Romans 15:33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.
Four times in Paul’s letters, he refers to God as the God of peace. God isn’t a god of peace. He is the one and only God of peace. God, the Father of Jesus Christ, has made peace with sinners through the death of His Son so that He could be with us. What God does such a thing but our God? All the other so-called gods of this world are only at peace with men if the men do something to please them or appease them. But our God loved us when we were enemies. When we were dead in our transgressions and sins against Him, He made us alive together with Christ, raised us up with Him, and then seated us in the heavenly places with Him (Eph. 2:5-6). Our God is rich in mercy, and His love is so great that He gave His Son to bring us to Himself. Then in response to Jesus’ request, God gave His Spirit of life in Christ to dwell in us so we could live with and through Him. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved wretches like us!
These words are a moving prayer for our brothers and sisters in Christ. If the God of peace is with us, then we become peace-makers in this world. James wrote, James 3:18. “And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” We are equipped to love others because we are at peace with God and are carried and moved by His love which has been poured out within our hearts. Because we have been loved, we love. The more we are aware of His presence and love, the more we treasure Jesus and long for others to experience the peace, love, and joy of Jesus for the glory of God. 
Now may the God of peace be with you today. Amen.

Live to Love Scripture Encouragements

The God of peace is with you.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
We are encouraged today to know that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s provision in the flesh for salvation and have the testimony of His  love by the Spirit, that God is the source of our lives. He is our power source. If God, who is love, is the source of our lives, then it makes sense that faith and love would be the fruit of our lives. Being born of God, we abide in Him. It is a comforting truth that we lie in His lap, so to speak. We are protected by His power, and we can’t be snatched out of that place of love, safety, and comfort. 
In stark contrast, everyone who isn’t in Christ, lies in the lap, in the power, of the evil one. I’m reminded of Jesus’ scathing rebuke of the Pharisees in John 8:43-44. 
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Paul also verified this great reality when he wrote to the Ephesians in 2:1-3.  
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 
The whole world lies in the power, under the influence of the evil one.
The only power capable of rescuing or saving anyone in the world from the power of the evil one is Jesus Christ. God sent His Son as “the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” 1 Jo. 2:2. John didn’t mean Jesus would save everyone in the world, he was saying that Jesus, through His propitiation for sins, is the only one God has provided to save anyone in the world who lies in the power of by the evil one.
The evil one can’t snatch us out of Jesus’ lap, but Jesus can snatch them out of his lap. Our living to love with Jesus on a daily basis is the way God snatches those laying in the lap of the evil one. His love reaches into their hearts through hundreds of small and big acts and words of love. Don’t underestimate the power of God in your life as you love with Jesus. Remember, your power source is God!

We know our power source.


John 5:12-13 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
I ask myself how on earth did that man not know who healed him? If I apply the information I have in these verses, I can imagine a scenario where the man never got Jesus’ name. There were no words of introduction. The portico around the pool was packed with people because of the feast (5:1). Jesus saw the man and asked if he wanted to be healed. The man gave his excuse for not being able to get to the pool, and then Jesus said, “Get up. Pick up your pallet and walk.” The man got up and started walking, and as soon as the man walked away from Jesus, He slipped away through the crowd. I see the man turn back in amazement to thank Jesus, but He’s already gone. 
Why did Jesus slip away so quickly that the man couldn’t even thank Him or get His name? Was that loving? I think the explanation lies in why John told this story. In John 20:31, we learn that these things were written so that those who read it might believe in Jesus and be saved. If we go back to John 3:14-21, we get the introduction to the encounters of the Samaritan woman, the men of Sychar, the royal official and the healing of his son, and now the lame man’s healing.  
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.
These are examples of God’s love for the Gentile world as well as Israel. Each encounter revealed God’s judgment, which is shown by their responses. Jesus is the Light. His deeds and words revealed where God was at work to save and to judge. The unbelieving Jews played an important part in Jesus being lifted up, so we would have a savior. The healing on the Sabbath, the willful blindness of the Jews, and the hardness of the healed lame man are necessary to the gospel story and exemplify what John said about Jesus. They show us that God had given all things into Jesus’ hand so we might believe in Him.
One thing for sure was that Jesus didn’t need or want notoriety or glory from man. He wasn’t doing these things for a show. So let’s be encouraged today as we love with Jesus to make as little of ourselves as possible, and as much as we can of Jesus. That’s what Jesus did. He made much of His Father by entrusting what He did to His Father, and made little of Himself. He humbled Himself as a servant of His Father. May we be filled with the humility of Jesus and make much of Him and little of ourselves.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Make much of Jesus and little of ourselves


John 5:14-16 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.
The lame man probably had not participated in a feast for 38 years. He could not have entered the temple in his condition, but now that he was healed, he headed for the temple to join the celebration. That’s where Jesus found him. Let’s notice Jesus’ love for the man and the man’s betrayal of Jesus. 
Jesus loved the man enough to go looking for him. Jesus found him in the temple, which implies He went looking for him. He had a message for him that provided an opportunity for the man to engage with Jesus regarding his deeper need for healing—the salvation of his soul. The opportunity was provided by telling him his responsibility before God—do not sin anymore. Let’s not miss this. He told him to do the impossible from a natural human perspective. The love of God was revealed by Jesus’ admonition to not sin anymore. If the Spirit of God was at work, the man would have responded with a confession of sin and a brokenness that comes from an awareness of helplessness. Faith in Jesus can only come when a person realizes they must repent of trusting in themselves. In a real sense, Jesus knocked on his door, to see if the Holy Spirit would answer. This, by the way, is the love of God. The Law is meant to reveal the power of sin and our helpless condition so that we might repent of trusting in ourselves, humble ourselves, and call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. That’s how the Law is. It is spiritual (Rom. 7:15) and has the power to reveal whether the flesh or the Spirit is at work. That’s the message of Romans 7.
Unfortunately for this man, the Spirit was not at work. Instead, this time having learned Jesus’ name, he went away to tell the Jews who had healed him and broken the Sabbath. He betrayed Jesus to the Jews. He returned evil for good, which demonstrated an amazing hardness of heart. It was clear that the Father wasn’t saving the man at that time. 
Let’s not miss this example of God’s love being poured out to His enemies. Jesus healed the man, not because the man was one that the Father had given Him to save, but one the Father had given Him to love. Jesus lived to love with His Father, and the Father loved even if it resulted in suffering. There are times when Jesus avoided these conflicts, but this is one time when He didn’t. We will be faced with the same situations. We must abide in Jesus, so we can have the wisdom to know when to draw back and when to engage. Both can be acts of love when guided by the Holy Spirit. Our encouragement today is to love with Jesus, even when doing so may bring suffering and persecution. When we love like that, it is for the glory of God. God is glorified through His Son, as He loves His enemies through us. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

When love brings persecution


Here we have Jesus’ answer to the Jews who were persecuting Him for healing on the Sabbath. 
John 5:17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
Later in John 14:10-11, John recorded very similar words from Jesus explaining His union with His Father and His Father’s working. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.” Jesus lived to work with the Father. If His Father was healing on the Sabbath, then Jesus spoke the words. 
Did you notice in John 14:10 that when Jesus spoke, the Father worked? That’s how the lame man was healed. Jesus spoke, not from His own initiative, but from His Father’s, “Get up. Take up your pallet and walk.” Then God did His work and healed the man. Jesus constantly abided in the Father, meaning, He lived for the same purpose the Father did, which was to love for the glory of the Father, and He thought and spoke as the Father thought and spoke. 
This is the live to love with Jesus encouragement from this verse. We should be able to say the very same thing. We have Jesus abiding in us, and as we abide in Him, meaning, as we live with His purpose and think and say what He says, then Jesus does His works. If Jesus is speaking or working in any given moment, then we receive what He gives us and express His presence and power through our words and actions. We trust He will do the work as we receive and give. That’s what it means to live to love with Jesus. Just as Jesus received from the Father and then gave what He received, we receive what the Father gives us through Christ in us and then give what we receive.
Another important encouragement from this verse is implied. Jesus lived for the glory of God and not man. Even though Jesus knew He would not receive the glory from men if He healed the man on the Sabbath, He was most satisfied in glorifying His Father by doing His will. This encourages us to not seek the glory of men as we live each day, rather we seek the glory of God, and the way to glorify God is to live to love with Jesus. When Jesus is loving, we are loving. When we are loving, Jesus is loving. We are one with Him for the glory of God.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

One with Christ for the glory of God


John 5:18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. His Father is God, and He is equal with God. But they didn’t believe it. It angered them and fueled their murderous hearts. It was bad enough that He broke the Sabbath, but it was blasphemous to make Himself equal with God. Jesus knew who He is. He is God. Jesus is the only human being of which this is true in the history of the world. He is like no other. The writer of Hebrews described Jesus as “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.”
However, we are not to think that Jesus is the Father. He is God’s only-begotten, or unique, son, as John recorded in John 3:16. Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” This shows clearly that the Father and Son are both God, and yet they are separate beings, working together. 
For our encouragement today, let’s connect some dots, so to speak. Jesus is God, and God is love. Because we have all of God dwelling in us, we have the fullness of God from which His love flows. Living to love with Jesus is how I describe those who have the God of love dwelling inside them. Through the new birth by the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus Christ comes to abide in those who love Jesus. Because they love Jesus, the Father also abides in them. Jesus promised this in His last words to His disciples before going to His Father by way of the cross. John 14:23. “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
Why do the Father, Son, and Spirit live within us? To glorify God by revealing His presence and power as we live to love with Him. We reveal that Jesus lives and that He is both Lord and Christ. What a privilege it is to be His ambassadors of love, His representatives on the earth. May God fill us with His grace today as we walk with Him, abiding in Him, and He in us. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Jesus is God. God is love.


John 5:19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
This verse reveals a truth about Jesus that is also true about all disciples of Jesus Christ. In essence, Jesus said to the Jews that apart from His Father, He could do nothing. Jesus told His disciples (and all believers by extension) that apart from Him, we could do nothing. This reminds us of what Jesus said in John 14. He told His disciples that He didn’t speak on His own initiative, but the Father, abiding in Him, did His works. To see Jesus is to see the Father. This was Jesus’ explanation for why He healed the lame man on the Sabbath. He saw the Father at work, so He worked with Him in the same manner. 
This truth lies at the heart of living to love with Jesus. He abides in us and when we abide in Him, He does the Father’s works in and through us for His glory. That’s what is meant by “doing nothing.” There’s nothing we can do to glorify God apart from Jesus, any more than Jesus could do anything apart from His Father to glorify God. We can do things apart from Jesus, but nothing we do apart from Him glorifies God, the Father.  Therefore, we glorify God in the same manner as Jesus glorified God—by abiding in Jesus as Jesus abided in the Father. 
What does that mean for Jesus to abide in the Father? I use the present tense because He still abides in the Father as He abides in us. He thinks as the Father thinks. He never acts apart from the Father’s purpose and worldview. His mind is one with the Father. That gives us great encouragement to be of one mind with Christ. The apostle Paul gave this encouragement to the Philippians in 2:1-5 when admonishing them to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Can you see it? Just as Jesus had the same purpose and mind as His Father, we are to have the same purpose and mind as Christ. His purpose is to glorify the Father by living to love with Him. Our purpose is to glorify the Father by living to love with Jesus. I have explained Jesus’ worldview in chapter 2 of my book, Live to Love: Experience Freedom and Joy in Relationships, which you can find in print, e-book, and audiobook formats at livetolovewithjesus.com. I hope you’ll get your free copy soon and share it with others. This is the call of God to all who believe. Christians are those who live in the same manner as Jesus. Abiding in Him as He abides in us. Doing His work as we think and live in a manner worthy of our calling for the glory of God.
 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Walk in a manner worthy of our calling


John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
The Father shows the Son what He is doing because He loves the Son. Let’s pause and think about this reality. We ask, “Has this changed?” I don’t think so because Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:12-14. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything  in My name, I will do it.” The Father still loves the Son and shows Him what He is doing in our lives, so the Son may glorify the Father in our lives. 
Now let’s think along another line. If the Father loves the Son, and the Son lives in us, then we are also loved by the Father and the Son. If one aspect of God’s love is to “show all things that He Himself is doing,” shouldn’t we expect God to show Jesus in us what He is doing so we can experience and express His love? The passage in John 14 says we should because He went to the Father, meaning, the Father glorifies the Son by sending the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes, both the Father and the Son indwell those who love Jesus and His word (John 14:23). Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and my Father will love Him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” In other words, we become God’s house that has many dwelling places, as Jesus said in 14:2. 
Now, what are the greater works that the Father will show the Son? At the time that Jesus spoke those words, the greatest work of God had not occurred—the redemptive work on the cross, which came about because of the rejection of the Jewish leaders. The Jews, who were questioning him at the time of this story, were fulfilling the Lord’s work. This was prophesied in Psalms 118:22-23. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” 
Today, we should marvel that the Lord has accomplished all that was planned that we might become sons of God, loved by the Father, and participants with the Son as He does the mighty works of God in those who love Him. Isn’t it marvelous that we have the privilege of living to love with Jesus and doing the works of God with Him? Indeed, how marvelous! How wonderful is the Savior’s love for us. Today, we are the living, God-indwelt, body of Christ on the earth. May the Father show us what He is doing so we can accomplish and prove His will, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.


It is marvelous in our eyes


John 5:21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
I want to open my comments on this verse with this: to live to love with the Son is to live to love with the Father. I derive this conclusion from Jesus’ statements like this one. He continued to drive home the point to the Jews that Jesus’ works were the Father’s works and will. 
In this verse, Jesus exalted His Father as the life-giver. He raises the dead and gives them life. Was Jesus referring to physical resurrection such as Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, or the widow’s son or to spiritual new birth? Both would be true. Both would also be true of Jesus’ power to give life. 
Let’s be encouraged by two things from this verse. One, the Father and the Son have the power to give life because they are the source of all life. Death was conquered at the cross. Just as the Father did it, Jesus did it. The writer of Hebrews wrote in 2:14, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Death has been defeated and swallowed up by life. 
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and  the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Praise the name of the Lord! So first, we who have believed in Jesus are encouraged that we not only know this great truth as an intellectual fact, but we know it by experience. The One who raises the dead and gives life is our Father, and He has given us life in His Son.
Two, we may be encouraged that Jesus, like the Father, gives life to whomever He wishes. That means there is no person who cannot be saved. There is nothing anyone has done or can do that can stop the life-giving power of God. This gives us great confidence as we love those God puts in our paths. We aren’t relying on our ability to convince anyone to do anything. When the Father and Son give life, they will believe that Jesus has conquered death and is life and the life-giver. We love people and proclaim the gospel with confidence that God is able to give life to them when He wishes. 
Father in heaven, thank You for another day of life to know and love You and love with Jesus. We thank You for the Holy Spirit, who manifests the presence and power of Christ, so that we can love and trust You and love those You put in our paths for Your glory. We pray that You will give life as we love and share the gospel today.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.


The Father and Son raise the dead and give life


John 5:22-23 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
You’ll notice that these verses are part of Jesus’ explanation of an initial statement regarding why He healed the lame man on the Sabbath. That statement was in verse 19. “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.’ Then Jesus followed with a series of supporting statements, all beginning with “for.” 
First, we learn that Jesus is God’s appointed judge of all things. He’s the judge to whom we will all give an account. If you recall John 3:17, you might think this is a contradiction. John wrote, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” The contradiction disappears when we remember that John 3:17 refers to Jesus’ first coming into the world. He came to save. However, when He returns, He comes to judge everyone. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Acts 17:31 refers to that day. “Because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has  appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” So the Father, Himself, doesn’t judge, but will judge through Jesus, His Son, whom He raised from the dead and gave life so He could judge the world at the end of the age.
Second, in these verses, Jesus aims at the hearts of His detractors. They don’t honor God. In an honor/shame culture of the middle eastern world, displaying honor was a big deal. It was a high value. Speaking of value, that is the meaning of the word honor, timao in the Greek, meaning to fix a value or to set a price to something. The reason the Father gave all judgment to His Son is so that He would be valued as the Father is valued. If we don’t honor Jesus, we don’t honor the Father. Or to put it in the positive, if we honor Jesus, we honor the Father.
Third, we draw from these verses that our relationship with the Father, God, is only as good as our relationship with Jesus, His Son. As we abide in the Son, we abide in the Father. As we love with Jesus, we are loving with the Father. Abiding in Jesus is how we show the value of Jesus. He is the Father’s appointed life-giver. As we look to Him and value Him as first place in all things, we honor God, the Father. We see this same reasoning in Paul’s letter to the Colossians when he wrote of Jesus,
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things  hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning,  the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.  
Jesus is to be valued, honored, as the first consideration in everything we do. How can we glorify God? By honoring His Son. How do we show Jesus’  value in our lives? We live with Him in His purpose, to glorify His Father by loving with Him. If we love Him and love with Him, the day will come when we will also exercise that love in judgment with Him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Or do you not know that the saints will judge  the world?” So let us prepare for that day by living united with Christ, thinking like He thinks, and loving with Him, for in doing so we honor our Father. 

Honor the Father by honoring the Son


John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
When I read a verse like this which reveals the heart and attitude of Jesus, I am encouraged because Jesus lives in me. Since Jesus hasn’t changed, I gain helpful insight in my relationship with Him and how to live with Him. The context of this and the previous verses is judgment. In verse 27, Jesus declared that the Father gave Him authority to execute judgment, and that He will execute that judgment at the final resurrection. This verse reveals the reason Jesus has that authority. He lives in total submission to the will of God. Here are my takeaways from this verse.
First, Jesus said that when it comes to judging, He can do nothing on His own initiative. As He hears, He judges accordingly. This gives us great confidence that Jesus isn’t judging out of His own feelings in the moment. He doesn’t judge until He hears from His Father because He seeks the will of His Father in every judgment. The Father’s judgment and the Son’s judgment are one. Can we say that we can do nothing on our own initiative? No we can’t. When we are not abiding in Jesus, we can and do  act on our own initiative. Why do we act on our own initiative? If I stick with Jesus’ reasoning, we do so because we are seeking our own wills. When that occurs, we nor anyone can trust our judgment. I’m convicted by my tendency to seek my own will, but encouraged to abide in Jesus. If we want His will above our own, we must wait on the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s will before we act. Like Jesus, we must hear from the Father before doing anything. Love flows out of such submission and devotion to God being glorified and His will being done. This is the first practical insight into how to abide in Jesus and live to love with Him: don’t act on your own initiative. Wait on the Lord for His will to be revealed. 
Second, we learn that Jesus loves and therefore seeks His Father’s will in all of His judgments. This encourages us to selfless humility and surrender of our own wills to God. I conclude that it is impossible to abide in Jesus if we are not surrendered to His will. For Jesus, He could do nothing to glorify His Father apart from His Father. For us, we can do nothing glorifying to God apart from Jesus. To abide in Jesus, we must identify with His heart to love and seek God’s will. We have this attitude in us if Jesus dwells in us. As we abandon our own personal, earthly desires and embrace Jesus’ heart to know and do God’s will, we can then abide in Him. There’s no other way. Jesus is the way to the Father’s heart because He loves the Father with all His heart. Jesus lives to love with His Father—still. Our purpose then, today is to live to love with Jesus. That is the Father’s will—that He be glorified as we carry the fruit of the life of His Son. 
You’ll notice there is in all of us a strong ambition and desire for self-satisfaction and accomplishment. As long as self-will rules, our judgment will be flawed, sinful, and destructive. We cannot trust ourselves, nor should anyone else, when we pursue such self-fulfilling purposes. With the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I’m calling you to surrender your will to God, abide in Christ, don’t act on your own initiative, and wait on the Spirit of Christ to reveal and express the Father’s will on a moment by moment, situation by situation, basis for the rest of your life. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Love the Father’s will and abide in Jesus


John 6:3-6 Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore, Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
Jesus and His disciples went up on the mountain just north of the hometown of Andrew, Peter, and Philip. He may have chosen that location because He was thinking of where 15,000 people could sit and listen. He knew they were following Him, and knew why—they were seeking Him as a material, political savior and provider. The timing of this event was significant, it was during a time of preparation for the Passover, which was preceded by 30 days of solemn consideration of the significance of the event. Perhaps that’s why Jesus and His disciples were retreating, but unsuccessfully, as the horde of Galileans ascended the hill. 
Jesus received the crowd as if  the Father had sent them to His house. He was obligated to provide refreshment. It was the hospitable thing to do in their middle eastern culture, so He passed the responsibility over to Philip, as a test of his faith. Jesus knew He was going to do a miracle of provision for them. This is where we draw our live to love encouragement for today.
Jesus always knows what He intends to do in and through our lives in every situation that is given to Him by the Father. In this case, the Father put around 15,000 hungry, expectant people in Jesus’ path. In our cases, we may find ourselves facing  impossible situations where there are no apparent, sufficient resources. It’s a test! The situation given to Jesus in us will become a test for us. Will we respond to the situation from a secular, natural worldview or from Jesus’ position of trust? Remember, Jesus is our life!
If we have adopted God’s purpose for us, which is to glorify Him by living to love with Jesus, we will pause and filter the situation through Jesus’ three foundational worldview truths. 1). There’s only one God from whom are all things, and He is love. 2). Our souls are satisfied with God’s love and will, revealed in Jesus’ love with and in us. 3). God’s purpose for this situation is to reveal the life of Christ in us and prepare us for glory. That’s how Jesus viewed the situation on the mountain, and He passed the test on to Philip. He did so with a question, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” We will see Philip’s answer in the next verse, but for now, we know that the situation is impossible from a natural perspective. 
Have you ever been in such a predicament, an impossible situation with inadequate resources or abilities? I’m sure you have been in, may presently be in, or will be in such a situation. I encourage you to memorize these three worldview perspectives, and apply them to your situation. You are not alone. You have Jesus dwelling with and in you. Expect God to glorify His Son in you as you trust in Him to reveal His life and power in your life.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Responding from Jesus’ worldview


John 6:14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
So far in John, Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and now the crowd in Galilee recognize Jesus is sent from God into the world as a prophet because of the signs He performed or the authority with which He spoke. We will see this repeated in later verses. But when I read this verse, I was struck by Jesus’ greatest sign to Israel that He is THE prophet who is come into the world and has authority over life and death. 
The sign Jesus performed for the world to see that should absolutely give us unshakable courage and confidence as we live to love with Jesus is prophesied in John 2:18-22.
The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this  temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was speaking of the  temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples  remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.
Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Romans, and the Jews were gathered together against Jesus as the Scripture says in Acts 4:28, “to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” Jesus prophesied the sign. Then God performed the first phase of the sign as Pilate condemned Him and His body was destroyed in a few hours by whip and crucifixion. Then three days later, Jesus raised that body to life. Notice, Jesus said, “I will raise it up.” The one who can create bread for 15,000 can create life in His own dead body. That sign is the first in a series of signs where He creates His own life in our dead bodies. 
Our living to love with Jesus is a sign to the world that Jesus is the Prophet of God sent for the salvation of the world. We embody His greatest prophetic sign because when He died, we died to our lives in this world. When He was raised, we were raised with Him to live with Him forever. In this world, we live with Him to reveal His love and the power of His presence. 
The reason for this podcast is to plant that seed in the hearts of God’s people so that it will grow into a movement of His love in this world. The world is looking for signs that give their lives meaning and purpose. Most don’t even know they are longing for a savior, but do know they are longing for love. Our purpose is to help them identify their longing for love and connect it to Jesus, their savior. Did you get it? That occurs as we live to love with Jesus. Love is the sign God has given us to perform in this world.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

The greatest sign performed in the world


John 6:15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
There are some liabilities that come with loving with Jesus. One of them is that of being used by others who want what you can do for them. Like some in this crowd of Jesus-followers, they may be forceful in their attempts to control and get what they want. Jesus’ response was not to acquiesce to their demands, but rather to distance Himself from them. Perceiving that they intended to forcefully make Him king, He went further up the mountain and away from their influence.
My guess is that all of us have been deceived and manipulated by someone who interpreted our love, kindness, and generosity as a weakness to be exploited. If the love, kindness, and generosity is indeed from Jesus, then they will be disappointed when they can’t get what they want. However, the danger we face is when we are confused or deceived ourselves and misinterpret the need for approval from men, which can motivate kindness and generosity, as love. When we seek the glory and approval of men, we are not loving God or others. It’s a kind of self-love, which can be manipulated by others. Because Jesus sought the glory of God and not men, He knew to avoid people who were self-motivated. As we abide in Christ and love with Him, there may be times when we also discern that we need to avoid such people.
Jesus has been tempted in every way that we have, and has not sinned. As we abide in Christ, we can be encouraged that He will give us the discernment we need as we relate to people that God puts in our paths. Everyone God puts in our paths is to be loved, but that doesn’t mean we live to please them. They may be placed in our paths as tests so we may glorify the Father by seeking only His will. 
The encouragement today is to be discerning. May we walk today with Jesus, abiding in Him, seeking the glory of God, filled with His discernment and love. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate. 

Love with discernment


John 6:16-19 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened.
What an interesting and memorable scene. Matthew, Mark, and John all record events of this night on the Sea of Galilee. The boat was large enough for 13 people. It was between 3 and 6 a.m. and dark, so their visibility was limited. The sea was choppy due to a strong wind. The disciples had strained at the oars for hours. Jesus walked on the water toward the boat. Certainly unexpected. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know the comments of the disciples once one of them saw Jesus? 
Matthew’s and Mark’s accounts inform us that they were frightened, terrified, when they saw a form walking on the sea. They didn’t immediately recognize who it was. Both accounts said the disciples exclaimed, “It is  a ghost!” And they cried out  in fear.”
Matthew records that once Peter heard Jesus, he asked Jesus to command him to come to him on the water, which Jesus did. It seems the distraction of the waves occurred once Peter got to Jesus. When he started to sink and called out to Jesus to save him, Jesus took hold of him, and they walked to the boat together. Yes, Jesus rebuked Peter for having little faith, but hey, he did walk on water to Jesus and then with Him back to the boat. I’m impressed, aren’t you?
So here are my questions. Why did the Father do this? Why have His Son walk the 3 or 4 miles on choppy waters in the middle of the night when He needed to be resting up for another day of ministry? Jesus certainly could have gotten a good night’s sleep and waited until morning, when He could have made the trip in another boat or have walked in daylight along the shoreline. In Mark 6:48, Mark wrote that Jesus intended to walk past them. Why didn’t Jesus do that? Why did He go near the boat at all if He intended to meet them in Capernaum? That would have been easy to do. How far could they see on a dark, windy night? Maybe 10 or 15 yards? So what’s with going on a four-mile walk on the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night? Furthermore, why did John leave out Peter’s walk on the water with Jesus?
The reason for all of it was clearly stated by John in 20:31. It’s so we might read this and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we might have life in His name. For John’s purpose, what mattered wasn’t if Peter walked on the water, but that Jesus loved them so much that He provided undeniable proof that He is the Son of God. In fact, in Matthew’s account, those who were in the boat worshiped Him saying, “You are certainly God’s Son” (Matt. 14:33). That was the conclusion drawn by the experience on the sea of Galilee that night. But I don’t want us to miss Peter’s encounter with Jesus on the sea.
I have a couple of questions for you. First, are you convinced that Jesus is the Son of God? It’s impossible to love with God’s love without believing Jesus is God’s Son. To believe He is the Son is to believe the whole of creation belongs to Him and that He is the sovereign Lord of all things and everybody.



Walking with Jesus on choppy waters


John 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
We have a wonderful, sure, assurance that we have eternal life if we believe in Jesus. Let’s navigate through this verse, one truth at a time.
First, we will learn in the following verses that Jesus is the food that endures to eternal life. He’s the bread of life. The crowd pursued Jesus because of the earthly food, the multiplied fish and bread they had received. They were working for an earthly kingdom and for food that perishes. If the purpose of our lives is rooted in something temporal, then we are working for food that perishes. That’s why I believe our highest purpose as human beings is to work to glorify God by living to love with Jesus. That purpose never perishes, can’t be taken from us, and will sustain us forever.
Second, pursuing glorifying God by living to love with Jesus endures to eternal life. In fact, it is eternal life. Knowing the Father and the Son is eternal life (John 17:3). Loving with Jesus is how we know Him. The only way we can love with Him is to abide in Him, be discipled by Him, live out of His fullness. That’s eating the True Bread. He gives us eternal life, Himself, who is ours forever.
Third, Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, His favorite title for Himself. The title communicated that He was the Messiah. The One sent from God to be the Savior of the world. Our confidence in Jesus as the Son of God, the Son of Man, is the Father’s validation or seal that He set upon Jesus. Although the works of God that Jesus did were the Father’s witness to Jesus’ Sonship, there were three times recorded in the gospels where God “set His seal” on Him.
Matthew 3:17 “and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’”
Matthew 17:5 “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, ‘This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!’”
John 12:28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 
If you have not believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the authorized giver of eternal life, then please consider what Jesus said in this verse. You’re wasting your life working for food that perishes. He said He is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to the Father in John 14:6, which echoes this same truth here in John 6:27. You need eternal life! Temporal earthly life is just that—temporal. You’ll lose it someday. The crowd following Jesus didn’t get who He was and what He had to give. Do you? I hope you’ll tune in regularly to the Live to Love Scripture Encouragement podcast the next several days as we draw eternal life encouragements from John 6. 
I’m inviting you to rethink your purpose in life. You were made to glorify God and the only way for God to receive glory through your life is by living to love with Jesus instead of living for yourself, for your own glory. Jesus said that it’s impossible to believe in Jesus if you seek glory for yourself from men. Their setting their seal of approval on you, means nothing. You receive it, and it is gone. It perishes. But if you live out of the life of Christ, God will set His eternal seal of approval to your work because it is united with Him, upon whom He has already set His seal. That confidence is assuring, encouraging, and enduring. Won’t you surrender your life to Him today and work for the food that does not perish?


Don’t work for the approval of man


John 6:30-31 So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”
What a shameful testimony of unbelief we have in these verses! They had just experienced one of the most incredible signs of Jesus’ ministry. He multiplied 5 loaves of bread and two fish to feed a crowd of probably over 15,000. What more proof did they need to believe Jesus was sent from God? They brought up the comparison of Moses, who gave their fathers manna to eat for forty years, to which Jesus will respond in the following verses.
Today, let’s ask ourselves if there is this kind of unbelief present in our own hearts. How many times has God shown Himself to be faithful to us in our lives? Countless. Haven’t we been tested many times, and God has brought us through every time? Consider when God has given us grace to love people that have been difficult or even hostile. Hasn’t God proved Himself over and over, enough so that we should never need another sign before we trust Him with our lives? Shouldn’t we believe everything Jesus says as the words of God?
That was the question facing this crowd. Do we have good reason to believe what Jesus says about Himself and about the work of God? The answer for them was, “No.” What about us? Although in the previous paragraph I asked about God’s faithfulness to us in our lives, the fact is, we have the word of God recorded in our Bibles. That should be enough for us to believe Jesus is the Son of God and the giver of eternal life. Truly, truly, that’s why John wrote his gospel. He recorded sign after sign as an eyewitness and recorded Jesus’ words so that we might not be doubtful or unbelieving. 
We have the foundation of faith of Jesus, given to us from God, when He gave us eternal life in Christ. The faith of Jesus has become our faith! His life is our life! We have His life so that we might trust Him with everything in our lives. Regardless of the circumstances or the difficulty of relationships, we look to Jesus, revealed as the Son of God in the word of God. His love is the source of our love, which means we are living to love with Jesus for the glory of God.
Today, may we be grateful for the undeniable proof we have that Jesus lives in us. We have the Holy Spirit doing the work of God in and through our lives. To God be the glory. Great things He has done. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

We have proof that Jesus is God

John 6:32-33 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
 In these verses we have Jesus’ explanation of the true bread out of heaven. It is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. Of course, Jesus was referring to Himself. The spokesmen for the crowd mistakenly thought Moses gave the Hebrew fathers the manna. You’ll notice Jesus spoke in the present tense. It’s the Father who gives the true bread out of heaven. 
 Jesus has come down out of heaven to give life to the world, meaning, He is the only source of life for the whole world. There are no other sources of life, but the Son of God. In John 5:21, Jesus declared that He had the authority to give life to whom He wishes. In John 14:6 Jesus calls Himself the life. John 11:25, John records Jesus saying to Martha that He is the resurrection and the life. In John’s first epistle, 1 John 5:12, he wrote, “He who has the son, has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
 I hope you have discovered that Jesus is life and have received Him as your life. Love only flows out of His life. It doesn’t come from earthly, fleshly life. The kind of love the flesh has is a worldly love. God has called us to live out of the life of Christ which He has given to us. When He gives us His Son, we believe in Jesus, and have a passion for the glory of God. 
 Would you join me in praying what I call the live to love prayer? Let’s pray. “Father in heaven, thank You for another day of life to live to know and love You and to love with Jesus. Please anoint and fill me with the Holy Spirit, the presence and power of Christ, so that I can love and trust You and love those You put in my path today, for Your glory.”
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Jesus is the True Bread Out of Heaven


John 6:34-35 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
The spokesman or men speaking for the crowd when Jesus said the Father gives bread from heaven that gives life to the world said, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  Then He couldn’t have made it more clear. “I am the bread of life.” So our first encouragement today is to eat the bread of life given by the Father. He is our daily bread. Our daily sustenance. Jesus, Himself, is our bread. Do you love bread? Do you love Jesus like you love bread? Those who love bread want to eat it every day. Lord, always give us Yourself. Always. Every minute, every hour, every day, every year until we are glorified with You.
We are also encouraged in this verse with what it means to partake of Jesus, the bread of life. We are to come to Him, which is synonymous with believing in Him. To believe in Jesus is to come to Him, believing He is the source of my life from the point of my coming until my time in this world is over. The promise to the one who comes because He believes in Jesus is that His hunger and thirst will be forever quenched. He will never hunger or thirst for life again. How is that possible? Because once one is given life, there’s not anything or anyone else to compare to the satisfaction, peace, fullness, and hope experienced on this earth. 
It is out of that satisfaction and fullness that the love of God flows. Remember when Jesus broke the bread and fed them, they were full and there were leftovers. The love of Jesus fills our hearts and souls to overflowing, and that is living to love with Jesus. What a wonderfully, meaningful, satisfying way to live life in this world. As recipients of His life, we can say, “Thank You, Lord, for answering our prayer to always give us this bread of life.” May our hearts enjoy Him more than we enjoy our favorite bread.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate. 

Enjoying Jesus more than our favorite bread


John 6:36-37, But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out.
We don’t have the account where Jesus told this crowd that they have seen Him and yet don’t believe. John recorded in John 5:44 that Jesus told the Jews, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” In these verses, He was essentially telling them that the Father had not given them to Him. If He had, they would come to Him in faith, and He would receive them. 
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.


Love that produces security and hope


John 6:38-39 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
These two verses give us some very important, encouraging information by answering five questions. Where did Jesus come from? What did He come to do? What is the will of the Father for Jesus? What is the will of God for those given to Jesus? What hope do those who are given to Jesus have?
Where did Jesus come from? He came down from heaven. He isn’t from this world. He is separate from His creation and therefore isn’t tainted and corrupted by this fallen world. 
What did Jesus come to do? He came to do the will of His Father, who sent Him. 
What is the will of the Father for Jesus? It is the Father’s will that Jesus not lose anything or anyone the Father has given Him, and that He present all that He was given back to the Father in a redeemed state on the last day of the history of the world. 
And the last question: What hope do those have who are given to Jesus  ? On the last day of the history of the world, they will be presented by Jesus to the Father, not in a fallen state, but raised up into a redeemed state. Look at the security we have in Christ! None will be lost. The life which Jesus gives is eternal life. Once it is given, it cannot be lost, otherwise it wouldn’t be eternal life. 
These verses fortify Jesus’ previous comments that all the Father gives to Him will come to Him, and He will not cast them out. He won’t cast them out because they were given to Him by the Father for the purpose of raising them up, out of their fallen state. My, how we have been loved. We were loved before the foundation of the world and given to Jesus. 
Why do we believe? Why do we come to Christ and surrender our lives? Because we were given to Him by the Father, and it is the Father’s will to save us in Christ. That’s the love of God: the sustained direction of the will toward our highest good, no matter what the cost, for His glory. Our highest good is to be raised up for the glory of God. Our confidence is that God’s will won’t change, and Jesus is faithful over His house to do His will, whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end (Heb. 2:6).
It is out of this confidence and sealed in God’s love that we live our lives with Jesus. He lives in us to raise us up. We are being raised up daily by the power of His love and presence into His image, filled with His life, and displaying His fruit—the same kind of love. So we have much to praise God for, as we are encouraged by John 6:38-39. We praise Him for His gracious will toward us, for sending His Son to raise us up, and let us boast of the hope we have in Him. May our praise and thanks be expressed as we love with Jesus today.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.


Hold fast the boast of our hope


John 6:43-45, Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father, who sent Me, draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.”
Look at the trust and confidence the Son of God has in His Father. This is our Live to Love scripture encouragement today. We have the life of the Son in us, and therefore we have His trust and confidence in the Father as we abide in Him. Jesus wasn’t striving to get this crowd to believe in Him. He was resting in His Father’s work, the work of teaching His listeners about Him, and then drawing them to Him. 
We have that same confidence as we love people with Jesus. We don’t need to feel pressure to get results or to get people to make a decision for Christ. That will rob them of their assurance. Their assurance comes from the experience of listening to and learning from the Father. The Father does His teaching and drawing ministry through His Word, the circumstances of life, and His providence as we love, share God’s Word, and trust Him. Do you remember how the Father taught you and drew you to Christ? That’s why you came to Jesus.
We can depend on the power of God to draw people to Christ as we love with Him. This frees us from unbelief because we aren’t looking at ourselves or the people we serve. We are focused on the power of God from the beginning of the encounters with people until the end. We are encouraged in these verses that if the Father teaches and draws them, then Jesus will raise them up on the final day. That’s security, and therefore the source of our assurance and confidence. So today, let us love boldly and share with confidence in the power of God to accomplish His will for His glory.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.


Confidence in God


John 6:46-47 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
Jesus had just told the crowd that all who are taught by the Father and learn from the Father come to Him. In these verses, He clarifies that the Father has only been seen by the Son, the One who is from God. The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God already has eternal life. In other words, faith in Jesus is the witness of God that the Father has taught them, and they have learned from Him that Jesus is the One sent by the Father into this world to give life. 
Do you remember this question: Which comes first, the chicken or the hen? We are faced with a similar question with a similar answer: Which comes first, eternal life or faith? It depends on your perspective. In these verses, we would have to say that eternal life comes first. If we back up a few verses to verse 40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” From this perspective, we would have to say, faith comes first. Okay, which is it?
First, we know that Jesus can’t be confused when He said both of these statements. They are both true. Although we may not be able to understand completely, we can conclude this. God gives a person eternal life. The evidence of that life is faith in Christ. Once one believes in Jesus as the Son of God, the giver of life, he will have eternal life in the future because the life He has received is eternal. If it could pass away, it wouldn’t be eternal life. Does that make sense to you? I hope so. 
At the end of the day, God gets all the glory, so everything must originate with His will. We live to love with Jesus because we have eternal life and know He is working with the Father to do His will. It is a privilege to walk with Jesus in love. May we rejoice in God’s great love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us, and the Father has testified that we are justified and loved by giving us faith in Christ. We will have eternal life in the future because we have it now! What good news we have to share with those God puts in our paths today. Eternal life begets eternal life.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate. 

Eternal life begets eternal life


John 6:59-60 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore, many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
Today, we learn that the teaching about the bread of life took place in the synagogue of Capernaum. We also learn that it wasn’t just the crowd that balked at His teaching. Many of His disciples had a hard time with the statement Jesus made. I think the difficult statement was in verse 56. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood  abides in Me, and I in him.” Who can listen to it? Or we might say in the context of eating, “Who can stomach the idea of eating His flesh or drinking His blood?” 
Something to note about Jesus’ love for God and for these people: He wanted His Father to get all the glory. He didn’t try to be relevant or present His message in such a way that His listeners could understand what He said from a natural mindset. Rather, He spoke the truth of the gospel with 100% trust in the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts. I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t try to communicate God’s word as clearly as we can, but ultimately, only the Holy Spirit can open the heart to understand and effectually believe. Like Jesus, we want to love them by speaking the truth as clearly as we can, but trusting God to do His work of drawing them to Jesus. 
There are many difficult or puzzling statements made by Jesus that are recorded in the gospels. If we focus on them, we may find ourselves plagued with many doubts. However, we aren’t responsible to do something with what we don’t understand. We are responsible to respond to what we do understand. Deuteronomy 29:29 attests to this fact. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” The context is different, but the truth is timeless. Let’s not stumble or grumble about the things we don’t understand or that are difficult statements. Instead, let’s be amazed at the truth about Jesus that we do understand, apply it to our lives, and share it with others. 
The encouragement I draw from these verses is that in living to love with Jesus, there will be times I don’t understand what’s happening, but I can trust Him, nonetheless. In the following verses, we’ll see that is the attitude of some of the disciples. Bottom line is this: Love flows out of trust. May we trust in Jesus no matter what happens in our lives. He is worthy of our trust and worthy of the glory it brings Him when we do so.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Trust Jesus no matter what


John 6:61-63 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
Somehow, Jesus knew His disciples were grumbling about His statement about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. At least, I think that is the troubling statement about which they were grumbling. He asked if it caused them to stumble or to be offended, or if they thought it was scandalous. That’s the Greek word used here, from which we get the word scandalous—skandalizo. 
The second question follows logically. Let’s remember they have just seen an impossible to forget miracle in the multiplication of fish and bread to feed over 15,000 people and have leftovers. Remember, He had told them quite specifically that He was from heaven. He asked them, if they were to see Him go back into heaven, would it be enough for them to believe and trust Him? By the way, some of them were going to see Him ascend to heaven. The question had a purpose and stressed the point He wanted to make. If they were trying to understand Jesus’ words only from their fleshly perspective, even seeing Jesus ascend to heaven wouldn’t be enough for them to believe and not grumble. The point: the flesh wants signs in the physical world before trusting. The problem with the flesh is that if one sign can talk them into trusting, a sign that causes them to stumble can talk them out of trusting. 
The truth that brings us encouragement is clearly stated in verse 63. Only the Holy Spirit can give life. If the Holy Spirit gives understanding and faith to trust in Jesus’ words, then there’s long-lasting benefit and fruit. Jesus words were spirit and life. I think He means that they are the signs from God, from heaven, that bring forth fruit in the spiritual realm. Flesh is bound to the physical realm, therefore the flesh profits nothing in the spiritual realm. Jesus’ words don’t come from this world, they come from heaven, and therefore are spirit and life. 
We may be encouraged that as we speak the words of Scripture to others, we are loving with Jesus. We are speaking words that are spirit and life. We can trust that the Holy Spirit will make the words come alive in the hearts of those who have been given by God to Christ. We’ll know the ones given to Christ by their response to those life-giving words. The Spirit will overcome their fleshly limitations and give them faith to believe. He will open the ears of their hearts to hear and understand. Jesus would often say, “He who has ears to hear, let Him hear.” It was His way of calling forth the work of the Father and the Spirit. As we live to love with Jesus, we may expect the Father to draw, and the Holy Spirit to teach as we speak the words of Christ. Let’s remember, always, that the flesh profits nothing—cannot bear fruit for God’s glory. Only the Spirit of God can give life to the words we speak.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

The Spirit gives life


John 6:64-65, “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
This is the second time Jesus told the crowd that there were some who did not believe. In John 6:36 He said, “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.” We learn in these verses that one of those Jesus knew didn’t believe in Him was Judas Iscariot. We also discover a profound truth. The reason Judas didn’t believe was because the Father hadn’t granted it to him. This reminds me of something else Jesus said while explaining the parable of the soils, recorded in Mark 4:11-12. “And He was saying to them, ‘To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.’” Jesus loved Judas, but the Father didn’t grant that he would hear and believe. Earlier we read in John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” Jesus surrendered Himself to do the Father’s will and to be satisfied with it. For us to live to love with Jesus, we must have the same attitude of trust.
Maybe I should say it this way. If we believe in Jesus, then we do have the same attitude of trust dwelling in us because Jesus lives in us. We have His Spirit, and His Spirit is our life. Jesus was jealous for the Spirit to get the glory He deserves in doing the work that only He can do. He would not do what the Spirit was given to do. He only did what the Father gave Him to do. He received what the Father gave Him and was a faithful Son. That attitude of trust is foundational to loving with Jesus. 
As we love the people God puts in our paths each day, we do so trusting the Father to draw them to Jesus and trusting the Holy Spirit to give life. Remember, Jesus said in verse 63, “It is the Spirit who gives life.” Our responsibility is to love with Jesus, that is the fruit of the Vine in us, the branches. Our hope and prayer is that the will and work of God will be done in the hearts and lives of those who are His. There is freedom with this kind of faith. It frees us from discouragement, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy if we don’t see results. We can leave the results to God, just as Jesus did. 
Also, let’s draw encouragement from this wonderful truth. If we believe, it is because the Father has granted it. He created us for His Son and gave us to Him. Therefore, we come to Him, believe in Him, and receive life in Him. To God be the glory! Let us be filled with gratitude and joy for God’s great wisdom and grace revealed to us in Christ. Thank you, Father, for giving us to Your Son, Jesus. We are forever blessed and grateful.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Faith granted by the Father


John 6:66-69 As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
Simon Peter spoke up for the twelve and expressed what all believe who have been born again by the Spirit. We believe Jesus has the words of eternal life. As Jesus said only a minute or two previously, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Those who are the true branches in the Vine abide in Him, and His words abide in them. In John 14:23 Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” Believing Jesus has the words of eternal life, we keep them.  No one else has the words of life. Simon Peter and the rest of the twelve, with the exception of Judas, knew from the words Jesus had spoken that He was the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Christ. That was enough for them.
When others were walking away, the twelve stayed with Jesus. Even though they probably didn’t understand all that Jesus said, they heard enough to know that He was the One sent from God so they might have eternal life. Could you also make the same confession as Simon Peter? I hope so. Where else could we turn to find and experience the love of God through a person other than Jesus? They thought there were other teachers who were more understandable and who presented more palatable ideas than cannibalism. They decided it wasn’t worth their time to hang out and listen until they understood what He meant. 
Who we listen to tells a lot about us. According to the apostle John in his first epistle, who we listen to reveals where we are from. 1 John 4:1. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because  many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Then in verses 5-6, he made the connection between origin and who we listen to. “They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and  the spirit of error.” That’s what Jesus basically said in this encounter in Capernaum’s synagogue. He told them they were not from His Father, because if they were, they would listen to Him and believe. The fact that they didn’t have ears to hear Him revealed that the Father had not brought them to Him. 
The encouragement we draw from these verses is that Jesus’ disciples who live to love with Him are the antithesis of the so-called disciples who walked away. We are like Simon Peter. We stay with Jesus even when we are faced with difficult truth because we know He has the words of life. As we meet those God puts in our paths, we wait for the Holy Spirit to give us the words that will bring life to them. That’s one of the many ways we love them. We trust in the power of God and the life-giving words of Christ. Maybe it’s a great question to ask people as we share with them about Jesus. Do you know anyone else who has the words of eternal life?
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate. 

Jesus has the words of eternal life


John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him.
The encouragement we may draw from these verses is that our Father is always working for our good, and therefore we can entrust ourselves to Him. Can you see that in what Jesus said? Jesus’ statement was made to fortify the statement made in verse 65, “No one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” Even if the Son chooses someone, it doesn’t mean the Father has chosen Him. Jesus chose Judas Iscariot knowing he was going to betray Him. He knew the Father was not teaching Him. He knew Judas was following Him for the wrong reasons, just like the crowd was. Eventually, Judas and the crowd would bring charges against Jesus with hostile intent. That’s the idea in the root word for devil, diabolos. It means to accuse or slander falsely with malicious intent. The devil is the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). 
I’m encouraged by a couple of things about Jesus that help me understand the faith that is necessary if I’m to live to love with Him. He completely entrusted Himself to His Father. When He chose Judas to be one of the twelve, we know He did so at the Father’s direction. He came to do the Father’s will (John 6:38). We learn here that Jesus knew Judas would betray Him. That tells me that Jesus, even knowing that Judas would play an integral part in His death, still entrusted Himself to His Father. 1 Peter 2:23 testifies of Jesus’ reliance on His Father. “And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” That kind of faith and trust lives in me and all those who live to love with Jesus. That encourages us to entrust ourselves completely to our Father and His will for us.
Jesus’ unwavering obedience to His Father also encourages me. He obeyed His Father in choosing Judas, knowing it was going to bring suffering. By the way, that was an act of love for His Father and for us. The Father commanded Him to lay down His life for us, and in choosing Judas, He began the process. As we live to love with Jesus, we have been commanded to love like Jesus loves, to love with Him. We are commanded to lay down our lives for the well-being of others. There will be times when we know that if we do something nice, loving, or kind to someone, they are going to be devilish. They are going to turn it around and twist it, falsely accuse us. Our loving them makes them feel guilty because they don’t love us. There is hostility in their hearts toward us, and it makes them angry when we love them. So rather than receive the love, they sabotage our efforts to love them and accuse us of being proud or manipulative. I’m encouraged by Jesus’ example of obedience to not refrain from loving those who are my enemies and entrust myself to God’s care. We can trust God will work everything for good and for His glory, just as Jesus did.
I hope you’ll be encouraged also from these verses to entrust yourself to your heavenly Father and obey Him by loving others as Jesus loves. This is only possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. May we be filled with the spirit of Christ today as we walk in love with Him.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Trust and obey


John 7:1 After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
What an interesting way to describe what Jesus was doing. He was walking in Galilee and not Judea. He wasn’t sitting or working in Galilee; He was walking. The idea was that Jesus conducted His daily affairs in Galilee. Galilee was His home region, so He continued His ministry there. We’re told He did so because He was unwilling to go to Judea because He knew His life was in danger there. The Jews were out to get Him.
This was a fairly normal and reasonable decision. Don’t go where you’re not wanted. We know later on that Jesus did go to Jerusalem to observe the feast in spite of the dangers. But today I want to encourage you to stay in the flow of where God is working. Jesus taught this to His disciples on the occasion of their being unwanted in a village. He told them “Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11). So as we are “walking” in this world wherever the Lord has us, let’s be in tune with what God is doing and work with Him where there is receptivity. 
My guess is that most of us are not concerned about being killed by anyone that we may minister to. We are living for the glory of God, so we want to live and love where the Spirit guides us. We may trust that our Father will guide our steps and direct us to those He wants to love. I’m aware that every person who crosses my path is part of a divine plan. There are no random meetings. I’ve seen the Lord deeply touch people just by my telling them that our meeting isn’t random. I’ll share about praying for them that morning and then ask how I can specifically pray for them, and usually there’s a reason for the encounter that makes it clear the Lord has put us together. May the Holy Spirit give us discernment and sensitivity to Him and to those around us today.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Sensitivity to where God is working and where He is not


John 7:6-7 So Jesus said to them (that is, His brothers who had encouraged Him to go to the feast in Jerusalem to make Himself known publicly), “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”
What did Jesus mean by “My time?” He meant the time of His death. I conclude that first because in verse 1 we learned that Jesus knew the Jews were planning to kill Him and therefore stayed in Galilee. Second, the Jews’ hatred for Him was obviously on top of mind with Him. The Father was arranging the timing and circumstances in Jerusalem for Jesus to give His flesh to become the bread of life. As for His brothers’ times of death, it could happen anytime. Their death wasn’t contingent on being hated by the world, or anything, for that matter. They weren’t intentionally, knowingly, making decisions leading to their deaths. God could use any opportune situation to end their lives. Not so with Jesus.
For Jesus, His time was the Father’s time. Everything in His life was determined by His Father. Later in John 8:28, Jesus explained His decision-making. “So Jesus said, “‘When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative.’” Jesus’ time for everything in His life was determined by the Father, or by the Spirit of the Father, the Holy Spirit. They moved as one. 
Nothing has changed for Jesus as He lives in us. He moves as the Spirit moves. He lives to the the will of His Father. If our goal is to live to love with Jesus, we must abide in Him. That means our time for everything in life is also determined by God, the Father. He orchestrates circumstances, moves people, and us so that He can glorify His name through His Son in us. At the beginning of every day, if we intend to abide in Him, our “time,” not meaning the time of our death, but the timing of the events of our days, must be surrendered to Him. 
In another sense, we are intentionally, knowingly walking into our deaths. We died when Jesus died to our own agendas—our own lives in this world. When Jesus was raised from the dead, we were raised to walk or live our lives in Him, with Him—He abiding in us and we in Him. So today every situation or relationship is an opportunity for me to die to myself, die to my flesh attempts at living for God, and to abide in Christ and live to love with Him. In that sense, our time to die is opportune.
The love of God flows out of Jesus’ timely death, through my timely death, and out of His initiating love as we move together through the day. Our times are in His hands. That’s why James wrote in 4:14-15. “Yet, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’” 
So the encouragement to live to love with Jesus today is to live with the same sense of dependency upon the Father as Jesus does. Trust His timing for everything in your life, as well as with the timing of your death. Live surrendered to the will of God, as Jesus lives surrendered to the Father. Then you will have confidence that God’s will is being done on earth as it is in heaven in your life. Your life and death are in His hands. Out of that understanding and that kind of trust, the love of Christ will flow through your life.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Dependency upon the Father


John 8:19-20, So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also. These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
     What is meant by “His hour”?  I think “hour” could be synonymous to “time”. “His”—a possessive pronoun. Whatever “hour” is, it belongs to Him. Is it His hour of testing? Hour of temptation? Hour of suffering? Hour of power? Hour of prayer? Hour of glory? All are true. But notice that His hour is the same as the Father’s hour. The Father determined it and orchestrated it, and the Son authorized it. The hour began when Judas left the upper room at Jesus’ command. John 13:31-32 “Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus said, 'Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.’”  God’s love controls every “hour” of our lives. He gives them to us so we might glorify Him. May we glorify our Father in heaven in every hour as we live to love with Jesus.
To know Jesus is to know His Father—God Himself. If you know what Jesus loves, you know what God loves. Of Jesus, the Father says, “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your companions.” (Hebrews 1:9). Do we love righteousness and hate lawlessness? Let’s give Him freshly stirred love for righteousness today.  
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

May we love what Jesus loves


John 8:21-24 Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come." So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come’?" And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.  Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
     Nothing could be more tragic than to die in your sin—to breathe your last breath united to sin. Jesus was raised to heaven, and no one can go there if they are still united with sin—the weight of which sinks one into hell forever. In stark contrast, how beautiful and humbling it is to breathe one’s last breath united to Jesus Christ! His death removed the curse and weight of sin, and His resurrection raised us up to be seated with Christ in heaven.  Rejoice, if you are united with Christ!
     How do sinners get free from their sin? Only by believing and trusting in the testimony of God—that Jesus is His son, sent to be united with our sins and give His life to break the power of sin and death by His righteousness. To repent and believe, we break off from our love for self and trust in our own righteousness, and surrender our lives completely to Him, trusting in His sacrifice, righteousness, and love. The Pharisees would not do that because they did not believe the Father’s testimony about His son—Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. We live to love with Jesus because we have been united with Him by God’s doing.
     It is important to note that the topic is death and note who is in on the discussion: Jesus, the Pharisees, and the Jews. Jesus addressed both groups, and their thinking is recorded. The setting is the temple, and it’s a week of feasting and rejoicing in God’s deliverance and provision in the wilderness. The Jews were looking for Jesus (7:11). Jesus taught and identified Himself with the water God provided in the wilderness. He is the actual satisfying water of life (7:37-38). Many of the Jews believed Jesus (7:31). Others wanted to seize Him but didn’t (7:30). Feel the conflict among the crowd and between Jesus and the unbelieving Jews. There stood Jesus, the Light, and those in darkness could not see the glory of God in the face of Christ.
     Today we can celebrate again God giving us the Light. We are from below and are of this world. He is not of this world, which is why He can save us. No man from this world would say, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” 
     I hope to encourage all who hear my voice to believe that Jesus is the Light of the world and the Light of Life (8:12) come from above to save us from our sins and from this world of darkness. Believe that Jesus is the Light of the world so that you won’t die in your sins.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Don’t die in your sins


John 8:25 So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?" Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning?
In John’s first epistle, he wrote what they heard from the beginning. 1 John 1:1, 5-7.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life —This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.      
Jesus is the Word of Life and revealed that God is Light by walking in the light of His Father’s word. We have the light of Life in us, and that light is the love of God. We are sent into this world just as Jesus was sent. As we live to love with Jesus we bring His light into the world. 
This is an issue of identity. They asked Jesus, “Who are You?” He had told them that He was the Light of the world. We live to love because of who Jesus is and who we are. We are His children within whom the Light of Life, the Light of the world, dwells. His light shines through us as we love with Him. 
Every small act of love from the life of Jesus in you is a flash of light in the darkness. Don’t think that only the big things matter or that love can only be shown on a large stage in front of many people. A glass of water given in love to your child is evidence of the Light of the world. A kind word of encouragement to the grocery clerk can bring glory to God if it’s through Christ. May we live your lives in such a way that others will ask the question, “Who are you?” Let’s be ready to share with others who we are and the hope we have in Jesus.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Who are you?


John 8:26-27 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world. They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
     When we read the words of Jesus, we are reading the words of God, His Father! His words are true. We can believe them and rely on them. They are life-giving and fruit-producing. To receive and heed His words is to love the Father and the Son. Receiving the words of Christ is also vital to living to love with Him. Jesus left His disciples with these words, recorded in John 15:7-11.
  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit [the fruit is faith and love], and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
God has called all of the followers of His Son to life in and with Christ. Jesus came to love with His Father as He abided in Him and His words. We love with Jesus as we abide in Him and His words. These words, spoken in the world, are the words of the Father and they are true. 
This begs a question. Are we more interested in reading and digesting the words of the world than we are the words of our God and creator? If so, may we repent and renew our minds with the words of God. May we stir our love for Jesus afresh by meditating on His words and not be afraid to speak them to the world.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Abide in the words of God


John 8:28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
     Jesus couldn’t do anything apart from His Father. He didn’t start things and then ask His Father to bless them. If Jesus didn’t do anything on His own initiative, then that means His entire life was a life of receiving, like a child receives from his parents. Jesus punctuated this point when some parents brought their children for Jesus to bless them, and His disciples tried to prevent them from interrupting their conversation on marriage. It’s in Mark 10:14-15. “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Apparently, the attitude necessary for entering the kingdom of God is a humble, do-nothing-on-my-own-initiative attitude, knowing our Father in heaven loves us and gives us everything we need to glorify Him in and through Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus spoke what the Father taught Him, we speak what the Father teaches us through His Son. 
In this instance, Jesus prophesied that the Pharisees and rulers would crucify Him. That’s what is meant by “lift up the Son of Man.” What will they know? They will see Jesus receive being crucified as from the Father in heaven. He will not resist. He will not act on His own initiative to get out of what the Father wills. When they see Him abiding in His Father’s work, they will know that He is the Son of God and the Messiah. God has not called us to die for the sins of the world, so when difficult and dangerous situations arise, we don’t naively ignore opportunities God provides to escape from them. However, when there is no avenue of escape, then we can expect God to give grace to suffer and love for those who cause it.
Living to love with Jesus occurs as we abide in Him, doing nothing of our own initiative. Like Jesus, we are to receive all of life from the Father, with its circumstances and relationships, whether comforting and encouraging, or painful and grievous. We trust that He will give us the ideas, inclinations, motivations, and wisdom that each situation requires as we look to Him for grace. We glorify the Father through being most satisfied in His will and love as we receive what comes from our Father. Jesus said that apart from Him, we can do nothing (Jo. 15:5). The heart of Jesus is in us, so may we humble ourselves and wait on Him to initiate our words and actions. As we live abiding in Christ, others will know that we are children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Receive life from the Father


John 8:29 And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."
     Thank you, Jesus, for always pleasing our Father and giving us the gift of your righteousness. We are so loved! Knowing that in You, we are pleasing to God, fills our hearts with hope and joy. To know with confidence that You are with us as we live to love with You gives us assurance as we face this day. You have sent us so we know You are with us. Make Your name glorious and stir our love afresh today. Amen.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.

Norm Wakefield

Popular tracks