Spiritual Diabetes. . .

John 3:14-16
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: (15) That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

By far, I'm sure this is the most often quoted passage of Scripture in the New Testament. People who know nothing about the Word of God can quote verses 15 and 16 by heart. They take comfort that their passive belief has given them salvation, but what does it mean to believe? Is belief only to recognize Jesus as the son of God? If so, then the devils believe.

Matthew 8:28-29 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. (29) And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

The devils recognized Him. The knew who He was. They knew what He had come for. They knew what the time appointed for Him was all about. They had belief and recognition of Jesus, but surely no one is going to say that that knowledge was salvation for them. The devils had no love for Jesus. They quite apparently had fear of Him, but they had no relationship with Him and no love for Him.

Can you have belief that will save you without also having love for Him? Jesus said:

John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Turn the verse around. . . if you do not love me, do not keep my commandments. . .

Jesus said:

John 6:47-51
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (48) I am that bread of life. (49) Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. (50) This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. (51) I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Jesus is the bread of life. . .for bread to do you any benefit, it must be taken inside you. You can have all the bread in the world sitting in your cupboard and yet still starve to death. It does nothing unless taken and eaten.

John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. . .Jesus is the Word of God, the commandments of God walking among us. . .He is the bread of life. . .What is bread? What is its purpose? Bread is carbohydrate. The primary use of carbohydrates in the body is to provide energy to the muscles, so that they may do work. A diabetic cannot process carbohydrates. . . A spiritual diabetic eats of the bread of life and rather than it providing nourishment to his body, it builds up in his blood and becomes a poison to him. If you eat of the bread of life and yet for your disease you are incapable of processing it and do nothing with it. . .It becomes not nourishment, but poison to you. . . and you will die rather than be nourished. . .

I cry for you. . .
I weep. . .
My heart breaks. . .
I am overcome. . .

Eat of the bread. . .
I pray to God. . .be nourished by the bread of life. . .

I love you my God. . .
I love you my Lord. . .

I thank you for the bread. . .

Dave

Comments

Anonymous said…
Genial post and this mail helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you as your information.
February 20, 2010 at 8:22:00 PM EST
Anonymous said…
Good day everybody, I just signed up on this splendid community and wanted to say howdy! Have a wonderful day!
March 14, 2010 at 3:49:00 PM EST
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mother's Day 2007

My mother had a stroke on May 1st. The doctors said that she would be a vegetable. . . I write these words a few days before Mother's Day 2007. This morning my sister and I met my Mom's doctor to discuss her future. I am appreciative of what he is trying to do. He wants us to begin thinking of things that we want to keep covered and out of sight. His experiences with similar cases, I am sure are valuable to him, but this is not a usually or a most often, this is not a past history, this is my Mom. She lies critically ill in a bed, unconscious, receiving her nourishment, and air through a tangled umbilical of hoses, lines and cords. We grasp at every positive hint. We make excuses for dark signs. This is our Mom. . . God made Eve from Adam's rib. I came from someplace deeper and much more intimate than a rib. I suspect (being an outsider to the mystery) that the tearing, the parting of birth is both physical and emotional. Birth being only the first wrenching separation in...
Read more

When Your Mother Dies. . .

Lessons learned when you were four become much more meaningful. . . The temperature of the whole world chills a little. . . Toll House cookies are no longer merely a snack, but a monument. . . Mothers day changes from an obligation to a craving. . . Sometimes the air thins and you gasp for breath just sitting in a chair. . . Crying for Mommy returns after a fifty year absence. . . You lose something vast and precious that you didn't even know you had. . . You crave being held and hugged all the time. . . The last time you spoke to her is now at the bottom of a big ache. . . Tears are found in totally unexpected places. . . Never again. . . her magical home made vegetable soup. . . wonderful green beans, potatoes, and ham that aren't falling apart and soupy. . .meat loaf with just the perfect amount of ketchup on top. . . those just right crispy fried potatoes. . . never again. . . for ever. . . Your chance to repay an enormous debt is lost. . . You lose ...
Read more

How to Find a Great Church. . .

Image
or Beetles and Bell Curves. . . The following is expanded from a talk that I gave at a men's meeting at the Elkhart County Jail March 11, 2009 Many years ago I heard on the radio, or read in a magazine or book, or saw on television. . . I just cannot remember even what medium I saw this on. . .anyway,  a scientist talked about what he could deduce about God from the design of the universe.  This man's response fascinated me and I have continued to ponder upon it for some twenty or twenty-five years after hearing it. This scientist said that he could tell two things about God from the design of the universe.  The first being that God has an inordinate love of beetles.  Zoologists have catalogued roughly 700,000 species of insects and almost half of those are various kinds of beetles.  Of all living plants and animals roughly 20% of that entire number are beetles.  That was the first thing that this scientist noticed about God's creation. The second thing was that God must gr...
Read more