Category: Today’s Truth

In Jesus’ prayer for the believers in John 17:3, He acknowledges the only real way to be saved: “And this is the way to have eternal life-to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.” By saying this, he demonstrated what the prayer for sinners should be: to know God and acknowledge that he is the true God, and to believe that Jesus is the son of God. This is the first step to salvation. When you believe God is who he says he is, and that Jesus is who God says he is, then you will understand who you are, a sinner in need of grace and forgiveness.

He goes on to declare His glory in verse 4: “I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” By declaring his glory, he shows the believer how to live. We should live in light of eternity, always working to show the glory of God and the authority of Jesus Christ in our lives. Every act of service should radiate his glory. Every word we speak should declare his glory. Our lifestyles should bring honor to the one we serve.

The reward for giving God glory here on earth and proclaiming his name is eternity with him forever. Our life on earth should be an outpouring of the love we have received from God and the forgiveness he gave us through Jesus Christ. Does your life reflect his glory?

What do you think of when you hear the word authority? Do you think of a king or queen asserting their power over their people? Do you think of a government of a nation? Jesus wasn’t someone who got His authority from the people because of His position. What made Jesus different from every other human was His deity. He was God and man. This automatically gave Him authority over all of us.

What does this mean for us? The word authority means, “power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior,” according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. It also means “freedom granted by one in authority.” Both of these describe the authority of Jesus. He was granted all authority by God the Father, and He has the power to influence our thoughts, opinions, and behavior. We see this authority lived out when He was walking with His disciples. He exclaimed His authority to them through the scriptures and prophecies fulfilled; He then taught the Word of God and influenced their thinking, their opinions, and their entire belief system. There were some people who did not believe His authority: the Pharisees and Sadducees. They plotted to kill Him for His proclamations and influence on the people. Although they studied the Word of God, they did not believe what it said about Jesus in the Old Testament. They did not believe that Jesus was who He said He was and had the authority that He said He had.

What about you? What do you believe about the authority of Jesus? Has He influenced your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs? Or are you more persuaded by the world? Take some time to reflect on your relationship with Jesus today.

The hour had come for Jesus. The one who had entered the world as a sweet baby boy in the arms of his young mother and his endearing father. The one who grew up as a boy, ran and scraped his knees, and played with his friends. The one who taught the word everywhere he went, brought glory to his father when he spoke, and sought people out to be his followers and disciples. The one who cared for each one of his disciples as if they were his family. He walked with them, he taught them everything he knew, and he invested in each one of them. He even invested in Judas, knowing that he would betray him.

His time had come. His 33 short years on this earth. But in death, a new life would begin. God was about to do the greatest thing known to man. Jesus knew that everything He taught, all prophecies, were leading to this moment. He wanted nothing more than to worship God the Father. It would not be about him, but instead it would be about God the king. Jesus’ entire life pointed to God’s salvation. While his disciples did not understand some of the words he said, they would soon understand after he was gone. His salvation would become a reality; the resurrection would bring the new life they sought.

We are living on the other side of this reality. We have seen the whole picture. We do know what Christ did. Do you know His salvation and the life He died to give? Search your heart today and find the One who gave His life for you.

Before Jesus went to the cross, he took his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. He poured his heart out to the Lord, pleading that God would take this cup from him. He knew the burden he would have to bear, and he knew it would be great. He was man and God, and the human flesh wanted safety, comfort and protection. But the God in him knew this was his burden to bear. Why did he ask God to take this cup from him? Was it because he was weak? Was it because he was afraid of death? No! Even though he was human, he was also perfect and did not sin. He knew what death meant, and he knew that by dying he would save mankind. He was still human with human emotions and feelings. He felt as we feel.

Sometimes we know that the things God asks of us are going to be difficult. Just because we feel something or question God, doesn’t mean we don’t obey him and his will. Jesus always knew what the will of God meant. He always knew that he was destined to die. So he first struggled through what God was going to have him do, and once he understood the will of the Lord, then he began pleading on our behalf. Before he prays in the garden, however, he prays for His disciples in the upper room during the Last Supper. John 17 is a prayer from Jesus, the son of man and the son of God, on behalf of his followers and believers.

Isn’t it amazing to think about the Son of God praying and interceding for us? That day in the upper room with His disciples and again in the garden was a time of reflection as he felt the heaviness knowing the weight of our sins would be on his shoulders. He longs to see us desire him and come to know him. He took every one of our past sins, current sins, and future sins on his shoulders at the cross. He did it for you. He did it for me. All we have to do is believe it.

Never give up growing in your relationship with God. Always strive for more of Christ. Your relationship with God is the most important thing you will ever have in this world. Once you have experienced the kindness of the Lord, you will never want anything else in this life as 1 Peter 2:1-3 says: “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

To live a life in Christ you must strive to get rid of any evil behavior. It can be difficult because of our human nature, but God can remove anything that doesn’t please Him. Once you allow God to truly remove all evil behavior, you will want to grow into a deeper walk with God. Never stay satisfied with your relationship with God. Continue to strive to grow into a full experience of salvation. Many Christians are not experiencing the full life that God has planned for them. The only way to do this is to invest in your relationship everyday.

Never give up on your relationship with God. He is trustworthy. He is the one who restores and nourishes. He is the one who saves.

The people of Acts 2 experienced many miraculous things because they chose to follow Christ. First, they experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost they saw people from every language come together and understand each other because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, they experienced Peter’s powerful sermon that he delivered to the crowd. The people believed what Peter said, and 3,000 were saved that day. From there, the people form a community of believers and begin meeting everyday. They devoted themselves to the teaching of the word and were hospitable to all people. They gave up their belongings and shared everything they had. They saw people being added to their numbers daily.

This is what the body of believers should look like today. Can you just imagine? The church could have all things in common and see many added to their numbers everyday if they followed the lead of the Acts 2 church. As a body of believers, we need to strive to live in this way. We need to take care of those who need help. We need to teach the gospel and be hungry to learn more about the Lord. We could see change in our churches and communities if we lived like this.

Romans 12:21 gives us good advice when it comes to this Christian life: “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” There is so much evil in this world: people who only live for themselves, continuously live in sin, and people who take advantage of others. How can we be a light in a dark world?

This verse says to conquer evil by doing good. In other words, don’t be overwhelmed with evil, but instead conquer evil by doing good. For example, look at the life of Stephen in Acts 6. He was persecuted and ridiculed, yet He continued to conquer that evil by doing good and living for the Lord. When they threw stones at him, he allowed them. When the people yelled, “Crucify Him” at Christ before He went to the cross, He went willingly and even carried His cross. He conquered the evil in the word by taking up His cross. Jesus asks us to do the same so we can follow HIm.

Honor God by choosing to do good instead of allowing evil to win and conquer. Goodness and love will always win out.

Peace. If our world had more peace, we would see less divisions, less disagreement, and less disarray. It can be especially difficult when we see divisions at the highest level. I think anyone who has watched what has been going on in the world over the last year can agree that we could all use a little more peace and unity. Everyone has an opinion and argument with how the country should be run and what can fix all of the problems in the world.

God has called Christians to be peacemakers. We are the ones who should be loving the world and showing the world how to love. Romans 12:18 says, “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.” That doesn’t mean we compromise on our beliefs. Instead, we need to stand for truth and live out the Bible so others can see what it really means to be a Christian. We should live in peace with our family, our friends, our church, our neighbors, our communities, and the world.

Pray about ways that you can be a peacemaker in your community and world. Ask God to give you wisdom and knowledge. May you be someone who bridges the gap between Christians and the rest of the world.

As a Christian, you have an identity in Christ. You are His chosen people. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” God set you apart and called you His people, royal priests, a holy nation.

You are God’s very own possession. He bought you with the blood of Christ. He values you and loves you more than anything. Have you ever had something that you dearly loved? A prized possession? How did you care for it? When I was young, I had a trunk of my father’s possessions. He showed horses so it included ribbons, trophies, and some of his toy horses from his childhood. I would get each one out and unwrap the paper from it, admire them, and then wrap each one up and put it away. I made sure I handled them with care so nothing would happen to them. This is how God cares for us, but even more! He is a good Father who handles each of us with care.

In the same way that God handles us, so we should handle others. We should care for them and love them so they see the love of God in our lives. God sees us as His prized possession, so we should see others. We are the light of the world.

“Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” As Romans 12:16 says. The word harmony is a music term that is used to complement the melody. You can have one part in harmony or many parts that are harmonious together. When each section is focused on their own part they can sound beautiful together. But if one starts to try and control the other, they won’t be able to work together in unison. Just as if Christians are too proud to enjoy the company of others, they will not be able to work together.

So how can we live in harmony together? Reach out to others for wisdom and knowledge whether that be leaders in the church or teachers of the Word. Meet in groups together to learn more about the Word, how to implement it in your home, your job, and in the church. Believers can also work together when they serve the community. FInd ways to bring the gospel to the neighborhoods. This is exactly what the Acts 2 church did. They were so passionate about the gospel, that they met together everyday, gave up all things, and were hospitable and cared about the people around them. They saw thousands being added to their number daily!

The church today can still be like the Acts 2 church if they are passionate about the Lord and serving Him. They will be a sweet sound to the ears like harmonious music if their focus is the Lord.