Some of my favorite scriptures in the Bible are John 14-17, and they are all in red. For those who are unaware, in old school paper, and book-type Bibles, the words of Jesus are often in red. This way, you know without a doubt who is speaking.
These particular passages are among the final words Jesus spoke to His disciples just before going to the cross, and are very powerful. If you are a novice to reading and studying the Bible, start with these verses, they will speak to your heart. Specifically, for this blog, I want to talk about John 15. In the beginning of this chapter, Jesus gives the analogy of abiding in the vine. This is a beautiful picture of understanding our relationship with Jesus and with Father God. Vineyards were common, so the disciples could easily understand this word picture He was drawing. But tucked in amongst this story, is Love. John 15:9-13 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” This morning, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to write about. His response was “Tell them I love them.” In this passage, Jesus is on his way to the most cruel, unbelievable death there was. But this death was the only way to set us free from the grip of the enemy. A sacrifice had to be made so we could have the abundant life and victorious eternity He promised. In this verse, Jesus tells us that He loves us just like His Father loved Him. Then goes on to explain that if we abide in his love, we will have complete joy. The word 'Abide' means to remain, tarry, or not to depart, so basically stay put. When we choose to walk in Jesus ‘commandments’ that He taught throughout His time on this earth, then we will ‘abide’ or remain in His love. Jesus then tells us to love each other as He loved us, and it wasn't a suggestion. How did He love us? Sacrificially. He left heaven to come to this earth and experience every pain and problem we experience. He was fully God, but He was also fully man. And throughout His time on earth, He could have chosen to make his problems disappear, and the pain to go away. But because of His love for us, Jesus chose to go through it all. He went through temptation, trials, misunderstandings, abuse, accusations, ridicule, anger, beating, and a cruel death. All of this was at the hands of the church. What a sacrifice. When He was speaking these words, He knew the worst part of His life on earth was coming. He knew what had to be done. But what does Jesus say in verse 13? “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus was saying “I’m about to show you how much I love you, by laying down my life, literally and physically.” We have forgotten this verse. There is so much turmoil in the world right now and much of it is because the world is so anxious for their opinion to be heard, and their desires to be met. But what if we laid all of that down and just started loving each other the way Jesus loved us. Regardless!!!! Take a moment to think about just how much He loves you. If you don’t know Jesus in that way, please reach out to me. I would love to tell you about His love for you. If you do know Him, then remember what your life was like before you met Him. Think about just how much He has done for you and the joy in your life because of His sacrifice. If you have lost that joy and that love, reconnect with Him by reading the words in red again. Pray and tell Him how much you love Him. Then do what He did…love others sacrificially. Lay down your agenda and take up His, to lay down your life for your friends. Love someone sacrificially today, and maybe make it someone you don’t agree with, or even like. Do something to show them the love of Jesus today…that your joy, His joy, may be full, just like the words in RED!
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Today, I read the scariest verse in the entire Bible. It isn’t the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse, it wasn’t Saul (pre-saved Paul) pulling people out of their homes for following Jesus and executing them. It wasn’t the disciples hiding out after the crucifixion, paralyzed with fear. It wasn’t even the Old Testament stories of cannibalism or torture.
Luke 22:3 “Then entered Satan into Judas, surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve.” (KJV) Why is this verse so scary? Because that could happen to us! Before you get defensive and say ‘that would never happen to me,’ let me walk you through a few things. Remember, Jesus chose him! Luke 6:13 tells us ‘And when it was day, he called unto him, his disciples, and of them he CHOSE twelve, who he also named apostles,’ Then in verse 16 ‘And Judas, the brother of James and Judas Iscariot, which was the traitor.’ So Judas Iscariot was chosen by Jesus to be one of the elite. He was also the treasurer which meant he had some credibility with everyone in the executive committee, the apostles. We know that he was sent out with all of them and performed signs and wonders, he struggled with greed as we see in the story of the woman with the alabaster jar, but he also sat at Jesus feet and was taught with all the others. Judas chose to follow Jesus, in spite of the challenges the entire group faced. That took tenacity and dedication. This group was hated by the leadership of the day and challenged by many. They did have a level of celebrity with some of the people, but that waxed and waned depending on the circumstances. He watched Jesus heal people, multiply food, and walk on water. He, like the others, probably struggled within himself, with his own shortcomings, but Judas chose to stay the course. I’ve heard many teachings over the years about Judas and his motives. However, we truly cannot judge the state of his heart at the time and neither can these teachers. How do I know that? Because each one of us face the very same things in our own spiritual journey. Sometimes we are completely dedicated and fully following Jesus, others we struggle with our own humanity. Now back to the reason this verse is so scary. There are many people who glibly say that a Christian can’t have a demon. Well it isn’t that simple. There is a huge difference between saying the sinners prayer and fully giving your life to Christ. It is obvious that some folks say a prayer at some point to get their ‘hell insurance.’ They think, and are probably taught, that prayer ensures your ticket into heaven. However, the truth is, that the only way of ensuring our salvation and deliverance into eternity with Jesus, is to make Him Lord of our lives. This begins with the prayer of repentance, submission, and dedication, but continues in our daily lives with our choices and our heart. Several years ago, I read a book by John and Paula Sanford that explained it perfectly. I can’t remember the exact book or the story, but it gave me the realization, that even though I absolutely loved Jesus and tried to do everything to please Him, when I allowed my anger to get out of control, that was a level of demonic influence. So, while the part of me that was fully surrendered to Jesus, and was ‘saved or safe’, the part of me that allowed my flesh to take over and cause destruction, was not. Luke 21:19 says ‘in your patience, possess your soul.’ Wow, that is powerful. As we move through our walk with Jesus, it is our job to ‘possess’ our soul and be sanctified. That is a process. It is a process that is the result of our choices every single moment of every single day. You see, Judas made choices that was against his soul. He allowed his greed to become bigger than his dedication to Jesus. That my friends, is why this verse is so scary. Many people say that Judas went to hell, however we see clearly in Matthew 27:3 ‘Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that He was condemned, REPENTED himself, and brought again his thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.’ I truly believe that Judas was ‘saved’ throughout his journeys with the Lord. It looked a bit different than it did after the resurrection, but safe, or saved non-the-less. Why do I believe that? Because conviction came on Judas and he repented. If he wasn’t saved or safe, the conviction would not have come. When we allow our ‘soul’ or our ‘flesh’ as some would call it, to overtake us and we behave according to that, instead of what we know Christ would have us do, we are allowing the enemy to use us to bring destruction. Many top leaders in the church have done this. A pastor who manipulates women into have sex with him, a youth or children’s pastor who molests children, a business leader who skims money out of the coffers, a parent who seriously abuses their children, I could go on, but you get the point. The only way to can guarantee that ‘Satan will not enter us’ is by working hard every day to grow in your relationship with Christ, get rooted and grounded in His word, and by repenting and turning from the things that the Holy Spirit convicts you about. Churches today are so worried about offending people, that they quit preaching convicting sermons. Because of that they quit teaching what SIN is. When you don’t know what sin is, then you mistake conviction for offense. Satan cannot have any part of you that is not dedicated wholly and completely to Christ. The Sanford’s taught that the cross was like a ray of light shining into the darkest part of your heart. When the light of the cross shines in, it displaces the darkness, then you invite the Holy Spirit into fill that place, the enemy can no longer have a hold on that place, unless you willfully allow it. But in the dark places, where we don’t allow the cross to penetrate, the enemy can influence and use it to bring destruction into our life. This is how ‘Satan entered into Judas.’ He didn’t have the cross, but he had Jesus and he didn’t surrender those dark places fully to Jesus. This isn’t just about being saved or eternal security. Remember salvation is the beginning of our journey, sanctification is the rest of it. So if Satan can’t have your heart, his next best thing is to make you totally ineffective. If he can use you through those dark places in your heart, then he has done his job and stolen your destiny. So today, pray, and ask the Lord to show you any darkness in your heart. Then repent of any sins around that darkness and ask Him to bring healing. Finally invite the Holy Spirit into that place to bring healing and wholeness. Then Satan will never be able to use that part of you again. This is a process, so you may have to repeat this throughout your life. That is the process of sanctification, and it may take some time, or you may need a bit of help. But commit to this process and watch your life change in ways you could never imagine. Then, and only then, can you be guaranteed that the enemy won’t be able to use you for destruction, like Judas. My prayer over you: Father, hold my friend in your hand, reveal the darkness that you want to heal. Help them see how this darkness has brought pain and destruction and show them how to repent of their part. Then Father shed your light fully and send Holy Spirit to engulf it. Bring complete healing and wholeness and strength to my friend. Reveal the complete truth to them and cover them as they heal and move forward in their destiny. In Jesus Holy Name, Amen. |
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