“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
Our Lord was constantly praying–He could be found both rising early as well as praying through the night. He certainly prayed prior to or at every major event of His life–His baptism, His choosing of the disciples, in the garden prior to His betrayal, and even on the cross–setting forth for us an example that we would all do well to follow. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
Pray continually. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
James wrote:
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
It is God’s desire for us to have continual communication with Him in the midst of our daily living. In our verses for today, Jesus was telling His disciples how they would stay in touch with Him after His soon-to-be departure. They would derive power from Him through prayer after He left to go to His Father’s side. They would send forth their prayers and Jesus would communicate to them by the Spirit.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is our great High Priest who sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us:
But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. (Hebrews 7:24-25)
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
Take It to Heart
Here are a few tips that I have found beneficial in my prayer life and they may be helpful to you! I find that there are many ways to offer prayer and all are necessary and important.
First of all, it is essential to have a time alone with the Lord, pouring out our innermost thoughts and concerns. It is simply a matter of letting Him know of our deepest heart matters.
It is also important to pray with others. I find it helpful to pray with someone as soon as I receive a request from another or desire a request myself. This keeps me from forgetting to pray as well as giving me the privilege of corporate prayer. Again, Jesus tells us in God’s Word:
"I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:19-20)
At other times I simply pray throughout the day as thoughts come to me. Perhaps it is to praise Him or thank Him, perhaps He brings someone to mind for me to pray for. I seek to respond quickly to this, though sadly I often fail. I am sure that I neither praise nor thank the Father a fraction of what He is due.
King David proclaims:
My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:21)
I also seek to pray God’s Word back to Him. He is always faithful to His promises. Hiding His Word in my heart helps keep it always at hand. Scripture is full of promises to pray for ourselves and for our families.
Remember to thank God for His answers. Unfortunately, it is easy to take things for granted. God enjoys it when we are thankful for what He gives us.
Journaling your prayer requests is an easy way to keep up and remember all the ways that God is answering your requests and also to record all of the things you are thankful for.
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
"We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (John 10:33)
In our verse for today, we see Jesus’ enemies attempting to vindicate their actions because of their zeal for the law. In an effort to gloss over their vile and murderous ways, they set forth a pretense of blasphemy.
Their allegation was that Jesus claimed to be God. The problem was that what Christ had stated of Himself was true! He had said He was One with the Father. He had said He would give eternal life. We find Jesus giving a clear statement of His deity in Matthew:
The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. "But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered. (Matthew 26:63-66)
The fact that eluded these Jews was that Jesus was no ordinary man. While He was fully man, He was also fully God. Paul gives us an unrivaled description of our Messiah in Colossians:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9)
Paul also writes:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
The writer of Hebrews also gives us the following:
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he
sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3)
The Jewish leaders could not prove any evil against His miraculous works and therefore clung to the shreds of pretense of honoring the law. They did themselves great harm.
Take It to Heart
These Jews did not want to believe because they did not want to change. When confronted with truth, we must always do something with it–embrace and apply it or refute and deny it.
“It costs much to obtain the power of the Spirit: It costs self-surrender and humiliation and a yielding up of our most precious things to God; it costs the perseverance of long waiting, and the faith of strong trust. But when we are really in that power, we shall find this difference, that whereas before, it was hard for us to do the easiest things, now it is easy for us to do the hard things.” (A. J. Gordon)
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Make no bones about it; Satan is our vicious adversary whose modus operandi is to seek and to destroy. If he cannot keep us from being saved, he will strive to keep us from being used. He is ever seeking opportunities for his savage attacks. However, we are not to fear, but rather be on our guard! Satan desires to destroy us … but Jesus desires to give each one of us life! Peter tells us quite plainly:
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1Peter 5:8-9)
Just as God has a wonderful plan for our lives, Scripture tells us Satan also has a plan for us, although his plan is for our destruction and death. We can be sure that whatever God does for our good, Satan tries to counter for our harm. God comes to bless and give life to the full while Satan comes to ravage and steal.
Peter tells us to “resist” Satan, which is a term of defense rather than attack. Christians are able to stand firm against Satan when they depend totally upon the power of Christ. Hence, we are told to put on the full armor of God so that we can stand against Satan’s assaults. Paul writes in Ephesians:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)
The word translated “scheme” in verse ten is from the Greek word methodeia meaning “method, the following or pursuing of an orderly and technical procedure in the handling of a subject” (Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible New Testament Lexical Aids). In other words, Satan is not willy-nilly in his attempts to deceive man, he has a plan. And while he certainly is not omniscient, he does have the ability to do a careful study of our weaknesses. He seems to target his arrows at our most vulnerable areas or tries to breach our walls of self-defense. Thankfully, we are sealed with the precious Holy Spirit. It is important for us to fortify our weakest areas. And there are times we must flee rather than remain dallying with our temptations. We are foolish indeed to give Satan any kind of foothold.
Proverbs tells us:
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. (Proverbs 25:28)
In ancient times, the power of the city rested in the strength of its walls. In like manner, the wall surrounding us is our self-control, and when it is breached, we will collapse. We are to be on our constant guard against our weaknesses and avoid putting ourselves in tempting situations.
Take It to Heart
Jesus tells us that He has not only come to give us life, but give it to the full. No half measures will do–He has come to overflow our cups.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
For the moral and spiritual darkness which covers the earth, for the darkness plaguing humankind, Jesus declares He is the only remedy–He is the True Light that breaks the darkest and strongest chains of sin and depravity. Just as one sun is the sufficient visible light for the whole world, so too there is One Christ–the sufficient Savior–and there need be no more. Isaiah prophesies regarding our Messiah:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)
In our verse for today, Jesus says that He came not only for a few, but for the benefit of all. And yet sadly, some choose not to use or value His Light, preferring to wallow in the darkness. Jesus had made this same point earlier in the book of John:
"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)
Man’s love of darkness stems from an innate love of what is all around us over a love for God–worshipping and serving created things rather than the Creator. The darkness disguises our misplaced love, but nothing is hidden from God’s sight. We read in God’s Word:
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. (Romans 1:25)
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13)
It is not enough to simply marvel at the light of Jesus from a distance–the promise is for those who are willing to follow. Just as we are not swimming when we simply gaze at a pool, nor are not actually eating chocolate when we simply look at it, we are not experiencing God’s light when we are looking at Jesus. We are swimming when we jump in, the wonderful taste of chocolate comes to us when we place it in our mouths. Jesus requires of us our commitment and submission to His leading; following is the act of believing. As we follow Christ, His promise is that we will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. We will neither be left in ignorance nor grope around in uncertainty–our conscience and our understanding will be flooded with light that can never be totally quenched.
David proclaims his confidence in the Lord as being his light–and it is this confidence that takes away his fear:
The LORD is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
Jesus’ provisions for His followers are salvation and strength, joy and understanding, life and strength.
“Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: He is our light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us …He, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his possession.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
Take It to Heart
“With every revelation there is obligation. With every blessing there is responsibility. It is not enough for us to receive the gift of salvation or to be blessed of God. We must commit our way to the Lord and heed His Word.” (Dr. Michael Youssef)
Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.” (John 7:16-18)
Jesus divulges the mystery of His knowledge to His Jewish audience–His teaching is not His own, but rather divine. He had no need to be taught by man–His teaching was not learned, it was by divine revelation. Jesus was commanded by the Father what to say and how to say it. We find these words of our Lord later in John echoing the same sentiment:
"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." (John 12:47-50)
Many people complain regarding their ability to discover truth. In our verses for today, Jesus tells us one secret key to knowledge–obedience. And as we are obedient in the simple things, we will be taught the deeper truths. Jesus is telling us that anyone who chooses to do God’s will–responding to the Word and the Spirit–will succeed in their search for the truth. In other words, those who progressively submit to divine guidelines will progressively be given divine light. As the Spirit leads us through conviction and we are obedient to change, we grow in Christlikeness–conforming to His image. This process is called sanctification. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians:
For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.(1 Thessalonians 4:7-8)
Jesus lived a perfect life; indeed, Jesus lived the life God calls mankind to. We are simply incapable of following His steps apart from the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus came to portray God to man. Those who follow our Lord, through the Holy Spirit’s leading and power, are to portray God to man as well. Jesus brought God honor through His willing obedience. Likewise, we are to bring God honor through our willing obedience.
In Malachi, we are told that God rebuked the Levite priests for their failure to listen to His Word and for their failure to honor His great Name:
"And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.” (Malachi 2:1-2)
The priests knew they were to honor God by the reverence of their words and their actions. Their teaching and instruction were to be true, nothing false found on their lips. By walking in peace and uprightness, they would turn many from sin.
Take It to Heart
In similar fashion, believers in Jesus are a royal priesthood, so termed by Peter, and called to declare His praises. Not stumbling through disobedience to the message, but rather living in such a way that our lives demonstrate the peace and wisdom found in God:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:4-5)
Life effervescent; life overflowing; the vital principle animating–enlivening, inspiring, encouraging, giving forth ardor–burning passion, enthusiasm and zeal–all found within our Jesus–all held out to those who choose to follow after Him. Not too dissimilar to King David’s plea in Psalm 34, we find in verse four of our verses for today the Apostle John dangling this carrot before our eyes in his great desire for us to trust in Jesus, the Lover of our souls–both for God’s glory and for our good. King David encourages us as follows:
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. (Psalm 34:8)
Those who belong to Jesus are offered this abundant life and are given His light within to shine forth in the darkness to a lost and needy world. Jesus transforms us from the inside out, little by little, until we “shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Philippians 2:15-16).
Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6) and “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
The false shepherd, the deceiver of men, the thief and killer of souls comes only to utterly destroy, decimate, demolish, and ravage. Conversely, Jesus comes to give us life and to satisfy us with His pleasing and perfect will. It is a lie from the pit of hell that Jesus is holding out on us; that He wants to make us miserable and squirm and suffer needlessly; that His way for us is somehow boring, unfulfilling, and unsatisfying compared to that to which the world entices us with our eyes.
Have you ever followed the world, or self, or even Satan, and seen the death that comes forth from that pursuit? The death of a relationship, the death of trust, the death of character, the death of love–and on and on it goes. If we would only play out our poor choices and actions to the end result and the consequences, I doubt seriously very many of us would continue down that path.
“We judge things by their present appearance; but the Lord sees them in their consequences. If we could do the same we would be perfectly of His mind; but since we can’t, it is an unspeakable mercy that He will manage for us, whether we are pleased with His management or not; and it is regarded as one of His heaviest judgments when He gives any person up to the way of their own hearts, and to walk according to their own wisdom.” (John Newton)
Defeated Christians are rampant. Defeated Christians do not shed much light. Satan high fives defeated Christians who are called to be the light of the world–a city on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14)–yet remain faintly flickering. I love the quote given to D. L. Moody by Henry Varley: “The world has yet to see what God can do through a man or a woman who is fully devoted to Him.”
Take It to Heart
A fully devoted follower of Jesus will shed much light for their King. Paul gives us insightful help in Romans regarding the “how-to” of defending ourselves against Satan’s attacks and against conforming ourselves to this world allowing our lights to shine forth.
The secret lies in the daily renewing of our minds through the Word of God:
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
Each one of us is to be a light for Jesus–shining His light to those who are in darkness. As Billy Graham once said, “The Christian should stand out like a sparkling diamond.”
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