Text: John 13:31-14:7, Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 1:1-6
This is part of a 10-day series on the person of Christ in the 2016 Lent study.
I’m notorious for going the wrong way on one-way streets—usually when I’m trying to find free parking. It’s as if finding a close, free place to park trumps all other rules of the road. I do whatever I can to find that perfect spot, fully ignoring the large “One Way” and “Wrong Way” street signs meant to caution me. It seems that when free parking is at stake, the rules fly out my car window. I intend to get there my way, regardless of the consequences.
I hate to admit it, but far too often I have the same attitude in my spiritual life, believing my way is best. But Scripture tells us Jesus is the only way to the Father. Chasing after our salvation in any way apart from Christ, is the wrong way.
“I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
-John 14:6
The Bible couldn’t say it any plainer, but I’m still prone to try and negotiate my own salvation.
I put my hope in all kinds of things to save me, believing they’ll somehow grant me abundant life. And when the Lord graciously steps in to remind me that He is the only way to salvation, I can become fearful. How can it really be so simple? Surely there’s something more.
Yes, I believe Christ is the only way, but then I turn around and start doing all these things to help ‘seal the deal’ of eternity for me. I want to fully surrender to Jesus, because deep down I know that only He can save. But far too often I live like I believe otherwise—as if I could add to His perfect sacrifice!
Like trying to find the ultimate parking spot, I try to find my own way to salvation. I’m afraid that if I follow Jesus with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind (Matthew 22:37)—instead of following myself—I might miss something.
I think Peter and Thomas had similar fears. At the Last Supper, both disciples had questions as Jesus explained He is the only way to the Father. Peter didn’t understand why he couldn’t go with Jesus right then and there (John 13:36). He thought he’d miss salvation if it didn’t happen on his timeline. Thomas didn’t have all the information he thought he needed to follow Jesus (John 14:5). He wanted to walk by sight instead of faith.
In Acts 17, we read about the “extremely religious” people of Athens, who worshiped no shortage of idols and false gods. They worshiped countless things, yet were ignorant of what they were actually worshiping. They even had an altar for an “unknown god”—just in case they missed paying homage to something that could save (Acts 17:22-31).
I have more in common with the people of Athens than I’d like to believe. I’m ignorant of the of all the idols I worship.
My appearance.
My reputation.
My success.
My accomplishments.
My relationships…
The list goes on and on, but the result is still the same: none of these idols can save.
Only Jesus. What a sweet relief!
Jesus is the only way. He’s our only hope! When we try to navigate our own way to salvation, we become confused. Like Peter and Thomas, we worry we’ve missed something. Like the people of Athens, we become distracted by the countless gods we worship.
But the truth is this: when we have Jesus, we have all we’ll ever need.
Thanks be to God that Jesus is the only way to Him, to truth, and to life. May we learn to stand firm in this Truth, clinging only to Him for life (Psalm 1:1-6).
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57 thoughts on "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"
This reading really hit home for me. I can relate to a lot of emotions and feelings the author writes. It’s good to know and hear “But the truth is this: when we have Jesus, we have all we’ll ever need”
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6
The Bible couldn’t say it any plainer, but I’m still prone to try and negotiate my own salvation. Sometimes, I feel as though if I don’t take control, things aren’t going to change, and boy is this so far from the truth. This is the way I was raised, and nothing against my parents or my upbringing, because my parents put everything they had into the three of us, but I was taught that we could attain anything as long as we worked hard for it. Sure, that is true in some senses. But in salvation, nothing could be further from the truth. By declaring Christ as our Savior, and Lord of our lives, we are saved. We don’t have to continue to work out way into salvation.
Like stated above, I think Peter and Thomas had similar fears. At the Last Supper, both disciples had questions as Jesus explained He is the only way to the Father. Peter didn’t understand why he couldn’t go with Jesus right then and there (John 13:36). He thought he’d miss salvation if it didn’t happen on his timeline. Thomas didn’t have all the information he thought he needed to follow Jesus (John 14:5). He wanted to walk by sight instead of faith.
We’ve all done it before, and I think as we become more mature in Christ, and get to know God’s word better, we believe more naturally. Child-like faith is what I want. You just believe, period, and there is no doubt. However, in early stages (like myself), I find myself flipping through the pages, searching for more distinct answers, and how’s and why’s. There is a distinct answer, I just have to believe it. “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” -John 14:6
When we have Jesus, we have all we will ever need.
Amen!!
Jesus is all we need. He is more than enough.
I often feel as if my idols are such a part of who I have become that I can no longer see them when I look in the mirror-I just see my reflection. The little, or rather disguised, idols are sometimes the hardest to overcome. When we are hurting or in pain from our sin, it’s easy to see the infection and know what needs to be cut out. It’s the small germs of sin that we don’t always see, but are constantly weakening us. This reading is a beautiful reminder that we must constantly wash our hands and our souls of sin through coming to Jesus in humility.
Guilty as charged….
I have more in common with the people of Athens than I’d like to believe. I’m ignorant of the of all the idols I worship.
My appearance.
My reputation.
My success.
My accomplishments.
My relationships…
The list goes on and on, but the result is still the same: none of these idols can save….
Only Jesus….
Only Jesus….
What a great reminder of who we are and what we are called to be…So very thankful that Jesus is the ONLY way, the TRUTH and the LIFE, and that it is through HIM that we have a relationship with Our Heavenly Father, through Him that we have life Eternal, and it is in and through Him that we truly know who we are..
When that penny drops, when we grasp that Truth, there are many an idol that will fall..
Praising God for the idol chains that are being broken…removed, discarded..
Jesus is the ONLY way…we need to follow
Jesus is the ONLY TRUTH…we need to hear
Jesus is the ONLY LIFE… we need …
Amen…
Thanking God this morning, for you my Sisters and praying His peace and Grace over you..have a good and God blessed day…xxx
Amen!
This makes me think how it easy to ignore grace that we’ve been given. How easy to live as though we are still under the law, as if we needed to save ourselves. Striving to be better to be perfect. I would like to think that I not like the Athenians or Thomas but maybe too often I am just like them. Jesus is the only way that I can attain freedom. Am I living like one who is has been set free?
after many courses and home group discussions i still find it difficult to imagine God and Jesus as separate and to pray to them separately. After all what’s Trinity about. Am i not doing the right thing by praying to God instead of Jesus?
I don’t think you’re missing something. In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to pray to God the father. In other places he said “ask in my name.” I think scripturally, if we follow Jesus’ example, we are to pay to the father and ask things in the name of Jesus.
Yes lizzy I agree. That is a great way to put it!
You’re right. thanks!
Today’s reading really spoke to me. I have never thought of having other idols in my life, but Missy’s words of thinking we potentially miss something when we follow Jesus with all of our hearts, souls, and minds spoke directly to me. Without even meaning to, I have put idols in my life in a vain attempt to be filled. Culture is always telling us what we need to do to be fulfilled or content or happy, but ultimately none of the things it suggests will really bring us the incredible peace and contentment that comes from God. Thank you for your honesty today, Missy. It opened up my heart to see what idols I need to get rid of so that Jesus becomes my only way.
Wow. This hit home for me, on a dark day within my postpartum depression. Much of my anxiety is from what I feel I’m “missing” in life. I miss my showering daily, my calm self, baby food free clothing, sleep. Which leads to the woman who can look ragged, tired, and unkept. To the world I am missing my time, better looks, better clothes, and a thinner body. Many, err much, times I feel if I just had that all that, I’d be a successful person. A super mom. Or even a super woman. I feel many times that if I had those things then I wouldn’t get anxious. I wouldn’t worry what people thought of me.
However, this article points to the idea that it’s not the ideologies of what the world says is super or successful or what will save us from an emotional hell. It is Christ Jesus. Not only the Savior of my soul but the Savior of my well-being.
congratulations on the arrival of your baby! i know those blue days all too well ( gave birth in November). I tried thinking about what a wonderful gift God had given me- my baby- and the price to be paid with lack of sleep, body image etc is tiny compared to who i was given. in addition my price is dwarfed by the price Jesus paid for our salvation. ☺
As a new mother also struggling with ppd, your thoughts were so encouraging! So, so good.
Veronica , keep reaching out . I had it too .
Medicine and faith coupled with opening up got me through .
The more I read and learn about who God is through His Son Jesus, the more I am able to rest in simply being His. The more I find rest in Him the more He shows me what’s most important in life, and all that striving is able to cease as I know that with Him I’m able to thrive and that’s so much better. May you turn to Jesus today and rest in knowing that He is the only way and you can stop striving and start thriving in your position of being a Child of God. Thanks be to God, indeed!
What an encouragment to a heart like mine! Thank you!
Thank you, beautifully said.
So thankful as I read through all of your posts to remember that we are all struggling. None of us has it “together” and we are all trying to wend our way through this world, keeping as best as we can to the path that God lays out for us, seeking Him to be our compass when we are unsure, and trusting He will not lead us astray. Thank you all for your honesty and your willingness to share your stories, sisters!
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
Yes I agree! So encouraged by everyones stories and sharing their hearts with us.
“Love one another” (John 13:34). This is the command that Jesus calls us to – to follow Him is to love one another. It is all too easy to over-complicate this “simple” command. Because loving people can be hard. People can be challenging to love. But without fail and without coincidence, any time I have sought in my heart to love others that is when God is most near and at work in my life.
If I do not abide in Him – in that place of love – then I all too easily steer myself into seeking my own ways. Because my own ways are focused on my self, I am led astray distracted by my own expectations. Until I turn back to Him. Seeking Him. Finding Him. Receiving His love. Desiring in my heart to share His love. He meets me there… again and again. Grateful His love is abundant and relentless over me.
The way to His love is Jesus. We are His – following Him – when we share His love. Jesus says, “By [love] all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). This is the way, the truth, the life – the way of God’s love, the way of Jesus.
Yes, I was thinking very similarly — “this is the way — walk ye in it” is so easy to say and so hard to accomplish. Thank you.
I’m a 20-year-old college student whose life isn’t turning out like I planned. Marriage is nowhere in my near future, I have no idea what I’ll do after I graduate, and this just isn’t the way I thought my life would be by now. I had it all planned out – a godly man who would be my husband, a job lined up somewhere, and strong faith in the God who saved me. But my plan is not playing out and my faith in God has been shaken this year. My prayer has been for God to make my heart believe that he is enough and that he is better. And over and over again he has proved that to me, through his word, through these devotions, through other people, etc. What struck me in today is “But the truth is this: when we have Jesus, we have all we’ll ever need”. My heart is so prone to wander to things other than my God and so prone to seek a love that I feel will complete my life and my heart. I needed to read that my satisfaction should be based in Christ and Christ alone; only he can complete me because he is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. His plans are always better than mine because he is all that I will ever need. So thankful for this study this morning.
As I read the beginning your post my heart ached for you, remembering so keenly the feeling of not being sure of what we once thought true. Being 15 years on the other side of that season I can tell you it may get harder before it gets easier. And even when you are doing exactly what we feel we’ve been called to do there will still be times you doubt yourself and your true calling. All I can tell you is don’t ever stop desperately seeking Christ. Even when you don’t “feel” like it, even when you your emotions get the best of you and you’re not sure God is listening. Stay desperate for Him, read his word, find a mentor, never stop growing. Everything else will work itself out, but not in our timing, only His. Praying for you my friend.
Olivia! thank you for so boldly expressing your fears and your confusion, I know that was not an easy thing to do. I had a friend once who asked me plainly to tell him all of the things that I felt were broken in me. Then he asked me, “do you believe that Jesus fed the 5,000?” and after I said yes, he asked me, “do you believe that the same God who fed the 5,000 can rescue you too?”. My immediate response was, “NO!” because I had previously considered my problems too big for God and was keeping them away from Him.
It can be so easy, and even disheartening, to read about the Jesus who performed miracles and not know how those incredible stories apply to us at all. Just know that the God who fed those hungry people, who gave sight to the blind and allowed the sick and the weary to rest, also has your heart and has the ability to rescue you in whatever brokenness you are experiencing.
Olivia, I’m right there with you girl. 23 and feeling a lot like you. My life sure doesn’t look like I had planned. I’m not married or even have any prospects and I’m still in school. The fact that God is everything we need resonates so deeply with me as well. He satisfies the longings of our hearts. I have been praying the verse Psalm 16:11, “in your presence there is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” I’ve had to honestly ask myself, Do I believe that? In Him, not any man or any job or living situation, in God there is FULL joy. It is incredible to know that there is life and opportunity and joy if we remember the source of that and abide in Him. Thank you for sharing your story and may God continue to affirm that He is all you need.
It is not a popular message that there is only one way to God through Jesus Christ. Yet it is the truth. I don’t want to sugar coat that truth to people. I pray the Lord gives us boldness to proclaim this in daily conversations with those who think otherwise. His return is drawing nigh. It could be today!
Truly! Thanks be to God, that Jesus is the only way to truth and life. How thankful we can be that we are saved and after that nothing can seperate us from God’s steadfast love.
So thankful for this truth, Julie! Happy to see you here today!
xoxo-Kaitlin
Facing some interesting things, God knows my heart and praying for his will. Trust him to show the right steps at the right time. How easy it would be to take things into my own hands. I trust him for salvation…help me to trust in all situations.
Ladies: I need some practical help. I want more Jesus in my life. I want his yolk not mine. But how? I need some tips. Reading the word, praying but I still feel my SELF and idols blooming up every day. Help.
Jessie, you have a beautiful heart and God has put in it a desire for Him. I have felt much the same way. What i have found to help the most is to simply ask God to take those idols away, to change the habitual thought patterns in my mind, to change, cleanse and purify my heart. It is definitely a process i am walking in, but I find that He is so faithful to answer those prayers! I also make a priority of time with Him, praying, journalling and reading His word and just listening for His voice. Praying for you this morning!
My suggestion is to replace those idols with Godly habits. If TV or movies are a temptation, replace with movies with Christian themes and books from noted Christian authors. (Christian bookstores have many resources.) If certain relationships are idols, then decrease time spent with those individuals and cultivate time with those people inclined toward spiritual things. Older women in the church can be wonderful mentors. If food is an idol, perhaps try the Made to Crave study. Above all, pray. Ask for the Holy Spirit to empower you. Have an accountability partner as an encourager. And then.. Pray some more! Stay connected to Him Who wants you to have victory!
Thank you!
Thankful for her transparency and this message.
Providential
Thanks for joining us today, Jen!
xoxo-Kaitlin
I think I need to read this day’s study every. single. day. I too often find myself with one foot in Jesus’s boat and the other half in mine. Praying for a heart to trust 100%, regardless of my appearance, successes, relationships, and financial status. Thankful for this study this morning :)
Was that ending verse supposed to be psalm 4:1 instead of 1:4? Great post! Everyday is a battle to keep God at the steering wheel and not allow me to say “oh hey! look at that! lets stop here!” I also so easily forget all He has done or me. This time o Easter is a great time o reflection of how I try to slip back into old habits of “earning my salvation.” This is a tactic of the enemy! Recognize it as that. Anything to take our eyes off Christ, and act on our own will, is not from the Lord.
Oh yes, how often I strive and think I have something better to add. I so often doubt His love and goodness, thinking I have to do the right stuff for His promise to stand. But He is good, and His beautiful goodness does not rely on our efforts, or ability to tick the boxes. Thankful for His grace today <3
Amen. I am too much like Thomas sometimes. Recently even wrote “do not fear, only believe” on my bathroom mirror. Jesus, you are the only way. Please do not let me forget it.
oh I love the idea of writing “Do not fear, only believe” on your bathroom mirror…I might have to do that as well…and on the visor of my car, the refrigerator, my computer, etc. Thanks for sharing!
“Chasing after our salvation in any way apart from Christ, is the wrong way.”
Being a bibliophile, I tend to search for answers and directions in books. Books have helped me understand things, taught me how to do things, shown me ways to navigate life. I read a lot! But… Chasing after my salvation in any book apart from the Bible, is the wrong way! Peace and purpose, direction and life itself are only found in God’s Word. Thank you, Missy, for reminding me again this morning that He alone is the Way and my first and foremost focus must be on Him. And thank YOU, SRT, for helping me be in His Word every day!
Yes I’ve had this same realization recently! Abiding in His Word and presence will yield more fruit than all the Christian authors in the world ever could. And today I’m realizing I’m probably idolizing the fruit itself! So I’m repenting of that and asking Jesus to fill my heart with Him alone regardless of earthly outcome, that I may abandon my desire for the fruits and seek only Him, His kingdom, His righteousness. Just Him.
Oh Christy… You have put into words what I have been so guilty of lately. Idolize G the fruit. Yes. It is good fruit, important fruit, even fruit He has called me to produce, but Jesus is our prize. Thank you.
A good reminder for me, as well!
This! So much this! I too have had life-changing revelations due to books. With that said, it is absolutely Just Him. Amen!
Beautifully said Missy. I am guilty of trying to negotiate my own salvation!
The church is surely filled with flawed people just like me and unfortunately people often get hurt deeply inside the church. But thankfully the people that make up the bride of Christ, the church, are only a vague reflection of Jesus. Jesus is worthy of being the only way to heaven and He has paid our debt for the sin that would separate us from God for eternity. Only Jesus will never fail us, never forsake us and never forget us. Now that is something to hold on to today!
amen
Jesus sorry. The type doesn’t all show as I’m typing
That happens on my iPad, too. But anyway, yes – it is so easy to get burned! So grateful your relationship with Jesus weathered that storm. It is just Jesus…
When I idolized my pastor and church, I got burned. God was gracious in that lesson, but it still hurt. Only He could be the salve. Only Kesus
“When we have Jesus, we have all we’ll ever need.”
So true, and yet, like Thomas, too often I want to “walk by sight and not by faith”.
There is such peace to be found though in accepting that Jesus is the only way. We don’t have to worry about having all the answers or doing all the right things or making sure we don’t miss something out. We only have to look to him and rest in him. I love the image in Psalm 1 of the tree planted by the river, bearing fruit regardless of the season because of its deep roots. I want to keep my life rooted in Jesus and what he has done, rather than looking to myself or getting distracted.
Eyes on You, Lord! Eyes on You! ♥
I love the image of the tree too. I also love your words “bearing fruit regardless of the season” – so true and so hard. Things get tough and I want to look at what’s going on around me and try to manage. But to look up and let our roots sink deep … aahhhh … that’s where it’s at!! Thanks Carly B!!