John Cliver

[Judy Harder]

8:27am Dec 3 
"Jesus replied, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'" John 6:35.

We can eat a lot of junk food and still suffer from malnutrition. It is only when we begin to eat the right stuff, to get the right nutrients and vitamins that we are benefited by what we eat. We can consume more and more of the world and still have an empty feeling inside us. There is no way to fill that "God-shaped vacuum", as one man called it, than with Jesus. He is the only answer, he is the only way. He fills us.

[Judy Harder]

8:15am Dec 4 
"Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, 'I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.'" John 8:12.

It is a bizarre thing to choose to travel in darkness rather than turn on the light. Jesus gives us the light we need to live our lives and if we use it, if we turn that light on, we can see where we go and all the obstacles that face us. There is no need to walk in darkness when we have that Eternal Light to guide us.

[Judy Harder]

8:14am Dec 5 
"Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." John 10:9-10.

Jesus didn't come to give us new rules, or new instructions for life. He didn't come to bind us further with new regulations. He came to free us. The "thief," or the one who tries to take away our freedom, will tell us all of the things we have to do to get to heaven. Jesus just said, believe in me, love me and each other. He is the Real Shepherd and leads his sheep (us) into freedom.

[Judy Harder]

8:32am Dec 6 
"I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep." John 10:14-15.

There is something within us that responds to Jesus that doesn't not respond to anything else. We have to be taught to move away from God, but we respond to him naturally. That is because we are made in his image and made to want to know him. Jesus is that connection with God that we have that brings us into God's presence. And he sacrificed himself and his own life so that we could come before God. We know him.

[Judy Harder]

 7:51am Dec 7 
"Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying." John 11:25.

Eternal life in Jesus is not a future thing. It is now. When we accept Jesus, he gives us life right away. Our spirit, our soul, will live forever beginning now. The body will stop, the physical life will stop, but the soul will live forever. He conquers death in our hearts by his grace and one day will conquer death in the world when he comes again. But for now, when you come to him, you live forever, even if your body should die.

[Judy Harder]

8:05am Dec 8 
"Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6.

There is one God, and JHWH is his name. And Jesus is his Son. There is no other way to God but through Jesus. If there had been, the whole process of Jesus coming in the first place would have been worthless. In him alone there is life and truth.

[Judy Harder]

 6:54am Dec 9 
"Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5.

It is only through the power of Jesus and his grace that we are able to do anything we do. He is our strength and our motivation.

When we remain in him and grow from him, we will do great things. But when we try to do things our own selves with our own power, we will fail. While it may look like we are doing fine, our root system will be corrupted and what we do will ultimately fall.

[Judy Harder]

8:51am Dec 10 
"Moses continued, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.'" Deuteronomy 18:15.

Even though those in the Old Testament didn't really understand, they knew God had in his plan the sending of a Messiah, a contact point for humanity, in the future. Moses knew this much. He was coming and his people needed to listen to him. He didn't know how long, nor could he even imagine the world of the future that he would come in. By that time, his people had become a world empire and lost it all to become just another state. He knew none of this, but he knew they had to listen. And so do we.

[Judy Harder]

3:54pm Dec 11 
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14.

sign was given so long before Mary or any of her family were even thought of. That virgin birth was going to show that it was indeed God's Son. And because it was God's Son, he would become the One who brought us back to the Father and out of sin.



10:21pm Dec 11 
The odd thing about the Christian faith is that it is not for sale. It does not depend on the ability of the salesman to get it to people. It is not for sale, it is free. But even though free, it costs your life. It really doesn't matter how good your presentation is, it depends on the heart of the hearer. If they "buy" it, God has not entered their hearts. It depends on whether or not you accept something that is illogical and strange, a return to God based on the death of a young man 2000 years ago. The acceptance of that return includes the belief and acceptance of the resurrection of that young man and the belief that he will change your life. Totally illogical and foolish, yet it is the wisdom of God. That is something you just cannot sell. But it will change your life.

[Judy Harder]

9:17am Dec 12 
"But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship." Galatians 4:4-5.

there is a time and place for everything. Jesus came at just the right time for his message to spread world-wide. It was a time of world peace enforced by the Roman Empire, there were good roads, travel was easier than ever before, and there was a common language – Greek. In addition to all this, the pagan nations, especially Rome, were beginning to get tired and a little embarassed about their "gods" and were ready to move to something better. Into this came the man, Christ Jesus, to bring the world back to God.