John 8:37-39
37But on the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus had stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsting, let him come to Me and be drinking. 38The one Trusting in Me, just as the Scripture said, ‘Out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (No specific OT reference, but for general idea see Isaiah 55: 1; 58: 11; Ezek 47: 1; Joel 3: 18; Zech 13: 1; 14: 8) 39But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom the ones Trusting in Him were about to be receiving, for Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Your Will Be Done!" This is three verses, only three verses, and to comprehend them prior to the death, burial, Resurrection, and Pentecost is near impossible. That is, when the Holy Spirit not only came upon the Apostles, they were indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
What makes the verses so hard to understand is that the people wanted to Believe the Messiah had finally come. Yet all the things they thought they knew from the teaching from Old Testament Prophecy about the Christ, didn't fit Jesus perfectly. Still He was such a different kind of teacher that most of those eager for the Messiah tossed aside their religion, Judaism, and stepped forward to Trust in Jesus.
Today's easy lesson: When you read the words above it must to come to you that what Jesus had to say was so freeing, so loving, so different from Judaism's Religious Tenets, that even though the people had to choose between what they were taught, or choose Jesus, they pushed aside feelings and went with what they could see, hear, and observe in their life.
Put yourself back there. Can you imagine how tough it must have been to want to follow the One True God's Son, but the message of Jesus defied the "church" in which you were brought up, and did not support Jesus? On the other hand, given a choice of walk the line or Live and love, the reality on the ground made the choice easy for many of the early Christians. It is kind of a Reformation similar to what happened in the 1960s where traditional, church going, act nice in public Christians, were finding that their children were not satisfied with Walk the line, and it wasn't just sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There was a great awakening to the Truth that is still alive and thriving to this day. Notice, I did not say alive and well. The hippies have gone from the Freedom in Christ, granted they did take most of that Freedom to far, but instead of digging deeper into the great path they were on, they submitted to the rule of Law. Then they came up with so many odd and unusual diversities within the new church culture, finding the Truth among all the variations the old hippies produced is near impossible. Back to square one, except instead of just the Law, they add Jesus, put it all in a mixer, and I guess you could call the newest version of mankind's penchant for religion, Superstitianity.
How does this help you in your daily walk with the Father? Jesus is in the Temple yelling to the crowds of people, on this last day of the Feast, and likely the day most people attending the Temple at one time, so to be heard He had to raise His voice. What Jesus was saying could not be understood at that moment, and the Apostle John explains why. The message is that Jesus was special in the eyes of many people due to His looks? No, it was all about the message and for His care about the average Joseph and Josephine. Maybe they didn't understand it all, but Love translates in every language, and that they could understand. Notice Jesus didn't discuss sin, baptism, confession, the Laws, none of that. Going back to the 1960s, I hate to use John Lennon as a reference, but in reality, when you tell people "Love is all you need," that they understand. Your Father has given you the Holy Spirit. Above, that little while John spoke of before the Holy Spirit would be able to indwell the Apostles, was nearly three months or more away. Plus that was an issue most could not understand. All they could understand is that if Jesus was the Way, the Messiah, they were in, and by that they were not going to be easily taken from Jesus. Jesus was there and they could hear Him and be counseled by Him. That is true today as well. Your Father is right inside of you. He will do anything to lead you down the path of righteousness for your own good, not His. Please take a moment to talk to your Abba, Father, Daddy right now. I am compelled to ask to do that. This feeling tells me that you will be joyful when the conversation is over. Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
37But on the last, the great day of the feast, Jesus had stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsting, let him come to Me and be drinking. 38The one Trusting in Me, just as the Scripture said, ‘Out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” (No specific OT reference, but for general idea see Isaiah 55: 1; 58: 11; Ezek 47: 1; Joel 3: 18; Zech 13: 1; 14: 8) 39But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom the ones Trusting in Him were about to be receiving, for Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Your Will Be Done!" This is three verses, only three verses, and to comprehend them prior to the death, burial, Resurrection, and Pentecost is near impossible. That is, when the Holy Spirit not only came upon the Apostles, they were indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
What makes the verses so hard to understand is that the people wanted to Believe the Messiah had finally come. Yet all the things they thought they knew from the teaching from Old Testament Prophecy about the Christ, didn't fit Jesus perfectly. Still He was such a different kind of teacher that most of those eager for the Messiah tossed aside their religion, Judaism, and stepped forward to Trust in Jesus.
Today's easy lesson: When you read the words above it must to come to you that what Jesus had to say was so freeing, so loving, so different from Judaism's Religious Tenets, that even though the people had to choose between what they were taught, or choose Jesus, they pushed aside feelings and went with what they could see, hear, and observe in their life.
Put yourself back there. Can you imagine how tough it must have been to want to follow the One True God's Son, but the message of Jesus defied the "church" in which you were brought up, and did not support Jesus? On the other hand, given a choice of walk the line or Live and love, the reality on the ground made the choice easy for many of the early Christians. It is kind of a Reformation similar to what happened in the 1960s where traditional, church going, act nice in public Christians, were finding that their children were not satisfied with Walk the line, and it wasn't just sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There was a great awakening to the Truth that is still alive and thriving to this day. Notice, I did not say alive and well. The hippies have gone from the Freedom in Christ, granted they did take most of that Freedom to far, but instead of digging deeper into the great path they were on, they submitted to the rule of Law. Then they came up with so many odd and unusual diversities within the new church culture, finding the Truth among all the variations the old hippies produced is near impossible. Back to square one, except instead of just the Law, they add Jesus, put it all in a mixer, and I guess you could call the newest version of mankind's penchant for religion, Superstitianity.
How does this help you in your daily walk with the Father? Jesus is in the Temple yelling to the crowds of people, on this last day of the Feast, and likely the day most people attending the Temple at one time, so to be heard He had to raise His voice. What Jesus was saying could not be understood at that moment, and the Apostle John explains why. The message is that Jesus was special in the eyes of many people due to His looks? No, it was all about the message and for His care about the average Joseph and Josephine. Maybe they didn't understand it all, but Love translates in every language, and that they could understand. Notice Jesus didn't discuss sin, baptism, confession, the Laws, none of that. Going back to the 1960s, I hate to use John Lennon as a reference, but in reality, when you tell people "Love is all you need," that they understand. Your Father has given you the Holy Spirit. Above, that little while John spoke of before the Holy Spirit would be able to indwell the Apostles, was nearly three months or more away. Plus that was an issue most could not understand. All they could understand is that if Jesus was the Way, the Messiah, they were in, and by that they were not going to be easily taken from Jesus. Jesus was there and they could hear Him and be counseled by Him. That is true today as well. Your Father is right inside of you. He will do anything to lead you down the path of righteousness for your own good, not His. Please take a moment to talk to your Abba, Father, Daddy right now. I am compelled to ask to do that. This feeling tells me that you will be joyful when the conversation is over. Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
