step further. He has been revealing up to now that the bread miracle has a deeper spiritual meaning representing the spiritual food that God wants to give the people. In verse 32 Jesus reveals that in fact the spiritual food comes from His Father and in vs 33 is actually embodied in him personally, “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives His life to the world”. This introduces the next part of his discussion which we will look at next week.

Friends, these are amazing truths that are expressed in this section. We are probably familiar with these concepts but it is possible that they lose their impact over time. So this passage brought me to reconsider my time with and approach to Jesus and my loving service for him, which is a gift which he has given to me and I should be careful to not have the wrong attitude towards it.

Lovely chatting to you all again this afternoon. May the Lord bless you until we meet again next week.