What if
it IS True? Blog
Discovering,
wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.
04/10/14
John 8:51-59
Jesus
said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
What
if it is true is all about finding virtue, living that virtue and
making it look like something. Evidence is what the world is looking
for. Unfortunately there can be those who like the Pharisees refused
to accept the evidence. Nonetheless, Jesus tells us to let our good
works be seen so that God can be glorified. So that needs to be our
goal. We need to ask ourselves that question. What can we do that we
be obvious enough that it's God in our life not just us?
Christ
is clear that all that he has done is for the glory of God. Now he
also claims to be God which makes the Pharisees crazy, but he shows
the separation of the trinity while defining the oneness he has with
God. We can't do that necessarily, but we can do this. We can do
everything we do as if we were doing it for God. Do we have that
attitude? Would it change the way we do things if we did?
Here's
a little exercise that will begin to strengthen your virtue. In
everything we do we should simply apply this quick litmus test. Just
ask yourself, will this glorify God or will it not? If you can
honestly answer yes to it being God glorifying then it's got to be
OK. Now don't delude yourself to justify crazy notions like “God
wants me to be happy”. That's a road to you know where. Be honest
and disciplined. But ask yourself that question constantly.
Good
luck and God bless,
Leo
Brown
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