Hard to Understand : John 6:60-62 : What Jesus Did! : HEARTLIGHT®

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Hard to Understand - John 6:60-62

Key Thought

"Make it easy for them!" That seems to be the slogan today. "Don't put the bar too high!" "Don't make it difficult!" Unfortunately, the best things in life and the truest things in life are the hardest to acquire and to achieve. Quite often, the truest things in life are the hardest to discern. If we make them easy, then we make them less than what they are. Jesus didn't make it easy for them. Instead, he made it even more challenging. He made sure those seeking him knew the stakes involved; so for that reason, he refused to water down the challenge to them. While I want people to come to Jesus and receive his grace that has been so freely offered, I sure don't want to rob his message of its bite, of its power, or of its demands. Jesus calls us to follow a tough road to a wonderful place of glory and grace. Don't let his challenging words put you off. He is the only way.

Today's Prayer

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Give me a heart to follow only you and your messengers, O LORD. Please don't let me be deceived by those who are false or misled by those who don't know the way. Give me discernment so that I can know your will more completely and follow Jesus more passionately. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

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Today's Verses in Context

The followers of Jesus heard this. Many of the followers said, "This teaching is hard {to accept}. Who can accept this teaching?" Jesus knew that his followers were complaining about this. So Jesus said, "Is this teaching a problem for you? Then will it also be a problem for you to see the Son of Man going back to the place where he came from? It is not the body that gives a person life. It is the spirit that gives life. The things I told you are spirit. And so these things give life. But some of you don't believe." (Jesus knew the people that did not believe. Jesus knew this from the beginning. And Jesus knew the person that would turn against him.) Jesus said, "That is why I said, 'If the Father does not let a person come to me, then that person cannot come.'" After Jesus said these things, many of his followers left him. They stopped following Jesus. Jesus asked the twelve apostles, "Do you want to leave too?" Simon Peter answered Jesus, "Lord, where would we go? You have the things that give life forever. We believe in you. We know that you are the Holy One from God." Then Jesus answered, "I chose all twelve of you. But one of you is a devil." Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of the twelve {apostles }. But later Judas would turn against Jesus.

— John 6:60-71 (ERV)

Remember that we are saved because our Lord is patient. Our dear brother Paul told you that same thing when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. Paul writes like this about these things in all his letters. Sometimes there are things in Paul's letters that are hard to understand. Some people explain those things falsely. Those people are ignorant and weak in faith. Those same people also falsely explain the other Scriptures. But they are destroying themselves by doing that.
2 Peter 3:15-16 (ERV)

"Be careful of false prophets. They come to you and look {gentle} like sheep. But they are really dangerous {like} wolves. You will know these people because of the things they do. Good things don't come from bad people, the same as grapes don't come from thorn bushes. And figs don't come from thorny weeds. In the same way, every good tree makes good fruit. And bad trees make bad fruit. A good tree cannot make bad fruit. And a bad tree cannot make good fruit. Every tree that does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You will know these false people by the fruit they make (things they do). "Not every person that says that I am his Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people that will enter the kingdom of heaven are those people that do the things that my Father in heaven wants.
Matthew 7:15-21 (ERV)

Jesus was teaching in every town and village. He continued to travel toward Jerusalem. Someone said to Jesus, "Lord, how many people will be saved? Only a few?" Jesus said, "Try hard to enter through the narrow door {that opens the way to heaven}! Many people will try to enter there, but they will not be able to enter.
Luke 13:22-24 (ERV)

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HEARTLIGHT^® Magazine is produced by Heartlight, Inc. HEARTLIGHT is a registered service mark of Heartlight, Inc. PO Box 7044, Abilene, TX, USA 79608-7044. Copyright © 1996-2010. Heartlight is supported by Westover Hills Church, Southern Hills Church, and loving Christians from around the world. Scripture quotations are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. Used by permission. All rights reserved.