SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/18/2016 10:35 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
The Father’s Word
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 5:32, 37-38
Message of the verses: “32
“There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He
gives about Me is true. 37 “And the
Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at
any time nor seen His form. 38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for
you do not believe Him whom He sent.”
As we begin
this Spiritual Diary I want to again state that this is one of the most
important sections of Scripture in that in it we see the Words of Jesus
proclaiming to all who heard them and who now read them that He is God, as He
states that He is equal with the Father and this is the theme that we see in
the book of John as we once again look at John 20:30-31 “30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed
in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may
have life in His name.” As we saw in our
last SD these words written by John come right after Jesus tells Thomas “"Because
you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet
believed’ (John 5:29).”
In our SD
for today we see that not only did John the Baptist and also the works of Jesus
testify of Him as being the Son of God, but also the Father who sent Him into
the world testify that He is the Son of God, and this is infinitely greater in
importance than any human testimony. At
the Baptism of Jesus and also at His transfiguration it is recorded that the Father
spoke as a voice out of heaven saying
that “Jesus is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
Now it is
good to remember here that these Pharisees that Jesus is speaking to sent
people to John the Baptist to see who he was and it is possible that some of
these men were there when John Baptized Jesus in the Jordon River, but not all
who heard the Father speak at that time understood what was being said. MacArthur writes “Jesus’ statement ‘You have
neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form,” was a further rebuke to
the unbelieving Jews. No one can see God
in the full glory of His infinitely holy essence (Ex. 33:20; John 1:18; 1 Tim.
6:16; 1 John 4:12). However there were
times, throughout Israel’s history, when God audibly or visibly interacted with
His people. For example, He spoke to
Moses (Ex. 33:11; Num. 12:8), the Israelites of the exodus (Deut. 4:12, 15;
5:5), and the prophets (Heb. 1:1). He also
appeared, in some physical manifestation of His presence, to Jacob (Gen.
32:30), Gideon (Jud. 6:22), Manoah (Judg. 13:230), and others (Gen. 16:13; Ex.
24:9-11; Isa. 6:5). Yet the unbelieving
Jews of Jesus day, who had both the Old Testament Scriptures and the full
revelation of God in Jesus Christ (1:18; 14:9; cf. Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:3), did not
have God’s ‘word abiding in’ them, for they did ‘not believe Him whom God sent.’ They refused to listen to Jesus, God’s final
revelation to mankind (Heb. 1:2). And,
in so doing, they displayed their total ignorance of God, since those who
reject Jesus cannot know the Father.”
Now we want
to remind all that on the other hand all those who love God’s Son have an
internal witness of God that abides in their hearts as they understand who
Jesus truly is. Paul writes in Romans
8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” John the apostle writes the following in his
first letter from 1 John 5:9-10 “9 If we
receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the
testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God has
the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His
Son.” As stated in many of my Spiritual
Diaries that the truth is here from the Word of God as to who Jesus Christ is
and what He came to do and the choice is yours as to whether or not to accept
it and invite Him into your life to forgive your sins and give you eternal life
as He is only a prayer away. “Jesus I
realize that I am a sinner and I now repent of my sins and believe that You
will forgive my sins as Your Word states, and I now invite You into my life to
be my Savior and Lord. Amen.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am thankful beyond words to realize that
God has shown me who His Son truly is, and that believing on Him many years ago
has changed the direction of my life.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: To continue to tell the truth
of who Jesus Christ is and show from the Scriptures how one can be saved.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “None” (Luke 9:2-3).
Today’s Bible question:
“Who said ‘If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole?’”
Answer in our next SD.
3/18/2016 11:15 AM
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