One thing is for sure: I'm not a preacher.

And that's good, because you don't want to be preached to. Or at. Lots of people feel preached at.
I don't think the people listening to Jesus felt preached at. They tended to marvel, because
He taught them as one having great authority. Yet, He didn't act like it.

Hmm.
Just who was Jesus?
To fully understand who Jesus was (and is, and always will be), we must understand God the Father.
With His disciples standing close by, Jesus prayed to His Father and said,
"The world has not known You, but I have known You;
and these have known that You sent Me.
And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it,
that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." 1
We tend to think God the Father is stern and demanding, ready to zap helpless humans without
warning at our slightest misstep or failure to measure up. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
God the Father described His own name and nature to Moses on Mount Sinai. He passed before
Moses and proclaimed His name to him (His name being synonymous with His nature, or who He
was, is, and always will be). He said, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty. . . ." 2
Without mercy (not receiving what we deserve) and grace (receiving what we do not deserve),
we would never be able to look upon God's face. We deserve death—to be separated from the
Holy God forever because of our wickedness. We certainly do not deserve His tender mercy, His
goodness toward us, His patience, or His love. He forgives! He abounds in forgiveness! And He has
provided the way for us to stand in His presence, forgiven, loved, and worthy to be called His own.

But God is the Just Judge, as well. He will not look away when a man hates Him. That man will be
held accountable for his choices on that final day. And this is the choice we all must face.
Will we reject Jesus of Nazareth, or will we believe? And be saved?

God is waiting for us to choose.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." 3
God has made it simple. Truth is, it can't get any easier.
Every word in the Bible points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every word Jesus spoke and
everything He did on this earth points men to the Father God who loves and forgives.

Jesus told those who would listen, "He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come
as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness." 4
John, a disciple and good friend of Jesus, said of Him,
"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in
Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 5
Jesus did not come with commands and rules and laws.
He came quietly and humbly, with no great reputation to precede Him.
He lived His life as a servant, touching lepers, healing those with diseases,
showing kindness and love to all who would look upon Him.
What was He doing? He was showing us the Father.

Jesus Christ was God Almighty dressed in dusty clothes, living among those He created.
He didn't force Himself on anyone in any way. He led by example.
He didn't sit fat and lazy on a throne somewhere and bark out commands.
His first words to His disciples were, "Follow Me."

It's good to think about Jesus as being God. He was (and is and always will be!).
It's also good to think about Him as being a man. He was.
He loved to eat, loved to walk beside the sea (and on top of it), loved to laugh and tell stories
with His friends, loved to play with little children, and loved to love people.
He loved to listen to their problems. Loved to help them, any way He could.
But He wouldn't put up with the garbage the "religious" leaders were feeding the people.
Not for one second.

Jesus Christ was fully man and fully God.
He was sent by God to earth to become our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

These are His words.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not
condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." 6
But He also says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who
sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." 7
I love what Jesus said to Jairus: "Do not be afraid; only believe." 8
Do you know how many times it says, "Do not be afraid," in the Bible?
Lots.

I loved writing Wounded Healer, because Chris McIntyre was strong and independent,
not afraid of anything, daring and a bit straight-up crazy. Yet she was truly afraid of God.
She knew He was the only true God. Knew He created all things. Knew He loved her.
Knew He wanted her to know and love Him. But she was afraid.
And that fear held her away from His love, and from the love of His Son, Jesus.

Please. Do not be afraid. Jesus is waiting to love you, to forgive you, and to heal you.


Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him,
"If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Oh, the Jews who didn't believe Him didn't like that, not one bit.
They were never slaves, they told Him. Who was He to say He would set them free?
Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.
Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." 9
What is truth? What is true freedom? What is eternal life?

Jesus said, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." 10
A man brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus and said,
"If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us."
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears,
"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" 11
It's easy to believe. Yet, it's hard. Accepting God's free gift of salvation through His Son,
Jesus, is the easiest thing in the world. Yet . . . it isn't. It's hard.
The Old Testament speaks of sacrifices and offerings. So much blood had to be
spilled for forgiveness of sins. It's hard to read.
The New Testament speaks of one sacrifice. One offering. So much of Jesus' blood
spilled as He hung on that cross. It's hard to read. Hard to even imagine what He went
through in those hours when He faced, then hung, then died on that cross.
It is hard to believe. But, Lord God, help our unbelief! Help us to believe!

All that You are, You put in Jesus Christ.
All that He is, You put in us through Your Spirit.
All we need is in Him.
Help us, Lord, to believe.

Be merciful to us sinners. We confess our sins to You. May the precious blood
that spilled down the beams of that cross cover our sins. We believe. And we receive.




For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you,
according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through
His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the
love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all
generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Believing is about receiving, not completing.
Salvation is a free gift we receive, not one we earn with deeds or lofty prayers.
God doesn't look at our outward appearance, He looks at our heart.
If we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him.
We'll find He's been waiting there all along. Waiting for us to look at Him.
To believe on His Son. And to receive everything He has longed to give us.

It's a choice we can live with.
Forever.





For more information about the nature of Jesus, check out these scriptures.
When Jesus talks about who is the greatest in the kingdom, He's speaking of Himself.

Matthew 18:1-5, 15
Matthew 20:16, 20-28
Matthew 23:1-4, 11-12
Mark 9:33-35
Mark 10:14, 42-45
Luke 9:46-48
Luke 14:11
Luke 22:24-27
John 13:12-17
If you'd like to talk about this, please send me an e-mail.
donna at donnafleisher dot com
God will help you understand His Word if you ask Him,
but sometimes it's hard. I know a very kind suspender-wearing
grandpa who would love to help you understand more about
Jesus. He has certainly helped me. His name is Gayle Erwin,
and I'd encourage you to check out his site. www.servant.org
Also, if you'd like to know more about Jesus, please check out these pages.
From July 11th to November 5th, 2006, we talked about Him quite a bit on my blog, just
keeping it simple, talking about who He was when He walked this earth.
I have since closed down my blog, but I saved the category About Jesus ...
and brought it here to share with you. I would love for you to take a look.

And, once you've checked that out, check this out. Just some basking in Truth.

May the Truth about Jesus be fully known to you, fully alive inside you,
and fully yours to keep and treasure for all time.
just . . . believe
1
John 14:25-26
2
Exodus 34:6-7
3
John 14:6
4
John 12:45-46
5
1 John 1:5-9
6
John 3: 16-19
7
John 5:24
8
Mark 5:36
9
John 8:31-36
10
John 17:3
11
Mark 9:22-24
Mark 7:20-23

And Jesus said,
"What comes out of
a man, that defiles a
man. For from
within, out of the
heart of men,
proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries,
fornications,
murders, thefts,
covetousness,
wickedness, deceit,
lewdness, an evil
eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness.
All these evil things
come from within
and defile a man."
Romans 3:23

For all have
sinned and fall
short of the glory
of God.
Acts 4:12

Nor is there
salvation in any
other, for there is
no other name
under heaven given
among men by
which we must be
saved.
Romans 6:23

For the wages of
sin is death, but the
gift of God is
eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
1 Timothy 2:5

For there is one
God and one
Mediator between
God and men, the
Man Christ Jesus,
who gave Himself a
ransom for all.
Romans 5:8

But God
demonstrates His
own love toward
us, in that while we
were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9-10

That if you
confess with your
mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe
in your heart that
God has raised
Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart
one believes unto
righteousness, and
with the mouth
confession is made
unto salvation.
Hebrews 9:12, 15

Not with the blood
of goats and
calves, but with
His own blood He
entered the Most
Holy Place once
for all.
And for this
reason He is the
Mediator of the
new covenant, by
means of death.