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John 14:12

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Personal Challenge

For those of us who believe Jesus is truly the son of God and that He performed awesome miracles while in the flesh, this verse is a promise. He tells us that if we believe in Him that we will be able to do the works that He did and even greater ones. If this is true, then what has happened? We have let the mindset of the world infiltrate our belief and cause us to doubt. Reading further into the scriptures we see the apostles doing the same miracles that Jesus did. Why? Because of their belief. We can do the same. Maybe it is time to reclaim our rightful and annotated abilities from this physical and doubting world and let God do His works through us. Glory be to God!

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Personal challenge

Jesus has made it very clear that there is only one way to come to the Father. We must go through Jesus. Having life, eternal life, can only be achieved through the work of Christ. He is the only door into heaven. I cannot achieve this by my attendance at church events. or the number of times that I go to the monastery or on a retreat, or how well I keep the fast, or anything else that I do. I need Jesus! He is my way. He is my truth. He is my life. Glory be to God!

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Personal Challenge

The entire life of a Christian should be able to be boiled down to two things, evident love for God and active and observable love for one another. It does not matter how many services I go to or how many prostrations I make or how well I keep the fast or how often I visit the monastery or any other pious activities that I do. If I am not loving God and my neighbor, then as Paul proclaims, I am nothing but a noisy clanging cymbal. Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me the sinner, and forgive me for not loving my neighbor.

John 12:46

I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.

Personal Challenge

The world around us can be very dark at times. Throughout our history as inhabitants of this earth we have seen some pretty dark periods. As Christians we not only have the opportunity to live in the light that our God wants us to live in but we can also bring that light into the darkness around us. We cannot do this if we are living our lives like everyone else that is stumbling in the darkness. We must embrace our Lord and His teachings. We must live differently and separate from the world if we want to experience God’s light in our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 12:25-26

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Personal challenge

What is the most important thing to almost everyone who walks upon this earth? Our life. We spend billions of dollars on it all the time. We pamper it. We injure others around us to make our lives first and foremost. However, Jesus tells us to hate our life if we are to receive and keep eternal life. What He is telling us is that we must pursue the godly, heaven focused life over the temporary earthly life. This means loving Him above ourselves, loving our neighbor and putting their needs first. It means investing in His Kingdom and sharing His good news with others. The eternal life that we gain by living for God far outweighs anything that we can achieve in this earthly body. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Encouraging Words

Throughout the history of humankind, we have been searching for the fountain of youth. Humankind is continually fleeing from the prospect of aging and then ultimately dying. Jesus, in this passage, has made it clear that there is only one fountain of youth. It is Him! His promise of eternal life is not in this earthly, limited body, but in our resurrected body that we will receive in His Kingdom. Our fear of death is the reason we sin. We sin because we desire to beat the hold that death has on us or at least get the most out of our earthly life before we die. Jesus also is the answer to this problem. He destroyed the gates of hell and put to death death as we proclaim in our Orthodox Paschal hymn, “Christ has risen from the dead, trampling death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing life!” If we walk with Jesus, believing in Him, then we will never die, Glory be to God!

John 8:31-32

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Encouraging Words

What is truth? This is a question that has been asked since the beginning of time. It has become so evident in our modern times the question still stands because we have become a society that is divided over truths and falsehoods parading as truths. True truth only comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. That is all that matters. If we choose to put the proclamations of truth by our fellow human beings over His proclamations of truth then we are denying Him. It is His truth that will make us free. It is by abiding in Him and living by His commandments that we will find that truth. Those commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor. Do we truly desire truth or do we prefer to stay slaves to doing our own thing? Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 8:12

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Encouraging Words

We hear a lot nowadays about exercising our personal rights and freedoms. Do we really know what it means to be free? Is it really just about personal rights? What if exercising those personal rights causes injury to another person? The expectation of our Lord is that we give up our personal rights and submit to Him. This is not an optional thing if we want to be bathed in His light of life. Following Jesus is not having Him do what we want to do. It is letting go of everything in our lives, including our personal rights and freedoms and letting Him take over full control of us. Can we as modern, American Christians actually do this? Can we choose to love God with all of our mind, heart, soul, and body? Can we choose to love our neighbor more than ourselves and put them before us? I know that I cannot do this without God’s help. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!