My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

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

Most of us associate joy with happiness, so it may be surprising to learn that this is not necessarily the case, nor is there even a strong correlation sometimes. The joy of Yshua is to do His Father's will. This did not always result in pleasant outcomes, especially towards the end when He was crucified. Yet He counted this as joy. So our joy need to be similar and the source of our joy is Yshua. Circumstances may cause trouble for us, but our walk and oneness with God shall produce a joy in us that non-believers would not understand.

Rejoice because your names are written in heaven

Luke 10:20
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather[f] rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

When we are doing good service for God, whether it is miraculous healings, deliverance or normal church services, we may fall into a trap of thinking we are useful for God. However, it is more important to have a right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification. This is of greater value than how useful we are in service for God. When we walk in His light, it will be natural that He will use us for His purpose.

Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?

John 11:40
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”

God says that when we believe we will see His glory. It is easy to believe when we are at a spiritual high, when everything seems to be going well. However, when there is serious troubles, then that is where our test begins. It can either strengthen our faith or kill it. "Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me" (Matthew 11:6). Furthermore, it appears that when we step out in faith, then things happen which causes us to struggle and our vision blurred. This is the time when we need  to have absolute trust in God, since he would not forsake us.

Lord, teach us to pray

Luke 11:1
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

One of the popular misconception is that prayer is only about asking God to give us things. This is similar to what other religions promote about their idols. However, the prayer to the Creator, Lord, Father of All is much more than that. There is no denying to the aspect of prayer where we can ask God and He will give like a Good Father, but there is much more.

Prayer is getting in touch with the Father via the Holy Spirit. It is talking to God, and maintaining that relationship, otherwise it will grow cold and we would lose touch with God. It is to nourish us, to build our character, to acknowledge our lack and hence dependence to God. A commentator said, "prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person's inner nature."

Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you

John 12:35
Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.

At one point, our Lord told His disciples that He will not always be with them. Even though God is present everywhere, there are times when we need to walk alone. So rejoice in the presence of God, and sanctify ourselves as much as we can while we are in a spiritual high with him. The Holy Spirit is always with us. Yet there will be darkness, and yes we can depend on the Holy Spirit, but we need to build a relationship with Him and learn to hear His voice. So that during the dark times we are still in touch with Him.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid

Matthew 14:27
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Our Lord Yshua promises to give us peace. That peace is unlike any other peace that we find anywhere else. There are certainly much troubling things in the world, which seems to increase every day. Apart from Yshua, the only other peace that people can get is if they are ignorant about the things around them. Given that this is not possible, and the evil is affecting more people, the only peace that works is that given by Yshua. We have to come to Him as we are, and confess our sins, then totally dependent on Him. Then we can look on His face and His peace will surround us, as all confusion is replaced by the confidence in Him.

But I have called you friends

John 15:15
No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

Our Lord Yshua calls us His friend. This is extraordinary to most people, even among the people of God, but it should not be too surprising for those who really know God. Back in the Old Testament days, we already see God making a few people his friends and they were not close to perfect people anyway. The two great examples are Abraham and Moses. As part of this friendship, the relationship would involve self-sacrifice. This also means obedience to God, on the people's part. One aspect of this obedience would be to seek out God's will in the various things in our lives and not just fulfilling our own desires.

Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Matthew 7:9
Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 

A commentator approached this particular verse which may stir some controversy. Nevertheless it is worthwhile examining this point. We are saved by the grace of God through our faith in Yshua the Masiach, and the faith itself is a gift from God. So it is clear we can do nothing to gain any kind of worthiness. Having said that, a view is that only those walking in the light, which means living a life of obedience, can be described as good children and hence receive good gifts from God. If we are not receiving the good gifts, then we should examine what we are doing wrong. Before jumping in accusation that this is a kind of prosperity gospel, we should be looking inwardly at ourselves. We are told to examine ourselves and correct any wrongs. These may be unforgiveness, anger, lust, and a variety of sins that afflict believers and non-believers alike. Constantly search and correct ourselves, and then ask for the good things according to His will, and the Father will supply and reward His children.

When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father

Matthew 6:6
But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly

God is in the secret place, so when we pray we have to come to Him in that secret place. This is not some place that can contain God, because God cannot be contained in any location, whether it is the Tabernacle, the Temple or our private praying place. Instead, this secret place is where we meet God in the private one to one correspondence with God, where nothing else in the world mattered. Do we know how to get into such a meeting place with God? There is no specific formula but it is generally a quite place with no disruptions so that we can focus on the Lord alone.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John was fully aware of his mission. He followed God and called others to repentance, the exact message that God wanted His people to hear. However, he also realised that repentance is just the start. He knows he himself is a sinner who can only redeemed by grace because he cannot gain worthiness in any way. He then pointed to Messiah, the only One with the solution, and who is mightier than all before Him. Only Messiah  can baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit

This verse can be easily misunderstood at first glance. Firstly it is not saying financially poor people are blessed. Secondly it is also not saying that people who are down and not cheerful are blessed. The poor in spirit means the realization of our own inadequacy to be with God and there is nothing we can do to help ourselves. Having that realization, and then coming to Yshua Lord to receive Him as our only Hope and only Way, are what is meant by poor in spirit. 

And I will give you rest

Matthew 11:28
.... and I will give you rest.

We may be faced with many things from time to time that causes unrest in our body, soul and spirit. If this is allowed to go on undealt with it could damage us physically as well as spiritually. Sometimes we simply can solve the particular problem or sometimes it is us who are stuck at the problem. Only the Lord can give us rest. He may comfort us through the Holy Spirit and / or take us above the problem so we can see things from His point of view instead of ours.

Come to Me

Matthew 11:28
Come to Me

Our Lord is beckoning for us to come to Him. He is ever-present and ever ready to be the supplier of our needs. Yet if we believe we are capable of handling something ourselves, we are likely to handle it alone. On the other hand we may think it is too good to be true to be able to come to the Lord for everything. However, our Lord Yshua do call us to come to Him and surrender our wills and confidence in ourselves. So when we are busy in the middle of something, it is worthwhile to pause and remember His offer.

But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich

Luke 18:23
But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich

 The rich young ruler understood what Jesus said. He also understood what he had to give up. He was totally surprised by what he heard. Clearly his expectations was that since he had fulfilled all of the requirements of the Law, he would be entitled to great rewards. Instead he found out that he had to abandon all his material possessions. Leaving our wealth and material possessions is not a prerequisite to the Kingdom of Heaven. However anything that hinders us, of has a higher priority in our lives than Jesus, those things will hinder us from the Kingdom.

Sell all that you have - and come, follow Me

Luke 18:22-23
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

The young man came to Yshua with full enthusiasm, wondering how he could serve the Lord, given his wealth and possibly his influence. The Lord's instructions to him was simple, yet it is something that cut through the man. He never had imagined that he had to abandon all his wealth. In general, to follow Yshua, it does not require all of us to sell everything. Various followers of Yshua from His time and later did keep their possessions and served Him well. However, this particular young rich man must have placed all his cares on his wealth and Yshua was trying to how him which is his highest priority. Other things besides wealth may also have a hold on us that will hinder our walk with God.

The sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name

John 10:3
To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

There is a special relationship that a shepherd has with his sheep - they know the sound of the shepherd and will respond to him. The analogy of shepherd-sheep is very accurate in many aspects when it comes to describe the relationship between Yshua Lord and His children. It is not just about doctrinal knowledge or believing in the biography of Lord Yshua. It is the oneness with Yshua that we need to come to. There are a few examples of this that we can see from the Scriptures in the people who have developed this oneness with the Lord, such as Mary the sister of Martha, the twelve disciples, Paul the apostle and so on. We need to know the voice of our Lord when he calls.

You must be born again

John 3:7
You must be born again

As our Lord Yshua explained to Nicodemus, the only way to be part of the Kingdom of God is to be born again. This is a spiritual birth which means that we are willing to die to everything in life including our rights, virtues, religion and receive the new life. It is more than knowing Jesus, we must see Him truly as the sovereign Lord who is in control of everything. It also brings us to a new life of not sinning because we obey God in this. It does not mean we cannot sin but that we receive power and willing to stop sinning.

Do not despise the chastening of the LORD

Hebrews 12:5
My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.

So in this verse we see that the Lord does chastise and discipline His children as part of the correction and sanctification process. Believers need to be aware of this and not attribute certain trials to the enemy. It would be a time of reflection and self-examination, but most of all to come back to the Lord again and seek His will and surrender ourselves.

Do not quench the Holy Spirit

1 Thessalonians 5:19
Do not quench the Holy Spirit

God the Holy Spirit lives inside us. He is known to speak to us in a still gentle voice that some people recognize as our conscience. However, those walking with Yshua will sense His presence in the Holy Spirit. We need to listen and obey and try not to quench the Holy Spirit. There is a danger that the more we disobey, the harder it is to hear His voice and guidance again the next time.

Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

Matthew 8:26 
Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?

When the disciples hear their Master saying that, perhaps they would have felt the sting in that. There are various speculations about this as to whether Jesus was reprimanding them or encouraging them that even a little faith is enough. The fact is that their faith was little. Jesus later showed that with such little faith, great works can still be done. Faith itself requires hope to be put on God. And since God cannot fail, this faith is actually grounded in power.

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven

2 Kings 2:11-12
Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha ... saw him no more.

Elisha has been the disciple of Elijah for some time and he would have experienced the ups and downs with Elijah. He would have seen God's miracles working through Elijah, and may have seen Elijah's moment of frailty. The time came when his leader and mentor was taken away and he had to stand up to take the place of Prophet that he was groomed for. So too it is with us that God prepares us for the appointed time. We should stand prepare and trust God when the responsibility is given to us.

Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good

1 Peter 4:19
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Our Lord Yshua warns us of suffering in the Christian life. Miracles do happen and some of the saints do get saved miraculously while others go through the complete suffering sometime with their lives. No one in their right mind asks for suffering. However, Yshua told us that suffering would come so that we can be prepared and thus accept it as part of being His followers. However to accept suffering is only the first part and it is not so that we can boast of the suffering that we withstand. Instead, as this Scripture shows, the reason to prepare for it is so that we will not be overcome by it, and even more, we can continue to do good, that is God's works.

Father, I thank you that you have heard me

John 11:41
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

Yshua's prayers to His Father is always heard and He knows this. Do we have that kind of confidence in the God that we call Lord? Certainly when we have the Holy Spirit in us, then God hears our prayers. It is thus important that we stay in constant communication to God via the Holy Spirit. As we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, as the Scripture says, and this is by prayer no matter what circumstance we are in.

So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God

Luke 1:35
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 

Mary was chosen for the Son of God to be physically born inside her. Believers in the Son of God, are also chosen to have the Holy Spirit born inside us. Mary's response was a positive acceptance and obedience as she surrendered herself to God's will. So believers too are expected to surrender their wills to the Holy Spirit who lives in us and guides us in our lives. He who lives in us, does not control us, so we can still make mistakes, but to allow ourselves to follow Him would be walking according to God's will.

Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?

Luke 2:46,49
After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

This is one of the few recorded instance of Lord Yshua's childhood. This image may bring thoughts about Yshua the child-wonder, which is not unexpected since He is God in flesh. In more detail, this shows that from an earlier age, He is in touch with God the Father. There is no reason why other young human cannot also have this level of relationship with God. In fact, even for adults, when we are supposed to come to God in a childlike relationship, totally dependent on the Father God. If we haven't got the mindframe of the twelve year old Yshua, we need to ask why not?

In that day you will ask in my name

John 16:26
In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.

Believers in Yshua have been given great confidence that their prayers would be answered, by our Lord Yshua Himself. His name is above all names, and He teaches us to use it when we pray. Although there is a role for intercessors, we can now speak directly to God in the name of Yshua. This does not mean that all our prayers will result in us getting what we want - that is our definition of answered prayer. Whereas God does answer prayers but those answers may not be what our carnal mind wants. Prayer and asking God is an exercise to be at one with God, to be aligned with His will and to abandon ours.

Its meaning was hidden from them

Luke 18:31-34
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

Yshua had explained to this disciples the things that must happen to Him, because that was God's mission and will for Him. It is not because He used complicated words that the disciples did not understand. They most likely not understand because Yshua was describing His own defeat, rather than victory that Messiah will bring. Yshua's defeat in man's eyes, is victory in God's eyes because by His death on the cross and the Resurrection, He defeated death and saved His people. We cannot understand God if we see things through our own eyes, instead we must simply trust Him that He is Lord and is in full control. It is no wonder He said childlike unquestioning faith is necessary to come to Him.

Jesus took the Twelve aside

Luke 18:31
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them ...

Jesus had chosen twelve men in His ministry. These twelve will be imparted with his teachings and power to spread the news of the Kingdom. We are inclined to think that there are 11 good men and 1 bad man who betrayed our Lord. However, to Yshua, all have fallen short of God's glory. Although we know Judas fell, perhaps others may have fell or chosen to follow their own wills too. God did not choose the men because they were good, but rather all twelve of them were willing to follow Him. People cannot become Christians because they have some useful abilities, rather they know their moral poverty - poor in spirit - hence willing to be led by Yshua Ha Masiach.

Everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled

Luke 18:31
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 

Our Lord Yshua had a very focussed mission. From start to finish he knew what He was going to do. However, He always had time for other requests that came up throughout His ministry. Nevertheless, as He reminded His disciples, His mission had already been written by the prophets hundreds of years before. For us today, even though we have a will to choose, God has plans to accomplish His will. We can surrender our wills, just as we surrender ourselves to Lord Yshua and be part of God's will, or we can follow our own course totally separate to God's will. It may be worthwhile noting that those close to Him, will be compelled to follow Him by the Holy Spirit.

But take heart! I have overcome the world

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In various parts of the Revelation, we are urged to be overcomers and that our Lord overcame by His blood. For us to overcome, there must be some obstacles. This is true to the very present day where Christians in many parts of the world are struggling. As an example, the province of which used to be ancient Nineveh, is once again under threat and its Christians residents are physically persecuted (http://www.news.com.au/world/tales-of-terror-and-destruction-emerge-as-jihadist-militants-target-christians-and-those-they-regard-as-heretics-in-iraqs-city-of-mosul/story-fndir2ev-1227008268641). The threat and dangers are real. Many have fled. We are called to overcome but also to exercise wisdom, as David himself fled Saul. More so, we need to overcome the evil spiritual forces which has increased its activities.