{"id":13648,"date":"2013-07-31T01:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T05:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=13648"},"modified":"2013-07-30T23:22:33","modified_gmt":"2013-07-31T03:22:33","slug":"i-am-chapter-4-day-3-i-am-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/31\/i-am-chapter-4-day-3-i-am-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"“I AM” Chapter 4 – Day 3: I AM The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"John15_11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

\u201cI AM THE WAY\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0 is a bold<\/em> statement. \u00a0It\u2019s an exclusive<\/em> statement and an inclusive<\/em> statement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0These three words have powerful meanings:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Bold<\/strong> ~ \u00a0assured, confident<\/p>\n

Exclusive<\/strong> ~ the only one<\/p>\n

Inclusive<\/strong> ~ covers all cost<\/p>\n

\u00a0The definition of \u201cThe Way\u201d ~ \u201can opening for passage\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do you see it? <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

We have a definite and planned path to get to the \u201cI AM.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

John 14:6<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.\u00a0 No one comes to the Father except through Me.”<\/p>\n

The Bible does not<\/b> teach, \u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave the world many ways to himself<\/i><\/b>.\u201d\u00a0 What does John 3:16 say?<\/p>\n

John 3:16<\/i><\/b> “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever <\/i>(that\u2019s the INCLUSIVE PART) \u00a0believes in Him <\/i>(that\u2019s the EXCLUSIVE part) should not perish but have everlasting life.<\/i><\/p>\n

When Jesus uses the phrase, \u201cI AM<\/strong>,\u201d in Exodus 3:14<\/strong> He is claiming the name for Himself. He is announcing Himself to us as the One who has come to fulfill His covenant and keep His promise.<\/p>\n

When Jesus uses the word \u201cI\u201d in John 14:6<\/strong>, \u00a0He declares Himself to be the embodiment of \u201cThe Way.”\u00a0\u00a0His planned path is wrapped up in a person.<\/p>\n

\n

Without the way there is no going<\/i><\/p>\n

Without the truth there is no knowing<\/i><\/p>\n

Without the life there is no living<\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

People are always challenging this verse from the Bible, but this verse will help us to see God has bridged the gap between man and God and Jesus is the one who succeeded in making this bridge the reality for each of us.\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s look a little carefully at the statements in this verse:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \u00a0I Am The Way<\/i><\/b> ~ this statement is not saying He is showing us the way, but that He is the way, He is the journey, He is the opening of the passage, He is the way for us to God, He spans the distance between sinners and God.\u00a0 When we are all alone, or lost in our daily path we walk, we must remember Jesus is the path<\/em>. Jesus spells it out so that there can be no mistake of how we get to Him. No one<\/b> comes to the Father except through Him. No matter how important we think we are. No matter how religious or spiritual we are. No matter how many followers or friends we have, or how many people we have influenced. No matter how good or kind we are. \u00a0No matter how devoted we are. No matter how genuine we are. \u00a0Everyone who rejects Jesus Christ cannot come to God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      \n
    • I Am The Truth<\/i><\/b> ~ <\/i>the Bible teaches that truth is not just something that is simply intellectual; it also has a moral dimension to it. John 3:21a<\/strong> refers to doing the truth: \u201cBut whoever lives by the truth comes into the light\u2026\u201d Jesus reveals God and exposes guilty people. Hebrews 13:8<\/strong> states: \u201cJesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Do you remember that scene from \u201cA Few Good Men\u201d when Jack Nicholson said to Tom Cruise, \u201cYou can\u2019t handle the truth?\u201d Well what about it? Can we handle the truth?<\/strong>\u00a0 Let\u2019s not run away from what is right in front of us!<\/p>\n

      Pilate voiced the question on many minds today. Even though Jesus was standing right in front of Him, he asked in John 18:38<\/strong>: \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d He didn\u2019t take the time to find out.\u00a0 We will find what we are looking for in Christ as John 8:32<\/strong> declares: \u201cThen you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.\u201d<\/p>\n

        \n
      • I Am The Life<\/i><\/b> ~ the Bible describes life in Genesis 2:7<\/strong> as \u201cbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life.\u201d\u00a0 God Himself gave life when He formed man and breathed life into him and He gave us life again when He gave us His Son to die for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0 In simple words God gave us His Life, then and<\/strong><\/em> today. We would be dead without His Life. We become alive when we surrender ourselves to Him. John 5:24<\/strong> says : \u201cI tell you the truth, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.\u201d\u00a0 Since Jesus is life, we will only find meaning when we commit to His Lordship. John 1:4<\/strong> says: \u201cIn Him was life, and that life was the light of men.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        BOLD<\/b> ~ Acts 4:12<\/strong>: \u201cSalvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

        Jesus is bold all throughout Scripture that He is the only way to the Father, to heaven.\u00a0 Are we being bold enough with others in our daily walk to teach them the same, or are we holding back from telling others of this truth and giving them the same opportunity to knowing who \u201cThe Way\u201d is?<\/p>\n

        EXCLUSIVE<\/b> ~ 1 Timothy 2:5-6<\/strong>: \u201cFor there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all to be testified in due time\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

        Jesus is exclusive all throughout Scripture sharing truths of Him being the only One, the only Way to Him. \u00a0He is the only God who is not still in a tomb!<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0He arose and is waiting for us.\u00a0 Have we shared these truths with others or are we allowing them to somehow think there are other ways to heaven?<\/p>\n

        INCLUSIVE <\/b>~ <\/i>John 6:37<\/strong> states: \u201cAll those the Father gives me, will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

        Jesus is inclusive all throughout Scripture describing to us that He covered the cost of salvation for us and all we have to do is say \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

        Dr. David Jeremiah stated in one of his devotions: <\/i>How did Jesus provide the way, truth, and life? Did He just say the words and walk away to do something else? No. He backed up what He said, He made good on His words by acting on them. He gave His own life on the Cross. \u00a0He died on Calvary\u2019s tree to provide us the way, the truth, and the life. To not accept Jesus on this very point is to declare (I\u2019m afraid), \u201cJesus, you can\u2019t be trusted,\u201d or even worse, \u201cJesus, you\u2019re not telling the truth.\u201d By God\u2019s grace and goodness, we know better than that.<\/p>\n

        With the answer to this verse now explained you may be asking “How do I get to \u201cthe way, the truth and the life?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s simple: \u00a0Romans 10:9-10<\/strong> says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.<\/i> \u00a0So confess, believe and receive today!<\/p>\n

        **********<\/p>\n

        Let\u2019s Pray:<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

        Dear Lord, I pray for every person who has read Your Word and this lesson and I lift them to You right now asking You to speak boldly to the hearts of the ones who may have never received You as Savior and open their eyes to this new truth they just learned today; that You are \u201cThe Way, The Truth and The Life” and the only way to You is through You.\u00a0\u00a0 Help them to say yes to You today, Lord, and receive the best gift ever given. \u00a0Help the ones who are already believers in You to share this same truth with the world and bring new souls to Your kingdom. \u00a0We know better —so let\u2019s show it better, in Your name I pray.<\/p>\n

        AMEN!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        ______________________________ \u201cI AM THE WAY\u201d\u00a0 is a bold statement. \u00a0It\u2019s an exclusive statement and an inclusive statement. \u00a0These three words have powerful meanings: Bold ~ \u00a0assured, confident Exclusive ~ the only one Inclusive ~ covers all cost \u00a0The definition of \u201cThe Way\u201d ~ \u201can opening for passage\u201d Do you see it? We have a definite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[3063,141,1695,3058,3069,1420,425,3067,2808,3059,3073,3062,561,3050,3066,566,3060,3061,3064,1587,607,723,3072,1052,1085,3056,1135],"class_list":["post-13648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-womens","tag-1-tim-25-6","tag-beverly-mccormick","tag-bold","tag-exclusive","tag-exodus-314","tag-genesis-27","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-heb-138","tag-i-am","tag-inclusive","tag-jesus-is-the-way","tag-john-14","tag-john-146","tag-john-1511","tag-john-1838","tag-john-316","tag-john-321","tag-john-524","tag-john-637","tag-john-832","tag-life","tag-online-bible-studies","tag-romans-10-9-10","tag-teresa-bolme","tag-truth","tag-way","tag-womens-bible-studies","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3y8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13648"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13717,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13648\/revisions\/13717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}