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"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That's why the world hates you." - John 15  Verses  18-19 (NIV) That's why the world hates you. How true! Every Christian needs to appreciate this. If you hold on to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the world will hate you, even if you haven't done anybody any harm. It will hate you simply because you would no longer be its own. People around you will consider you strange. You will be hated even by people who ordinarily should not have anything to do with you. How amazing! People will talk negatively about you. "He has lost his mind," they will claim, without even a hint of doubt regarding their own condition.  Jesus said, "...keep in mind that they hated me first." This is what emboldens me; it should embolden you too. Ju...

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15  Verse  12 (NIV)   "This is my command: Love each other." - John 15:17. The only thing that will remain after we are done with this world is how we have loved; how we have loved God and how we have loved people - how we have interacted with other people while still on earth. "And now these three remain: faith, hope and  love . But the  greatest  of these  is   love ." - 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) We will need faith and hope as long as we live in this world. But when we get to our real world, we will not need faith and hope, because we would have arrived. But love we will have to carry with us. So, in everything we do, in everything that we seek to achieve, we must always keep in mind that the greatest or the principal thing is love. We need to be guided by love always;...

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you." - John 15  Verse  4 (NIV) Somebody asked me a question one day.  The question went something like this:  "Is it possible, after one has been born again, to subsequently lose their salvation?" I believe it's possible.   To the saved, Jesus Christ is Lord; He is the Director of the life of a saint. Let us assume that before he was saved, Mr. Jones had a different kind of lord, and that Mr. Jones had abandoned this lord for the Lord.  Now assume that Mr. Jones, after walking with the Lord for ten years, decided to go back to his former lord.  Could Mr. Jones have retained his salvation under such circumstances? I don't believe so! "Remain in me, and I will remain in you," Jesus Christ told his disciples in John 15:4 (NIV). Certainly Mr. Jones did not remain in the Lord; so the Lord, in return, did not remain in Mr. Jones.  Without the Lord there is no salvation. ...

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." - John 14  Verse  15 (NIV) Do you love Him? Don't you? Now you can tell. Jesus puts it simply. He says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." You cannot love Him without obeying Him. You cannot love and disobey Him. What is it that Jesus has commanded you? You may not know much, but I am sure you know something of what He has commanded you. I am referring to basics here, not to some scholarly knowledge.  The question, really, is not about that which you do not know; it's about that which you know, however little. What have you done with it? You demonstrate your love for Him by obeying what He commands you, under all circumstances, under all forms of opposition, without compromise.  Regrettably, a number of Christians are eager to obey what people command them more than they seek to obey what Jesus commands them. Love Him; obey His commands. I exhort you. "Whoever has...

"Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work." - John 14  Verse  10 (NIV) These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The message is simple - it is God who does His work. We are just vessels through which God accomplishes His will on earth. We need to keep this fact close to our chests, otherwise we might end up going our own way. Whenever God works wonderfully through us, there is always the temptation to use "me" instead of "Him" ; the tendency to 'steal the show', with the vessel claiming to be the doer of the work. Consider somebody who uses a pen to write a book. Would it be correct if the pen were to claim to have written the book? The pen is just a means to an end; the writer is somebody else! Jesus Christ is our Lord and our role model. His words teach us how best to carry ourselves in this life. They also sober us up whenever we are tempted in the manner just described. If we do not follow Jesu...

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14  Verse  6 (NIV)  He pre-existed everything. He created everything. Apart from Him nothing was created! He tells us that He is the way, the truth and the life, so that we may know how to properly direct our lives. He also tells us that people can come to God ONLY through Him [i.e., Jesus]. It is important to note the following: Jesus is not a way; He is THE way. Jesus is not a truth; He is THE truth. Jesus is not a life; He is THE life. You might have anchored your life on a way, a truth, a life. If that's the case, then you've missed the point. A way, a truth and a life all come to an end at some point. But the way, the truth and the life are for eternity!  Won't you rather be directed by the creator than by the creation? Won't you listen to the one who was there in the beginning? Remember, if you ignore Jesus, it...

"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day." - John 12  Verses  47-48 (NIV) The will of God is that the Gospel be preached to all, the world over. Everybody should hear it.  Something happens when one hears the Word of God; it could mean life or spiritual death for them, for on hearing the Word, one can choose between accepting and rejecting it. Have you ever listened to a sermon? Have you ever heard the Word? If yes, did you accept or reject it? If you rejected it, do you think that's the end of the story? The Gospel is being preached so much nowadays that there are very few people, if any, who could honestly claim to never have heard it. Such people are probably in a better place compared to those that have heard and rejected it....

"I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge." - John 8  Verse  50 (NIV) Seeking glory for oneself. Seeking the praises of men. This is a pitfall that we need to avoid at all costs. Jesus did not seek glory for Himself. He told His audience that there was One who sought the glory, One whose pleasure was to glorify Him. So Jesus operated in such a manner that the One, and not men, might glorify Him. O to be glorified of God! If you want God to glorify (or praise) you, then you need to act in a way that seeks, exclusively,  to glorify Him. What this means, if all is in order, is that when people look at you, they should see the greatness, the beauty, the love and image of God; they should see God in you .  But if they look at you and see only you, it could mean that you are the glory of yourself, not the glory of God. Jesus told His audience that the One who seeks the glory is also the judge. He will know...

"If you hold on to my teaching, you are really my disciples." - John 8  Verse  31 (NIV) God help us! Here is the definition of a disciple of Jesus Christ: " One who holds on to His teaching."   I have learnt a lot just from this definition. A disciple of Jesus follows Jesus. Jesus is their Lord, in every respect and in every aspect of life. Now we can all judge ourselves. What does Jesus teach us? How would He have us behave under the various circumstances of life? How well are we doing as disciples? Are we surely holding on to His teaching?  Note this: "holding on" implies that something wants to take you from there. It could be challenges. It could be people and their will over your life. Or it could plainly be your own weaknesses. In my Christian life, I have seen several Christians compromise. I have seen relatives prevailing over the saints, putting them back into bondage. I have seen people try "other options" wh...

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" "No-one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. - John 7 Verses 45-46 (NIV)   O how I love Jesus! How I admire the manner in which He carried Himself! Look at what had happened earlier: "The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him (Jesus). Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him." John 7:32 (NIV) The guards left in a hurry, eager to arrest Jesus, eager to follow instructions. When they got to Jesus, the guards made one BIG! mistake - they decided to first listen to Him speak! They probably thought they would find fault in what He said, which they would use as a pretext for arresting Him. But the guards returned to their handlers without Jesus! Apparently, and deliberately, the guards had not arrested the man! On being asked why they had not arrest...

"On hearing his words, some of the people said, 'Surely this man is the Prophet.' Others said, 'He is the Christ.'" - John 7  Verses  40-41 (NIV)  This is quite instructive! People reached conclusions about Jesus. Some said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Christ." How did they get to such conclusions? The Bible says, "On hearing His words..." Glory to God! That's the impact of words. They lead to conclusions. The conclusions may be correct or wrong, but they all result from the words that one utters. One should therefore always use words with caution. Speaking does not mean just the emission of sound. So many things that cannot speak do emit sound. So as a child of God, whenever you are given a platform to speak, speak in such a manner that your audience will have no choice but to conclude that God is in you and you are fully in Him!   View our Christian living books here Click here to ...

"My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me." - John 7  Verse 16 (NIV) All Christians are teachers. They teach somebody something at some point. They explain Christian issues to those in their sphere of influence. This is how souls are won and developed. It's therefore important for every Christian to keep in mind the cardinal rule regarding teaching, namely that the teacher should never propagate their own teaching, but only that which comes from God.  "So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say," Jesus declared in John 12:50 (NIV) . When one is teaching, they could face some temptation to spice up the teaching, tweak it a bit, even to introduce small lies to a specific end. One should always guard against this. Teaching carries immense responsibilities: with it, one can make or unmake their audience . Furthermore, teaching should be done to the end that God, and not the teacher, may be glorified. The Bible says...

"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." - John 6  Verses  67-69 (NIV) Some disciples had left Jesus. They had considered His teaching hard; they didn't like it. So, they left and went elsewhere. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" - John 6:67-69 (NIV). What is it that could make you leave the way of the Lord? What exactly? And if you left Christ, where would you go? Some people talk of 'other options'. When it comes to life's issues, there really are no 'other options'. What people refer to as 'other options' are in fact no options at all!  Whatever happens to y...

"For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." - John 6  Verse  38 (NIV)  This is a good example; one that we need to emulate. Jesus knew how he was supposed to conduct Himself in life. It was 'not according to His will' , but according to the will of the One who sent Him. It was the will of God, exclusively, that guided Jesus as He walked the earth. You may devote your life to doing the will of your relatives. You may even obey your relatives more than you obey God, sometimes going against God's will in the process. You may decide to follow your own will, or may follow God's will only in part, or in full. These choices are all available to you. The problem is not that people do not know the full will of God. Rather, the problem is that some people do not follow even that which they know or believe to be the will of God. Some might even deliberately misrepresent it. If one can do the will of God ...

" Then they asked him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?'  Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.'" - John 6  Verses  28-29 (NIV) You might be asking yourself the same question: "What must I do to do the works God requires?"   Jesus replies as follows: "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Jesus' response is pregnant with teaching. The Lord wants us to always recognize and acknowledge the indispensable role that He played for our sake. That's the greatest work a Christian could ever do! The Father gave us His one and only Son for a specific purpose -  our salvation . That purpose could not be achieved by any other method. We therefore should always recognize this, otherwise we nullify the power of the cross in our lives. There are various other activities that we do within the context of "the work of God". Such works are pivotal...

"Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 'Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?'" - John 6  Verses  8-9 (NIV) A great crowd had come to see and hear Jesus. Later during the day the Lord, perceiving that the people were hungry, decided to feed them. But the disciples saw a BIG! and insurmountable challenge ahead. First, lots of money (more than eight months' wages) was required to buy enough bread to feed the people; nobody had that kind of money. Second, the only food available at the venue belonged to a boy, who most probably had brought it for himself - five small barley loaves and two small fish. Here is the inspiring part - Jesus took the bread and fish, gave thanks , and distributed it to the people, and each of them ate as much as they wanted. There even were some leftovers! Glory to God!  This is a great lesson. If you've something i...

"For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me." - John 5  Verse  36 (NIV) Some people lead out in Ministry work because God has called them into it. Some do because they have called themselves; they are driven by other, totally personal and selfish motives. Verbal self-testimony doesn't mean much. One really does not get much mileage by claiming to have been sent by God. There is a crucial indicator that puts things in their correct perspective. Here it is: the work that one does should testify that the Father sent them. If you are a prophet, your prophecies should testify that God sent you. If you are a preacher/teacher, your teaching should confirm that God sent you. If you are a shepherd, your attitude, actions and reactions, i.e., your general shepherding, should testify that God sent you. The Word of God is the yardstick. Do everything exactly as the Word would have you do. ...

"I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." - John 5  Verse 30 (NIV) Jesus - what a role model! He says, "I seek not to please myself but him [God] who sent me." It's time for some introspection - who exactly do you seek to please?  Some Christians seek to please themselves, the very thing Jesus shunned. Such people do anything that gives them pleasure - what God thinks about it matters not, or they just might be struggling with certain issues pertaining to their lives.  Similarly, some Christians go a long way to please other people - their friends, parents, other relatives, etc. What's worrying is that some of such Christians even go to the extent of doing things that are clearly out of line with the will of God - just to please people . Some have been asked by their relatives (and obliged) to abandon the way of the Lord! Who exactly do you seek to please?  Think seriously about this for a moment. " But Peter and John rep...