Author: Larry Grays

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

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THE WAY HOME TO THE FATHER

 

Anonymous writer, about an American tourist’s visit to the 19th-century Polish rabbi Hofetz Chaim: Astonished to see that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench, the tourist asked, “Rabbi, where is your furniture?” “Where is yours?” replied the rabbi. “Mine?” asked the puzzled American. “But I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through.” “So am I,” said Hofetz Chaim. (Christopher News Notes)

 

Jesus told the disciples that He was going to prepare a home in heaven with God the Father for all of His followers. This world is not the final destination for Christians. We are simply passing through. To “come to the Father” is to finally enter God’s heavenly kingdom.

 

Reflection

The Message paraphrases John 14:2 and says, “There is plenty of room for you in My Father’s home.” Is there anything that would change in your life if you treated this life as your temporary residence and heaven as your true home?

 

Prayer

Thank God for inviting you into His home in heaven. Ask God to show you areas of your life where you may be clinging too much to this world.

 

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Dr. Larry Grays is the father of four and lives in the Canton area. Larry consults with churches, schools, city governments, and businesses nationwide. He’s been a member of the NorthStar family for over 20 years.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

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THE WAY TO LIFE

 

Deep inside every person, there is a yearning for something more. In Greek mythology, King Tantalus was punished in the underworld by being chained in a lake. Its waters reached to his chin but receded whenever he bent down to satisfy his burning thirst. Over his head were branches laden with choice fruit, but they immediately withdrew whenever he reached upward to satisfy his hunger. A symbol of utter frustration, his name is immortalized in the English word “tantalize.” King Tantalus is the perfect illustration of the way people feel about life apart from Christ. We all feel like happiness, satisfaction, peace, joy, and acceptance is so close, but we can never seem to reach it. (Bruce Goettsche)

 

Just as spiritual death leads to separation from God, so spiritual life implies connection with Him. We are spiritually dead without Jesus. We become alive when we surrender ourselves to Jesus. John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”

 

Reflection

Jesus did not come to make bad men good. Jesus came to make dead men alive. When do you think you went from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive in Christ?

 

Prayer

Thank God for giving you spiritual life and eternal life in heaven through Jesus. Ask God to help you experience the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10.

 

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Dr. Larry Grays is the father of four and lives in the Canton area. Larry consults with churches, schools, city governments, and businesses nationwide. He’s been a member of the NorthStar family for over 20 years.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

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THE WAY TO THE TRUTH

 

Do you remember that scene from A Few Good Men when Tom Cruise told Jack Nicholson he wanted the truth? Jack Nicholson responded to Tom Cruise by saying, “You can’t handle the truth!”

In John 14, the disciples wanted to know the truth. Jesus tells them that He is the truth. In this context, He means not only that He is dependable, but also that He Himself is the only true way of salvation (Leon Morris). Truth is a representation of things as they are. The life, the purity, and the teaching of Jesus Christ was the most complete and perfect representation of the things of the eternal world that has been or can be presented to man.

 

Reflection

Many people today can’t handle the truth. Mike shared four falsehoods some believe about God and Heaven:

1) Everyone goes to a better place when they die.

2) God grades on a curve.

3) As long as we are sincere, any spiritual path works.

4) A God of love wouldn’t keep anyone out of Heaven.

Which of these falsehoods have you been tempted to believe? What did Mike share that answered that falsehood?

 

Prayer

Thank God for opening your eyes to see the truth of God revealed in His Son Jesus. Pray for God to open the eyes of people in your life who are still believing lies about God.

 

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Dr. Larry Grays is the father of four and lives in the Canton area. Larry consults with churches, schools, city governments, and businesses nationwide. He’s been a member of the NorthStar family for over 20 years.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 (ESV)

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THE WAY HOME

 

A missionary hired a guide to take him across a vast desert. When they arrived at the edge of the desert, the missionary saw trackless sands without a single footprint or road of any kind before him. He asked his guide with a tone of surprise, “Where is the road?” With a reproving glance, the guide replied, “I am the road.” Jesus is the way to heaven. We must trust Him to take us there.

The word “way” is emphasized by being repeated in John 14:4, 5, and 6; it refers to the way to heaven and the Father. Significantly, Jesus doesn’t say, “I know the way to heaven and can point you to it.” Rather, He says, “I am the way.” Jesus makes plain that He, and He alone, is the path to God. One must travel the road named Jesus to find their way to God. Jesus is the access to the Father, the highway to heaven.

 

Reflection

What were you taught growing up was the way to heaven? When did you first realize that Jesus is the only way to heaven?

 

Prayer

Thank God for showing you the way to heaven through Jesus. Pray for your friends and family members who have yet to accept Jesus as the way to heaven to be saved.

 

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Dr. Larry Grays is the father of four and lives in the Canton area. Larry consults with churches, schools, city governments, and businesses nationwide. He’s been a member of the NorthStar family for over 20 years.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 14:5 (ESV)

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THE WAY HOME: A GOOD QUESTION

 

Billy Graham once told about a time in a small town when he asked a boy how to get to the post office. After getting directions, Mr. Graham invited him to come to his Crusade that evening. “You can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven,” he told the boy. The boy’s response? “I don’t think I’ll be there. You don’t even know your way to the post office.” (The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham by Harold Myra)

 

In John 14, Jesus has just told the disciples that He was going home to heaven to prepare a place for them. The disciple Thomas asks a good question. Thomas asked how they could know the way home to heaven. It’s a question that most of us have asked at one time or another. In a very short time, life for the disciples would fall in. Their world was going to collapse in chaos around them. Jesus knew the answer to that question was going to be a vital source of hope for them in the near future.

 

Reflection

If someone were to ask you how can you know you are going to heaven when you die, how would you respond?

 

Prayer

Thank God that Christmas is about Jesus answering the question of how we can get home to heaven. Ask God to help you share the hope of Christmas with someone who needs to hear.

 

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Dr. Larry Grays is the father of four and lives in the Canton area. Larry consults with churches, schools, city governments, and businesses nationwide. He’s been a member of the NorthStar family for over 20 years.