Chapter 19 - The Great Divide
Bonhoeffer- 'To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time to face our enemies unarmed and defenseless, preferring to incur injustice rather than to do wrong ourselves, is indeed the narrow way.'
TRUTH.
'Preferring to INCUR INJUSTICE RATHER THAN DO WRONG OURSELVES.'
Is this something we do readily, or do we rail against it wanting JUSTICE, wanting retribution, wanting revenge, wanting that self justification against the injustice done to us. We find it so incredibly difficult to NOT do wrong ourselves in favor of erring on the side of having to accept an injustice done to us. Far be it from us to accept injustice, doesn't that mean we are weak? And we don't want to be weak, but our SAVIOR wants us to comprehend that we are NOTHING without HIM and all He stands for, HIS love means more than any injustice, ANY injustice no matter how awful that can be done to us. Imprisoned wrongfully, suffering the abuse of the prison system when you are innocent of what you've been accused of, that sort of injustice is appalling, yet it happens all the time. Are those under such grave injustice to seek ungodly means to prove their innocence, are they to, from that moment on, live as though God has abandoned them? The VERY NARROW WAY. Rather than retaliate, endure. Rather than doing as done to, doing as you wish had been done to you. The VERY NARROW WAY.
Bonhoeffer- 'To see the weakness and wrong in others, and at the same time refrain from judging them; to deliver the gospel message without casting pearls before swine, is indeed a narrow way.'
TRUTH.
CHRIST'S WAY.
Bonhoeffer- 'The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray. But if we worry about the dangers that beset us, if we gaze at the road instead of at him who goes before, we are already straying from the path. For he is himself the way, the narrow way and the strait gate. He, and he alone, is our journey's end. When we know that, we are able to proceed along the narrow way through the strait gate of the cross, and on to eternal life, and the very narrowness of the road will increase our certainty. The way which the Son of God trod on earth, and the way which we too must tread as citizens of two worlds on the razor edge between this world and the kingdom of heaven, could hardly be a broad way. The narrow way is bound to be right.'
TRUTH!
Joh_14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Jesus is the WAY- the narrow way, the VERY narrow way. We have to look to HIM for all things, this is the lesson we must learn, this is the lesson we must submit to. And we are told what we must do to submit. Jesus Himself tells us if we LOVE Him we will obey Him.
Jesus Himself tells us that He will PRAY to the Father for US, asking the FATHER to give us another Comforter.
A COMFORTER, ANOTHER COMFORTER.
Jesus came and He did COMFORT many by revealing the TRUTH to them, allowing them to comprehend that there is good news, there is hope for a WORLD made new with HIM, an eternal life with HIM, a KINGDOM with HIM. Jesus came and showed everyone that this is NOT the world He lived for, but the FUTURE world. A Heavenly Kingdom. A Kingdom in which a Holy City dwells and that Holy City would one day come down out of heaven and be set upon the earth. Jesus came and taught us how to live connected to HIM, believing HIS promises, having hope in HIM.
Jesus didn't want to leave His people without a Comforter, without One who would guide them and help them in this harsh sin-filled world. Jesus promised there would be ANOTHER COMFORTER. And through that Comforter who would live with us FOREVER, Jesus will come to US, He will manifest Himself to us.
The SPIRIT OF TRUTH!
The world CANNOT receive the SPIRIT of TRUTH!!! This is something Jesus SAID! Why can't the world receive the Spirit of Truth, because it doesn't see Him, it doesn't know Him, it does NOT DWELL IN THEM, but this SPIRIT of TRUTH will DWELL WITH US, this SPIRIT of TRUTH WILL BE IN US!
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
We are not going to be able to ever walk the narrow path, not ever without the Spirit of Truth in us. And we know by obeying our Savior, listening to Him, comprehending that it is only through HIS power we live and can obey, and no other way, we have no power of our own. All glory to God every single moment we truly live in Him, allowing Him to live in us, giving us the ability to live the truth.
We will doubt, and that doubt is just another opportunity for us to realize all our hope must be in Christ, and NOT in ourselves.
There are certain rules we all follow in our relationship with others, right? When the rules aren't followed what follows is discord in the relationship. So why do we imagine that we don't need to follow God's rules, and there should still be a peaceful relationship with Him?
If it weren't Jesus who told us - Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. - we wouldn't necessarily believe we have to keep the commandments, right? But He tells us plainly that IF WE LOVE HIM WE WILL KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and THEN He will pray to the Father for us!
Yes, the way is very NARROW it's focused solely on CHRIST and not on ourselves at all and we hate taking our eyes off ourselves. The NARROW WAY tells us the RULES, and what to do if we break the rules. The NARROW WAY is surrounded by the BROAD way, and it's only by staying on the NARROW WAY we can live with the broad way all around us. We must CLING to the Narrow Way and the Narrow Way will wrap us in HIS protective LOVING Spiritual embrace, keeping us safe as we cling.
Watch a child reach for a parent and the parent grab their child up, what would happen if the child was still clinging to the parent and the parent let go of the child? It wouldn't take too long before the child would fall away from the parent. Every parent or child caregiver knows that sometimes a child will fight the embrace that is keeping them safe from falling, and it's only by the sheer will of the child and truly unintentional that a child will actually best the parent's embrace and fall. I'm NOT talking infant here, but an older child. We know what it's like, we do. It's always best for both the parent and child to have grip on each other, neither fighting nor letting go. Christ will NEVER let us go, but we can free ourselves from Him, because He will NOT force us to cling to Him. We, unlike a child, know the consequences of our choosing to let go. Yet, so many of us are constantly wiggling out of Christ's embrace determined to try and do things on our own. We CAN never ever get to a place where we do NOT need Christ's embrace, He is our only hope. Without His embrace we die, yet we still struggle to prove we can conquer some besetting sin on our own, when in truth we need to cling ever tighter to Christ as we seek to follow His commandments, not do a single bit of conquering on our own.
If we truly want to walk on the Narrow Path we must realize we can ONLY do so hand in hand, heart in heart, Spirit in spirit with Christ Jesus our Savior. We can't ever walk on this path without clinging to Him, not ever, the narrow path instantly disappears when we let go of Him.
Jesus never asks us to keep a single one of His commandments without Him, not one!
Please LORD, keep us in YOU, ever in You in all ways, all by YOUR power, YOUR righteousness, YOUR grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR amazing LOVE!
*******
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Bonhoeffer- 'To believe the promise of Jesus that his followers shall possess the earth, and at the same time to face our enemies unarmed and defenseless, preferring to incur injustice rather than to do wrong ourselves, is indeed the narrow way.'
TRUTH.
'Preferring to INCUR INJUSTICE RATHER THAN DO WRONG OURSELVES.'
Is this something we do readily, or do we rail against it wanting JUSTICE, wanting retribution, wanting revenge, wanting that self justification against the injustice done to us. We find it so incredibly difficult to NOT do wrong ourselves in favor of erring on the side of having to accept an injustice done to us. Far be it from us to accept injustice, doesn't that mean we are weak? And we don't want to be weak, but our SAVIOR wants us to comprehend that we are NOTHING without HIM and all He stands for, HIS love means more than any injustice, ANY injustice no matter how awful that can be done to us. Imprisoned wrongfully, suffering the abuse of the prison system when you are innocent of what you've been accused of, that sort of injustice is appalling, yet it happens all the time. Are those under such grave injustice to seek ungodly means to prove their innocence, are they to, from that moment on, live as though God has abandoned them? The VERY NARROW WAY. Rather than retaliate, endure. Rather than doing as done to, doing as you wish had been done to you. The VERY NARROW WAY.
Bonhoeffer- 'To see the weakness and wrong in others, and at the same time refrain from judging them; to deliver the gospel message without casting pearls before swine, is indeed a narrow way.'
TRUTH.
CHRIST'S WAY.
Bonhoeffer- 'The way is unutterably hard, and at every moment we are in danger of straying from it. If we regard this way as one we follow in obedience to an external command, if we are afraid of ourselves all the time, it is indeed an impossible way. But if we behold Jesus Christ going on before step by step, we shall not go astray. But if we worry about the dangers that beset us, if we gaze at the road instead of at him who goes before, we are already straying from the path. For he is himself the way, the narrow way and the strait gate. He, and he alone, is our journey's end. When we know that, we are able to proceed along the narrow way through the strait gate of the cross, and on to eternal life, and the very narrowness of the road will increase our certainty. The way which the Son of God trod on earth, and the way which we too must tread as citizens of two worlds on the razor edge between this world and the kingdom of heaven, could hardly be a broad way. The narrow way is bound to be right.'
TRUTH!
Joh_14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
Joh 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Jesus is the WAY- the narrow way, the VERY narrow way. We have to look to HIM for all things, this is the lesson we must learn, this is the lesson we must submit to. And we are told what we must do to submit. Jesus Himself tells us if we LOVE Him we will obey Him.
Jesus Himself tells us that He will PRAY to the Father for US, asking the FATHER to give us another Comforter.
A COMFORTER, ANOTHER COMFORTER.
Jesus came and He did COMFORT many by revealing the TRUTH to them, allowing them to comprehend that there is good news, there is hope for a WORLD made new with HIM, an eternal life with HIM, a KINGDOM with HIM. Jesus came and showed everyone that this is NOT the world He lived for, but the FUTURE world. A Heavenly Kingdom. A Kingdom in which a Holy City dwells and that Holy City would one day come down out of heaven and be set upon the earth. Jesus came and taught us how to live connected to HIM, believing HIS promises, having hope in HIM.
Jesus didn't want to leave His people without a Comforter, without One who would guide them and help them in this harsh sin-filled world. Jesus promised there would be ANOTHER COMFORTER. And through that Comforter who would live with us FOREVER, Jesus will come to US, He will manifest Himself to us.
The SPIRIT OF TRUTH!
The world CANNOT receive the SPIRIT of TRUTH!!! This is something Jesus SAID! Why can't the world receive the Spirit of Truth, because it doesn't see Him, it doesn't know Him, it does NOT DWELL IN THEM, but this SPIRIT of TRUTH will DWELL WITH US, this SPIRIT of TRUTH WILL BE IN US!
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
We are not going to be able to ever walk the narrow path, not ever without the Spirit of Truth in us. And we know by obeying our Savior, listening to Him, comprehending that it is only through HIS power we live and can obey, and no other way, we have no power of our own. All glory to God every single moment we truly live in Him, allowing Him to live in us, giving us the ability to live the truth.
We will doubt, and that doubt is just another opportunity for us to realize all our hope must be in Christ, and NOT in ourselves.
There are certain rules we all follow in our relationship with others, right? When the rules aren't followed what follows is discord in the relationship. So why do we imagine that we don't need to follow God's rules, and there should still be a peaceful relationship with Him?
If it weren't Jesus who told us - Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. - we wouldn't necessarily believe we have to keep the commandments, right? But He tells us plainly that IF WE LOVE HIM WE WILL KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and THEN He will pray to the Father for us!
Yes, the way is very NARROW it's focused solely on CHRIST and not on ourselves at all and we hate taking our eyes off ourselves. The NARROW WAY tells us the RULES, and what to do if we break the rules. The NARROW WAY is surrounded by the BROAD way, and it's only by staying on the NARROW WAY we can live with the broad way all around us. We must CLING to the Narrow Way and the Narrow Way will wrap us in HIS protective LOVING Spiritual embrace, keeping us safe as we cling.
Watch a child reach for a parent and the parent grab their child up, what would happen if the child was still clinging to the parent and the parent let go of the child? It wouldn't take too long before the child would fall away from the parent. Every parent or child caregiver knows that sometimes a child will fight the embrace that is keeping them safe from falling, and it's only by the sheer will of the child and truly unintentional that a child will actually best the parent's embrace and fall. I'm NOT talking infant here, but an older child. We know what it's like, we do. It's always best for both the parent and child to have grip on each other, neither fighting nor letting go. Christ will NEVER let us go, but we can free ourselves from Him, because He will NOT force us to cling to Him. We, unlike a child, know the consequences of our choosing to let go. Yet, so many of us are constantly wiggling out of Christ's embrace determined to try and do things on our own. We CAN never ever get to a place where we do NOT need Christ's embrace, He is our only hope. Without His embrace we die, yet we still struggle to prove we can conquer some besetting sin on our own, when in truth we need to cling ever tighter to Christ as we seek to follow His commandments, not do a single bit of conquering on our own.
If we truly want to walk on the Narrow Path we must realize we can ONLY do so hand in hand, heart in heart, Spirit in spirit with Christ Jesus our Savior. We can't ever walk on this path without clinging to Him, not ever, the narrow path instantly disappears when we let go of Him.
Jesus never asks us to keep a single one of His commandments without Him, not one!
Please LORD, keep us in YOU, ever in You in all ways, all by YOUR power, YOUR righteousness, YOUR grace, YOUR mercy, YOUR amazing LOVE!
*******
Mat 7:13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Mat 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
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