Christian cost and gain

a gathering of evangelical Christians praying

Jesus talks about cost before He sends out His disciples. The cost of stability and relationship. The cost of tradition.The cost of comfort. The cost of love. But He talks about gains too. What are they?

Luke 9:57-62 New Living Translation (NLT) The Cost of Following Jesus
Cost of stability and comfort
57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
Cost of relationship and tradition
59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![a] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
Cost of love
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus speaks of the gains too.(Luke 10:1-20) What are they? 
The gain of the Kingdom of God. The gain of following Jesus is tremendous: money and material (Luke 10:4); provision (food and drink and lodging); power to heal the sick (10:9); authority of Jesus over spiritual enemies (10:16, 18-20); book of life (10:20); know God (10:22); see what others cannot see (10:23-24).

nations are like trees in the Garden of God once

Today the watchman-intercessor was woken after midnight to read Ezekiel 31-32. Why? He asked the Lord. The answer is in the reading. At 3am, a name was given. Then he read the news. Indeed, it was exactly as the Lord has spoken through prophet Ezekiel. When the prophet recorded the words none of the events had happened. But history had proven that they had come to pass. God’s words are forever settled in heaven. Why did the prophet have to utter them in his days even when no one listened? The actual speaking of God’s words bring them to pass. So be it even today. The Bible verse below are quoted in parts. Please read the whole chapters (31-32). After reading these prophetic words, the watchman was led to read chapter 33:33 “But when all these terrible things happen, they will know a prophet has been among them.” God is still merciful and wants people to repent and return to Him. That is why He sent prophets to warn beforehand and not after. And He warns both the good and the bad. (chapter 33)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
On June 21, during the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, give this message to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his hordes: “To whom would you compare your greatness?
You are like mighty Assyria,
which was once like a cedar of Lebanon,
with beautiful branches that cast deep forest shade
and with its top high among the clouds.All the great nations of the world
lived in its shadowBecause I made this tree so beautiful,
and gave it such magnificent foliage,
it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden,
the garden of God.
“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it. A foreign army—the terror of the nations—has cut it down and left it fallen on the ground. Its branches are scattered across the mountains and valleys and ravines of the land. All those who lived in its shadow have gone away and left it lying there.I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of its fall, for I sent it down to the grave with all the others who descend to the pit. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the most beautiful and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, took comfort to find it there with them in the depths of the earth. Its allies, too, were all destroyed and had passed away. They had gone down to the grave—all those nations that had lived in its shade.
“O Egypt, to which of the trees of Eden will you compare your strength and glory? You, too, will be brought down to the depths with all these other nations. You will lie there among the outcasts who have died by the sword. This will be the fate of Pharaoh and all his hordes. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
“You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations,
but you are really just a sea monster,
heaving around in your own rivers,
stirring up mud with your feet.
Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
I will send many people
to catch you in my net
and haul you out of the water.
“I will disturb many hearts when I bring news of your downfall to distant nations you have never seen. Yes, I will shock many lands, and their kings will be terrified at your fate. They will shudder in fear for their lives as I brandish my sword before them on the day of your fall. 11 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“The sword of the king of Babylon
will come against you.
I will destroy your hordes with the swords of mighty warriors—
the terror of the nations.
On March 17,during the twelfth year, another message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, weep for the hordes of Egypt and for the other mighty nations.For I will send them down to the world below in company with those who descend to the pit.Say to them,
The Egyptians will fall with the many who have died by the sword, for the sword is drawn against them. Egypt and its hordes will be dragged away to their judgment. Down in the grave mighty leaders will mockingly welcome Egypt and its allies, saying, ‘They have come down; they lie among the outcasts, hordes slaughtered by the sword.’
“Assyria lies there surrounded by the graves of its army, those who were slaughtered by the sword.
“Elam lies there surrounded by the graves of all its hordes.
“Meshech and Tubal are there, surrounded by the graves of all their hordes.
“You too, Egypt, will lie crushed and broken among the outcasts, all slaughtered by the sword.
“Edom is there with its kings and princes. Mighty as they were, they also lie among those slaughtered by the sword, with the outcasts who have gone down to the pit.
“All the princes of the north and the Sidonians are there with others who have died. Once a terror, they have been put to shame.
“When Pharaoh and his entire army arrive, he will take comfort that he is not alone in having his hordes killed, says the Sovereign Lord. Although I have caused his terror to fall upon all the living, Pharaoh and his hordes will lie there among the outcasts who were slaughtered by the sword. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 33
The Watchman’s Message
10 “Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ 11 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
12 “Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins.

Pentecost Day on May 15, 2016

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the remaining eleven disciples of Christ (Judas had hanged himself) after the Resurrection of Jesus. It is also called Whit Sunday, Whitsun, or Whit, especially in the United Kingdom, where the following Monday was traditionally a holiday. Pentecost, meaning “fiftieth day”, is celebrated seven weeks (50 days) after Easter Sunday, hence its name.
Background

As recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, it was on the 50th day after Easter that the apostles were praying together and the Holy Spirit descended on them. They received the “gift of tongues” – the ability to speak in other languages – and immediately began to preach about Jesus Christ to Jewish people from all over the world who flocked to Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot.
Christian Pentecost became not only a commemoration of the Holy Spirit’s visit but also marks the birth of the Christian Church.

While not all Christians will recognize the Pentecost religious holiday as a holy day on May 15 this year, it generally is honored in liturgical churches whose congregations are Protestant, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox and Charismatic — and of course, Pentecostal.

Pentecost is recorded in the New Testament book known as The Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 2 begins, “And when the day of Pentecost had come, [the first followers of Jesus] were all together in one place” (2:1). All of a sudden, a sound came from heaven, like a strong wind, filling the house where the people had gathered. Something like tongues of fire rested on their heads. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak” (2:4).

Bible verses related to Pentecost include: Acts 2:1 — When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. John 14:26 — But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Titus 3:5 — He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2: 14-16 — Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning!” Acts 2: 42-47 — They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

(above quoted from various internet sources)

Leverage: God’s economics and finance (2)

In my previous blog on this subject I have quoted excerpts based on a talk and left lots of questions which this book by the same teacher, “Financial Stewardship” will answer. I shall summarize and/or quote excerpts from each chapter and would encourage you to read the whole book as it will answer more in depth your questions.
Introduction
In reality, money only has value because people agree to view it as valuable…creations of men used to trade for services. The world’s system of trade is based on money, and we all have to use it to survive. The influence of money in our lives is very real, so it isn’t surprising that Jesus taught more on the subject of finances than on any other single topic. He taught more about managing resources than He did on prayer or even faith-which tells us that the topic of money, and how we handle it, is very important…the Gospel has a lot to say about everyday earthly concerns-especially finances.
Learning how God views finances is basic Christianity. Jesus said that if you can’t be faithful in your finances, then you can’t be trusted with anything! (Luke a6:11)
God doesn’t operate by this world’s system, an it’s more important for us to understand how God financial system works than it is to understand the Wall Street.
What really bothers me is that those carnal techniques work! Many in the body of Christ are so uninformed in the area of finances that people fall for manipulation tactics all the time…the kingdom of God doesn’t operate that way; you can’t buy God’s favor.
So, yes, there are abuse in the body of Christ regarding money, but don’t miss out on benefitting from the truths in God’s Word about finances just because a few people are abusing the topic. I encourage you to allow the Word of God to reveal finances to you in a godly perspective, I believe you’ll be glad you did.
In this book I’m going to be teaching the Scriptural principles that go to the heart of financial problems-and success. Once your heart is right, using wisdom in how you spend your money comes naturally.
A house divided will not last for long. (Matthew 12:25) Our relationship with God needs to permeate every area of our lives: marriage, business, relationships, recreation, and finances…letting God into your finances can bring peace and healing to other areas of your life. My goal in this teaching is to help you discover how to turn your finances to God, and to step into true prosperity in every area of your life.

(excerpts and quotes are taken from “Financial Stewardship” by Andrew Wommack)

Leverage: God’s economics and finance

A friend sent me a very good and practical teaching on financial breakthrough and the principle of God’s economics. I sum up with this key: “You need to have something to grow or reproduce something of monetary worth.”
Here are some of the practical quotes which I agree and have in fact personally practiced all my working years:
“Deliver yourself from the creditors.”
“Don’t sleep until you are out of debts!”
“Decrease/diminish expenses.”
“Debt is a hindrance to prosperity.”
“God is not into ‘get rich quick’ scheme and He will not rig the lottery to make you rich!”
“Get Something for nothing -like doing two hours work and get six figures income-is ungodly.”
“God blesses your work and rain on your field when you have planted seeds, to prosper you. He will multiply and increase what you have worked on. If you have worked on nothing you will receive nothing. For example, if you work for a fast food place as a cashier He will promote you and you may become the owner. But if you merely receive welfare there is nothing for Him to multiply and increase or promote.” (Deuteronomy 28:11-12)
“There are plenty of creative work ideas that will generate good income.”
“Everyone has something you can do and God will prosper you.” (For examples the two fish and five loaves Jesus blessed and multiplied into thousands.)
“Find your ability and talent that others do not have and work.”
“You ought to be working even though you say you can afford not to. God prospers you to do good work for others.”
“You ought to be increasing and not decreasing (as in retirement).”
“I exert leverage with what I have-talent, ability-”

Bible verses:
2 Kings 4:1-7 New Living Translation (NLT)

Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
4 One day the widow of a member of the group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, “My husband who served you is dead, and you know how he feared the Lord. But now a creditor has come, threatening to take my two sons as slaves.”

2 “What can I do to help you?” Elisha asked. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?”

“Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,” she replied.

3 And Elisha said, “Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into your house with your sons and shut the door behind you. Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one aside when it is filled.”

5 So she did as she was told. Her sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim!

“Bring me another jar,” she said to one of her sons.

“There aren’t any more!” he told her. And then the olive oil stopped flowing.

7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.”

Other Bible verses: Proverbs 6:2-5; Romans 13:6-8

http://www.awmi.net/audio/audio-teachings/#/awm_1052a_steward.mp3

(In the following blog I shall post my summary of the book “Financial Stewardship“)

A new direction from Andrew Wommack

A personal note to all my readers from AAA Jack Watchman: I am led to post this following letter of appeal and update as I believe many of you are like me, beneficiaries of many years of good free teachings from Andrew Wommack. I have listened to his teachings since the time when we used cassette tapes. I am thankful for his vision and the encourage to carry through the Charis Bible College through which many are being trained and equipped for good works. I pray that the Lord will lead you as you read the letter. Thank you for reading. Regards and God bless A New Direction (from Andrew Wommack)

Construction Continues at the Sanctuary

As I'm sure you're aware, we had to pause our construction at The Sanctuary at the end of December 2015 because of finances. I actually took out a line of credit on December 22 to meet our obligations with television and salaries, but the great news is that we paid that back in less than forty-five days. Thank You, Jesus! We are back on track to do everything debt free.

My original plan was to wait until we built up a $4 million buffer before restarting construction. This was to absorb any fluctuations in income or expenses so we wouldn't run into this problem again. But something happened that has presented me with a new opportunity.

We are so cramped for space at The Barn that we are facing forced limitations on how many people can come to our conferences. We are dealing with this by possibly having students and staff go down to our facilities in Colorado Springs and watch the meetings via live stream. This only affects our major meetings, such as Summer Family Bible Conference, the Ministers' Conference, Healing Is Here, and Charis Business Summit.

But the more pressing issue is office space and our Phone Center. As I told you months ago, I gave up my office space at The Sanctuary, and we've moved as many people as possible down to our offices in Colorado Springs, which already house over 250 employees. I went to talk to one of our IT people at The Barn, and they are actually occupying a storage space on the roof for their offices.

Our Phone Center is 90 percent staffed by Charis Bible College students. This makes for wonderful prayer ministers who do a great job, but it hinders us during Charis class hours. Right now, one of our largest volumes of calls comes from Daystar viewers, beginning at 6:50 a.m. and continuing for the next hour. Our Charis students have to leave around 7:00 a.m. to make it up to Woodland Park by the start of classes at 8:00 a.m.

This drop in people available to answer calls has dramatically limited our ability to respond during this time. We are losing hundreds of calls per day. Some of them may call back later, but we don't know that for sure.

To solve these problems, my staff proposed looking at places in Woodland Park to rent for additional space. If we had our call center nearby in Woodland Park, the students would be able to take the vast majority of these dropped calls. As we began this process, the man who heads up our construction came to me with the idea of finishing off the part of Phase II that will house our new Phone Center and additional office space. I didn't know this was an option, but it appears that this will work.

So, we've come up with a new plan to finish off the second floor of Phase II on the north and east side of the building. This will allow us to have 150 people answering the phones at one time and will give us around 100 new work spaces.

The changes to accommodate this partial build-out are very minor, and the benefit is enormous. This could be completed by August 2016, and that would be just perfect to accommodate the 1,000 students expected for the new school year beginning in September.

I feel so good about this that I instructed my staff today to go ahead and pursue this plan. Of course, we need the whole building finished as quickly as possible-and I am continuing to believe for that-but this is a bite-sized piece that will provide us with some quick relief.

Over the last eighteen months, we have received an average of $791,000 per month designated for our building projects. It would require just over $1 million per month to complete this partial build-out, or an increase of about $300,000 per month over what we are receiving now. This is one-tenth of the cost of having construction on the whole building going at full throttle. I believe this is very doable and would stop the need for us having to rent additional facilities in Woodland Park.

I'm sending this letter out to the 100,000 people who receive our monthly mailings, and it will also go out to 185,000 people on our email list. We will record some television spots announcing this, reaching millions more. Altogether, this is a piece of cake for Jesus.

I'm asking you to pray about this and participate if the Lord directs you to. As I've said many times before, it's not about the buildings. These buildings are just tools that enable us to minister the true Gospel to people. But they are essential for accomplishing that goal.

Jamie and I and all the people being impacted by this ministry appreciate all you have done and will be doing to get this done. I am more convinced than ever that the Lord is doing something special at Charis. Not long ago, I was able to sit in on chapel at Charis when the students received a taste of our latest musical, God with Us. The writers of all the original music for this were telling us about how people want them on Broadway and in Hollywood and can't understand why they are living in a small town in the mountains of Colorado. But they shared how the Lord brought them here. This is just one more example of what God is putting together.

No man has done this. No man could do this. Even if I were smart enough to figure this out, there is no way I could compete with all that the secular world has to offer these people. We have millionaires and business tycoons who have fallen in love with Charis and are pouring their lives into these students. David Barton and political figures are investing time and effort into raising up people to take our nation back.

Our media department is training people to communicate the Gospel using all the tools available to us today. Our missions program and ministry track are touching lives all over the world. Our evangelism courses are making a profound impact on our students, who, in turn, are touching the people in their worlds.

Altogether, Charis is doing things I've never been able to do. It's like a tank being brought into battle. Satan's kingdom is being hurt by what the Lord is doing here. Thanks for being a part of it. We couldn't do it without you.

Thanks in advance,

Andrew and Jamie

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RECEIVE LIFE TODAY: EAT THE TRUE BREAD

Eat the TRUE BREAD TODAY AND RECEIVE LIFE.
John 6 New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
6 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money[a] to feed them!”

8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

14 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water
16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

Jesus, the Bread of Life
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[f] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[g]”

32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 Then the people[h] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.[j]”

70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

Footnotes:

6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
6:14a Some manuscripts read Jesus.
6:14b See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers].
6:20 Or The ‘I am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.
6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
6:31 Exod 16:4; Ps 78:24.
6:41 Greek Jewish people; also in 6:52.
6:45 Greek in the prophets. Isa 54:13.
6:69 Other manuscripts read you are the Christ, the Holy One of God; still others read you are the Christ, the Son of God; and still others read you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.