Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” JOHN 11:25–26
The King of kings came into the world humbly. He was born in a stable, His cradle a feed trough. In His thirty-three years of earthly life, He owned no possessions. He had to depend on others to provide for His needs, and He had to borrow everything He used. The stable where He was born was borrowed. He borrowed money to pay His taxes, a boat to stand in and preach, a cross on which to die. Even His tomb was not His own. But He had a mission that He alone could accomplish: He, the Son of Man, came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He bore our sins “in His own body on the tree” that in the age to come we might have eternal life (1 Peter 2:24; Mark 10:29–30; and John 3:13–17). Of Himself He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). He “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself . . . so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. . . . We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 9:26–10:10). - Dr. David Jeremiah Morning and Evening
Everywhere you go, everywhere you hear, you see and hear messages from this world on how you should be. What you should accept and not accept. What great or not so great things are before you. Corporations try to sway your thinking. Schools used to teach only to prepare you for life. These days a great many schools try to use it to indoctrinate children into other schools of thought that are contrary to the Word of God.
Slogans are reworked every year about being all you can be. About getting more schooling. Get this degree or that degree and it will make you something! Yes, deeper in debt. Extremely few enter into getting a degree leave with both a degree and no debt.
A wall full of degrees will not give you the life that is only found in Christ Jesus.
I was reading this morning and only now realized that a commonly used phrase by a lot of Christians is taken out of context.
Let's read it. Matthew 19:25-26 "When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them, Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Many grasp a hold of those last 6 words. The context is more important. It's about Salvation. It's about Jesus saying that no path taken by mankind will ever save them in God's eyes. Jesus is the WAY, the truth, and the LIFE.
A key reason that so much emphasis is put on striving to find a path in life is the denial of the one thing that's necessary. Salvation in Christ Jesus. Jesus said he who wants to find his life must lose it. To give it up. To deny yourself take up your cross and follow Him. That means not living for you.
Degrees and achievements, acolytes and celebrity status mean absolutely nothing in Heaven. Being a billionaire who has achieved great worldly things, done fantastic things for mankind, without Christ is a person doomed to eternity in Hell.
Look at what Dr. Jeremiah said about Jesus, about what He owned, about His possessions in His 33 years on Earth.
He COULD have thought a thought and instantly forever changed the future of humanity. Really consider that this is THE same God who spoke the world into existence. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He could have spoken a word and started everything over again. He could have made a Throne here on Earth in that Temple by saying it or thinking it. Could have usurped all earthly authority and taken back the Kingdom in the twinkling of an eye. Ever really consider all that? He denied Himself, took up His own cross, and Followed His Father's Will.
The Plan of God is to seek and save those who are lost. Presented to Israel who rejected Christ, it was offered to the World. Offered. Not demanded. Mankind has tried for centuries to either create their own gods or to find their own way to God.
With man it is impossible. With God reaching down from Heaven in the form and person of Jesus Christ it is possible.
Look at your life today. Are you living for Jesus or you? Simple question.
Are you lying to yourself about your goals and ambitions? Are you at all, in any part of your life, living for Jesus?
Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.
Refrain:
O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone.
2. Living for Jesus Who died in my place,
Bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace;
Such love constrains me to answer His call,
Follow His leading and give Him my all.
3. Living for Jesus, wherever I am,
Doing each duty in His holy Name;
Willing to suffer affliction and loss,
Deeming each trial a part of my cross.
4. Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,
My dearest treasure, the light of His smile;
Seeking the lost ones He died to redeem,
Bringing the weary to find rest in Him.
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