God Still Speaks

Jesus was always being harassed by the religous leaders of the day. Here again we see how they are giving him a hard time. This time though it is about Jesus calling himself the "Son of God" putting him in equal standing with God. They just couldn't accept that truth about Jesus. Do you know that much of our persecution is for the same reason. No, not that we are equal to God but because we declare that we are "sons of God". There are so many people that just can't accept us as being "sons of God". They still look at us as we used to be and live before Christ. And because we are not perfect and still miss the mark from time to time, people condemn us and judge us and say to us that we are hypocrites because we call ourselves "sons of God." I wish that it was different but its not. If God calls us light then we are light! If he calls us salt then we are salt, if he says that we are more than conquerors, thats what we are! He called us "Sons of God." It is a good thing for us to be accepted into Gods family. Even though others do not understand, we have peace and the inner knowledge that God is our father and we are His children.

I can't read this chapter without making a comment on verse 10. "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fulness." The revelation of this verse has transformed my life and has settled so many questions in my mind. I've heard preachers say that "that tragedy is from God, or that sickness is from God, or you lost your job coz Gods wants to test your life a while." Garbage!! Here it plainly says what comes from the devil and what comes from Jesus. Do you see it? Everything that comes to my life to steal, kill and destroy is of the devil. Everything that comes to me to produce life is from God! How hard is that to understand? He says in the next verse, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Aren't you glad that Jesus laid it down for you? What love that shows to you and I.

Jesus makes it very clear. He is the gate. Those who come in through him will be saved. He goes on to say that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Once coming to Christ, the sheep learn how to listen to his voice. They hear His voice and follow him. It ways here that they follow him to green pastures. That speaks to me of good things. As we follow Jesus he will lead us to blessings and we will be satisfied with His goodness to us. He warns us about the hirelings that run when the wolf comes. They really don't love the sheep, just interested in fleecing them until trouble comes. I'm so blessed that Jesus is my shepherd. I can trust in his goodness towards me. In Psalm 23, He is my shepherd and meets all of my needs. We can trust in Him with confidence knowing that we are safe and secure as He watches over us!

What caused this mans blindness? This is a question asked still by people today, what is the reason for my illness? Many people today are blaming God for their sickness. Sometimes "genes" are blamed. The bible is clear about the answer to this question. John 10:10 Jesus said, The thief comes to steal, kill and to destroy, I have come that you might have life and life abundantly. Here we see that the devil come to steal and destroy. That is his aim in life to maim and hurt all of humanity. Why? Because man was made in the image of God and when the devil sees mankind he hates it so much that he wants to destroy it as mankind reminds him of God himself. He will do and use anything to destroy humanity, aids, starvation, wars, addictions, strife, divisions, anything evil and deviant. Jesus came to undo the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. He continues to destroy the devils works today through the preaching of the gospel, healing, delivering people from their sicknesses and deseases. Breaking the bondages and setting people free. In this blind man God recieved glory because of his healing, not from his desease. God will always be glorified when people are delivered from Satans schemes of destruction. Something to think about.

After being gone for a month to Mexico and India its time to get back into the routine and continue this devotional. It's nice to have my computer back and time to pray and meditate a bit on what God is speaking today. God speaks, all we need to do is slow down and take some time to listen.

Here is a story about a blind man. Very interesting thoughts can be found in this passage. I want to focus on verse 4, As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. Jesus was always understanding the value of time, and the need to work while time permits. If I was saying this, I would say, I must do the work of him who sent me, but he uses the plural "we". You see, God can only get something accomplished through "us". Paul said that we are laouborers "together" with him. We all know how dificult it is to work in the dark, Jesus says "we must get the job done soon, coz the night is coming when no one can work. Can you sense the urgency in his voice? Today there is work to be done, lets not get caught up doing things that have no eternal value. We, together must work while it is day, the night is coming when no man can work.