John 17

My mother read this chapter in John every morning and it is carved into her stone. This chapter repeats major points over and over , as many as three times in some cases. (Reminding some, 17 is the prayer Jesus makes during the night before being betrayed by Judas. He goes to the cross the next day.) 

We should talk to each other as if...

......we are talking to Jesus. That is said in a commandment among parables. Many, including pastors, are either not aware of this or choose to rationalize matters to the sidelines. I've witnessed the parable of the ninety nine ignored more than once. Church leaders often are lulled by their thriving clicks into thinking they get to choose who likes them. Another misstep is handling stumbling blocks as if  they were unmentionable under the guise of gossip so that things go untreated, and grow worse.

Are Christians smart?

Jesus inferred we were not. He said the children of the world were smarter than the children of the light. This was in the parable of the unjust servant. In church we see everyone likes to review the easy but no word about the more difficult to explain. Indeed some never even heard of it and became quite upset with me over my questions from the time I was a child.

I asked what happened to all those who died in the Flood. I was laughed at so extravagantly that it made it into the High School (Christian) yearbook.  The answer of course was right there in the account  of the crucifion itself. If we, and the teacher yet, didn't know, then where are we? How central can we get?

The parables contain the commandments of Jesus. If we love Jesus then we kmow and obey His commandments. I am not a chapter and verse man, but if I'm correct, try Luke 16:8 in the parable of the unjust servant for verification.

Definition of an essay.......

An essay is a trial. Everything I think of is a trial run at understanding, written for my own benefit, no one else.  If something I read sets me off into a new direction then that may prove profitable some unexpected way or another, or , maybe not.  Who knows unless I try? Everything is a try all run.

Questions in the doorway...

Why was it that only one has ever claimed to be the Son of God or to die and rise from the dead?  Not only do many seem not to comprehend the concept of the spirit,  but not to even have a definition of God in their understanding  even while at the same time debating the existence of God.

He suffered for us so we suffer with Him....

If you deeply love someone as a mother loves their child or a child their mother then you have given yourself over to that person.  
If suffering is involved then there is a rejection of the body, or the letter of one's life, and an acceptance of the spirit of your life, even the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the source of the explanation of that Spirit which is eternal. 
Suffering is a rejection of the body and the acceptance gift of the spirit. If you love someone so deeply that even your spirit consumes your body, then you enjoy and worship that person, even as one celebrates Jesus Christ the Son of God as Existence, and we are one with Him and with God, as He prayed in John 17,.

defintional relationships must be in order

Sometimes I find it profitable to define terms in correct order. Every definition is often dependent on a segment arising out of definitions of other terms. Worship is often not fully fleshed out in many cases. The key word in worship I believe is love. 

No Greater Love Than This
Appreciation of the Paraclete is paramount in understanding the central importance of the Trinity. when Jesus said He would send another helper. It was necessary for Him to suffer on the cross, die, and rise again for us to realize the Holy Ghost. 

If one loves enough and deep enough then worship enters in.  For instance, if a man loves a woman strong enough then he will often use the term worship to describe his love, as he bows on one knee to ask her to enter his great commitment, marriage.

I cannot see me worshiping God very intensely if I have an unclear appreciation for Jesus defining the Holy Spirit for us. This was the single great theme of His ministry. This awareness of the spirit, the greatest of all the unseen forces predates Newton's gravity by a large time gap so large it is not connected in not only the popular mind, but not even the religious mind. One realizes how little the religious mind makes of the Holy Spirit when they spun off the scientific mind in what primarily boiled down to a perception of power. This struggle was lost rather quickly it seems to me with the development of early telescopes, and of course formally with the fixed wrestling match, the great Galileo Slamdown.