Tag: Jesus

Identify

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15 (day six)
Who are you? Who are we? Exodus never lets us forget who these people are; they are the “people of Israel,” the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had a tremendous sense of corporate identity; they were God’s people because of God’s covenant with their forefathers. Even when God moved in the life of an individual it was always in the greater context of a people. Abraham was the father of a nation, and Moses led a people out of slavery; the people were always in view.

Maybe one of the messages of the Exodus, and the people of God, is that we must regain a perspective of our corporate identity. We tend to be so individualistic that it is hard for us to break free and participate in our corporate identity. You see, we don’t do church; we are the church. We don’t go to church for worship; the church worships. We love and serve others not because it is something we are supposed to do, but because it is who we are in Jesus. We are the church, a chosen race, a holy priesthood, called to be the people of God in a very broken world. We are the Kingdom of God breaking into kingdom of the world.

I think that is what Jesus meant in John 17:22-23:

“The glory you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Let’s be His church!

Who Am I?

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:1-14; 4:1-15  (day two)
“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you.” vs. 11-12a

Notice God’s reply to Moses? He doesn’t answer the question that was posed, does he? Perhaps in a nod to how Jesus will counter the seeming unending questions from believers and non-believers alike, God carefully focuses Moses attention on what really mattered. There is a tremendous amount of hope in these two verses. God unequivocally states that who you are makes no difference to him. It’s not about you. Alone, you will not accomplish this task. But…GOD WILL BE WITH YOU! The task he is assigning to you is one that will happen with God’s help. Not of your design, skill, or effort, but by his grace and power through you. Has he called you to action? Rest assured he will not leave you alone to see it through.

Morning has broken

Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25  (day seven)
“When the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.”–v 4. (NASV)

Today will be our last day in the book of John.  At least for a while.  Once again, we note John’s use of symbolic language.  The day was “just dawning” as the disciples encountered the risen Christ for the 7th time. (There are 10 resurrection appearances in the Bible).  John’s words are beautifully true.  A new day was breaking!  New realities and possibilities!  In this new day, the church will form, failures will be reconciled, and individual assignments will be embraced.  Are you living in this new day?  Are you aware and expectant for the possibilities of life in partnership with the Living Lord?  “Morning has broken like the first morning, Blackbird has spoken like the first bird, Praise for the singing, praise for the morning, Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.”

The Fish We Catch

Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25  (day six)
“Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ “–v 10.

It is a small detail.  Easy to miss in the larger story.  Jesus used the fish his disciples caught to meet the needs of the morning.  Only speculation can tell us how the “first fish” got there.  Miracle?  Preplanning?  Whatever we conclude about the Lord’s provision, He didn’t do so much that the efforts of his disciples were extraneous.  The fish they caught were necessary, useful, valued.  None should think that God “needs” our efforts.  I do believe, however, that His love for us includes us in the work of His kingdom.  We are not passive observers.  We are “God’s fellow workers“–1 Corinthians 3:9.  We are servants of Christ and fishers of men.  Inspiring to consider.  Tomorrow at worship, the Lord may say to us, “bring some of the fish you have caught.  I will use your efforts to meet needs.”

Obey God

Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25  (day four) 

“Do you love me?”  Jesus asked Peter three times and each time He asked, He gave Peter a command.  These were a test of his love.  Look back to John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  Obedience was always a fruit of love.  In John 14:21, Jesus gives the benefits of obedience…I mean love…no, I mean obedience…”He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”   You cannot love God and not obey Him.  It is impossible.  Love for God and obedience to Him are the same thing.   It was time for Peter to stop hiding behind closed doors and going fishing, and be about the work of the Savior.  Do you want to be loved by God, loved by Jesus, and to have Jesus disclose Himself to you?  Then, obey God…I mean love God…no, I mean obey God!

You

Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25 (day three)

“Lord, what about him?” We’ll often pursue anything except the hard work of self-leadership.  Self-leadership understood in light of our apprenticeship to Jesus is the act of ruthless moral inventory, confession of sin, and training in righteousness.  In Psalm 139, we see the proper progression of thought towards self-leadership: “I hate those who hate you, Lord…I count them my enemies.”  And then, “Search me, God…know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me…” [Emphasis added]  This is a move from external observation to internal yielding.  Peter moves in the exact opposite direction.  After discussing the need to surrender his spirit to Jesus’s lordship, Peter moves to the far less painful topic of other people.  Jesus rebukes him, as he will all of us: You.  Follow.  Me.

Not prisoners

Re: Verse reading–John 21:1-25 (day one) 
“We are all products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”–Rick Warren.

“A sunrise is God’s way of saying, ‘Let’s start again.’ “–Todd Stocker.

The Bible is a book about God.  His character, nature and promises.  It is also a book about people as they encounter God.  People who trust and follow.  People who (sometimes) make really foolish, really public mistakes.  People who find unexpected mercy.  Like Peter.  Please read John 21 this week.  Please watch with wonder the stubborn love that Jesus has for his friend, the divine determination that pursues and prods until Peter can process his failure and find forgiveness.  And when you see Christ-with-Peter will you think Christ-with-yourself?

“My SIN, O the bliss of this glorious thought, MY sin, not in part, but the WHOLE, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”–Horatio Spafford.

Holding on

Re: Verse reading–John 20:10-31  (day six)
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not returned to the Father.  Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father ‘ “–v 17.  May I ask you a question?  Are you holding onto Christ?    Matthew 28:9 describes it as an act of worship.  Even so, it was not what Jesus wanted from Mary.  Maybe she was determined to “never let Him go”, to return things back to a former chapter by force of will.  Maybe she was reluctant and unaware of the new chapter that was beginning.  Maybe she didn’t realize that by holding on to Him she was ignoring and delaying His immediate order to “go tell”.  Later that night, the Lord would tell all the  disciples, “As the Father sent me, so send I you”–v 21.   Are you holding onto the Lord or venturing out into the new life He has for you?

Whatever & Wherever

Re: Verse reading–John 20:10-31  (day five)
John 20:28    Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”   Profound statement.  Revolutionary words.  Do they sound familiar?  John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

What we need to remember is that Thomas spoke those words days after the Resurrection.  The words in John 1:1 were penned some 60 years later.

There is great hope in understanding the sequence of these verses.  Thomas, in the midst of doubt, fear, stress, tension, and grief is able to gain a new and supernaturally revealed insight into the nature and character of Jesus.  God was working in Thomas’ heart and mind.

So, whatever the circumstances, tensions, doubts, and fears we face, the hope of God’s continued work in the human heart and mind are possible to the soul that would seek, ask and knock. (see Luke 11).  Will you spend time in prayer and reading/searching the scriptures?  God is at work in whatever and wherever!!

That You May Believe

Re: Verse reading–John 20:10-31  (day four)
It was the ultimate goal of John when he wrote his gospel…verse 31, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”  It should be the goal of every believer to give this same witness to everyone we have contact with.  Why should this be our goal?  Just to have numbers to boast of?  No…it is like one beggar telling another beggar, where to find bread.  When Jesus breathed on the disciples so they received the Holy Spirit, they were a new creature.  They had a new perspective of life…they had new goals…they had a new love for others.  The same gift is ours!  John was bold in his witness and we should be the same.  Fear of man, lack of love, or disobedience may hinder our witness to others.  Ask God to remove any barriers in your life and to use you to lead others to Christ.