Quote for the Day
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”
Today's Prayer
Father, reveal yourself to me. Make me to see your will and rest in your faithfulness.
John 14:1-14
John 14:1-14 (NIV)“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Message
While there is deep revelation in this short passage, I would like to look carefully at one concept: Jesus is the life. He tells the disciples (and us) that if they have seen Him they have seen the Father. He continues by saying, “…it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” Then Jesus says, “…I am in the Father and the Father is in me…”Jesus is in His final days on earth with the disciples, and after three years is continuing to show them what the relationship between them is all about. It is about the Father doing HIS work. This is the joy of salvation: God is in charge. Just as Jesus laid down His life at the request of the Father, we are to lay down our life (flesh) every day, and allow JESUS to be our life. If this is how Jesus did it, what makes us think we can do it by ourselves? Jesus was not here to do His will in His earthly power. Rather, He was here to have the Father work through Him. He says it very clearly, “…it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” These are the words of Jesus about how HE lived on this earth. He is asking us to do the same, allowing GOD to do HIS work in us. The Father receives glory when the world sees Jesus, not us. Remember, the disciples lived with Jesus almost daily for three years and it was on the eve of His crucifixion that they were just beginning to get it. So too with us; we need to allow the power of Jesus to be our life. Remember it is NOT a self-improvement plan, but it is a self-replacement plan: Jesus takes over completely.