John 12:9-26 – Jesus Time Has Come…

Jesus Discovered! John 12:9-11 - 9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there (At Bethany). They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead.10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, 11 because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them (Leaving the teaching and traditions of the Jewish Leaders) and believing in Jesus. (Following Him as the Messiah, the Savior.)

When we respond by coming out of the Grave…  (Salvation) When we’re unwrapped of our grave clothes (Growing, Developing, and Maturing in Christ (Discipleship!) we can expect opposition and persecution!

 

Lazarus was the reason many of the Jews were deserting the teachings and traditions of the Jewish leaders and turning to Jesus!    

 

What did Lazarus do?  

* He’s living the new life Jesus gave Him! Being a Witness for Jesus…  an Ambassador for Christ…  simply sharing the story of what happened and what Jesus did for Him!

 

Lazarus was living proof that Jesus was who He said He was!  That Jesus was indeed the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ, The Resurrection and the Life, the Son of the Living God!

 

Question?   ARE WE, AM I… living proof that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah, the Resurrection and the life, the Son of the Living God!  

 

Are people coming to Christ… rejecting the teaching and traditions of Men because of me and my Witness!

 

1 Corinthians 3:16 - Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:20 – For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - 1 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Acts 1:8 – 8 But when the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”

And just like Lazarus, we should expect opposition and persecution! There was a plot to kill Lazarus and there’s a plot to kill us, or the life of Christ in us!   The enemy wants to kill the any proof of Jesus or the Resurrected life in you!

 

John 12:12-19 – Jesus Rides into Jerusalem…   (Palm Sunday, Sunday before the Crucifixion)

This is a significant event which is recorded in all four Gospels.  Matt. 21, Mark 11, Luke 19 and John 12.

NOTE: When reading this account in John remember that John didn’t write down everything and all the details, he didn’t even record some of the things that were written in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

·         Jesus cleansing the Temple (Money changers)

·         Cursing the barren Fig Tree…

·         Healing the Blind man.

·         Going to Zaccheus house.

·         Jesus weeping over Jerusalem…

It’s quite possible and most likely that Jesus entered Jerusalem multiple times that day or that week as He was ministering.

John wrote what the Holy Spirit led Him to write.  His purpose…  That we may believe!  The Holy Spirit led each man to write from a different perspective… in reading all of these we get a full understanding of what took place.

John 12:12-19 – Jesus Rides into Jerusalem Triumphantly!  12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord —the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written:15 Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming,

John 12:1-8 – Waste or Worship?

 

John 12: 1-12 -  Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.  4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said,5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages.  It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. 7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

 

Soon Jerusalem will soon double in size from the number of people coming to celebrate the Passover.   (Exodus 12…)

 

Lazarus, Martha, Mary have a dinner in honor of Jesus…  (The Gospel of Matthew 26, and Mark 14… also document this story. )

Matthew 26:6-13 - 6 … Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. 7 While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

While they were eating…  Mary comes in with this Alabaster jar, 12 ounces of very expensive oil, (Nard).   She breaks open the Jar and pours in on Jesus Head and then His feet and wipes his feet with her hair!    

 

Nard:

* A very rare herb grown in the high pasture lands of China, Tibet, and India.  It was very valuable and expensive. 300 Denarii = Years Salary.

* $40,000- 45,000

 

This isn’t simply washing someone’s dirty feet…  this is an EXTRAVAGANT, OUTRAGEOUS act of love, devotion and Worship.

Worship = All that I am (Spiritually, Mentally, Emotionally, Physically) responding to glorify and honor Him for all that He is!  

* Warren Wiersbe - Worship is our response to all we are – mind, emotions, will, body – to what God is and says and does.

* John MacArthur - Worship is our innermost being responding with praise for all that God is, through our attitudes, actions, thoughts, and words based on the truth of God as He has revealed Himself.

* John Piper - The inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond from the heart to that knowledge by valuing God, treasuring God, prizing God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things. God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

* Ray Stedman - Worship is a heart transformed that expresses itself regardless of the cost!

 

IS that the way we worship?  It’s “convicting” isn’t it!   It was for me… 

Mary’s response, her expression of love, devotion and WORSHIP of Jesus wasn’t Cheap!  It was EXTRAVAGANT!  It was OUTRAGEOUS!  

That perfume was probably the most valuable thing in her life, probably her life savings… saving it for her own burial.  (NOTE: It wasn’t used for Lazarus!)

 

What she did wasn’t complicated, or complex… She simply saw an opportunity to Worship Him by serving Him and she responded in obedience.

 

It wasn’t just “what” she sacrificed to express her love and devotion it was also “how” she expressed it!   

A lot of us work real hard to make sure our reputation is in tact, we want people to think highly of us. We act a certain way, carry ourselves in a certain manner…  and most of us wouldn’t dare do anything that would make...

John 11:45-57 The Plot to Kill Jesus pt 3

“Where Are You Heading?”

 

Review

11:39-44 ~ Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead!

 

Jesus tell the people to “Roll the stone aside!”

Jesus calls to Lazarus. “Lazarus come out!”

Then Jesus tells the people to take off the grave clothes! “Unwrap him and let him go!”

 

Jesus didn’t need any help to do any of that!  But he wanted the people to be a part of it.

 

The same is true today! The One that spoke the world into existence, desires to use you and me to fulfill his purposes.

 

The stones we remove today are those barriers that are in the way of people coming to know Jesus! Barriers that are in the way of people being able to leave their old life of sin and experience their NEW LIFE in Christ!

 

As we love God and love others and walk in obedience to Christ we have impact and influence in those we do life with every day!

Co-workers - Neighbors - Circle of friends – Bro & Sis in Christ.

 

Jesus called Lazarus out!

JESUS SAVES!!!  ~ But we have a part to play!!

 

Our greatest impact on ourselves and others is rolling stones & removing grave clothes…

Loving people enough to help them take off that sin nature and put on Christ …

 

Sanctification ~ It’s never a one-way street!

The reality is that we still have a little grave clothes on that we need help with too!

Prov 27:17 ~ As Iron sharpening Iron, so one person sharpens another.

 

 

 

This week: 11:45-57 The Pharisees Plot to kill Jesus. Pt 3

 

Jesus has performed his greatest miracle prior to His resurrection, the 7th sign that He is God ~ The Messiah.

 

But we’ll see, even with this…. there’s still two reactions ~ two responses.

 

Those who accept, and those who reject…

 

“Many” came to know him as Lord…

Yet the Pharisees conspired to… Ignore the obvious!  Bury the evidence! & Kill Jesus!

 

As we work our way through the text and see how the Pharisees ignore what they know to be true.  Consider how we sometimes do that in relation to last week’s text.

We’re to be rolling away stones and taking off grave clothes!

Removing obstacles & helping each other grow in our relationship with the Lord.

 

As Christians, followers of Christ, we know that Jesus wants us to join him in the work that he is doing! 

Yet sometimes our sense of direction gets off, we lose sight of Jesus and begin looking around at lesser things or the storms of life and miss out on the opportunity to experience His miracles, his purpose and his blessings, both in us and through us!

 

The Pharisees are heading to disaster.  (they don’t have a clue)

Jesus is heading to the Cross.

But… Where are you heading? … or do you even know?

 

 

(Context) 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

HEY! What if Jesus hadn’t said Lazarus come out, everybody buried there would have come out!!

File that: Jesus works with specifics!

John 11: 1-57 – Lazarus Raised From the Dead – Part 2

In John 11, John records Lazarus being raised from the dead!  It’s the 7th sign Jesus performs and without a doubt the greatest.  (Apart from Jesus own resurrection!)

Raising Lazarus from the dead pushes the religious leaders over the edge… up to this point they’ve wanted to kill Jesus and after this they begin to make plans to do so.

This is the last and the most amazing miracle Jesus performs to help people with their unbelief, to increase their Faith, Trust in Him as the Messiah.   To KNOW that He is the Messiah… the Son of God and God himself!   That’s the whole theme of John…

John 20:31 - 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

In John 11:25-26 Jesus shares the 5th “I AM” statement.

I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.  Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?   (Eternal life isn’t some place in the future, it’s KNOWING God and Jesus Christ.  A Restored Relationship!)

 

Raising Lazarus from the Dead – Part 2.

 John 11:39-44 - 39 “Roll the stone aside, ”Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

 

Jesus and Jesus alone raised Lazarus from the dead.   “I am the resurrection and the life. He said, The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.  Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

There’s nothing we do, nothing we can do to raise people to new life, however, we ARE part of the process!  The Father wants us to be part of the Process! 

 

1.) Vs. 39 - 39 “Roll the stone aside, ”Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.  40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”41 So they rolled the stone aside.

 

* Could Jesus remove the stone himself? Yes, He’s God!

* Does Jesus really need us? No, He’s God!

 

Jesus wants to use us in the process of others coming to know Him and experience New life in Him!   It’s part of God’s Plan!  

 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 - 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” 21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

People in the grave (those who are spiritually dead) can’t remove the stone!  They’re dead.

Meeting Times:

Location:

– Message Note

Here in John 11, John records Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead which is the 7th (and greatest sign) that Jesus is who He says He is!  He’s the Messiah, He’s God!  

1. Changing water into wine.  - John 2

2. Healing the Royal Official’s son – John 4

3. Healing the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda – John 5

4. Feeding the 5000 – John 6

5. Walking on water – John 6

6. Healing the man born blind. – John 9

7. Lazarus raised from the dead. – John 11

Jesus is still in Bethany where John the Baptist was Baptizing. Many are coming to believe in Him there.

John 11:1-46 -  Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, (Chap 12.) and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. 

Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were dear friends of Jesus. They had spent a lot of time together (Doing life together!) Jesus had healed Mary (demons) there’s a close relationship with this family and Jesus.  

Why didn’t Jesus drop everything He was doing and come to meet their need?  Why does he hang out there 2 more days!  Doesn’t He care!

Vs. 4 - 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 

• The same is true for us…   our sickness, our issue, our circumstance…regardless of what it is…  Is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it!

• By the time Jesus gets the news, Lazarus is most likely dead.  Lazarus is a believer/disciple/follower of Jesus. He’s eternally secure!  

The People in the area where Jesus was ministering were lost!  If they died they would die in their sin and be separated from God forever.  

What’s the greater priority?  Keeping Saints out of heaven or Sinners out of Hell?  What are we as the Church more focused on?!

Luke 15:4 - "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

John 11:7-10 - 7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”  9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

We only have so much time to accomplish our Mission!  If we walk in the light of the day (in Christ, in God’s will) we don’t stumble… if we walk at night (in Sin, in our will) we will stumble, because the light isn’t in us!

Jesus didn’t let circumstances, issues of life dictate, distract or deter His purpose and mission.  HE fulfilled what God wanted Him to do!  The same should apply to us as followers and Disciples of Christ!  

• Have we allowed some issue, some circumstance of life to distract, deter,or destroy our purpose and mission for Christ?

John 11:11-16 - 11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.

John 10:22-42 – The Good Shepherd – Part 2

Recap:

John 10:7-18 - … I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.  They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

 

There is only one gate, one door….  That gate, that door is Jesus. 

There is only one Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd provides an abundant life… sacrifices His life for the Sheep.

 

Jesus voluntarily paid the price for all sin, our sin… He experienced death…  the wrath of God…  separation from God and did that for us, that we might be restored to God the Father!  

 

Not only did He die for us, he was raised from the dead!  Only God can conquer death!  Jesus is God! 

 

Do you KNOW the Shepherd?  More importantly…  does the Shepherd KNOW You!?  

 

We can fool the Sheep but you can’t fool the Shepherd!  HE KNOWS who are His, who belong to Him!

 

Today we pick it up in John 10:22-42. 

We’re halfway through the book of John and now couple of months have passed.  It’s mid/late December…  3 months before Jesus Crucifixion.

 

John 10:22-42 - 22 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication.23 He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

 

Feast of Dedication.  What they call Hanukkah now; it’s a Historical celebration of the Jewish revolt (167-157 BC) which restored the Temple.  In 164 BC A Syrian/Greek King Antiochus seized the Temple and tried to remove all worship of God.  He sacrificed a pig on in the Holy of Holies to desecrate the Temple.  Many who worshipped God during that time were killed for doing so.   However, Jewish Freedom Fighters led by Judas Maccabeus regained and reestablished the Temple.

 

24 The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are (really) the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name. (My credentials are the miracles and evidence that declares who I am.)

 

The Religious Leaders don’t really want to know the Truth.  They’ve already made it a law to throw anyone out of the Temple who believes in or confesses Him as Messiah!

 

Jesus said,

John 10:1-21 – THE Good Shepherd – Message Notes.

Recap of Chapter 9:

Chapter 10 is a continuation of Chapter 9. Back up to John 9:35-41

John 9:35-41 - 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked.37 Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”

41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

John 10:1-5 - 1 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

• In that part of the world Shepherds would bring their flocks into town to a Sheep Pen, Sheep Fold… for Safety. (Stacked rocks, stones, tree branches or whatever they could find.)

• Several flocks might be gathered all together and this Sheep Pen was guarded by a gatekeeper until the Shepherds come back for their flock in the morning.

• In the morning, Shepherds had to come through the gate, the door to get their Sheep. There was only one way in, one way out. They would call their Sheep and the Sheep would follow them.

John 10:6- 6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate (door) for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

This is the 3rd “I Am” statement that Jesus makes. I am the gate (door) for the Sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers… Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.

“THE” gate, not a gate. The gate represents authority, ownership. There is only one who has the authority, the right of ownership and that’s the Messiah! Jesus. God Himself. (Revelation 5 – There is only one worthy to open the scroll… JESUS!)

The Pharisees thought of themselves as the “Gate” or the Door to Righteousness, Salvation, Heaven, to the Father but Jesus told them… Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. Matt. 23:13

Vs. 10 - 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

God has provided ONE WAY! Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible. To try and find any other way, is stealing (Salvation from you), killing (Salvation in you) and destroying you (Separation from God forever in a place called Hell!).

John 10:11-13 - 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd.

John 9 Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind

Ch 8 Review

Woman caught in adultery. “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Jesus says 12“I AM the light of the world. (2nd I AM statement) Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

But the Pharisees continue to stand against Jesus and plot to kill him…

Pride, Self-righteousness, Worldliness, Unbelief and Willful Ignorance of the Truth caused them (and us) to lie and distort the facts (the Truth) to support what we want to believe ~ what we want to do!

They imitate & obey their father the Devil ~ Christian/Disciple are to imitate & obey our Father in heaven.  Christian ~ little Christ!!

47 The one who is from God listens to God’s word.”  If we belong to God, we hear him speak…

Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice and they follow me”

Who do you resemble… who’s character and nature do we exhibit more often than not?

Who’s you Daddy? Is it Abba Father in heaven? Or Satan?

Chapter 9

Jesus heals Man born blind …. Completely! Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually, Intellectually!

BUT, for Him to be healed, He had to act – respond… only then did he receive his sight.

• Faith put into Action – Amplifies!!

• Understanding (God & ourselves) and Boldness Increase with Action!

• Misguided Faith is worse than no faith at all. JD called it Willful Ignorance.

o Take Away: When you put your Faith into Action it amplifies your understanding of God and yourselves, and it amplifies your boldness in proclaiming Jesus Christ!  Misguided Faith is worse than no faith at all.

An Amplifier takes a signal and makes it stronger!!

​

Jesus Heals a Man that was Born Blind

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“As he went along” ~ ch8 ended with the Pharisees trying to stone him, but he walked on out of the temple.

NKJV v59,1 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going[p] through the midst of them, and so passed by.  1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.

With all the opposition …. He just went on about his Fathers business!  ~ He knew that nothing was going to happen before it’s appointed time!  Nothing was going to sneak up on His Heavenly Father!!

He had NO FEAR!

(Spurgeon) Jesus was often reviled, but never ruffled. “One of the things worthy to be noticed in our Lord’s character is his wonderful quiet of spirit, especially his marvelous calmness in the presence of those who misjudged, and insulted, and slandered him.”

That’s the same Spirit that we receive when we give our lives to the Lord.  

​Why are so stressed so much of the time??

Check out the Disciples: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

They just walk past a blind beggar ~ and they want to discussdoctrine!      

REALLY??????

But before I get down on them to hard…

The Son has set me free… His grace is poured out on me…  

How often do I, DO YOU, see a person as a problem, instead of an opportunity to extend the grace that YOU & I have received?

(Spurgeon) “Let us then be less inquisitive and more practical, less for cracking doctrinal nuts, and more for bringing forth the bread of life to the starving multitudes.”