The Way

James 5: 14

Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.

James 4: 17

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Now we know. We can no longer plead ignorance. James tells us, plainly, what we are to do when we are sick. And yet, do we do it? If we do not, he says we are sinning. That’s kind of harsh but sometimes the truth is a hard taskmaster. There is no variance, no partial compliance.

I do not find that people comply with James 5: 14. We do not call for the elders and ask them to anoint us with oil and pray. We just don’t. Why? Are we not doers of the Word? Do we, instead, follow the path of the world? I believe God gave us medical science. I believe in the revelation he has given us. However, I believe the first line of defense is always James 5: 14. When medicine or treatment is called for, we should always take them with a healthy dose of prayer.

Is the reason we do not call for the elders and for prayer is because we are embarrassed to admit we have problems? Do we think that problems are evidence of a lack of faith? I sure do not. Paul asked for prayer for goodness’ sake. He didn’t seem to think it was a sign of weakness. Perhaps we don’t really believe in the power of prayer. Maybe we don’t believe in the ministry of elders. Or, could it be, that our real belief problem is that we do not believe in a living Christ who cares enough for us or is powerful enough to heal us. Is our Christ dead in our hearts? Do we really, in the deepest part of our spirits, believe that Jesus is alive and at work in people’s lives to this day.

To wit, this ministry has a dynamic prayer team. We certainly don’t use them enough. I often find myself surprised to hear of challenges Christians have gone through and never requested prayer. Use the prayer request feature by clicking HERE.

I have many questions today but not so many answers. What I know, though, is that Jesus’ brother gave us a clear edict and then threw down the gauntlet to see who would actually follow Jesus.

Is there any sick among you? This world is crumbling in around us. We better figure out, real soon, how to live according to “The Way”.

I Am . . .

John 14: 6

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

We may think of this as a simple verse. It is well known also. I wonder, though, if it has profound depths that we don’t always see.
Imaging being one of Jesus’ disciples. You are sitting together after supper and he says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  What would you think? One of my first questions is, the way to what? The better question would be, the way to whom? Jesus is the way to God. We know no one goes to God apart from Jesus. What we may lose touch with is that part of Jesus’ mission in the earth was to connect the Father with His people. He doesn’t want us to have a great relationship with him because we are “Christians” and fail to have a great relationship with our Father.

What about the truth? What did Jesus mean by that? Were his disciples perplexed? He is all truth and in him is no untruth, no deceitfulness. What an amazing statement that is. You do not have to question his motives or his words. What he says, literally, is gospel. Any word Jesus has ever spoken is absolute in its veracity. The other side of the coin is that no lie has any part in him. No, untruthfulness, deceit, fraud, cheating, treachery or duplicity has any part in him. He is whole in his honesty and forthrightness.

I am the life.” He is eternal life, yes, but he is also the air we breathe right now. Because he is the life, we know he is alive. If he was not alive, nothing else could have life. I often wonder if the world began to die those three days he was in the grave. Did the life begin to seep out of the earth? Another thought, he said he came here to give us abundant life. Okay, if he is the life, then he came to give us himself in abundance, right? He is to be found by us and absorbed, breathed, and lived.

Well, perhaps it is a simple verse but it sure is amazing to ponder.

The Way

John 14: 6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

I was riding my bike this week when this verse came to me and at the same time, took on a whole new meaning. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus; we know that. Jesus said he is the way. Thus, he is the way to the Father. As I was riding, I heard it this way. First Yahweh brought to my mind that no one goes to the Father apart from Jesus. The next words that came to my mind were, “I am the truth.” Then this idea reverberated in my spirit, “No one goes to the Father apart from the truth.” “That’s interesting,” but, “what truth?” I queried.

There are many truths; truths about Jesus, truths about the Father. What truth is it that we need to comprehend in order to live our lives intertwined with the Father like Jesus modeled for us and taught? The answer resonated through my whole body and was as clear as it could be. It is the truth about ourselves that prevents us from knowing our Father and living with Him as He desires.

A lot of people know the truth about Jesus. They know he is the one promised, the Messiah. Many people know the truth about Yahweh, that He is the one and only true God, that He is the Almighty and the creator of all. They know these truths, but one can know them and yet remain separated from God. In fact, Satan knows this as do his followers. Knowing this truth will not set you free by itself. We acknowledge these truths yet remain distant and separated from the Father. This is true even of Christians. Why? It is because we have not accepted the truth about us.

In order to draw close to the Father, we have to spend time with Him. One of the main reasons we do not do so is because He reveals the truth about us to us and for many of us that is a very uncomfortable event. So, we pray in the religious way. We attend church but we never reveal our hearts fully to the Father and we certainly do not allow Him to reveal the true content of our hearts to us. When we acknowledge truth, when we embrace it, that is when it changes our lives. That is what Jesus meant when he said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” (John 8: 32). He meant that you would recognize and accept the truth and when you do, you shall be set free.

He is the truth so when you know him and know him in your own heart then truly you will taste a liberty that is unavailable to those who only intellectually accept facts about Jesus. When we allow Jesus to show us ultimate truths, especially truths about ourselves, then we will experience healing, transformation and complete integration with the Holy One. It is then that we can join with the Father in an unencumbered fashion. That is when we can truly become one with Him. Jesus is telling us today that the only way to the Father is through the truth. The lies and deceptions we have been telling ourselves and others work to keep us separated from God. Allow Jesus to speak truth into your heart for it is the only way to the Father. Jesus is the way; the way is through truth.

The Way

Ephesians 3: 11 – 12

This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

It is almost unfortunate that we call ourselves Christians and our faith Christianity. While we owe everything to our beloved Christ, sometimes we miss the prize of his faith. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me,” (John 14: 6). What did he mean by “the way” and why would he mention it before revealing himself as the truth and the life. Those are two rather large concepts to follow behind, “the way.” This is what I believe we sometimes lose in our Christianity, the truth behind this statement.

Yahweh God did a mighty restoration through Jesus. He restored us to Himself. This is the main work of the Christ. We were lost. We had no connection with the Father until Jesus came and made a bridge, actually, he became the bridge. We were separated from God. Now, through faith in Jesus and his work, we are made children of the King.

I have heard many Christians confess that they love Jesus, but do not know the Father. I was there myself. I had no relationship with the Father. I called myself a Christian which seems fair because I loved Christ, but it was God who sent Jesus into the world. He did that so that His family would be restored to Him. Jesus said that no one goes to the Father but through Him. That is what he meant by saying he is the way. He is the way back to the Father. Fellowship with the Father was the goal and Jesus became our way. Now, through our faith in Jesus’ completed work, we can have bold and confident access to the Father any time. This is the purpose of our faith and Jesus’ sojourn in the earth. It was about this reconciliation. Because of what God and Jesus did, we have access to God’s presence anytime.

At the end of the day, Christianity really isn’t about Christ. It is about the family of God being reunited. Of course Jesus’ role is vitally important but we need to keep our eyes on why God sent him in the first place. We were estranged from our Father and Dad wanted us back in the family.

It is imperative that now we seek audience with God. We seek His face and His presence. We seek Him and fellowship with Him until we know Him as Father, Dad, Papa. He should be as real to you as your earthly parents, if not more so. I encourage you to get to know your Father. Walk hand in hand with Jesus along the beach to where you see Father seated on the sand. Pull up a towel and bask in His radiance. He is real. He is love and he loves you. He wants to be a Father to you. Be His child.

My Friends

John 15: 14

You are My friends if you do what I command you.

Jesus defined very clearly what he expects of his friends. He said that he no longer calls us servants but rather friends (John 15: 15). I do not have all the answers for yesterday’s questions but Jesus has answered one for us. His friends do as he says. What does that mean though?

At a minimum it means that we do everything in red type. If we do that, I believe we are doing well. The reality, though, is that everything in the Bible is him since he is the Word. I think we read the Bible and have good intentions. We embrace with our minds, with our intellect the things we see of Jesus in the Bible. It is quite a different thing, though, to actually live by his words. This is what his friends do however. This is the defining difference between slaves and friends but significantly this “doing” must come from our hearts. If it becomes a “work” i.e. something we must do for Jesus to love us, then we have jumped tracks and are headed on a different course all together.

Loving Jesus manifests in wanting to hear his words, read his words and ultimately do his words. Think about the person you love. Remember when you first met. You hung on every word, you did what they wanted to do just because. Friends seem to just like hanging out together. You like hearing their thoughts and they enjoy hearing yours. You share your lives. Would it really be a friendship if your only contact was reading stories about them?

Jesus wants our lives to become integrated with his. He wants us to keep him commands to us because they will lead us into success and happiness. We are going to need to change some of our thinking though. Our minds can be transformed though and that comes through the Word. If we will meditate on Jesus’ words, we will see the way. We will want to go the way Jesus points because it is a good path. Friends are not at odds with each other, they are headed on the same path in the same direction.

Jesus’ friends draw close to him and follow him in his ways. He is calling to you. “Come to me, come with me” he says. He wants to be with you. Draw closer to him today. Call him “friend.”

One Way Road

Numbers 32: 11                    NIV

Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promise on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I quoted from Dr. Jim Richard’s book How To Stop the Pain earlier this week. In that book Richard’s teaches that the way to happiness and a life of security and freedom is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I would suggest that advice shows the way to the promised land that our Father has for us.

God is not trying to keep us out of the promise. He is trying to lead us into receiving all of His good gifts. Unfortunately, sometimes we quit on Him or do not go in the direction where the provision lies. I often think of it like the old Pony Express system. The riders needed to follow a prescribed route because that is where there supplies were stationed. God has already provided everything we need also but it is on the prearranged path. God has told us that He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29: 11) and He has laid out a course and provisioned that route so that we arrive in the promised land on time, nourished and without injury. We just need to stay on track.

How is that actually accomplished though? We speak and write a bit figuratively so how does this apply to real life? I believe there is a practical truth revealed in today’s verse. Although we are living in different times and in a different situation than the Israelites I believe the truth and the revelation is in following Jesus wholeheartedly. I also believe there are several layers of truth in that statement.

First, there are a lot of lukewarm Christians out there. You know them. Some of them even attend your church regularly. Sometimes I fear one of them looks back at me from her home in my mirror. How do we prevent ourselves from being what I call a “Cultural Christian”? Somehow our Christianity ought to color our lives. There ought to be a difference in our lives since Jesus came into it and I do not mean that we attend church every week. A cultural Christian can do that. No, this is a heart matter. There ought to be something changed about us so that Jesus, his current thoughts, his teachings and his example are important to us. Do we really consider what it means to be under his lordship on a daily basis? Do we let him affect our thinking and decisions? Do we talk to him as if he really is our very best friend? Are we following him wholeheartedly or maybe just halfheartedly?

Second, as I said, this is a heart matter. Apparently we are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts, even our whole hearts. So, our life in Christ is an internal matter. It is not for others to determine the commitment of our hearts. This wholehearted devotion to our professed Lord is not external, in other words, it is not about the things we do. It is not even mental as in study. A heart that loves Jesus will certainly show itself in study and actions but they are only the product. We are meant to have a heart connection with Jesus. He is supposed to influence our hearts and perhaps we even affect his. This is not an intellectual relationship, it is not a work relationship. We are supposed to follow Jesus with our hearts. For some people this is challenging because we have anesthetized our hearts in a vain attempt not to feel or express emotion. But we have learned that we will not enter the promised land if we do not follow Jesus wholeheartedly. This is not because our Father doesn’t want us reaping all the blessings of the promised land. It is just simple logistics. The way to the promised land is through Jesus and the way to Jesus is through the heart. It’s just how it is.

There is a way. The way has been marked out for us. Supplies have been stationed all along the way so that we will always have our needs met. However, there is only one way whether we like it or not and that is in following Jesus, his ways and his teachings with our whole heart.

My People

Jeremiah 31: 33

I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Relationship; that is what this whole Christianity thing is about. At a very basic level Christianity is not a religion. Religion is what happens after people believe in our Father but the fundamental desire of our Father is not to be worshiped and served. His fundamental purpose is to be in relationship with us and to provide the means by which we can be in relationship with Him. The reason Jesus came to the earth was to restore that “way” to the Father for us. Jesus is “the way” (John 14: 6). By and through him we travel back into a close, personal relationship with the Lord, our God.

A relationship of any kind requires input by more than one person. In other words, relationships require two-way communication; give and take. Many Christians have a very one dimensional connection with the Lord. We can have so much more and it is God’s desire that we do. As we open our minds to what it means to develop a good relationship with another person, we begin to also open our hearts to what it means to do the same with our Father God. As we open our hearts and minds to Him, He is better able to direct us and thus lead us into a deep and meaningful relationship with Him. He really will teach you all kinds of things about walking with Him like Adam and Eve walked with Him in the Garden of Eden. As we treat him as a person of value rather than as a distant God, we will really move into an intimate place with Him and I can think of nothing greater than that.