Getting to Know the Saviour

“Jesus replied, ‘all who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them and we will come and make our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love Me will not obey Me. And remember, My words are not My own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent Me. I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as My representative; that is, the Holy Spirit; He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift; peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved Me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, Who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.’” (John 14:23-29) (Also read Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelations 21:22 to 22:5; John 5:1-9) One of America’s great literary geniuses was Ernest Hemingway. Those who know of him and have read his books know that he wrote and lived in a rugged and quite earthy way. He was a tough guy, a big-game hunter, a bullfighter, a world traveller, a drinker who boasted that he could drink all others around him under the table. He was married four times and lived without a great deal of moral restraint. Hemingway would be too many in our day an example of life lived at its best. Yet on a Sunday morning, July 2, 1961, in his home in the little town of Ketchum, Idaho, he pulverized his head with a shotgun blast. What went wrong? No one can know for sure. But surely our hearts anguish for the pain that persons in such a mind-set endure. And perhaps there is no easy answer or quick fix to the emotional and spiritual maladies that press hard upon us; but we can hold fast to the promise of the gospel that YAHVEH loves all people and that a love relationship with YAHVEH through HaMashiach opens up new resources for the best of living that often we pass by.

I.) It is the relationship that defines our roles as Christians. Yeshua did say, “Come follow me.” But He never called us to follow Him blindly. He called us to follow Him in relationship. As we follow Him closely, we naturally pick up His character, His strength and His directions for life. The words discipleand rabbiwere not unknown to Jerusalem in the first century. Yeshua wasn’t the first to use them. In fact, two major Jewish schools were active during the days of Yeshua, the school of Hillel and that of Shammai. Both masters were called rabbi and their followers were called disciples. The disciples of Hillel and Shammai walked with their master as he taught. They listened, asked questions and communed with him. In essence, they developed a relationship with him. All good educators to this day know that more is taught and learned, through developing of personal relationships than through any of the modern sophisticated teaching methods. Person to person is what matters. We then, are called Christians because we are followers of HaMashiach. He is our “rabbi,” our teacher; we are His “disciples,” His learners. What is most important to us is the building of relationship with Him. That matters most. We don’t follow HaMashiach because of codes of conduct. We follow Him because He is our dearest friend. I follow Him because I am His and He is mine.

II.) Relationship is the clue to fullness of life. Let me ask this question: How much time do we give to doing things for YAHVEH as opposed to time we give getting to know YAHVEH? Do you see the distinction? It is one thing to do things for YAHVEH; it’s another to get to know Him. In our world that is so rushed, we find ourselves doing more and relating less. It is in relationship with YAHVEH that we discover comfort in the worst of times. That’s what the text out of John 14 declares. A word of comfort was important to the first disciples. They had followed Him for three years and witnessed the wonder of His mighty deeds and the splendour of His teachings. They had given their all for Him, had left their nets and followed Him. Suddenly, He said, “I’m going to leave you.” “Leave! What do you mean?” they questioned. They still didn’t understand about His coming death. So He explained: “I am going to leave, but what I am going to leave you with is better than anything you have ever imagined. I’m going to leave you the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and He will teach you all things.” And then and there, a principle was stated that had been in place for all the ages, but came to fulfilment in HaMashiach: “I’ll be with you through My Spirit. And I will never again leave you. My Spirit will guide you, even when the toughest times come.” Those Christians needed that word of encouragement; and so do we. That has also been the testimony of many of you. This is not just theory. It is reality. Many of you have told me time and again that there have been times in your lives when you didn’t know what tomorrow would bring and how you would stand in it. But when life got to its most difficult level, you found an inner strength you didn’t know existed. Someone has said that it’s not until we sink to rock bottom that we then discover we are standing on the Rock of Ages. That strength is the Spirit of YAHVEH.