WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’
and rightly so, for that is what I am.”
(John 13:13)

MEDITATION:
If someone asked you why Jesus came to earth, what would you say?
You might say,
    “He came to be a sacrifice for my sins”
and you would be right.

You could say,
    “He came to share the good news with everyone”
which is also a correct statement.

But, did you realize He also came to be our Teacher? Why would He
do that? Because He loves us and wants us to receive salvation so 
we can be with Him in Heaven. He also knew that when we are saved  
we begin living in a new way that could be confusing and a challenge, 
since we have been going in one direction (following the ways of the 
world and the things we can see), and made the choice to go in a new 
direction (following an ‘unseen’ Jesus).

Jesus not only explained what we should do if we want to enter
paradise, but He also showed us how we should live until then.
He gave us examples of His prayer habits, His compassion, His
love, His attitudes, His focus, His mission, His dedication, and
His relationship with our Heavenly Father.

He also taught us how to interact with other people. He showed
us how to worship God and minister to the needs of others. Jesus
taught us the importance of total obedience to God’s commands,
and how we can depend on God to help us through difficult times.

Through the life He lived in human form, He showed us how
to complete the mission God has for us. God has specific tasks
for every believer, and He gave us a spiritual gift to assist us as
we participate in His ministry; as adopted members of His family
we are important to God and what He is doing in our world!

Just imagine this:
    When you were created by God, He knew the capacities
    you had been given for becoming one of His servants.
    When you were saved, He gave you a specific spiritual gift
    you would need for serving Him and pointing others to Jesus!
    Not only that, but He also gave you the Holy Spirit to assist
    you in your efforts. How awesome is that?

Overall, we learned from Jesus how to apply God’s principles
and instructions to our own lives so we could fellowship with
Him, and include Him in every part of our everyday life.

Jesus came for many reasons, but an important one was to ‘teach’
us the importance of believers incorporating righteousness into our
current lives as we await joining Him one day to enjoy eternal bliss
with our Heavenly Father.

Yes, Jesus is our Teacher, but He is also our Lord and Savior. He
is the One we learn from, and He is the one we praise and worship.

The world (and Satan) wants to convince us that heavenly
things (including God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit) are just a myth. He wants us to believe that we
are naïve in believing that they exist.

However, we know that our time on earth is limited and one
day we will face judgment for what we believe. So…we have
a decision to make (and we should not delay in making it):
    We can allow the world to influence our thoughts,
    or we can choose to have faith and trust that what
    we read in God’s Word (which has survived centuries
    and is the most popular book ever) is true.

ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
    – What have I learned from our Heavenly Teacher?
    – How have I applied what I’ve learned to my own life?
    – Do I only have a head full of knowledge, or have the things
       I learned, become active and alive in the way I live?
    – Am I continuing to learn more from God’s Word every day?
    – How has my life changed after God blessed me with salvation?
    – Do I worship the Lord as I should?
    – Do I thank Him for the blessings I’ve received?
          We should never forget that prayer is a time for expressing
          our concerns to the Lord, but it is also a time for thanking
          Him for all the blessings He has given us.

It can be difficult to build a relationship with an unseen God, and
to feel ‘connected’ with our Heavenly Father, but that’s what our
faith is all about. Although we can’t see Him, we trust in His Word
which tells us of His existence and His presence in our lives.

Look at what Jesus told one of His disciples (Thomas) who had doubts
about His resurrection and His reappearance with them after death.
    Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me,
    you have believed; blessed are THOSE WHO HAVE
    NOT SEEN AND YET HAVE BELIEVED.”
    (John 20:39)

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the time Jesus spent on earth
in human form, and how His presence is documented in Your
Word. When I read about His life, His obedience, His emotions,
His characteristics, etc., I realize the changes I need to make in
my own life. Thank You Jesus, for being my Teacher and Lord.
Thank You for going to the cross for my sins. Forgive me if my
life has not changed because of what You did for me. Convict
me of the things I need to do, to become more like You.”

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