Monthly Archives: May 2025

THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE

Christian Life,

John 14:4, 6 NLT
[4] “And you know the way to where I am going.”…
[6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

It was the eve of Jesus’ death. After years of close association with Him, hearing, listening, following…yes, even clashing with Him, the disciples must have had some idea of what Jesus was about, except…they were obsessed with the idea that the Messiah’s mission was about freeing them from Rome’s stranglehold on their land and their lives.

They were convinced that He was the Messiah; they had seen His power, but…they were not sure how He was going to set about overthrowing Rome’s might against their insignificant resistence.
Perhaps God the Father would send an army of angels, led by Jesus, to drive the Romans out of their land or, perhaps, even better, He would do to the Romans what He did to the Egyptians… drown them in the sea.

Jesus’ talk of His death had fallen on deaf ears. Death at the hands of Roman soldiers, initiated by their own Jewish priesthood, just didn’t fit their expectation.

It was Passover. Deliverance was on their minds. Hopes ran high of a showdown with Rome. Jerusalem was filled with loyal Jews from all over the Roman Empire, who were there to celebrate an apex event in Israel’s history that would hopefully be repeated again.

These Jews had just hailed Jesus as the Son of David despite the displeasure of the Jewish leaders who had no hope in Him and no aspiration for a showdown with Rome. In fact, the Jewish leaders were sellouts to Rome. To them, Jesus was an intruder who constantly picked on them for their hypocrisy. He was as annoying as a pesky fly, to be swatted out of existence.

The disciples were uneasy. Shut away in an upper room, they waited to hear the Master’s plan, perhaps His strategy for conquest. How shocked they must have been to hear Him say, “I’m going away, but trust me, I’m coming back to fetch you.”

Why would He be going away at this crucial moment and where was He going? Who would lead the campaign against Rome? Not one of them, not even the motormouth Peter, was capable of taking on the mammoth task of leading a riff-raff army against the most powerful force in the world.

Thomas, the skeptical one, was bold enough to question Him. “At this most important time, when our hopes of deliverance are high, where might you be going, Jesus?” Perhaps Thomas thought that they could all get out of there with Him. If He was going to escape this terrible situation, so could they.

The disciples were taken aback by His answer. As always, despite their denial, they were forced to shift their minds from the current situation to the realm of the Father, from which and towards which Jesus has lived His life from His earliest days.

Jesus gently rebuked Thomas and, through him, the disciples. Despite their close association with Him for all these years, they still didn’t get it! Didn’t they ever recognise that, like the twelve-year-old of many years ago, He was still about the Father? Hadn’t He tried, through His teaching and miracles, to show them that He and His Father were about something much greater than Roman oppression?

With great solemnity, Jesus spoke these immortal words. “I AM THE WAY…”

“Once and for all, my beloved friends, get this…I’m going home to the Father and I’m the only way anyone else will ever get to Him.”

Everything in this life is not about escaping from any kind of oppression or unjust treatment one person or group inflicts on another. This life, with all its ups and downs, is about freedom from a master far more cruel and destructive than the Romans… the sin nature in us that has us in its grip and, in partnership with the devil himself, will surely drag us into eternal death if we never overcome its power.

Romans 8:13 NIV
[13] “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die…”

Rome’s power was nothing compared with the power of sin and death.

Thomas’ question, asked in ignorance, led Jesus to make a statement that that towers over every other usurper who dares to challenge Him. Despite every delusional claim fashioned to lure people away from faith in Jesus and the real life He can give those who believe in Him, He said, “I am the WAY.”

Jesus was then, and is now, the only one who embodies a life lived in perfect union, submission, and obedience to the Father. The Holy Spirit was His partner and power. The only way for humans ever to stand before the Father, forgiven, righteous, and holy, is to follow Him.

Why must we follow Jesus and not another religious leader who offers some sort of reward at the end of this life? Jesus is also the TRUTH. We can only reach the Father if we go to Him by way of the truth. Who Jesus is, what He says, and what He does is the truth. He proved it by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. If He were a liar, He would still be in the grave like every other religious liar who died and stayed dead!

By following His Way, by living by His Truth, we can experience Life, both now and forever. How can we describe this real life? Perhaps a simple definition of LIFE is…living every day in the perfect love of God without fear.

Is this possible? Yes, it is, simply because Jesus’ way has obliterated every obstacle in the path to the Father. Sin? Gone! Condemnation? Gone! Punishment? Gone! Separation? Gone! Fear? Gone!

Hebrews 10:19-22 NIV
[19] “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, [20] by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, [21] and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22] let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”

Can any delusional religious person or system offer and make good on anything better than Jesus? He embodies everything our hearts crave for in this life and the next.

John 14:27 NLT
[27] “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Best of all, His legacy of furious peace in our hearts when we believe is the guarantee that everything He claimed to be and do is true. Peace is the seal that our faith is faith not delusion. Jesus is the way to the Father, the truth by which to get to Him, and the life that surpasses every other life we could live both now and for all eternity.

MOLLY AND ME – PATCH PARTNERS

Christian Life, ,

Patch partners…whats that?

“LifeWave” is a company formed that provides a patented treatment, using a unique form of phototherapy, that is able to reverse some of the processes of aging. Through the use of patches stuck onto the skin, the body’s own light waves are stimulated to reactivate the stem cells that heal worn-out or diseased cells in the body.

A few months ago, my little “doxie” has an episode of back pain, common to her breed, that left her back legs too weak to hold her up. At the same time, in God’s amazing way of aligning prayer and answer, I learnt about and bought into the LifeWave way of treating pain.

Desperate to help my little dog, I put a patch on Molly’s back the morning after I received my order of patches. By that evening, Molly was was walking and, within two days, she was running!

I decided to continue the treatment by patching us both with the “flagship” patches, the patches I call, “the one-size-fits-all” treatment that restores function to cells and organs ravaged by age.

Since then, I have patched Molly and me daily with little white discs no bigger than a 20c piece but packed with miracle-working crystals that are slowly rebuilding our bodies.

That’s the reason we are patch-partners!

Together, we are beginning to regain our physical functions, slowly but surely because we have both moved into the “sell-by-date” category. I can see and feel the effects of the healing process. Joints that were stiff and painful are becoming functional again. Skin lesions, the result of aging, are healing. In the months to come, I anticipate, on the experience of others, that internal organs will function efficiently again and the use of expensive medication that keeps me alive will be redundant!

So, Molly and I are being rejuvenated, not so that we will live forever in these mortal bodies but that we will enjoy a quality of life we didn’t think possible until the end of our days.

What is the lesson for me in this new chapter of our lives? Molly is only an animal but a very special little one to me. I saw, in His perfect timing, God’s Iove for a small creature in pain.

In the midst of a world populated by cruel people, the evidence of which is everywhere, there is blessing for those who care for God’s earth and for God’s creatures.

Genesis 1:28 NLT
[28] “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Conservation is built into God’s mandate to humanity to manage the earth.

Proverbs 12:10 NLT
[10] “The godly care for their animals, but the wicked are always cruel.”

God’s heart can be clearly seen in our attitude to those who are weaker than ourselves. God is against those who exploit weakness, be it human or animal.

Proverbs 22:22-23 NLT
[22] “Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court. [23] For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them.”

The Father has given us the opportunity to learn real kindness and compassion by the way we care for our animals. They can never repay us for what we do to or for them. Like little children, they lean on us for kindness and care.

How grateful I am to the Lord for the little companion who has shared my life for more than eight years. He has fashioned in me a tender heart and taught me to love in a way I could never have learned had He not provided her to be my teacher. I’m happy and grateful to be “patch partners” with her as God fulfills His promise to renew our youth like the eagles. Who knows, we might both live to be the equivalent of 120 years like Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:7 NLT
[7] “Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.”

Moses may not have had patches but he had God. Molly and I have patches because of God!

LIVING WITHOUT FEAR

Christian Life, ,

1 John 4:18 NIV
[18] “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

In this world as it is now, is the possibility of living without fear only a pipe-dream? Is it possible to face each new day with such confidence that fear has NO place in our responses to the stuff that happens?

I recently read the story of Anna to an elderly friend in a nearby frail care facility. Anna’s short life, encapsulated in a masterfully crafted book called, “Mr God, This is Anna”, by Fynn, is the true story of a five-year-old runaway child, discovered late at night in a street in pre-war London. Her benefactor, a teenage boy, took her to his home from where, for three years, he learned to travel with her on her journeys of discovery in the magical world of people, creatures, words, and numbers.

Anna was an adventurer. Her goal was Mr God. Every question, every experiment, every discovery, every conclusion led her straight to the heart of “Mr God” who was both her pride and her joy.

Anna’s relationship with Mr God was simple. As Fynn, the author, described… whatever Anna’s circumstances, she hurled herself at Mr God in a free fall of absolute trust, into His arms. Her constant refrain was these three little words, “I ain’t afraid!”

Anna’s short life came to an abrupt end when she fell from a tree in an attempt to rescue a stranded kitten. She was skewered on an iron railing and, without the aid of antibiotics, succumbed to infection. Her last murmured words were, “Fynn, I bet Mr God lets me into heaven for this!”

I believe that this is what real life, the abundant life, is all about…living without fear. We can never escape life’s unpredictability because we will always be a part of this world with all its evils but…what we do with what happens will make all the difference between an adventure and a nightmare.

Fear! Fear stalks everywhere. Its ghostly fingers clutch at our hearts around every dark corner but… fear is a phantom, a “what if” that invades our hearts, clouds our minds, and paralyses our responses if we allow its clammy fingers to squeeze out faith.

Why is fear such a persistent intrusion into our thoughts? The Apostle John said, “Fear has to do with punishment.” Is it possible that fear gets its energy from the subtle idea that every bad experience is God’s way of cracking the whip at us for every real or perceived wrongdoing, and every good experience God’s way of manipulating us with some unknown but sinister intention?

Unlike Anna, we humans are patholigically suspicious of “Mr God”. From where does this suspicion come? From our implacable enemy, the devil, of course. Fear is one of the most potent weapons in his arsenal. Whatever happens, both good and bad, fear intrudes to colour our perceptions of God. If good happens, is it real, how long will it last, why is God being good to me? If bad things happen, what have I done to displease Him?

The Bible is crowded with instructions not to fear. “Do not fear!” or its equivalent, occurs about 330 times in God’s Word, once for almost every day of the year. So, every day should begin with the resolution, “I will not be afraid.”

With this determination, “What if…” can undergo a change. “What if…” becomes “Even if…” when we choose to change our perspective. What can make the change?

God’s love for us, His reassuring antidote to fear, is written indelibly on every page of the Bible. Love and fear can never live together. One cancels the other. God’s love for us rotten sinners is written in blood…the blood of His own son.

John 3:16 NIV
[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.”

Did you get that? Let’s say it again!

1 John 4:10 NIV
[10] “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Just for good measure, let the Bible say it a third time…

Romans 8:32 NIV
[32] “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Is this not enough to convince us of a love so great that this God, who loves us with a love that gave all and withholds nothing for our good, still loves and will always love us beyond imagination?

John said, “God is love!”, not just “God loves us.” His essence is pure love. That means that He is who He is…LOVE.

Even David, before the cross, embraced this love so big that the universe itself was not big enough to contain or explain it.

Psalms 36:5 NIV
[5]”Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Psalms 103:11 NIV
[11] “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…”

Should we, then, not permanently banish fear and embrace the love God has for us in every situation, good or bad. Why? Is it not because life has a lesson to teach us about God’s love so great that it will alter every circumstance we endure from threat to opportunity?

We can only embrace a different response to the “stuff” that happens if we understand God’s purpose and the way He achieves it. If life, for us, is only a set of random happenstances, we will have no reason to expect a good outcome. Like a ball in a football game, we will feel like we are being kicked around by two rival teams, both intent on the winning the game.

What if, instead, we know where God is taking us and can work with Him in gaining His objective? What if we can cancel fear by embracing God’s love? What if we are learning that every adverse happenstance is peeling off another layer of suspicion and mistrust in the perfect love of the Father? What if God’s plan is so to refine our faith in His love that we can turn every “what if” into a resounding “even if”? What if we can grow a trust in God like that of the three Hebrew men who declared, at the threat of the fire,

Daniel 3:16-18 NIV
[16] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. [17] If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. [18] But EVEN IF he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

No fear!

God’s purpose, in all things, is to restore in us the image of His Son. He desires a family of sons and daughters who perfectly resemble Jesus, His blueprint. Testing is His method. Only testing us can expose the flaws that foul our faith in Him. Every circumstance is a test. Good things and bad things arouse suspicion. Every suspicion calls in question God’s trustworthiness. Every time we say, “even if”, our trust in His infallible love is strengthened and takes us a step nearer to likeness to Jesus.
Every lesson learned means one less test, until, as Paul declared…

Romans 8:37 NIV
[37] “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Is it possible to live without fear, unmoved from our unwavering confidence in God’s perfect love? A resounding “Yes!”, if we choose to change from “What if?” to “Even if!”

Romans 8:28-29 NIV
[28]”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
[29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Armed with this conviction, we can do and be what Paul prescribes…

1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
[58]”Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. LET NOTHING MOVE YOU. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

ANCIENT PATHS

Gospel, ,

Jeremiah 6:16 NLT
[16] “This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

Our path through life is full of crossroads, with many signposts pointing this way or that way… follow this path or that path which, each signpost assure us, will surely take us to our desired destination.

How can we be sure that the path we choose to follow is the correct one? Wise Solomon warned…

Proverbs 14:12 NLT
[12] “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

So, with so many ways from which to choose, how can we know which way will take us to life? Must we choose Allah, or Buddha, or Confucius, or the way of the Pope, or the way of some religious leader? Which one has told us the way, demonstrated the way, and proved beyond doubt that this way is the right way?

Like many of God’s wise words that urge us to go back to the beginning, Jeremiah declares that the old, godly way is the right way, the way to go.

From cover to cover, the Bible shows us the godly way. Its counsel takes us to God as the only centre of our lives from whom we get direction, assurance, and support.

God does not crave sacrifice. What can animal blood do for our sinful hearts? What can fasting or washing our dirty bodies or hands do for our polluted souls? What can rituals do to cleanse us from sin?

Micah 6:6-7 NLT
[6]”What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? [7] Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?”

These are all wasteful and futile attempts to appease God for our sin. What does He require now that He required from Adam in the beginning? Like Adam, we have all blotted our copybook and stand guilty before Him.

Micah spells it out in three simple instructions.

Micah 6:8 NLT
[8] “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Even clearer to us in God’s Word is the way Jesus lived. He is not only the signpost but also the God who is with us, Christ in us, and Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Jesus is the “old, godly way”. He was before time. He will be when time ceases. He lived an entirely God-centred life, perfectly submitted and obedient to the Father and in harmony with His will.

Thus, He could call His people to come to Him and to follow Him because His way brought rest to the soul. He promised to provide the same rest of soul for those who lived as He did.

Rest! What is rest? Don’t people everywhere crave rest but don’t know where to find it? Is rest about our circumstances? Freedom from stress? Will plenty of money in our bank account bring us rest? No family worries? No conflicts in our circle, or circumstances at work, in our community? Is this even possible? Can we still have rest when stuff is happening around us which we can’t control?

Jeremiah assured God’s people that real rest was a consequence of living God’s way. David said that God’s Word lights our path and shows us the way. So, the old, godly way is simply living the way God intended for us by following His instructions. This way gives us no reason to be afraid of the future or ashamed of our past because God has taken care of both. He has forgiven our sin through Jesus and opened the way to fellowship with Him, now and forever.

This is real rest. Our circumstances don’t matter if we are at rest in our hearts. However, we can only have this test if we follow God’s path. Going God’s way will cost us our independence but… the reward far outweighs the cost.

However…

In Jeremiah’s words, people are stubborn. They would rather have their independence, their self-will, and their stubborn resistence to God’s way to enjoy their sin than surrender to Him and experience His rest.

Let’s look at Moses for a moment. He is a great example of someone who looked at life from the correct perspective.

Hebrews 11:24-26 NIV
[24] “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. [25] He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.”

Tragically, our own way leads to destruction. The only reward for rebellion against God is hell.

As Jesus said, there are two paths, one that leads to hell, a fiery place of torment and regret, and the other to life, a heaven of love and peace. The way that leads to life brings conflict with the world outside now but rest of the soul within. The other way satisfies the cravings of the sinful nature but never allows the conscience to rest. The price we pay for rest now is miniscule compared with the price we will pay if we reject God’s way.