John 1: 14a

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He was with God from the beginning, from eternity. He was not created by God. He is God and He created all things. God said, "Let there be light..." The Word spoke and it happened. see Genesis 1 and 2; John 1: 3, Col.1: 16.

Jesus became flesh- He took on humanity and came to earth to live among us. Phil. 2: 5- 11 He came to dwell- litterally- to tabernacle, among us. God created man for fellowship but man sinned by disobedience and broke the fellowship, then hid from God out of guilt and shame. God pursued the man, providing a way to have that fellowship with God restored. Fellowship that would be without the guilt and shame. The purpose of the tabernacle, God's dwelling place on earth (which represented His dwelling place in heaven), was to be a place where God chose to meet with His chosen people, where sacrifice for sin had to be made before the people of Israel could meet with God. Sin had to be dealt with before God would have fellowship with man. The problem was that man could do nothing for himself- the natural bent or inclination, intention of man's heart was only evil continually, in other words- is to sin. He could choose right from wrong and know the difference between good and evil but man cannot get himself into right standing with God. Jesus said it is impossible. And so, only God could do it and He did. Jesus took on flesh and died as the atonement for His chosen ones. Just as the tabernacle in the dessert was for His chosen ones. Jesus died so that not one of His own, those the Father had given Him before the foundation of the world, would be lost. John 6, 10, 17.

I am so thankful that Jesus came to 'tabernacle' in me. I pray that my life will reflect the glory of knowing Him..and yours also...

to the praise of His glorious grace!

Taste and see that the Lord is good! I was thinking about the different ways food is broken down as we eat without being too technical and how to use it as an analogy to the way we break down God's Word as we take it in. This is what I came up with. Just something fun to think about.

• Read a passage of Scripture-
• put it in the mouth
• bite down- separate it into smaller pieces, sections
• switch it from side to side- mull it over
• enjoy the flavor- write down what it means, how it applies to your personal life
• chew some more- look up some words for better understanding
• Holy Spirit's work
• saliva as the natural production of the body- the Holy Spirit giving understanding, insight- the natural work done in the one who is born again. As the 'food' is broken down we begin to digest the truth, the meaning. Small segments of chewed food begin to flow to the stomach- segments of truth flow to the heart.
• In the digestion process the nutrients are assimilated to where they need to go-applied to keep life going in us. Spiritually the truth is assimilated by the Spirit to where it needs to go to keep us on the road of "life", living out the truth, responding to life in a right way.
• The waste is eliminated- God transforms the character that is not Christ like and produces in us the character of Christ. Healthy fruit begins to be seen by others.
• Food must be taken in throughout the day not just once in the morning. Many of us only take in God's Word once a day, then don't think about it again. To be physically healthy we need to take in food throughout the day- healthy food I might add. To be spiritually healthy we also need to take in God's Word throughout each day. Here are some ways to to that.
1. Read and study in the morning.
2. Write down some key verses and thoughts
3. Reread these throughout the day- this is chewing the cud- meditating on it- bringing it back up to your mind. Think about what you have read throughout the day (on purpose)
4. Use these verses and thoughts as prayer for yourself and others at some point in the day. All scripture can be turned into prayer for someone or something.
5. Read a devotional book
6. Read a theological book- these are loaded with scripture
• Smell the aroma of the Word by using it in prayer- remember that our prayers are sweet smelling incense to the Lord. Often smelling food makes us hungry, makes the saliva start running and this begins the process so...keep it flowing!

Keep God and His word first and foremost in your life. May He produce in you healthy fruitbearing!

for the praise of His glory!

Jesus our Sustenance

Jesus is the Bread from heaven. He is the Bread of Life! He is the sustenance we need to take in daily. How do we do that? By reading, studying, meditating, memorizing and applying God's Word. Remember that Jesus is the Word who is from the beginning because He is God. He has always existed being self- existent.

Think about the senses used as we take in daily sustenance- food.

• Sight- eyes- look at it. When food looks good, is appealing to the eyes, it sets off the natural juices in our mouth that begins the process we call 'mouth watering appeal'! When we gaze intently into the perfect law of liberty and abide by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.-James 1: 25. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the LORD, the Spirit. Oh to be like Christ! That should set our 'mouth to watering' with a longing to know Him and to be with Him in glory!
• Hearing- ears- hear it. He who has ears to hear...Matthew 11: 15. My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me...John 10:17. He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. John 5: 24 If you are God's sheep you will hear the Lord call you and you will follow Him. Following the Lord is to be daily being sustained in His Word. Read it out loud and hear the word of the Lord speak to you. Listen with your heart and your mind as you read.
• Taste- the tongue is the most sensitive organ in our body and has wonderful taste buds on it that taste sweet, salt, sour, and bitter. Psalm 34:8a says, 'Taste and see that the Lord is good...!" Jesus said to the Jews, "Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him...He who eats this bread shall live forever." John 6: 53- 58. This was a challenge for the Jews which they did not understand but for those of us who do understand we realize that Jesus is the life sustaining, life giving food we need. His very life given for us sustains us, vitalizes us. We have taken Him to ourselves and He has given us eternal life! Truly we have tasted and found Him GOOD!!!

Thank You Lord for coming to this earth as a baby knowing full well that You would be the sacrifice that would pay in full our sin debt by bearing the wrath of God in our place on the cross. You were born to die on calvary. Thank You for giving us eyes to see and ears to hear that caused us to taste and see how good You are.

He caused us to be born again...

In John 3: 5 Jesus said, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven." The word cannot is a term of ability not permission. It is that man is unable to enter heaven of his own initiative, desire or decision. The ability is given by God.

James 1: 18, In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, first fruits among His creatures.

1 Peter 1: 23...for you have been born again not of corruptible seed (seed which is perishable) but imperishable, that is, through the living, abiding word of God.

It is not the exercise of man't will but the exercise of God's will that causes someone to be born again. He brought us forth just as Jesus did when He called Lazarus out of the tomb. It is not the perishable, corrupt seed- man's seed- but the imperishable, living, abiding word of God that makes someone come to life spiritually- be born again.

Man cannot enter into heaven unless he is born again and man cannot make himself be born again. This leaves us with the same question that Jesus desciples asked Him in Matt. 19: 25- "Who then can be born again- saved?" and Jesus' response was, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Man does not have the ability within himself to choose God- it is impossible. It is God who chooses, God who brings to life in the exercise of His sovereign will by the living abiding word of God!!!!

So when it happens in us it is because He brought it about. It may appear on the surface that we have made a choice or a decision but the reality of it is that He made us see, hear, understand, believe, and respond to Him. He alone deserves the credit and the glory of what He has done in us and so...

to the praise of the glory of His matchless grace- we worship Him!!!!

John 1: 13

"who" were born- those who believed and received of  v:12, those who had been given the right to become children of God.

These were born:

• not of blood
• nor of the will of the flesh
• nor of the will of man

This verse shows that man cannot cause himself to be born again. He cannot choose of his own free will to be born again. It is not 'of' the will of the 'flesh' or 'of' the will of man. It is not because of whose family he was born into.

 A. W. Pink writes (Foundations of Grace by Steven Lawson*) "...the new birth is 'not of blood,' that is to say, it is not a matter of heredity, for regeneration does not run in the veins; 'nor of the will of the flesh', the will of the natural man is opposed to God, and he has no will God-ward until he has been born again; 'nor of the will of man', that is to say, the new birth is not brought about by the well-meant efforts of friends, nor by the persuasive powers of the preacher, 'but of God.' The new birth is a divine work. It is accomplished by the Holy Spirit applying the Word in living power to the heart."

Leon Morris says *, "The new birth is sheer miracle. All human initiative is ruled out."

John MacArthur says*, "Those three negative statements stress the fact that salvation is not obtainable through any racial or ethnic heritage (blood), personal desire (flesh), or man-made system (man)...Because all bear the guilt of unbelief and rejection, the phrase 'but of God' means that salvation, that is, receiving and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, is impossible for any sinner. God must grant the power supernaturally and with it the divine life and light to the lifeless, darkened sinner."

• but of God

Salvation is all of God. The Spirit gives life to the dead sinner causing him/her to believe and receive, making them a child of God- born into the family
The apostle John is talking about how a person becomes a Christian, a Christ follower. It is a radical new thing- a birth into a new family brought about by God's will, God's Spirit. Those who are born of God receive Jesus, believe God's Word- they no longer reject as those of the world.

and all for 'the praise of the glory of His grace"

John 1: 12

"But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name".

This is a powerfilled verse- it says alot!

1. As many as received Him- The many is limited by the word 'as'.
2. To them- the many as received Him. Verse 13 tells how they received Him
3. He gave the right- God is giving the right to them. They had no right to come to Him before this. They had no ability, no authority, no way to come to Him. Jesus opened the 'right of way' to God. Now, He gives the right, the ability, the authority for 'the many as':
4. To become children of God- to become one in the family of God, to be 'in Christ'.
5. To those who believe in His Name. The names of God are distinguishing. They describe His character. They reveal to us things about Him we would not know. Already in these first few verses in John we have discovered Jesus as "the Word" and "the Light". This reveals something of the character of God to us. As the Word He was with God in the beginning because He is God. As the Light He illumines our dark hearts with the truth of His Word causing us to be born again 1Peter 1:3.

Those who receive and believe are given the right to do so. He gives us the belief, the faith, the desire to believe and receive. Paul tells us in Philippians that it has been granted for believers 'not only to believe in Christ but to suffer for Him'.

Lord, I thank You for granting us the right, the ability to receive You as Lord and Savior. If You had not done so no one would or could be saved from sins powerful hold or from Your justly deserved wrath. Jesus You truly paid it all and all to You we owe!

John 1: 11

Jesus came to His own...

Who were His own? The Jewish people? The people God had chosen to be His own possession from the calling of Abraham? God had made a covenant with them, given them His law, dwelt among them. They were to be an example, a witness to the nations around them. Instead they wanted to be like the nations around them. They demanded to have a king like the nations around them. In doing this they rejected God's leadership. They wanted a king to rule over them rather than God Himself. By not receiving Jesus- they rejected God's leadership, God's rule over them again.

Who were His own? People in general as His created beings? Yes, man in general- created in His likeness. He came unto His own and they rejected Him. Man in general rejects Christ. They do not want God to rule over them.

Each one of us was there at one time. Rebellious against God's rule over us- we were His enemy. We did not want to submit to Him, we were unwilling to submit to Him nor were we able to submit to Him. We were blinded by the evil one and yet God, rich in mercy, reached down into our lives and lifted the scales off our eyes. He reached down into our hearts and removed the heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh, a heart changed by grace that now wants to submit to God, is now willing to surrender to His rule over us. A heart that is now able to say Yes to God and no to sin.

But as many as received Him He gave the right, the authority, the ability to become His child.
For His good pleasure and for His glory alone!

Jesus the True Light John 1: 9, 10

• The true Light- Jesus is the true light. He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
• which enlightens every man- Jesus' light truly shines on everyone. All mankind is in some way affected by the light of Jesus. All men are without excuse for rejecting Him because in their conscience they know God exists and in creation they see God's existence.
• was coming into the world- Jesus had been born, was already in the world but had not yet begun the public ministry that would proclaim Him as God, expose Him as God, to the world. The world in which He lived, as well as ultimately, the world as a whole- as truth about Him spread.
• He was in the world that He Himself had created- yet the 'world' did not 'know' Him. The world cannot know Him unless and until He makes Himself known. Matthew 11: 27- 29 says, 'All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone 'to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him'. Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls...'

Jesus does indeed make Himself known to those whom He chooses and these He calls to Himself (by name according to John 10: 27- 30) and makes them know Him in personal, loving relationship. How thankful I am for Jesus doing this for me. This is not a truth that makes one proud or arrogant but is very humbling because those who know this know they do not deserve it. We know that nothing good dwells in us, that there is nothing in us that would have chosen Christ apart from His changing us and causing it to happen. When He calls us to Himself He gives rest to weary sinful people. Why does He do it?
For His own praise and glory! and in this we will rejoice!

when all means all

I have at the front of my journal the verse 2 Cor. 3: 18- "We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
In this verse the 'all' is limited to the 'we' and the 'we' are the ones being transformed into Christ's likeness. In other words all who are born of the Spirit reflect the Lord's glory and are being transformed into His likeness. Not some of them or some of every part of them (because they are all one in Christ). All of them. So we can believe that every person Jesus saves will be transformed into His likeness. Not one of them will be left in the state they were saved from. All of them will take on the character of Christ in varying degrees and will continue to grow in His character until they die and go to heaven.

Jesus came to do the will and work of Him who sent Him and that is to present each one He saves holy, blameless and with great joy before the Father. He chose us in Him to be holy and blameless before Him and this He will do.  This should give us great confidence in our walk. To know that He is working in us- teaching us, causing us to observe His commands and His statutes, putting fear in us so that we will not turn away from following Him. Why would He do that for us? Because of His great love with which He loves us.

Be assured that He will not leave you in a state of disobedience if you truly belong to Him. His discipline may hurt for a time but it will be appreciated in the long run.
May He be glorified in our walk,
to the praise of the glory of His grace!

John 1: 7

Who are the "all" that might believe through John's message- that 'he was not the Light, but came to bear witness about the Light'? Does it mean that everyone who heard his message would believe? Does it mean that all who heard his message had the possibility of believing? The question we need to ask is, "Does all mean all all the time"?

The answer to that is, no, it does not. We must always read the context of the sentence or paragraph it is used in to determine if it means absolutely every one or every thing. For example in Romans 1: 8 Paul said the Romans faith had been proclaimed to all the world. So the question we need to ask in context is, had every man, woman and child heard personally of the Roman's faith? No. Had the whole known world heard of it? No. But some people from every part of the known world had heard about the faith of the Roman believers. So we must conclude that all does not mean all all the time. Nor does 'world' mean every person who lives at any given time. (The whole world had not been discovered at the time Romans 1:8 was written). We can see why scripture must be interpreted in context in order to get the correct understanding of the text or passage you are studying.

So, back to John, Did he expect every person to believe his message? No, but he expected some from every tribe and tongue and nation to believe. He expected everyone to know the light had come into the world- no one should not notice the Light. There is a general 'knowing' about the Light. As a witness John was proclaiming the Light- Jesus- to the world- even to this day most people have heard of Jesus and know about Him. And to the praise of the glory of His grace many are believing unto salvation also.

John 1: 6 John the Baptist, the Witness

John the Baptist was sent from God as a witness- to bear witness about the Light- that all might believe his message about the Light.

God chose John the Baptist to be the one to announce to the world (which was the area he lived in at that time though it became the whole world that would 'hear' the message through the proclamation of the Word). But at that time it was to the Jewish community or anyone living in the area. These are the ones John was speaking to as he announced that Jesus Christ was the Light.

When was John chosen to fulfill this purpose? Like every person he was chosen from 'before the foundation of the world'. God not only knows all things, He planned it all and He brings it all to pass. John was set apart while still in his mother's womb. He obeyed what God had called him to do.

I wonder what it was like for him to be the only one who believed God was about to do something great in their midst. Sometimes I feel like I am the only one who believes in God's sovereign election in mans salvation which to me is very humbling and causes deep gratitude within me. I know it is not true that I am the only one who believes this, but in my circles of Christianity it seems so and therefore, sometimes it is lonely. I want to be with people who love God's word and want to know the deep things of His teaching, the things that are sometimes hard to understand, the things that challenge my belief system and make me say, "God I will follow You no matter how hard the teaching is, now matter how it goes against 'my' feelings of who or what You 'should' be. John must have been lonely.

Today I read an article by A.W. Tozer The Saint Must Walk Alone from oneplace.com which struck a chord in my soul. Here is an excerpt:

"The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and overserious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces and finding few or none, he ... keeps these things in his heart. It is this very lonliness that throws him back upon God!!!..."
This message can also be found at sermonindex.com classics Oct. 18, 2009.

Lord, please help me to be faithful to You and to Your Word. Give me clear words that teach Your truth. Open eyes, ears, hearts to believe Your truth, resonate truth with truth in hearts and minds. Give clear and loud discord within when what we hear is wrong. Help me know how to talk to people, to encourage more fellowship 'in Your Word'. May I be used to 'teach others the glory of knowing You'!
to the praise of the glory of Your grace,