Faith Working By Love

Jas 2:14-17, What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 1 John 3:17&18, But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Gal 5:6, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. Faith works by love. So, if you have the love of God in you, your faith will be working the good works that the Lord is leading you to do by His Spirit. When you see a person in need, you will ask the Father, “What do you want me to do?”, and He will lead you by His spirit to minister to that person. If you just feel sorry for someone, or for a certain cause, and you give money, or do something to help that God is not leading you to do, it is not love, and it may end up making things worse for that person, or you may end up being robbed of resources that God wants you to use for someone or something else. So you have compassion and you do good works, but only according to what the Lord is leading you

to do. Many times, as Jesus walked along, He had compassion on people in need and He ministered to them, but it was always as He saw His Father doing. He said , I only do what I see my Father doing. He said, It’s the Father in Me doing the works. The Father loves people so much that He sent His beloved Son Jesus to die for us on that brutal Cross, and only He knows what a person really needs, as He is working in their life to bring them to His Son and deliver them and change their heart, and conform them to the image of His Son so that they may glorify Him and be blessed throughout all eternity. He is the one who chooses to have mercy on a person or to harden them, and all His ways are true and just. So, you see, it is not really love for a person if we feel sorry for them and do what we think they need, and not seek the Lord first for His guidance. If we follow the Lord, then it will be a blessing. Jesus walked past the lame man who was set at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple to ask for alms, probably many times as He was entering the Temple. When He saw the man, I am sure He felt compassion for him, but I am also sure that it was not the Father’s will for Jesus to heal him then, because it was His will to save over 3000 people later on by healing that man through Peter and John, and having Peter preach boldly to them in the name of Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. Peter wasn't ready yet. The Holy Spirit had not been poured out yet. So, if the Lord tells you “No”, when you want to help someone, just pray for them and trust that the Father’s will is for their good. God is able to bring people across your path for you to help, and He will show you what to do as you trust Him. If you’re not helping anyone, then you probably need to check your heart to see if you have any faith and love in there. If you have faith, and the love of God in you, you will be doing good works. The Lord will be leading you. If you really love Him, then you only want to do what He wants you to do, and if you really have love and compassion for other people then you will only want to do His will for them, and when He shows you, you will do so cheerfully, with faith and love. Jas 4:17, Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 

 Will You Love Him?

Greetings in the name of Jesus ! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. I count it a great honor and a great joy to do this program, and my whole desire is to honor God and to edify you.  Today’s program is called Will You Love Him? Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1-10, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. 1 John 2:1-6, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Verse 15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Chapter 2, verse 6, He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Jesus said, I only say what I hear My Father saying, and I only do what I see My Father doing. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit every day and every night; He yielded to the Holy Spirit to do the Father’s will, even in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He wrestled in prayer with His flesh  and with the powers of darkness seeking to keep Him from completing the work of our salvation which the Father sent Him to accomplish. God is not asking us to do something we cannot do: the essential thing is the love of God. Verse 5 of chapter 2,  But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. Jesus loves the Father, and it was His love for the Father, and His love for us that enabled Him to go through the suffering of the Cross. It also enabled Him to overcome all the sin, and all the powers of darkness set against Him. The only way that we are going to be able to fulfill 1 John 2:5&6 is through the love of God.

First we must believe the love that God has for us. Let’s turn to John 3:16&17, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. When He says the world, He means every person in the world. You can see that where He says, “whoever believes in Him”; those are individual people that believe in Jesus. So, God so loved every person in the world!, that He gave His only begotten Son. If you just think about it: He created us; He loves us! He formed us in our mothers’ wombs. We did not exist until He created us! He so loved us, that He gave His only begotten, beloved Son to suffer for us, that whoever of us will believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Let’s go back to 1 John 4:9-21, In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. 1 John 3:13-24, Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. I’m reminded that Jesus said, Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends. And He said, You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. Jesus said, He that loves Me keeps my sayings. He said, If you keep my commandments you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. He said, if we abide in Him; He is the vine and we are the branches, and His Word abides in us, then we will bring forth much fruit. He said, He is the vine, and the Father is the vine-dresser, and every branch in Him that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Jesus said, Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in Me. Going back to John 3:17-21, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. Going back to 1 John 2:15-17, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 

Light is come into the world! God is light, and He sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved. If we will come to the light, if we will come to Jesus and walk with Him, if we will keep His Words and walk in the light, if we will love Him and continue with Him, abiding in Him, and if we will love one another, we will overcome the darkness, and we will bring forth good fruit that remains to the glory of God the Father. If we don’t care about these things; if we don’t love the Father, but rather, we love ourselves, our pleasures and our money: the things of the world, the things of this life; if we don’t love one another; if we don’t come to the light, we will be overtaken by the powers of darkness that are against us, and we will never overcome. In 2 Tim 3:1-5 , it is written, But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! This is the way that the Apostle Paul said it would be in the last days. If we will not come to the light, we will be overtaken by the darkness and we will never overcome. We will be condemned with the goats, weeping and gnashing our teeth, as we are cast into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. This is the truth! Don’t just shrug this off ! Choose this day whom you will serve!

Humble yourself before the great and mighty God, who is able to save you to the uttermost if you will come back to Him and put all your trust in Him! Be honest with Him. He already knows everything about you. Confess all your sin to Him, and turn from it! Confess your lack of love for Him, your rebellion and your witchcrafts. Acknowledge the truth about yourself now! Don’t be deceived! We will all give an account to Jesus, and He has clearly promised that He is going to give unto every one of us according to our works. If you want to change, and you will come to Him, with godly sorrow, confessing your faults to Him: He is merciful! Joel 2:12-14, Now, therefore, says the Lord, Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him—a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 

Will you love Him? Do you really understand how much He loves you? Will you come to Him and give yourself to Him to serve Him for the rest of your life, and keep His commandments which are not burdensome? Will you commit to Him to serve Him and His people from now on, and not yourself and your desires and your will anymore? As I have said before, God would be unjust to require us to be holy if that was impossible. If you will love Him, you can do it! If you will separate yourself from all the unclean things in your life, the things that don’t please him, you can do it! If you won’t separate from them; if you keep on loving your idols and unclean things; worldly, carnal things, then you will remain in the darkness, and you won’t have true fellowship with the Father and Jesus, and your brothers and sisters. And ultimately, if you won’t repent; for God is graciously giving you space to repent, you will be cut off and cast into the fire. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God! Remember, He has already proven His love for us through the gift of His beloved Son Jesus to suffer for us on the Cross, and it has not even entered into the heart of man: the things that God has prepared for those that love Him.

 Do You Not Know?

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is entitled Do You Not Know?. Let’s turn to 1Cor 6:9-20, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. Verses 15-20, Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For the two, He says, shall become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Rom 6:1-23, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, do we know this?, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves, yield yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, do we know this?,  whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Do we know this? I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 7:1-6, Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Rom 8:1-17, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Do we know this? Do we know that if we walk according to the flesh we are not fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law? For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; do we know this?, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

Let’s turn to 1 John 3:1-10, Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him; do we know this?, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. If you know this, you want this, and you will be going about purifying yourself, by continuing in His Word and prayer, that your body may some day, when Jesus returns, be raised incorruptible, that you may be conformed to His image, to become a part of His own special people, as it is written in Titus 2:11-14, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Verse 4, Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 

Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins, or practices sin, has neither seen Him nor known Him. Do we know this? Do we know that if we will not repent of sin; if we continue in sin, we’ve neither seen Him nor known Him?  Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins, or practices sin, is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested; do we know this?, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin; does not practice sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. That doesn’t say he never sins: In chapter 2, verses 1&2, we read, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. John is not saying, in chapter 3, that a Christian never sins. He’s saying that a Christian, a real disciple of Jesus, a person that loves the Lord, is not going to be practicing sin. When they sin, they are going to be confessing their sins and turning from them. 1Jn 3:10  In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 

Do you not know this? Has the Holy Spirit not been teaching and revealing these things to you, and leading you to walk in them? Do you know that you are dead, and your life is hidden with God in Christ; do you know that?! Do you know that you are dead?, that when you were baptized into Christ, you were baptized into His death, His burial, and His resurrection, and you were raised with Him, justified from all things that the Law could not justify you from? That by His shed Blood you have been redeemed, hallelujah!; you’ve been delivered from all the authority and power of darkness, and you’ve been raised with Him, and seated with Him, at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality, dominion, and might, and every name that is named, Do you know this? Or is it….scripture…. Do you know this? Do you have revelation of these Words? Have they been revealed to you by the Holy Spirit? Are you walking in them? Or is this just verses that you can quote?, and you have knowledge of scripture, but are you walking in them?! Is this a part of your life?; is this a part of who you are now, since you’ve been going down the road with Jesus?! Do you know that you are dead, and your life is hidden with God in Christ?

Gal 2:16-20, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. I am crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, do we know this?!, but Christ lives in me. Do you know that you are crucified with Jesus? Do you know that Jesus lives in you? Last week we read John 17, where Jesus prayed to the Father, in verses 20-26, I do not pray for these alone, but for those who will believe in Me through their word: as You Father are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that you sent Me. And the glory which you gave Me, I have given them, that they may be one, just as We are One ! Do we know this?! I in them and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in One, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Do we know this?! Do we know that the Father loves us as He loves Jesus?! Do we know that?!

 Jesus’ Prayer

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called Jesus’ Prayer. Let’s turn to John 17:1-26, we’re going to read through this prayer that Jesus prayed, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your Word. Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the Words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. In verse 6, Jesus said,  I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. And in verse 12 He said, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. So Jesus manifested the Father’s name to the men that God gave Him. In verse 26 He said, And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. Rom 15:6, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Co 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort… 2Co 11:31  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever… 1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Jesus revealed the Father to us; He manifested His name, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He also has made us sons and daughters in Him. He is our Father in Heaven; hallowed is His name: Father, God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is so important to understand that Jesus became the Son of God when He was born of the Virgin Mary; conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit: the Son of the Father. God also became His Father. Let’s look at John 1:1-5, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And if we go to verse 14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Let’s turn to Luke 1:26-38, Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women! But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end. Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. We see clearly in these scriptures that the angel said to Mary, Therefore also that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. You can clearly see that if you are honest. So Jesus became the Son of God. Before this He was the Word, as we read in John 1: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In the beginning was the Word, then the Word, when the Father sent Him, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Amen! So Jesus is the Son of God. He became the Son of God when He was born of the Virgin Mary, and God became His Father. Thank you Lord! 1John 3:1-3,  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. Do you see that? Behold what manner of Love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. That is the key. The Father so loved us, as it says in John chapter 3, that He gave His beloved Son. He sent Jesus to become the Son of God, and Jesus gave Himself to live His life for 33 years, being tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He loved the Father and He did the will of the Father, and He loved us, and He washed us from our sins in His own Blood on the Cross. How could that be? It’s because He lived as a man in the Earth; He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin, as it is written in Hebrews. Therefore He was able to offer Himself a living sacrifice for our sins; a pure sacrifice, acceptable to God, to satisfy God for all the sins of the human race; for all those who will hear that and turn and repent of their own sins, and come to Jesus, and take His yoke upon them, and learn of Him; then they too will become sons and daughters of the living God; baptized into His death; raised into newness of life; Jesus Christ dwelling in us, and us in Him. Through faith in the Gospel, repentance, and water baptism, we are baptized into Jesus’ death and raised with Him into newness of life in Him: a new creature; a son and daughter of God. We have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father. Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying Abba, Father. Wherefore you are no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Since Jesus has revealed the Father to us and declared His name: our Father which is in Heaven, thus we can know the love of our Father, just as He loves His only begotten Son.  

Jesus prayed, when He was praying that prayer, in verse 21,...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us…verse 23,  I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one. The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father. When we repent and truly come to Jesus, believing on Him, He comes to dwell in us. We love Him and the Father. Why do we love them? Because the Father so loved us that He gave His only beloved Son for us to save us from our own destructions; to save us from our sins. God loved us when we did not care at all about Him. He loved us and gave Himself for us; Jesus did. The Bible says, We love Him because He first loved us. So we love Jesus, and the Father, keeping His Words. Jesus said, If you love Me you will keep My Words. And Jesus and the Father are in us, and we are in them, in the love of God, and we are one, walking in the Holy Spirit, doing the will of our Father every day; taking up our cross and denying ourselves, Jesus said, taking up our cross and following Him. They that are led by the Holy Spirit are the sons and daughters of God. Jesus is our Shepherd, and we are His sheep. His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. He will lead us in the paths that are the Father’s will for us to perfect us. All of this works through love. Faith works through love. All of this will come to pass through love. God loved us. He gave His Son for us. We love Him, and we keep His Words. If we ever sin, we go directly to Him immediately, to settle it before Him, because Jesus paid for it with His own sacrifice of Himself; He paid for all of our sins. We can confess our sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us of all that unrighteousness. And we go on, from faith to faith, being purified, being cleansed, and sanctified; conformed more and more to His image. The work that He has begun in us, He will complete it unto the day of salvation, but it all works through love. It doesn’t work through knowledge. Knowledge without love does not work. It’s empty. Faith without love is empty, as we read in 1 Cor 13. So that is the key: It’s for us to understand the love of God: that He so loved us! We need to ask God for a revelation of His love, and that He would deliver us from our religious blinders, that keep us from really understanding how much God loves us.  I just want to repeat that verse that Jesus said in John 17: verse 23, I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

 Glorified Together

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Today’s program is called Glorified Together. Let’s turn to John 14:1-31, These are the Words of Jesus:  Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 

In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. The word “mansions” means dwelling places. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?  Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The Words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit is also called the Comforter. 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. You have heard Me say to you, I am going away and coming back to you. If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, I am going to the Father, for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. Verse 13,... that the Father may be glorified in the Son. The purpose for the works of power that the Lord does through us: verse 12, the works that I do shall he do also; it is Jesus in us doing the works that the Father wills to do through us by the Holy Spirit, just as it was the Father in Jesus doing His works through Him, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Also, in verse 12, Jesus said,... greater works than these shall he do, (greater actually means more, or larger), because I go to My Father, and whatsoever you shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. Verse 20, I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Let’s turn to Acts 4. This is about when Peter and John, and the lame man that was healed at the Temple were standing before the Pharisees, and Peter was speaking to them: verse 8, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the Stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the Chief Cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him this man stands here before you whole. Jesus said, I only do what I see My Father doing; I only say what I hear My Father saying. So it starts with the Father, in Jesus, in us, and us in them, and Jesus does the works through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s turn to 1 John 5:14&15, Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him; not just anything, but always: anything according to His will, because we are in Him, loving Him and always seeking to do His will. In John 14:21, Jesus said, He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. Once again, it is all about the love of God.  In 1 John we read, This is love, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous. We love Jesus as we love the Father, because He first loved us, and gave Himself for us. Therefore we delight to keep His Words, and walk in His Spirit to do His will, walking in His love. Love seeks not his own, but, rather, we will be seeking to glorify the Father, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. We will not be speaking of ourselves, seeking our own glory, but we will be speaking what we hear Jesus saying, and doing what we see Him doing, and God will be honored through us, and He will honor us. We need not seek for men to honor us. We need only seek to honor Him, and He will honor us. How much greater is His honor than the honor of man! Jesus said in John 7:18, He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. It is because of the love of God for us that He gave us His Son. It is because of our love, therefore, for Him that we give ourselves to Him, to be crucified with Him; to die with Him, that we may live with Him, to glorify Him and the Father forever. Rom 11:36, For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Live no more for yourself, but live in Him, for Him, to glorify Him. As we continue in Jesus’ Words, loving Him and loving the Father, Jesus said He would manifest Himself to us; He will show His works, as the Father wills, and both Jesus and us will be glorifying the Father together, and He will honor us. We will be full of joy in His presence, rejoicing to glorify Him, loving Him. How wonderful and glorious is that! So let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us: all the self love and self seeking, and let us run with patience, or cheerful endurance, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God. For if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together with Him.

Let’s turn to 1Peter 4:7-11, But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 

As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. Rom 8:16-18,  The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

Interpretation of a message in tongues:

I am with My children that honor Me; those that honor Me I will honor. I will inhabit them, and they will be in Me, glorifying Me, says the Lord. Look unto Me, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Look unto Me: the author and the finisher of your faith. I endured the Cross because I love you; because I love the Father, and let us glorify the Father together, says the Lord.

Glory, glory, glory to the Lamb

Glory, glory, glory to the Lamb

For you are glorious

And worthy to be praised

The Lamb upon the Throne

And you will reign in righteousness forever

For all them that dwell on the Earth

Glory, glory, glory to the Lamb

Glory, glory, glory to the Lamb

                                                  Brother Steve is on the left.
 Steve Spraker

Today I want to give thanks to God for my Brother in Christ, Steve Spraker. He just went to be with Jesus on January 18th, 2022. I am so thankful for Steve and his wife Barbie. Back in 1976 I was living in Estes Park, CO with my wife, in my mother in law's garage apartment, and Steve and Barbie lived next door to us. We had been living the hippie life for several years, and we were both somewhat discouraged with our experience; I was just beginning to search for something better. Steve and Barbie were Christians who had moved to Estes Park from California to start a work there for the Lord Jesus. They began to pray for our salvation, and they took us to see Billy Graham movies, and they shared the love of God with us. At that time I began reading the Bible, and soon I read the Words of Jesus where He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me. I was so impressed with His Words because I had been listening to many other teachers who claimed they could show me the way, but Jesus said, I am the way! One day, shortly thereafter, I was alone and I prayed to the Lord Jesus and asked Him, What do I do? Jesus gently spoke to my heart and said, Just receive Me. So right there I received Him as my Lord and Savior and I began to follow Him. I believe that Steve and Barbie's prayers really helped me to come to Jesus. I started attending Steve's church and I was soon baptized in water. Later, through a series of circumstances, Steve gave me a book to read about the baptism in the Holy Spirit. After reading that book I asked Jesus to baptize me in the Holy Spirit, and He did! So God used Steve and Barbie, and their prayers and love and counsel to help bring me to His Son. Jesus said, No one can come to Me except My Father draw him. The Father was definitely drawing me to Jesus, and He used them to help me come to Him. So I will always be thankful to my God for Steve, and his wife Barbie. I know that Steve is with the Lord Jesus and the Father, with all His precious saints in Heaven, and I know that I will see him again. I pray that the Lord Jesus will greatly comfort Barbie and her children going forward.

I would like here to quote 1Th 4:13-18,  But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 

in November of 2018 my wife and I were so blessed to spend a little time with them at their home in Florida. I had not seen Steve in over 40 years, and He was so overjoyed to know that I was still following Jesus, as I was to know that he was also still serving the Lord. We had a really blessed time there together. That is when we took the picture above. I had hoped that we could go to Florida again soon and see them, but it has not worked out that way. I know that I will see Steve again, and I look forward to that day. As Steve would say, That will be Hallelujah time!