#7 | Jesus, The Light of The World | I Will Not Settle - Series
#7 | “Jesus, The Light of The World” | I Will Not Settle - Series
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.”
As Jesus taught and performed miracles, some people started putting their trust in Him. This made others nervous, that Jesus did not fit the idea of who they thought He was. I believe we have had times like this ourselves. As we navigate through our own lives today, who do we perceive Jesus to be? Is He One we know of? Or is He One that we know intimately? There’s such a vast difference between these questions, and it’s so worth taking the time to assess our own perceptions about who Jesus is in our own lives. It’s not enough to attain knowledge of Jesus, and be content with that, without really knowing Him for ourselves. There are so many ways we can hear about Him today because of the latest technologies through media outlets of all various social workings.
We certainly know people who talk about Him, either on the church podiums, or because they have come to know Him as a believer in Christ themselves. There are those who only know of Him from others’ experiences, not their own experience. Some pass along their opinion of who He is.They may try to dissuade others in believing in Him as Lord and Savior. Some may give information that reflects negatively, and/or speak misinformation as to who Jesus really is. Those who have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, may be carrying their own ill feelings of Him, and spreading that around to others as well. But regardless of the information that’s shared, through various sources of media outlets, or persons, we can all testify about something we have heard about Jesus that may not always be from a point of truth. But those who know Him, desire to speak the Gospel to others, because they do know Him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. So we know He has prepared hearts to come to know and love Him, even before the acceptance of Him as Savior!
I have to admit, I too have made assumptions, human reasonings, and also have been influenced by others who claimed to know Him, and have shared their own fleshy insights, thoughts and opinions without real respect for the truth. Spreading the incorrect perspective of Jesus could be a negative influence in this day and time especially. But we do not have to settle for those perceptions from other voices as we can, by faith, come to know Him ourselves. We can look to Him directly for answers about who He is in our lives.
In John 8:13 The Pharisees told Jesus His witness of Himself was not true. But in 8:14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.” In 15: “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. As the Word continues in chapter 8 it is clear even with Jesus in their presence, they did not know Him or the Father. In verse 25: Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.”
I know we can all miss hearing His voice from time to time, but this is how we can really know Him. Listening to, and hearing His heart, reveals more about who He is. Do we know what His heart desires, and how can we align ourselves in our prayer time with His desires? There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing His ways and desires, to partner with Him in our walk with Him, and aligning ourselves with His plans. Reflecting on what He has already done for us, and knowing His plans for our lives to walk with Him, also gives us knowledge of who He is. Reading His Word tells us who He is!
I have been accessing various resources that have given me a “knowing” of who Jesus is. The more we can have access to anointed spiritual teachings of God's Word, and anointed preaching in our lives, reading His written Word, the more we can know Him. We need to “feed” our spirits daily, with as much as possible of WHO He is. Just a word of caution though. There are many voices out there today that do not serve the Lord as they should. I know that from my own experience too. Having to let go of some because of error or watered down messages, sin in a camp that was so fired up and now is quenched, are a few examples. We need to put on our hats of discernment to know what is righteous to listen to, read about, or even hang around as well. Our knowledge from the various resources always needs to line up with the Word of God. As we listen to messages we need to be alert to what’s being taught and preached. If not in line with His Word we need to move on and leave it behind. We need not feel badly or sad, for taking this matter seriously, and moving on.
And we cannot make growth happen if we are following others because they “say” they are Christians. Following people on social media outlets is not pursuing our growth or knowledge of Jesus. Following people because they are famous, or even someone we have befriended and love, may lead us astray as well. Caution - who are we hanging out with?
Loving and caring for them with prayer may be all God is asking us to do. But continuously hanging out with someone just because…..
We need to ask God always.
I like to follow the plan - always “friend up”. Set our “sights” high when possible to learn and grow in Him. Higher standards will motivate and propel us to know Him more, and also grow our faith.
But if we fill our lives with mostly non-spiritual activity, and worldly information, we can limit ourselves in the knowledge of Him and, without change, will ultimately stunt our growth in Him as a result.
We can learn how to know Him by spending time with Him daily - and giving Him praise and worship before we come to Him with our prayer requests. To worship Him, and to take the time to listen to Him, is key in getting to know Him. I’m talking to myself here along with you all…..
We need to hear from Him in order to know WHO He is. When we are quiet before Him He can speak to us. I’ve had revelations, visions and prophetic words when I would just sit before Him after praise and worship. He is always speaking to us, and we can lead lives according to His will if we can know Him, just by listening to His voice and being quiet before Him. This for me, had to become an intentional behavior. I am a doer and don’t like to sit for long (unless exhausted or need to rest). So for me I had to encourage myself to do this every morning. Which simply means - no TV, no cell phone, no talking on the phone or doing anything else work oriented. It’s hard but so worth it. And I have days when it’s a quick time with Him…. But I will try to have another sit down time with Him on that day. I continue to pray/talk with Him throughout my day as well. He is my best friend, and even allows me to speak my mind and share my feelings, with respect, with Him from time to time. He already knows what’s in our hearts anyways …It’s so important to stay connected to, and with Him all, day long….to pray without ceasing….
When we read John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2: And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3: Jesus answered, “ Neither this man or his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”
Even the disciples had some assumptions of who Jesus was at times. But we don’t need our assumptions or feelings to dictate who Jesus is or even try to figure things out with human reasoning. We do not need to settle; we can go directly to Jesus with those feelings, assumptions, and our human reasonings and ask Him for the truth, as did the disciples in that situation.
In 9:3 Jesus shows us that the blind man’s suffering was used to reveal His glory. He also used this to show that He could do miracles. And He used it to reveal He was God. Maybe much more important than the man’s physical eyesight, was it was symbolic of him seeing with his heart. He would now know the truth and the truth would set him free. Because this blind man knew Jesus was from God, but did not know He was God. As soon as Jesus told the blind man that he had seen Him, the man believed instantly and worshipped Jesus. The blind man chose to leave his spiritual darkness and place his faith in the “light”. Now he knew Jesus was God!! 9:32 “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.”
Do we doubt or question the Lord when someone is healed, or receives their miracle? I believe we are to rejoice with them for all miracles they receive.
If we know Jesus as God, we also can believe by our faith, that He will reveal Himself to us in ways we will know Him. He wants us to know Him through visions, dreams and in His Word in clarity. To hear His plans for us, His direction, and His will for our lives. He speaks in James 4:13 “Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. 15: instead you ought to say “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that”.
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” He wants us to know His will for our lives daily. This is the reason it is so important to know who Jesus is. It becomes a daily surrender where our hearts yield to His Spirit. With each daily surrender, we experience more of Him. We have more knowledge of Him, which builds our faith, trust and and hope to depend on Him more. These experiential times with Him reveal more about Him and increase our faith as well. It does not eliminate the challenges but we can know that He will bring us through in victory !! Because we’ve done life with Him, and did it His way!
We think we know Him until the difficulties arise in our own lives. We may even ask “who is Jesus?” In my own recent challenges, as I wait for manifestation of healing in my eyes, I have examined my own heart for: unforgiveness, or sin in my life? As the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man I also felt the need to ask Him the same question. And He answered me - I will reveal MY glory in your life. So by faith I will walk through,and will be an overcomer for His glory, and in extending His Kingdom!
I have learned from my experiences with God that He always has a purpose for all He has for us. Our hope is always in Him, and He is our portion!
Our very lives are but a vapor. We do not have breath without Him. As I get older in years (not in heart?), I’m so much more aware of Him in ways I used to take Him, and life, for granted (when I was younger). We have life here as long as He gives us breath and purpose to accomplish what He has chosen for us to do.
And for me that’s all I need to live for. King Solomon called it vanity, (emptiness) for all he struggled to obtain for himself.
I want my life to count for something eternal. This life does not have a lot to offer anymore, in the current state that it’s in especially. This world is passing away…
So like Paul, in Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; (I do not consider yet to have taken hold of it) but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
I am so grateful that we can know Jesus. This is, and will be, how we can run our race and receive our prize one day.
Praise God!
He will never fail or leave us either. He is faithful to us. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). That's who Jesus is!! There’s no better gift than to accept Jesus and the salvation that comes from Him. He wants us to have everything He has for us and He’s cheering us on to the victory in Him!! He is the light of the world!!
Don’t give up….He will never give up on us.
Thanks for reading and letting me share with you all….
Lucy Barretta ❤️
The On God Blog
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.”
As Jesus taught and performed miracles, some people started putting their trust in Him. This made others nervous, that Jesus did not fit the idea of who they thought He was. I believe we have had times like this ourselves. As we navigate through our own lives today, who do we perceive Jesus to be? Is He One we know of? Or is He One that we know intimately? There’s such a vast difference between these questions, and it’s so worth taking the time to assess our own perceptions about who Jesus is in our own lives. It’s not enough to attain knowledge of Jesus, and be content with that, without really knowing Him for ourselves. There are so many ways we can hear about Him today because of the latest technologies through media outlets of all various social workings.
We certainly know people who talk about Him, either on the church podiums, or because they have come to know Him as a believer in Christ themselves. There are those who only know of Him from others’ experiences, not their own experience. Some pass along their opinion of who He is.They may try to dissuade others in believing in Him as Lord and Savior. Some may give information that reflects negatively, and/or speak misinformation as to who Jesus really is. Those who have not accepted Him as their Lord and Savior, may be carrying their own ill feelings of Him, and spreading that around to others as well. But regardless of the information that’s shared, through various sources of media outlets, or persons, we can all testify about something we have heard about Jesus that may not always be from a point of truth. But those who know Him, desire to speak the Gospel to others, because they do know Him.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. So we know He has prepared hearts to come to know and love Him, even before the acceptance of Him as Savior!
I have to admit, I too have made assumptions, human reasonings, and also have been influenced by others who claimed to know Him, and have shared their own fleshy insights, thoughts and opinions without real respect for the truth. Spreading the incorrect perspective of Jesus could be a negative influence in this day and time especially. But we do not have to settle for those perceptions from other voices as we can, by faith, come to know Him ourselves. We can look to Him directly for answers about who He is in our lives.
In John 8:13 The Pharisees told Jesus His witness of Himself was not true. But in 8:14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.” In 15: “You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. As the Word continues in chapter 8 it is clear even with Jesus in their presence, they did not know Him or the Father. In verse 25: Then they said to Him, “Who are You?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.”
I know we can all miss hearing His voice from time to time, but this is how we can really know Him. Listening to, and hearing His heart, reveals more about who He is. Do we know what His heart desires, and how can we align ourselves in our prayer time with His desires? There is nothing more fulfilling than knowing His ways and desires, to partner with Him in our walk with Him, and aligning ourselves with His plans. Reflecting on what He has already done for us, and knowing His plans for our lives to walk with Him, also gives us knowledge of who He is. Reading His Word tells us who He is!
I have been accessing various resources that have given me a “knowing” of who Jesus is. The more we can have access to anointed spiritual teachings of God's Word, and anointed preaching in our lives, reading His written Word, the more we can know Him. We need to “feed” our spirits daily, with as much as possible of WHO He is. Just a word of caution though. There are many voices out there today that do not serve the Lord as they should. I know that from my own experience too. Having to let go of some because of error or watered down messages, sin in a camp that was so fired up and now is quenched, are a few examples. We need to put on our hats of discernment to know what is righteous to listen to, read about, or even hang around as well. Our knowledge from the various resources always needs to line up with the Word of God. As we listen to messages we need to be alert to what’s being taught and preached. If not in line with His Word we need to move on and leave it behind. We need not feel badly or sad, for taking this matter seriously, and moving on.
And we cannot make growth happen if we are following others because they “say” they are Christians. Following people on social media outlets is not pursuing our growth or knowledge of Jesus. Following people because they are famous, or even someone we have befriended and love, may lead us astray as well. Caution - who are we hanging out with?
Loving and caring for them with prayer may be all God is asking us to do. But continuously hanging out with someone just because…..
We need to ask God always.
I like to follow the plan - always “friend up”. Set our “sights” high when possible to learn and grow in Him. Higher standards will motivate and propel us to know Him more, and also grow our faith.
But if we fill our lives with mostly non-spiritual activity, and worldly information, we can limit ourselves in the knowledge of Him and, without change, will ultimately stunt our growth in Him as a result.
We can learn how to know Him by spending time with Him daily - and giving Him praise and worship before we come to Him with our prayer requests. To worship Him, and to take the time to listen to Him, is key in getting to know Him. I’m talking to myself here along with you all…..
We need to hear from Him in order to know WHO He is. When we are quiet before Him He can speak to us. I’ve had revelations, visions and prophetic words when I would just sit before Him after praise and worship. He is always speaking to us, and we can lead lives according to His will if we can know Him, just by listening to His voice and being quiet before Him. This for me, had to become an intentional behavior. I am a doer and don’t like to sit for long (unless exhausted or need to rest). So for me I had to encourage myself to do this every morning. Which simply means - no TV, no cell phone, no talking on the phone or doing anything else work oriented. It’s hard but so worth it. And I have days when it’s a quick time with Him…. But I will try to have another sit down time with Him on that day. I continue to pray/talk with Him throughout my day as well. He is my best friend, and even allows me to speak my mind and share my feelings, with respect, with Him from time to time. He already knows what’s in our hearts anyways …It’s so important to stay connected to, and with Him all, day long….to pray without ceasing….
When we read John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2: And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3: Jesus answered, “ Neither this man or his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”
Even the disciples had some assumptions of who Jesus was at times. But we don’t need our assumptions or feelings to dictate who Jesus is or even try to figure things out with human reasoning. We do not need to settle; we can go directly to Jesus with those feelings, assumptions, and our human reasonings and ask Him for the truth, as did the disciples in that situation.
In 9:3 Jesus shows us that the blind man’s suffering was used to reveal His glory. He also used this to show that He could do miracles. And He used it to reveal He was God. Maybe much more important than the man’s physical eyesight, was it was symbolic of him seeing with his heart. He would now know the truth and the truth would set him free. Because this blind man knew Jesus was from God, but did not know He was God. As soon as Jesus told the blind man that he had seen Him, the man believed instantly and worshipped Jesus. The blind man chose to leave his spiritual darkness and place his faith in the “light”. Now he knew Jesus was God!! 9:32 “Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.”
Do we doubt or question the Lord when someone is healed, or receives their miracle? I believe we are to rejoice with them for all miracles they receive.
If we know Jesus as God, we also can believe by our faith, that He will reveal Himself to us in ways we will know Him. He wants us to know Him through visions, dreams and in His Word in clarity. To hear His plans for us, His direction, and His will for our lives. He speaks in James 4:13 “Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. 15: instead you ought to say “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that”.
Philippians 2:13 “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” He wants us to know His will for our lives daily. This is the reason it is so important to know who Jesus is. It becomes a daily surrender where our hearts yield to His Spirit. With each daily surrender, we experience more of Him. We have more knowledge of Him, which builds our faith, trust and and hope to depend on Him more. These experiential times with Him reveal more about Him and increase our faith as well. It does not eliminate the challenges but we can know that He will bring us through in victory !! Because we’ve done life with Him, and did it His way!
We think we know Him until the difficulties arise in our own lives. We may even ask “who is Jesus?” In my own recent challenges, as I wait for manifestation of healing in my eyes, I have examined my own heart for: unforgiveness, or sin in my life? As the disciples asked Jesus about the blind man I also felt the need to ask Him the same question. And He answered me - I will reveal MY glory in your life. So by faith I will walk through,and will be an overcomer for His glory, and in extending His Kingdom!
I have learned from my experiences with God that He always has a purpose for all He has for us. Our hope is always in Him, and He is our portion!
Our very lives are but a vapor. We do not have breath without Him. As I get older in years (not in heart?), I’m so much more aware of Him in ways I used to take Him, and life, for granted (when I was younger). We have life here as long as He gives us breath and purpose to accomplish what He has chosen for us to do.
And for me that’s all I need to live for. King Solomon called it vanity, (emptiness) for all he struggled to obtain for himself.
I want my life to count for something eternal. This life does not have a lot to offer anymore, in the current state that it’s in especially. This world is passing away…
So like Paul, in Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; (I do not consider yet to have taken hold of it) but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14: I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
I am so grateful that we can know Jesus. This is, and will be, how we can run our race and receive our prize one day.
Praise God!
He will never fail or leave us either. He is faithful to us. He is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). That's who Jesus is!! There’s no better gift than to accept Jesus and the salvation that comes from Him. He wants us to have everything He has for us and He’s cheering us on to the victory in Him!! He is the light of the world!!
Don’t give up….He will never give up on us.
Thanks for reading and letting me share with you all….
Lucy Barretta ❤️
The On God Blog
Posted in I Will Not Settle