Who Knows Me?

I was thinking about how I am thankful for God this morning. I went to Psalm 103, one of my favorites! I am thankful for God's forgiveness:

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

I am thankful that he redeemed me:

who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, (v. 4)

But one of my favorite lines in this Psalm is verse 7:

He made known his ways to Moses,

his acts to the people of Israel.

I love that God revealed himself to Moses and the people of Israel. And I love the fact that he has revealed himself to all mankind through his word.

He knows me intimately and completely and his desire is that I know him as much as I can! Wow!!! The God of the universe, who created the heavens and the earth knows me and wants me to know him. Amazing!!!

I AM

Tuesday was my last devotion for coop on the “I am” statements of Jesus. We started out singing “I Am the Resurrection and the Life” and then summarized:

The first one is the bread of life. Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

Jesus can completely satisfy us. I know that sometimes I struggle with running to food, or people, or entertainment (a good story or movie) when I should be going to God. But this verse says that Jesus can satisfy us – we will not hunger or thirst. Jesus can satisfy our spiritual hunger.

The next “I am” is in John 8: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Later in John 8 Jesus says,“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth sets us free from the darkness of our sin.

Jesus makes an incredible claim in John 8:58: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

“I am” was a name God used for Himself in the Old Testament. By saying this, Jesus was claiming to be God and is therefore worthy of all worship, honor, glory, and praise! He is the only man in all of history who could make this declaration, because He is the only one who is truly God!

In John 10 Jesus says, “9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

There was only one door for the sheepfold. Jesus is the only way to be saved and find pasture. Jesus can provide for all of our needs like the pasture – the place where the sheep had their needs met. Jesus came that we may have life abundantly!

Later in John 10 Jesus says, “11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Resurrection implies death. Jesus showed his power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead. Then he himself died for us and rose again. When he died, he took on all our sin and the guilt of our sin and we took on his righteousness. Amazing!

Jesus makes an incredibly exclusive statement in John 14: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the only way to God, the only way to heaven. One can't get there following any other religion or even trying to do good things to earn their way there. Jesus is the way and the only way.

Finally, in John 15 Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser...4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

There is a huge contrast between those who remain in the vine and bear much fruit, and those who don't remain in the vine. They “can do nothing” and wither and die. We need to stay connected to our source of life, Jesus, and daily be receiving our sustenance from him.

If we believe in Jesus, we should “bear much fruit and so prove to be his disciples.” If not, than why not believe today?

Romans 10:9 states, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 John 15 says, “8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing

Here are some thoughts from the devotional I did for homeschool coop:

John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

First we want to see how important Jesus is. He is the source of life for the branches! What happens if the branches do not remain in the vine? They wither and die. What if the branches remain? They bear much fruit. Notice the huge contrast: dying vs. bearing much fruit!

What does it mean to abide or remain? Verses 3 and 7 give us a clue. “Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” and “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We need to be listening to and believing Jesus' words and praying to him.

“Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” This last part of verse 5 has made an impression on me for a long time: “apart from me you can do nothing.” I know there are a lot of things I think I can do without God. I'd like to think that, but it is simply not true! God made me to begin with, and “he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (from Acts 17:25). When I am desperate and feeling needy I cry out to him for help. But other times I feel confident and competent in my abilities. “I got this, God”- I don't really say that, but I show that I feel that way by my lack of dependence and crying out to him. Even with the devotions I am doing – I feel comfortable with them. But I know from scripture that apart from God's work through his Holy Spirit, my efforts will be useless and fruitless, and could even be harmful if I am giving others the impression that I can do it all without God. So every time I pray, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

"Abide in me, and I in you.”

Is There Something Wrong with God?

When I read this passage from Jeremiah 2, I usually focus on verse 13:

" for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water." 

And I wonder to myself why I would ever want to hew a broken cistern for myself when I could have God's delicious, completely satisfying fountain of living waters. But the other day when I read it, I was struck by verse 5:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?" 

I asked myself what wrong have I found in God that I would not go to Him every time and go after, if not worthless, inferior things?
God made the heavens and earth. He is faithful and perfectly loving and has provided for all of my needs. So why am I even tempted to go after or worship the created things rather than the Creator, who is forever to be praised?

from Jeremiah 2:

5 Thus says the Lord:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
in a land that none passes through,
where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds[a] transgressed against me;
the prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
and with your children's children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
or send to Kedar and examine with care;
see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Studying 'Light', Because Jesus is the Light of the World

There are so many verses with 'light' in the Bible. In fact the word occurs 277 times: 22 times in Isaiah (although the most is Job, with 37), 16 in John (tied for the most in the New Testament), 9 in Revelation and 5 in 1 John. So it occurs a lot in the books John wrote.

Here are some suggestions for studying 'light'.

I'm going to start off with John 8 and 9 because that's what I was looking at for the devotion I am leading for our homeschool coop.

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8 (ESV – all ESV unless noted otherwise)

1. What did Jesus say about himself?

9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. From John 9

2. What did Jesus say about himself?

3. What did Jesus do?

4. Read John 9:8-41. Looking at vv. 35-41, What did the formerly blind man say to Jesus? What was his response to Jesus? What did Jesus say about those who see and those who are blind?

5. Let's look at some other passages with 'light'. For each of these, write down what it says about light and who is associated with the light. Note any contrasts or how the light is related to other things.

Matthew 4:15-16

John 1:1-9

John 3:19-21

John 12:35-36

1 John 1:5-7

6. Read Isaiah 49:5-6 and Matthew 5:14-16. For each of these, who is supposed to be light? What is the desired result?

7. Spend some time talking with God about what you saw in his word.

Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg and there is so much more you could look at with 'light'. If you are interested in more study, I suggest looking at all the verses with light:

-in the gospels

-in the books John wrote: John, 1 John, and Revelation

-in the New Testament

-in the Old Testament

-or pick a different book

I think Bible Gateway is a good resource for doing a word study. You can look up all the verses with light in whatever version you like (at least most translations).

If you do this study, I would love to hear about how God uses it in your life.

Where's the Power?

I was thinking about these verses this morning from 1 Corinthians 2 (NIV)

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

I remember being struck by these verses in college. I've always struggled with thinking too highly of myself in terms of trusting in my words or persuasive powers or sparkling personality ;). Funny how I can struggle with insecurities right along with that! This morning I was thinking about my presentation for the homeschool coop devotion, recognizing the fact that while I do want to be prepared; the success of the devotion does not rest on me or my preparation, presentation or abilities, but on God's power! His Holy Spirit is powerful and His word is living and active! So once again I had to remind myself of these truths:

13 I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me. (Philippians 4)

and

 "...apart from me [Jesus] you can do nothing."  (John 15:5b) ESV

The Blind Man Sees - Twice!

 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.  John 9

Like with the bread of life, Jesus connects a truth about himself with a sign. He states he is the light of the world and then heals the blind man. 

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”  36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.”38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”  John 9       

I love how Jesus says, "You have seen him." And why could he see him? Because Jesus had opened his eyes! We see a connection between physical blindness and spiritual blindness. His eyes are opened physically and spiritually as he declares, "Lord, I believe." And his response is to worship him. May that be our response as well!                                                                       

Light and Darkness

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Jesus in John 8:12

I was reflecting on these words. Darkness...what is it like to walk in darkness? Being legally blind in my right eye, I struggle to see when it gets dark, not even completely dark just mostly dark. I can't sense subtle, or not so subtle, changes in incline. I will not notice holes in the ground. I will run into things on my right side and if a tree branch is too low, I might run into that too because I am missing a lot of my peripheral vision as well.

Think about walking in total darkness. What about a place you are only vaguely familiar with that has  a lot of people, chairs, tables?  Like me, I would think you would be concerned that you would run into something and hurt yourself, or run into someone and hurt them. It would be very difficult to go to the right place and you would have to proceed with extreme caution.

Jesus is the light of the world. If we are following him, we will not be walking in darkness. He has life-giving light that will keep us from hurting ourselves or others. With his light we can be sure to go the right direction and we can proceed with confidence, because the path is clear. Ephesians 2:10 came to mind: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I'm going to end with John 1:4-5: In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

How Should I View my Sin as a Believer?

Last night at prayer meeting Nathanael read,
"12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us." from Psalm 103

I realize I did not feel like my sins were removed from me as far as the east is from the west.

Geoff read, "9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." from I Jn 1

Had I actually confessed my sin to God and asked him to forgive me? Or was I just wallowing in despair because of my sin? Over the last days God had convicted me of my sin in my friendships, in my parenting, in my desire to take credit where credit is NOT due. But what did I do about it?

I came home and got down on my knees again and clearly confessed my sin and asked God to forgive me. Then I turned my attention to God's word...

A verse kept coming to mind, "...our righteous acts are like filthy rags." [Isaiah 64:6 NIV} I felt like the love I had shown to someone didn't count because it was tainted with my sin. And I don't mean not count in the sense that I feel like I am earning my salvation, but I wondered if I was really loving this person if it was tainted with my sin. Did they receive it as love? or feel the same way I did?

I thought this was in Romans 3 so I went there. Romans 3 is talking about people before they believe in Christ and are in Him. So I thought this did not apply to me. But how should I view my sin as a believer?

I know way too many times I confess and go on and do not fear God, recognize His holiness, tremble before Him, and I take for granted the fact that Jesus died for sin...if He hadn't, I would bear the penalty of my sin.

But on the other hand, "9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." He forgives us and cleanses us. And Jesus took the penalty of sin:

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

 2 Corinthians 5:21" For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." I was thinking that God sees us differently now in Christ. That when He sees us, He sees Christ's righteousness. But I can't find a verse right now that says that exact thing. But I know there is a change. John 1 says."12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

I also was thinking about this: 

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers[b] has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 

Even though this is talking about Satan accusing us before the Father, I think I have felt that accusation from him over the last weeks.

So after all this I am still left with a question: what is the proper response to sin as a believer in Christ?

Wow! I'm so glad this blog is called Kimberly's Musings. At least you know what you might be getting into!

I am the bread of life

This is a study I wrote as a follow up to a devotion I did for our homeschool coop this morning. We are looking at the "I am" statements of Jesus. This is the first one: I am the bread of life.

John 6

This is not meant to be done in one day, but could be spread out over several days.

1. Read through John 6. Context is very important.

***Questions 2-6 are observation questions designed to help you look more at what the passage actually says. For an idea for young readers, see below. ***

###If you are a visual learner or like coloring, see suggestions for manuscript study below.

2. Look for “I am the bread...” in verses 35-51. Write out the sentences. How many times does it occur? Are they all the same or different?
3. Read verses 28-29 and then read Ephesians 2:8-10. What do these verses say about work or works?
4. Look in 1-34 for “sign/s”. What does it say about it?
5. About salvation: look at the verses in 37-51, 63-65 that talk about eternal life or coming to Jesus. What does it say the Father does, what does it say people do?
6. Find the separate verses that connect the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit with life. (51-63)

Extra things to think about...

1. Reflect on the connection between God's people eating manna in the wilderness and Jesus being the “bread of life” in verses 28-35, 47-50, and 57-58.
2. Why are verses 16-24 stuck in the middle of these two sections that are obviously connected?
3. What is the significance of mentioning that the Passover was at hand in v. 4?

***Young readers: Print out 35-51 and have them underline or highlight the verses that have “I am the bread...” Discuss similarities/differences. You could also print out 1-34 and have them mark sign/s distinctly and discuss.

###Manuscript study: Print all of chapter 6. Underline “I am the bread”, “work/s”, “sign/s”, the salvation verses, and “life” in distinct ways. Then write separate lists of what it says about each in the margins. If you like this kind of study and would like more ideas, ask me!