Tag: Jesus

Re: Verse reading—John 15:1-17 (day three) 
“I chose you.”  Every action that a person carries out takes place in a world in which God has already acted.  Before anyone else loved the world, God loved the world, John tells us (both in his gospel and later on in his first letter), and so when we attempt to love someone, we do not do so alone and unaided, for then it would be impossible for us to love.  Rather, we do so as a person who has received love from God, and therefore we can love another person.  In the same way, before anyone else believed the human race capable of making something good out of the good universe God placed us in, Jesus believed it.  Only with his soul-saving power will that happen, but it will happen.  He was the first to declare it so.

Re: Verse reading–John 15:1-17 (day two) I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

I am a failure. Don’t try to come to my rescue. It’s a fact, I cannot garden. I tend to plant things that need sun in the shadiest spot in the yard and always vice versa. I over and under-water. I can’t seem to get it right what I’m supposed to prune and what is too much cutting. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just have never taken the time to really understand how it all should work. And it is work, constant care to protect, nurture, and give the plants what they need to live. No garden ever thrived on neglect. So for Jesus to call himself the vine and the Father the gardener is a statement of involvement. If we are to grow and flourish, we need tending to. This often means pruning. Cutting away the dead parts so that more life will grow. This active, nurturing God cares deeply about all that will abide and grow in him.

Re: Verse reading–John 14:1-14 (day five)
I see it every year as Youth Minister- parents and students processing and adjusting to new coming chapters (graduation, middle school, high school).  I also see people entering new chapters at weddings, funerals, retirements, and hospitals. Some chapters are welcomed and needed while other are intruding and life altering.  Our reaction and struggle with change more often than not, is one of stress and angst.  Aversion to change is not just unique to Baptists; it is a common human response, regardless of age.

Jesus’ words in John 14 address His disciple’s anxiety about the news of His departure.  “Do not let your heart be troubled”.  Present faith in the living God (believe in God/believe in Me) and certainty for the future (that where I am, there you may be also) are the key components of His instruction.  Listen to His reminder for their trust and confidence, “If it were not so, I would have told you”.

We navigate new chapters and changes by faith and trust in the “Unchanging One”.

Re: Verse reading–John 14:1-14 (day four)  For several chapters, Jesus has been talking about relationships…relationships between man and man, between man and God, between Jesus and God.  Relationships that are characterized by love, service, and unity.  In chapter 14, He says that He is the only way to a relationship with God.  To know Christ is to know God, to know God is to know Christ.  The focus of His teaching has been these relationships.  Move forward to chapter 17…Jesus is praying His high priestly prayer.  What is He praying about?  The disciples relationship to the Father…hold them in Your name, that they may be as You and I are…One.  The understanding and living in these relationships was important to the Savior.  It is important to you and me!  Search these scriptures and evaluate your relationships…do they match up with the teaching of the Savior?  The rewards are unprecedented…look at verses 13-14.

Re: Verse reading–John 14:1-14 (day two)
“That where I am, there you may be also.” vs 3

This Upper Room Discourse is filled with revelation, insight, and profound love. The disciples’ minds must have been reeling with taking it all in. This small section brings into focus who Jesus was/is and what he came to do. He must leave, but leave to prepare for us. This logically implies that we will see him again. The question of where he is going flows legitimately from Thomas, and Jesus is again able to bring our blurred concept of the Father into a clearer picture of their relationship. Re-read these few verses and examine how masterfully Jesus paints a picture of hope and assurance while at the same time establishing his perfect communion with God the father. Jesus is both the path and the destination.

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.