The Light of Men

This morning my verse of the day was from the Gospel of John. I was given John 5:24 as my reading prompt. I truly intended to share it and see where God led me from there. Much to my surprise I ended up typing out much much more than that! You just never know where God is going to lead you when you step out in faith! I pray that as you read the following verses your eyes are opened to the truth within and that understanding is gained!

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgement, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent me. If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you might be saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish ~ the very works that I do ~ testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father's name and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God. Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" (John 5:24-47, NASB)

If you want to know the Father better, I sincerely hope you will find a Bible, preferably a study Bible (they help to give much greater depth and detail) and read the Gospel of John on your own. Take it slow. Read until the words begin to make no sense. Pick it back up the next day. Pray to God petitioning Him for favor, insight, and understanding. Ask Him to open your eyes to the truth. Ask that the Holy Spirit come along side you and teach you the word of God so that when you read it for yourself, it comes to life and makes perfect sense. Do this for yourself for I am always praying about this for others. Those that have sincerely asked for the same I have witnessed them having their eyes opened and they have confessed to me that for the first time in their lives, the Bible has come to life in their hands. There is a reason it is called a living document!

So back to my word of the day because I only intended to share the first couple of verses and while I tried to stop typing it obviously was not the will of God for me to do so! As I continued reading and typing I sensed that this post is meant for those who believe they serve God, much like Paul thought he was serving God when he was persecuting the Christians. I don't know who you are, but I know this; the one and only true God, loves you very much!

I often marvel at how people can read the Bible and denounce that Christ is indeed both the Son of God and the Son of Man. As He says, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;" (John 5:39, NASB)

Jesus doesn't quote the exact passages He is referring to in the five books that Moses wrote about, but here is a highlight of one that is recognized as such so that perhaps you yourself might be moved to belief:

"The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you , from your countrymen, you shall listen to him." (Deuteronomy 18:15, NASB)

A few points on this passage before we proceed. Moses tells us that the prophet would be like him and indeed while on the earth Jesus was called by many titles including prophet. Almost everyone of all denominations, knows the story of Moses. I find it interesting that Jesus says
 He will be the one to judge. With that being said, we should sincerely listen to the clues Moses left for us in recognizing the true Messiah! These are the things that Moses and Jesus have in common:

1. Both received and preached divine revelation and lead their people.
2. Both were spared death as a baby.
3. Both renounced a royal court.
4. Both had compassion on God's people.
5. Both made intercession for the people.
6. Both spoke to God face to face!
7. Bother were the mediators of a covenant!

I do not believe that Mohammed has all of these traits in common with Jesus Christ and Moses. If I am wrong in my thinking on that point, please correct me by sending me an email! I do believe that the Bible and the Quran share the same 5 books of Moses though, so I pray that all who study the Quran pay most attention to the verses that speak and point boldly to Christ Jesus! May their eyes be opened to the truth!

It is so important, like literally a matter of life and death that you come to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior! Not just because believing in Him grants you eternal life, that is huge, but currently we are in this world and without knowing who you are in Christ, you may survive this so called life of yours, but you are not living life abundantly. 

If you go back and reread the verses I shared, you'll notice that Jesus Christ mentions John (the Baptist) and points out that John;  "was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light."

John had the Spirit of Elijah. His purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus Christ which he did. He was the voice in the wilderness just as was foretold in the Old Testament, which is why the Pharisees actually asked him who he was. All of that deserves so much more depth but it is not the focus of this post. Back to the topic at hand, John the Baptist was indeed a lamp that was burning and shining and the people were drawn to him and they did indeed rejoice for a while in his light. 

While John the Baptist was full of light, he himself was not the life which is the Light of men. That is Jesus Christ. These next Scriptures are all from the Gospel of John and they testify to this truth and more:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who 

believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of flesh nor the will of man, but of God. (John 1:1-13, NASB)

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:7:14, NASB)

Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see and believe You? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.' (Ex 16:11-36) Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." (John 6:27:35, NASB)

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12, NASB)

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (John 14:6, NASB)

There is so much more that would blow your mind in the Gospel of John if you read it, but these verses alone make what C.S. Lewis said in his book, Mere Christianity, one of my all time favorite quotes by man on who Jesus is:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

When you take the time to think about that truth, God would not have allowed Jesus to do so much in His name if Jesus was not indeed who He said He was. Christ said some things that should make one sit up and take notice! What I have shared today isn't near all I wanted to share. To be quite honest, if it were up to me, and allowed, I would have typed out the entire first 16 chapters! There are so many amazing testimonies of signs and wonders that are only found in the Gospel of John.

It is certainly a great place to begin in your search to discover who Christ Jesus is for yourself.

Don't allow the world to tell you who Christ is. Don't let anyone who is not a true follower persuade you into thinking that the word of God is not the real deal and don't let them sway you into thinking that Jesus was simply a Prophet. That is merely one of the title that others gave Him. Who He truly is is our mediator, our Lord and our Savior.

The greatest one can do for another is to give up their life for a friend. Jesus gave up His life for all creation. The BIG question is this, "Are you willing to give up your life for Him?"

I can promise you this, those who do live an abundant life on earth. That is not to say that they have an easy road. Oh no, much the opposite. Often their lives are shown to be full of trials and tribulations! The difference between those who believe and those who don't boils down to this:

Those who lean on the Lord find rest and peace and joy right in the midst of turmoil and chaos! That to me is abundance. This world is full of people riddled with anxiety, fear, worry, stress, anger, jealousy, etc. These are the ones we believers need to be praying for. They are still in slavery. 

It often slays me when I see soundbites claiming that the Bible supports slavery! If you are living in sin then you my friend are enslaved today! You may not see it that way today, but I profess to you that this is an absolute truth! It is so freeing to lay down all your sins at God's feet. To repent and admit that we err daily. NO ONE IS WITHOUT SIN. This too is proven again and again and again in Scripture. However, when you come to the point where you truly repent with a God like sorrow, and ask God for His will to play out in your life, I am warning you to buckle yourself in because you are in for the journey of a lifetime. When you get here you will understand just how enslaved you once were. Don't forget that and return to the ways of the world. Instead, keep your focus on the truth. Arm yourself with the word of God. Read Ephesians to gain greater understanding of how to live life and how to protect yourself against the powers of darkness. That will be the topic of my next book!

It is crazy for me that in typing this for the world today, God drew me in and before I knew it I had read the first 16 chapters of the Gospel of John throughout the day! What was revealed to me while reading would fill pages and it was all I could do to refrain from including so many other incredible things that Jesus did, but again it was obvious to me that those verses were not for me to include in this post. 

With that being said, I pray that what I have shared today gives you cause and curiosity to search the Scriptures for yourself! I leave you with this picture I took while in Nevada. 

Wendy, walks with God, Mother of Many

© Wendy Glidden, 2016

**The MacArthur Study Bible, John MacArthur, NASB, Updated Edition, 2006, Thomas Nelson

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockamn Foundation. Used by permission."

Don't Be Devoured!

Many in the world are familiar with quote John 3:16. Some I imagine have heard it mentioned but don't know what it is about. I, myself have seen the Book, Chapter and verse posted on sites all across the United States of America in my travels. I often wonder when I see it, "Will people know this is a Bible verse and search it out on their own?"

I have to admit, we live in a fast paced world and often a soundbite is all one can get out in a crowd. Obama is by far one of the best sound bite machines I have ever watched in my life. I know there are some big fans of his out there. I am only a fan of God and I see man for man; we all fall short. Our president is no different, nor were any of the previous ones so please don't take me the wrong way. I was pointing out how influential some soundbites can be depending on how they are introduced. 

I am not certain that random signs with John 3:16 written on them are delivering the power of the truth in that message!

For those who have never taken the time to search the actual message out, this is what John 3:16 tells us:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16, NASB)

My question for you is this, "How can you believe in someone or something that you have no knowledge of?"

My next question is this, "If you are seeking life after death, wouldn't you at least be curious enough to search out this Son of God on your own time?" 

Searching Him out on your own time does not mean going to church once a week. While that can be helpful; surrounding yourself with others who love God, not all churches teach. Sadly, the majority preach. I don't like to be preached to, but I love to learn! That is what my home church does. Honestly at Leavener, I often feel like I am sitting in Bible College because you learn more than just the words in the Bible. You are taught about the setting in history and the original context of the words themselves is often broken down. This adds massive flavor and color to the books in the Bible and gives one so much greater understanding as well as a personal desire to learn on ones own. 

Now, if I were to post soundbite signs across the USA, I think I would pick John 3:17 as my soundbite shout out to the world:

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17, NASB)

You see, we have a mutual enemy in this world, evil. Evil lies to us about who we are and labels us as unworthy to be saved. This is a lie. God obviously found us worthy enough to send his son after us! It is so important for us, especially at this time in history to come to know and understand what is truly against us in all things in this world! You will only discover the depths of shrewdness and how to best protect yourself against such a foe in the word of God!

It irks me to no ends when people say, "God has already decided who gets saved." or "There are only 144,000 people that God is going to save" or "The Bible says those who are saved are predestined already so what's the point?"

While there is some truth in these statements, they are far from absolute truth! The enemy always uses partial truths to snare us. It is why he is so effective! We need to KNOW the truth in order to defend it. How can you know it if all you do is stand on others soundbites?

In reading God's word for myself, one thing is certain, we all fall short, we are all sinners in need of help!

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; (Romans 3:23, NASB)

Now granted these 3 verses I have shared today are indeed soundbites, but they are statements of absolute truth. These also are VERY important truths in the fight against the lie of evil that tells us that its already been decided who gets saved and who does not! Allow me to build the case for truth:

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. (Romans 12:3, NASB)

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:44-45, NASB)

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgiving, be mad on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all . . . (1 Timothy 2:1-6, NASB)

I have a boatload more to share but let us connect the dots with these:

• God sent his son to save the world (all creation, not just mankind but the world as well, remember that it to is in a fallen state!)
• He did not send His son into the world to judge us, but to save us! ALL of us!
• If only some are predestined to be saved, why provide all of us with a measure of faith?
• Obviously God blesses all of His children and creation with sun and rain. (Karma is a misnomer. good and evil happen to those who are both good and evil. Those who thank the LORD daily also petition for more blessings and He is a faithful God, my advice; "Get to know Him!)
• God makes it obvious again and again and again that He wishes all of us would turn to Him and be saved. It is our FREE WILL to do so as it is our FREE WILL to ignore the life line He so lovingly provided to ALL!

I did not come to where I am today overnight. I truly sought to understand God's word. Today, I know who I am in Christ and it is what that knowledge did for me that drives me to share the truth with others. Yes, I will have eternal life, but on top of that, I am living an abundant life in the midst of a fallen world. I cannot tell you how FREEING that is. How joyful I am in spite of all the junk that the evil in the world tries to throw in my path. This is the good news! Another great thing my church has done is to compile a list of verses that share who you are in Christ. Check them out! 

Be blessed my friends! Life is worth living abundantly. Discover the truth for yourself and stand firm in your faith! The enemy is indeed a roaring lion and it is us that he longs to devour! Don't get eaten!!

Wendy, Mom of Many, Walks with God!

© Wendy Glidden 2016

A Trustworthy Statement!

If you have read my blogs for any length of time, you know one thing is certain. I LOVE God. I have this enormous, can't put it into words, gratitude for the message of mercy and grace that you only discover through Jesus Christ, my LORD and Savior.

Recently, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and lead a Bible study group focused on faith in Jesus Christ. True faith. The kind that makes you stand firm in the face of death come what may. I led a Bible study in my past where I witnessed girls transform before my eyes. This took place in a mere 6 days so there is no doubt it had nothing to do with me or what I said, the Holy Spirit certainly spoke through me those days.

So, here I've been, basically stand still in my writing. I haven't felt led to write, which of course has left me in contemplation mode. When I contemplate, I contemplate on God and the things of God. As I ponder, my heart speaks to Him. For me this is a form of prayer. It is open and honest conversation. I know He loves this forthrightness for He answers me when I take the time to truly get to the heart of things.

That is exactly what I have been doing these last few days. I need to prepare for my next gathering and I want so badly for my friends to 'get it'. I mean to really really GET IT. 100% faith in Jesus Christ. Now I kind of know the answer; the truth of the matter is it is the Holy Spirits job to speak to them, however, it is my duty to invite them to stop long enough to take a listen and to pray over them requesting that their eyes and ears be opened to all He has to say and show. Outside of that, it is them themselves that have the free will to decide if this venture into God's word is worth their time.

You can't claim to have the desire to know God and not continually seek someone who is in the word of God themselves. That doesn't mean attending Sunday service and getting preached at. That is not how you learn about God! It means truly seeking to understand what God authored through 40 devoted servants over the course of 1500 years.

It is not hard for me to believe the history that is told in the Old Testament. I often say I got to cheat my way to faith. Don't get me wrong. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that every person born has a measure of faith. We also have free will. How we use our faith, if we chose to use it at all is up to us. However, I do know that it is from faith to faith that we indeed witness glory to glory. So, I had faith. Honestly when it came to knowing if God was the real deal I had no doubts at all. That is because I walked with God as a child. I talked with Him, He talked to me. All of this is shared in You Are Worthy Too: The Proof is in the Pudding!

Regardless of my faith in God, I had not one iota of an inkling exactly who Jesus Christ was outside of being told that He was the Son of God. Knowing and understanding EXACTLY what that meant in my life, I was 100% clueless. I know that I am not alone in that truth. Those are the things I was talking to God about; "How do I help people get to where I was in my understanding to where I am now?"

I have been known to say that I wished I could just take everything that I know to be truth in regards to God and Christ and transfer that knowledge to others. This morning the first verse I read thanks to K-Love was this:

Timothy 1:15, NASB): It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.

If I told you that didn't make me laugh out loud, I would be lying. This statement is written by Paul one of the 40 known authors of the 66 books found in the Bible. He writes in a style that causes me to hear him speaking to the crowd almost as if I were actually sitting in the room with him. I love Paul for who he is in Christ. I get him. I too see myself among the greatest of sinners for the crimes I committed against God before I came to know who I am in Christ.

Paul titles himself as the greatest of sinners because of the things he did in life before he came to understand and know who he was in Christ. You see, prior to that, Paul, a Pharisee, was actually persecuting those whose faith was firmly found in Jesus Christ! He was actually present, influential and approving of the first recorded stoning of the believers in Christ Jesus. Paul was 100% devoted to God. He honestly believed he was doing God a favor by hunting down these believers in Christ Jesus. On his way to Damascus where he intended to persecute many more believers, all of that changed. It was then that Paul learned the truth of Christ for himself.

When you see yourself as the worst of sinners, and then discover the truth found in Jesus Christ, which includes the message of Love, mercy and grace, you become driven to share that truth with everyone in the world no matter their stature in life. You see the world and all humanity as God sees it and you just want all to understand the good news which is so good, it is often hard to believe.

I feel sorry for those that only accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in a moment of emotion but then get caught back up in the ways of the world; never taking time to study and grow in faith. I am certain this is why Christ explains that even though many could be saved, they are lost because believers in the world are not working as they are meant to. 

(Luke 10:2-3, NASB): Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead  of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

This is why I find myself here, longing to be a viable laborer for the LORD. One who truly takes the time to not only nourish myself, but to find others who are willing to hear what I have to share. It's life changing news, yet so few find the time to seek the truth for themselves. 

I am going to continue to pray on how best to go about this desire of mine, to help others find their way to an abundant life for that is the promise of God Himself, a life of abundance now as well as eternal life in the end. It is also my prayer that you stay tuned to my future posts as I am certain as I pray, God will deliver! Until then know that I am praying over you, that your eyes and ears may be opened to the truths found in Christ Jesus.

Wendy, Mom of Many, walks with God

© Wendy Glidden 2016