Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....October 19, 2020
When we place our faith and trust in Jesus we are placing our hope in the only one who can save us from our sins.....Hope in the only Way, Truth & Life
We continue in our series on Hope found Here and this month we are considering Hope in Christ.
This week, I want to remind you that when we place our faith and trust in Jesus we are placing our hope in the ONLY one who can save us from our sins.
Throughout the Bible, there are many passages that can encourage us, comfort us and fill us with Hope,
certain hope, blessed assurance.
The Bible is God’s Word to us, His people. Parts of the Bible are simple to understand, other parts are more complex.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 reminds us, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.”
Some trivia you should all remember from class....our Bible contains 66 books or letters, the Old Testament with 39 and the New Testament with 27 Books or letters.
Our modern Bibles are divided into 1,189 chapters, the chapters are split up into 31,102 verses.
Each of us will have specific verses, chapters or books that we know well. There are verses that stick in our minds, there are verses that we quote, promises we cling to, words that bring us comfort and hope.
This week, I want us to focus on a specific verse, a verse that is perhaps one of the most important in the whole Bible.
In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Our certain hope of sins forgiven, our certain hope of salvation, our certain hope of relationship with God is found here.
Read the verse in context, Jesus speaking to His disciples in John 14:1-6 says, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is speaking to His disciples about Heaven, words of assurance, words of certain hope, there is room enough for them, room enough for you and I, room enough for all who repent and trust in Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Then Thomas, old doubtful Thomas, speaks and asks an important question, ‘How can we know the way to Heaven?’ How can we get there?
Then Jesus affirms the truth when He says, He is the only way to Heaven.
The cornerstone of the Christian message is Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, trust in Him and Him alone is the only way we can be saved.
Acts 4:12 says “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
THIS IS AN UNCHANGEABLE TRUTH!!!
Jesus stepped out of eternity and was incarnated into human form.
He lived a perfect, spotless life, suffered a cruel death on a cross to pay the price for your sin and mine, then He was resurrected from the grave on the third day. Jesus conquered death, conquered the power of sin.
Christ’s death was sufficient to ensure that all of our sins, past, present and future can be forgiven and our relationship with God restored.
IF, AND ONLY IF, WE REPENT AND TURN TO JESUS!!!
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
The reality of the need to know Jesus, the need to trust in Him alone is here in John 14:6.
There are other verses and passages in the Bible that can enhance and strengthen our walk with Jesus, but this verse is at the core of our faith. The foundation, the solid ground, the bedrock of why we need to know and follow Christ is found here.
As a Christian, have you ever been asked questions from non-Christians about your faith? Have you ever stepped out in faith and visited a part of town you are not familiar with in order to share the Gospel?? I know some who have and I am so proud of you:)
Some people might be interested in learning about what you believe, some people might be seeking to discover more about Jesus.
Others may be antagonistic about Christianity, some might think you are misguided in your faith, others may think you are stupid because you believe in God.
A while ago Atheists in the UK ran a series of ads in the press and on the side of buses that proudly stated ‘there is probably no God so enjoy yourself.’ Probably? Even atheists are not 100% certain that God does not exist.
We live in a multi-cultural world, and sadly many people think that Christianity is only a variation on a basic theme running through all religions.
Some people are unwilling to accept that Christianity is the only true way in the ‘enlightened’ 21st Century.
Some people wonder how anyone could accept that Jesus Christ is the only way to God when the Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews all worship their own god.
The Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to God and that apart from Him there is no salvation. Christians worship the true and living triune God. We believe in One God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God is our creator, He made us in His image, He wants to be in a relationship with us, He loves and cares for us and blesses us in so many different ways.
Some people would like to stop here... Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so... but there is so much more we need to understand about God.
God is Holy, He is absolutely pure and He is separate from everything that is impure. God is righteous and just. He is like a judge that must uphold justice to the full.
And there is a problem. Romans 3:23 tells us that "All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God."
and Romans 6:23 is clear "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
GOD LOVES US!!!
The Bible tells us God gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come to earth to rescue us, to be our truth and life.
We have all turned away from God’s way. We all fall short, we deserve punishment, but God has given us the way to be rescued, we need a Savior and Christ has come to save us.
Jesus died in our place and He rose again.
In His resurrection He cancels the power of Sin, because He died in our place our sins are forgiven.
Isaiah 53:5, “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”
1 Peter 2:24 “Jesus personally carried our sins in His body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By His wounds you are healed.”
We have Hope in Christ because He has paid the penalty for our sin.
Our Hope is not based on us struggling toward God, our blessed assurance is based on God reaching down to us; reaching out to save us.
We are not saved by our works, we could never be saved by anything we do in our own righteousness.
We are forgiven when we repent of our sin and turn to Jesus.
Jesus gives us new life, He rescues us, He saves us from the punishment we deserve for our Sins. He took the punishment you and I deserved.
God loves you with an unmerited and unearned love.
True Christianity brings assurance, acceptance, joy and contentment. So ask yourself today.......
"How content am I??"
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Lets dig a little deeper into these words because in the Greek language there is a even more depth to the words Jesus used.
In modern English we might use the term I am in a number of different ways, I am hungry, I am thirsty,
I am tired, I am happy, you get the idea.
In Greek, the use of the words we translate here as I am, Ego eimi, is significant and profound.
Ego is I, a first-person pronoun, eimi is I am, or I exist, this basic Greek verb expresses being, When the two words Ego eimi are used together in Greek they emphasize a time-inclusive or “omnitemporal” or eternal existance.
What we read simply as “I am”, would be more accurately transliterated as “I myself, and only I, was, is and will be eternally the way, the truth, and the life.” WOW!
Jesus made it perfectly clear to His disciples exactly who He was! Jesus knew He was the only option, the only way to approach God and get to Heaven.
The Way, in Greek, Hod-os, meaning way, road, journey, path.
Jesus knew He was the only one who could save people from their sins, the only one who could lead them to Heaven.
The Truth, in Greek al-ay’-thi-a, was synonymous for fact, for “reality” al-ay’-thi-a is the opposite of illusion.
Al-ay’-thi-a is truth, but not just truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforward facts.
Again Jesus is distinguishing Himself as the Only Truth.
Jesus is not just a truth, He is the whole truth.
The Life, again in Greek, zóé (dzo-ay’), speaks of life, both of present physical life and of future spiritual existence.
Jesus had told His disciples He would lay down his life, then take it back again with the authority granted by the Father.
Jesus is the life because He has authority over life and death.
Death is no match for our Savior.
“I myself, and only I, was, is and will eternally be the only way, road, journey or path to Heaven, the only real, sincere, factual, moral and divine truth, and the only present physical and future spiritual life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Except Through Me. Jesus declares who He is, then He adds a final statement of hope.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit of The Tree of Good and Evil, sin and death came into this world. Our relationship with God the Father was broken.
Jesus is the solution to the problem of sin.
Faith in Jesus is the solution to our reconciliation with God the Father.
Jesus came, He lived, He died for your sins and mine, He rose from the grave, He ascended into Heaven, and one day He will return.
Jesus is alive He offers the forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who repent and trust in Him as Lord and Savior.
Have you made that commitment? Have you asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior? Jesus came to save you. Today, will you ask Jesus into your life? Will you turn from your sin and confess Jesus is Lord?
If you have not prayed the following prayer in a while, please do so to day....
"Dear Lord, I know that I am a sinner and I ask for Your Forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and ask You to come into my heart and my life. I want to trust You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus name I pray."
Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Trusting in Jesus is the only way to be saved.
I will close with this, there is hope found here:
Jesus assures us of who He is.
Jesus was and is the promised Messiah.
He is the Christ, He is the Savior, He is Lord.
Jesus is the only way back to the Father.
He was and is and is to come.
Jesus is Savior, Healer, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and soon Coming King.
Jesus is the Holy One.
Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life, and we are saved only through faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
Today, as always, hope is found here in Christ, certain hope, blessed assurance, now and forever. I love you all:):)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child." Then, he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and I'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base.
Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that this was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag.
But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home."
Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face," the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."
At a fund-raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question. "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself. And it comes in the way people treat that child." Then, he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shay's father knew that most boys would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and I'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base.
Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that this was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled "Run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman for a tag.
But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams were screaming, "Shay! Run home."
Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero, for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face," the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of the Divine Plan into this world."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week we look at The Nation of Islam in our look at religions of the world....
The Nation of Islam is probably best known for the Million Man March, held on the National Mall in Washington, DC, October 16, 1995. Louis Farrakhan, its leader, gave the keynote address and led the huge crowd in pledges to “take responsibility for their lives and families, and commit to stopping the scourges of drugs, violence, and unemployment.” Social and economic improvement for African-Americans through self-discipline and moral living has always been part of the Nation’s beliefs, and it has made a positive contribution to the lives of many in this regard.
The Nation of Islam began in 1930. In this period of Jim Crow laws, legal segregation, and horrendous discrimination, millions of poor, rural African-Americans from southern states migrated to northern cities in search of work. Conditions often were no better than what they’d left behind. Into this situation a man named Wallace D. Fard appeared, in Detroit, preaching a message of Black supremacy. He said all Africans were originally Muslim; Christianity, which most African-Americans then professed, was a tool of “white devils” to subjugate them. Rather than seeking equality and integration, Fard preferred a totally segregated, Apartheid-like system where Blacks would have their own country. Many saw his message as the way out of poverty and oppression, and he gained many followers.
In 1931, Fard met Elijah Poole (who took the name Elijah Muhammad) and trained him for over three years before Fard mysteriously disappeared. Elijah Muhammad took over leadership, and the organization continued to grow, later attracting such celebrities as Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Elijah Muhammad taught that W. D. Fard was Allah in the flesh, the Messiah and the Mahdi, and gave him the title of The Master. He claimed he’d been called by The Master to be the true religion’s final Messenger.
As the teachings of the Nation became more widely known, it was feared by whites and watched by the government because of its nationalistic goals. Elijah Muhammad scorned the Civil Rights Movement, believing integration with whites was a denial of Black supremacy. But there were internal disputes as well. As followers began to travel and encounter Muslims outside the U.S., Malcolm X, one of the Nation’s best-known spokesmen, and Elijah’s own son Wallace Muhammad, began to move toward orthodox Islam and openly question some of their leader’s teachings. Elihah Muhammad in turn began to “correct” some orthodox Islamic teachings and claimed they’d misunderstood or misinterpreted the Qur’an (while he had the true understanding).
Areas of difference with orthodox Islam are many. As to the belief that W. D. Fard was Allah incarnate, orthodox Islam denies that God has ever appeared in the flesh. Elijah Muhammad’s claim to be Messenger and Prophet called of God (he also said the Bible and the Qur’an both say another scripture will come at the end times) counters the Qur’an’s teaching that Muhammad of seventh-century Arabia was the final prophet. Contrary to Islam, Christianity, and most other religions, the Nation of Islam denies any physical afterlife. Elijah Muhammad famously said, “When you are dead, you are DEAD.” He used the term resurrection to refer to the mental awakening of Black people; the goal of this belief system is to produce a heaven on earth for Black people, not to prepare them for another life after this one. That contradicts both the Qur’an and the Bible, a problem he handled by declaring that both books had been tampered with and therefore contain errors.
Followers of the Nation of Islam are often called “Black Muslims,” a term that can be misleading. At face value, it refers to any Muslim of African descent, regardless of current dwelling. However, the number of orthodox Muslims in Africa and of African descent living elsewhere easily exceeds one hundred million, far outnumbering followers of the Nation of Islam. Even in the U.S., orthodox African-American Muslims probably outnumber those who belong to the Nation, though exact numbers are hard to determine. The term is intended to communicate that they follow an Islamic form that’s only for people of African descent. While it was originally considered just for African-Americans, now it has spread to some parts of the African continent. In South Africa, ironically, they advocate for a return to the Apartheid arrangement, with independent, segregated Black homelands.
After Elijah Muhammad’s death in 1975, several years of controversy and leadership turmoil brought declining numbers and financial problems. In 1978, The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (his official title) took over the struggling group, pledging to restore the teachings of Elijah Muhammad. A highly gifted orator, Farrakhan’s early years were characterized by fiery speeches denouncing whites, Christianity, and the government. Following the teachings of his predecessor, he claimed God hates whites and had intended Black people to rule the world. He has written extensively, publishing books and magazines promoting the Nation’s views. He restored financial stability, and the organization began to grow again. In more recent years his speeches have been less hostile, and he has been more willing to work with other organizations (e.g., NAACP, Black churches) toward common goals.
While not repudiating the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, Farrakhan has slowly moved the group closer to orthodox Islam, even suggesting joint conferences and other public gatherings. He followed up the Million Man March success with the Millions More Movement (seeking to move more African-Americans out of poverty and crime), with which they’ve had some success. Current official statements from the Nation of Islam show little change in beliefs or attitudes. While demanding equality, quality education, and an end to discrimination, they continue to press for a separate nation for Black people.
At least part of the Nation of Islam’s teaching is bucking a national trend. One official statement condemns racial intermarriage or any racial mixing; recent statistics show that nearly 15 percent of all marriages in the U.S. are between people of differing ethnicities, and the trend is growing rapidly. Integration of all ethnic groups may eventually occur through biology rather than law.
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou