June 12, 2019

Old Paths by Gary Rose




This is one of the earliest pictures I have; that’s me with the over-sized cowboy hat, along with my younger brother Dave and my first dog named Pal. My best guess is that the year is about 1954, plus or minus a year or two. Things have changed where I grew up. The road is paved, all the barns and that car are gone, and Pal died shortly after this picture was taken. That old dilapidated farmhouse that we grew up in still stands, but it is in drastic need of an renovation. Dave and I are in what is euphemistically called our “Golden years” (which is really just another way of saying – O-L-D).

The years before second grade were among the best of my childhood, with my strongest memories being of my maternal grandmother. She was absolutely devoted to me and did everything in her power to see I was raised correctly. I remember that she strongly encouraged me to go to Sunday-School every week, and as I reflect upon those days, I realize now how important her efforts to expose me to the Bible would be later on in life.

So much for old photos and memories, but those old paths are important for they were the foundation of my life. And when I think of “Old Paths”, I remember this passage from the book of Jeremiah…


Jeremiah 6 ( World English Bible )
Jer 6:16, Thus says Yahweh, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Jer 6:17, I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen!’
Jer 6:18, Therefore hear, you nations, and know, congregation, what is among them.
Jer 6:19, Hear, earth! Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it.


For the Jews, the “Old Paths” were the Law, with its rules and regulations, for Christians, rest is found in Jesus.

Matthew 11 (WEB)
Mat 11:28, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
Mat 11:30, For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Ultimately, the Jews wouldn’t listen to the Law and Jerusalem was destroyed, but for those who listen to Jesus, the way to God is clear and free of burdens. As for me, I will continue to seek the “Old Paths”, remember my commitment to God and rejoice in the fact that God is still working on me (even though I no longer wear a cowboy hat). He can change your life for the better as well, just seek the “Old paths” of the Bible and learn all about Jesus; you will be glad you did – I am!

Bible Reading June 12, 13 by Gary Rose


Bible Reading June 12, 13

World  English  Bible



June 12
1 Samuel 17, 18

1Sa 17:1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.
1Sa 17:2 Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
1Sa 17:3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
1Sa 17:4 There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
1Sa 17:5 He had a helmet of brass on his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
1Sa 17:6 He had brass shin armor on his legs, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders.
1Sa 17:7 The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield bearer went before him.
1Sa 17:8 He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have you come out to set your battle in array? am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? choose a man for you, and let him come down to me.
1Sa 17:9 If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then you will be our servants, and serve us.
1Sa 17:10 The Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
1Sa 17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
1Sa 17:12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men.
1Sa 17:13 The three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
1Sa 17:14 David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul.
1Sa 17:15 Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
1Sa 17:16 The Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
1Sa 17:17 Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
1Sa 17:18 and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and look how your brothers fare, and take their pledge.
1Sa 17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
1Sa 17:20 David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle.
1Sa 17:21 Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
1Sa 17:22 David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
1Sa 17:23 As he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them.
1Sa 17:24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
1Sa 17:25 The men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel.
1Sa 17:26 David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
1Sa 17:27 The people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man who kills him.
1Sa 17:28 Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have you come down? and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.
1Sa 17:29 David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
1Sa 17:30 He turned away from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
1Sa 17:31 When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.
1Sa 17:32 David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
1Sa 17:33 Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
1Sa 17:34 David said to Saul, Your servant was keeping his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock,
1Sa 17:35 I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.
1Sa 17:36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.
1Sa 17:37 David said, Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, Go, and Yahweh shall be with you.
1Sa 17:38 Saul clad David with his clothing, and he put a helmet of brass on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
1Sa 17:39 David girded his sword on his clothing, and he tried to go; for he had not proved it. David said to Saul, I can't go with these; for I have not proved them. David put them off him.
1Sa 17:40 He took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
1Sa 17:41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him.
1Sa 17:42 When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face.
1Sa 17:43 The Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks? The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
1Sa 17:44 The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.
1Sa 17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1Sa 17:46 This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand; and I will strike you, and take your head from off you; and I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
1Sa 17:47 and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn't save with sword and spear: for the battle is Yahweh's, and he will give you into our hand.
1Sa 17:48 It happened, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
1Sa 17:49 David put his hand in his bag, and took there a stone, and slang it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
1Sa 17:50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
1Sa 17:51 Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head therewith. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
1Sa 17:52 The men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
1Sa 17:53 The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
1Sa 17:54 David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
1Sa 17:55 When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this youth? Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I can't tell.
1Sa 17:56 The king said, "Inquire whose son the young man is!"
1Sa 17:57 As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
1Sa 17:58 Saul said to him, Whose son are you, you young man? David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

1Sa 18:1 It happened, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
1Sa 18:2 Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house.
1Sa 18:3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul.
1Sa 18:4 Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him, and gave it to David, and his clothing, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his sash.
1Sa 18:5 David went out wherever Saul sent him, andbehaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servants.
1Sa 18:6 It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music.
1Sa 18:7 The women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands.
1Sa 18:8 Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
1Sa 18:9 Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
1Sa 18:10 It happened on the next day, that an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand;
1Sa 18:11 and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will strike David even to the wall. David avoided out of his presence twice.
1Sa 18:12 Saul was afraid of David, because Yahweh was with him, and was departed from Saul.
1Sa 18:13 Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
1Sa 18:14 David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and Yahweh was with him.
1Sa 18:15 When Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he stood in awe of him.
1Sa 18:16 But all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went out and came in before them.
1Sa 18:17 Saul said to David, Behold, my elder daughter Merab, her will I give you as wife: only be valiant for me, and fight Yahweh's battles. For Saul said, Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the Philistines be on him.
1Sa 18:18 David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life,or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king?
1Sa 18:19 But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.
1Sa 18:20 Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.
1Sa 18:21 Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, You shall this day be my son-in-law a second time.
1Sa 18:22 Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be the king's son-in-law.
1Sa 18:23 Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David. David said, Seems it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?
1Sa 18:24 The servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spoke David.
1Sa 18:25 Saul said, Thus you shall tell David, The king desires no dowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
1Sa 18:26 When his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. The days were not expired;
1Sa 18:27 and David arose and went, he and his men, and killed of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.
1Sa 18:28 Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David; and Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him.
1Sa 18:29 Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul was David's enemy continually.
1Sa 18:30 Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it happened, as often as they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

June 13
1 Samuel 19, 20

1Sa 19:1 Saul spoke to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David.
1Sa 19:2 Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeks to kill you: now therefore, please take care of yourself in the morning, and live in a secret place, and hide yourself:
1Sa 19:3 and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will talk with my father about you; and if I see anything, I will tell you.
1Sa 19:4 Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, Don't let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you:
1Sa 19:5 for he put his life in his hand, and struck the Philistine, and Yahweh worked a great victory for all Israel: you saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?
1Sa 19:6 Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.
1Sa 19:7 Jonathan called David, and Jonathan showed him all those things. Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as before.
1Sa 19:8 There was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and killed them with a great slaughter; and they fled before him.
1Sa 19:9 An evil spirit from Yahweh was on Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand; and David was playing with his hand.
1Sa 19:10 Saul sought to strike David even to the wall with the spear; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he struck the spear into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.
1Sa 19:11 Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be slain.
1Sa 19:12 So Michal let David down through the window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.
1Sa 19:13 Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with the clothes.
1Sa 19:14 When Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.
1Sa 19:15 Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.
1Sa 19:16 When the messengers came in, behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goats'hair at its head.
1Sa 19:17 Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me thus, and let my enemy go, so that he is escaped? Michal answered Saul, He said to me, Let me go; why should I kill you?
1Sa 19:18 Now David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He and Samuel went and lived in Naioth.
1Sa 19:19 It was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.
1Sa 19:20 Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as head over them, the Spirit of God came on the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
1Sa 19:21 When it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
1Sa 19:22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Secu: and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? One said, Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.
1Sa 19:23 He went there to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God came on him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.
1Sa 19:24 He also stripped off his clothes, and he also prophesied before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

1Sa 20:1 David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, "What have I done? What is my iniquity?" and "What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?"
1Sa 20:2 He said to him, "Far from it; you shall not die: behold, my father does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me; and why should my father hide this thing from me? It is not so."
1Sa 20:3 David swore moreover, and said, "Your father knows well that I have found favor in your eyes; and he says, 'Don't let Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved:' but truly as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, there is but a step between me and death."
1Sa 20:4 Then said Jonathan to David, "Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you."
1Sa 20:5 David said to Jonathan, "Behold, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to dine with the king; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening.
1Sa 20:6 If your father miss me at all, then say, 'David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.'
1Sa 20:7 If he says, 'It is well;' your servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, then know that evil is determined by him.
1Sa 20:8 Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you: but if there be in me iniquity, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?"
1Sa 20:9 Jonathan said, "Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that?"
1Sa 20:10 Then said David to Jonathan, "Who shall tell me if perchance your father answers you roughly?"
1Sa 20:11 Jonathan said to David, "Come, and let us go out into the field." They both went out into the field.
1Sa 20:12 Jonathan said to David, "Yahweh, the God of Israel, be witness: when I have sounded my father about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there be good toward David, shall I not then send to you, and disclose it to you?
1Sa 20:13 Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.
1Sa 20:14 You shall not only while yet I live show me the loving kindness of Yahweh, that I not die;
1Sa 20:15 but also you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever; no, not when Yahweh has cut off the enemies of David everyone from the surface of the earth."
1Sa 20:16 So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Yahweh will require it at the hand of David's enemies.
1Sa 20:17 Jonathan caused David to swear again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own soul.
1Sa 20:18 Then Jonathan said to him, Tomorrow is the new moon: and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty.
1Sa 20:19 When you have stayed three days, you shall go down quickly, and come to the place where you did hide yourself when the business was in hand, and shall remain by the stone Ezel.
1Sa 20:20 I will shoot three arrows on its side, as though I shot at a mark.
1Sa 20:21 Behold, I will send the boy, saying, Go, find the arrows. If I tell the boy, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; take them, and come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as Yahweh lives.
1Sa 20:22 But if I say thus to the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; go your way; for Yahweh has sent you away.
1Sa 20:23 As touching the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, Yahweh is between you and me forever.
1Sa 20:24 So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat food.
1Sa 20:25 The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and Jonathan stood up, and Abner sat by Saul's side: but David's place was empty.
1Sa 20:26 Nevertheless Saul didn't say anything that day: for he thought, Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean.
1Sa 20:27 It happened on the next day after the new moon,which was the second day, that David's place was empty: and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why doesn't the son of Jesse come to meat, neither yesterday, nor today?
1Sa 20:28 Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem:
1Sa 20:29 and he said, Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brothers. Therefore he is not come to the king's table.
1Sa 20:30 Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?
1Sa 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.
1Sa 20:32 Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be put to death? What has he done?"
1Sa 20:33 Saul cast his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.
1Sa 20:34 So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
1Sa 20:35 It happened in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little boy with him.
1Sa 20:36 He said to his boy, Run, find now the arrows which I shoot. As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.
1Sa 20:37 When the boy was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the boy, and said, Isn't the arrow beyond you?
1Sa 20:38 Jonathan cried after the boy, Go fast! Hurry! Don't delay! Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master.
1Sa 20:39 But the boy didn't know anything: only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
1Sa 20:40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, Go, carry them to the city.
1Sa 20:41 As soon as the boy was gone, David arose out ofa place toward the South, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded.
1Sa 20:42 Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because we have sworn both of us in the name of Yahweh, saying, Yahweh shall be between me and you, and between my seed and your seed, forever. He arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

Jun.  12

John 14

Joh 14:1 "Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
Joh 14:4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."
Joh 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"
Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him."
Joh 14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."
Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?'
Joh 14:10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Joh 14:12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.
Joh 14:13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Joh 14:14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.
Joh 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,-
Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.
Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.
Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Joh 14:21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."
Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?"
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.
Joh 14:24 He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. The word which you hear isn't mine, but the Father's who sent me.
Joh 14:25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.
Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.
Joh 14:28 You heard how I told you, 'I go away, and I come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said 'I am going to my Father;' for the Father is greater than I.
Joh 14:29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.
Joh 14:30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.
Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Jun. 13
John 15

Joh 15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Joh 15:3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Joh 15:4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can't bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Joh 15:6 If a man doesn't remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Joh 15:7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
Joh 15:8 "In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
Joh 15:9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love.
Joh 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and remain in his love.
Joh 15:11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Joh 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
Joh 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
Joh 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
Joh 15:16 You didn't choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain; that whatever you will ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Joh 15:17 "I command these things to you, that you may love one another.
Joh 15:18 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his lord.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:21 But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they don't know him who sent me.
Joh 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
Joh 15:23 He who hates me, hates my Father also.
Joh 15:24 If I hadn't done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.
Joh 15:25 But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.'
Joh 15:26 "When the Counselor has come, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me.
Joh 15:27 You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. 

Why do we love Jesus? by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/064-Jesusloved.html

Why do we love Jesus?

“Love is of God” (1 John 4:7).

Why do we love anyone? Love is not easy to explain. Basically, we love someone because of who he is. And, there are various levels of love.
For example, we love our unborn child because he is a little person and because he is our child. After the child is born our love deepens and we love him for who he is.
Why is Jesus the best-loved person in human history? Why did people love Him when He walked on earth? Why do millions love Him now, two thousand years later?
Why do we love Jesus? And how strong is our love? Some have an intense love for Jesus, whereas the love of others is rather weak.
To have a strong love for someone you must know him. In 1958, the love song was popular: “To know him is to love him.” Some of the lyrics were: “To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him, and I do, and I do, and I do.”
This certainly applies to Jesus, more than to any other person who has ever lived. Someone who knows Him, loves Him. It is difficult not to love Jesus. Our love for Jesus grows as we get to know Him better through the Scriptures. We learn who He is: what He is like, what He taught, and what He has done for us. Another line in that song is: “Just to see that smile, makes my life worthwhile.”
To prepare for this lesson I examined what the Bible says about people’s love for Jesus, and I asked some fellow Christians why they love Jesus. So many reasons exist for loving Jesus that only a few can be discussed in this lesson. 

Love for Jesus was not based on physical attraction.
Isaiah wrote of the Messiah: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2 ESV). Yet Isaiah also wrote: “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty” (Isaiah 33:17). And in Psalm 45:2 we read about the Messiah: “You are fairer than the sons of men.”
We love Jesus because of His spiritual beauty. He has the most loveable spirit of anyone who ever lived, the Spirit of God! (John 1:32). 

We love Jesus because He first loved us.
One brother wrote: “Of course, ‘Why do I love Jesus?’ is answered in my head by the old children’s song: ‘Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.’ Our love for Him can never match His love for us. Yet, my love for Him is great because I know He sacrificed Himself for me, for us. These expressions are commonplace, but true.”
Indeed, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15).

We love Jesus because He forgives our sins.
Jesus made it clear to mankind that God is willing to forgive the sins of the contrite: “And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, ‘This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ So he said, ‘Teacher, say it.’ ‘There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And He said to him, ‘You have rightly judged.’ Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.’ Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ Then He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace’” (Luke 7:35-50).
Sin is a debt no one can pay, whether the debt be large or small. This woman had great remorse for her sins, and she believed that Jesus could rescue her from her terrible state. Imagine how her broken heart was filled with joy when Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven” and “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Her love for Jesus was great because the burden of sin He lifted from her shoulders was great.
She obviously knew something about Jesus. Whether she had met Him, heard Him teach, or only heard about Him, we do not know. But her faith was strong enough that she dared to approach Him in tears, and her love was so strong that she dared to kiss His feet. The invitation of Jesus had touched her heart, whether she had heard these actual words or not: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28, 29).
In reply to my question, several said that they love Jesus because He accepts them and forgives them.
One brother wrote: “Perhaps I most love Him because He is willing to, and has, forgiven my sins, my continuing shortcomings and failures and mistakes, and even those things I cannot seem to keep myself from doing.”
Another brother wrote: “As for me personally, I suspect it boils down to my complete trust in his complete acceptance of me. He knows the real me and that real me does not threaten our relationship. I recognize a great sense of, even physical, peace in my relationship with Jesus, that is not always there in my other relationships! Pretty vague, I know! But in short, it is the peace I get from my relationship with Jesus that keeps me coming back for more.”
Another wrote: “Why do I love Jesus? I love Jesus because He secured my eternal salvation. I deserve to die, but He died for me and paid the price so I do not have to die.”

We love Jesus because He gives us eternal life.
“The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). “And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life” (1 John 2:25). Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life” (John 10:27, 28).
When we commune with the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s table, we have His promise: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).
One brother explained that he loves Jesus because in Him his dear wife, who recently passed away, will live forever: “I love God because he knows how we humans fear Death because it claims to bring to an end all the lovely and honorable dreams we dream; because it claims to obliterate all the lovely people we know, righteous people, compassionate and kind and unselfish, and because it claims that our trust in God through Jesus Christ is profound nonsense. God has mocked all these claims by Death by raising this one man, Jesus Christ, from the dead to die no more. He enables us to dismiss the voice of all the cemeteries of the world. In and through and because of Jesus there’s a day coming when all who are embraced by the saving work of the Lord Jesus will gather and live forever in eternal joy and peace and love of righteousness.”

God’s children love Jesus.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God’” (John 8:42). John explains: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1). They who love the Father also love the Son and all of God’s children.

They who love the truth, love Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Since Jesus is the truth, He is loved by lovers of truth. “Love ... rejoices in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Jesus said: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). People perish because they do “not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
Some comments received were: “Jesus was loved because of His honesty” and “because ‘He spoke not’ as the various religious factions. He spoke with authority, but with love, and not hypocritically.”

How much did Peter love Jesus? 
How would you respond if Jesus said your full name and asked you, as He asked Peter: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15).
This is one of the most touching scenes in the New Testament. Peter had boasted, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” and “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:33, 35). As it turned out, Peter was the only one who denied Jesus! And he did so three times! But when “the Lord turned and looked at Peter” he was struck with remorse and “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61, 62).
Some days later, after the resurrection, by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus prepared breakfast for Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two other disciples. “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’” (John 21:15).
In His question, Jesus uses the Greek word á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰ that refers to the highest form of altruistic love. Peter replies, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” Jesus accepts his reply and says to him, “Feed My lambs.” But Peter did not use the same word for love that Jesus used in His question. Peter used the word Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ that expresses affection. Both words mean “to love” but to clarify the difference, it is as though Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” and Peter replies, “You know that I have affection for you.”
Thus, Jesus asks Peter again, using á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰, and Peter replies again using Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰. Jesus accepts his answer and says, “Tend My sheep.”
Then, the third time, Jesus asks, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” but this time Jesus uses the word Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ that has the force of asking: “Peter, do you have affection for me?” “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep’” (John 21:15-17). Peter still uses Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ rather than á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰. Peter is no longer boasting, or claiming that he loves Jesus more than others. He understates his love, with the assurance that Jesus knows how very much he loves Him.
Earlier, Peter had said that he was willing to die for Jesus. Now Jesus predicts that he will do just that, and He tells Peter, “Follow Me.” (John 21:18, 19).

How much do we love Jesus?
Jesus is worthy of our highest love. He was a tremendous man. He spoke the truth without compromise. Through His actions and words He revealed the Father. His love for us was so great that He was willing to take upon Himself the death penalty that we deserve, so our sins might be forgiven. He died for us. Are we willing to live for Him? Until our last breath, let us live for Jesus because He, until His last breath on the cross, gave His life for us. Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.


Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com