Mike Henry Sr.'s Blog, page 10

Being a Friend of Jesus – John 15:14

Are we friends of Jesus?

“You are My friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14

Jesus is speaking and he’s calling the disciples his friends. He’s telling all of us that if we obey his commands, we are his friends. What command is he talking about? Probably the one he talked about 2 verses before, that we love one another just as he loved us.

Are we friends of Jesus?

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Love One Another Part 2 – John 15:13

What does it mean to lay down our life?

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 ESV

The words are very clear, but if you’re like me, I start looking for loopholes. The translation of the Greek to English is pretty plain. Most every translation has the same words. But what do they mean?

Laying down our life is a challenging idea.

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Faith Integrated Organizational Development with Sondra Calhoun – Episode #158

In this episode of Follower of One, Logan Bloom shares how his ministry is helping equip business leaders to be a light to the world exactly where they are.

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Love One Another – John 15:12

How do we love one another?

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12 NASB

Can we really love someone we don’t know? We can love a certain place or a certain kind of food. The Greeks had at least 4 words that are often translated with the word “love” in the English. This is the grandest of those words, and it means unconditional love.

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The Key To Joy – John 15:11

Do you consider yourself a joyful person?

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” John 15:11 NASB95

Joy is pretty cool. The more I experience it, the more I appreciate it, and the more I realize that you can’t substitute anything for it. Happiness seems to be based more on what happens. Joy transcends my circumstances.

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Abide in Christ’s Love – John 15:9-10

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15:9-10 ESV

Abide means remain or stay. The idea is that we’re fully connected, engaged. In our multi-tasking world, this is a single-tasking word. We’re doing one thing. We’re remaining tethered to Jesus.

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Proving our Faith – John 15:8

How do we prove we’re disciples of Jesus?

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” John 15:8 NASB95

We prove our relationship to Jesus by bearing fruit. But if you read what it means to bear fruit, you can get differing opinions.

Some talk about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 which includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

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Ask Whatever You Wish – John 15:7

What do you want?

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7 NASB

I wonder about this passage regularly. I wonder if I really abide. How many of the things I ask Jesus about are still being answered? How many did I blow because I stopped asking? How many were me being wrong about thinking I remained in Jesus but I was really trying to do my own thing?

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Dead Sticks – John 15:6

What do you do with yard trash?

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather the, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” John 15:6 NASB

When you trim a tree, or pull weeds in your yard, you pile them up somewhere and eventually they’re burned. Jesus continues his analogy of the vine and the branches.

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True Accomplishment – John 15:5

Are you the kind of person who enjoys checking things off your to-do list?

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 ESV

We spoke about abiding in yesterday’s message. Look for it if you haven’t heard it. Today, I want to concentrate on the phrase, “for apart from me, you can do nothing.” What did Jesus mean?

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