GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART: EVERYONE THE FATHER GIVES TO JESUS WILL COME TO HIM

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“Jesus answered them. Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:26-27

When Jesus talked to the crowd about desiring “food which endures to eternal life,” the people only thought about sustenance to fill their famished bodies. The men and women listening that day could not believe that Jesus was who He said He was — the Bread of Life, the One doing the Father’s will, from Heaven. They sought after Jesus to fulfill their temporal problems.

The crowd wrongly believed that they had to do “the works of God” for this bread that Jesus was promising them. Even though the people still could not grasp His spiritual meaning, Jesus reversed their flawed theology by telling the multitudes that they, being mere sinful humans, could not do God’s work to obtain the bread that He was offering them. These people thought they could earn God’s favor and provision based on their legalistic obedience to the Mosaic Law, and Jesus used this interaction to expose their pride and self-righteousness.

The crowd in this narrative displayed the very position of many unbelievers who claim that they would believe if Jesus would just do “this” or “that.” These unbelievers fail to realize they do not have the power to change their own hearts. Unbelievers cannot believe based on external signs. They need an internal transformation; they require the work of God in their hearts. Men and women, boys and girls, must realize that until they put down their own dreams of self-righteousness, autonomy, and authority — and until they are willing to come to Jesus solely on His terms (not theirs), they will never believe. That willingness comes from God alone.

Jesus emphasized that their unbelief, which they conditioned on the appearance of a sign, was irrelevant to the plan of salvation. No matter how the crowd responded to Him, Jesus would not lose a single person given to Him by the Father that day. Jesus was on a divine mission — not to do His own will, but the will of the Father.

While the unbelieving crowd could not comprehend the meaning of Jesus’ words to them, these statements from our Lord should bring tremendous joy and peace in the hearts of all believers. The logic of this passage first demonstrates that every one the Father gives Jesus will come to Him. Not a single person will resist, reject, or refuse to come — at least not determinatively. All those given to the Son by the Father will come.

The passage also shows that all who come to Jesus will be received by Him. Jesus never rejects anyone who comes to Him because believers are a gift from the Father to the Son. As such, Jesus will raise every believer to eternal life on the last day. No one given by the Father will be lost. Jesus will remember all believers forever. This understanding should comfort every believer, that on their deathbeds, they can fade from this world in perfect peace, knowing with full assurance that Jesus will not abandon them in eternity.

When Jesus finished His discourse with these multitudes, He was left with 12 around Him — and one was a devil (Judas). Peter’s response to Jesus signified the heart of a true disciple: one who leaves everything behind, placing all hope and trust in their Savior and Lord. The response from Peter and 10 others highlights how true disciples respond to the Gospel.

Believers have been given an understanding of Jesus’ words — something that Peter proved with his response to Jesus. The crowd never accepted that Jesus was pointing to Himself as the true bread that came from Heaven; they kept thinking about physical bread to feed their growling stomachs, and that they needed to bring something to the table to manipulate Him into giving them what they wanted.

For believers, John 6 is such a beautiful and sobering picture of how we could never have obtained salvation of our own volition. When we were unbelievers, we were more concerned with our earthly needs, and we focused on what our works could do to gain us our temporal desires. We thought it was our plan that might move God to do what we wanted, when and how we wanted Him to act.

Only through Jesus, the Bread of life, can anyone come to a right understanding of who He is and receive the full and free forgiveness He alone offers through the eternal plan of salvation, what He accomplished on The Cross, salvation by His grace through faith in His name.

Adapted from the article “Earthly Concerns Will Blind You to Heavenly Realities” By Robb Brunansky, Op-ed contributor to Christian Post, Saturday, January 27, 2024

THE HUMAN WILL

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Are you saved and have eternal life? If so, it is entirely of God’s grace. Are you lost and destined for a second death? It is entirely of your own will.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.“ John 5:39-40

The following Scripture makes God’s position clear, He desires that all would be saved.

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:1-4

The human will must ever be taken into account, and never must we place the God of all grace, whose very name is Love, in the position of being the unwilling One. and we the willing.

You decide your fate: eternal life with your Saviour and Creator or a second death in the Lake of Fire.

“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,… Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

WHY IS LAWLESSNESS ERUPTING IN THE USA?

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The Barna Cultural Research Centre report found that only 6% of Americans adhere to a biblical worldview. 

Sixty percent of Americans do not believe that human life is inherently “sacred”. The word “sacred” is defined by the researchers as “having unconditional, intrinsic worth.” However, more than two-thirds believe human beings are “basically good.”

We would argue that seeing humans as “basically good” runs “counter to the foundational biblical teaching that human beings are created by God and made in His image but are fallen and in need of redemption.

George Barna, who founded the Barna Group, said in a statement that the view of mankind being “basically good” is negatively influencing current debates over law enforcement and systemic racism. “A movement to defund police departments might make sense if people are innately good. People with a humanistic worldview argue that crime and violence happen because of poverty, bad parenting, systemic discrimination, and other external forces,” stated Barna. “Yet crime statistics, political tensions, tendencies toward anger and hatred, and America’s moral deterioration and confusion suggest that we are neither innately good nor that emotional responses to empirical challenges will solve the problems.” Barna went on to argue that one “cannot change the hearts of people by outlawing racism.

Riots in USA cities

“You will not create peace by passing laws and forcing compliance,” Barna contended. Every society can benefit from specific systemic changes, but any systemic changes designed to transform the culture will be short-lived unless the hearts and minds of the people who populate that system are transformed first with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

JESUS TRANSFORMS PRISON IN EL SALVADOR

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J Lee Grady (Fire In My Bones, Charisma Magazine) stood in front of 600 male inmates at a prison in Izalco, El Salvador. The men were dressed in white T-shirts and white drawstring pants, and many of them sported tattoos on their faces and necks. All the men were members of violent gangs when they were incarcerated. About 20% of them were affiliated with the MS-13 gang—a group known for horrific attacks on women, children and police officers.

Yet he felt no fear as he looked out over the crowd and shared a message from Luke 15 about the prodigal son. Most of the men were carrying Bibles, and when he announced his text, they immediately turned to the passage. They yelled, “Amen,” or “Gloria a Dios,” when Grady stressed an important point. And they clapped and cheered when he reminded them that the kosher Jewish father in the story welcomed his wayward son home even though the boy smelled like pigs.

Almost every prisoner in this huge group became a Christian after arriving at the Izalco prison. Two churches now operate inside the facility, pastored by men who were once tough criminals. All the men now gather for Bible study every day, they hold prayer and fasting vigils, and they are helping each other to grow spiritually.

When the men worshipped on Monday, six guys used plastic paint tubs for drums while an inmate with a huge smile led the praise choruses. The men sang louder and with more passion you would see in most churches in the outside world.

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!Jesucristo vive dentro de esta prisión!” (“Jesus Christ lives inside this prison!”

“Our government is encouraging this movement,” says Oscar David Benavides, director of the prison. He says in 2016 he was allowed to encourage evangelism among inmates. When men experienced conversions, he intentionally moved them into buildings where there were non-Christian inmates.

Faith was never forced on anyone, but more and more men began to find Jesus in a chain reaction of grace. The new converts changed dramatically. They were no longer angry and depressed. They became cooperative and friendly. Their frowns turned to smiles.

Today, El Salvador’s government leaders see evidence that Christianity is good for violent offenders.

No serious crimes have occurred inside the Izalco facility since the prison revival began. The inmates treat each other with respect, even though they were affiliated with rival gangs. “The transformation is an obvious miracle,” Oscar Benavides says.

In the United States, Grady said, “We are skittish about mixing government and religion. We don’t want prayer in schools. We don’t want the Bible to influence public policy. And yet our prisons are so dangerous they are like hell on earth. A report released last year by The New Republic said 428 inmates died in Florida’s prisons in 2017, hundreds have died in prisons in Oregon and Washington since 2008, and the rate of prisoner-on-prisoner violence has doubled in Alabama in the past five years.

Grady said, “he is not going to hold his breath until America’s prison officials try El Salvador’s method of reform – JESUS”. But asks, “Why wouldn’t we?” In this tiny Central American nation—the only country in the world named after Jesus Christ—a true miracle has happened. We are foolish to ignore it.”