Ears to Hear, and Hearts to Learn

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word is from John 6.  It is an interesting chapter as it highlights two famous miracles of Jesus: the feeding of the five thousand, and Him walking on the Sea of Galilee to his disciples in a boat.  However, and more sobering, is the last half of the chapter that has Jesus teaching about Himself as the bread of Life...and the resulting departure of many of his unbelieving "believers." 

Jesus starts off by giving the reason for their departure before they even get to the question: "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw the miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill" (verse 26).  Their following of Jesus was not a faith issue, but of simple human logic: 'nice guy, wise words, good food--follow him!'   Obviously, they had missed the boat completely.  The crux of the issue was, and is still, about having eternal life with Jesus, or dying with an un-regenerated life devoid of the Holy Spirit.  So, in essence, you could say that these "followers" were the original Grateful Dead groupies.  They went home happy after the concert, and made plans to go to the next performance but were none the wiser in believing in Jesus as Christ the Savior. 

But Jesus couldn't have that.  "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent."  It is the same scenario two thousand years later--people like the benefits of God without having to believe in Christ Jesus and live according to His words.  It never ceases to amaze me how many different false theologies and opinions about God I hear, even from "Christians," that have this one thing in common: they reject Jesus as Son of God and Savior of the world.  In native-English speaking countries that were traditionally Christian, the prominent false theologies I hear are that, "There are many ways to God."  But this idea rejects the truth of why Jesus came to earth in the first place: "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.  And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."  John 6:38-40.

It's an exclusive offer, fulfilled through belief in Christ alone.  "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty...Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever...The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."  (John 6:35, 58, 63).

So, there's the dividing line, so to speak.  There are many who have formed an idea about God and follow a school of thought that parallels God's truth, but it never intersects with the truth about Jesus Christ.  They live on vehemently believing that there are many ways to reach the kingdom of heaven but deny Life in Christ, and still go on in darkness.  Jesus said, "Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me," (John 6:45) so my prayer is for God to open the ears of many to hear Him, and give them a teachable heart to learn from Him, so that they will be drawn to Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.
 
~Be blessed and be a blessing. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Keeping My Eyes on Jesus

Greetings in the Lord! Today's verse is from I Timothy 4:1-8: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer. If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding
Read more

A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus

Greetings in the Lord! Last night the Spirit put on my heart to go to the St. Louis Dream Center Tuesday night worship service. This center was founded by Joyce Meyer Ministries, of which I am a big fan, so it was a delight to go and see what the Lord is doing there. Well, instead of their usual service the kids were putting on a skit called, "Voice of Change." The focus of the evening was to teach the audience to be a voice for the voiceless and to spearhead change for our generation by stepping out boldly for our faith in the face of opposition. I must admit, however, I am not a big fan of children's performances. I just don't have the patience it takes to listen to mumbled lines or wait while they remember what is supposed to happen next. Having said that, I will say that the whole night was worth it just to see the closing act. It was a last supper scene, with the disciples singing and Jesus had already ascended. After each disciple sang their part, soldiers
Read more

Be A Fruitful Branch

Greetings in the Lord! Today's word comes from John 15:1-2, 4, 16: "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...Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.....You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit---fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." It was yet another amazing day with the Lord! Yesterday, He arranged that I would be the guest speaker at Rotary Club Int'l, speaking His words to a special group of Manila's finest businessmen, lawyers, city officials, media and advertising agents, the Chief Inspector for the police, top Philippine entertainers, and a Maritime Captain. It was a great evening as we shared good conversati
Read more

Woman at the Well

Greetings in the Lord! Last June I was sent to LA and had lunch with a friend at a restaurant along Sunset strip. The Lord had showed me in a dream where He wanted us to eat--it was a place right between a couple clubs where famous celebrities had died of drug overdose in the past. As we sat there talking, the Holy Spirit began to quicken my heart: "All along here celebrities come down from their homes, their luxurious prisons, and come to these 'watering holes' looking for a drink. They are so thirsty they will drink the dirty waters served up in these places...but many will not return home. Instead, they end up dying here, drinking polluted water. Most have been 'cleaned' up and gotten dirty again several times, in and out of rehab, like a dog returning to its vomit." The Holy Spirit went on to tell my friend that he has a calling to witness to this crowd, as his profession gives him contact to many celebrities in LA. Now, nearly a year later, I discer
Read more

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin -- Daniel Tell It

Greetings in the Lord~ Today's word is from Daniel 5, and like the story goes -- the writing is on the wall for some folks.  I've already written that we are in a season of exposures and removals from office, and this is another word confirming that, but this is specifically for Biden (and other high ranking decision-makers).   In this chapter, we read about the son of Nabonidus, Belshazzar, throwing a big party.  His father is the king of Babylon, but he is the co-king, so this is a grand affair.  At one point, he calls for the golden cups -- taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, to be brought in so they can drink out of them.  Well, this ends up being his final act of arrogance towards God.  While they are drinking and making toasts to their gods with these cups, a hand supernaturally appears to write some words on the wall near the lamp where they can all see it.  It writes: MENE, MENE; TEKEL, PARSIN.  Though they can most likely read the Aramaic words, no one knows the signif
Read more

University Shakeup

Greetings in the Lord! I wanted to share an update about the time the Lord sent me to Adrian College last year. During my brief stay there, the Lord had filled my nights with dreams and days with words for the students, faculty, and administration--the nature of which could be summed up with this word: "The Lord is going to shake this place." The Lord showed me dreams in which I saw and heard the male athlete mentality and perpetual sexual violence towards the girls on that small campus, even prompting me to speak with administrators warning them about the dangers of sex crimes and gang rapes against female students. In the daytime I witnessed theft and general disregard for morality and racial/sexual equality in the faculty of the athletic department, even an effort to hide crimes committed by athletes. The Lord had me again speak His words, which were not well received and warnings not heeded. In January of 2008, things started to be revealed publically. First, the coll
Read more

Restored in New York

Image
Greetings in the Lord! This weekend was spent at Wal mart getting new tires for my car and shopping for yet another big winter storm to blow in....which it did. As I waited in the long check out line, then sat for an even longer time for my car to get taken care of, I read several different magazines all featuring the latest news on Hollywood celebrity lives. It never ceases to amaze me what the Holy Spirit will say about some of the people written about so frequently in these magazines...you know, they are just people, too, searching for God and the peace, joy, and unconditional love that only Jesus can give. And God is continuing to stir hearts in Hollywood and shake that place. Take Angelina Jolie, for example. Way back when she was still married to Billy Bob Thornton the Lord gave me a dream about her. In the dream, she and I were boarding a little airplane at a private airport in England and I ended up sitting next to her. During the flight I talked to her about Jesus and of all t
Read more