Psalm 4:2-4 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? 3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. 4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
 
RECALL in the previous lesson Psalm 3 recorded David’s confidence God would protect him against Absalom and others who pursued him.
   Here, David warns his enemies the LORD has set him apart to be a godly man. This means God has anointed him to be a God-seeking, benevolent man. His purpose is to do God’s will. He is the object of God’s constant love. God has marked David as his own and put him aside from the world to be his own. The LORD will let no one touch David.
   As a result, David knows that when he prays the LORD will hear and answer his prayers. God’s glory – his power and protection – is available for David to defeat his enemies.
   David, then, is telling Absalom and the others God’s judgment threatens their lives. He urges them to stop. Their rebellion against him is rebelling against God. He advises them to be very careful in their actions. They would be wise to lie down at night, be silent and consider the appropriate thing to do. This is good advice for all of us.
   Absalom and his army should have listened to David. They should have gone home to live in peace. But instead they pursued God’s anointed, and they died.
   We who confesses Jesus Christ can quote David to confidently warn those who oppose us. We know God has set us apart into his glory to be godly people. He teaches us the many traits of being a people set apart for his purpose. No enemy can remove God’s glory from us.
   Yes, it is true the enemy may triumph over our physical lives. But he will never destroy our eternal lives. Rest in this amazing promise: Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   Jesus proved this through his death, resurrection and ascension. The Spirit confirms this through his anointing of God’s glory upon our eternal souls. God promises to reward the godly and destroy his enemies. When you are faithful to his Truth, you will know his reward of a life resurrected into his glory. This is your joy now and forever.  
  

Psalms 3:2-5 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” 3 O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
 
DAVID wrote these faith-affirming words when nearly of Judah thought their King David would soon be killed. He and a small army were fleeing his son Absalom’s attempt to become king. This was Abasalom’s delayed response to David’s refusal to administer justice to David’s son Ammon, who had raped David’s daughter and Absalom’s sister, Tamar. (2 Samuel 13) Absalom took matters into his hands. He killed Ammon and rebelled against David. David’s refusal to justly deal with sin divided his family and his nation. Many died because of this family’s moral and physical crimes against each other. The Bible does not gloss over the sins of God’s anointed. God confronts it directly, so we know he is just and requires a just response.
   With this sin in his heart and his life on the edge, David did what he needed to do years earlier. He went to the LORD, just as he had in other broken, life-threatening moments of his life.
   The essential truth of David’s life is that when his morals and integrity submit to temptation, his faith in God remained true. Even here in this sin, David knew he could call on God to be his shield around him. He didn’t pray, “God, please be a shield around me.” He confidently stated to God, “You are a shield around me.” He believed his Protector was with him in this crisis moment, just as he had always been.
   Then David says something quite remarkable, “You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.” One way to define glory is that it is a visible demonstration of God’s presence and power. In this context, David remembers and confesses his trust in God’s presence. He knows God has favored him throughout his life. The prophet and judge Samuel visibly anointed David to be king in God’s name. God’s presence and power came on David that day. David has carried that anointing with him throughout his life, even amid his evil deeds. David was praying and worshipping God as he fled Absalom because heaven’s glory had come upon him. This is what God had done, and God will not remove it. David believed he would pray, and the LORD would help him.
   Each Christian can more faithfully say, “You are a shield around me, my glory who lifts my head high.” God’s power and presence has come upon you through his Spirit. He has anointed you into the kingdom of God. You are present in God’s glory forever because the LORD has formed your life to his purpose.
   Alive in Jesus, you are alive in God’s glory. His presence and power is evident in your life. He shields you from evil. When you sin, know you can go to God in expectation that his salving, glorious presence is with you. This, of course, does not give you license to sin. But it must give you assurance that you can seek his forgiveness with expectation, “You are my glory, LORD, the one who lifts my head high.” When you call out to him, trust he will answer you. When you lie down to sleep at night, rest in his presence. Believe he will awaken you to dwell in his glory another day. Be at peace knowing God has wrapped you in his glory forever.  
 

John 14:4-6 Jesus said, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
 
“I am the way and the truth and the life.”  Jesus’ remarkable, personal promise to the world is considered one “I am.” statement from Jesus. But it could easily be three. Let’s first consider Jesus’ affirmation he is “the Way”.
   Jesus was in the midst of the “Upper Room Discourse”. As he prepares his disciples for his departure, he comforts them that one day they will be with him in the Father’s house (John 14:2-3). He confirms to them, “You know the way to the place where I am going.”
    But Thomas speaks for the men. They do not understand Jesus. They want to know what we all would want to know: “Where? When? Give us directions, Jesus!” So Jesus expands their minds to focus on him.
   Jesus tells them they know the way because they know Jesus and his true dwelling. They have heard him speak of the kingdom of God for several years. He has told them of being born again. They have watched his magnificent work change lives. These men have confessed he is the Son of God. Jesus has shown he is resurrection into new life. He helped them understand he is bread. He is water. He is light out of the darkness. He is the gate. He is the good shepherd. In other words, Jesus is I AM, who has personally come to restore his kingdom on earth.
   Yes, God has given us definite directions to him. But the world says, “I don’t like your way, Jesus. I want to come in my own way.” It’s absurd, isn’t it, to think there is more than one way to the Holy God. The devil wanted Adam and Eve to believe that lie, and the lie still puts people on the detour to destruction.
   All need to trust Jesus’ direction because Jesus is the truth. He is not just part of the truth, but he is the whole truth. John tells us Jesus is the Living Word (John 1:1-3). The Living Word is the true Word. Everything about Christ and his message is true. Know his truth is absolute and universal for all people to believe. Yet, the world rejects this, too. Mankind turns God’s commands and promises into suggestions of convenience.
   Truth defines who we are: sinners. Truth defines who rescues us from sin: Jesus. How can we not receive such grace?
   Third, Jesus is the life. Note he also said this to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) What a glorious gift it is to mankind to know God has personally come to us to declare that true, resurrected, eternal life is available only through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Those who accept his resurrected life receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Christ.
   We may often ask, “Where is God? Where does God want me?” But Jesus wanted his disciples then and all of us now to know the only direction to life is through him. Seek each day to know Jesus. He will show you the true way to go. You will live in his truth as you journey on your toward the room he has prepared for you, so you can be with him.
 
 

Luke 10:38-42 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” 
 
John 11:21-27 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
 
LET’S learn from Martha. First, we see in both passages she models an eagerness to approach Jesus. When Jesus encounters you, you must invite Jesus into your home – into your life. When you desire to know the truth, go to Jesus. When you are distressed or grieving, go to Jesus.
   Second, we learn how to adjust to Jesus’ presence. After inviting Jesus to, “Come in.” Martha missed the reason for Jesus being in her home. While Mary mediated on Jesus’ teachings, Martha did the chores. Jesus corrected her. “Only one thing is needed,” he said. Faith in his Word is the substance of life. She should stop and spend some time with Jesus, so she will develop a sure faith in him. The chores will get done.
   Third, it is evident Martha listened to her Lord. When Jesus arrived after Lazarus’ death, Martha confessed a complete faith in all who Jesus is, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” She believed Jesus was the fulfillment of the prophecies as he had taught. Seldom was such a faith spoken in Israel. As she grieved her brother’s death, she rejoiced in the future hope of glory for all who are faithful to the Christ.
   When Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” he confirmed eternal life is in him. I AM spoke to Martha as he had spoken to Moses in Exodus 3:6 “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Jesus confirms who he is and the reason for his coming. Jesus promised resurrection of the body is sure for all who believe in him. That day at Bethany, he demonstrated he is resurrection when he called Lazarus to life.
   Martha’s life and confession have taught us to invite Jesus into our lives. Then we must be quiet to take time to listen to him. When we listen to the Lord’s promises and watch what he is doing, we will confess he is the Lord, the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world. When you are in Christ, you are resurrected into eternal life.   
 

John 10:11-18 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
 
JOHN has a wonderful way to share our Savior’s commitment to the Father and to mankind. The Servant Savior firmly and gently binds himself to you. Three times he refers to laying down his life for his sheep. He is not a hired hand who may abandon the sheep when trouble comes. He is the owner, the Master, willing to stand between his flock and death.
   The Son is a fully committed Good Shepherd. The Father and the Spirit are not forcing him. No one takes Jesus’ life from him. The loving Savior willingly dies, so you will be alive forever. Humble, submissive and loving, the Savior offers himself to you. He loves the Father. He loves you.
   See, too, he teaches his salvation is for all people groups. “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.” The Son of God has come for all nations. The Gentiles are not yet in the sheepfold. Soon, though, they will be welcomed into God’s flock. Jesus’ Jewish disciples and early church leaders found this difficult to accept. They first rejected preaching to the Gentiles. But the Spirit sent Peter to the Roman Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10), paving the way for Paul to became the apostle to the Gentiles. Even the anointed apostles did not listen closely to their gentle, committed Savior. I hope we do.
   Yes, let’s savor the Savior’s love and obedience to God’s grand plan to save people of all nations into his sheepfold. Praise God you are among those the Good Shepherd leads to heaven. Pray for those who have not yet received the Savior’s eternal gift. Be his committed, gentle disciple to shepherd people’s hearts toward the gospel. 

Jesus Promises to Satisfy Your Hunger
 
John 6:34-35 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry. He who believes in me will not thirst.” 
 
ONE could title John 6 “The Bread Speaks”. This passage is central to the narrative in this chapter. Stunning miracles occur in John 6. Jesus feeds 5,000 men plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two small fish. He walks on water and calms the storm on the sea. Matthew 14 tells us that Peter walked on water, also. 
   But the Pharisees were not satisfied. Jesus was good for a day, but they wondered if he could provide bread to them everyday as Moses had in the desert. Then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.”  (John 6:32) and he added, “Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.” (John 6:49-50)
   Yes, the Father had provided the true bread – his Son – to be the eternal Bread of Salvation. He declared he has sovereign authority over our eternal lives. The crowd wanted him be king in Jerusalem. But he confirmed he is not the Jews’ earthly leader. He is mankind’s Savior.
   The eternal “I Am who I Am” (Exodus 3:14) is defining his character to impact your life. God’s will along the shore of Galilee that day was to form the Jews’ lives anew as he fed them the Word of God that leads to eternal life.
   Through the Son and the Spirit, the eternal I AM has set a banquet on earth. God’s human form is a means to re-form mankind from Eden’s death to the New Heaven and earth (Revelation 22). The Bread of Life came. The Bread of Life taught. The Bread of Life was broken on the cross, resurrected, raised and renewed from the tomb. He is gathered once more into the heavenly realm, so we can consume his salvation through the Holy Spirit’s power
   Through Jesus’ life is God’s nourishing forgiveness of sins. We sit in prayer when we eat of the One who taught us to pray. We minister to others because Jesus’ servant life feeds us a servant’s heart. He is Bread who nourishes our love for God and one another. Receiving the Bread of Life, we savor ministry to the broken. Sharing the Bread of Life, we welcome people to our home for a meal and pray with them. Filled with the Bread of Life, we offer to a hungry world the eternal food of God’s blessed commands.
    Jesus, the Living Water and Bread of Life, teaches us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Thirst for the Living Water. Hunger for the Bread of Life. Nourish your life with Jesus.  
 

 

John 10:7-9 Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.”
&
John 10:17 “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again.”  
 
A gate is essential for the good care of livestock. The gate to the sheep pen protected sheep at night from predators and thieves. Sometimes physical gates were not available where a shepherd would keep his sheep at night. So a protecting shepherd became the living gate who would lie down at the entrance to the sheep pen, so he could keep the sheep safe.
   Then note the protecting gate also was also the providing gate. “Whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.” Jesus is not a gate that locks you into a desolate pen. Not only does he open the gate wide to welcome you into his fold as you confess him, “My risen Savior and Lord.” he is the Gate who opens your way into a nourishing life of his living water and daily bread.
   Through the apostle Paul,  the Holy Spirit urges us to trust Jesus’ power to protect: 2 Thessalonians 3:2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3 But the LORD is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We know he has the power to protect our lives because he is risen from the dead, so we will live in him. When we may doubt Jesus’ authority to “deliver us from evil the evil one” (Matthew 6:13b) we can turn to the Gate’s Word to remember he willingly lay down his life. The Father, Son and Spirit mercifully and sacrificially have acted to save you from the thief, Satan. In the Spirit’s authority, the Gate is alive, guarding you each day. What pleasure it is to know our Gate is constantly vigilant to protect you in the sheepfold and protect your eternal life as you walk among his green pastures.
   Christians, you are called to be a living gate for your family, church and community. As Jesus loved the Father, so should you love the Triune God. Trust and rest in Jesus’ promise to protect his own. Be a gate for others.
 
 

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
 
You’ll note Jesus didn’t specifically say, “I am living water.” But as “I AM” defines God’s character, Jesus was clearly defining his eternal character through the illustration of a constant flow of life-giving water.
   As in the previous lesson, Jesus was ministering to a woman at a well at Sychar, Samaria. The Samaritans were descendants of the 10 tribes of Israel that formed the Northern Kingdom. Because of their continued rebellion, God dispersed them among the nations around them in the 700’s BC. As they intermarried with foreign nations, the 10 tribes became a mixed race known as Samaritans. The Jews of Jesus’ day were descended from Judah and Benjamin. No Jewish rabbi would talk to a woman, much less a woman who came alone to the well at noon. She was not permitted to associate with other women in her village because of her past and current immoral relationships.
   Jesus on his way from Jerusalem to Capernaum, stopped his journey. He sent his disciples to get some food. Then he began to pour into the woman’s soul.
   Living water is Jesus’ salvation that continually flows into the rescued soul. Note Jesus says it the gift of God. Jesus later said   at the Feast of the Tabernacles that your faith in him will open the flowing faucet: John 7:38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  For the faithful believer, God is lavish with his salvation because God is love. Salvation flows from God, so our salvation will flow from us into others’ lives.
   Perhaps the woman at the well represents all of Israel. “If you knew the gifts of God.” he said to her, “and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” Oh, yes, Israel, if you had known of God’s gifts to you, your cup would have overflowed with joy. You would not have been dispersed among the pagan nations. You would have continually celebrated your relationship with God and feasted at the Lord’s gracious table. Grace and peace would have been your life. You, Judah and Benjamin would still be the 12 tribes, one nation under God’s love.
   Jesus urgently loved the woman, “Come,” he essentially says, “serve me and see what I will give to you. I have living water for you. It is my gift of life. Drink now. Be alive forever. Be blessed eternally. Come, lie down beside the still waters and know rest for your soul. This drink will last you forever.”
   Do you need this today? Are you thirsty for God’s presence? The woman received Jesus’ gift. She became free from her isolation to become a confessing member of a redeemed community. The Holy Spirit moved that village to repentance. It became an image of the church to come. Its members received the Spirit’s power. They drank the living water. The I AM God quenched their thirst as he had long promised.
   This is also for you. This is for your church, too. God has steams of living water prepared to flow into your soul. 

John 4:26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
 
ONE way John teaches us of Jesus is through what is normally regarded as seven “I am” statements. They are, “I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Way, Truth and Life. I am the Light of the world. I am the Gate. I am the Resurrection and the Life. I am the Bread of Life. I am the True Vine. Jesus used these images to define the ways God character personally transforms your life. But perhaps there are more than seven “I am’s”.  
   For example, let’s consider the one in this verse: “I who speak to you am he.” We can easily understand Jesus is saying, “I am he.” Perhaps, though, this is one we should put first.
   In one of Jesus’ most well-known conversations, he is talking with a Samaritan woman at a well near her village, Sychar. We’ll examine this more in the next lesson. But to the point here, the woman needs to know who has come to her. Who does Jesus say he is when he proclaims, “I am he.” He’s announcing he is Messiah, the one long expected.
   John conveys Jesus’ self-confession for two very important reasons. First for the Jewish reader, John was separating Jesus from John the Baptist. The prophet said in John 1:20b “I am not the Christ.” John the Baptist and John the apostle point to Jesus as the Savior. Jesus wanted the woman at the well to know that. He wants everyone to know that now.
   Second, John used this conversation between Jesus and the woman to teach us how to teach the gospel. She had said to him in John 4:25 “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  When Jesus said, “I am he.” he is proclaiming the Messiah has come. He reveals the good news of life, love, grace and forgiveness. The Lord wants the woman to know that God has come in person to explain everything to all people. What better way to give authority to his message than to declare, “I am he, the Messiah, who has come to redeem Israel.”
   It’s true, isn’t it, that we can only know Jesus as the Light of the world, the Resurrection and the Life and the Good Shepherd if we know him as “Messiah.” Jesus cannot be the Way and the Truth, the Bread of Life, the Gate and the True Vine if we deny or compromise he is God in the flesh come to explain everything to us.
   People need Jesus. They need a Savior – a Messiah –  to rescue them from the pit of Destruction into eternal Life. Only the Messiah can light the path of life for the dark soul. Only the Messiah will close the gate against sin and death. Only the True Vine and Bread of Life will prepare your cup of grace for the eternal feast of joy with him in heaven. Be a true good-news evangelist. Tell people that there is no other name by which they will be saved. People must know eternal life. Otherwise, they will know eternal Hell – forever agony.

Mark 16:15-16 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
 
“WHOEVER believes will be saved.” How gracious is our LORD God to promise this remarkable way into his eternal presence! We are born dead in our sins (from Ephesians 2), enemies of God (Romans 5). Yet, Jesus came to earth, so he could do the work of salvation for our souls. When he said on the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30), he declared his work to be the way of salvation is done. For God made Christ, who had never sinned, an offering for our sin so that we could be made right with God through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)
   When you consider God paid such a great cost for your sins, you might believe your Lord requires more than your faith to give you salvation. Is it enough to confess just once, “I am a sinner, Jesus. You are risen from the grave, ascended into heaven. You are Lord of my life.”
   The Bible says it is enough because the Holy Trinity is enough. Think of it! The Holy Trinity has demonstrated his love to mankind throughout world history. The LORD did not remove mankind from his creation when we sinned. The LORD has remained faithful to his promise to form Israel as a nation that would bless the nations. (Genesis 12). And God has remained faithful to his promise when that nation Israel sinned. Many times throughout history, God could have justly condemned Israel and all mankind into eternal hell. But he instead continually raised up faithful people to continue to proclaim his salvation promise. He moved all events to fulfill his promise to redeem the world. The personal God personally came to the patriarchs and prophets. He has also come to earth in person to live among us to save mankind into eternal life.
   When you confess Jesus is your Savior, you are confessing God’s love to redeem the world. You are confessing, too, he is sovereign to have move toward the cross, so you can move toward him.
   Your faith in Jesus is your confession to respond to God’s magnificent love. You confess you know he knows your needs because he has lived among us. Confessing Jesus, you also grasp a sense of his love, and you desire to help others know him. Your heart becomes devoted to learning and living into God’s Word.
   Jesus commanded baptism to follow confession. This is to be an outward sign of what God is doing in your heart. Jesus wants you to make a public statement of your faith. Then he commands you to tell others about your Lord. As often said and taught, a true faith is an active response to Jesus’ suffering and triumph. Your true confession will direct you to purposefully work with God in response to his saving grace.
   Are you faithful to your confession?