Archive for the ‘The book of John’ Category

Spiritual Training 25 January 2012

Posted: January 25, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Are you friends with Jesus?

John 15:14-15 You are my friends if you do what I command, 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.

Because Jesus Christ is Lord and Master, he should call us servants; instead he calls us friends. How comforting and reassuring to be chosen as Christ’s friends. Because he is Lord and Master, we owe him our unqualified obedience, but most of all, Jesus asks us to obey him because we love him.

Spiritual Training 24 January 2012

Posted: January 24, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Teaches about the Vine and the Branches

John 15:12-13 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.

We are to love each other as Jesus loved us, and he loved us enough to give his life for us. We may not have to die for someone, but there are other ways to practice sacrificial love: listening, helping, encouraging, and giving. Think of someone in particular who needs this kind of love today. Give all the love you can, and then try to give a little more.

Spiritual Training 23 January 2012

Posted: January 23, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Teaches about the Vine and the Branches

John 15:9-11 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

When things are going well, we feel excited. When hardships come, we sink into depression. But true joy transcends the rolling waves of circumstance. Joy comes from a consistent relationship with Jesus Christ. When our lives are intertwined with his, he will help us walk through adversity without sinking into debilitating, lows and manage prosperity without moving into deceptive highs. The joy of living with Jesus Christ daily will keep us levelheaded, no matter how high or low our circumstances.

Spiritual Training 20 January 2012

Posted: January 20, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Teaches about the Vine and the Branches

John 15:5-8 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in your, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Fathers’ glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Remaining in Christ means (10 believing that he is God’s Son (2) receiving him as Avior and Lord (3) doing what God says (4) continuing to believe the gospel, and (5) relating in love to the community of believers, Christ’s body.

Many people try to be good, honest people who do what is right, but Jesus says that the only way to live a truly good life is to stay close to him, like a branch attached to the vine. Apart from Christ our efforts are unfruitful. Are you receiving the nourishment and life offered by Christ, the vine? If not, you are missing a special gift he has for you.

When a vine bears “much fruit,” God is glorified, for daily he sent the sunshine and rain to make the crops grow, and constantly he nurtured each tiny plant and prepared it to blossom. What a moment of glory for the Lord of the harvest when the harvest is brought into the barns, mature and ready for use! He made it all happen. This farming analogy shows how God is glorified when people come into a right relationship with him and begin to “bear much fruit” in their lives.

Spiritual Training 19 January 2012

Posted: January 19, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Teaches about the Vine and the Branches

John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Nether can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Christ is the vine, and God is the gardener who cares for the branches to make them fruitful. The branches are all those who claim to be followers of Christ. The fruitful branches are true believers who by their living union with Christ produce much fruit. But those who become unproductive-those who turn back from following Christ after making a superficial commitment will be separated from the vine. Unproductive followers are as good as dead and will be cut off and tossed aside.

Jesus makes a distinction between two kinds of pruning (1) separating and (2) cutting back branches. Fruitful branches are cut back to promote growth. In other words, God must sometimes discipline us to strengthen our character and faith. But branches that don’t bear fruit are cut off at the trunk because not only are they worthless, but they often infect the rest of the tree. People who won’t bear fruit are cut off at the trunk because not only are they worthless, but they often infect the rest of the tree. People who won’t bear frit for God or who try to block the efforts of God’s followers will be cut off from his life-giving power.

Spiritual Training 18 January 2012

Posted: January 18, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command

John 14:30-31 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming.  He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.  “Come now; let us leave.       

Although Satan, the prince of this world, was unable to overpower Jesus (Matthew 4), he still had the arrogance to try.  Satan’s power exists only because God allows him to act.  But because Jesus is sinless, Satan has no power over him.  If we obey Jesus and align ourselves closely with God’s purposes, Satan can have no power over us.

Spiritual Training 17 January 2012

Posted: January 17, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled and do not be afraid.

The end result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is deep and lasting peace. Unlike worldly peace, which is usually defined as the absence of conflict, this peace is confident assurance in any circumstance; with Christ’s peace, we have no need to fear the present or the future. Sin, fear, uncertainty, doubt, and numerous other forces are at war within us. The peace of God moves into our hearts and lives to restrain these hostile forces and offer comfort in place of conflict. Jesus says he will give us that peace if we are willing to accept it from him. If your life is full of stress, allow the Holy Spirit to fill you with Christ’s peace (see Philippians 4:6-7 for more on experiencing God’s peace).

Spiritual Training 13 January 2013

Posted: January 13, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:26 But the Counselor, 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.

Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would help them remember what he had been teaching them. This promise ensures the validity of the New Testament. The disciples were eyewitnesses of Jesus life and teachings, and the Holy Spirit helped them remember without taking away their individual perspectives. We can be confident that the Gospels are accurate records of what Jesus taught and did. (see 1 Corinthians 2:10-14). The Holy Spirit can help us in the same way. As we study the Bible, we can trust him to plant truth in our mind, convince us of God’s will, and remind us when we stray from it.

Spiritual Training 12 January 2012

Posted: January 11, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus is the way to the Father

John 14:19-21 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

Sometimes people wish they knew the future so they could prepare for it. God has chosen not to give us this knowledge. He alone knows what will happen, but he tells us all we need to know to prepare for the future. When we live by his standards, he will not leave us; he will come to us, he will be in us, and he will show himself to us. God knows what will happen and, because he will be with us through it all, we need not fear. We don’t have to know the future to have faith in God; we have to have faith in God to be secure about the future.

Spiritual Training 11 January 2012

Posted: January 11, 2012 in Acceptance, Bible Study, Encourgement, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Spiritual Training, The book of John, trust in the Lord with all your heart, Uncategorized, Under Gods Command
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Under Gods Command
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

John 14:15-18 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-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. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

The Counselor-the Spirit of God himself would come after Jesus was gone to care for and guide the disciples. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within all believers, helping us live, as God wants and building Christ’s church on earth and us. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day.

The Truths about the Holy Spirit.

• He will be with us forever (John 14:16)
• The world at large cannot accept him (John 14:17)
• He lives with us and in us (John 14:17)
• He teaches us (John 14:26)
• He reminds us of Jesus words (John 14:26 and John 15:26
• He convicts us of sin, shows us God’s righteousness, and announces God’s judgment on evil (John 16:8)
• He guides into truth and gives insight into future events (John 16:13)
• He brings glory to Christ (John 16:14)

The Holy Spirit has been active among people fro the beginning of time, but after Pentecost (Acts 2) he came to live in all believers. Many people are unaware of the Holy Spirit’s activities, but to those who hear Christ’s words and understand the Spirit’s power, the Spirit gives a whole new way to look at life.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

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