I am so thankful for the Word. It proclaims Jesus as itself and THE. WAY. to our beautiful God of Love.
Here is the magnificent truth our Jesus gave to us: “No one comes to the Father except through Me”…
This I think, sometimes, more than any other scripture, has created so much division throughout our development as a species as people grapple with its meaning. Which is really very simple when we read a conversation that took place between Jesus, Thomas, and Philip. Jesus devoted a lot to his explanation when he was questioned about how to get to the Father by them.
He really wanted His beloved’s to understand the key to the proverbial map: You’re looking at Him! If you’ve seen ME, you’ve seen HIM.
He wanted His chosen ones to understand that the God they were looking for was right in front of them – IN HIM. And, conversely, He was simultaneously IN GOD. Jesus was a mirror image of God. He was the living blueprint. Because when He fully surrendered his personage to God’s will, God worked through Him to show all mankind not only what a God-like life actually looked like, but how to connect to God.
The next zinger came when He seemed to want them to understand that truth held about themselves too. God was in them and they were in God.
And not only that, he threw in, but they/we were capable of doing even more than He did. That was probably hard to swallow after all they’d seen Him do over the three years they’d been following Him. But THAT was exactly the “good news” He was counting on them extending to all they could in the aftermath of His passing. That God is in us because we are in Him… and He can work through each and every one of us if we say “yes” to His invitation to join His Purpose. He won’t maneuver us like puppets. It’s ALWAYS our choice. But mimicking Jesus’ actions and compassion are the keys to that ultimate feat of working within and for Him… leading to our own greater good thanks to His sovereignty…. and there is no greater peace. Communion with God is what we were designed for. And once we’ve found THE WAY there, we’ll never really be lost again. Not in all of eternity.
THAT is His immortal gift to us.
But the disciples didn’t get that then and were anxious as the time was drawing near for Jesus to return to our Father. They knew only He was leaving and couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing Him again. He assured them they would. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know the way?”
That’s when Jesus spoke His famed words above and added: “If you really know Me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”
Philip said show us The Father.
Jesus went on: “Don’t you know Me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather it is the Father living in Me who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me, or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father.”
When we want to experience life totally and completely, this is THE WAY. To understand that, like Jesus, God is in us and we are Him and living as He clearly showed us how when He embodied Jesus. That is the key to peace. Let us always remember how direct and clear and beautiful that message is. Let us live each day in the magnificence of it.
As usual, we insert a note on how the Russian invasion into Ukraine continues. We see the effects of the senseless war Russia has created and it is touching the world in new ways between inflation and soaring food and energy costs. We must continue to pray for quick deliverance for all our sakes. Let us continue to pray for the war torn but amazingly resilient citizens of Ukraine on the front lines. Our Lord hears our prayers. He will do what must be done; in HIs time, in His Way.
Love you so, my Brothers and my Sisters in the Lord. 
May you be blessed in all things and in all ways.
May you be blessed in all things and in all ways.Poppa B.