The Sword of the LORD

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6).      Jesus was preparing His disciples for their most difficult test yet: His own crucifixion.   He knew that He would be leaving them and that they would then have to carry the torch of truth and be lights in the world themselves.   Therefore, He told them, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me.” (John 14:1).   Thomas spoke for everyone when he said, “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way?”   (John 14:5)     Jesus’ answer is one of the most profound statements that He uttered.   He said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no man cometh to the Father, but by Me.” (v. 6).     Today, we may struggle at times with knowing the right thing to do, or the right way to go with our lives; but it always comes back to the same simple principle: Jesus is the Way, the Tr...

"And when it was evening, His [Jesus'] disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat .  And they say unto Him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.  He said, Bring them hither to Me.  And He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake , and gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.  And they did all eat, and were filled : and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children."   (Matthew 14:15-21).   "And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves , and ga...

The prayer of King Jehoshaphat that is recorded in the 20 th chapter of the second book of Chronicles in the Bible is extraordinary in its directness, honesty, simplicity, and power.  In his prayer Jehoshaphat references another powerful prayer that was offered by an earlier king of the Israelites; and that prayer, in turn, represents an important provision that God has made that affects all of our prayers from that time till this, and even till the end of this world.   Jehoshaphat was a good king whose heart was after God.  He wasn’t a perfect king, but he was open to the Lord’s correction, and therefore God was able to direct him and bless him in marvelous and miraculous ways.   Jehoshaphat had reigned in Jerusalem for about 16 years when a report came to him that the Moabites and the Ammonites were coming against him to war with a great multitude of armed men.  Scripture reveals to us what Jehoshaphat’s reaction was to this news: “And Jehoshaphat fea...

"And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.  And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever toward Israel.  And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.  But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." (Ezra 3:10-13).   The children of the ...

The sixth chapter of St. John holds some amazing insights into Christ’s ministry and character.   As we unpack what the Apostle has recorded there, may God give us a little more revelation in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.   The beginning of this chapter in John is a narrative about how Jesus fed over 5,000 people with just two small fish and five barley loaves of bread.   If you are unfamiliar with the story, you can read it in John 6:1-14.   Notice in verse 14 that it says the people who had experienced this miracle first-hand didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah or the Son of God but, instead, said, “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”   Jesus was forced to depart from them at this point and retreat to a mountain by Himself lest they take Him forcefully to make Him king (verse 15).   Jesus hadn’t come to be made a conquering king; Jesus had come to be the Lamb of God that would be slain for the sins of the world...