The key to a Christian’s joy is its source, which is the Lord. If Christ is in me and I am in Him, that relationship is not a sometimes experience. Even if the Christian cannot rejoice in current circumstances, he/she can still rejoice in Christ. The peace of God sustains us during times of hardship.

The world thought it was passing judgment on Jesus, at the cross. In reality, the cross was passing judgment on them.

Let us be careful in our own fickleness, to believe we are “committed to Jesus” when He knows we are not. As it was for the Jews that Jesus spoke to that day, it is the same with us.

A man like Judas only blooms in a sphere of Christianity. He’d be lost in the world because there are a million Judases, who would betray Christ for anything.

Those who hear Jesus’ shout on the last day will participate in His resurrection, the true lasting resurrection. The raising of Lazarus was only a pale anticipation of what was yet to come for those who commit their life to Jesus.

Jesus came into the world to bring us resurrection life, because He loved us. That’s why He sat over Jerusalem and said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her brood, but you would not. And He cried.”

As Christians, we do not need to fear death. We are operating on God’s time

The Jews had ignored all of Christ’s signs and wonders. The trouble was not with a declaration of Christ, but with their own unbelief. Unbelief is always the mother of ignorance, and faith is the mother of understanding.

If the wolf or the lion came after the sheep, the sheep could not persuade the shepherd to defend them. The shepherd must voluntarily protect the sheep.

Jesus knows us, in the truest sense that He loves and shepherds us as His own. He knows His people personally, as they know Him.