Beloved Family… In this message, I ask you to use a bit of imagination. Picture a circle in your mind. Within that circle is the entire spectrum of what we call Creation… every level and particle of physical created reality that took place in the past, and is going on in the present and ever will happen in the future is in that circle. Everything that God’s Living Word caused to come into being in the dimension of time and space from the very beginning has been taking place, and running its course therein. All of it was present, just as the potentiality of a forest-producing tree is always within the original seed from which it comes. So was everything in Creation present, from the moment Father first spoke forth His Living creative Word. The Word brought all of it into being. And since then, He has been sustaining and gardening and protecting, developing and bringing it to its Ultimate Level of Fruition.
Genesis 1:1-2
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
Everything was contained within the Seed God planted at that awesome Genesis beginning. All the stages and eras into which God’s Creation would eventually develop throughout human history were present in the sense that, from that first instant when Creation came into existence, the Holy Spirit was hovering over it, and imparting to it the ability to grow, mature, reproduce and develop into the Fullness of what God, in His Eternal will and mind, intended it to be. And none of us can even begin to imagine all the Wonder and Glory and Goodness that God put into Creation at the very Beginning. Nevertheless, the day is fast approaching when we will finally be able to see it in all of its Harvest Fullness… and we will glory in it… with Him.
And, in the meantime, while we’re still waiting for that Day, there’s always a tremendous amount of activity going on within the circle of time and space. It ebbs and flows because in the temporal dimension, change is continually taking place. All things keep moving and shifting and beginning and ending. Things, situations, generations of people and new levels of organizational configurations emerge at their appointed time and begin to take shape… but then, after a certain amount of time elapses, they change again, and begin to fade and disappear, and assume new and different forms. Nothing remains the same within the circle. Nothing can be permanent.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under Heaven—
“A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
1 Peter 1:23-25
“… For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the Living and Enduring Word of God. For,
“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the Word which was preached to you.”
Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? I have seen the task, which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, YET SO THAT MAN WILL NOT FIND OUT THE WORK WHICH GOD HAS DONE FROM THE BEGINNING EVEN TO THE END.” (Emphasis added.)
This last text is packed with meaning that overflows in every direction. We live and make our way through the ins and outs of a temporal world that is continually passing away. That means there is nothing that is part of our world, including ourselves, that can be trusted and relied upon to serve as a permanent, ever-reliable source of safety, provision and wellbeing. In order for us to be maintained on an eternal basis, we must have a Source to depend upon that is independent of and outside that circle! Because if all we can trust and rely upon are things or beings that exist within this roiling circle of unending change, we are doomed! To trust in something that is equally as fleeting and dependent as we are, is to descend into utter insanity and futility and inevitable disappointment and desolation!
So dear ones, whatever abides within the circle makes up what we call ‘the world.’ Everything contained within it is fleeting at best; none of it can last. Therefore, nothing in all of Creation can be trusted or relied upon for stability, security or predictable wellbeing. Temporality and Limitation and lack of Completion are in the nature of every Sin-corrupted person or thing that exists in this world. Beloved, this is the way it is in the Realm of Time and Space. Every object and every child of Adam that exists within that circle is always desperately needy and dependent. And every living being is always seeking to survive, and seeks after stability, assurance and secure, permanent wellbeing. Therefore, it’s clear that nothing found within the circle could possibly supply any of the Divine Permanence and Security that we are all looking for! Everything in our world is as lacking in permanence as everything else that is around it! We creatures are all desperately needy, but none of us can do anything for ourselves, or for each other, that will last or matter for very long. So what are we to do?
Jeremiah 17:5-6
“Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. “For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant.”
So the verse quoted above begins to take on a special significance in light of the flakiness and unreliability of even the best that this fallen world has to offer:
Hebrews 12:25-29
“See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on Earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from Heaven? And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”
“This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a Kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming Fire!”
But Scripture does reveal the existence of another dimension that is the opposite of this one in which we live! It is Almighty God’s Home Dimension. We know it as ‘Eternity’ or ‘Heaven.’ So, even though it’s impossible for us, who inhabit the dimension of space and time, to come up with anything other than fleeting instability, our Infinitely Perfect All-Sufficient Creator, is able to be present and interactive in both of these dimensions simultaneously. Thus, He continues to be our Source for everything. He maintains us in existence and supplies us with everything we need. Our God remains in constant touch with whatever He creates. He is the one true Source that is able to supply us creatures with every moment of our existence, and our every breath, heartbeat, and every brain wave and ability. He continually imparts all of that to us by the same Living Word through which He created us in the first place.
God does everything through His Word; and through His Word He is our constant Father, Friend, Ally and Shepherd. And this is why the Word is Everything to us. And Scripture tells us that God has configured our unstable, flaky heart of hearts for eternity… that is, we were made by His Word, and for His Word. And so His Word is here to be true permanent Security, Wellbeing and endless Reliability, for us.
John 10:11-18
“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired worker is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. He sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. Then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. The man is only a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.
“I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not from this fold; those also I must lead, and they will listen to My voice. So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.
“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, so that I may take it up again. No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the Authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.” (TLV)
So only God’s Living Word made flesh is able to serve as our Infinite, Uncreated Source. Only He can provide the endless sense of peace, rest and joy that flows naturally out of God’s Perfect Nature. He is our everlasting Matrix of changeless Credibility and Ever-Faithful Lovingkindness. So when Scripture says that God put Eternity in our hearts, it means we were designed and created to experience His eternal Goodness and to enjoy being in His Perfect Presence, so we could always be united to, and partake from, His Life-giving, Peace-imparting Life and Everlasting Rest!
Psalm 16:7-11
“I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will dwell securely. For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One (Your Living Word made flesh) to undergo decay. You will make known to me the (Word who is our) Path of life; in Your Presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” (Amplification and emphasis added.)
Jeremiah 17:7-10
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.”
And so God reveals that the circle of time and space in which we currently abide is not our true Home. We are only passing through this temporary valley of struggle, stress and tears. Our true Home is our Almighty Eternal God! He Himself is that Home for which we were made. Not only is His Living Word made flesh the very one who created us and has been sustaining us as we have been within the circle of time and space, He is also here to serve as The Way and The Truth and The Life that will equip us to finally enter into our True Destiny with God who is taking us through each step of our temporary journey through this dimension. We are called to follow God’s Perfect Word into the Eternal Realm that surrounds this temporal world. This is why Scripture says that we were made by Him and for Him.
Colossians 1:15-20
“He is the Image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all Creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also Head of the Body, the Church; and He is the Beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have First Place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the Fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on Earth or things in Heaven.”
The circle that contains our fallen Sin-wounded temporary situations does not exist in a vacuum of Isolation. It is completely enveloped and permeated and surrounded by an Eternal Someone who is completely different and other from us, but who yet abides as one with us. He cannot be compared to, or duplicated by, any created thing or being. He is, by nature and function, the enormous, boundless Matrix that surrounds and encapsulates the dimension of time and space. This is what we mean by the term ‘Eternity.’
Eternity is where Almighty God abides. From there, He can penetrate and permeate our dimension and supply and interact with whatever created thing or being is within our circle of temporality. But God’s Dimension envelops and contains and permeates our circle. And it extends endlessly, far beyond the circle, in all directions. That is the Domain where God and His Reality, Truth and Order abide, without any change whatever. Nothing changes in Eternity because what we consider to be the past and the future in the time and space dimension are always simultaneously present where God abides. Everything in existence is incorporated within the endless NOW that permeates the Realm and the Nature of Almighty God.
Nothing changes in Eternity because all the aspects of Creation’s complete fullness have always been, and always will be, PRESENT in God’s mind and heart, without any trace of Sin whatsoever. And this is why our God, in His Infinitely Perfect Comprehension and Wisdom, has always known all things simultaneously and through and through. So the circle of temporality and change that appears to be incomplete and inadequate to us, exists in its entirety within God’s everlasting Mind and Will. What we can only perceive as a progressive unfolding or unpacking of Reality and its demise, has always been due to the damage that our fall into Sin did to us, and our own personal limitations as created beings. We can’t contain a pure and fully accurate understanding of the whole of what God is and all He has done. Only God, in His Perfection and Completeness can know all that there is to know. Only God, therefore, can be said to be fully present to all things. He is the Beginning and the End… which is Eternal Consummation and Perfect Fulfillment:
Genesis 2:1-3
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.”
Revelation 1:4-8
“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the Glory and the Dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
So dear ones, after we’ve had time to absorb the revelation packed into God’s written Word, we can realize that God (in His changeless and totally Complete Eternity) remains united to us even as we struggle and toil to deal with, and come to grips with, His Reality and Truth in the ups and downs and ins and outs of our space and time dimension that always appears to us to be incomplete and ‘never good enough.’ Ponder the following texts in this context:
Isaiah 55:6-11
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My Word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Revelation 21:1-7
“Then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth; for the first heaven and the first earth (that I had once known in the circle of temporality) had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the Holy City—the New Jerusalem—coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband. I also heard a loud voice from the Throne, saying,
“Behold, the dwelling of God is among men, and He shall tabernacle among them. They shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them and be their God. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Nor shall there be mourning or crying or pain any longer, for the former things have passed away.”
And the One seated upon the throne said, “BEHOLD I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW!” Then He said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Then He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will freely give from the Spring of the Water of Life. The one who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son!” (Emphasis added.)
God is telling us that He has created and is always sustaining our dimension by His Living Creative Word and Holy Spirit. In this way God, in all of His Holiness and Purity, is always connected to us and is able to protect, guide, supply and cover us and provide for our every need, regardless of how things may appear to the very limited perceptions of our fallen, Sin-damaged faculties. God creates and sustains us from moment to moment, by the Authority of His Living Word and the omnipotent Power of His Holy Spirit and the Truth and Reality that are His, in Eternity. And the Spirit makes God’s Word real and active and present and known to us, in us, and through us. He is the Way and the Truth and the Life for us that will never end or go away or leave us in the lurch:
John 1:48-51
“Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man!”
John 16:12-15
“I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the Truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.” (Emphasis added.)
Matthew 11:25-30
“At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes Father, for this way was well pleasing in Your sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Emphasis added.)
Matthew 6:7-8
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; FOR YOUR FATHER KNOWS WHAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU ASK HIM!” (Emphasis added.)
Beloved, now we can see that our God is always with us, regardless of how bad or inadequate or frightful things may seem or feel to us at any moment. We only have very limited perceptions and very faulty levels of understanding to work with. Our grasp of what is actually real and true in the midst of this fleeting and very confusing life we’re experiencing in this fallen world will surely deceive us and draw us into gross error if that’s all we use by which to navigate.
But God is intent on revealing all of His Truth to us. He never leaves or forsakes us. He is always PRESENT and ACTIVE on our behalf! We are never alone, never vulnerable or bereft of any resource that we may ever need in this life. God Himself is our Resource, beloved! And He wants us to know this revealed Reality even better than we know our own name! He wants us to know that He is always with us… so that we can finally get a clue… and learn to reciprocate and correspond accordingly by always being WITH HIM!
Psalm 139:1-18
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You.
“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.
“How precious also are Your thoughts to me O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”
So dear ones… what are we supposed to do with this awesome revelation? How should people who are fully endowed, and provided for, and backed up to this overwhelmingly all-sufficient degree, respond to such knowledge and assurance? How should we feel, knowing that we’re always in the Presence of God, and the Presence of God is always at work within and around us? At what settings should our habitual emotional climate and attitude level be set?
How do people who are loved and cared for to that awesome degree and who therefore cannot lose or be victimized, look, and sound, and behave? When will the fact that, in and through our Messiah, we have already won the war with the powers of Darkness, finally sink into our habitual awareness? When will we finally be able to look and feel and act in perfect accord with this awesome Reality… despite the crazy things that continue to take place in this fallen and very temporary world? Think about it! If God is always with us, should we not mentally and emotionally always be with Him, in total Peace and Rest and Triumph?
If He is always with us and for us, what can we afford to think and feel? How generous and patient and kind can we afford to be when we encounter those who are in need? How should we react and respond to threats and insults and opposition that comes at us from people who do not have a clue about the revelation God has made available to us?
Psalm 73:3-26
“For I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pains in their death, and their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high. They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth. Therefore his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, “How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
“Behold, these are the wicked; and always at ease, they have increased in wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.
“If I had said, “I will speak thus,” behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight until I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.
“When my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD IS THE STRENGTH OF MY HEART AND MY PORTION FOREVER!” (Emphasis added.)
Philippians 4:4-7
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the Peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus!” (Emphasis added.)
Beloved, realize that you are always in the Presence of Almighty God! And be aware also that the powers of Darkness are screaming and trembling and scrambling to get out of the way of His inevitable coming, as you draw near to them, bearing His Presence!
Mark 1:23-25
“Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
Dear ones… can the world that surrounds you tell, just by looking at your face, and observing your demeanor that you are filled with the Presence of the Living Word and Spirit of Almighty God? Isn’t God and His awesome Presence the Eternal Gift that you’ve been given? Does that not give you the right and privilege and commission to embody His majestic Reality… right now, in everything that concerns you, at all times?
If the world can’t sense His Presence surrounding you and emanating from within your heart of hearts… why is that? Why isn’t the Glory of God emanating from your presence? Because it doesn’t happen as long as we remain mindless and totally unaware of all that God has done and placed within us. In that case, we do not focus on Him and we do not remember to draw everything we need from Him. So… what are we focusing on? And into what are we habitually inserting our ‘intake tubes’ to satisfy our insatiable neediness. If we’re not sinking those ‘tubes’ into Him, into what are we sinking them? Of what have we become the habitual image and likeness? Is it something just as needy and temporary as we ourselves are? Are we obsessing over and relying upon mere puffs of smoke? Or have we already begun to follow the directions Paul once gave to the believers of Colossae and Rome:
Colossians 3:1-4
“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Messiah, keep seeking the things above—where Messiah is, sitting at the right hand of God. Focus your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in God. When Messiah, who is your Life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him, in Glory!”
Romans 8:31-39
“What then shall we say in view of these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? It is Messiah, who died, and moreover was raised, and is now at the right hand of God and who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”
“But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord!” (TLV. Emphasis added.)
Beloved, Tribulation is popping up all over the world in which we live! Isn’t it time for us to be fully prepared and equipped and trained to deal with it in ways that give Glory and Honor and Credit to our awesome Lord? Isn’t it time for the world around us to feel the Heat and Power and Overwhelming Victory emanating from His Presence that always abides and works from within us?
John 12:20-26
“Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in the Galilee. “Sir,” they said, “we want to see Yeshua.” Philip comes and tells Andrew; Andrew and Philip come and tell Yeshua.
“Yeshua answers them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified! Amen, amen I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. He who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it forever. If any man serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there also will My servant be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him!” (Emphasis added.)