[Linux4christians] Wednesday – Read John 14:1-15:17

[Pastor David]

*Wednesday – Read John 14:1-15:17*

	*Commentary*

	Jesus offers some parting words and a series of lessons to 
His disciples.

	Do not be distressed, you believe (trust) God, therefore 
believe (trust) Me.

	He is, through His sacrifice and resurrection, preparing a 
place for them in Heaven.

	If you have known (an intimate spiritual relationship) 
Jesus you have known God.

	In John 14:8-11 Jesus affirms again His deity.

	In John 14:12-14 Jesus explains that the sacrificial 
provision of salvation that He is about
	to provide is the same in essence, if not literally so, as 
he expects His disciples to do in
	the lives of others.  Sacrifice that they too may know His 
love and salvation.
	
	Jesus explains that He will send the Holy Spirit as an 
Advocate and comforter and that He
	will be with them through the Holy Spirit as they love and 
obey.  He again reminds them
	that love and obedience are essential to true salvation.

	Jesus also reminds them to be at peace since He has freed 
them, and that He also is free of,
	the bondage of the Enemy.

	In John 15 Jesus continues to teach using an illustration 
of the vine and the branches; He
	declares that He is the true-to-God Israel – replacing the 
rebellious Israel upon whose
	worldly lineage they had previously relied – and that like 
any “farmer” God pruned the
	dead and unproductive branches to encourage health and 
productivity in the rest.  He
	encouraged them to be continuously honoring of God through 
their productivity.

	In 15:14-17 Jesus replaces “slave” with “friend” as His 
disciples had transitioned from
	obedient but ignorant followers to informed and responsive 
family.  [Verse 15:16 is often
	misused to justify a fatalistic view of the Gospel as to 
being “chosen”, sometimes called
	“election” especially among those who adhere to the 
Calvinist philosophy of the Bible –
	such is poor scholarship.  Jesus chose twelve, one of them 
was the evil-prone Judas
	Iscariot, He chose them because they were representative of 
all of us and poured Himself
	into them to build faithful leaders.  Eleven frequently 
failed to understand His teaching,
	one never did.  The lesson here has nothing to do with 
predestination, it is about a right
	response to truth.  Jesus called His disciples because He 
looked into their hearts and knew
	that they would respond, the same as when He sent His 
disciples out on their
	evangelistic-missionary journey and instructed them to 
bless those who responded and
	not those who did not.  Jesus used the story of people 
invited to a celebration/dinner and
	when they refused to come He invited others, clearly He 
taught that many are called and
	only some respond – quite at odds with fatalistic 
predestination.  The pattern is clear that
	Jesus “calls” into His eternal family those who respond 
in-faith to His invitation through
	the required surrender of everything for Jesus-alone.]

	*Discussion & Reflection - Keeping it Real*

	Reflect a moment upon the sacrifice of Jesus for us all, 
then contemplate His commandment
	that we also be sacrificial in our love so that others may 
share the joy of our salvation.

	Knowing that we are the extension of Jesus in the world 
(the branches), He has been the
	God-man extension of God to the world (the vine), are we 
*intentionally* bearing the fruit
	for which He sacrificed?

	*Truth in Action*
	
	Today I will identify one area where I have been especially 
faithful in my sacrificial 	service
	to God and celebrate that with the Holy Spirit in thankful 
prayer as I know that it is He who
	led and equipped me there.  I will then identify one area 
where I have been less effective in
	serving God than I believe I can be, perhaps due to fear, 
insecurity, or unpreparedness and
	I will ask Him to find me teachable – to overcome fear 
through His strength, to overcome
	insecurity based on my identity as His child, and to 
receive whatever preparation I need to
	go and to do and to be His *unreservedly*.

	*Be Specific* 
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Thursday's reading will be: John 15:18-16:33
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Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!  Pastor David
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