JEWELS FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: JOHN 6:36 - SEEING Is Not BELIEVING

The following is a series of short exhortations, brief commentary, and writings to convey thoughtful meditation on God's Word. I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.

JOHN 6:36
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

"Let me see a miracle, THEN I'll believe!" someone usually says in regards to any discussion involving GOD, the Bible, Jesus Christ.

The old saying, "Seeing is believing" doesn't apply to the Kingdom of GOD and the truth that reigns there; at least not the sort of 'sight' that this world is accustomed to. In vs. 40 the LORD Jesus says, "40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

WONDERFUL WISDOM, FOLLY of FOOLISHNESS - A Look At PROVERBS 15:8-21

For the Facebook video of this teaching, at Shine Bright Church,  go here.

 Wisdom is knowledge correctly applied. Knowledge is important, but it’s useless unless we put it into practice.

And if we apply knowledge according to wisdom to our lives, it’s wonderful, and wonderfully effective in bringing blessing and benefits to us, because all gifts from the Father are given to us freely, and of all of His gifts, one of the greatest is wisdom. 

We’ve read before:

PROVERBS 4:7 
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

In his youth, as the successor to King David his father, Solomon was given a ‘blank check’ from GOD. Essentially GOD said to the new king of Israel, “Tell Me what you want Solomon, and it’s yours!” Wow! What would you ask for if GOD gave you that opportunity?

We know what Solomon asked for:

2 CHRONICLES 1:10-12
10 "Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?" 11 And God said to Solomon: "Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life-but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king 12 "wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like."

Because Solomon made the Kingdom of Israel, GOD’s Kingdom the highest priority, by seeking wisdom to know how to govern in the Kingdom, the LORD decided to bless him with riches and honor as well.

NO MORE DEAD BABIES - A Testimony of James J. Fire

(Be sure to watch the video at the end of this article, where I and Isabel Oroz of SHINE BRIGHT Church (Tucson, AZ) give a Pro-Life presentation! JAN 18, 2026)

I was born August of 1962; I should have been born in October, but there were serious complications, so I was brought into this world early.

I almost wasn't. The afternoon my mother was rushed to the hospital was because her water broke, and there was a considerable amount of blood loss.

She was terrified as the hospital staff was preparing the delivery room. She was shaking from head to toe, not knowing what was wrong, but knowing something was terribly wrong. She kept looking at the crucifix over the door of the room where she was laying on a gurney. She told me she never felt the presence of GOD so powerfully as in those moments when she whispered a desperate prayer.

She was brought in to the delivery room and the doctors, after examining her and looking over her vitals understood that she could lose her life as well as her unborn child. She had three other children and a husband to care for. They decided for the sake of her life and her family to abort the child. That was me.

Meanwhile my father was at a funeral home, kneeling beside the casket of his deceased mother. Some men approached him and whispered to him, "You need to get to the hospital. They think you might lose Dorothy and your baby."
They had to physically lift my father to his feet, so despairing he was of his bleak future without mother, wife and son.

JEWELS FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: JOHN 6:34-35 - Bread of Life

The following is a series of short exhortations, brief commentary, and writings to convey thoughtful meditation on God's Word. I have chosen the Gospel of John as the subject. I pray that these will be a blessing and an edification for the saints.

JOHN 6:34-35
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

A MESSAGE From the Men & Boys - Fathers/Sons retreat at Mt. Lemmon, Tucson, AZ 6.12.2021

This is one of three short exhorations given at the Men/Boys - Fathers/Sons retreat at Mt. Lemmon, Tucson, AZ 6.12.2021.

MENS/YOUNG MENS MT. LEMMON Retreat

 A GUARANTEE of GOD According to TRUTH and HOPE

COLOSSIANS 1:3-5 
 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 

RUNNING THE RACE OF THIS SINGLE LIFE TIME

"Of all the words of tongue and pen, the saddest of these are 'It might have been'."

This life is a testing ground, and for the saints, it's a race - how well we run will depend on our source of strength; either in our own strength, or by renewing (literally 'exchanging') our strength for the LORD's own (ISAIAH 40:31). Those who run well receive the prize (crowns, rewards, etc.).

Paul stated the following:

1 CORINTHIANS 9:24-27
24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; *but we an incorruptible*. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

WHAT’s YOUR PURPOSE?

GOD never does anything without a plan or purpose:

EPHESIANS 3:11-13
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Even before He said, “Let there be light”, He had a plan. We Christians know this plan revolves around the Person of Jesus Christ in accordance with the Holy Scriptures (PSALM 40:7). His plan includes His calling, His purpose for your life!

Jot these down to look up later: ROM 8:28; 9:11; EPH 1:11; 2 TIM 1:9

The LORD Jesus Christ understood that in just three of the thirty three years He lived on Earth, those final years, He would fulfill the Father’s Grand Purpose (JOHN 17:4).

It all built up to the moment when He was on that Cross (MATT 26:53-56; JOHN 3:14; 12:32), died for our sins, dealt the death blow to the kingdom of darkness (EPH 3:10; COL 2:15; 1 COR 15:25-27) when He rose from the dead (1 COR 15:4) and potentially altered the course of doomed humanity from certain, eternal damnation to the adoption by GOD as His children (EPH 1:5-7)!