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“You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”                                                                                                                        John 7.34

These words remind me, yet again, of the truth Jesus spoke, in saying, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.”

Jesus is here speaking of His return to the Father, where He now reigns in glory. He is right in saying,  “Where I am, you cannot come.” We cannot come, not on our own that is. But we can go with Him. As He called the first disciples with the words, “Come, follow me” so the invitation is there for any who will respond.

Jesus said, “You will search for me.” Many are searching today. Some are quite unclear as to what they’re looking for but I think all would respond willingly to the gift of peace and inner rest.

So, in this world of trial, tragedy and trauma, I remember the risen Christ, triumphant now in heavenly glory, interceding always for me, and inviting me, still, to “Come, follow me”.

Lord Jesus,

How can I thank You adequately for what You have done for me? I open my heart in gratitude to You.

I truly want to follow You. I ask You to equip me to share the truth of You. Open up opportunities for me to touch people with Your mercy, grace and love. Today I re-dedicate myself into Your service. Take me, and use me where You will and as You will.

You are my constant companion. I thank You and embrace You in love and in truth.

Hallelujah! Bless Your name.                            Amen.

God in charge

Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come.                                                                                                                     John 7.30

There was much divided opinion as to who Jesus was, and the tension mounts as the gospel unfolds. The religious authorities seem now to be determined in their intention to kill Him. We are told they even tried to arrest Him yet, strangely, no one laid hands on him.

This raises my curiosity. What action might they have taken in trying to arrest Him, if no one laid hands on Him? Yes, my curiosity is stirred, but not to any marked degree, for the reason for this inactivity is clearly given: his hour had not yet come!

In reading this passage today, the confusion of the crowd certainly comes clear to me; the impending injustice soon to be meted out to Him is also flagged. But what impacts me most in the present reading, and especially from the last phrase because his hour had not yet come, is the undeniable fact that God is in charge.

Furthermore, and as a dedicated believer, I am certain that God is always in charge, so long as I acknowledge Him to be thus, and look to Him in any and every circumstance.

Can I live my life under the fullness of His Lordship? I want to. Yet I am conscious of those times when I seem to slip into worldly living, when I operate out of my own abilities and seem to forget my wish to be centred in Him. What can I do about this? Continue to give myself over to Him whenever I am mindful to!

Mighty God,

I desire to live as Jesus calls me to – in the fullness of Your will. I ask You to forgive me those times when I act out of my own resources without reference to You.

I pray that Your Holy Spirit will work in me to keep me focussed on You, and to lead me in the fullness of life in You. I ask this in Jesus’ name.            Amen.

My book “God Talk” is available through major Internet booksellers.

A taste of the book's content can be seen in the You Tube clip

(Search: Peter Francis - "God Talk").

From God

“Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.”                                                           John 7.17

The Jews questioned how Jesus had such learning when He had never been taught. Jesus’ response was that His teaching came from God. Furthermore, anyone resolved to do God’s will would recognise this.

Jesus lived to do the Father’s will. There was no question of self-glory seeking with Him. His mission was to reveal the Father’s glory, and He knows that all those who similarly live to do the Father’s will would recognise the genuineness of His appeal.

This verse reminds me again of the union with Jesus that exists for the true believer. There is a like mind, which of course, makes sense for, as Paul reminds us, we have the mind of Christ. But the union is not limited to the mind and to the intellectual understanding of what Jesus teaches because we share the common intent of living to the Father’s will. The Holy Spirit is also present in this union and communion.

The Spirit complements the mind, but it does more. The mind, however able, will limit me to the natural and the finite. The Spirit releases me, and leads me into the infinite and the supernatural. If I am to truly be one with Jesus and share similar relationships with the Father and the Spirit, then I must embrace the supernatural. I need to look beyond the finite to the infinite wonders there are in Him.

Lord Jesus,

I have a resolve to do God’s will. And, whilst my resolve does not always find fulfilment, I look to join with You in the unity that is offered to me.

I ask for the fullness of the Spirit as You knew it. I seek release into the supernatural and the infinite. I embrace all of Your teachings and ask You to lead me into the fulfilment of Your promises in my life. I give myself wholly to You.                Amen.

An offer

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”            

                                                                                                                John 6.56

I have struggled in the past with this passage and its suggestion of cannibalism. But this comes from my human thinking, and not from God’s divine intent.

What I believe Jesus is offering me here is mutual indwelling, an acceptance of Him as surely as if I had physically taken Him into me. This reality needs to sit in my mind and heart; it needs to grow in me. I therefore seek to open myself up to the fullest revelation of His words and His amazing offer to me.

He is offering me a union with Himself of the order of His union with the Father. I am invited to commune with Him in the deepest, all-embracing, perpetual relationship. This is not simply a Redeemer-redeemed connection. This is God Himself, in all His glory and majesty, justice and mercy, grace and love, abiding in me, consuming me in divine union with Him. I am not my own, I am with Him and in Him, and with Him in me.

Am I ready for this? Am I willing to give over the whole of me into this glorious relationship? I hope so! I will give over the grotty parts of me to His cleansing and release. I will live, not for myself or for any selfish ends, but I will practice the life that is truly in Him.

I will need to remind myself of His constant and continuing presence with me. I am one with the Living God.

Jesus, Precious Lord,

I come to You in all of my taint and incompleteness. I am a sinner, but a sinner redeemed. I want to enter into the fullness of union with You, an ongoing existence of mutual indwelling.

I pray for the presence and guiding of Your Holy Spirit to bring me to that place of constant awareness of You in me and me in You, of who I am in You, and our relationship and life together. Thank You, Lord.                    Amen.

My book “God Talk” is available through major Internet booksellers.

A taste of the book's content can be seen in the You Tube clip

(Search: Peter Francis - "God Talk").