Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

FRIDAY December 6^th

 

We have very briefly gone through the 7 ‘I am’ statements of Jesus as recorded in the gospel of John and you may remember that I mentioned when considering Jesus as the good shepherd, that I commented that I like the agricultural context especially with me being a farmer’s son. Since then, I have thought about each of the statements and considered an angle in which we could liken them or link them to an occupation, and remember as you read this devotion, this is my imagination at work!

 

I am the bread of life – reminded me of a baker and his bakery.

 

I am the light of the world – reminded me of one who is an electrician by trade.

 

I am the good shepherd – reminded me as I have already said of the world of agriculture and the farmer.

 

I am the door – well this is so applicable to Jesus, for it reminded me of a carpenter and was he not brought up by one who was a carpenter, Joseph.

 

I am the resurrection and the life, well we could consider a few occupations here, but particularly the medical profession and in especially a mid-wife who helps to bring a life into the world, and the doctor who helps to support through life, but then Jesus spoke this statement within the context of death, so here comes the undertaker!

 

I am the way and the truth and the life, well the way reminded me of a cartographer as he designs the map to show us the way, the truth reminds me of the law and lawyers who seek to determine the truth in situations and the life again linking to all who help us in the medical profession.

 

I am the vine – well this links us to horticulture and the gardener.

 

In other words, as I have just highlighted a few occupations, Jesus is everything that everyone needs! As a baker he has given himself as the bread, as the electrician he has given himself to be our light in the midst of darkness, as the good farmer / shepherd he came to seek us out, as the carpenter he himself has become the door that opens the way for us into heaven and which protects us while we sojourn here on earth, as the medical practitioner he has revived us, and as the undertaker he is going to prepare us in such a way that death will not be able to hold us captive, we will rise, as the cartographer he has shown us the way we should walk, as the lawyer he acts as our advocate before the Father, as the horticulturist he prunes us.

 

There are many who may not realises this, but Jesus really is the answer, he came into this world to deal with our greatest need and that was our need for salvation and all that is linked to this, but Jesus is also able to help us throughout life in every single situation and even through death itself. ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me’, Psalm 23:4.

 

In the words of a chorus:

 

He is all I need

He is all I need

All, all, I need

He is all I need,

He is all I need,

Jesus is all I need.

 

And then there is another song:

 

Christ is the answer to my every need,

Christ is the answer,

He is a friend indeed,

Problems of life my spirit may assail,

With Christ as Saviour,

I can never fail, for,

Christ is the answer to my need.

 

Do you know him? Not just as your Saviour, but as the one who sticks by you through thick and thin to help you get through all that life throws at you. And incidentally, it doesn’t matter who you are in this world, whether among the highest paid in whatever your chosen profession or the lowest paid in what we might consider to be the lowlier professions, we all need Jesus, for money, wealth, possessions, and status count as nothing toward eternity, it is all about personally knowing Jesus as Saviour that is of the utmost importance.

THURSDAY December 5^th

 

John 15:1 ‘“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”’

 

To understand this ‘I am’ statement we need also to include verse 5 ‘I am the vine; you are the branches’, I will sum it up this way, by coming to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we should become disconnected from the world, that is all that is connected to walking in darkness and become connected to the Lord Jesus Christ as the vine. The source of our daily sustenance and our daily strength is now to be drawn from him and him alone, and as a result we should be spiritually fruitful.

 

So, to me I would use keywords which are linked to this statement that must be applied to you and me.

 

There is connection, continuation, fruitfulness and pruning. These are the positive outcomes of a life that is connected to Christ, they live for him, they abide in him and are daily receiving from Christ. It is those who have chosen to forsake the world and the things of the world and have chosen instead to fill their lives with righteousness, Jesus said that those who do this will become fruitful, and to maintain the fruitfulness will be pruned.

 

But Jesus also talks of those who fail to be connected as they ought to be, he says that they have become fruitless, that means they do not show any signs of life, so they are like dead branches and because of their fruitlessness they will be cut off.

 

Now, a branch that is cut off is different from a branch that is pruned. I regularly like to prune the plants that are growing in my garden, but I also like to cut off, get rid of the plants that are not producing whatever it is they should be producing, whether flowers or fruit.

 

What is the difference between the two. Generally, to cut off, means to cut the branch off exactly at the spot where it is coming from off the main trunk of the tree or main stem of the plant, the cutting off detaches the whole branch, and it will no longer be attached to the source of life and will not grow.

 

To prune means that you just cut off the end of the branch maybe a few inches or feet along from the end, and this in turn will promote further growth, because the branch is still there and still connected to the source of its life.

We need to ensure that we remain connected to Jesus the vine and ensure that we remain connected so that our lives will be fruitful and will bring glory to God.

 

I have only touched briefly on this ‘I am’ statement, but can I encourage each one of us to look at the full account in John 15:1-17, for the fruit that seems to be seen in this chapter, and perhaps the most important is the fruit of love which proves we are his disciples and we know of course that love is a segment in what we term the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

WEDNESDAY December 4^th

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

We are going to explore this statement of Jesus further by considering the way, the truth and the life. Jesus declaring himself to be these three things, although talking about himself, says them because who he is and our response to it influences our lives greatly—or should.

 

For if Jesus wasn’t who and what he said he was, then we would not have the new life that we claim that we have! To use Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15, we would be of all people most to be pitied.

 

So, in saying he was the way, Jesus was not only claiming that as to who he was, but also that he would provide the way, in saying that he was the truth, he was not only claiming to be the truth, but also the one from whom we can know truth. And in declaring himself to be the life, he was stating that he himself is life, but also that those who believe in him would come to receive and to know that life.

 

Our accepting and believing Jesus for who he is means that by believing in him, we enter or get onto the way that he has provided, we get onto the narrow way that leads to heaven, and when we die, we will go through Jesus as the doorway into heaven.

 

Also by accepting him, we have chosen to turn from ourselves and from this world that seems to be getting darker and more deceitful as each day passes to the One who is the truth and we allow the truth to impact our lives, ensuring that we live not in the same way as the world lives, the way that we used to live, but allow our lives instead to be govern and guided by his truth.

 

And our accepting him means that we have passed from death to life, we have as Paul puts it in Ephesians 2, been quickened, made alive again, we have received new life that comes from the life-giver.

 

Accepting the words of John 14:6 and responding by faith means that we have become new creations, and as a result we are not of all people most to be pitied, but we are of all people the ones who have the most to rejoice in. Our sin is forgiven, our home is in heaven, and soon and very soon, the One who is the way, and the truth and the life is going to return exactly as he told Thomas along with the other disciples that he would and take us so that we can be where he is. To the home that is being prepared.

 

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

Without the way there is no going

Without the truth there is no knowing

Without the life there is no living

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

TUESDAY December 3^rd

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

‘. . . and the life’, I am the life.

 

Life, we all love to see signs of life, be it a baby that has just been welcomed into a family, the sign of bulbs breaking through the soil after a long cold winter, the lambs that jump around the fields in the spring time and we could list so many other things, but the sad reality is that a baby is born a sinner and therefore is destined to die, the bulbs will last but a month or two and they will fade away, and the lambs, well I leave you to think about the fate that awaits them.

 

Life seems to be so fragile, and it would seem to be temporal. But then as we think of all the negatives, we come across this amazing verse of scripture that reminds us that the One who is the way, and the truth is also the life!

 

He has come as the One who is the source of life to reverse that which seems temporal into an eternal reality. Now, of course I am not thinking of the bulbs here, nor the lambs, but more particularly about the baby. For scripture says that we are all born in sin and shapen in iniquity, it also says that the wages of sin is death, but thanks be to God a plan was afoot way even before the creation of the world to enable that which would be ruined as a result of sin to be overturned and the death sentence removed and the gift of God to be given which was to be eternal life.

 

And this life can only be received because of the One who himself is life, and willingly giving himself up as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus came and Jesus died so that we may have life, eternal life, life in all its fulness.

 

We have already seen that Jesus had declared that he was the resurrection and the life, and he knew even before he went to Calvary that even though he would die, he would not be kept captive to death, that God would not allow him to see corruption, but that when the greatest of all transactions was over with, he would be raised again. And what an awful way in which he did suffer and die, and we need to remind ourselves it was not for anything that he had done, but rather because he was willing to take upon himself our sins and our sorrows, the things that we had done that had offended God, he was willing to take on our behalf the wrath that we deserved from God, so that as he bore it all, we could receive life eternal.

 

We declare on the authority of the word of God and the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ that eternal life can only be ours through the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

On the basis of this verse, he is truth, therefore what he has spoken is the truth, therefore he is the only way to the Father, there is no other way, for the life that we all need to be able to dwell in the eternal abode is only available through Jesus as the One who is not only life, but is also the only One who has made it available to all who will believe.

 

There is life for a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee.

Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,

Unto him who was nailed on the tree.

 

Look, look, look and live.

There is life for a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee.

 

For any who may find this devotion on the internet, if you are looking toward something else or someone else for eternal salvation, I remind you that Jesus is the only way, Jesus is the only truth, Jesus is the only source for eternal life, ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ Acts 4:12

MONDAY December 2nd

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

‘. . . and the truth’, I am the truth. I have returned to this again for this devotion, because when it comes to truth, we see it as also being the opposite to error and to falsehood. That which is non-genuine.

 

I used the words in the previous devotion that Jesus is the real deal, and as I mentioned when we considered the words ‘the way’, that there are many who would seek to present a way, but the way they present is not genuine, the so called way that they show will lead to a dead end and so it is the same when we consider truth, there are many who seek to present something as truth, but it is far from it, or at the least a distortion of the truth.

 

We read in scripture that the enemy of our souls is subtle, and we see his subtlety in the way that he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we see how he continues to deceive so many today, through his deception and distortion of truth.

 

We need to keep reminding ourselves that real and genuine truth is found in Jesus, for he came from God who is the God of truth. This is also a good time to remind ourselves that his word, that is the written word, the Bible is also truth, ‘The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever’, Psalm 119:160 now this is from the quill of David, but what did Jesus who is the truth have to say about scripture, it is in John 17:17 ‘Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth’, therefore if we believe that Jesus is the truth, then we also accept that he speaks the truth and this then should give us total confidence that if Jesus has said it then God’s word is truth, totally dependable and reliable.

 

Let us be careful that we do not allow any of the confusion that is prevalent in our world today side track us and cause us to lose our way, but ensure that we keep close to Jesus, keep our steps in the way and our hearts in tune to the truth, for as we will see in the next devotion, this is essential to receive life that is eternal.

FRIDAY November 29^th

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

‘. . . and the truth’, I am the truth. Have you noticed how difficult it is today to decide what is truth or not. Now you may not appreciate me saying this, but I am going to say it, it is becoming more apparent as each day passes that our present government is only in government today because they seem to have lied or not disclosed the truth about what they were planning to do to get the votes. And let me be clear, the other parties are hardly any different as they seek to hide things or prevent the truth about matters being brought to light.

 

It almost seems that to get on today you need to be good at telling lies, or good at ignoring the truth. So where on earth can we look and find one who is truthful and trustworthy.

 

Well, John’s gospel tells us that we can look to Jesus, in the first chapter and verse 14 he says, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ A few verses earlier John had said that Jesus was the true light, which gives light to everyone (v9), and Jesus says yes, you can look to me, for I am not just the way, I am also the truth!

 

In John 18:37 after Jesus had been brought before Pilate, he said to Pilate, ‘. . . for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth

‘. Pilate replies in verse 38 ‘What is truth?’ Well, we can understand why Pilate said ‘what’, but if only he had really understood he would have said ‘who’ for standing before him was the one who is the truth.

 

Now to answer the question ‘what is truth’ in a general sense, we would answer it is to be true and genuine, some synonyms would be honesty, reality, genuineness, but excuse me for putting it this way concerning Jesus, as the truth he is the real deal!

 

This means that regarding what Jesus says, you can depend on it, you can believe it without doubting, you can build your life on it, it you can fix your eternal destiny on it, for not a single untruth was ever uttered through his lips, and could not, because he is truth.

Now, as we consider Jesus as the truth, we need to remind ourselves that as we have come to know him that we must also be a people who speak the truth, our lives should be lived in such a way that having come to know the One who is the truth that we seek to live with integrity and honesty,

THURSDAY November 28^th

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

‘I am the way’

 

As we consider this first part of the statement that Jesus has made, ‘I am the way’, I want to consider Jesus not just as ‘the way’, which is to do with how we can get to the Father, but also consider the way in which he would make the access to the Father possible, for this second aspect was essential for him to be the way.

 

In saying ‘I am the way’ Jesus is saying that he is the only One who can make access to the Father possible, clarified by the words ‘except through me’.

 

Now we must never apologise for saying that we believe what Jesus is saying, and we must never shy away from declaring it, for as I mentioned yesterday, we live in a world where men and women are being offered or presented so many various options, other alternatives to enable them to get to heaven. Religions, and there are around 4,000 different religions around the world, (Source the internet) there are those who we would consider as cults, Mormonism, Jehovah Witnesses etc.

 

But if what they teach does not include Jesus and Jesus only, and what he has done by going to Calvary as the way to the Father, then they are leading men and women up the garden path, to a dead end. It doesn’t matter how well they might package things up, how pleasant they may seem to be in the way they present what they are saying, the end result will be bitter, for those who follow them will never ever have access to the Father.

 

So, Jesus is the way, the only way, but what was the way in which he would demonstrate or prove that he was the way, well in the words of a song we have the answer but remember the words of the song are based upon Scripture.

 

The way of the cross leads home,

The way of the cross leads home,

It is sweet to know, as I onward go,

The way of the cross leads home.

 

The way of the cross, firstly this was the way that Jesus needed to go, to the cross to make the entrance or the way into heaven available to you and me. Then you and I need to come to the cross and believe by faith what Jesus has done for each one of us, and recognise that he made the way because he is the way and in the words of the song say:

 

I must needs go home by the way of the cross,

there’s no other way but this:

 

When we consider Jesus as the way, we cannot and must not separate it from the message of the cross. For this is the only way, the only means of your salvation and mine, and the only way, the only means for us to be able to get to heaven.

 

WEDNESDAY November 27^th

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”’

 

We have arrived to the well-known and important ‘I am’ statement that Jesus made, especially as we consider the multi-faith, and you can believe whatever you like world in which we find ourselves living today.

 

But before I continue I make it very clear that what Jesus states here is as equally true today as it was when he spoke the words to the disciples as he spent the final few days on earth with them before he went to Calvary to do what he had come to do, which was to be the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, and within the context of John 14, to make open the way, the access into heaven and to the Father.

 

Here, Jesus declares three things about himself, he is the way, he is the truth, and he is the life.

 

As I was thinking about this verse a little chorus came to mind that is often sung with children in mind:

 

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

Without the way there is no going

Without the truth there is no knowing

Without the life there is no living

I am the way the truth and the life

That’s what Jesus said

 

And because it is what Jesus said, I and I trust we all emphatically believe it.

 

We will consider each of the three parts individually, but for today remind ourselves that the whole statement is very clear that without Jesus, and without what he has done, there would be no entrance into heaven, and no one would be able to find themselves in the presence of God. ‘No one’, Jesus said, ‘comes to the Father except through me’.

This statement comes as a reply to a question that Thomas asked, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ (v5)

 

Jesus had just told the disciples that he would be leaving them, and that he was returning to his Father, and that he was going to prepare a place for them, but not to worry, for he would come again to take them to himself, so that where he was going to, they also would go.

 

So as heaven is being prepared, whether you want to think of it as having a mansion prepared as the KJV says, or a room in the Father’s house being prepared as the ESV, NIV and other newer versions say, the only available way to be able to be there is through the Lord Jesus Christ.

TUESDAY November 26^th

 

John 11:25-26 ‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”’

 

We have come to the fifth of the ‘I am’ statements, and this is one of my favourites because it ties in with my favourite chapter in the whole of the word of God, the great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15.

 

1 Corinthians 15 is the chapter that explains to us in more detail than anywhere else as to what the outcome was and of course still is regarding the statement that Jesus made when he said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.

 

It is one thing to say it, but another for Jesus to prove it—and he did! He obviously gave proof around the grave of Lazarus (which was when he made the statement) that he had power over death. People pronounced dead are dead, how can they come back to life-they cannot, unless the power of God is at work, and Jesus proved that power. But Lazarus would have to die again! But when Jesus died, he proved that he had such power over death, that when he rose he would never die again, and as result that whoever believes in him, though they die yet they will live again! And how? Through the power of the Spirit, for we read in Romans 8:11 ‘If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.’

 

Jesus who is the life, gives to us new life when we are born again, which is eternal life, our spirit is made alive again, and so we are alive today in Christ Jesus, but the day will come when if we have died in Christ, we will be raised from the dead, we have a hope that is very real in the present and will be fully realised in the future, quoting from the apostle Paul, ‘If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ But he continues to say, ‘But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 15:19-23.

 

We have a hope that is steadfast and certain, for Christ who died and rose again, has gone through the curtain, he is on the throne and one day he is coming again to call from the graves all who are in Christ, and all who are alive in Christ and as we hear his voice we will rise, or if alive we will be raptured from the sphere of time into eternity. And it is because we have been made alive in Christ Jesus and to those who have believed on him, he has given eternal life.

 

Jesus said to Martha after making his claim, ‘Do you believe this?’ Do you? Let me remind anyone reading this of the alternative ‘ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.’ John 3:36.

MONDAY November 25^th

 

John 10:7 ‘So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.”’

 

John 10:11 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”’

 

I mentioned in the last devotion as to how beautifully Jesus drew from the world of agriculture. I guess being a farmer’s son it brings back the good memories of being a child growing up on the farm. But it brings back to me the greatest of all my childhood memories, for when I was nine years old, another chapter where Jesus talked about sheep was preached from on the Sunday evening in the church I attended when I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ and personally came to know him as my Shepherd. From that day onward I could and still say The Lord is MY shepherd.

 

The portion of scripture that was preached from that evening was from Luke 15 and what we call the parable of the lost sheep, verses 3-7 ‘So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’

 

I was lost but Jesus found me! I will jog our memories as to what I have called this series of devotions, ‘Jesus the very thought of thee’ and the song continues with ‘with sweetness fills my breast’, and as I am considering these ‘I am’ statements I hope that just as I am thrilled as to who Jesus is, and as to what he has done and who he is and as done for me that each one of us can say that the very thought of it all fills our lives with sweetness and gladness.

 

It is incredible to know that our blind eyes have been opened, our deaf ears have been opened, our hard hearts have been softened and our dead lives have been quickened and made alive again and all because of Jesus, who came as the light to give life, who came as the bread to satisfy, who came as the shepherd to find us and feed us and as the door that gives us access into heaven.

I was lost—that was my past, Jesus found me, Jesus leads me, Jesus watches over me, Jesus cares for me, that is my present, Jesus is coming for me, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, that is my future.

 

Can you say the same? For Jesus came into this world to find, seek, save those who are lost, and he calls out to you today and tells you that he loves you and wants you to come through the door and to be saved.