Jesus

Are you steadfast and determined to follow Christ?

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber ...

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 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, (Hebrews 3:12-14).

The word “steadfast” is an important part of your spiritual journey. This word helps to define the condition of your heart as you travel God’s pathway.

You cannot be steadfast in your walk if you are uncertain about God and His ways. Being steadfast means that each step you take, however small or big, will be taken in confidence, dependency, and certainty in who God is and what He has said.

As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, your walk can be steadfast, not because you are steady and consistent, but because the foundation under your feet will always remain solid, firm, sure and unshakable. You can be steadfast in your faith and your obedience because Jesus Christ’s love for you will never waver, and His promises to you will never fail.

A Prayer of the Steadfast

Lord, I thank you for your faithfulness. I thank you for the certainty of Your ways, Your Kingdom, and Your Word. I thank You that I can count on You, lean on you, trust in You, abide in You, and walk with You. I thank You that You are the foundation of my footsteps, the light upon my way, the destination I seek after, and the hope I carry in my heart.

I purpose to follow You in cheerful obedience, in singleness of focus, and in steadfastness of heart. Empower me by Your grace, oh God, to keep on keeping on doing Your will. I thank You, Lord, for the assurance that You will never change, never falter, never waver, and never turn Your love away from me.

Let the Holy Spirit guide your speech

“Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalm 34:13).

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29). “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit” (Proverbs 15:4).

As you walk with God, He is concerned about the words that come out of your mouth–the things that you share, confess, affirm, and speak into the lives of others. It is a good thing to ask the Holy Spirit to be the guardian of your speech. The Bible tells us that we should be more involved with listening than we are with speaking (James 1:19).

It is freeing to know that God doesn’t ask you to speak all the time, talk about anything, and have an opinion about everything. God does, however, gives you great encouragement to speak things that are good, things that build others up, things that are bathed in grace, and things that come from His heart directly to yours.

Have you seen anyone speak discouragement and pain into someone, a spouse, a child, a friend, a coworker? “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21). That person will bring destruction into their own life because of it.

Our words can justify us or condemn us (Matthew 12:37). They can bring us joy. (Proverbs 15:23), or corrupt and dishonor (Matthew 15 :11). What we say can either build up or break down the soul of whomever we are speaking to (Proverbs 15:4). The consequences of what we speak are so great that our words can leads us to ruin or save our lives (Proverbs 13:13)

Everyone has a choice about what he or she says, and there are rewards for making the right one. “Whoever guard his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles” (Proverbs 21:23). “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

Let the Holy Spirit be the guardian of your speech and you will never speak ill of anyone again. Won’t you lift someone up with encouraging words today? God bless you!


The Messiah and the Samaritan woman

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well (Photo credit: Lawrence OP)

The Samaritan woman found Jesus (the Messiah) in an unlikely place (at the side of a well). Her brief but historic meeting with Him would forever change her life. She was so overwhelmed that she left her water jar by the well and went back to the town to spread the good news. “Come; see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

John chapter 4:7-26, tells us that Jesus was resting by the side of Jacob’s well one day; after a long journey from Judaea to Galilee, when a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

The woman was shocked that a Jew was asking a Samaritan for a drink. Back in those days Jews and Samaritans (Gentiles) did not mix. Gentiles were considered unclean and unrighteous.

The Samaritan woman who was more concerned about tradition than about helping Jesus with a drink of water, said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God (the gift of God is eternal life), and who it is (the Messiah) that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, He will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am He.”

The moral of the story is; the gospel of Jesus Christ knows no boundaries. It is for anybody who will accept it.

The Vine and the Vinedresser

Smith's later theology described Jesus and God...

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I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (John 15:1-10, ESV).

There is something that you can always be certain of as you abide in the vine—Jesus Christ and God  the father are deeply and intimately involved in your life; and they will never leave you nor forsake you.

The relationship of a branch to a vine signifies one of the closest relationships possible in creation. The branch is in the vine, the life of the vine is in the branch, and the vine-dresser [Jesus] is cutting back everything [the baggage] that will hinder it [you] from bearing much fruit.

Jesus uses the relationship of the branch and the vine to remind you of how dependent you are upon Him.

Like branches on a vine, our Christian life is a growth process. We mature more every day. As we abide in Jesus, we learn to know him better and trust him more. Cautiously, we reach out to others. We love them. The greater our trust in Christ, the greater our compassion will be.

This is a lifelong challenge. When we are rebuffed, we have the choice to draw back or give our hurt to Christ and try again. Abiding is what matters. When we live that truth, we can begin to love like Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t command you to bear fruit, but He does command you to abide in Him. Fruit is the outcome of your abiding, and that fruit will always glorify the father.

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Do you hunger and thirst after Righteousness?

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

As you navigate your Christian journey, you’ll face trial and tribulation; partly because you love Jesus and partly because the enemy is upset that he has lost a prized possession. He will use every trick in the book to win you back, and if you are not careful, you will be right back where you had started—living in sin.

It is very easy to get distracted in today’s world. Lifestyles are presented in magazines and on television that seem so appealing. And the enemy will entice you with “the good life”—money, cars, clothes; glitz and glamour. But if you know who you are and what is your purpose in Christ, the tempting pursuit of such things will not attract or entice you.

However, as you press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. You’ll need fuel to sustain you on your journey. That fuel can only come from your inner hunger and thirst after the righteousness of God. The more resolute you are in your quest for the prize, the more you’ll seek to know Him .

Your daily hunger after God brings great joy to His heart. He celebrates your every step of obedience to His Word, your every response of faith to His leading, and your every expression of wonder for His ways with you. He delights in your pursuit to know Him more, in your desires to enjoy Him more, and in your longings to love Him more.

As you hunger after Him, you will find that His banqueting table is always full, that His portions are more than generous, and that His hospitality is beyond compare.

To hunger after Him means that you will never go away empty or dissatisfied. In Him are a thousand delights, a limitless supply of eternal joys, and an endless amount of spiritual blessings.

Beloved brothers and sisters, I hope when everything has been said and done, you will say with confidence, as the apostle Paul did:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

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