Getting Back In

Getting Back In

John 8: ³⁷ “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”

³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹ You do the deeds of your father.”

Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

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Not knowing what I would do, I sat, staring in despair. I was thrown out and no longer had any thought of a bright future. What was I going to do now? My job stunk and I barely had any money to do something different. “Maybe you can get back in” someone said to me. I humbly went to the deans office the next morning to appeal the decision.

• It does not feel good to be thrown out.
• It felt terrible being on the outside, knowing what was on the inside.
• It made me feel like giving up when I was no longer part of the inside.

JESUS turned HIS conversation back to the church leaders. HE told them they may have been descendants of Abraham, but they sure were not acting like it. “If you were from Abraham” and “If GOD were your FATHER” was JESUS’s implication that they were no longer in the family.

• GOD wants me to act like I belong to HIM, not just talk about HIM.
• GOD wants me to seek the “heart” of HIS word so I can abide in HIM.
• GOD wants me to ask to get back in the family by confessing my sins to HIM.

Being on the outside of GOD’s will, without knowing it, is extremely dangerous and eternal life threatening. Church leaders who were driven by pleasing the crowds, did not speak of JESUS as the answer. They made up their own rules and used scripture to support what was truly in their heart.

GOD wants me to humble myself and act like I am in HIS family. HE wants me to believe that JESUS is the answer to my problems and to tell others to do the same. HE guides me in the little things so I can, one day, handle the large things of GOD. I need GOD’s forgiveness so I can remain in HIS family.

• Do you think you have the right to judge “that” person?
• When is the last time you confessed your sins to GOD instead of complaining to HIM about someone else?
• Will you ask GOD to open your eyes to what is blinding you from having a great relationship with HIM today?