Speaking of light, on a dark night, you can see a lit match from a mile away. Speaking of dark nights, most children are afraid of the dark. Sadly, sin twists us. Many men end up loving darkness instead of light because their deeds are evil. John 3:19. Speaking of light, notice how today's passage (John 8:12-30) begins-
Without light there is no life. They go in hand in hand. In that verse Jesus also adds an important dimension to what a true believer is, versus a nominal (in name only) one is. According to Jesus, a true believer is one who "follows me" not one who simply goes to a church service or even a small group. Remember the children's game, Follow the Leader? That's what Jesus is calling us to do. "Follow me." Do what he did. Our GREAT Leader wants us to follow him to live great lives and make a great impact. For example-
G- Jesus was devoted to God's word. The gospels record Jesus quoting from the OT 78 times. He was also constantly teaching others God's word. So glad you are also daily digging into God's word and sharing it with others.
R- He was also regularly Recruiting sidelined saints to get them into the game. "Follow me." Many of you are focused on doing that too.
E- Christ was also one who Encouraged his men. He believed they would make a great impact on others, and they did. I believe you will do that too as you continue to be faithful. And I love to see and hear how you are encouraging your teammates.
A- He Attacked in prayer and taught his disciples to pray. He also went about doing good, doing Acts of kindness. Keep practicing such too.
T- We all know Jesus was constantly Telling others of transformation. I'm so glad to see the way that so many of you are also sharing the good news with others. It can be as simple, yet as powerful as giving out your Greatest Minimovies cards. You're following Him, growing and doing GREAT things!
As you read through John 8:12-30, keep in mind Jesus is still in Jerusalem as he was in ch.7. Notice in this passage how Jesus and the Pharisees go back and forth, including three questions they ask regarding Him. I circled those question marks in my Bible. I also noted that four times Jesus said that the Father "sent me." I also I underlined those words in my Bible. I hope you're getting in the habit of doing the same regarding things that stand out from your own observations. It will also help you to quickly see your key insights when you revisit the passage down the road. Notice also how the Father/ Son relationship is stressed again as we saw in chapter 5.
1.- From John 8:12-30, pick out a verse or phrase that impresses you and share it and some of your thoughts regarding it. Then write that verse on your MP3, being on the look out to share it with others.
2.- The Father sent His dearly loved Son on a mission. "He who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world" 8:26. That mission Jesus carried out, even though he was criticized for it and eventually crucified for it. Yet he remained reliable just as his Father was reliable. Please write out a short prayer for yourself to be reliable in the GREAT mission we have been given. It is so manly, so Christlike, when we are reliable, unstoppable.
Thanks for being reliable regarding getting two prayer warriors and putting down their names and emails in the Contacts tab. I will ask you if you completed this tomorrow. We need prayer support. To accomplish our mission of multiplying MANLY men without it, we haven't got a prayer.
It was great to see all of you choose to be unstoppable for the month of September. Many of you already have been unstoppable since you started M3 several months ago. For those of you that have struggled to become Unstoppable, I will share their secret. They live by the M3 motto, "No sharing of Scripture, no sleep." They seek first the kingdom of God as their highest priority. Manly soldiers rank the mission even over their sleep. Sleep is secondary. Students will stay up late to get a paper done. Parents will lose sleep to care for a sick child. Lots of people will stay up past their bedtime to watch the end of a late night program on TV. So we choose to lose sleep over something far more important. It's one of the few sacrifices we really make for God. He is worthy and so is your manly character. Way to go and grow!
What's seeing a classic clip from Star Wars got to do with our passage tomorrow? You'll see.
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