Ask God to reveal to you any hardness of heart or unbelief that would keep you from partnering with Him in His plan for your life and the lives of those you love.
Jesus is on the throne right now, holding all things together….what do you wish to place into His hands today as an act of faith.
Confess & repent before God any area of your life where you are currently choosing your will over His.
Comfort
Hebrews 4:14-16
Prayer prompts
Spend some time thanking Jesus for the special place He is preparing for you one day. Is there something I want to pray about, but have no idea where to start, or how to pray?
Ask Jesus to take this and to pray on your behalf – give it to Him to bring to the Father and listen in on how He prays if you’re able.
Ask God to bring to mind someone who you can extend His comfort and peace to. Then ask Him to help you do this.
Calling
Eph. 2:6-10
Jesus gave us a mission – Ask God to show you how you can help others know him and grow in their faith
We are his representatives – Reflect on your everyday life- Ask God to help you reflect his kindness, patience and truth in a practical way
We dont do this alone – Ask God to give you strength you need to live according to his calling.
https://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Chrysalis-web-featured-image.jpg9001600Richard Van Lieshouthttps://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RosebankUnion-WideLogo-Black_1.svgRichard Van Lieshout2020-05-26 06:26:312020-05-26 12:19:51Daily Devotion – 26 May
https://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Chrysalis-web-featured-image.jpg9001600Richard Van Lieshouthttps://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RosebankUnion-WideLogo-Black_1.svgRichard Van Lieshout2020-05-22 09:15:042020-05-22 18:36:15Daily Devotion – 21 May
PORTRAITS OF JESUS – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
This is the last ‘I am’ statement that Jesus makes in John, and this time the metaphor turns agricultural:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.”
John 15:1
In the Old Testament the nation of Israel was often referred to as a vine. In fact coins from one of the periods of their history have a picture of a vine on it, and the magnificent temple that Herod built for them had a massive gold vine on the front of it.
The story went something like this: Israel was a vine growing in a desert, in Egypt, suffering. God then uprooted them, cleared a space in a fertile land, and then transplanted them. He watered them, watched them grow and gave them life.
As beautiful as that picture is, this metaphor had a negative slant to it: Israel became a wild and sour vine, which was a reference to their Idol worship. It often came with a warning of judgment, that they would lose their covenant blessings if they continued in their disobedience.
When Jesus then comes and says ‘I am true vine’ he is therefore making a beautiful Gospel statement: I will be your obedience and righteousness, so that the covenant blessings can be made available to you! Everything we could not do, Jesus does for us, so that ‘in him’ we have access to all that God intended for us.
Jesus goes on to warn us however, that the means of growth, or accessing these covenant blessings, will not be easy!
“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2
Pruning is an act of love. It shows the care of the gardener, the desire for growth, for protection.
But it’s still a cut! It hurts!
I wonder if this coronavirus season is a season of pruning? A difficult time, but a time where God is loving us and helping us grow?
What do we focus on in this difficult pruning season then? Jesus goes on to tell us, and it’s just one thing: continue to ‘abide’ in him:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5
Let’s not miss the opportunity that this difficult pruning season brings: a chance to focus on abiding in Christ, so that the pruning process will have its full effect, so that we can experience the fulness of being in the New Covenant with Jesus.
https://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Portraits.jpg9001600Richard Van Lieshouthttps://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RosebankUnion-WideLogo-Black_1.svgRichard Van Lieshout2020-05-18 06:00:002020-05-17 19:07:18May 18 – Portraits of Jesus – I am the Vine.
PORTRAITS OF JESUS – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Greetings to you and welcome to another installment of our devotionals looking at the “7 I AM” statements recorded in the Gospel according to John. Today we will reflect on the statement that I think is both profound and provocative. Please turn to John 14 and we will read vv1-6 Jesus said:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:1-6
What makes me think that the statement is profound and at the same time provocative, is because here, Jesus clearly and unequivocally proclaim his nature, his identity, and the human predicament. And then sets out his ultimate mission. Effectually, in this few words, he is saying, “I and I alone can accomplish this task God the Father has assigned me! Bringing humanity to glory.
In this passage we meet the troubled and perturbed, anxiety-filled
disciples. They were in this state because Judas was going to betray him, Peter
was going to deny him and more seriously, Jesus was going to leave them – you
could say, he was going to be isolated from them.
There is a sense in which many of us, today, share the same feelings
like the disciples then. And Jesus stands in our midst and says: Let not your
hearts be troubled, or agitated, anxious, edgy, bordered. Do not be disturbed,
or apprehensive, fearful, distressed, nervous or worried sick. Have faith in
Jesus, believe in God.
We may not know what is going to happen beyond COVID-19 pandemic. From
the look of things, life is going to be hard for many of us. Jobs are
threatened, our health system is challenged, and the economy is under duress.
The nation is in distress! It is under this kind of circumstances we are called
to look to Jesus and see him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
When life here on earth deals us a bad hand, Jesus is the Way – he does
not merely show us the way; he himself is the way to God – through him we have
access to all that his Father offers. He leads the way, he guides us as we
follow him and has dedicated for us a new and a living way.
The human predicament I alluded to earlier is that we are lost, that is the starting point of our reality. As a matter of fact we, are on a way to destruction. In Proverbs 14:12, the writer says:
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12
But our faith in him shatters the barriers of sin and death, and blasts
open the road to eternal life of the kingdom of God. He is that path that leads
to life. Jesus
is the only way for any person to have a relationship with God. Not only did
Jesus said He is the way. Jesus also said He is the truth.
No one expresses it better than the Psalmist when he says: Teach me your
way, O Lord that I may live according to your truth (86:11 NLT). Jesus Christ
is the very embodiment of the truth. He is the truth in person; and the reality
and truth of God are incarnated in him. All that we need to know and believe
about God is found in him.
We
live in a generation where truth is relative. Your truth is your truth –
believe and believe in whatever suits you. In other words, there are no
absolutes in this system of thinking.
Because Jesus is the Truth, we can know God and experience him
intimately and personally.
Jesus
is the Truth because he is the dependable source of the redemptive revelation –
he is the word that became flesh, with view to reveal God to humanity.
Lastly,
Jesus is the Life – he’s the source and giver for all who trust in him. Remember,
the Devil has come to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus came so that we have
life and have it in abundance.
I leave you with this quote said so beautifully by Thomas à Kempis,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou should pursue; the truth which thou should believe; the life which thou should hope for.” will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Thomas á Kempis
God bless you and if we can help, please be in touch with us and use the contact details on the screen.
https://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Portraits.jpg9001600Ndaba Mazabanehttps://ruc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RosebankUnion-WideLogo-Black_1.svgNdaba Mazabane2020-05-15 06:00:002020-05-15 02:47:56May 15 – Portraits of Jesus – I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
