Two things that we can do that will help us as we follow Jesus.

1. Ask Jesus to reveal what’s truly in your heart. That’s what Jesus did for the people in this story. They were going along following him in some sense, part of the crowd, but he stopped them and told them what was really going on in their hearts when he said: “You are following me because you ate the bread and had your fill.” They probably hadn’t thought if it that way. They were just going along. He told them what was really going on in their hearts. This is one of the things about Jesus that is so unique. He isn’t just after your outward behavior. You can be in the crowd and looking passionate about Jesus. Your outward behavior can trick everyone else. But you can’t trick Jesus. He wants your heart. So why don’t you go to Christ and ask him to show you what’s going on in your heart.

Some people never do this. Some people rarely do this. Some people resist and avoid or just never get around to doing this. So they listen to sermons and even make commitments and come along with the crowd for a while but don’t really understand what is going on in their hearts. The result is they end up being constantly dragged down and tempted by hungers that go unnamed and unchallenged and therefore live in the shadows under the surface of their lives. Those things need to be brought up into the light so you can see what you are dealing with, confess your sins and surrender to Christ.

Ask Christ to reveal your heart. Make time, to set aside time to pray, to be still, or maybe to walk and reflect and listen. What are the things that you say to your self? What are the messages that play in your mind? What does all that reveal about your relationship to Christ and where you are trying to fill the hungers of your heart?

2. Tell Jesus you are choosing him and believing in him as the bread of life. I love the way the story ends. Jesus, as he does with Peter several times, pushes his followers to choose and to actually speak and declare their love for and faith in him. Look at verse 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Over and over in life Jesus has to ask us this question. It’s a question that doesn’t allow us to just drift along. It requires a decision, a choice of faith. And it requires a definite answer from us.

For each of us this should be a constant part of our conversation with Christ as we practice his presence. For all of us this should be a daily part of our Bible reading and prayer. For many of you it could be very powerful to set aside an extended time for prayer and reflection in which you ask Jesus to reveal what’s truly in your heart and then tell Him you are choosing him and believing in him as the bread of life.

It’s the question he is asking you: Understanding the hungers of your heart and knowing that Jesus claims to be the bread of life, will you choose to believe in him and follow him.

Tim Keller gives the following examples that can help us think about what it means to deal with the issues of discipleship in light of believing in Jesus as the bread of life.

If you struggle with temptation, Rejoice in the gospel until you see its beauty. How are these temptations being caused by an inordinate hope for some-one or some-thing to give me the comfort and consolation that only Jesus can really give me? How does Christ give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am looking for elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you. Pray and say: “Lord, only in your presence is fullness of joy and pleasures forever more (Psalm 16:11) yet here am I trying to find comfort in something else. Why rake in a mud puddle when you have set a table for me (Psalm 23:5) filled with your love, peace, joy? This thing I am tempted by is just a pleasure that will wear off so soon–it is a sham and cheat, while your pleasure, though it may start small will grow on and on forever (Prov.4:18). Remove my idols of pleasure, which never can give me the pleasure I need.”

If you struggle with anxiety, Rejoice in the gospel until you are humbled enough (to see you don’t know best) or valued enough (to see that he could not forget you. Ask yourself: How are these anxieties being caused by an inordinate hope for some-one or some-thing to give me the control over my life and environment only Jesus can really give me? How does Christ give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am looking for elsewhere? Rejoice and think of what he has done and what he has given you. Pray and say: “Lord, I live by your sheer grace. That means though I don’t deserve to have things go right, yet I know you are working them all out for good (Rom.8:28) because you love me in Christ. All my punishment fell into Jesus’ heart–so you only allow bad things for my growth, and for loving wise purposes. I can relax, because my security in life is based neither on luck, nor hard work, but on your gracious love for me. You have counted every hair on my head (Matt.10:30-31) and every tear down my cheeks (Ps.56:8)–you love me far more and better than anyone else loves me or than I love myself. And remove my idols of security–which never can give me the security I need.”

Take a moment to write out your own prayer of repenting and rejoicing. Ask Christ to show you what is going on in your heart and then tell him how you are believing in him as the bread of life.

Take some time to reflect on the two charts we have looked at in previous sections of “The Walk”. Reflect on how the principles pictured in these charts related to the issue in this section of “The Walk”. How do they help us to believe in Jesus as the bread of life and to find our heart’s hungers filled by Him?

Jot down a few of your thoughts under each graphic

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verses.

Most of the people in John 6 choose not to believe in him when he said this. They quit following him and started grumblingVerse 61 says, Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! Notice the exclamation point. Jesus is saying you find it surprising that I would say I’m the bread of life because you don’t understand who I am. If you think this is a lot to believe wait until you see me ascend to heaven which, by the way is where I was before I came here! Then he adds this, verse 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”

Notice God has to enable us to come to Christ. The reality of who Christ is has to be spiritual revealed by a sovereign God. That doesn’t remove our responsibility to respond. In the mystery of God’s Sovereignty and human responsibility he enables us to believe but we have to choose to believe.

It is always believing that is at the heart of our relationship with Christ.

It’s through believing in Christ that we receive the gift of eternal life.

Verse 47 says: I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. The reason faith in Christ is so powerful is because Christ gave himself to die for us on the cross. Look at verse 51 Jesus said, “This bread is my flesh that I give for the life of the world.”

This is what makes the Lord’s Supper such a powerful symbol of Christ and salvation. We take the bread and break it and we give it. It’s a symbol of Jesus’ body being broken on the cross as He died to pay for our sins. Our eating of the bread is symbolic of our believing in Him and receiving eternal life from Him. It’s through believing that we receive the gift of eternal life.

And it is through continually believing in Christ that we feed on and are fueled by Christ, the bread of life.

A couple of years ago I told you about a conference I went to once. Indulge me as I remind you. I went to a conference once in which we were assigned to small groups for a prayer workshop. The focus in the small group that I was in was on receiving God’s grace and love. One person was placed in the middle and the other people prayed. Some of the people might place a hand on your back or shoulder as they prayed for you and they prayed that way for quite a while. The focus of the prayer was to more deeply believe in and receive God’s grace. And the person in the middle was supposed to relax and open their heart and mind to the unconditional love of God through Christ. Well, I was in the middle and I didn’t do too well. I was tense. I didn’t know these people and besides I came to the conference to learn certain things that were on my agenda and this wasn’t what I had planned. Here I was in the center of a circle of strangers praying for me to receive the love of God. But I was stiff as a board and wound up with my plans and anxious for the lovely little exercise to be over so I could learn something that I could use. I remember one of the men praying for me was a big man, a real cowboy with boots and a big buckle. He was from Montana or Utah. And he said something like this. He said: “You don’t know how to just receive God’s grace very well do you? Do you ever just let God love you?” He said: “It’s kinda like just lying out in the sun. You just relax and soak it up.” It was funny. Here I was with multiple graduate degrees in Bible, on a folding chair being told to relax while Pecos Bill taught me how to let God love me. But I didn’t resent it because he was right. I wasn’t good at resting in and soaking up the love of God and of Christ. I’m better at that these days but far from where I’d like to be.

And I’m more convinced than ever that this is what we need to be continually learning to do on the inside so that we can truly follow Christ in the world. If we do not learn how to feed our hearts by faith in Christ as the bread of life we will not follow well. We will be anxious, frustrated, conflicted and stressed out people who are so hungry that we can not follow with the commitment and strength that is needed.

We need to feed our hearts on the love of Christ so that we can fuel a life of committed discipleship. We do not feed our heart on the love of God in Christ just so that we can grow fat and lazy. We don’t feed our hearts on the love of God in Christ or so that we can feel good about ourselves while we live in sin or selfishness. We feed our hearts on Christ the bread of life so that we can live our lives with him, find our life in him, live our lives for him and live our lives like him. We feed our hearts on his love because we know that if we do not, whatever is our source of life will rise up as a traitor from within when real temptation or testing comes.

Take a minute to prayerful reflect on what you could do to better receive and rest in the love of God that is given to you in Christ?
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Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verses. __________________________________________________________________________________
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Two ways of looking at life in relationship to following Jesus.

1. The first, is that you follow Jesus so that He will help you have the things that make for a good and happy life. That’s what was going on with the crowd in this story. That way of looking at your relationship to God, while common, is unbiblical. It is wrong.

2. The second way to look at life is that you follow Jesus because He himself is the source of life. It’s your relationship with God through Christ that does for your soul what food does for your body. When your faith feeds your heart with his life, love and goodness, He fuels your life. His love and presence gives strength and energy as you feed on Him. So Jesus is saying don’t just think of me as the one who can help you get what you need. I am what you need. Jesus doesn’t say: “I’m a caramel macchiato venti with an extra shot of espresso”. He says, “I’m the bread of life.” That means is that he is not a luxury he is essential. It also means that to follow him we have to make him the very source of our life.

I’ve had people tell me,“I thought that if I believed in Jesus and went to church and said my prayers and tried to follow God’s word then I would find love, succeed in business, build a close-knit family and enjoy a happy marriage. But I’ve tried to do things right and working out very well so I’m over it. I’m walking out.” The same thing that happened in Jesus’ day happens all over again. People come to Jesus wanting him to enrich their lives with the things they want. When they find out he wants to enrich them with himself they turn away. The truth is we all want good families, loving relationships, rewarding jobs, secure futures, good health, we want to see our causes prosper and our passions fulfilled. We get anxious or upset when there are things that mean a lot to us and we are afraid we aren’t going to get them or if we have them they are going to slip away. “Believing that Jesus is the bread of life doesn’t mean that nothing matters except for him but it does mean that nothing matters as much as Him and nothing matters so much that the presence of that thing overshadows Him or the absence of that thing robs us of the peace, and joy, of his love and presence.”

Do you believe what Jesus is saying here? The ultimate question of life and discipleship is “What will fill your hungry heart?” Jesus says he is the answer to that question. Do you believe Him?

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verses.

Day 2 “Come, all you who are thirsty…”

I read once that when McDonalds opened in the 1955 their largest soda was seven ounces. Now fifty years later, it has swelled six times that size and is up to forty-two ounces. In a recent marketing campaign McDonalds was pushing their new super-sized drink that has been lovingly named the “Hugo”. If you choose the Hugo you take in four hundred calories with almost no nutritional value and quite possible more than one unhealthy ingredient. It’s just one more evidence that when appetites are indulged in unhealthy ways they just get larger and larger while satisfying us less and less.

There is a passage form the prophet Isaiah that would have been familiar to Jesus. It speaks to the same reality of hunger and what satisfies it. In Isaiah 55:1-3 God says: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. In all these verses food is a symbol of the hungers of your heart. Scripture is telling us that if we try to satisfy our heart’s hungers in the wrong ways they are never satisfied they always drive us, to frustration and the lust for more. What’s true of our physical hungers is true spiritually. What Isaiah and Jesus reveal is that your heart has appetites and hungers. The most important question in life and discipleship is: “What will fill my hungry heart?”

What do you think is the significance of the symbolism of wine, milk and the richest of fair?

What do you think Isaiah means when he says come buy without money and without cost?

TWO KEY QUESTIONS:

Think about some of your most common and disturbing emotions and temptations. Ask:

(1) How are these temptations or emotions being caused by thinking that someone or some-thing is “the bread of life” that will meet my needs and satisfy me?

(2) How does Christ, as the bread of life give me so much more fully and graciously and suitably the very things I am looking for elsewhere? —

Take a moment today to rejoice in Christ and feed on his goodness. Write out and pray a prayer of rejoicing in which you think of who Christ is to you and thank him.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verses.

Finding Life in Christ: The Bread of Life.

Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” – John 6:47-69

John 6:66, is a passage of great significance: From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. Here’s a passage where a bunch of people who had stated to follow Jesus basically said, “No we’re not going to follow any more.” The reason they turn back and no longer follow him is because they finally figure out what following Him actually means. When Jesus clarifies what it really means to follow him they turn and walk away. What is it that we have to understand and accept to follow Jesus but so many people find so hard to accept? The issue is what Jesus says in verse 48. He says, “I am the bread of life.”

There is a lot that could be said about this passage. There are many interesting questions it raises but in this study we are going to go right to the heart of its message in relationship to discipleship, or following Jesus. In verse 48 Jesus claims to be the bread of life.

Before you go any farther what is your first response to that statement. What do you think it means?

This is not just an issue that shows up here. Think about the story of the life of Jesus. Jesus public life didn’t begin until he was thirty-years-old. The beginning of his public ministry is made all the more dramatic by the mystery of his childhood. We are only told that he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. We can only imagine his life in a small village learning to be a carpenter and waiting for God’s time. Then it comes it He steps out of quietness, He is baptized by John the baptism and confirmed by the descent of the dove and the voice of the Father: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This is an amazing moment in human history. God in human flesh is about to begin his earthly ministry. What is the first thing that he does? What is his first day on the job? He doesn’t preach a sermon or perform a miracle or choose disciples. He goes out into the wilderness alone and stops eating for forty days. For forty days he went hungry. I know that there are many spiritual benefits to fasting but there is also at the heart of this fast a strong statement that Jesus was making about the central question in human life and discipleship. The most important question any person asks is, “What is it that will fill my hungry heart?” Jesus is saying that his hunger will be fed by God.

What are some of the things we all hunger for as human beings? What does it mean to think of God as the one who satisfies these hungers?

Our memory verse for this week is John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

Day 5:  Going Deeper

Look at John 14:20 where Jesus says, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. What Jesus is describing here is what theologians call the spiritual union of Christ with his people. What it means is that when you believe in Jesus, you are born again spiritually and Christ not only becomes present with you but also at the same time one with you. His Spirit interpenetrates your renewed and reborn human spirit. So that his presence in your life is not only by your side but in your thoughts, in your mind, will and emotions in the deepest way. Some people emphasize the verse from the prophet Jeremiah that says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. So they figure everything within them is bad. But Scripture also says that when you experience new birth in Christ you receive a new heart and a new nature. Christ, by the Holy Spirit, comes into your life and unites himself to that new and spiritually reborn part of your innermost being. Christ become one with you. Then from that place of new life he begins to speak, to counsel, to strengthen, to purify, to convict, to guide from within. In Galatians Paul says, Christ lives in me. From within your heart Jesus says: “Follow me.”

The presence of Christ and the gift of the Spirit should change how you think of yourself; your very identity. There’s a crazy old story about a man who went to a psychiatrist because whenever he went grocery shopping and walked past the pet food he had an overpowering urge to rip open a bag of dog food and start eating. The doctor had never heard anything like this so he asked, “When did this begin?” The man said, “I think it’s been this way ever since I was a puppy.” I know it’s a silly story but it makes a point. The way you see yourself has a tremendous impact on the way you live your life. Your sense of who you are drives a lot of what you do. How do you see yourself? The Bible says if you believe in Jesus Christ then see the truth about who you really are through him. You are a needy human being whose needs have been deeply met by God’s grace. You are not pure in yourself but you have been cleansed by Christ. You don’t deserve God’s love but it has flooded your life. You are not powerful in yourself but you are not alone, you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. You are not an orphan, unknown or cared for scrambling to make it on your own. You have Christ in you by the Holy Spirit who has been given to you forever. Christ is in you, you are in Him and he is in the Father and you have become one with him by grace. To live life with Jesus, following him is not some restrictive limitation imposed on you from outside is what you were made for and saved for.

Sometimes we look at the gospel with tunnel vision, seeing only one facet of the blessings and promises that come to us through faith in Jesus. The result is that the impact of the gospel on our hearts to strengthen us for a life of discipleship is diminished. The gospel brings us much more than the promise of forgiveness and acceptance into heaven when we die. Through the gospel we are brought into a reconciled relationship with God. We are united to him! His Spirit lives in us so that we “participate in the divine nature”. We become new creatures with a new identity in Christ and a new power for life. His love, truth and beauty satisfies our hearts deeper longings. All of God promises are ours through faith in Jesus.

What gospel promises do you focus on the most? What gospel promises to you tend to overlook or neglect. What difference might it make in your life to see more fully the full dimensions of the grace of God that you receive through faith in Jesus?

Take a moment to pray asking God to help you see who you are in Christ. Then take a moment and in your own words write down some of your thoughts to complete this sentence. I see by faith in Jesus, that in Christ I am

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

Day 4 Practicing His Presence

For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family  in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  - Ephesians 3:14-21

Everything Jesus promises about his presence is inviting us to rely on him completely. He said, I will not leave you orphans. That means we can rely on his care, guidance and provision. Hebrews 13:5-6 echoes this promise: God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Okay there is the promise of his presence but look at the result, the change the reality of his presence is to bring about in us. Verse 6, So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” When we know that he is present we know that he is with us to help us and because of that we can choose confidence instead of fear.

John Piper tells how when he was little at the foot of his bed there was a painting of a boy standing at the helm of a ship. A storm was raging in the sea. The waves were breaking over the side of the boat. The wind was whipping the boy’s hair. His hands were tight on the wheel of the ship. And he was looking straight ahead into the storm. It was a picture full of adventure and danger and challenge. And standing at the boy’s side was Jesus, large and strong and serious. His hand was on the boy’s shoulder, and he looked totally in charge. Every night John Piper went to bed with that picture as the last thing he saw. And He came to believe in the reality portrayed in that picture. “The Lord stands by me. In every storm He is by my side and his hand is on my shoulder and he is very much in charge.”

In 2 Timothy 4:16 the apostle Paul this was his experience: At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength. I remembered once as a young pastor in my twenties facing a particularly confrontational meeting. This thought came to me as a question: “How would you feel about this meeting if you knew that Christ was going in with you right by your side to give you his support?” As soon as the thought occurred to me I realized that is exactly what Jesus promised. I realized that Jesus was with me and I could obey with that confidence and count on his presence. What is it that you face in life that makes you anxious, apprehensive or angry? Where are you tempted or tested? Picture Jesus coming into that situation, that place, that moment. Picture him literally present with you then and there. What difference does his presence make?

“Practicing the presence of Christ” is the idea of developing more of a habit of believing in and being conscious of the truth that He is with you every day. What might you do to better practice his presence in your life. Jot down a few ideas below and put them into practice today and through this week.

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

I hope to see you Wednesday night at Christ Community Church 

If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” - John 14:15-21

One of the ways we learn to get more out of reading the Bible is by paying careful attention to the details of what it is saying. This is called “observation”. So let’s take this passage and observe and record as many observations as we can about the following questions.

1. What does Jesus tell us here about what the Holy Spirit does?

2. What other observations, if any, stand out as significant to you in this passage?

One of the titles for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He inspired Scriptures, enlightens our understanding of it when we read it, and helps us apply it in life. His guidance is often very specific and personal but always in line with the Scriptures he has inspired.

I’ve always been impressed when I see a blind person led by a guide dog. Can you imagine how much trust it takes to follow that lead? One man was jogging when he saw a blind woman walking on the other side of the street with her Seeing Eye dog, a beautiful golden retriever. As he got came up the street he saw that there was a car blocking the sidewalk in front of one home. At that point the dog paused and gently pressed his shoulder against the woman’s leg, signaling her to turn aside so they could get around the car. You would imagine she would follow his lead, but that day she didn’t seem to trust him. She had probably walked this route, that sidewalk many times and knew that was not the place to make a turn. Whatever the cause, she wouldn’t move to the side and instead gave the dog the signal to move ahead. He pressed his shoulder against her leg again, trying to guide her on a safe path. She got mad and ordered [the dog] to go forward… when the dog put his shoulder gently against her leg again to nudge her in to turn. She gave him a little kick, stepped forward, and walked right into the car. Feeling the shape in front of her, she immediately realized what had happened. Dropping to her knees, she threw her arms around the dog neck and hugged it. I wonder how often we are being nudged but in our blindness, our stubbornness, we ignore or kick against the guidance we need.

I found myself one day in a conflict in which emotions were running strong. I felt like what was being said was untrue and what was happening was unfair. But underneath all of my clear arguments there was a flow of thought that kept telling me to be kind. I wanted to be very clear more than I wanted to be very kind. But I listened. Because I believed that was the Holy Spirit. And I’m glad I listened. I’m always glad when I listen. I don’t always listen. No one listens perfectly or always. So if you are going to walk with the Spirit you have to be humble and honest. You have to know how to get back up and start over when you have slipped and fallen or just walked off again. You have to refuse condemnation, receive forgiveness and then listen again. It may be something simple: “Don’t do that.” “Wait.” “Be still and know that I am God.” “Do not fear”. The Holy Spirit in you guides you and convicts you and comforts you and empowers you. But you have to listen and believe and obey. What would our lives be like if we really listened and were led?

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.

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Day 2 The Holy Spirit: Who is He?

In John14: l6 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” Who is this other helper and counselor? The answer comes in verse 17 where he is identified as “The Spirit”. Jesus goes on to explain. He, the Spirit, has been “with them,” but now there will be a change: He will be “in them.” In verse l8, Jesus said “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” In the coming of the Spirit, Jesus Christ himself, comes to you. He is saying, “For three years you have lived with Me. Now I’m going away, but this relationship between us is not going to end. I will send my Spirit. So that I will be with you, not in a lesser way, but in a deeper, more powerful way: in you–forever.

So who is the Holy Spirit? To answer the question: “Who is the Holy Spirit?” we have to begin with an understanding of what Christians call “The Trinity”. “Trinity” is a term used to describe what is clearly taught about God in the Scriptures. The Bible speaks of God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit…and also clearly presents that there is only one God. Thus the term: “Tri” meaning three, and “Unity” meaning one, Tri+Unity = Trinity.

The relationships between the three persons of the trinity can be illustrated with a triangle.

We shouldn’t be surprised that some truths about God are hard for finite people to comprehend. Nevertheless it’s worth reflecting on these more difficult and mysterious aspects of God’s nature because understanding them helps us live in relationship with him.

Here’s a quote from a famous theologian named J.I. Packer. He wrote a great book titled Knowing God, that is highly recommended for anyone who wants to go deeper in their understanding of God. In another place he writes this about the trinity:

In itself, the divine tri-unity is a mystery, a transcendent fact which passes our understanding. (The same is true of such realities as God’s eternity, infinity, omniscience, and providential control of our free actions; indeed, all truths about God exceed our comprehension, more or less.) How the one eternal God is eternally both singular and plural, how Father, Son, and Spirit are personally distinct yet essentially one ( so that tritheism, belief in three gods who are not one, and Unitarianism, belief in one God who is not three, are both wrong), is more than we can know, and any attempt to “explain” it — to dispel the mystery by reasoning, as distinct from confessing it from Scripture — is bound to falsify it, Here as elsewhere our God is too big for his creatures’ little minds. (J.I. Packer, I Want To Be A Christian, pp. 29-30)

This is important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit is worthy of our reverence. He is not to be ignored. And this is also important because it tell us that the Holy Spirit requires, from us, a relationship. The Holy Spirit is not a force to be manipulated but a person whose companionship we cultivate in a relationship of reverence.

Remember the memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
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Day 1: The promise of His presence

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” – John 14:15-21

A famous Christian author named A.W. Tozer once said that in his opinion most Christians are attempting to do the impossible. They are trying to be happy without a sense of God’s presence. What Tozer said about happiness is also true of discipleship. The basic command/invitation that Christ gave potential disciples was; “follow me”. In light of that look again at the words of Jesus in John 14:15-21. In your own words what is he telling us in these verses about his presence with us and our relationship with Him after his crucifixion and resurrection? What encouragements or assurances does he give us? What response do you think you should have to his promises? Jot down your ideas below.
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Our memory verse for this week is John 14:20b: I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Continue reading the Bible. Keep reading the gospel of John. If you are reading a lot and finish John consider reading Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Luke. Or ask the group or person you are doing The Walk with to make suggestions. The important thing is to try to be consistent in your reading. Write down your questions, thoughts and insights as you read. Don’t forget to review your memory verse from last week and this week.
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