Today I continue our new series entitled, “Power of Fellowship.” In this series we will study how we can be ONE with God and also ONE with man. Right now I am teaching on being ONE with God. We have looked at statements Jesus made in John 5, John 6, and 8. Yesterday we looked at John 8:12-20. Today we will look at 21-30.
Jesus said: “I am about to leave you. You will want to find me, but you will still die in your sins. You won’t be able to come where I am going.” This so confused the Jewish leaders that they began to say, “Is he planning to commit suicide? What’s he talking about—‘You won’t be able to come where I am going’?”
Jesus spoke up and said, “You are all from the earth; I am from above. I am not from this world like you are. That’s why I’ve told you that you will all die in your sins if you fail to believe that I AM who I AM.”
So they asked him plainly, “Who are you?” “I am the One I’ve always claimed to be.” Jesus replied. “And I still have many more things to pronounce in judgment about you. For I will testify to the world of the truths that I have heard from my Father, and the Father who sent me is trustworthy.” (Even after all of this, they still didn’t realize that he was speaking about his heavenly Father.)
“You will know me as ‘I AM’ after you have lifted me up from the earth as the Son of Man. Then you will realize that I do nothing on my own initiative, but I only speak the truth that the Father has revealed to me. I am his messenger and he is always with me, for I only do that which delights his heart.” These words caused many respected Jews to believe in him.”
(John 8:21-30 TPT)
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. The Pharisees were the most religious people of Jesus’ day. These were people who were supposed to know God. But when God came unto His own people, the Jews, and He dealt with those who were charged with being the intercessors between God and man, these people had no clue who Jesus was. They did not know Jesus and they could even understand what Jesus meant when Jesus talked about God as His Father. Sadly, many religious people today still don’t know God. They have their religion, but they don’t have a relationship with The Father or His Son.
2. Jesus was so close to the Father and His intimacy was so strong, that He repeatedly made it clear (in John 5, John 6, John 8, and John 14) that He never operated on His own initiative, that He was not in the earth to perform His own will, and that He was actually incapable of doing anything without The Father. Without The Father Jesus could do nothing. With The Father Jesus was able to do all things. The same holds true for us. Without us God will not. Without God we cannot. But with God we can do all things!
3. Jesus said that His Father was always with Him and that He ONLY did those things that were pleasing in His sight. This is the way we are supposed to live. We are to live fully cognizant of God’s presence IN us every second of every day. And we are to live in such a way that we bring Him glory in everything we do. This teaching on fellowship with The Father is not a sermon, or a lesson, it is actually a way of life. This is the way Jesus lived and it is the way we are supposed to live.
4. We are called to live like Jesus in the earth. If Jesus heard from the Father, we can hear from the Father. If Jesus received revelation on a daily basis, we can and should receive revelation on a daily basis. If Jesus allowed the Father to flow through Him in ways that exceeded human ability, we are supposed to operate in miracles, signs and wonders. We have the same Holy Spirit Jesus had. The Father loves us with the same love He loved His own Son with. There is no less of an expectation on us as it was on Jesus Himself. Jesus came to the earth to complete His divine assignment and we are supposed to do the same thing. Your goal is to FIND, FOLLOW and FINISH your purpose before you die. You are supposed to DISCOVER, DEVELOP in, and then DEPLOY into Your purpose and you must keep walking it out until you can say, “MISSION COMPLETE!” You don’t have to die because you are sick. You don’t have to die because you are old. You can simply die when you are DONE! But in order to know your purpose and to know when you are done, you must have fellowship with the Father. That’s what this series is all about and I pray you are developing your relationship with Him through this teaching.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for helping me to develop a true and intimate fellowship with You. I love You and I’m now You love me. I desire time with You and You make time for me. I seek after You and You make Yourself easy to be found. Thank You for helping me to FIND, FOLLOW and FINISH my purpose before I die. I will get OUT of me everything You deposited IN me before the world began. I can say this confidently because I have fellowship with You. I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
