JESUS, the ANSWER (6)

I'm continuing reading in

Section Two:

JESUS

the

ANSWER

4. Bread for the Journey 5. Light in a Dark Place 6. An Open Door 7. The Good Life 8. A Grave Buster 9. A One-Way Street 10. The Root of the Fruit

I am continuing with "52 Weeks with Jesus", looking at JESUS, an Open Door (John 10:7-9). Lysa TerKeurst (and others) refer to JESUS, in this passage, as the Sheep Gate and the Good Shepherd, as she explains in day 4 of "Finding I AM".

The NIV uses the Sheep Gate in John 10:8-9. JESUS offers security and safety for anyone who comes to Him. When we know JESUS, we can trust that wherever we go, whatever happens, He goes with us. We can rest in His Provision and His Protection. JESUS is the door to salvation for us! JESUS is our door to forgiveness, redemption and life (which I think are in the upcoming chapters; but remember - I'm am doing this for the week I am posting). Just a quick note from Nehemiah (3:1-32) that in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem; the Sheep Gate is the first of ten mentioned [Here is a simple but great spiritual significance of this] even though Nehemiah is not one of this week's Scriptures.

"I AM the Door" ... (John 10:7) as found in ESV, KJV, NKJV, NCV, ASV, HCSB, etc.(compare here with)
"I AM the Gate"NIV, NLT, GW, NRSV, etc.
I am intrigued by the meaning and comparing ofDOOR and GATEbut this article confirms that it is one of the most importantI AM declarationsalthough all 7 of the I AM statements from JESUS havegreat spiritual implication & significanceI see these as inter-related

This 52 Week... devotional breaks down "An Open Door" in segments (subtitles):

"A Different Kind of Door" "The Door of Security" "The Door of Significance" "The Door of Satisfaction" "Searching for the Door"

Since I believe in JESUS, I have knocked on the DOOR and am blessed to be able to pass through the GATE as one of His Sheep
JESUSisAN OPEN DOORfor all of usandinvites us to come in

Step through the Open Door [Jesus said,] “I am the door” John 10:9   " What do you need right now? Peace? Significance? To know you’re loved?    No matter what your need is, the fulfillment of that need is just beyond the threshold of an open door.    You need only to walk through the door that is Christ, and your need will be met—met fully in the One who beckons you to cross the threshold into satisfaction. How do you cross that threshold? You take a step forward…a step of faith. You believe, move ahead, and receive." from 52 Weeks with Jesus, James Merritt

"Lord Jesus, thank You that You are the Door to abundant and eternal life, and that You have invited us to enter in. I trust You to meet my deepest needs."

Please consider this an invitation to
JESUSthe Open Door
the Door is open to come & receive
JESUSastheANSWER
you need to hear Jesus' words:
I AM the Door
won't you knock & come in?
Just say,
JESUS, I need You as my Lord & Savior.
 I believe You went to the Cross for me.
I open the door of my life and receive You now.
Take control of my life, forgive me and lead me.
Help me to be the kind of person You made me to be.
Teach me all I need to know about You.
Thank You for coming for me to 
save me for an eternity
with You
<>
Praying JESUS will open doors in this life for you
but if you open the Door to JESUS
I'm confident you'll be met
in the eternal life
with
JESUS
<><><>


[please follow the links given if you need more understanding]

This Little LIGHT ...

In my email this morning just to
LIGHT up
the last day of
"Light in a Dark Place"
from
Section Two: JESUS, the Answer
in
"52 Weeks with JESUS"
[I found this also in a previous email from James Merritt, the author]

True Light vs. Reflected Light Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”. John 8:12    "There are two kinds of light: true light and reflected light. The sun is true light shining forth from its own power. The moon, on the other hand, is reflected light. It has no light of its own. What we see when we gaze at the bright moon on a clear night is really just a dark orb hanging in space reflecting the light of the sun.    Though we are light, we too are reflected light. When our light shines in the darkness, it’s not because we’ve generated light. Aimed toward the Son of God, we merely reflect his light.    When others see our light shining in the darkness of this present world, we can confidently assure them of the true source of our light—Jesus Christ. And we can invite them to join us as reflectors of the true light of the world." James Merritt

A Good Word
before we turn to the next chapter
and the following gospel song by
Harry Dixon

🎵...This Little Light of Mine, I'm gonna let it shine... 𝅘𝅥𝅱

immediately came to my mind as I saw that image of that little girl
so I kept singing and singing while doing things
until I finally gave in to sharing this all
Be sure to follow the song's link
for its' history & to hear it
SHINE
on
God Tube
🙏
PRAYER
Living in the Light
of
JESUS
May the 
Light of Jesus
illuminate
any
darkness
and
shine
brightly
in your life
><💡><

JESUS, the ANSWER (5)

In

I'm now in

Section Two:

JESUS

the

ANSWER

Last week, I read #4 and I really believe more strongly in the BREAD of Life needed for our journey. I'm not sure any of the rest of these will be as impactful. But for this week, I am in "LIGHT in a Dark Place" and since one of the years, my One Word was LIGHT, I definitely am acquainted with the Light of the World - JESUS; and the need of being the Light in this dark world, especially now, as light truly does need to shine more brightly into every dark place. Here are the different aspects of this second section, I'll call Chapters:

4. Bread for the Journey 5. Light in a Dark Place 6. An Open Door 7. The Good Life 8. A Grave Buster 9. A One-Way Street 10. The Root of the Fruit

[I will be posting this box in every blog post, so you can see where we've been & where we're going. The one in BOLD type will be the focus for that week]

"I AM the Bread of Life"

Just as last week, where JESUS declared, "I AM the Bread of Life" - this week JESUS spoke in John 8:12 "I AM the Light of the world ...". He did not say a Light among many, but THE Light. He did not say that He is the Light, for some but for the whole entire world! I'm getting ahead of myself because I right away need to make this distinction. A and an in the English language are indefinite articles, a determiner referring to something nonspecific; whereas the is a definite article, indicating the specific identity of the noun that follows, in this case - Light. JESUS is definitely the Light! JESUS is at His Brightest when life is at its darkest! And so should we be, as bearers of JESUS' Light! (Matthew 5:14) JESUS is the Light of the world, our world, and in the world. Like God is Omnipresent, so JESUS is Light.

This Chapter "Light in a Dark Place" is divided into the following segments: 

(or subtitles, which I called them last week) 

"In Deep Darkness" ... "Light is Absolutely Essential" ... "A Land of Deep Darkness" ... "Come into the Light" ... "We must Shine the Light to People in Dark Places"

You may want to read some of what Lysa TerKeurst shares in
"Finding I AM"
(sample at You Version)
about
JESUS
 the Light of the World
[Lysa includes a good quote from Charles Spurgeon also]
<><><>
Finding our way out of the darkness
for me, means out of sin,
but we're truly
not done
with
sin
in
this
world
until JESUS comes
and as the Holy Spirit works
in us and convicts us of our sin
we just don't change
hopefully we
sin less
and
the darkness 
no longer keeps us
out of the
Light
the more of JESUS in us
the more light we
can shine to
others in
the
dark

"Lord, shine into my heart and my life. And where there is darkness, let me bear Your Light to the ones You love." ~ 52 Weeks with Jesus, James Merritt

<><><>
I'm not sure that I will be back with more blog posts like last week, unless I'm inspired😉so if not, I'll see you back here next Sunday at 6 p.m. with #6.

Have you ever thought about JESUS as the Light in your dark moments?
How can JESUS, as the Light, be the Answer?
Imagine those living in the darkness,
never seeing the
Light
just
because
we did not shine
the Light of JESUS nor
show them the way
out of the dark
to the
Light
Help let JESUS Light
shine even
brighter!
🙏