Freedom in Christ

2 Chronicles 26
28 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done, 2 but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel. He even made metal images for the Baals, 3 and he made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

Gal 3
 23 Before this faith came, we were confined under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith was revealed. 24 The law, then, was our guardian until Christ, so that we could be justified by faith. 25 But since that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:8
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

2 Corinthians 10:4-6

Common English Bible (CEB)

4 Our weapons that we fight with aren’t human, but instead they are powered by God for the destruction of fortresses. They destroy arguments, 5 and every defense that is raised up to oppose the knowledge of God. They capture every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 Once your obedience is complete, we are ready to punish any disobedience.

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

What do all these verse have to do with each other.  The 1st one shows that even with a good foundation of the word of God we can choose to go astray and do evil in the sight of the Lord.  There is but one way to stay aligned with the Spirit.  It is to be in step with the Spirit.  We must choose to stay in God's word, being made new daily in him.  Letting God's Spirit speak the loudest in our head.  For this world will not speak God's language.  At times it may look similar but it is not.  Yet we have such hope for God has not left us alone.  We are not bound to a life to be a slave to sin being thrashed about by our fleshly desires with our only hope to fear the pain of punishment.  NO, our hope is far greater.  For when we were saved we became one with the mind of Christ.  Yet we must daily feed the Spirit of God that resides within us that His voice speaks louder than all those around us and in us.  For this is freedom.  This is living.  When life brings temptation, fear, sadness, complacency and the like the Lord in us will bring his word to our mind to defend us.  For all wars begin in our mind.  So if you want to live a life not under the law then you must surrender every thought to God.  Being willing to await His direction and lead.  Only going where he says to go.  Only moving on at his lead.  He will transform your words before they leave your mouth.  He will transform your actions before you do them.  Yet like the Israelites in the desert you can't store up God's provisions.  They were told to gather the manna daily.  We must enter into his presence daily and be washed anew, fed and equipped for the day at hand.  The manna you received last week will not bring you life.   Does an extra long shower keep you clean for another day?  If you eat twice as much today does it keep you from hunger tomorrow?

DAB 3/4/2013

Deut 26:17 “Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.”

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Luke 10:  9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

13 ...Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Proverbs 12:16 Fools show their annoyance at once,
    but the prudent overlook an insult.

March 5, 2013

Numbers 4-5:31; Mark 12:18-37; Psalm 48:1-14; Proverbs 10:26 (New Living Translation)

 

Today is my son's birthday!

Disowned Jesus

^{Mathew 26
31} Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

“‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

The compassion of Christ to forward the disciplines that they would disown the Christ.

Unclean

Leviticus 11-12

Clean and Unclean Food

11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:

I wonder what this is all about.  Lord why did you have all these tedious rules?  The only thing that makes sense to me is to cause us to be constantly be looking to you and the law for direction about our daily activity.  A constant reminder that we must be continually in your presence, lead by your spirit for the everything we do.  A way to keep up in the word.

Purification After Childbirth

12 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean..."

This i just like.  Give the women a break and definitely some SPACE.  It may be hard for our western thinking to get around the idea of being unclean.  It sounds like you are bad, caught in sin.  But maybe that isn't it at all.  Maybe God is using this to remind us with all these unclean laws that as long as we live in this life we will never be without sin.  Sin will happen through us or to us.  Yet Christ came to set us free.  Not that we should forget these words but to live a live covered by the blood of Christ.  Maybe God is calling us during this time of being unclean to be closer to him, set apart to meditate, regroup and be with the Father.  Choosing to repent not just of what we have done but what is being done around us.

Feb 8, 2013

Thank you Lord for helping me this morning to come to the truth about something. Help me to keep better records so that my word can be more easily backed up.

Lord this day seems to have already gotten away from me.  ti is already 8:45 and my head is full of what needs to be done.  Help me to quite my thoughts so that I can be in your presence and follow in your steps this day.

Ex 28:1-43, Matt 25:31-26:13, Ps 31:9-18, Pr 8:12-13

Matt 25

⁸ The followers saw the woman do this and were upset at her. They said, “Why waste that perfume? ⁹ It could be sold for a lot of money, and the money could be given to those who are poor.”
¹⁰ But Jesus knew what happened. He said, “Why are you bothering this woman? She did a very good thing for me. ¹¹ You will always have the poor with you. But you will not always have me.
  
[Lord help me to be strong to do what you would have me even if it is misunderstood.  Lord help me to be so in tune with your ways that i would extravigantly love you.

Forgive me Lord for not making more time for you this day.  Lord help me to set aside more for you.  My mind is already full of what the day requires.  Please help me to carve out another time where i can truly rest with you.]

 

Feb 7, 2013

Exodus 26-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 (Easy-to-Read Version)

It is 6:50.  I have my tea, I have checked FB, I went to the bathroom.  I had a reasonably good night sleep.  At this moment I feel a bit sad but mostly good.  I at a bit anxious as I am about to start a strict diet that is quite costly.  I am going to need the Lord's supernatural strength and conviction to keep it up.  Yet this body is truly weighing me down and that needs to change.  So here goes.  Diving in Lord.

Dear Lord,

i pray that this day i am surrounded by a cloud of angles.  For your protection and for your glory.  i pray that I find myself singing your praises all day long.  Lord bring me your peace.  Forgive me that i let my mind be clouded with other things.  i know full well the grace, mercy, joy, peace and world rocking change that takes place inside me and even in my world around me if i just come into your presence daily and really spend time with you.  not much seems to happen when i keep one foot in my own thoughts or try and do my own thing while reading your word.  no you are jealous god that wants my full attention.  More importantly I need to give to to be able to retain what you have for me.

Worship at your feet and a wonderful way to awaken my spirit man.

Breath by Vineyard 

Matthew 25
⁶ “At midnight someone announced, ‘The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!’
⁷ “Then all the girls woke up. They made their lamps ready. ⁸ But the foolish girls said to the wise girls, ‘Give us some of your oil. The oil in our lamps is all gone.’
⁹ “The wise girls answered, ‘No! The oil we have might not be enough for all of us. But go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
¹⁰ “So the foolish girls went to buy oil. While they were gone, the bridegroom came. The girls who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.

²⁸ “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the one bag of money from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags. ²⁹ Everyone who uses what they have will get more. They will have much more than they need. But people who do not use what they have will have everything taken away from them.’ ³⁰ Then the master said, ‘Throw that useless servant outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.’

Prov 8
¹⁰ Choose discipline over silver
    and knowledge over the finest gold.
¹¹ Wisdom is better than pearls,
    and nothing you desire compares with her.

Lord it is 8am and I must run.  Yet I will return to pen the words you will give me over these verses you have called me to meditate on.  I await the great truths you will write on my heart. 

Feb 6, 2013

Ex 23:14-25:40, Matt 24:29-51, Ps 30:1-12, Pr 7:24-27

Lord,  I did not have much sleep.  Feelings of sadness are all around me.  Father please be the lifter of my head this day that I may delight in you and find the joy and peace that only you can give.  Help me to find forgiveness and love.  Lord help me to rise above myself and worship you.  Let my spirit man lead me rather than my flesh.

Worship and the word has restored my soul.  Bring it Lord.  For I am ready to take this day by storm.  Lord let it be you that lives within me that speaks.  Let your spirit be the keeper of my gates.  Open to what is good and closed to what is evil.  Lord let the gates of my eye's and ears work as you intended.  Let no weapon formed against me prosper.  Lord cover my thoughts that they would glorify you.  For out of the heart a man speaks.  May my heart be filled and directed by you.

27 “When you fight against your enemies, I will send my great power before you. I will help you defeat all your enemies. The people who are against you will become confused in battle and run away. 28 I will send the hornet in front of you. He will force your enemies to leave. The Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites will leave your country. 29 But I will not force all of them out of your land quickly. I will not do this in only one year. The land will be empty if I force the people out too fast. Then all the wild animals would increase and control the land. And they would be much trouble for you. 30 So I will force them out of your land very slowly. I will do this as you grow and eventually take the land to be your own.


 [What a rich passage.  I would love to break this down among friends.  He is going to confuse those in battle against me.  Father make it so.  Lord who is my enemy this day?  Bring on that hornet to go before me and my sisters in Christ.  Yet he will not strip the land of my heart quickly of these enemies for the wild animals would increase.  Who and what are the wild animals?  Lord cause me to grow so that the evil can be evicted from this land where I live.

We must grow in numbers in proportion to those that he is removing from the flock.  For not all that are among you were yet called by name.  The enemy is among you.  Yet as you come closer to me they will feel the heat of my fire and yes the hornet will force them out.  Fear not the decrease for just as you must become less for me to fill you.  I must weed out the people that are the enemies of the vision I have cast for you.  For it is when they have been cast out of the temple courts and where their is much gnashing of teeth they will find their need for me.  Coming back weeping, repentant and ready to follow me.  For if you keep sheltering them from their own wickedness they will never know me.  For without repentance I can not come in.  Many Saul's live among your flock that I desire to change their name's to Paul.  The whores have found comfort among your men and the drunkards have no shame.  Yet these are my people.  They need a wave of my Spirit to come over them, bringing them to there knees that they will want to turn from their ways.  If you make it easy for them to continue to sin, by holding the Spirit off, there will be dead bones among you.  The road to redemption is not easy.  I had to die a torturous death but I have risen.  My redemption is at hand for all those that will put to death there selfish desires and follow me.  Let me say to your congregation what needs to be said that repentance can occur.  I beg of you, leader of my flock.  I have healing for them, I have hope, I have strength for their weary bones.  Hold not back the fire that must burn through this house.]
 
33 Each branch must have three flowers. Make these flowers like almond flowers with buds and petals.



[What joy it fills my heart that the Lord had so many things decorated with flowers.  Lord let my flowers adorn his people that we may glorify him.]





Matt 24
42 “So always be ready. You don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 What would a homeowner do if he knew when a thief was coming? You know he would be ready and not let the thief break in. 44 So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at a time when you don’t expect him.


[Lord forgive us as we are sinful people that has found more pleasure at the hand of our sin than in the presence of the Lord.  Lord let us run into your presence for covering, for joy for peace and for the pleasure that our soul so deeply longs for.  Lord let us experience all that this body would ever need, that no counterfeit would ever satisfy.  Forgive us for the lies we have believed about you Lord.  That pleasure was the enemies idea.  Lord if we need to be thrilled, if we need to be swept away or if we just need to forget.  Your presence will supply all our needs.  Yet without the bitter regret that sin births within us.  Coming out of a love fest in the Lord, bathed in his blood we will be stronger, clearer, bolder, at peace, seeing this world as God sees it.  Seeing the lost for the Children of God they are.  Yes lord give us times that we may be swept away by you.]

Psalm
11 You have changed my sorrow into dancing.
    You have taken away my sackcloth
    and clothed me with joy.
12 You wanted me to praise you and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever!

[This is my song.  Lord I thank you that my situation does not dictate my dancing.  Lord that just as your passage above states.  You are weeding out the evil in my live slowly that the jackals not overtake my land.  Thank you Lord that even in the mist of a sinful generation, in the mist of sinful people I can praise you.  I can help lead your people to safety and wholeness while I am also being lead out.  My wholeness is not a prerequisite for my joy.  As long as I am clothed in you no weapon formed against me will prosper.  Lord let the covering you have placed over me extend to my children that they not be temped to sin by all that they see around them.  Keep their heart close to you.]

Feb 5, 2013

Exodus 21:22-23:13; Matthew 24:1-28; Psalm 29:1-11; Proverbs 7:6-23 (Easy-to-Read Version)

 

I pray Lord that my heart will yearn for your word as it has in the past.  That I would see you face to face in the pages of your word.  That I would meditate on what you are saying.  That I would find hope, purpose and direction for the path you have before me.  Lord, I pain for the trial that still lay before me.  I pain for the struggle of my flesh to look for happiness rather than your peace and joy.  Hold me fast.  That I may not sin against you in thought or deed.  Help me Lord for this season of waiting is long and I am weak.

Lord I thank you for the proverb today.  It so eloquently describes the temptation of the flesh.  Thank you as I have just written up instruction/boundaries for my kids in regards to the opposite sex.

January 26, 2013

Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14 (New Living Translation)

Exodus 2:13 The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. “Why are you beating up your friend?” Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

14 The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”




[ Wow.  This verse struck me in how we may at time think he are helping someone out of danger when in fact we are scaring them.  Moses had not earned the trust of his people.  Nor were his actions well thought out in terms of the consequences they would have.  Help for someone else without trust or forethought is foolishness.]

Mathew 17: 25 ...But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered?”

26 “They tax the people they have conquered,” Peter replied.

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free!


[Wow what does this say about our own system of taxation.  Are we a conquered people.  The more we are taxed the more we are oppressed.  it amazes me how much god's word still speaks to our everyday issues even though it was written so many years ago.]

Psalm 22: 9 Yet you brought me safely from my mother’s womb
    and led me to trust you at my mother’s breast.
10 I was thrust into your arms at my birth.
    You have been my God from the moment I was born.

[Wow.  The influence Mother's have in rooting our children in safety and trust.  Building in them the ability to trust God as they have been safe and well fed in our arms from birth.  As a friend of mine has said.  I had to be Father, Mother, God to my child.  This verse spoke to me about her.]

Proverbs 5:12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
    Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    and now I must face public disgrace.”

[Lord if I had only learned this in my youth.  Pursing discipline only in areas I felt education would work to my advantage rather than letting it be the cornerstone for every area of my life.  Letting passion for both the good and the bad be my guide.  For passion for the good will lead to hard work but when hard times or desire fades so does the discipline.  Discipline must come from a deeper place within us than desire and passion.  It has to come from a love for someone.  That someone is God.  For God's love for us will never fade and it will always lead us towards righteousness.]

January 21, 2013

Psalm 18:19 He led me to a place of safety;
    he rescued me because he delights in me.


He delights in us.  Did you hear that.  He delights in you and me.  Forever and always.  May we walk this day with our head held high and a smile on our face with the knowledge of this delight.  Walking around wrapped up in this love, under it's power, swooning, bathing, and basking in it's power for it is from this place of delight we will hear his voice and fend off all counter fit loves.

Genesis 42:23 Of course, they didn’t know that Joseph understood them, for he had been speaking to them through an interpreter. 24 Now he turned away from them and began to weep. When he regained his composure, he spoke to them again. Then he chose Simeon from among them and had him tied up right before their eyes.

What love this story of Joseph and his meeting with his brothers shows.  His heart could have been so filled with hate and revenge.  Yet it isn't.  He is moved to tears as they unknowing repent before him.  Lord may our hearts stay forever soft before those that have hurt us.  For like Christ on the cross spoke.  "Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing?"

Heb 8

Proverbs 27

9 Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
    and the pleasantness of a friend
    springs from their heartfelt advice.

Heb 8
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
    after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
    and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
    from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
    and will remember their sins no more.”

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

John 13:1-10

John 13:1-10

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

Day 1: John 13:1

 

13 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

 Day 2: John 13: 2-4

² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.  

 Day 3: John 13: 5-7

⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Day 4: John 13: 8-9

⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Day 5: John 13: 10

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

John 17:1-26

Jesus prays

17 When Jesus finished saying these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son can glorify you. ² You gave him authority over everyone so that he could give eternal life to everyone you gave him. ³ This is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. ⁴ I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I shared with you before the world was created.

 - salvation.  The telling of who Jesus is and what he came here to do.  Amen and amen.  What a wonderful passage.

⁶ “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from this world. They were yours and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ This is because I gave them the words that you gave me, and they received them. They truly understood that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
⁹ “I’m praying for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. ¹⁰ Everything that is mine is yours and everything that is yours is mine; I have been glorified in them. ¹¹ I’m no longer in the world, but they are in the world, even as I’m coming to you. Holy Father, watch over them in your name, the name you gave me, that they will be one just as we are one. ¹² When I was with them, I watched over them in your name, the name you gave to me, and I kept them safe. None of them were lost, except the one who was destined for destruction, so that scripture would be fulfilled.  

<sup>- Jesus prayed only for those that would know him.  Are we out of line to pray for everyone?  All have a choice to know him by opening their heart.

13</sup> Now I’m coming to you and I say these things while I’m in the world so that they can share completely in my joy. ¹⁴ I gave your word to them and the world hated them, because they don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. ¹⁵ I’m not asking that you take them out of this world but that you keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They don’t belong to this world, just as I don’t belong to this world. ¹⁷ Make them holy in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth.

-Thank you Jesus for petitioning to the Father on our behalf.  Thank you for seeing our fear of being hated.  Thank you for asking the Father to guard us that we may be equipped to be holy by the washing of your word.  Lord how am I being sent into the world this day Father as you were sent into the world.  For whom am I to love as you loved, to preach to as you preached, to die as you died?

What does this mean: John 17:19" I made myself holy on their behalf so that they also would be made holy in the truth."  Is their an aspect of  keeping the law and making himself holy that Jesus would not have done?  He is God and need not be in keeping with all the laws to be holy but so that we could enter into his holiness he chose to limit himself to our laws that we could be holy.

²⁰ “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. ²¹ I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. ²² I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one. ²³ I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved me.

-them seems to be the key word .  We should be known by our love for one another.  We should be known by our common vision and purpose for as we walk in one accord by the Spirit.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me where I am. Then they can see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
²⁵ “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. ²⁶ I’ve made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that your love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them.”

John 14:15-27

John 14:15-27

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands.  


<sup>Question:

Do I show my love for God by keeping the commands? 


Application:

 I need to work on loving God's approval more than man's by obeying him even when it will cause conflict.


16</sup> And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  
 

<sup>Question:
 Do I believe that Jesus speaks to the Father on my behalf?  Do I listen to the Spirit of truth and let him be  my advocate and helper?  How do i deal with the fact that the world can see him nor knows him.  Do I choose to follow his lead when those around me can't understand the path I am taking?  Do I live believing he is coming for me or like I have been abandoned?  -- Do I live because Jesus lives?
 
Application:

20</sup> On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

<sup>Question:  Word picture.  Do I write His commands on my heart and keep them?  In so doing show my love?  Is my obedience to Him manifested in him showing himself to me and me knowing I am loved by Jesus and the Father?

Application:

 
22</sup> Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
²³ Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.


<sup>Question:
 Twist - Do I, like Christ, only make myself known to those that will respect me and follow after God?

Application:

25</sup> “All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

<sup>Question:

Do I let the holy Spirit teach me?  Do I know the difference between the peace Jesus is talking about and what the world considers peace?  Do I turn my troubles and fears over tot he Lord so that they will not trouble me.  Do I live in His presence in the moment he has given me or do I live in the "what if's" of tomorrow?

Application:</sup>

John15:14--15

John 15:5-15

New International Version (NIV)

Day 1

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
^{Day 2
8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 ^{Day 3}

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

 ^{Day 4}

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  

^{Day 5}

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.


Step 2 
What Does God's Word Say?
List Facts
¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Step 3 
What Does God's Word Mean?
Learn the lessons

Step 4
What Does God's word mean to me?


Step 5
How will I respond to God's Word?
Live it out!

John15:12-13

John 15:5-15

New International Version (NIV)

Day 1

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
^{Day 2
8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 ^{Day 3}

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

 ^{Day 4}

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  

^{Day 5}

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.


Step 2 
What Does God's Word Say?
List Facts

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.   

Step 3 
What Does God's Word Mean?
Learn the lessons
Love as God loves.  Their is no greater love than laying down one's life.
Step 4
What Does God's word mean to me?
Do I really understand how God loves?  It isn't a sloppy enabling kind of love.  It isn't a conditional love.  It is a love that see's beyond the pain, beyond the anger, the lies and sees the person for who they are and who they will become in Christ.  Lay down your life.  Who did this?  Christ alone.  He layed down his life for the forgiveness of our sin, to bridge the gap between us and God.  What example can we take in this in how we are to lay down our lives.  It must be for their greater good.  It must be to pave the way for them to see Christ as savior.


Step 5
How will I respond to God's Word?
Live it out!
I will seek God in the pages of the Bible to understand more fully what it means to love like him.  I will seek to understand Christs sacrifice for all humanity and seek to discern in the big and smalls ways I am to lay down my life.  I will guard my heart in Christ against the ways this world has twisted love and personal sacrifice that is based in fear and self preservation.

John 15:9-11

John 15:5-15

New International Version (NIV)

Day 1

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
^{Day 2
8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 ^{Day 3}

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

 ^{Day 4}

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  

^{Day 5}

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.


Step 2 
What Does God's Word Say?
List Facts
 keeping my commands will allow you to remain in my love which will result in my joy being complete in you.

Step 3 
What Does God's Word Mean?
Learn the lessons
Promise God's love and joy can live in me if I obey him.
Step 4
What Does God's word mean to me?
Is my obedience to the Law and Christ evidence by God love remaining in me and his joy being complete in my life?

Step 5
How will I respond to God's Word?
Live it out!
I will continually seek God for the lie i am believing or the aspect of God's word I am not following when it is obvious that i am not walking in love and joy that are mine to have when i am abiding in him.  Have you every flipped this verse around? That if you are lacking in God's love and joy that it might be a warning sign that you are not abiding in Him, walking in obedience to his commands? No one to point the finger at in this verse. Except ourselves. So be empowered today ask God where you are falling short and reclaim His love and joy in your life. It is promised to you. No go do what it takes to have it. Now skip the pity party and start living. Jesus already paid the price for your sin.

John15:8

John 15:5-15

New International Version (NIV)

Day 1

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
^{Day 2
8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 ^{Day 3}

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

 ^{Day 4}

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  

^{Day 5}

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.


Step 2 
What Does God's Word Say?
List Facts
⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Step 3 
What Does God's Word Mean?
Learn the lessons
We get to glorify God when we bear fruit.  This is how we show ourselves as disciples.
Step 4
What Does God's word mean to me?
Do I take seriously my ability to glorify God?  Does this motivate me the way it should?  What is the mark of a disciple? 

Step 5
How will I respond to God's Word?
Live it out!

I want to glorify God and have a better understanding of the mark of a disciple that I may live it more fully.

John 15:5-7

John 15:5-15

New International Version (NIV)

Day 1

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
^{Day 2
8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 ^{Day 3}

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  

 ^{Day 4}

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  

^{Day 5}

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.


Step 2 
What Does God's Word Say?
List Facts
⁵ Jesus is the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Step 3 
What Does God's Word Mean?
Learn the lessons
I am a branch.  To bear fruit i must remain in the vine.  Warning - If I don't remain in the vine i will become worthless and be thrown into the fire and burned.  Promise - If I remains in Him and God's word remains in me i can have what i ask for.

Step 4
What Does God's word mean to me?
Do I accept and understand what it means to be a branch?  Do I try to do things apart from Christ and find my good intentions wither and die?  Do I spend enough time in God's word to remain in him?

Step 5
How will I respond to God's Word?
Live it out!
I will learn what it means to be a branch.  I will learn and accept that even my good intentions not lead by God will be thrown in the fire.  I will hold fast in my faith to seek God 1st and through out my day.