Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM…
I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door
I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The LifeEach week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM. The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead. We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them. And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.
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So Jesus said again, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you,
that I Myself am the Door for the sheep.
All others who came [as such] before Me are thieves and robbers,
but the [true] sheep did not listen to and obey them.
I AM the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live).
He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have and enjoy life,
and have it in abundance (to the full, till itoverflows).
John 10:7-10 AMP
Another incredible promise that Jesus gave…how grateful and thankful are we?!!? This past week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, our sisters have shared some insight on these words spoken by our Lord. Here are a few highlights from the devotionals that Tina, Laura, Cynda, Ann, and Ahmee wrote to encourage us.
In The Door Is Our Protection, Cynda shared a bit of the enlightenment she received…
“…as I was studying commentaries on this passage, I came across a statement that made me pause. Had I perhaps missed an additional meaning in this Scripture? Had I stopped short without completely understanding the depth of this Scripture?
“In a ‘field’ sheepfold, the shepherd actually laid his body across the entrance, to keep the sheep in and to keep out the wolves.” – David Guzik
I totally get the symbolism that Christ laid down His life for our salvation. But I missed the part about Him being our protection. Christ is there to protect us from the evil one.”
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In The Gate for the Sheep, Ahmee helped us to see the value of each of our differing journeys to salvation.
“Our stories are so different. True, but there is something in common with all our stories—we all said ‘yes!’ to Jesus. There is no other way. So, before the yes, our stories are very different. After the yes, our stories are very different. It is even possible that during the yes, our stories are very different.
The point is, Jesus said that He is the Gate for the sheep. Well, sisters (and brothers) we all walked through that same Gate! Saying this makes me want to high-five each and every one of you. We are ‘in’ because of our Savior. Yay for us! What an awesome feeling it is to have walked through the Gate. Why not bring someone along?”
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In The Door To a New Life, Tina also wrote about salvation….
“As verse 9 states, Jesus wants to give us salvation. All we have to do is ask. Then believe we are forgiven of all of our sins. Change our lives and begin living for God. This changes everything. Believing and developing a trust in God will empower you in every area of your life. You will believe you can speak before a crowd to share your testimony with others. You will be able to tell your story with such conviction and self confidence. You will be proud. ”
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In Re-Entering The Door, Laura encouraged us to recognize that the Door—Jesus—rescues us from distractions of this world.
“However, we can easily reenter that Door when we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Christ opened the door to redemption when He died on the Cross for our sins. He reconciled us to God, so we may have eternal life. A s the children of God, we should pay attention to Jesus and being faithful to Him. We should not listen to a world that has turned away from God. If we turn away from God then we will die a certain death when Judgment Day arrives. All we have to do is see Jesus’ open Door, give up the worldly distractions, and accept Jesus as our Savior. When we cross over the threshold of that Door, we are no longer of this world. ”
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In The Door Gives Access, Ann reminded us of the abundant life available to those who accept Jesus as Lord. (Check out the list of Scriptures she provided for us!)
“Jesus said, ‘I AM The Door’ …what does this imply? He is giving us access to use Him because those who enter through Jesus will be saved—they will have abundant life (verse 10); they will have all they need to be delivered from sin, guilt, condemnation. He is the ONLY Door; none other exists. [These}…verses help us to understand what this Door can do and how it is going to help us. Let us therefore choose deliberately to use this Door which will take us to the highest places. ”
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Have you had the opportunity to read through these blogposts this week? If not, I would encourage you to do so! Our bloggers have made these as well as some other wonderful points to direct us towards Jesus, Who IS The Door to salvation and eternal life.
