Howdy everyone,
This week my youth pastor, Jason, volunteered to do the devotional. His e-mail address is [email protected]
E-mail him and tell him what ya think about the devotional.
If anyone would like to do a devotional please get back with me.
My band is finally on the web. Go to foah.netfirms.com
We are updating daily. We should be all done with the site by the beginning of next week. Ok thanx.
John 8:31-32 NIV
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
These verses seem so easy to understand on the surface. They seem to be a nice little pleasant thought. God's truth has set us free; that's so warm and fuzzy.
When you start to dig deeper, though, it gets a little more complicated. The people to whom Jesus was speaking in these verses didn't feel warm and fuzzy about it--they got mad! They were indignant! How dare He! The argument that followed got so heated that by the end of the chapter these people "who had believed him" were ready to kill Him!
What's going on? Why are these people so offended? What is Jesus really saying?
To the Jews who had believed him,
These people are called "Jews." So? Jesus was a Jew. John was a Jew. Why does John point out these people are Jews? This is John's way of saying that they haven't become Jesus' disciples yet. They "believed" Him, but that only means they accepted something He said, not that they placed their full faith in Him for salvation. Today, many people in church (maybe even some of you who will read this email) believe things about Jesus, but have never trusted Him as their Savior and Lord.
Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching,
To "hold to" means to remain in. To hold to Jesus' teaching would be to follow Him in order to hear more of it and to live by what He taught. It is not enough for us to hear a sermon and respond on a single occasion. God wants us to "live" in His word. If we spend time reading the Bible, studying the Bible, meditating on the Bible, and changing our behavior based on what we find in the Bible, then. . . .
you are really my disciples.
You know, Jesus doesn't talk much about being "saved." He talks more in terms of our relationship to Him and to the Father, and how that bears on eternal life. Here He makes it clear that at least part of what He is looking for in a relationship is for us to be His disciples. That really just means we are to be His students, His "learners." You know from life that we can only learn from someone as long as we are connected to them in some way; classroom lectures, homework assignments, even email devotionals. So Jesus wants us to stay connected to His teaching (as explained in the previous paragraph), so we can really be His learners. Why?
Then you will know the truth,
Usually we think we have to understand something to believe it. But Jesus told the Jews that their initial level of belief was just the first step to understanding truth. We have to believe in Jesus enough to want to stay in His word. Then we will learn from Him. Then we will know the truth. In fact, I think this teaches us that learning and knowing the truth is a lifelong process. As we obey the truth God gives us and remain in his word, there is more truth He wants to show us. But this is not just a great big intellectual exercise. It has real meaning for our existence.
and the truth will set you free."
This is the part that upset the people. To say that they needed to be set free was to say that they were currently not free. They were slaves. To Jews whose entire national identity was wrapped up in the idea that God brought them out of slavery, this was quite a shocker. They belonged to God! They were children of Abraham! They weren't in bondage! Well Jesus explained that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. That is why we need God's truth. We need to be set free from sin. How does God's truth set us free from sin?
1. We learn that God judges not just our actions, but also our hearts, that we may look deeper and hunger for righteousness.
2. We learn that every need we want to fulfill through sinful means, God will take care of in His righteous way, that we may trust Him during temptation.
3. We learn that sin damages our relationship with God, that we may not be complacent in our failures.
4. We learn the wickedness of sin, that we may hate it.
5. We learn that forgiveness is available, that we may repent and be forgiven.
6. We learn that God cleanses from sin, that we may not feel condemned after we have repented.
7. We learn that we are to forgive others, that we may not be in bondage to bitterness.
Spend time with Jesus today. If you consistently spend lots of time with him, you will really be his learner. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.