Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: John 6

To Believe And Know

To Believe And Know

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But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 

John 6:68-69 

Peter had a clear grasp of truth regarding Christ. In answer to Christ’s question, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ Peter answered with the words of our text. His initial response was the question, ‘Lord to whom shall we go?’ He followed with, ‘You have the words of eternal life.’ Building upon the truth of Christ’s message Peter went on to confess greater truth by saying, ‘Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’  He was declaring both faith and knowledge in Christ as the manifestation of God in human form. Peter understood the meaning of the term Christ, as the Anointed and the term Son of God, as God in the flesh. Thus Peter got down to the root of the whole matter. Regarding eternal life, it is Christ’s Person, work and message that matter. Christ said as much in His High Priestly Prayer when He affirmed, ‘And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.’ The Apostles reiterated it when they preached Christ by saying, ‘Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ We are not communicating a different message than they were. Christ has the words of eternal life and is the resurrection and the life. Like the disciples, this we believe and know.  

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are our Savior, 
and have revealed salvation to us. 
We praise You that You have given us the opportunity 
to proclaim You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The Words Of Life

The Words Of Life

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From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 

John 6:66-68 

Christ speaks the words of eternal life. As He was speaking to the people, earlier in the passage from which our text derives, He said, ‘It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.’  Even though His words were the words of life, ‘many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.’ He asked the twelve if they also wanted to leave. Peter responded with, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ What was true then is true now. Christ still has the words of eternal life. All else that philosophy and religion offers to us pales by contrast to the words of eternal life which Christ utters. We may know what the others are saying and not be ignorant of their assertions, but they can never be the words of eternal life. Therefore we emphasize what Christ has said. This life is fleeting. In a few years we will complete our earthly journey. Now is the hour for us to prepare for what follows. Christ and the words He speaks are what prepares us. There is nowhere else to go to receive the words of eternal life than Christ, Who is the Living Word.  

Our Wise and Wonderful God, 
we rejoice that Christ is the Living Word. 
We praise You that He speaks to us, 
the words of eternal life.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Who Else?

Who Else?

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From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 

John 6:66-68 

Peter articulates a critical rhetorical question when he asks, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’ Christ is the unique Speaker of truth. What He declares is fundamentally different at its’ foundation from other speakers. Peter understood this sufficiently to exclude all other sources by saying, ‘to whom shall we go?’ Humanity has expended its’ time, effort, and energy in the pursuit of truth. Socrates, Plato, Descartes, Hume, Sartre, and Rand are examples of a vast number of pursuers of truth. For the most part, they have failed. The religionists of Christ’s day and many others before or since have labored to articulate their version of truth. They have said some things that are true and many things that are false. At the end of it Christ still stands above all. Their philosophies ultimately fail to deliver the answers to eternal questions. Many of the religious speculations are wide of the mark. When Peter asked, ‘to whom shall we go?’ he was excluding all other erstwhile fountains of truth in contrast to Christ. No one else delivers as He does.  

Our Great God and our Savior, 
We rejoice that You are the great storehouse of truth. 
We praise You that we need  
look no further than You. 
 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

A Searching Question

A Searching Question

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From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, Do you also want to go away? 

John 6:66-67 

After many of His disciples departed from Christ, He asked those who were closest to Him the searching question, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ This was the appropriate moment to ask it. Others had already left Christ. If the twelve had sufficient misgivings about following Him now was the time to give voice to them. Thus, Christ affords them that opportunity. This was a critical moment for self-reflection. If we had been there, what kind of questions might we have asked ourselves about following Christ? Is this really the Messiah?  Can I truly trust this man, and all He is teaching, especially the hard things? How far am I willing to go with this person? These were the kinds of questions thinking people would have been asking themselves when others were departing. Those questions are as relevant today as they were when Christ asked the twelve His searching question. We do not follow Christ blindly. It behooves us to be clear in our own minds as to why we are following Him. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice at what You have shown us of Yourself. 
We praise You that all You have shown us, 
has given us greater confidence in You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

No More

No More

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From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  

John 6:66 

Those who begin to follow Christ do not always continue. Our text speaks of some of them. Christ had been teaching large groups. He had fed the 5,000. He had also said some things that were hard for them to hear. When He spoke of eating His flesh,  drinking His blood, and living forever some complained. Christ challenged them, and said, ‘Does this offend you?’ He followed with, ‘What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.’ His next remark was, ‘Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.’  After that, some of His followers ‘walked with Him no more.’ We witness this even now. These are times when we encounter those who seem vitally interested in Christ. They absorb all they can about Him for a while. At a certain point, they encounter something He says which they deem too hard to hear or understand. At that juncture they cease to follow Him. In effect, they ‘walk no more with Him.’ Instead they pursue whatever else catches their attention, and dedicate themselves to something other than Christ. This will not end well. If we have embraced what is best, forsaken it and pursued what is less, how shall we arrive at a good place?  

Our kind and merciful God, 
we rejoice that You appeal to us at the deepest level. 
We praise You that even in the face of rejection, 
You remain good and kind.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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