John 8:12

John 8:12 - When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

If you had a choice, would you walk in the dark, or would you turn on a light? I know we have all stumbled through a dark room before. Maybe you woke up in the middle of the night and wanted a drink of water. Out of courtesy to the others that were sleeping around you in the house you left the light off.

If you are in your own home it is usually not so bad, because everything is familiar, but what if someone left something in the path? My kids are notorious for that. They will leave a toy out in the middle of the living room floor, just waiting for the foot of an unsuspecting victim. All of a sudden you step on it and you might as well have turned on the lights, because your scream of pain could have woken the neighbors.

Picture life in the sense of that room. With the lights off you may make it for awhile without any incidents, but at some point you will come across some obstacles. You may make it through some, but without being able to see them, eventually one will take you out.

Now turn on the light. All those obstacles are no longer a problem. The light doesn’t remove them, but it gives you what you need to maneuver around them. Now you can steer clear and pass them by with ease.

Jesus is our light. When we have Him inside of us His light shines through us. Now as we walk through life we will be able to completely avoid many obstacles. And those we can’t  avoid we will be able to see clear enough to move through or over them.

With Jesus inside of you, you will never walk in darkness again, because He is a light that will never go out.

John 7:16

John 7:16 - Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me.”

You would think that Jesus, being the Son of God, would be qualified to give His own message, but that is not how He worked. Jesus wanted to give us an example of how we are to live and how we are to teach. Also, Jesus has a human nature, just like we do, and just like us, if He allowed that nature to take over He would mess up. But we know that Jesus never messed up.

Jesus knew that the only way to keep your human nature in check was to live in total reliance to God. So, Jesus, who was God’s Son still had to rely on God for everything. What makes us think we can do any different.

God is our source. He gives us life; He gives us direction; and He gives us everything we need to follow His plan for our lives. We must never reach a point where we  think we can do it on our own. If we do, that is when we will fail.

If Jesus knew that He could not do it without God, then we can rest assured that we will never be able to either. But that is the great thing about God: He never asks us too. In fact, He does exactly the opposite. He tells us to come to Him and rely on Him. When God tells us what He wants us to do He comes right alongside of us to help us do it.

Jesus gave us the model of how we can live a godly life. He showed us what true reliance on God is. We see multiple times throughout the scriptures where Jesus reminds us that He is not acting on His own, but only doing what His Father tells Him. Even in His teaching we see that He only teaches what God gives Him to teach.

That should be our goal as well. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will guide us in what to say and when we need to speak. Let us surrender to God in all we do and trust Him to give us the words to say when we teach and preach.

John 6:68-69

John 6:68-69 – 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.”

       Many people were drawn to Jesus because of the miracles that He was performing. They heard some amazing stories and they wanted to see it for themselves. When they found Him they saw people being healed, demons cast out and many other spectacular things. Then Jesus started teaching.

       Jesus told the people that it is not easy to follow Him. They would have to make sacrifices. He told them that He was the bread of life and in order to have eternal life they would have to share in all that He had to go through.

       This was, and still is a tough message. There were many that couldn’t handle it; there were many who left at this time. These people didn’t want to give up their lives; they didn’t want to make sacrifices. Jesus looked at His disciples and asked, “Do you want to leave too?” This verse contains their answer.

       Basically they told Him that they had nowhere else they could go that could compare with being with Him. The disciples understood that Jesus held the keys to the kingdom of heaven. This response really shows Peter’s heart and his commitment to following Jesus.

       I think there are many of us today that would fall into the category of the deserters. Once we realize that it will cost us something to follow Jesus we pull back and refuse to go. Jesus wants followers who are willing to give up everything. We need to put Him before all else in our lives.

If Jesus asked you to give it all up would you be able to do it? God looks at your heart and wants you to put Him first. If Jesus asked you the question that He had asked His disciples, “Do you want to leave too?” what would your answer be? Would you leave or would you answer as Peter did, “To whom shall we go?”

John 5:24

John 5:24 – I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed from death to life.

       Belief and faith, these words are thrown around often, but in reality they will change the way you live. You live your life based on what you believe. If you think one thing you will act according to it. Whatever it is, whether it be reality or not; if you believe it, it will be real to you. That is why it is important to get the truth.

       “Whoever hears my word,” Jesus says, “and believes Him who sent me has eternal life.” Jesus is telling us that His words are truth and so is everything that God says. Are you not sure what He is telling you? Read the Bible. That is the best place to start.

       Get God’s Word in you and believe it. His Word will change the way you look at life and it will also change your future. When you believe, you will have eternal life and you will not be condemned. You will have crossed over from death to life.

We have to understand that in order to truly live we must believe in God Before that we are not really living. So change the way you live by changing what you believe. Listen to God’s Word and believe in what He did for you. This will change you from the inside out and now your actions will reflect your new belief system. Live the Christ Life, because it is the only life worth living.

John 4:23

John 4:23 – Yet the time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. That is what He desires. God does not want us to worship Him out of obligation or because we have too. He has given us free choice and with that choice we can do whatever we want. Often times that gets us into trouble, but when we choose to do what is right it makes it that much more real and personal.

God wants us to be real. I've been to some places of worship where it was more like a concert, than a worship service. That is not what God is looking for in worship. He wants you to worship from your heart. He doesn't want a show.

Shut everything else out; don’t pay attention to anyone around you and focus on God. This will allow you to worship unhindered. If you feel like dancing, dance; if you feel like kneeling, kneel. It doesn't matter what anyone else is doing.

You have to understand that worship should be between you and God. When you are at church the worship team is there to guide you into worship; they are not there for your entertainment. Check your heart and make sure that when you worship you are doing it for the right reasons. Give God the glory and be a true worshiper. Worship in Spirit and in Truth.

John 3:16

John 3:16 - For God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

This scripture pretty much sums up the entire story of the bible. All of the Old Testament led up to this and all of the New Testament revolves around it. From the moment man fell for the first time God put this plan into motion. His Love kept it in motion and brought it to fulfillment.

Imagine for a moment how much Love it would take to follow through with this plan. We see Abraham willing to sacrifice his son out of Love and obedience to God, but with God it is different.

Jesus was with God in heaven and man had fallen away. When God looked at man He would see that as a whole we rejected and turned away from Him. God was able to look past all of that and past all of our sin and still Love us.

The bible says that, “While we were still sinners Christ died for us.” He didn’t wait until we turned our hearts to Him. God Loves us so much that He sent His only Son when our hearts were deceitful.

Now we have a hope and a possibility for a future. All we have to do is accept it. Christ died so we can live. Believe in Him; receive Him into your heart and you will be saved. Then you will have eternal life with Him.

God’s Love for you is greater than you could possibly imagine. Believe in Christ and let God show you how much He truly Loves you.

John 2:5

John 2:5 - His (Jesus) mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Jesus is at a wedding with His family. It could have been a friend or a family member; it was definitely someone they knew. This is before Jesus started ministering in public. Nobody knew the power that He had within Him; that is, nobody except His mother.
It makes you wonder what types of things Jesus did while growing up in His families home. I can just see His brothers complaining because they are out of milk for their cereal, then Jesus says, “What do you mean we are out of milk?” as He pours milk from an empty jug.

Really, though, it doesn't matter what He did, the point is that He had done miracles before. His mom knew, that’s why when they were out of wine at the wedding she went to Him.
So, the wine ran out at the wedding and Mary told the servants, “Do whatever He tells you,” as she points to her son Jesus. They were in trouble and Mary knew that her son could fix the situation. She didn't know how or what method Jesus would use, but she knew that as long as they obeyed what He said a miracle would happen. 

“Do whatever He tells you!” Don’t question it’ don’t doubt it. Just do it. In this miracle they filled barrels with water and it turned into wine. It didn't make sense, but that’s the point.

We are not in the position to try and make sense of what God is telling us to do. Instead, we just need to obey, then it will make sense as it all comes together in the end. And just like in this story, God’s end result is always better than what we started out with.

Do you want to walk in the blessings of God? Follow Mary’s advice and, “Do whatever He tells you!”