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DonKeesee
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[/FONT][FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Who are Jesus' own? Well, they would certainly be his closest followers, the apostles and the other disciples near Him, such as the women who followed Him. But, then, surely it would also be all the ones who had believed in Him in their hearts. [/FONT][FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]John 13:1 says this:[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]1:[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif] Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And Revelation 22:17 says this:[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who hears say , Come. And let the one who is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]All those mentioned above and all of us who believe are now His own. All can come. Whoever wants to can come. How could we not be His? [/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And here in John 13, we see something about the nature of God, how He is, what He is like. The Gospels are a portrait of God the Father through Jesus, God the Son. And here in John 13:1, we see that when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. He knew the end was upon Himthe end of His mission on earth. Soon He would leave here. But through the whole thing, to the very end, He loved His own. He still does.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Some of us, perhaps many of us, may not pick up on this immediately. We see abandonment all around us all the time. We don't always see people being loyal to the end. Maybe we see God as someone who would also abandon us. But this simply is not a true image of God's nature. God is not like the people who have backed down, who have backed away, who have withdrawn their support. No. God loves us and backs us up until the end. I will never leave you, or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b) This is God's way. This is the way God is. It is the way we can be as God lives through us. The world needs people with Jesus' love and nature in them, people who don't give up on people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Also: Some of you have read the Word of Faith/Revivalist novel, Ran Lives. Well, we put up a new chapter: The Mission (www.RanLives.com)[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Who are Jesus' own? Well, they would certainly be his closest followers, the apostles and the other disciples near Him, such as the women who followed Him. But, then, surely it would also be all the ones who had believed in Him in their hearts. [/FONT][FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]John 13:1 says this:[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]1:[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif] Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And Revelation 22:17 says this:[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who hears say , Come. And let the one who is thirsty come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]All those mentioned above and all of us who believe are now His own. All can come. Whoever wants to can come. How could we not be His? [/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]And here in John 13, we see something about the nature of God, how He is, what He is like. The Gospels are a portrait of God the Father through Jesus, God the Son. And here in John 13:1, we see that when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. He knew the end was upon Himthe end of His mission on earth. Soon He would leave here. But through the whole thing, to the very end, He loved His own. He still does.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Some of us, perhaps many of us, may not pick up on this immediately. We see abandonment all around us all the time. We don't always see people being loyal to the end. Maybe we see God as someone who would also abandon us. But this simply is not a true image of God's nature. God is not like the people who have backed down, who have backed away, who have withdrawn their support. No. God loves us and backs us up until the end. I will never leave you, or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5b) This is God's way. This is the way God is. It is the way we can be as God lives through us. The world needs people with Jesus' love and nature in them, people who don't give up on people.[/FONT]
[FONT=Gisha, sans-serif]Also: Some of you have read the Word of Faith/Revivalist novel, Ran Lives. Well, we put up a new chapter: The Mission (www.RanLives.com)[/FONT]
