Jesus is the door. Both shepherds and sheep must enter the Kingdom of God through Jesus. There is no other way to be saved or to legitimately lead God's people.

God's people are to be a just people just as he is a just God. When it comes to local or higher courts, impartiality and a pursuit of true justice are crucial. Whether in Israel during Moses' day or in the church in our day, these principles of justice are vital for the community of God's people.

Here is a clear difference between testimony and evangelism. Personal testimony is bearing witness to the truth regarding your ability to give pertinent facts from your own experience. The formerly blind man did this. But he was not able to evangelize yet because he did not himself come to faith in Jesus until after the testimony recorded in chapter 9. The Gospel is not about us but about the person and work of Jesus Christ.

In the law regarding the firstborn and the three annual pilgrimage feasts, Moses repeatedly uses the phrase "to the LORD your God." These festivals and feasts were about the LORD and His covenant commitment and provisions to the people of God. We, too, live our lives "to the LORD our God."

Jesus reinforces the fact that we cannot always associate particular sin with illness, disease or other "bad" things. Yet in so doing, He also heals a man born blind giving evidence that He is the Son of God.

Although we don't have indentured servants or "debt slavery" today, this is the theme of this passage. There were two thrusts - if Israel followed God's ways in the covenant community, poverty would not be a problem. But because of the reality of sin and the reality of always having the poor, the way creditors treated debtors was crucial in a community with God as their master.

Of all the I AM statements of Jesus in the book of John, this one offers the clearest picture of displaying the deity of Jesus. He claims to be the great I AM and the Jewish leaders understood this - so much so that they tried unsuccessfully to stone Jesus!

When it comes to every aspect of our lives, we believers understand our identity should impact our behavior. As a holy people who fear God, and as Sons of God, even our eating habits are meant to glorify Him!

Are you a child of God or a child of the devil? The Jewish leaders who opposed Jesus claimed to be children of Abraham, which they were genealogically yet were still not in the Kingdom. What would Jesus say about you and your father?

As Moses starts off specific details about the law in Israel's new land, he began with worship and continues with the absolute line drawn at monotheism. No other gods period! Here is what to do when the temptations come and here are solid principles for today's people of God - the church.