And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one

John 17:22
And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one

Personality is a mark of our inner spiritual man. It is that which is exposed outside reflection the person deep inside. When we are at one with God, Jesus is an example of this, our personality would be a reflection of the personality of God. Such a person would think of themselves, not as individuals, but as one in unity with God. This transformation will happen when we surrender to the Holy Spirit and be guided by Him.

If you love me, keep My commandments

John 14:15
If you love me, keep My commandments

God never forces us to obey. From the Old Testament times, He presented His people with clear choices: obedience leads to blessings, disobedience leads to curses. God does not have to actively curse us, all He needs is withold His favour and this cursed world will have its effect on us. Jesus too usually begins His sayings with "if". The choice is still ours. However, if we belong to Him, we will be doing the right thing, and if we disobeyed and belong to Him, then we will feel rotten about it.

If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain

Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief;[d] for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

In our initial walk with God, our little faith can more often been rewarded by confirmation from God. As we mature, God expects us to walk in stronger faith with Him and no longer need Him to show miraculous things. There will be trials of faith where we are put to the tests, and then there is also ordinary life itself which is usually a challenge to our faith because the natural world is different from God's world. Job is a good example of strength in faith - Job 13:15 - though He slay me, yet I will trust Him.

As the Father has sent Me, I also send you

John 20:21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

Missionary work is about obeying Jesus because He is the one who send us. He goes behind all those who carry out the work of God. It is important to be mindful that we are working for Jesus, and not about how successful we can win souls. It requires childlike obedience in general to follow the Lord and doing His work is no different. No matter how urgent the needs of others are, we cannot afford to forget the Lord.

My kingdom is not of this world

John 18:36
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Our Lord Yshua explained that His kingdom is not of this world. In fact, His first coming was not to replace the earthly kingdom as many had hoped. Instead the Kingdom that He talked about would reside in the hearts of His believers. It is only through the change of hearts that Yshua could raise up His Kingdom. It is also an invitation to be part of His Kingdom because the alternative would come after Judgment, where there would be no more chance to enter into His Kingdom.

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth

Matthew 28:18-19
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

To obey and go on the mission directed by God, requires us to have Him always in mind. Namely, we must remember that we will be going in His Authority and since He is Sovereign, this is very powerful indeed. To know His authority, we need to know Him more ourselves, we need to be close to our Lord Yshua. One way of doing this is to abide in Him, that is to live according to His words and become a living witness to others.

And Enoch walked with God

Genesis 5:24
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Believers are called to walk with God. This can only be done with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is not easy for our natural self to walk with God, but it is not impossible otherwise God would not have asked us to do so. A perfect example we can look to is Jesus Himself. As he taught us the secret, He only does what He hears the Father telling Him to do and not do the things the Father did not tell Him to do.

He stayed two more days in the place where He was

John 11:6
So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.

In this passage, it appears that Jesus did not answer the request to come and save Lazarus in time. In fact it seemed that Jesus did not answer the request, and when He did come it was too late. We may have the same feeling when God is silent to our prayers. In this passage, Jesus went later and resurrected Lazarus, and it was all part of God's perfect timing. So God have reasons to remain silent to our prayers. Sometimes silent itself is the answer. Again, it is a challenge for us to keep the faith and even rejoice when we don't see any actions from God, because God has indeed answered.

He was transfigured before them

Mark 9:2
Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.

The supernatural experience of the Transfiguration may be the high point for anyone who experienced it. A commentator said that God will never allow us to stay there - that is equally true. Such wonderful experience may be a good faith and confidence booster, but it does not directly benefit anyone else. God will give good things to His children, but He also wants His children to feed His sheep. So God may empower us from time to time, but we are to live mostly through the natural world, with all its flaws, and bring the Good News to others.

whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven

Mark 10:21
1 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”

This passage about the rich young ruler is not about wealth. It is also not about holiness and sanctification, as the young man has lived an almost perfect moral life. Jesus saw that there was something holding the man back. He offered him a choice to make, there was still a chance he might change. However, the man admitted defeat and did not turn toward Jesus for help. Jesus wanted the man to come to Him, depend on Him and surrender to Him, He was not looking for perfection in the man. It mentioned that Jesus looked at the man and loved Him, He did not turn the young man away.

I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

John 17:4
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do

Jesus has surrendered His will to His Father. We are called to do the same thing to God. Surrendering our wills involve a willful surrender on our own. It is not sometime that God will force onto us. When we come to that time when we happily surrender our wills, then we can be fully made use of by God. It is then that we become united with Jesus.

Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask"

Matthew 20:22
Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask"


Sometimes we may not understand God's response or the lack of it. We may be praying and things do not seem to come our way. Or that we may find things not changing and we are struggling with the same life. On these occassions, it is all the more important to hang on in there and trust in God. Never lose sight or faith in Him.

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water

John 7:38
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

This verse is more than a description of the blessings that will come to the believer. It focuses on the blessing the believer will become for others because out of him, water will flow to provide for other people's needs. This is when God makes us to become like Himself, just like He has poured and emptied Himself for the people and continuously get refreshed again. So we too are being molded in that fashion to enable us to sacrifice ourselves for others' sake.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.