{"id":25141,"date":"2015-03-31T00:20:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T04:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=25141"},"modified":"2015-03-28T22:17:16","modified_gmt":"2015-03-29T02:17:16","slug":"the-map-to-salvation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/31\/the-map-to-salvation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Map to Salvation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM<\/em><\/strong>\u2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I AM<\/strong> The Light of the World
\nI AM<\/strong> The Bread of Life
\nI AM<\/strong> The Door <\/em><\/span>
\nI AM<\/strong> The Good Shepherd
\nI AM<\/strong> The True Vine <\/em><\/span>
\nI AM<\/strong> The Way, The Truth, and The Life<\/em><\/span>
\nI AM<\/strong> The Resurrection and The Life<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him<\/em> blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus\u2019 revelation of Himself as I AM<\/em><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus\u2019 sacrifice\u2014His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death\u2026and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead. \u00a0We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them. \u00a0And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 *<\/span><\/p>\n

Thomas said to Him, \u201cLord, we don\u2019t know where You are going, <\/span>
\nso how can we know the way?\u201d<\/span>
\nJesus answered, \u201cI AM<\/strong> the Way and the Truth and the<\/em> Life<\/em>. <\/span>
\nNo one comes to the Father except through Me. <\/span>
\nIf you really know Me, you will know My Father as well. <\/span>
\nFrom now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.\u201d <\/span>
\nJohn 14:5-7<\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever been given directions on how to get somewhere? \u00a0I have, and sometimes they are hard to follow. \u00a0I get lost just trying to follow the GPS on my husband\u2019s phone. \u00a0If I don\u2019t know the area, I will get lost with the simplest of directions. \u00a0I have to have landmarks; they help me know exactly where I am going. \u00a0If you give me directions, make sure to give me landmarks, too, to look for while I am driving.<\/p>\n

I must know the way if I am going to get where I am going. \u00a0Here on Earth, directions can be very confusing. \u00a0Directions can especially be confusing when landmarks are similar, or the person giving them can confuse me if they start describing landmarks or road names when I have never been in the area. \u00a0It is probably this way for a lot of people.<\/p>\n

Yet, when it comes to eternal life, we have a great road map for directions! \u00a0Jesus gave us this road map when He spent His last moments before the Crucifixion with His disciples. \u00a0He told them that He<\/strong> is the way<\/strong> <\/em><\/span>to God. \u00a0He<\/span><\/strong> is<\/span> the truth<\/em><\/span><\/strong> from God. \u00a0Jesus brought God\u2019s truth to us and gave us life<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n

And he said to him, \u2018Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
\nIt was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive;
\nhe was lost, and is found.
\nLuke 15:31-32<\/p>\n

Remember the parable of the prodigal son? \u00a0We are the prodigal sons and daughters of God. \u00a0Just like the prodigal son in Jesus\u2019s parable, we have wandered away…thinking that we know what is best for ourselves. \u00a0And we mess up. \u00a0We sin. \u00a0We get away from God.<\/p>\n

When we finally hit rock bottom, we come back. \u00a0We are like the prodigal son who goes looking for his father\u2019s help. \u00a0We seek our Father\u2019s (God\u2019s) help in turning our life around. \u00a0Jesus told us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life<\/span><\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0By accepting Him, we are reconciled with God and given a new life. \u00a0God rejoices when we come back to the True Way<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0We were once lost, but now we are found.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0 \u2665 \u00a0 ~\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u271e\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0 ~ \u00a0 * <\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the way back to You. \u00a0Thank You for the truth and the eternal life that became ours when Jesus sacrificed Himself on the Cross. \u00a0Without it we would be forever lost. \u00a0We rejoice when we find you again and You rejoice as well. \u00a0In Jesus’ name, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM\u2026 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":13840,"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":[3020],"tags":[3367,425,8660,8659,3062,8658,3211,6444,3174],"class_list":["post-25141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-i-am-the-way-the-truth-the-life","tag-jesus-is-the-way-the-truth-the-life","tag-john-14","tag-john-145-7","tag-laura-pattillo","tag-luke-1531-32","tag-seeking-him-devotional","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6xv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25141","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\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25141"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25191,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25141\/revisions\/25191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}