Category Archives: Gospel of John

A New Want To

I found this in my draft file. 
It appears to have been there for a while, like sometime between June of 2020 and January of 2021.
I’ve read it and guess what, it’s still true! So I thought I’d add a bit more and press the publish button. 


Sin.
It’s been on my mind heavily, lately.
Mine and yours.
The ‘yours’ meaning what we see every time we turn on a digital media screen or perhaps just walking public streets.
Seriously, have you noticed all the sin (evil) paraded in our world?
I mean people tell lies like it’s the truth.
Womb Babies are killed like they are nothing – a vegetable or less.
People kill. They steal. They destroy lives, families, marriages, property, industry, education . . . on and on goes the destruction.
That reminds me of Scripture. Something YESHUA said when He was speaking of Satan.

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  source  John 10:10

Sin destroys.
But we still do it.
Why?
Why do people sin?

I’ve heard for years that people are not sinners because they sin; they sin because they are sinners.

I have no doubt it is true.
People sin because we are sinners.
And here it gets really ugly. We sin because we like it!
Oh more than like it, we cherish it!  That’s why we keep doing it. 
Only when we see the ugly, awfulness of our sin do we even get the inkling that we might like to stop. The only thing is we can’t. 

We do not have the power to stop sinning even if we had the want to!

Don’t believe me? Try it!

Pick out your favorite sin, oh what the heck, make it easier, pick out your least favorite

and NEVER do it again.

Our flesh is totally depraved it cannot NOT sin. 
BUT when JESUS makes us a NEW CREATION we CAN. 
As we yield to HOLY SPIRIT, we can lay down any sin we want to. 

Now we must ask, how’s our want to
And if we don’t have a new want to; it just may be that we are still lost in our sins – no salvation has occurred. 

Does this mean we become sinless on this side of Heaven?
NO.

But it does mean we sin less than we used to.
It means day by day or perhaps year by year, we see ourselves more and more choosing to obey our Father.
We see ourselves conforming more and more to the Image of JESUS. 

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; source

Dustbuster

Servant.  

Not a word that is presently liked so much. 
Perhaps because we have lost sight of the intent and the Perfect Example of being a Servant.  John 13
Just in my span of years, I have seen the scowl on faces at just the mention of it; and signs of the bitter taste it leaves in the mouths of many. 

Do you?

 

And then the light shines brightly – the act of service – being a servant, is meant to be a healing balm in this cold, hostile world.

 

Serve one another in love. 
How healing would that be in homes all over this world? 

Should I say it? 
I think I shall.
We are more like JESUS when we serve one another in love than just about any other time in our lives. 
And the opposite of that – well, we know, don’t we? 

Love Serves. 
What says get it yourself

As We Trust GOD

Elizabeth said to Mary (in part): “Indeed you are blessed, because you have trusted that the promise ADONAI has made to you will be fulfilled.” Verse 45 of Luke chapter 1 CJB

Why was Mary blessed? 

Because she trusted that the promise GOD made to her would be fulfilled. 

How are we blessed? 
When we trust GOD, when we trust the promises HE has made to us HE will fulfill. 

What has He promised? 
For starters: John 3:16-18

And how about He will never leave us or forsake us? Hebrews 13:5

May I encourage you to recount to yourself today some of His promises to you that you are relying on today? 

 

 

 

 

 

As we TRUST GOD.

The Staff of Life

Wheat Berries,  A Grain Mill Attachment, and Freshly Baked Bread – for these I am giving thanks.
Freshly milled flour, yeast, some honey, a little salt, warm water, and soon the fragrance of bread fills the kitchen and perhaps the den too. :)

Bread, the staff of life.
Bread.
Truly. There’s just something lovely about it.

I remember thinking some long uncertain time ago that somehow I am not surprised that BREAD has gotten a bad rap.  And why not? With every morsel of bread, we eat we should be reminded of Our Savior, The Bread of Life. No wonder bread is slandered.
It’s been called fattening, and other unfavorable names.  Decades ago when the berries were modified and the fields were sprayed with pesticides and plowed with chemical fertilizers – well, I must agree adulterated bread is deadly. 

BUT for me with organic, unmodified wheat berries milled fresh, that bread nourishes the body, brightens the soul, and reminds the spirit of
The Bread of Life. 
Yes. For this I am thankful.

O taste and see that The LORD is good. See Psalm 34:8