SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/2/2016 10:18 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: His Surety
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 7:17
Message of the verse: 17 "If anyone
is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God
or whether I speak from Myself.” “17 If
anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or
whether I merely speak on my own authority (Phillips).” “17 Anyone who wants to do his will can test
this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up
(Message).”
John
MacArthur writes “The Lord’s challenge to the crowd was simple: If they would humble themselves before God’s
Word (wherein His will is revealed) to know and obey it, they would come to a
sure realization that His teaching was true. That challenge still stands two millennia
later. The assurance promised in this
verse is available to all genuine believers.
Such confidence comes through the Holy Spirit, who confirms the truth
about Christ to the willing heart (1 John 2:20, 27), both internally, through
His testimony (1 Cor. 2:10-15; cf. Rom. 8:16), and externally, through
manifestations that demonstrate the truth of the gospel (John 3:2; 5:36; 10:38;
Acts 2:22).”
I suppose
that one of the things that I admire about our Lord when He was on the earth in
a human body was His boldness, which means to me that He had strength and
courage to accomplish the task that the Father gave Him to do. We see Jesus in this setting in the temple
teaching the people on this Jewish feast of Tabernacles and we know that the “Jews”
were trying to kill Him, He knew that they were trying to kill Him, and yet
because of the timetable that He had, He had to be there doing what the Father
willed Him to do at this particular time, six months or so before He would die
on the cross for those who would come to Him to receive salvation.
Let us look
at some OT verses which are similar to this one in John’s Gospel. “"But from there you will seek the LORD
your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and
all your soul (Deut. 4:29).” “"As
for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a
whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and
understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find
Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever (1 Chron. 28:9).” “How blessed are those who observe His
testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart (Psalm 119:2).” “’You will seek Me and find Me when you search
for Me with all your heart (Jer. 29:13).”
John
MacArthur stated that “The personification of wisdom in Proverbs 1:20-23
illustrates the clear-cut challenge Jesus made in this verse—one that no false
messiah would dare make. Those who heed wisdom’s
call, who are willing to do God’s will, will receive further knowledge:
“20 Wisdom shouts in the street, She
lifts her voice in the square; 21 At the
head of the noisy streets she cries out; At the entrance of the gates in the
city she utters her sayings: 22
"How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And
scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge? 23 “Turn to
my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words
known to you.
“But verses
24-33 reveal the fate of those who harden their hearts and are unwilling to
turn to God:
“24 “Because
I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; 25
And you neglected all my counsel And did not want my reproof; 26 I will also
laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, 27 When your dread
comes like a storm And your calamity comes like a whirlwind, When distress and
anguish come upon you. 28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They
will seek me diligently but they will not find me, 29 Because they hated
knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD. 30 “They would not accept my
counsel, They spurned all my reproof. 31 “So they shall eat of the fruit of
their own way And be satiated with their own devices. 32 “For the waywardness
of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them. 33
“But he who listens to me
shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil."”
Just as in
that day so it is today, the choice to believe the evidence of Jesus Christ
being the Son of God, God come in the flesh, is up to you. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you
will be saved.” You must have faith to
believe that Jesus is who He said He was and believe that He did for you what
He came to earth to do, and that is to die in your place, take your sin upon
Him as He suffered and died on the cross for you, taking the penalty that you
and I deserved to take and then to die, be buried, and three days later rise
from the grave, later on to be go back to heaven where He came from. Think about those three hours when God took
out His wrath on Him for you and for me, the wrath that He endured was to pay
for our sins for us spending an eternity in hell, and He did that in three
hours, so one can imagine the pain and suffering He went through.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I
am thankful that the Holy Spirit of God called me to salvation, and it is my desire
to live for the Lord, the One who purchased me out of the slave market of sin.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to give me the
strength and courage that I need to do what I feel I have to do today.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “He loved the things he owned more that he
loved Jesus” (Matthew 19:16-22).”
Today’s Bible question:
“Who said ‘Blessed be the Lord this day, which hath given unto David a
wise son over this great people?’”
Answer in our next SD.
5/2/2016 11:05 AM
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