Jesus: Doorway to the Father

John 14:6-11

A large percentage of westerners claim to "know God" and therefore call themselves Christians. But many of them do not believe in Jesus or His assertion that He is the Son of God. It is imperative that we recognize the fact that a person cannot know the Father and be His child unless he or she has already received Jesus Christ and has entered into an intimate and deeply personal relationship with Him.

Jesus is the doorway to salvation. But it's not enough to just "know God" in the sense of simply realizing that there is a supreme Being, God. Jesus taught us that without faith in Him, it is impossible to come to the Father in any way (v6). We must remember that God is holy and He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. And we, along with the rest of civilization, are sinners (Ps 53:1-3). Simply and factually stated: Jesus died in our place to pay our debt and thereby bridged the gap between us, as impure people, and holy God. But any person who receives His sacrifice for sin is forgiven, and declared righteous, and welcomed into close fellowship with God.

Jesus is the doorway to revelation. He was the earthly representation of the One He knew in heaven to be His Father. And Christ's life among us provides the most complete picture we have of God the Father. Through the Son's actions, choices, and teachings, we learn how the Almighty God thinks and what He desires from His followers and what pleases Him and makes him smile.

Jesus boldly stated that He and His Father are one (John 10:30). So omitting Christ from their religious beliefs and practices leaves people with a tainted, narrow, and inaccurate view of their Creator. The fact of the matter is that we can't know God unless we get to know the Son first. And the Son's two-fold purpose is to reveal His Father and bring all people into a vibrant and loving relationship with Him.

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Well, I ended up having to borrow the idea for today's devotional but my mind this morning was like a blank piece of paper on which words simply refused to be formed. My brain is more than just a little bit boggy this morning. It just doesn't seem to want to function properly. As I feared, I woke up totally oblivious to the fact that it's Friday and I'm going to fast on Fridays. I had even made a big sign and put it in the kitchen to remind myself not to eat. Well, God was faithful. I forgot and didn't notice the sign I'd put up but the Lord kept me from putting anything in my mouth other than soda and I had already agreed that sodas would be okay just starting out. So even though it could have been disastrous for my first fast ever the Lord kept me true to my pledge. I'm not expecting to get anything out of this fast except hunger of course but I've made up my mind to do this.

lazydranch8 is homeward bound but they aren't making a straight way home. They've got some plans to visit people on the way back and to also visit a few sights. They had a little trouble with Brn Sugar's breathing and had to make a trip to the emergency room but she appears to be okay now. Reminds me of when Ken was a baby with asthma. He had a lot of runs to ERs and doctors' offices. It made for some very scary times. You know what I like best about knowing Heather and her family? The fact that their lives revolve around their religion. They don't live and happen to "do" church; they live church and do life! They are such an amazing and encouraging family. And I pray that someday she will meet a man that feels the same way. No one will ever replace Eric but a man can come along who will give her the companionship she needs. I pray for that for her. She is a remarkable woman the way she has carried on after Eric's tragic death and I just pray for the best for her.

M just got back from the nursery with a small flat of flowers for me to use to replace the Mother's Day flowers that didn't make the transplanting process. These are good hearty plants and they will do well in full sun. So now you know what I'm going to be doing after I finish this blog.

Looks like we have another windy day today. Although it's not as strong as it was yesterday. And it's much cooler today. I'm sitting here with M's hoodie on and I'm still a bit chilled. But just a bit. We've got wildfires burning in parts of California. The governor was on TV awhile ago talking about the fires. This is so early in the year to have wildfires. I think that spells out a rough fire season this year. Hopefully I'm wrong. But I've just never seen wildfires this early in the year. It could be a disastrous year.


I guess I better go plant those flowers and get a few things done around here. It is already noon and I've accomplished nothing except I did get my hair washed and styled. My bed is still unmade, even. And I need to do tomorrow's study today along with today's study because we are going to be gone tomorrow. We're going across the river to my sister's house for an afternoon of dominoes and fun. So I won't have time tomorrow to do its study. I don't know when I'll blog again but I doubt it will be before Monday.