Weekend Words

 From Beside the Still Waters...

Jesus Said, "I Am the Way" - Read: John 14:1-14

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." - John 14:6

Jesus is the way.  The way to where?  How do we begin to travel on the way?  Why would we want to travel on Jesus' road?  What is the destination at the end of the road?

We have family members living in other states.  When we want to visit them, we make sure that we travel the road that takes us there.  We travel the road because we have a certain destination in mind.  We also follow the signs and instructions along the way.  

In today's verse, the Greek word for "way" could be translated "road" or "highway".  Matthew 7:13-14 speaks of two roads that we can travel.  One leads to destruction and the other leads to life.  When Jesus said, "I am the way," He meant that His road leads to eternal life.

We all want to live in our present life, but we know that someday we are all going to die.  Jesus said in John 11:25, "He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."  This means that even though we die here, we will live eternally if we have faith in Jesus.

We begin travelling Jesus' road by repenting of our sins and not living in those sins anymore.  We choose to obey the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospels.  If we do these things, our life will be different from before.  Our heavenly Father will also send the Holy Spirit to guide us and to give us strength for victory over sin.

If we are not walking in the way of Jesus, let's make the choice to begin now.  By continuing to travel this way, we will finally reach Heaven, the place of eternal life.

Joseph Sharp - Adams, NY

There is no other way to the heavenly Father and eternal life than the way of Jesus.

Both the following devotionals are from In Green Pastures (J R Miller)...

(A little devotional book I have on my shelves, first published in 1890 under the title 'Bits of Pasture', but still very relevant today):

God's Plan for Our Lives.

God does not merely make souls and send them into this world to take bodies and grow up amid crowds of other souls with bodies, to take their chances and make what they can of their destinies.  He plans specifically for each life.  He deals with us as individuals.  He knows us by name, and loves us each one with a love as distinct and personal as if each was the only child he had on this earth.  He has a definite plan for each life.  It is always a beautiful plan too, for he never designs marring and ruin for a life.  He never made a human soul for the express purpose of being lost.  God's design for each life is that it shall reach a holy character, and do a good work in the world, fill a worthy place, however humble, and fill it well, so as to honour God and bless the world.

Making Others Happy.

The world needs nothing more than it needs happiness-makers.  There is a great deal of sadness everywhere.  The Bible is a book meant to make people happy.  Joy-bells ring all through it.  The mission of the gospel is to make happiness.  The angel's announcement of good tidings of great joy is going forth yet on every breeze.  The story of the love of Christ is changing darkness to light, despair to hope, tears to laughter, sorrow to rejoicing, in all lands.  It is the mission of every Christian to be a happiness-maker.  Each one of us has power, too, to add something at least to the world's gladness.  We can do this in a thousand ways - by being joyful Christians ourselves, making our lives a sweet song; by telling others the joyful things of the Word of God; by doing kindnesses to all we meet; by comforting sorrow, lifting burdens, cheering sadness and weariness, and scattering benedictions wherever we go.