“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies” (John 11:25).

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is well-known for several things. One, this passage contains the shortest verse in the Bible, well-known to those of us who have been challenged to recite Scripture on the spot – “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Two, Jesus miraculously raised a man from the dead. And three, Jesus made one of his most outrageous claims: that He was the resurrection and those who believed in him could be guaranteed eternal life. In fact, he was claiming his Divinity.

After presenting Himself as The Resurrection and The Life, Jesus asked Martha an all-important question: “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).

From Jesus’ question, we see that we have a choice as to whether we believe Jesus is who He says He is. We have always had this choice. In fact, in one of Moses’ final speeches to the children if Israel, when he was 100 years old, he told them they had a choice between life and success or death and disaster. He recommended that they choose life:

“Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster…. Choose life! Be completely faithful to the Lord your God, love him, and do whatever he tells you. The Lord is the only one who can give life, and he will let you live a long time in the land that he promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19b-20).

Joshua also called on his people to make a choice. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15).

If you carefully read the above passage, you will note that Joshua accurately tells his people that their choice is not if they will worship, but whom they will worship. Jesus also tells us this about our choices: “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” (Matthew 6:24 CEV).

We will die one day. And when we die, one of two things will happen. We will go on to heaven—to eternal life with our heavenly Father, or we will go to eternal damnation, to hell, separated from God forever, death. Choose Life. Choose Jesus, because “The Lord is the only one who can give life” (Deuteronomy 30:20).

When Jesus asked Martha that all-important question: “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26), she answered“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world” (John 11:27). Martha believed that Jesus is God, that he is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door, the Way, The Truth, The Resurrection and The Life. May our answer likewise be, “Yes Lord, I Believe.”

In Christ,

Judy

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

There was an interesting exchange between Jesus and Pilate when Jesus was brought before him. Pilate presented the accusation as he had heard it from the Jewish leadership. Then, ^“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.’ ^‘You are a king, then!’ said Pilate. Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ ‘What is truth?’ retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, ‘I find no basis for a charge against him.’” (John 18:36-38).

“What is truth?” asked Pilate. And that is the question we should be continually asking.

All of Jesus’ I AM statements are supremely important for us to believe and receive in order to have eternal life. But there is one that seems to be foundational for our understanding of all the others, and that is that Jesus is the Truth.

It is telling that the arch enemy, Satan, is known by his dishonesty and deceit. Jesus told the Jews who were challenging his claim to be God’s son, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

What is truth?

Truth is about honesty. All school children in my day grew up learning that George Washington, the father of our country, could not tell a lie about chopping down that cherry tree. But truth is about so much more than honesty in admitting our wrongdoing, or even about our honest testimony in court as in “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor” (the ninth commandment).

The subject of truth is important to consider because of all the deceit that surrounds us. We’ve all heard about “fake news.” Most of us are now savvy enough, or cynical enough, not to believe everything we hear or read about current events. How sad that is that there are so few trusted news sources. This is not a new thing. Even in the Old Testament, “Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.” (Isaiah 59:5). How can we know what really is the truth?

And while the spread of fake news is intentional, there are other unintentional sources of untruth. This one gets rather personal, but my brothers and I used to joke about our dad “rewriting history.” Don’t get me wrong, my dad was a wonderful Christian man. But his memory was distorted. Clearly, there were things that he remembered about my childhood that were distinctly different from how I remembered it. I have since learned that our brains can be rewired. If we tell ourselves something enough times, our brain will “remember” it as if it happened that way rather than how it actually happened. Knowing that, I can’t really be sure if Dad was wrong or if it was me who was wrong about events from our past, but clearly, one, or maybe even both of us, misremembered. What is truth?

And then, perhaps worst of all, are those who tell us that truth does not matter. Your truth does not have to agree with my truth so long as you are true to yourself. This is called relativism, and it is deadly. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18).

I don’t know about you, but all this really alarms me. If there’s one thing I have learned, it is that there cannot be multiple conflicting truths. Either young George chopped down the cherry tree, or he didn’t. Either the U.S. landed on the moon in 1969, or we didn’t. Either Dad’s car broke down so that we couldn’t take that trip, or it didn’t. And finally, there can be only one Creator; there can only be one Sovereign God.  Everyone and everything else are created by the one true Creator; everyone and everything else is subject to the one true God who is Sovereign over all.

So, in this culture of falsity, fake news, deceit, corruption, and even fading memories, where can we safely and reliably turn to for The Truth? You know where I’m going. The Bible is the source of knowledge about Truth. It is the filter by which we sift out all the conflicting information that bombards us. It is the lens with which we examine everything. The Bible is True. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus is the Word. The Word is Truth.

• The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
• For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17).
• Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must stay in the Word. It is our only reliable source of life-giving truth:

• Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:5).
• But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13).
• Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace (Romans 6:13-15).
• This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:3-5).

And just a few more words to those of us who minister to others (and that’s all of us):

• If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed (1 Timothy 4:6).
• Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
• Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:25).

“For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does” (Psalm 33:4).

In Christ,

Judy

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

This series of devotions has been focused on Jesus’ “I AM” statements. There are seven in the gospel of John:

1. “I AM the bread of life.” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51)
2. “I AM the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
3. “I AM the door.” (John 10:7)
4. “I AM the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
5. “I AM the good shepherd.” (John 10:11, 14)
6. “I AM the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
7. “I AM the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5)

If, when you were a child, your mom or dad had told you that they were leaving (and maybe they did), you would have been distraught. Hopefully they told you they would come back to get you. You would have done anything to find a way to be reconciled to them. During the Last Supper, after Judas had been dismissed, Jesus told the remaining disciples that he was going away. He told them they couldn’t follow him this time, but that they would be able to follow him later. The disciples were indeed distraught; Jesus then comforted them with these words:

“’Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:1-6).

According to the Oxford Dictionary, as a noun, the word “way” can mean either

1. a method, style, or manner of doing something, or
2. road, track, path, or street for traveling along.

Jesus is THE WAY – Thomas was honest when he told Jesus that he was confused about where Jesus was going and the way to get there. Jesus told Thomas and the others that he was going to His Father’s house, and that he would take us to be with him. Today, we use our various navigational systems as the method for figuring out how to get somewhere, and they usually tell us the best road or path to take. Jesus is our navigation system and the path we take—following Him is how we will get to that wonderful heavenly mansion with our name on it.

Interesting side note: Early Christians identified themselves with Jesus by calling themselves the Way.

• “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priestand asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2).
• And in Acts 19:23, in Ephesus, “About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.”
• In Paul’s testimony to Felix, the Roman Governor: “But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets” (Acts 24:14).

Navigational systems sometimes give us alternative ways in the event of traffic. Sometimes you can choose your path—fastest in time or shortest in distance. Jesus is the Way; the Word is our navigation system, the path, by which we will achieve eternal life with our heavenly Father. Jesus is THE WAY, not the shortest, the fastest, the best. He is the ONLY WAY. Let us continually seek him as David did when he wrote “Teach me your way, Lord” (Psalm 27:11).

In Christ,

Judy

“I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7,9).

Doors are important. Doors provide privacy. Doors provide security. Most of us shut and lock our doors, at least at night, to be sure we are safe. We even describe being outside as “out of doors.” The difference between inside and outside in this context is a door.

Doors also provide access. You want the correct door. If you are going to an office building or a school, for example, you are likely to be concerned about which door you enter. It is such a relief to find the right door, and to find that it is unlocked; and that when you enter, you have found the right place.

Adam and Eve had to have been traumatized to find they were locked out of the Garden of Eden after they sinned. “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24).

On the other hand, after entering the ark along with all the animals, Noah and his family were probably relieved when “the Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16b). They had built the ark according to God’s instructions, probably with some wonderment. Then the floodwaters came, a phenomenon they had never-before experienced, and which must have been frightening. But as relieved as Noah and his family may have been, just think how hopeless all the remaining people must have felt as they saw the floodwaters rising and the door to the ark shut tight.

When Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle to house the ark of the covenant, we again find cherubim, now guarding the Most Holy Place. This time images of cherubim were woven into the fabric of the veil or thick curtain, a “door” of sorts which served as a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter into God’s awesome presence. “The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.” (Exodus 26:33b) “Aaron must wear it (a special robe) when he ministers. The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die” (Exodus 28:35).

And then, when Jesus died on the cross, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51a). Now, according to Hebrews 10:19-20, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body….” This access, which had been denied since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, is now available because of Jesus’ death on the cross.

Now, not only has Jesus opened the way for us to enter into his presence by his death on the cross, but He is also seeking us. In Revelation 3:20, he invites us to let him in. Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” (And if you are following the I AM theme in this series of devotions, remember that the first devotion was on Jesus as the Bread of Life. So, we are continuing that eating/food metaphor also.) Jesus not only knocks on the door, He is the door. And He watches over us as a shepherd to protect his flock from predators.

It was our sin that created the barrier to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, to the ark for everyone except Noah and his family, and to the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle. And it was Jesus who tore down the barrier, who became the door to eternal life by his atoning death on the cross. “I AM the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

In Christ,

Judy

“The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:9)

We learned in elementary school that our sun is the origin of our light, and that even the light from the moon is only reflected light. So how can it be that God spoke light into existence even before he created the sun, moon, and stars? Genesis 1:1-5 reads:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”

It was not until the fourth day of creation that He created the sun, moon, and stars. How can it be? It is because God himself is the light. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Fast forward to the Book of Revelation at the end of the Bible when the new heaven and earth is revealed. The new Jerusalem comes down from heaven and “shines with the glory of God.” “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp” (Revelation 21:23).

Light represents God’s glory. In both James 1:17 and 1 John 1:5, God’s essence and personality are equated with all that is “light.” In the Bible, darkness often symbolically refers to evil, sin, and corruption. Therefore, light represents goodness, honesty, purity, wisdom, glory, and love—everything that God is. (Reference)

Therefore, Jesus acknowledged his divinity, his role in creation, and his role in our redemption when he said in John 8:12 – “I AM the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

What is the takeaway for us as believers? Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that as believers and disciples, we are the light of the world. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). Like the moon that can only shine the reflected light of the sun, we as believers can only shine the reflected light of God the Father and God the Son. This is important because Jesus told us to let our light shine before men so that our good deeds can be seen which will give glory to our Heavenly Father.

Fellow believers, we are to shine our lights!! Even though we are mere mortals, we have the power of light in us. The physical nature and power of light is such that one drop of light can dispel the darkness. We have such a unique and valuable opportunity as Mission staff to be the light of Christ to those we serve; to dispel the darkness that plagues their lives; and to provide Hope for Today, Hope for Tomorrow, and Hope for Eternity.

 “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6b).

In Christ,

Judy