Jesus!!!

In John 10:7 Jesus says, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that I Myself am the Door for the Sheep.   He then goes on to say in verse 9 I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live) He will come in and he will go out (freely), and will find pasture…

Jesus is telling us that he is the way into a redeemed life.  He is the only way that we can go to have the life that he was getting ready to die for.  He is the door, meaning we have to choose to open and then walk freely through the door. 

Jesus will not force himself upon you.  He won’t make you choose him, but what he will do, is show you that his pasture is greener than any other pasture you can find.  He will show you and knock on the door of your heart and ask you to follow him but he won’t make you walk through the door.   That’s why he says in John 10:9, he will come in and he will go out (freely).  This is informing us that it will be our decision.  We will be the ones who decide when to come to Jesus and if we choose to leave Jesus, we can freely do so.  You are not trapped into a relationship with Jesus; you will freely decide to walk through the Door that is Jesus. 

In John 10:10, which is probably my favorite verse in the Bible, right now.  Jesus says The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.  I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows.)

This verse is just amazing.  It shows us the ways of Satan and how he will try to deceive you to take from you all that you have, so when we see the enemy we will know his motives.  We won’t be living behind a veil anymore; we can now freely see his ways and recognize them at the onset.   The best part of this is the second part of this verse.  I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows.)

Jesus came, conquered and destroyed the motives of the Devil, his demons and sin!!  He came to give us the complete opposite of what the Devil is trying to take from us. 

Do we see that the Devil comes to deplete you of everything good in this life?   The Devil comes, to steal your joy from life, to steal your peace of life, to steal your happiness, your desires, your plans, and your thoughts and to steal your purpose.  He tries to kill and destroy your lives by any means possible.   He will try to separate you from your one true love, God.  He will try to take your life and destroy it by any means possible.  We must and I mean MUST start to open our eyes to the lies of the enemy.  We must start to fight the Devil back on the onset of the thought, the experience or the message. 

Jesus has already won, as he tells us, he won because we have the ability to have the life he died for us to have.  We just have to do our part and recognize the attacks when we receive them. 

We have been bought into abundance of life, of joy, of peace, of happiness, of love and of relationship by the Blood of Jesus Christ.   Jesus says in John 10:11 I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His (own) life for the sheep.  You are his sheep, whether you know Him or not, He died, laid down His Own life for you.    He is the Shepherd of your life.  He will direct you into all splendors.  He will lead you into life and abundance of life.  He does all of this because He loves you so much and to prove that He loves you so much, He went to the Cross. 

 Jesus died a horrible death that I don’t believe we will ever fully understand.  He sacrificed His own life for your life.  He took your sin, your illness, your doubts, fears, tears, sadness, shame, hopelessness.  He bore all of that so that you can walk through the Door, that is him, and come into relationship with him and the Heavenly Father.   He didn’t know you.  He did this without even knowing you. 

He made it possible for you to call on the name of God, freely!  He made it possible for you to have life and have it in abundance.  I can’t even begin to grasp the love that a person must have in their heart to complete such a task. 

Jesus wasn’t made to do all of these things, Jesus wasn’t doing these things to gain acceptance from God, or man.  He was doing this willingly.  He was doing this to remove your sins!  To wash you white as snow.  You were born a sinner and without the Blood of Jesus you would have remained a sinner. 

But Jesus!  But Jesus… Jesus hung his sinless body on a Cross for your sins to be removed as far as the East is from the West. 

He experienced torture, ridicule, humiliation, betrayal, hurt, pain, torment and so much more, so that you could enter into the rest of God.  So that you could have the life that we were intended to have before the days of Adam and Eve. 

There is not one person I know who would lay their life down for a complete stranger and maybe not even for a person they love dearly.  But Jesus laid his down for you. 

Today as you read this; take a moment to ponder the fact that Jesus was a human being just like you are.  He was flesh, blood and bones.  He had every emotion, feeling and ability that you do right now.  Imagine the pain you would feel to have stakes driven through the center of your hands.  Imagine the pain you would feel to have whips with little daggers attached beaten across your body.   For your body to become so mutilated and beaten that you were not recognizable to your own Mother.   We tear up when we stub our toe, when we get a paper cut or break a bone.  This Man, created of Flesh, Blood and Bone, just as you are, right now.  This Man, experienced something so devastating that it makes torture look like a day at the spa, and he did it willingly.  He did it out of Love for you!

Don’t think of this story, as that, a story, because it’s not just a story.  This is the Truth.  This is real life.  This isn’t something that you read in a book or saw in a movie, this actually happened, to a man, named Jesus.

Stop thinking this is just a fable that was handed down through history and realize that this was a human being, just like you and me, and he did something so unfathomable for you and me, when he didn’t have too!   We don’t even let people cut in front of us in a line without being upset.   Just take some time to truly allow your brain to imagine the sacrifice and Love that he has for you.

Now realize that the Door he died for you to walk through is open to you.   You don’t have to pay the price to walk through the door; you just have to walk through it.  There is nothing that you can do to repay Jesus for his sacrifice.  There is no work great enough to cleanse even you of your sin.  All Jesus is asking you to do is Believe.  Believe in Him.  Believe that He loved you oh so much that He died for you.  Believe that He has a life planned for you.  That He wants to know you and for you to know him.  Believe that He wants to be a part of every aspect in your life.  Believe that you are able to partake of the glorious life He wants you to have. 

Come to Him.  Walk through that Door that he has opened for you.  Become a follower of Jesus, and enter into his rest.   It’s not hard.  You don’t have to do more than confess it with your mouth and believe it in your heart, and your life as a follower of Jesus has begun.  You will then have accepted what he paid dearly for you to have… I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)!

Pray this simple prayer and begin your new life!

Dear Father

Thank you for Jesus.  Thank you for the sacrifice Jesus made, for me, on the cross.  Thank you Lord for sending your one, unique son, to die so that I may have life, for eternity, with you, in Heaven.  Lord, I believe that you sent your son to die on the cross for me.  To shed his blood for me, so that my sins are forever more forgiven and forgotten.  I ask you God to come into my life and change me Lord.  Send your Holy Spirit to come and live in me and change me from the Inside out.  I commit my life to you God and I thank you that my name is now written in the Lambs Book of Life.  I thank you God that I am now yours and you are now mine, and I am never walking alone in this life.  I ask for all of these things in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.