Re: Verse reading–John 14:1-14 (day one)
“Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me”–v 1. It is a power I never knew I had! The power to prevent anxiety, the responsibility to stop fear before it washes over my heart and hope. John uses a word (tarasso) which meant, “to stir up, to agitate, to trouble”. He reports the command Christ gave His disciples (and us) to refuse fear, to replace and defeat it by belief. “Believe!” says the Lord. Believe in God! Believe in Christ! Place your full confidence in His sufficiency and wisdom and love. Even when days grow dark or disappointing, don’t wander off from this declaration of trust. “Do not be afraid any longer”, the Lord said to the grieving and anxious synagogue official in Mark 5. “Only believe!” ONLY believe! Allow nothing else into your heart. It is always His message to those who love Him. The result is always peace.
Tag: God
The problem is pride
Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17; 31-38 (day six)
“If I, then, have washed your feet, you also ought to was one another’s feet”–v 14. “Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another”–v 34. It is not about feet. It is about pride, about the things that I am willing to do (or avoid or purchase or say) in order to protect my ego. About, the things that I am unwilling to do because they are difficult or unfulfilling. The problem is not that I don’t love people. I do. I just don’t love them more than I love me and therefore NOT like Jesus loved. After a while, I don’t even see the opportunities anymore. I walk right past them so that my tender ego doesn’t feel obligated or guilty. Ego-protected life is not a privilege Jesus gives His followers. Obedience to God comes first, even at the price of my pride. Washing feet illustrates it. The cross proves it.
Live
Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17; 31-38 (day three)
“He…began to wash his disciples’ feet.” Jesus saw an opening to love them, and he took it. It is possible that we’ve thought of Jesus as the author of object lessons, and that we have become dulled to recognizing love when we see it. Jesus did not do this in order to teach his disciples a lesson, though it did accomplish that. He did not do this in order to put them in a state of awe that the Lord would be so gracious as to stoop to such a lowly function, though it did strike them with wonder. Jesus did this because he loved them. Love is the way God lives. Therefore, love is the only way to live the eternal kind of life. At some point, we must stop theorizing and start living. Jesus will teach us to live.
Love to the end
Re: Verse reading–John 13:1-17; 31-38 (day one)
“Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end”–v 1. It is a strange sentence (in Greek, if not in English). Theologically evocative. The NASV translates it, “He loved the to the end”. End of time? End of His life? The word actually means the end of God’s plan and purpose. “Telios” means finished product or completed project. So, the NIV translates it “He loved them to the full extent”, never surrendering any part of His goal for His people. Hebrews 7:25 uses a form of the same noun. “Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost (telios–completely, in accordance with all that He planned) those who come to God through him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” Wow! A love that never quits. Never retreats. Never makes concessions. He keeps loving us until His perfect purpose is achieved in us! He loves us to the end.
Disappointed with God
Re: Verse reading–John 11:17-44 (day seven)
” ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died’ “–v 21. She was disappointed with Jesus. You can feel it in her words. Her not-too-disguised question, “Why didn’t you come when I sent for you?” “Why didn’t you hurry?” I’ve been in her same place, asked her same question. But, the issue is larger than schedule. It involves purpose also. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the GLORY of GOD?”–vs 40. When I am honest, I can see that my ambitions and prayers are often no larger than comfort and safety. God’s purpose and plan is higher. He wants me to see HIS GLORY. And, if this ultimate purpose requires the payment of time and/or struggle, He is willing and gracious to require it of me. Often, we are disappointed with God because we forget how LARGE and GOOD His plans for us are.
Resurrection!
Re: Verse reading–John 11:17-44 (day six)
“The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings”–v 44. Lazarus was RESUSCITATED. Jesus would later be RESURRECTED. Huge difference. Lazarus was restored to his old body, returned to a life of limitation and restraint. Witness the grave clothes. He would die again later. Jesus was later raised to a new body with new powers. He would walk through doors, appear and then be gone (John 20). God’s promise to us is RESURRECTION! A miracle of such scope and power only God could do it. The complete destruction of death. Near-death stories that we hear (as miraculous as they seem) are more like what happened to Lazarus. No comparison to what is ahead. New bodies! Death and all of its sad history erased for good. Now and someday. In Christ. “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life”–1 John 5:11-12.
Responding to Christ
Re: Verse reading–John 11:17-44 (day four)
There are many responses to Jesus. For those who have a relationship with Christ (Martha and Mary), the response was the same. “If you had only been here, our brother would not have died!” Trust. For those who mourned with the family (the Jews), some were moved by His obvious love for Lazarus and some criticized Him for not saving His friend. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, some of the Jews believed in Him while others rushed to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. (Hint: They were not witnessing to the Pharisees so they could believe!) It is the same today…different people have different responses. How we respond to Jesus is of critical importance. For those who recognize who Jesus is (In verse 27, Martha says she has believed that Jesus was the Christ…sent from God.) and respond in faith and trust, they will have life. That was why Jesus waited to come to Bethany…That others might believe!
Promise
Re: Verse reading–John 11:17-44 (day three)
“This sickness will not end in death.” Jesus fulfilled all the roles of the redemptive work of God among his people: Prophet, Priest, King. But his statement is less a prophecy and more a promise. We will see people die; we will see their bodies stop working, we will have their funerals, and we will live life without them. But they themselves will not have known death. No one who counts on Jesus will ever see death. This pathogen-borne disease will not end in death. This mental illness will not end in death. This congenital problem will not end in death. This accident will not end in death. We will see death come for those we love, but what we understand as death will not end their lives. No one could ever have made this promise but Jesus.
The subject is leadership
Re: Verse reading–John 10:1-21 (day six)
“The THIEF comes only to steal and kill and destroy. . .the HIRED HAND. . .runs away because he cares nothing for the sheep”–v 10, 12.
The subject is leadership. There are many, says Jesus, who claim to lead the people of God (have authority over or responsibility for the sheep) who are not qualified to do so. Either through active selfishness (thieves) or passive cowardice (hired hands) they fail to protect and promote the welfare of God’s people. Not so with Jesus. Not so with the leaders that He calls and sends to us. Unselfish–motivated by love. Courageous–even in a costly fight. God-called leaders exhibit these characteristics. Why do you think Jesus takes the trouble to make this clear? What responsibility do sheep have in recognizing and responding to God-called leadership? Sheep are helpless, but not so helpless that we cannot hear His voice (or not) in the leaders He sends to us. We must discern.
Mind
Re: Verse reading–John 10:1-21 (day three)
“He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” A not-for-profit organization years ago used the slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” That’s for sure. God gave human beings a mind, and its unused potential is one of the great stewardship failures of a sinful human race. The religious leaders confronting Jesus demonstrated this abdication of responsibility when they refused to engage Jesus on the merits of his claims, and instead resorted to name-calling and diversionary tactics. When you are spiritually bankrupt, that’s all you’ve got. God gave you a mind as well. Jesus says to you, “Follow me.” Do you enter into conversation with the Savior, or do you change the subject?