Matthew Zavala

John 14:1-6

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Christmas Eve

What is the true spirit of Christmas? A young soldier once shared a very special gift with his fellow soldiers on Christmas Eve.

John 1:14  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Rules of the Road

John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Recently I stopped in traffic behind a large truck. A sign prominently displayed on the truck's rear door asked the public to call a certain number if the truck driver was not obeying the rules of safe driving. Trucking companies displaying such signs surely have confidence in their drivers and in their training.

I began to wonder how my behavior would change if Christians were required to wear a sign identifying us as Christians and requesting that our bad behavior be reported. Would I be less likely to show frustration because of poor service? Would I be more patient while waiting in line at the bank or sitting in the doctor's office? Would I forgive more easily when others made comments that hurt my feelings? Perhaps I would offer to help a person in need more readily if I were wearing a sign that declares my faith.

All of us are challenged to follow God's direction in our day-to-day interactions. Whether or not our behavior is noticed by anyone, we are always accountable to God.

1 Peter 3:8-9 “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”

I am Second

Inspiring the Revolution of Second.

I am Second is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. The authentic stories on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second.

You are here for a reason. We all have needs and could use some help. Talk to us. Call, chat, or email. 24 hours a day.

Go a step further, talk with the people in your life. Spread the revolution of Second. Share the videos with friends. Start an I am Second Group in your neighborhood, workplace, or school or join an I am Second Group already meeting.

Volunteer at concerts. Serve through I am Second community service events. Organize your own I am Second events. Sign up for an I am Second Expedition to help people in other countries. Check out Get Involved for other opportunities. Connect with us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

I am Second is designed to help people discover their purpose in life. Have you discovered yours?
To find out more about the people and leadership team behind I Am Second you can check out Who We Are.

Chris Plekenpol

In Iraq, I could have saved his life, but I didn’t...

Watch The Film

John 13:6 "He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

http://www.iamsecond.com/about/

 

Now This Explains It

John 17:21-22  “That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”

  

If you are going through a solitary way, read John 17, it will explain exactly why you are where you are - Jesus has prayed that you may be one with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or have you some other end for your life? Since you became a disciple you cannot be as independent as you used to be.

The purpose of God is not to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God, and this is revealed in John 17. There is one prayer God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus - "that they may be one, even as We are One." Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that?

God is not concerned about our plans; He does not say - Do you want to go through this bereavement; this upset? He allows these things for His own purpose. The things we are going through are either making us sweeter, better, nobler men and women; or they are making us more captious and fault-finding, more insistent upon our own way. The things that happen either make us fiends, or they make us saints; it depends entirely upon the relationship we are in to God. If we say - "Thy will be done," we get the consolation of John 17, the consolation of knowing that our Father is working according to His own wisdom. When we understand what God is after we will not get mean and cynical. Jesus has prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far off it, and yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus has prayed that we may be.

Do You Believe?

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? 

Here was a house where the fear of God was, and on which his blessing rested; yet it was made a house of mourning. Grace will keep sorrow from the heart, but not from the house. 

When God, by his grace and providence, is coming towards us in ways of mercy and comfort, we should, like Martha, go forth by faith, hope, and prayer, to meet him. When Martha went to meet Jesus, Mary sat still in the house; this temper formerly had been an advantage to her, when it put her at Christ's feet to hear his word; but in the day of affliction, the same temper disposed her to melancholy. 

 It is our wisdom to watch against the temptations, and to make use of the advantages of our natural tempers. When we know not what in particular to ask or expect, let us refer ourselves to God; let him do as seems him good. To enlarge Martha's expectations, our Lord declared himself to be the Resurrection and the Life. In every sense he is the Resurrection; the source, the substance, the first-fruits, the cause of it. The redeemed soul lives after death in happiness; and after the resurrection, both body and soul are kept from all evil forever. When we have read or heard the word of Christ, about the great things of the other world, we should put it to ourselves, 

 Do we believe this truth? The crosses and comforts of this present time would not make such a deep impression upon us as they do, if we believed the things of eternity as we ought. 

When Christ our Master comes, he calls for us. He comes in his word and ordinances, and calls us to them, calls us by them, calls us to himself. Those who, in a day of peace, set themselves at Christ's feet to be taught by him, may with comfort, in a day of trouble, cast themselves at his feet, to find favor with him.

John 3:16 Day

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Don't let today slip by without reflecting what was done for you. If you haven't made a decision to follow Jesus, today can be that day for you.

Don't be mislead that "love" and being "nice" is good enough. John tells us in God's Word that it is through Jesus that we can have that restored relationship with God.

Make today YOUR day!

Sunrise

John 12:46 "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness."

This world is dark as midnight; Jesus has come that by faith we may have light and may no longer sit in the gloom which covers all the rest of mankind.

"Whoever" is a very wide term: it means you and me. If we trust in Jesus we shall no more sit in the dark shadow of death but shall enter into the warm light of a day which shall never end. Why do we not come out into the light at once?

A cloud may sometimes hover over us, but we shall not abide in darkness if we believe in Jesus. He has come to give us broad daylight. Shall He come in vain.' If we have faith we have the privilege of sunlight: let us enjoy it. From the night of natural depravity, of ignorance, of doubt, of despair, of sin, of dread, Jesus has come to set us free; and all believers shall know that He no more comes in vain than the sun rises and fails to scatter his heat and light.

Shake off your depression. Abide not in the dark, but abide in the light. In Jesus is your hope, your joy, Your heaven, Look to Him, to Him only, and you will rejoice as the birds rejoice at sunrise and as the angels rejoice before the throne.