The Gate

The Thief
Breaking glass, picking locks and sneaking through windows are ways that a thief usually gains entry into forbidden places.  Most people lock their doors, set alarms or take precautions against intruders, however, we've learned through other people's misery that those measures don't always work.

Using a door or gate as an entrance is the standard—the robber has no approved access so he must figure out another way.  That's why when a neighbor sees someone climbing over walls or through windows, he can be pretty sure that something illegal is underway.

The Blind
In John Chapter 9, Jesus healed a man who was blind from birth.  When the man was questioned by the Pharisees about what had happened, he admitted he didn't know how Jesus had done it, but that he must be some kind of prophet, since no ordinary man was ever able to do such things.  The man was dismissed by the leaders as a fool and a sinner.

When Jesus was informed, He tracked down the man and simply told him who He was, and asked if he believed.  The man proclaimed his belief and worshipped Him.  Jesus used this opportunity to point out that the spiritual blindness of the religious was far worse than physical blindness.  And then, He proceeded to use the imagery of shepherding to make sure everyone in earshot understood what He was about to say...

The Truth
"I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him.... I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who came before me were thieves and robbers... Yes, I am the gate.  Those who come through me will be saved... the thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy but I came to give them a rich and satisfying life."(John 10:1-10 in part)

When Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, God stationed at the entryway, a mighty cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the Tree of Life.  Eternal life was no longer accessible to man.  But now Jesus has placed Himself at the gate, thus opening the way again.  Those who claim there is a way other than through Jesus, are warned in the passage in John 10 that they are mistaken.

The Thief
We often hear this verse applied to satan as the thief, and although the attribute fits, I think there is a more widespread implication.  Jesus said anyone who tries to circumvent the true way is a thief and a robber.

The Blind
Anyone pointing to another way in is doing the opposite of what Jesus does.  I believe He was making a judgment call on the Pharisees (who believed they were immune to condemnation by virtue of their positions) who were already scheming and planning His arrest.  This is what He meant in this exchange:

Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard Him and asked, "Are you saying we're blind?" 
"If you were, you wouldn't be guilty," Jesus replied, "but you remain guilty because you claim you can see." (John 9:40-41 emphasis added)

The Truth
The gate is there for a purpose, to keep out those who seek to do harm to the ones inside the fold.  The sheep follow their shepherd to the place of safety and well-being, knowing instinctively his voice and his intentions toward them.  By laying down His life, Jesus is both The Good Shepherd and The Gate.

I AM the Light of the World

The ancient Hebrew festival of Sukkot, or as we know it, Feast of Tabernacles (or Shelters or Booths), was a 7-day commemoration of the time their ancestors wandered in the desert and relied on God for everything.  While living in tents for a week, attendees would observe a daily ritual of pouring out water to remind them how God provided water in the desert, and a solemn lamp-lighting ceremony recalling the pillar of fire that accompanied them at night.

Like every Jew, Jesus participated in the traditions of His people. With this festival providing the backdrop, He makes the next claim that will shock and anger many of the people who hear it:

"I am the light of the world.  If you follow Me, you won't have to live in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."

While the people understood the LORD God as light, especially in the context of the festival, this statement made it plain that they needed to accept that Jesus was the One they should have been looking and waiting for. Why did they not recognize the reference to the light from heaven?  Their own prophets spoke of the light which would one day come, even pinpointing it to a particular city, yet their hearts were never ready to recognize what God was doing right in their midst.

Isaiah 9:1, 2: "Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever... there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles... will be filled with glory.  The people who walk in darkness will see a great light.  For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine."


Here is a direct reference to the miracles that Jesus was performing, prophesied 700 years before His birth:
Isaiah 42: "Look at My Servant... My Chosen One... I have put My Spirit upon Him... (He) will be a light to guide the nations;  (He) will open the eyes of the blind; (He) will free the captives...

In the beginning of the gospel of John, we find this statement:

"God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.  John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light.  The One who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world."

Without the light, we cannot discern the hazards, pitfalls or nefarious characters that are hidden from sight under cover of darkness.  Think about when a storm knocks out electricity—the first thing you go for is the flashlight, which will help you recover some sense of safety.  Jesus is not only the light of the world, but our own intimate light, which dispels the personal darkness we may face on a daily basis.

Let Him be your guide, for that's the only way to see things clearly.

I AM the Bread of Life

My love affair with bread is genetic, of this I am sure.  That percentage of me which is Italian has dominated the larger Irish to create an insatiable desire for bread, pasta and olives and any combination thereof.  Yes, I know that too many carbohydrates are not good, yet there is something akin to euphoria that rises in me along with the fresh loaf of bread.

Why so many references to bread in both the Old Testament and the New?  Bread is a symbol of what sustains life, both physically and spiritually.  Nothing high-tech here:  Gather the grain, pulverize the wheat with mortar and pestle in order to make the flour, add the simple ingredients of oil, water, salt and leaven to form dough, knead with vigor, let it rise and bake.

Bread of the Presence, or showbread in the Holy Place within the Wilderness Tabernacle and later in Solomon's Temple, was baked and set before the LORD each sabbath as an offering from Israel.  When the new bread was presented, the old was eaten by the priests and their households as they were consecrated and set apart for the Lord.

It's interesting to see the similarity in our taking bread as communion, that through salvation by grace we have become a holy nation of royal priests, belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9). Jesus established the bread and wine communion with the disciples in the midst of the Passover meal, itself a commemoration of the Mosaic Covenant, and proclaims prophetically the New Covenant that is about to ensue. Imagine the influence His words had on these men as they sat suspended between the old and new covenants about to witness and experience the deliverance of God through His Son.  Do you think they had a recollection of His earlier reference to being bread?

Jesus, the Bread of Life
In John Chapter 6, on the day after He feeds 5,000 from a few loaves and fishes, Jesus proclaims Himself the Bread of Life.  The crowds had followed Him across the sea because they were enthralled with the miracle of the feeding, but they basically came looking for more, asking Jesus to show them another sign that He was who He claimed.

At that Jesus discerned their priorities were wrong, so He challenged them to make the leap of faith—to believe that God had sent Him from heaven to become the "true bread of life" by which they could obtain eternal life.  In order to do so, they would have to eat the bread of heaven.

Because of the difficulty they had understanding all this, many disciples parted ways with the Lord at that time.  We have the benefit of the knowledge of the full gospel and can see the implied reference to Jesus as the showbread (offering) and the most perfect manna.

As the bread of life, He has become the way to heaven and eternal life; as we partake of Him, our souls are nourished and His living word becomes our daily manna.  I've decided that there is nothing inherently wrong with loving bread, since God instituted the making of it and deemed it important enough to discuss; and besides that, it makes me happy.  Eat and be satisfied.

I AM

I AM

“Tell them I AM sent you.” I AM (in Hebrew, YHWH) was the name God revealed to Moses in Exodus, and although the name had been used throughout Genesis, its true meaning had never been explained for Israel. The Hebrew people knew the name as a sound but didn't know what it meant. In Hebrew the name is spelled with four Hebrew consonants, which in English would look like this: YHWH. When vowels are put to it then it is 'Yahweh'.  

The name for God was not a special name that was not part of the Hebrew vocabulary, but was actually one of the words they were already familiar with. In other words, God declared who He was through the use of the Hebrew language. He was trying to portray who He was—the "self-existing one." Yahweh is the personal, covenant name of God, and that name is a perpetual testimony to his faithfulness to his promises.

In this next phase of the Philippians 4 Project, I will be studying the phrase, I AM, in a different way—the I AM statements that Jesus made.  These are the very words that Jesus said of Himself in order that we would understand who He is and what He means to mankind.
I hope you'll join me in discovering the truth as we begin with the next post on John 6:51: "I am the living bread..."

Olympic Training

In the overall quest for contentment, I have come to a time of waiting on the Lord; and in that discipline, I'm not a champion yet—but oh, how I've been training!  I remember the night I got saved, when I returned home to tell my parents (shocked and pleased), my father took me aside and proceeded to explain to me the fruits of the Holy Spirit that were now mine.

When he mentioned long-suffering, I got scared and wanted to reconsider this commitment I'd just made.  It felt like I had opened the door (unwittingly) to a horrific future of taking care of lepers or banishment to the jungles of the dark continent.  Let's just say that when I talk about Galatians 5, I use the more modern interpretation which says patience.

 patient |ˈpā sh ənt|
adjectiveable to wait without becoming annoyed or anxious : be patient, your time will come.• slow to lose one's temper with irritating people or situations : he was always kindly, patient, and considerate.ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French, from Latin patient-‘suffering,’ from the verb pati.
It is not my nature to be patient, conversely, it is God's nature.  That is why we need the Holy Spirit, because not even the best of us is patient enough.  If we could do, be, have these things, we would not need Him.

We are approaching the Olympics Season when we will be introduced to young competitors who have honed their particular skills to perfection, by laying aside every encumbrance that has the power to distract them from their pursuit of the gold.

How I wish I could be that myopic;  having a singular focus, where if anything that comes along doesn't contribute to the vision, it is cast aside.  But alas, I haven't the luxury or the opportunity to hire a coach or spend every waking hour training for the big moment when I either underperform or supersede the expectations of my coach and everyone else who is watching.  Yikes... the pressure!

Now God is reminding me that He has provided me with the Holy Spirit, a coach who will never belittle me or condemn me when I fail.  In fact, that voice is the very one that whispers love and encouragement even when I feel like a loser.  I said something I shouldn't have this morning and I spent a few hours regretting it and feeling sad.  As soon as I opened my bible (should've done it sooner) the burden of shame was lifted and I was able to lift my head again because of the words I read.

You and I might not be Olympic material, but we are nevertheless being cheered on by the crowd:

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion..." (Hebrews 12:1, 2)

Remember that with patience, God may be divinely disciplining us, and that no one enjoys discipline while it is happening.  Yet discipline speaks of the love a parent has for his child.  Be patient and trust Him.

Wrapping up Romans 5

Our God is in the business of changing lives, and that is not just a cliche.  Let me explain by sharing about one life that was transformed by the power of the Word.

Our 20-year-old daughter who lives in a group home nearby, was spending much of this weekend with us for her birthday.   Being together and having fun with her brought back a lot of memories about how she used to behave.  Whenever things didn't go her way, she would become aggressive, destructive and violent.  She had absolutely no self control—I could see her struggling with mental illness and everything that accompanies it—and it was ugly and painful for all of us.

After a year and a half of intensive treatment, she is like a new creature.  She rarely raises her voice now and has learned to live within the boundaries of acceptable behavior or pay the consequences.  She may have a relapse every once in a while, but the difference is like night and day.  God, in His infinite wisdom, has chosen to surround her with folks who are equipped to handle her and her special needs, and we get to enjoy her as a daughter once again on a limited basis... for now.

In the midst of the multi-year trial we prayed, struggling to find comfort in God's word, looking for promises and direction when there were decisions to be made.  What we learned was this—to do what we believed would bring peace.  Peace became the operative word in our house, and even though chaos would arise, people were hurt, and things were broken, I can honestly say that I constantly felt the presence of God.  I knew He saw everything, He felt our pain and He hadn't forsaken us or our daughter.

We declared the scripture over Katie without a shred of evidence that she believed it or understood it, yet that didn't matter.  Here is what we said:


"This is what the Lord says, 'You will be in Babylon for seventy years.  But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.  For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord.  'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days, when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me.  I will be found by you,' says the Lord.  'I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.  I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.'"(Jeremiah 29:10-14)

Yes, I know this prophecy is for the Jews, who became slaves in Babylon just as God said.  But I also know that as of this century, millions of Jews have returned to their homeland from faraway nations as was foretold by Jeremiah.  The Old Testament is filled with the colorful history of God's people—His chosen ones—a family into which we have been adopted (including Katie)!  His assurance that He has plans for each of us is one of the promises that keeps us going when we face adversity.  We are also assured that He will use those situations for our good.

This is a just a chapter in the story; perhaps someday I'll write a book about it.  For now, I thank God that He has blessed Katie beyond belief and she has found peace.

One Man, Jesus Christ

Don't get offended by my calling Jesus a man—it was in fact His humanity that made Him the most perfect sacrifice for the corporate sin of mankind.  When He chose to enter our world and put on human flesh with blood flowing through His veins just like ours, He did so with full knowledge of the Father's  plan.  In other words, death did not take him by surprise.

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many.  But even greater is God's wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ."  (Romans 5:16, 17 NLT)

This passage says that we sin because we are sinners; that is our nature.  Therefore, we do not become sinners because of mistakes, poor judgment, selfishness, etc., we've simply inherited the sin nature from Adam.

The reversal that takes place when we are spiritually reborn requires an incredible amount of faith to believe!  Its simplicity is our undoing.  God offers to trade our sin nature for righteousness as Christ the Savior delivers us from the kingdom of darkness into His marvelous light.

I am learning to acknowledge this truth daily, because the thought of this wonderful grace keeps me from focusing on my failures and sets my heart at peace for the day.

Hope does not disappoint

Look at all of the synonyms for the word hope:
promise, anticipation, expectancy, outlook, prospect, supernatural virtue

Here is the single antonym listed:
despair

What would we do without hope?  I think some people believe that hope is not spiritual enough, even though in scripture hope is always encouraged and applauded.  When our circumstances are desperate, the natural thing to feel is despair (same root word).  But God has another plan for us:

"We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.  For we know how dearly God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love." (Romans 5:3-5)

I have been in situations that seemed desperate in the moment, even frightening when the outcome was unknown.  Someone you love is in an ambulance on the way to the hospital; a child has gone missing; a large amount of cash has been misplaced; you get the picture.  We've each had momentous burdens to bear and heartbreaking decisions to make.

Whenever I chose to stop fretting in the midst of these circumstances, I always felt the peace of God envelop me like a hug.  I would hear the familiar words of scripture in my head and allow that same word to fill my heart and bring peace.  I am not mad at God, nor do I blame Him for difficulties, for they have made me stronger.  Rather than run from Him, I have run to Him... sometimes it just took a little longer.

If you happen to be unfamiliar with the story of The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom, suffice it to say that she weathered more trials than any human should have to bear; yet in her own words:

It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability, that counts.

- Corrie ten Boom | God Quotes

Author Info

Corrie ten Boom (1892 - 1983) Dutch, Christian Holocaust survivor.

We never really know what we are made of until tested.  The ten Boom family broke the law of the land in order to do the Christian thing--hide Jews in their home, keeping them from the Nazis and certain death, until the entire family was arrested and sent to a concentration camp.  Corrie was the only one in her family who survived.  She knew that her hope, placed in God alone, would never disappoint.