BE FAITHFUL UNDER PERSECUTION “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” —John 9:20-23 Some years ago an evangelical missionary told the story of how they were helping the needy in an area…

REJOICE IN JESUS! “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. —John 8:58-59 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. —John 5:18 I and the Father are one.” Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him… “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”…

SET FREE I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins…. ” To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” —John 8:24, 31-32 Do you have beautiful feet— feet that bring the Good News to those in bondage? Those are what God calls “beautiful feet! “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not…

A PRAYER REQUEST Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. —I Chronicles 4:10 Here is a brief prayer that we are told the Lord granted. 1- Jabez asked God to bless him. 2- He asked God to enlarge his boundary or domain. 3- He asked for God’s hand to be with him. 4- He asked that he would be kept from harm. 5- He asked that he would be free from pain. “Oh, God be…

DRAWING THE LOST He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” —John 6:65 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” —John 6:44-45 Brother and sister you did not wake up one day and just say, “Well, I guess I’ll decide to follow Jesus today. People dead in their trespasses and sins…

BREAD THAT SATISFIES At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”—John 6:41-42 Physical bread has limitations. It can only feed so many. It gets old and moldy. But the Eternal Bread from heaven lasts forever for those who take of Him. This Bread fills us and satisfies us who believe. This will be the case for all eternity. The Jews could not understand who Jesus was and is. They were…

LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT! “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” —John 6:9 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” —Mark 6:37-38 Think about this— take more than half of your year’s income to give people one meal. That…

MY ROCK “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” —John 5:45-47 Moses and all the Old Testament pointed to Jesus. If the Jewish leaders truly believed on what the Old Testament and Moses said then they would have believed what Jesus said. But this is the reality of it— they knew what the Word of God said, but they did not put their trust in…

JESUS IS EQUAL TO GOD For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. —John 5:18 What so many people do not want to acknowledge what the Jews in Jesus day knew He was claiming. They wanted to kill Him for blasphemy because they knew He was claiming to be “equal with God” by “calling God his own Father.” Yes, the Jews knew what Jesus was claiming and wanted to kill Him for it! The vast majority of people today do not know who Jesus is. Let…

GO INTO THE HARVEST “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits…