Title: Potential of Life / John 14:6-18
Contents
In the southwest of the United States there is a very hot desert, with midday temperatures reaching 45 to 50 degrees Celsius. If you ask the people who live there, "How can you live in such a hot place?", their answer is simple. This is because living water flows under it. In other words, because water is flowing, it can be supplied with life.
The word we use the most in Christianity is 'life'. Even Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
They refer to Christianity as the 'religion of life'. However, there are still some people who remain only in abstract and theoretical doctrines without making dynamic life changes in their lives. Such a person is a person who has not reached the perfect life of faith.
Christianity is not a philosophical and abstract religion in which the Word remains only the Word, but a religion in which the Word becomes flesh and becomes the truth of life, changing our lives and giving us abundant life. In other words, it is a religion where the truth changes my life by not only recognizing it with my head, but making a sincere confession of faith.
Some denominations emphasize the intellectual and logical recognition of Christian truth. That is why it is often thought that becoming a Christian means becoming an intellectual, but that is not a sound faith. There are plenty of intellectuals outside the church. To become a Christian means to become a living religious person by changing my life and personality through the Word.
Focusing on today's text, we would like to receive grace together under the title "Let's develop the potential of life."
1. Open your heart and believe.
“Believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; if not, believe in me because of the works I do.”
If the Word remains only as the Word, the dynamism of life is lost. If you focus only on enlightenment, you may become rational and intelligent, but there is no change in your life.
Intelligence sometimes doubles humans. I am uncertain and anxious. Because other people look intelligent, they bluff as if they are intelligent too. But there are always conflicts in his mind. Intelligence ultimately leads to division, pride, and disobedience.
The Bible did not teach us to 'understand with your head and believe'. “With the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:10) “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him. You will eat with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Those who open their hearts and accept Jesus will enjoy a life of life with the Lord.
Biologists say that humans are the animals that best adapt to their environment. The fetus growing in the mother's womb receives nourishment through the umbilical cord, and when it is born into the world, it breathes through the lungs and receives nutrients through the mouth. Human beings adapting to their environment.
Human beings are also spiritual animals, so they should be easily changed in the spiritual atmosphere. We must reflect on our helpless faith, in which human prejudice, pride, and negative thoughts dominate us while we remain unchangeable even though we have faith. We must also reflect on the abominable life in which we nod our heads when listening to the sermon and forget all the truth when we go out of the church door.
These are the tasks that the Korean church must solve with a new change of faith today. When we have faith in our hearts and minds, we can develop the infinite potential God has given us.
2. Believe in your infinite potential.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do. He will also do greater works than these.” Many people are confused as to how to interpret this passage of scripture.
During three years, Jesus trained twelve disciples in Palestine's local environment and cultural restrictions. When I of Jesus preached the gospel to Peter after the incident of Mark's upper room on the day of Pentecost, an amazing thing happened that 3,000 people repented. As a result, the gospel is being preached all over the world today.
It is a promise that those who fully believe in God can develop infinite possibilities and potentials by relying on God's power to show greater power than Jesus, who was within geographical and cultural limits.
According to a study by the famous American university UCLA, the human brain's ability to learn the more it learns, the more it can unleash its limitless creativity.
A Soviet scientist named ｢Ivan Yepremov｣ said, "We use only a fraction of our thinking skills throughout our lives. We can speak 40 foreign languages without difficulty, and we can use the encyclopedia Not only can I memorize everything from A to Z, but I also have the brain power to excel in my field of study at university."
As such, humans have amazing abilities. Some people can do the work of a hundred people on their own. This is because such a person believes in and develops the potential God has given him.
On the other hand, some people can see that they do not even have a proper family. He is a lazy person who does not believe in his potential and does not learn and develop, saying, "I can't do it. I haven't learned it."
There are also those who, rather than develop their infinite potential, destroy themselves. They are the drinker, the drug addict, the self-deprecating person, the hostile person, the depressed person, the unimaginative person.
Not all Christian beliefs are the same.
We must strive to develop the infinite possibilities that God has given us. Only then can we live while influencing many people. We need to know that it is the mission of today's saints to develop, train, and believe in the infinite potential God has given us.
In these difficult times, we desperately need a new awareness of the potential God has given us. The biggest mental illness of people is trying to see everything negatively and thinking destructively. I think of it as if it were an intelligent person. But this thought destroys us all.
You should be able to get a lot of fruit from a single rotting grain of wheat, and you should be able to find a lot of fruit from a tiny mustard seed.
Here is a cloth with black ink on a white background. Many people can't see a wide white background and only see black dots and say that's the problem. Why can't I see a wide white background? Because such a person cannot see the limitless possibilities, he will not develop his own potential and will always be behind.
짦 don't look at the time, look at the long time. There is a saying in our proverb that you can't use a needle tied around the waist. There are a lot of things that go wrong if you think and do things in a hurry.
These days, we are reading the book of Revelation at dawn. Now, we are looking at chapter 16, and it contains the suggestion of the seven bowls of God's last wrath. The terrible punishments of those who blaspheme God, those possessed by the old gods, those who have received the mark of the beast, and those who are ruled by worldly power, money, and idolatry are recorded. We can only thank and praise the fact that we became God's people who were excluded from the terrible last wrath of God. And you can have an infinite feeling of being saved.
When I develop and strive every day in hope for the infinite possibilities and potential that God has given me, a startling miracle can happen.
3. Use what you believe in your life
“If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it; if you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
It is a command to pray and obey. When we believe in the word of promise, pray, and put that word into practice, we can do amazing things.
It is said that in order to live a whole and healthy life, you should always ask yourself three questions. ①, is this true? ②, Is this something I can believe and do? ③, Does what I say correspond to my actions? In other words, you should always ask yourself whether you are using what you believe in in your life. At that time, you can live a dynamic life of faith.
It seems unreasonable and impossible from a rational point of view, but when you believe in God's promises and put them into action, startling miracles happen and you develop infinite possibilities and potentials that you didn't even know you were aware of.
This prayer and obedience must be practiced at home and at church. The church is a community of love and faith. A person cannot live alone. We need to take care of each other, depend on each other, and have fellowship of love. That is why, when we are discouraged, we encourage each other and practice love in the home and church.
We must not have the belief that if we pray, God will grant us and if we obey, we will be blessed. It is half faith and faith. When we not only believe in our heads but apply God's Word to our lives, God takes responsibility for our work and enables us to live a rewarding life that gives love and courage to our brothers.
4. Be filled with the Holy Spirit
"I will ask the Father, who will give you another Comforter... For the world neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, because he dwells with you and will be in you. I have orphaned you. I will not leave you with you; I will come to you.”
It is saying that when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, protects and guides us, not our efforts and wisdom, we can develop and utilize amazing possibilities.
It seems that humans are strong, but in reality, they fall not only once or twice. We need someone to help us from behind. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, must guard us.
Just as children's potential is developed and their abilities grow when they have parents who protect them from behind, even though we are lacking, we can show amazing abilities when the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, guards us from behind.
In the Bible, the word the Holy Spirit is expressed in 52 different ways. The Spirit is like the wind, the Holy Spirit is like fire, the Holy Spirit is like oil, the Holy Spirit is like water, and the Holy Spirit is like a dove. The Holy Spirit is power. It gives us strength and makes us at peace.
Martin Luther developed theology with an emphasis on God the Father, the Creator. Calvin (J.Calvin) expanded his theology with a focus on the Son Jesus Christ as the core. However, Professor John Wesley testified of faith experientially, emphasizing the Holy Spirit in particular. It testifies to us that the Holy Spirit is with us to help and guide us. As a rationalist in Oxford, England, Wesley, who was helpless in the concept of being a sinner to be judged, had a fervent experience in Aldersgate and preached the gospel with a dynamic faith enough to circle the earth two and a half times. told Wesley's greeting was, "Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?"
Even today, when you are helpless, the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, will be with you and develop your infinite potential with a guiding spirit, a convincing spirit, and a transforming spirit, so that God's amazing work can be accomplished.
Today, I pray that you will participate in the work of pleasing God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit before God who has given us infinite possibilities and potential.