"We Would See Jesus!"

John 12:20-21... Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

By this time in John’s account, Jesus had performed some wondrous miracles including raising Lazarus from the dead. I don’t know if those Greeks wanted to “see” Jesus because they were “believers” or if they just wanted to see who this “celebrity” was.
Curiosity is the lust of the mind to see great men, remarkable places, and uncommon things, said Thomas Hobbes, 1651.

Glorious Day!

       "Living, He loved me; 
         Dying, He saved me;
         Buried, He carried my sins far away;
         Rising, He justified freely forever;
         One day He's coming... 
         Oh glorious day, oh glorious day!" 

Today is a Glorious day! Jesus IS here because we are here.
Matt. 18:20: For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

I Am Thankful

Isaiah 57:19 God says... 
I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near,  and I will heal him.

The word “peace” there is the Hebrew “Shalome” which encompasses a great deal of meaning, including: completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, health, prosperity, tranquility, contentment, friendship of human relationships, and with God, especially in covenant relationship, completeness, soundness, welfare, safety, health, prosperity, tranquility, contentment, friendship of human relationships and with God, especially in covenant relationship.

The Heart of True Ethics

by John MacArthur

It is common in the evangelical church today for people to verbally acknowledge that the Bible, as God’s Word, is the final authority for both what they believe and how they live. Yet in reality, a clear connection between that public confession and personal conduct is rare.

Instead of looking to the Bible, many professing Christians look to psychology and sociology for supposed solutions to personal needs and social ills. The rise of postmodern thought has similarly skewed the church’s understanding of right and wrong—as an unbiblical tolerance (in the name of love) has weakened churches to the point where they are as soft on truth as they are on sin. Popular television shows, from Oprah to Leno to the average sitcom, have had a tangible effect (and not for the better) on how American Christians think through everyday issues. The political arena, too, has played a major role in shaping an evangelical understanding of morality, as words like “Republican” and “Democrat” or “liberal” and “conservative” have come to redefine the difference between what is good and what is evil.

Love One Another

John 15:12-14  
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you! If that was the only scripture in the New Testament (after Pentecost), I think verse 12 would suffice... IF we would accomplish it. And make no mistake... we CAN accomplish it by walking and living in the Spirit...by abiding in Christ.

Partakers of the Divine Nature

2 Peter 1:3-4
As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption and moral decay that is in the world through lust.

ANGUISH

Isaiah 53, but first I’d like to read in Luke 22:44,
“And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” 

There is a song which reads...
    "May I be willing Lord, to bear daily my cross for Thee;
     even Thy cup of grief to share; Thou hast borne all for me.
     Lest I forget Gethsemane;
     Lest I forget Thine agony;
     Lest I forget Thy love for me;
     Lead me to Calvary."

And Psalm 22:14-17, which prophesy Jesus was so aware of, says...
I am poured out like water; all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaw; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.