The Role of our Advocate

Good day

We continue with the first Epistle of John.

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world,” (1 John 2:1-2).

We have heard last time that no one is without sin and that there are many sins that we refuse to acknowledge, and therefore do not confess as we are instructed to do. We even sin wilfully for we know we are able to simply confess our sins and then reckon it is easy – live as you like as long as you just confess your sin. But what is the reality? Why do we not have the power the apostles had. We read in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” and in Philippians 2:12, 13: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure”.

According to 1 John 2:2 above Jesus is our propitiation, our atoning sacrifice, as well as our Advocate when we sin. Our sins are forgiven by Jesus’ death on the cross as far as Father God is concerned. Jesus therefore covers for us when the wrath of God should be poured out on sin as it has happened so many times in the Old Testament. Should we therefore do as Paul stated in Romans 6:1: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” He answers as follows: “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Father God gave Jesus the highest authority (Philippians 2:9-11), and although we are made right with the Father, we should continually work with the Holy Spirit to align with Jesus’ commands throughout the New Testament (John 14:21, 23). If it were not so, the Bible should have ended at the end of the Gospels and Jesus would have wasted His breath teaching us.

Apart from being our Advocate, Jesus has another role. When we break the laws of the country, we are disciplined, are we not? If we do not feel the consequences when we do not listen, how will we know to comply? Therefore we are told in Hebrews 12:3-6: “Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’”

 The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12 above) as well as discipline through our circumstances (Hebrews 12:3-6 above), to work in us (Philippians 2:12, 13 above) and form us to align with Jesus’ expectations.

How would you have felt (or maybe you know what I am talking about) when you have suffered much and have given everything to develop your children. Maybe you have built up an interest in which you hoped your children will share, preparing the way for them to succeed in this interest. But some of them are aloof and uninterested and the others ruin your interest by their selfish behaviour. How would you react? Would you not take disciplinary steps to save both your interest and your children’s future?

To Jesus the road towards bringing us salvation was not an easy one. Apart from the physical sacrifice on the cross He put a lot of energy and time into serving the needs of people and teaching, as well as suffering much persecution and ridicule for what He was doing. Our salvation cost Him a HUGE price and He was not going to just let us take it lightly. He has to bring us in line with His will through discipline.

If we continually refuse to acknowledge sin, repent of it and do something about it, He has to create consequences for our behaviour because He loves us. Then we ask why life is so hard – we bring it on ourselves.

I have attended many different church services in my life and have listened to many radio and television messages, and very seldom do I hear messages about sin and discipline. Lately the trend tends to be the love of God and sensations of His manifestation. Are we not deceiving one another?

We read in Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’”

Note that the Lord does not only practice love, but also justice and righteousness.

Lord, please make me aware of sin that would prevent an abundant life for me with you, for you do not go along with sin and must deal with it.

I sincerely hope you are ready for what is coming next.

Subtle Danger

Good day

We continue with the first Epistle of John.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us,” (1 John 1:8-10).

What is sin? One thing we must be very weary of, and that is to underestimate the enemy of our souls - Satan. The Bible says he “transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), that he comes “to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10), and that “he was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it”, (John 8:44).

 

What is it Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy? Is it not our abundant life that Jesus came to give? What abundant life is Jesus talking about? Is it lots of money, a smart car, a mansion for a house and materially successful children, or fullness in Christ on earth and a treasure in heaven? In Luke 12:16-21 Jesus told the parable of the rich man who extended his material riches and then concluded with these words: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” In the same way Jesus speaks at various other places against riches.

Sin in essence is disobedience. Therefore, if Jesus speaks against something and we still do it, don’t we sin? This is where the subtlety of the lie comes in. These sins will not be confessed, for they are not seen as sin.

Why did the Lord not accept Cain’s sacrifice back in Genesis 4? “So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it,’” (Genesis 4:6-8). He simply did not do his best and it was considered to be sin. He was given opportunity to repent, but instead chose to take revenge.

We need to be wary of the subtlety of Satan’s lies. Many things, which we do not consider to be sin, we keep on doing, and in essence say that we do not sin. We are therefore lying and deceiving ourselves, as John put it above. For example those who disobey Jesus’ command on lusting in their thoughts after a woman, and therefore committing adultery with her, are quick to feel guilty and repent, but those who disobey His commands on living in riches for their own benefit, continue as if nothing is wrong and actually justify themselves with one single statement taken from the Bible – they say it is not money that is the root of evil, but the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10). Yet Jesus was quite outspoken on how money should be treated when He addressed the rich young man in Mark 10:17-22, the rich man in Luke 12:16-21 and in Matthew 19:23-24: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’”

I simply used money, God’s greatest enemy (Matthew 6:24), as an example of the subtlety of sin and the enemy’s lies. Sins like stealing and swearing are easily identified and confessed, but there are many sins that we do not see as sin and therefore deny we are sinning.

Many say that all our sins are forgiven because Jesus died for them, in other words that it is an automating process, which is one of the biggest lies aimed at robbing us from our peace and joy and abundant life in Jesus. If this were the case, why would John then have stressed the necessity to confess our sins?

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him,” (John 14:21). This includes all of the commands and not only the ones we have selected for our convenience.

Lord, please show us the sin we ignore.

Living in the Light

Good day

We continue with the first Epistle of John.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin,” (1 John 1:5-7).

There is an idiom that says something like ‘we all have a skeleton in the closet’ and another one that says ‘you are standing behind the door yourself’ if you judge someone. These refer to the fact that we all have something to hide. When we are sinning secretly we become experts in hiding our actions from people. In my life I have been hiding a lot of things from people, but the Holy Spirit is slowly but surely succeeding in getting it through my thick scull that peace equals transparency.  

What do you have to hide? What conscious sin are you entertaining that those around you should not find out about? What is your motive for doing and saying what you do? Do you have ulterior motives which people should not really discover? What is happening behind the scenes of your life?

Satan and your carnal nature do want you to live in undercover sin – keeping you in darkness. Our passage, however, states that the Lord is light and therefore wherever He is present light is present, which drives out any darkness. It is therefore impossible to have deeds, motives, attitudes and thoughts that are hidden in darkness, and have complete fellowship with the Lord, in His power, at the same time. He simply does not fellowship with sin, selfish motives, and in general with our carnal nature at all. John said that when we say we do it, we lie.

We know we always sin, so are we therefore ever going to get into fellowship with the Lord God? That is where Jesus comes in. In Jesus we are made righteous before Father God, which causes Him to be able to share our presence, but let us have a look at Philippians 2:12-16: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life...”

You may choose to be an orphan Christian, keeping your distance from God, because you actually want to do your own thing. If, however, you desire to walk in fellowship with the Light who cannot fellowship with darkness, and if you wish to receive revelation of what He is like, you need to get rid of anything you need to hide from people – in other words you need to change. The Holy Spirit helps with this by working in your life, like we read in Philippians 2 and you need to work consciously with Him, aiming to get to a point where the Light of God has nothing in your life to reveal.

Then “we walk in the light, as he is in the light, (and) we have fellowship with one another.” This is where we experience true fellowship and not the kind of pretence we often find in social gatherings.

Interestingly enough 1 John 1:7 concludes with these words: “and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin”. It seems that only when we live in the light as He is in the light, our sins will be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. We will be forgiven our sin every time we confess it, as stated in verse 9 later on, but to have fellowship with the light, we have to deal with continuous, conscious sin.

“Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way, (Psalm 139:23, 24 GNB). 

Eternal Life Manifested

Good day

We continue with the first Epistle of John.

1 John 1:1-4: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.”

This is really a mouthful. I had to read it a few times to grasp the reality of what John said here. What is it that the disciples, to whom John is referring here, have heard, seen and handled? John said it was concerning the Word of life, which he told us in the first chapter of his gospel, was Jesus.

We learn that it was from the beginning, was from the Father and was manifested to the disciples through the Word of life, namely Jesus Christ. Do you remember what happened right in the beginning in Genesis? Once Adam and Eve were created, the Lord gave them instructions and told them they were not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). We know that they messed it up for all of us, and in His resulting dealings with them in Genesis 3:22 “the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reaches out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever…’”

It would have been nice to know what history would have been like if Adam did not sin. What was the Lord’s initial intention with the man He created and had spent such intimate time with? Why was the tree of life in the garden?

We get a glimpse of Father’s eternal intention in our passage above. He had planned internal life with man from the beginning. That was the reason Jesus, the Word of life, was manifested to the disciples. But they did not only look upon it from a distance. They heard it, saw it, felt it, and handled it – they had a good taste of what eternal life was like. I am confident that if we were to ask one of them what it was like, words to describe it would be lacking.

As we read further in 1 John 1:3-4 we see: “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”

What did John tell his readers of the time? He invited them to come and rub off from the disciples as they had rubbed off from Jesus, through whom eternal life from the Father had been manifested, and were still rubbing off from both Him and the Father through their constant fellowship. They tasted eternal life through the way Jesus lived and lived themselves like that, and everybody who followed their example tasted the same eternal life. The Father, by His grace, made the Holy Spirit and the living Word of God available to us, so we can rub off from them and have fellowship with them, and with those people we know who have discovered the same.

Dear reader, eternal life is not for one day. Eternal life is to live like Jesus lived. If you desire to know how He lived, simply read the New Testament asking the Holy Spirit for revelation.

Holy Spirit, please teach us eternal life, so our joy may be full?

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

Introduction to the Epistles of John Series

Good day

After a longer break than anticipated my fingers started dancing on the keyboard again. I was not totally unproductive during this time, though. We have gotten involved with a wonderful fellowship and are working with them at some teaching projects, one of which is training children in basic spiritual truths.

I felt the Lord has asked me to continue with this blog and will therefore write as the Holy Spirit leads, but at least weekly. Please just remember that all the other posts are still awaiting your reading in the menu to the right of this teaching.

We are going to look at the letters (epistles) of John. John was the disciple of love. The Bible describes John as the disciple that Jesus loved. During the Passover meal we read in John 13:23: “Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.” It is generally accepted that it was John, maybe since he did not mention his own name. John’s gospel and his letters to the church speak of love for and understanding of the Lord. They are just so much different from and more intimate than the rest of the New Testament.

The Lord entrusted John with revelation about Father God and the love relationship He desires with His children. John understood it because of his own intimate relationship with Jesus. We have not been there to observe his relationship with our Lord, but it is easy to picture the relationship between a couple, two friends or a parent and child who are really in love with one another. I am sure that when the other disciples were bantering with one another during relaxing times in Jesus’ ministry, John probably was sitting chatting with Jesus, getting to know Him better, sharing with Him intimate secrets, enjoying Jesus’ personality and so did Jesus John’s. He seems to have bonded more than the others with Jesus.

Because of this relationship and special love, John would have heard more of Jesus’ heart that of His words when He taught. Due to all of this John were able to teach with authority on the subject of Father’s love, because he understood it. This why he was able to write in John 14:21, 23: “‘He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. Jesus answered and said to him, “if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’”

The deeper our relationship with Jesus is and the more we love Him by living strictly in obedience to His spoken and written Word, the deeper our understanding of Him will be and we will be able to live out our particular gift with authority; be it teaching, evangelism, caring, serving, leading and so on.

The epistles of John in particular provide much teaching about a love relationship with Father God and we are going to see what we can learn from them in the next number of posts.

I will write as the Lord instructs, but will try to keep it short. Next time we will delve into the first epistle of John.

Lord please guide our hearts as we learn from you.

What Difference Does a Father Make?

Good day

Let’s chat about it! I hope to get some valuable suggestions from everybody and in the end a conversation leading to a solution to the problem. I would appreciate it if you could have a look at this article: A Million Children Grow up Without Fathers. It is written in the context of the United Kingdom, but is certainly a worldwide phenomenon and therefore something that all of us would have encountered in our countries.

 

The first question I would like us to discuss is: In your opinion, what difference does a father make in children’s lives, in other words why do children, who grow up without a father, end up with all kinds of problems?

 

Be bold people and let us get a byte of your psychological skills and knowledge! Let us get the conversation going, be it on Facebook or on the Word Bytes blog. Just keep in mind that the blog responses are being screened for spam and your opinion will not show immediately, but definitely soon and in the right order.

 

To avoid your opinion being removed as spam, please do NOT answer anonymously, but use your name or at least a pen name followed by the word ‘Fatherless’.

 

Thank you!

Golden Nugget: Occasion to Blaspheme?

Good day

When we so easily yield to temptations to sin, think that Jesus was tempted just like us: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin,” (Hebrews 4:15). It was just as difficult for Him to resist temptation, and all the excuses for self-justification came to His mind as well. Yet, keeping us in mind He did not sin, for if He did we would have lost our salvation. Would you keep Him in mind when temptation comes your way: “And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die.’” Does your sin give the Lord’s enemies great occasion to blaspheme?

Important Notice

Good day

I thank you for having read this blog with me as I have received it from the Lord over the past one and a half years. We have just finished with a discussion of the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen, and I trust that you have received something from it that would have encouraged you and brought you closer to the Lord. I, however, felt that the Lord wanted me to wait on Him over the next few days for guidance on the next phase, so I will not place another posting until further notice. Do not go away though, since I will place short golden nuggets as often as possible to keep the blog alive and in the meantime you have over 400 postings to read from unless you have read it all. So, please use this time to catch up on the remainder of the blog, for it contains timeless material aimed at encouraging and challenging the reader (and writer). Also pray for us as a family since we are moving into a new phase with our walk with God and we have a great challenge ahead of us, which we will reveal at the right time.

Lord, I pray that you bless each reader with truth from your word.

Love in Jesus

Henry

John 17 (Eleven) I Love You

Good day

We have reached the end of this chapter in our lives as well as the end of John chapter seventeen. Soon we will begin with an exciting new interactive process. I believe the Lord wants everybody reading this blog to be involved in developing a dimension in the body of Christ that would make an amazing difference to the church and the world we are travelling through. That, however, is for next time. Here is our message. Enjoy!

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them,” (John 17:24-26).

Jesus wanted His disciples, who were not sufficiently heavenly minded at that stage in their lives, to be where He would be so they could see who He really was. It was as if, after all that they went through together, He couldn’t contain the anticipation of his friends’ awe when they see Him and Father God in their full glory. He wanted to show heaven off to them. Can you also sense the excitement and compassion with which Jesus prayed these words? It is as if His only wish is for people to know Father God the way Jesus knows Him. From these words we clearly get an impression of how special Father God is. It is like a child who brings his best friend home and introduces him to his hero, the one that is everything to him – his dad. We can also sense that Jesus is proud to know His Father and really wishes for His body to get to know Him the way Jesus knows Him, which is why He undertook to continually reveal His Father to His followers. The ultimate purpose of life for believers is to worship Father God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23). This verse states that Father God is seeking such people to worship Him, which is why Jesus attempts to get His body to do it.

I do not think we have any idea what the Father is like. The awe with which Jesus expressed His prayer in John 17 is very obvious and one can hear the passion in His words. If we could put Jesus’ words in the second part of this passage in other words they may sound something like this: ‘Father, the world does not know you, but I know you! If only the world could know you... wow, they really do not know what they miss. If they only could know and experience your amazing love and care the way I do, they will certainly be so much different. They will also start loving the way you do. Therefore I will do my best to make them understand what you are like, by putting them in situations where they could have a glimpse of understanding what you are like.’

Every now and then I have one of these glimpses of the Father’s care and love. I also get convicted of the things that I should get rid of, since they stand between me and understanding the Father’s amazing love. If we are constantly focused on ourselves and our concerns and interests, how will we ever get to see what Father God is like? He is love! “He is patient and kind; He does not envy or boast; He is not arrogant or rude. He does not insist on His own way; He is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. He bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. He never ends,” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). He is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23).

These are all theoretical statements, but one really begins to understand His love when you experience in your spirit Father God looking patiently on you with a gentle smile, shaking His head saying: ‘Henry, it is okay, just try again, next time you will succeed, but to help you get there, I will have to add these circumstances as discipline so you will not easily forget the consequences of your behaviour.’ Jesus seriously dreams of the day that we forget about ourselves to the point that we see Father God in spirit and truth all the time. Our enemy, however, goes to every effort to get us to constantly focus on ourselves so we would not see Father God. The choice of who will be pleased is in our hands, in our prayers and in the utilisation of our time.

Lord, I really desire to rid myself of everything that prevents me from seeing who you are.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 17 (Ten) Get Into One Another

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

You will have noticed that these messages do not come as regularly as usual. The Lord is busy with a move into a new dimension and as soon as we are finished with John 14-17 we will change direction. The blog will then become more interactive.

In Jesus’ prayer so far He has prayed for His disciples and in our messages we have made it applicable to us. Some may have wondered whether it actually were applicable to us, since He was talking about the twelve that was with Him. We read in John 17:20-23 that apart from the fact that we are also disciples, Jesus actually repeated His prayer on behalf of any disciples that would follow Him due to the twelve disciples’ faith and work: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Since this is a repetition we have already discussed it. There are, however, a couple of significant statements in these words of Jesus. He mentioned that if the world would see the unity within the body of Christ, they will believe that Father God loves us and that He sent Jesus, in other words that Jesus is God and therefore more than just another prophet. He put it so beautifully: ‘that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us’. Jesus and the Father is one because they are in one another, meaning that they think alike, love alike, trust one another, support one another, sacrifice for the sake of each other, live for the other one, and so on. When we read this passage it is quite obvious that we must be in God as well and they in us, just like they are in one another. This is exciting, but challenging at the same time since we can challenge ourselves by asking whether we think like them, love like them, trust them and one another like they do us, support them, sacrifice on their behalf and live for them. Or is it a one sided giving – God gives and we receive?

But there is another side to it as well. Jesus said: ‘that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you’, indicating that we need to be in one another as well. That is why the first converts got rid of all that represented their own identity and shared everything they had. In this modern materialistic world governed by money (Mammon) it is difficult to grasp that principle. Do we not often just look after our own and only give a little to the needs of others? Would we give money to the poor rather than getting involved with them, building them up by becoming one with their lives? Do we not have our private programs, which are usually so full that our family in Christ are lucky if they are allowed one hour a week of our time?

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:46-48). Do you get the idea? Only if we forget about ourselves in serving one another, like Father God forgot Himself in sacrificing His son and Jesus forgot Himself in serving mankind and then giving His life for us, and like every single apostle forgot themselves in serving those around them. Being perfect is to be inside the perfect One and Him in us. The word perfect means mature, and if we are therefore mature enough not to think constantly of ourselves like children do, we will be able to allow others to get into us and share what we have to give, and we will be able to get into their lives which are not always as comfortable as we would have liked life to be, giving of ourselves. The end result would be that the world will be so stunned by this amazing lifestyle of unselfish giving that they would want it as well, just as it was in the original church.

Do you think that this is where the church is at the moment? Does every member of the body allow others into their lives to receive from them? Do we purposely get into the lives of others to serve them to the end of our resources and to the point of suffering like Jesus and the apostles did? What can we do to change it?

Lord, please show us how we can get into one another to become one.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 17 (Nine) How to be Sanctified

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

You will have noticed that these messages do not come as regularly as usual. The Lord is busy with a move into a new dimension and as soon as we are finished with John 14-17 we will change direction. The blog will then become more interactive.

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth,” (John 17:17-19).

The word ‘sanctify’ means to consecrate, make holy, make sacred and to purify. Hebrews 12:14 tells us: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” The Greek word translated as ‘holiness’ here has also been translated as ‘sanctification’ in other translations. Without being involved in the process of sanctification, in other words of becoming holy (set apart for God), individuals will not see the Lord. According to Jesus in verse seventeen above, sanctification is done by Father God through bringing those, who are being sanctified, into the truth, which is God’s Word. Jesus consecrated (sanctified) Himself by living the Word of God and He taught His disciples the Word so they can live the Word, which is why He gave them so much teaching. According to John 21:25 Jesus did and taught much more than was recorded in the Bible. The disciples therefore had the Word of God in their hearts and Father God, through the Holy Spirit, had something to work with.

He uses our knowledge of the Word, and directs our circumstances and interaction with other people to get us to a point where we live what the Word says. “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure,” (Philippians 2:12-13). The Lord’s dream for us is to become one with His Word for He is the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth,” (John 1:1, 14).

Say for instance we need to be pure in our thinking. The Holy Spirit will then expose us to passages such as Colossians 3:1-3: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God,” and Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Then He will allow unpleasant consequences every time we disobey this rhema command He has given us until we succeed in controlling our thoughts. He will also assist us in how to pray as we seek solutions to control our thoughts and give us other supporting passages along the way. The Holy Spirit will convict us every time we disobey and will add practical advice on how to control our thoughts. Can you see that the Lord goes to great lengths to consecrate us into the truth, but without our cooperation His hands are tied? As you can see this is only one example of one area in our lives that needs sanctification. Holiness is a lifetime process for Christians and needs to be actively pursued, which is why not much time is left to live for our own pleasure if we want to be like Jesus.

Being sanctified is therefore being set apart to live like the Word of God describes a life acceptable to Father God. Do you want to know Jesus? You therefore need to know the Bible. Do you want to be like Jesus and do what He did and do? You therefore need to live like the Bible commands? We will only be holy once we have become one with the Word of God, and we will only become one with the Word of God, and therefore one with Father God, if we start doing by faith everything the Word commands.

Lord, I am available. Please sanctify me in your truth (be aware that if you mean this prayer, the Lord is going to do it and your life might change).

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.

John 17 (Eight) Acceptance or Rejection

Good day

For as long as it takes we are going to study the gospel of John chapters fourteen to seventeen.

To pick up the topic, you may need to read the one or two postings preceding this one.

“But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world,” (John 17:13-16).

I am thinking of the saying: ‘Birds of the same feather flock together.’ Kind looks after kind and therefore people, who think the same way, believe the same things and are of similar nature tend to seek one another’s company. Jesus said on several occasions that those who follow Him are only pilgrims or travellers through this world. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God who happen to have residency permits to stay in this world until our work here is completed, after which we return to our land, the Kingdom of God.

If we live like Kingdom citizens, the world will not like us because the lifestyle in the Kingdom is completely of another ‘feather’ as that of the world. The world will try to make Christians like they are and if Christians continue to refuse; the ‘birds of that kind of feather’ will reject the ‘birds’ that do not fit in. The world would reason: What is wrong for instance with sleeping together outside of marriage, having an abortion when the baby is unwanted, a lie when it could be justified and so on. When Christians then live by higher moral standards, they do not fit in and are hated.

It is interesting that Jesus asked His Father in our passage above that He should not take the disciples out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Being different from the world is an honour to a Christian and if we could maintain it we bring glory to Father God. That is exactly what the devil tries to prevent. The hatred we receive from the world puts pressure on us to compromise with them, since if we are more like them we will not feel so lonely and rejected and it will release the constant pressure we live under. Satan therefore feeds that natural desire of the sinful nature for acceptance, and tempts us to become like the world, in other words to sin. It is not the hatred of the world that would harm us, but the pressure to become like them and Satan is very active in His subtle attempts to get us there, which is why Jesus prayed that Father God must protect us from Him. If we keep our faith in Jesus and our eyes on things above and not on earthly things as the Word commands, and if Jesus is our first love, we will have a fortress of love to flee to every time the hatred of the world becomes too much for us. But the temptation to sin and compromise is silent and subtle and we do not always see it coming, which is why we need Father God’s protection.

We just need to always be aware of the fact that it is not wrong to be odd, to be different and to be unacceptable to the world. We are accepted by the beloved and that is sufficient. The godlier we live, the more we will be rejected and persecuted. We must therefore find our acceptance by faith in the love of the Lord and in the love of his people, our family in Christ.

Lord, please help me to look to you for acceptance.

Thank you Lord that your Word went out from your mouth, via your servant’s pen, and it will not return to you empty, but will accomplish what you desire and achieve the purpose for which you sent it.

Please pass this on if you think others may benefit by it.