John 1:4-5 “In Him was the life, and the life was the light of men.”
Life – ZOE – The principle of life
“The light of men” – Light that makes sense of human existence.
”…not comprehend it” – The darkness is unreceptive to the light and doesn’t understand it; hence, it cannot control it.
Luke 2:10-11 – ”Good tidings of great joy” – The light is not only greater than the darkness; it will also outlast it and give us the ability to make sense of God’s purposes.
John the Baptist – a Prophetic voice sent to “prepare the way of the Lord.”
Luke 1:76-79 – Zacharias’ Rhema word over John.
1 Corinthians 12:27 – “Now, you are the Body of Christ.”
Luke 1:80 – “The child grew and became strong in the Spirit and was in thedesert till the day of his manifestation to Israel.”
A Present Word: The prophetic voice is honed, in the desert, before it’s revealed in God’s perfect timing.
Isaiah 60:1-5 “Arise, shine for your light has come….”
Psalm 94:12-13(Mess) – He provides a “circle of quiet” within the clamor of evil.
Ephesians 2:14 – He, Himself is our PEACE.
Empathy – Getting a sense of another’s mind.
“Jesus’ gentleness toward sinners flows from His ability to read their hearts.” – PR
“Beyond the grumpiest poses and defense mechanisms, beyond their arrogance and airs, beyond their sneers and curses, Jesus saw little children who hadn’t been loved enough and had ceased growing because someone ceased believing in them.” – Brennan Manning
“Hostility and Estrangement” = “Enmity and Alienation”
Human Wisdom’s solution – Focus on circumstances.
True Wisdom – Focus on man’s estrangement from GOD.
Romans 5:1 – Jesus, our bridge back to God.
Luke 5:1-11 “Two Boats” – Freedom of choice.
Proverbs 18:10(TPT) God is a tower of strength for the lovers of God’s delight to run into.
James 4:1-2(TPT)
The “human way” has a foundation built on unredeemed and unrepentant hearts with lives lived in the ILLUSION of SELF-IMPORTANCE.
These lack the humility necessary to ASK GOD for what they need.
Psalm 25:8 “Good and upright is the Lord who shows sinners the WAY.”
Ephesians 2:11-14(TPT) – “Our reconciling Peace is Jesus!”
Psalm 121:1-2 – “Our help comes from the Lord, the creator of heaven and earth.”
Philippians 3:20-21(TPT) – “We are a colony of heaven on earth….”
James 3:18 – The Peacemakers: Sowers of righteousness.
Matthew 5:9 – “Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS for they will be called the children of God.”
– Happiness – is subjective to your state of mind. It comes from outside yourself and depends on something “happening” that’s unexpected and pleasurable.
– Joy – emanates from within and doesn’t rely on external circumstances.
– The message of exceeding joy was that it was now possible for people to be changed (transformed) from within.
– John 1:4 – Jesus, the LIGHT of men – the Principle of LIFE (Zoe) who brought enlightenment to mankind. – The Transformational Connector to God the Father.
– Matthew 16: 25 – “For My Sake” – For the sake of the TRUTH
– SOUL CONTROL – being bossed around by automatic emotional responses to circumstances
– Two Choices:
1. Keep control – Have to make every decision with incomplete info
2. Give control to God and receive transformational promises of the New Covenant
– 2 Corinthians 3:6 – The LAW kills – The SPIRIT gives life
– Luke 5:1-8 – Two Boats – Our Way / His Way
– Romans 2:4 – God’s KINDNESS leads to repentance
– 1 John 4:19 – We love Him b/c he first loved us
– 1 John 4:10 – True repentance is the result of a revelation of God’s unyielding love for us
– Romans 12:1-2 – Repentance occurs, transforming us as our minds are renewed
– Titus 2:11-12 – Grace is a teacher and leads people to repent
– Grace – Does not result in Superficial Behavior Modification but with Permanent Interior Heart Transformation
– “O Christ, my JOY. Allow us the Joy of your presence that transcends the sorrows of our lives.”
We are in the season of Advent, celebrating the second Sunday, a celebration of Jesus- The Way.
This season is a time when we have an anticipation of His coming.
We have an expectancy of His Presence,
much like when we sit at His feet in worship in our prayer closet,
prepared. When we come together on Sunday, we wait for Him and expect His arrival.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
He is the Way to God.
Jesus is the Light of the world. He lights the Way to God.
Some truths from John 14…
Jesus said:
Let not your heart be troubled… [The remedy for a troubled mind is to believe in Jesus as the Way. Christ is the sinner’s Way to the Father and heaven.]
Jesus continues: where I go, you know, and the way you know.
Then Thomas says: Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?
Jesus replies, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). He is God manifest in the flesh- the very image and likeness of God.
The verse following is interesting:
John 14:7 -If you had known ME, you would have known My Father also, and from now on, you know Him and have seen Him.
In other words – If you had recognized me…my character, my design,
Who I am, the glorified Son of God…saw what I was doing…
Then Philip says, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.
Jesus replies He who has seen Me has seen the Father. The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in ME does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me…
Then He shares His Truth: His Way:
If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words, and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent me.
JESUS IS THE WAY TO THE FATHER AND THE FATHER’S LOVE. BELIEVE.
Then a few verses down in John 14, Jesus promises to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in His name, and He will teach all things. He is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation…Who reveals the Christ to us and causes us to ‘know’ Him, His plans, and to know that we are “accepted in the Beloved.”
He loves us; we can love others with that same love.
John 16:2
The Holy Spirit of the Living God is the Teacher. The Spirit of God’s intention is not to help us in our personal mission but to press us into greater submission to God so that we can bear much fruit in the world and look like Jesus.
John 15: 9-11
Psalm 86:11
“When we read the book of Joshua, we learn the ways of God:
how he moves us forward, how we triumph over our enemies, and how we do the impossible.” TPT
We can read the gospels.
Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection, and the Life, the True Vine,
Our Hope in Christ: 1st Week of ADVENT by Roy Esposito
Advent – The Coming or Arrival
2 Focuses – REMEMBERANCE and ANTICIPATION
Psalm 42:5 – “Hope In God”
“His Continence” – Abiding PRESENCE and His SALVATION
Psalm 43:5 – “Hope of MY continence” – A guaranteed Hope that sustains LIFE
Lack of HOPE – Paralysis and effectual death
Relevancy – The spiritual battle for meaning
1 Kings 10:1-13 – Queen of Sheba’s awe
Ecclesiastes 1: 14-18 – Solomons lack of HOPE
Matthew 7:16 – Known by our fruit and NOT by what we possess
Human Wisdom – Seeks to ACCUMULATE
Spiritual Wisdom requires DIMINISHMENT
“Shaping” – How human experiences are interpreted by the soul
Solomon put his hope in what he saw and what he possessed
They became his IDEALS – Ideals are IDOLIZED – Idols are WORSHIPPED
His Idol was SELF CONTAINMENT
Hebrews 6:10-12,19
Souls – “SOFT WAX” on which IMPRINTS are made
Jesus – A NEW IMPRINT >>>> A NEW NATURE
Colossians 1:27 – “Christ within, the HOPE of glory.”
Glory (Heb- Kabud) The glory Jesus shared in the luminous brilliance of His Father
“Jesus is the power and wisdom and holiness of God almighty. No thought can contain Him; no word can express Him. He transcends all human concepts, considerations, and expectations.” –Brennan Manning
THIS is the inconceivable power of “Christ Within,” which IS our HOPE!
Romans 8:24 – The HOPE through which we are SAVED
Romans 15:13(AMP)“May the God of your HOPE fill you with all joy and peace in believing….”
Mark 1:16-18 Come after Me and be My disciples, and I will make you become fishers of men. 18, And at once they left their nets and FOLLOWED Him joining Him as disciples and siding with His party.
Matt 16:24-25 – “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my FOLLOWER, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
We need to Walk in submissive independence in order to get lifted into the Spirit realm, enabled to walk with Him in the outworking of His purpose and will, maintaining His abiding Presence in our walk. The walk is an ascension.
I John 2:5-6
John 13:35- “for when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you are my true follower.”
Eph 1:17-18-19
One step at a time, we follow His footsteps and walk in His ways.
You will hear a voice behind you saying: This is the way, walk ye in it. Is 30:21
I John: We walk in fellowship with Him and in fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from sin and unrighteousness.
We’re eternally forgiven for our sins. Jesus died on the Cross to forgive us and give us new life. When we give Jesus rule and headship over our lives, it becomes a beautiful, intimate relationship.
Our Confession of sin in our daily lives refreshes our present intimacy with the Holy Spirit as “we walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” If we are committing an unknown sin, He will correct us because He loves us.
I shared last summer about walking a labyrinth and the fact that each step causes a different perspective of what we see—our viewpoint.
Consider the labyrinth a bit differently as a picture indicative of each life experience as we walk and live guided by the Spirit. The walk begins on the periphery, the outside perimeter, and in a circular motion, we walk, moving towards the center, which is Christ, within the hope of glory.
Every decision we make to follow Jesus causes us to go higher.
Every decision we make to follow our fleshly nature causes us to go lower. We begin again outside the perimeter in every set of circumstances and choose our course.
As we choose to walk in the Spirit, we cultivate an abiding spiritual quality -and ascend upward, radiating a deep inner peace that can be perceived.
Choosing rightly causes us to overcome at every turn and draws us “upward” toward His kingdom, increasing our sensitivity to spiritual things and causing the favor of God to rest on us.
His righteousness is in His kingdom, His approbation or approval.
Matt 5:3
Phil 3:13-14
Phil 3:13 “press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernatural vocation of God in Christ Jesus.”
“So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”
I John 1:8-9 But we’re also commanded to actively walk in the truth and stay in the truth—because as John says, “Anyone who wanders away and does not remain faithful to the teaching of Christ has no relationship with God” (9).
Only when we continue in the truth that we have an intimate connection with both the Father and the Son, walking with them.
Phil 1:9-11
Let’s take a moment and breathe in the Holy Spirit, renewing our relationship with the Living God, choosing to follow Him in every way. RE-VIEWING OUR COMMITMENT.
— Liminality – The “in-between” place – A transitional period or phase in a rite of passage
— John of the Cross — “The Dark Night of the soul.”
— Intrinsic to the very nature of faith is the invitation to the unknown, an invitation to a new and unfamiliar place.
— The “Walk of Faith” demands the letting go of all carved (graven) images; material and MENTAL b/c all humans have Disordered Desires and Attachments
— All attachments to sin, active or held within our hearts, must be broken and is a prerequisite for an elevated, God-inspired viewing platform
–God’s will must be desired but not out of fear of hell but from a love of heaven; out of a sincere and focused love of God
— Jesus’ 40 days in the desert — He emptied Himself of all His old images– of Himself, of God, of others and received new images of Himself as the Son of God and an image of God as ABBA
— Transformation and Regeneration can’t happen in our heads.
— We are converted only when we allow the breath of the Spirit to intermingle with the actual circumstances of our lives — and then only if we allow the circumstances to “Speak” to us
— When I refuse to allow my old self-image to be broken, I remain identified by it.
— Every event I experience will form images that have the power to snag and control me and cause me to serve them.
— Only when my present self-image is broken off me can the Father give me a new self-image — that of a Son of God — I PUT ON SONSHIP
— Rom 8:16 (TPT) “You are His beloved child!”
–– Rom 8:14 (NKJ) – Led of the Spirit of God — Sons of God
— New and elevated Viewing Platform — “Sons of God.”
—Jn 5:19 — The Son only does what the father does
–-1Cor 2:16 — We have the mind of Christ
— Zech 4:6 — Not by might or by power — by My spirit
— Rom 12:2 — Transformation — Spirit re-forms how we think
— Eph 2:8 — Saved by Grace through Faith
— It’s His grace and favor that allow us to ascend, but it’s our FAITH that ACTIVATES the grace that makes it possible
— Lk 12:32 — Fear not. Father’s pleasure to give the Kingdom — Grace and favor
— Eph 4:23-24 (NEV) — “Made” new in mind and spirit
— Jn 14:26 – The Spirit will teach and RE-MIND you
— 1Jn 3:2 — We shall be like Him — for we shall SEE Him as He is
— New Identity: SHINING REFLECTION OF GOD — B. Simmons
