Something to Ponder

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SOMETHING TO PONDER

John 6:28-29

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 

NIV

We are still looking at the conversation between Jesus and the crowd of five thousand or so that followed after him whom he had feed from five loaves and two fish. He had just told them they shouldn’t be working for bread that spoils but rather for that which endures to eternal life. So here they ask him, what kind of work we must do in order to have this kind of bread that endures to eternal life. Jesus’s answer is so simply, so plain, so easy, yet for the centuries that have followed his death, man has turned his answer into the most complex set of rules and regulations in so many various forms it is difficult to image anyone could ever do the work God requires to obtain this bread that endures to eternal life. Jesus simply told them the work of God was to believe in the one he has sent, which of course is Jesus. So in order for us to do the work that God requires to gain eternal life, we must believe in Jesus, believe he is the Son of God, believe he came to satisfy God’s need for justice, to die for us, so that we may live. That is it, we must be born again, our old self die, and we are born a new creature in Christ, believing in him, what he did for us, what he said and taught. Yes there are changes we make in our life because we believe. Yes, Jesus taught us many behaviors that are wrong and those that are right. Yes, we should make every effort to live in a manner that pleases God, but all that is not the work God requires. We are not saved by works, but by faith in Jesus Christ, that is it, that simply, faith, believe in Jesus. There is no formula for salvation, no four spiritual laws or any denominational guidelines, or practices which bring eternal life, only believing in Jesus. When the final judgment happens, the sheep and the goats will be separated, based on who has done and who has not done the work that God requires. Only those who have done the work of God, not the work of the church, will enter into eternal life. We cannot confuse doing good deeds here on earth with doing the work of God. Although it is true as believers we should do some good deeds, like for example taking care of the widows and orphans, but those are simply outpourings of the love of Jesus in our hearts, they are not associated with getting to heaven. God has told us through James that our faith without that kind of outpouring from our hearts is a dead kind of faith, which could mean that if we are not doing some good for others, we may actually not believe in the one he has sent. Now that is something to ponder on.

Working for What

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WORKING FOR WHAT

John 6:22-27

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

NIV

We are back to that same point about seeking Jesus for the material things he can bless us with. Those people were searching for Jesus because he feed them, that is it. They had no clue he was the Son of God, the Messiah, the anointed one, the Savior of the world. They only knew he had feed them and they wanted to be around him so they could get more of that bread and fish, after all that was a good thing. They did not have to work for their food; they only had to listen to a short sermon. Sort of sounds like some of the missions places on skid row. But this was not skid row, this was the common people of that time, people who most likely had some kind of job, or way to support themselves and their families, but they were not at work, they were following after Jesus because he had feed them. Who needs to work when the food is free? But we have a lesson for us today from those words of Jesus. He was not talking about working to support our families, but he was talking about putting forth all our efforts to working for material goods. What we put value on is where are hearts will be. If we work hard to gain all the material wealth of this world that we can, storing up as much as we can for our later years, then we have placed a great deal of value on the accumulation of material goods, of wealth. Jesus says all that will spoil and we should be working for that which does not spoil but endures to eternal life. What good is all the wealth in the world if we do not have eternal life? It may be that even some, who confess to be believers, have gotten side tracked with concerns about the accumulation of wealth, after all we even have Christian financial advisors, and we have preachers telling us to give more so we will be blessed with more wealth. Yes, we need to work; we need to provide for ourselves and our families. Yes we have to live in this world, have someplace to live, food, clothes, cars etc., but all that is just stuff, and we cannot get overpowered by the lust for more of it, for it will all spoil. There is also a truth in these words of Jesus about working for Salvation. Yes, Jesus told them and us that we should work for that which endures to eternal life. That could be seen as our need to work good deeds, to be involved in church, doing some ministry. But in the next words of Jesus which we will see later, he says the work of God is to believe in the one he set. We should not get ahead of ourselves, but only see that work is not good deeds, Jesus will give us eternal life, give us, it is free, as that bread and fish were. We will spend more time on that concept next. For now we should consider where our treasure is, what we value, what we spend most of our energy on, what drives us, motivates us to have what we have. What do we work for? It is true that if we seek first his kingdom then all this stuff will be added on to us as well, but again, what do we seek first? What do we work for? 

No Fear

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NO FEAR

John 6:16-21

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid."  21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

NIV

Another one of those famous records in the life Jesus, which of course every moment of his life on earth as a man is famous, but this is one of those we remember well. Matthew includes the part about Peter walking on the water after Jesus tells him, “Come”, but John leaves than out for whatever reason. It would seem the most important aspect of this event God desires for us to learn through John’s account is to not be afraid. We could see this in two different, but in the some sense the same, ways. First, as we travel through life, we may very well encounter some tough times. We might be trying to get somewhere in life and come up against what seems to be insurmountable odds, strong winds and rough water. These storms of life may be a part of our journey so that Jesus can come to our rescue, or they are just a part of life, they happen because of our own doing, but still Jesus comes to the rescue. His words will be just as he told those disciples, “It is I; don’t be afraid”. Fear can overpower reason. Fear of the unknown, fear of the future, fear of making a decision, fearing it will be the wrong one. Fear can freeze us, so that we will not go forward accomplishing God’s plan for our life. Fear of doing something we have never done before, or have no training, skill, or educational background for that task. We make excuses because of fear. But Jesus tells us not to be afraid. The second way we could see this is that the crossing of the lake is like our crossing over from life to death, the journey each of us must make. Again, although we are people of faith, of believing in Jesus Christ as our lord and Savior, none of us have ever been to the other side, the shore of heaven and returned to tell us it is indeed there. The trip to the other side could have a certain amount of fear attached to it. It might be a rough trip, including serious illness, or injuries that cause us to make that journey. But when Jesus shows up, he tells us, “It is I; don’t be afraid” and immediately we will arrive at the shore where we were heading.  Whether it is one or both of these views, we have no reason to fear, and when we see Jesus we certainly have no reason to be terrified. He has come to rescue us. 

Meeting a Need

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MEETING A NEED

John 6:14-15

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

NIV

Why did these people want to make Jesus King by force? Surely they had suffered to some extend under the hands of the Romans or even under the rule of Herod as there was no doubt a very strong class system in place and perhaps even the common people lacked a sufficient amount of daily sustenance under a domineering rule. They had just seen the power of Jesus being able to feed them all from such little and surely were determined to replace Herod with Jesus as their king thinking under his leadership they would never hunger again. Even though they may have thought Jesus to be that prophet who is to come in the world, they were only thinking of their physical need. Sure their life was hard under Roman occupation, as well under the corrupt rule of Herod so why wouldn’t they want someone at the helm who feeds them, heals them, and teaches them the truth about God, rather the harsh interpretation of the Law. It seems rather normal for man to always think about his own life in the physical, material way, always wanting something better, always wanting to improve his lifestyle. It seems that is the way of the world. It is the way we have been taught all our lives, by our parents, teachers and those who govern over us. The problem is not much different, many people today are looking for a king to provide their physical needs, in our case it is the government. There are others who take it on themselves to provide but still only for the physical, material life they desire. Few look for the spiritual provisions Jesus has to offer. The true food is for our spirit, to provide a life far more abundant then this physical one. Although it is true that Jesus will also bless us in a material way, but we must remember there are believers who live in abject poverty compared to our normal American lives. So we cannot or should not consider any material conditions, such as every believer should have a big house, new car, nice clothes, great job, and so much stuff we have to rent a storage place to keep it all safe. We should not be always looking for the material blessing from Jesus, but we should be seeking spiritual blessing. Jesus has told us that we should not be concerned about our physical needs, but if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness all our physical needs will be taken care of as well, whatever that means to a person in whatever conditions they live in. But the key is to not think Jesus is our king so he can feed us, but that Jesus brings us eternal life, what greater need do we have? 

Feeding Many

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FEEDING MANY

John 6:10-13

10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."  13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

NIV

It would seem the natural thing would be to see Jesus doing a miracle and providing food for all those people from a very small amount that he had to work with. The truth is this miracle is just that, Jesus taking a small amount of food and increasing to be enough to feed thousands. It is somewhat of a puzzle why when there is a need expressed within the church for a certain amount of money to either build a new addition, build a well in some far off region of the world, or whatever, that the plate is passed until the entire need is met. Sometimes a chart of some other means of showing our progress toward reaching the desired amount is kept for all to see. Perhaps that is to encourage us or guilt us into giving more. But Jesus took a small amount, food for a few and turned it in food for thousands and there were even leftovers. Sometimes we hear that if we give a certain amount to the church, or the Lord, he will multiple it back to us, which is a principle some churches teach, but Jesus was talking about the seed, the word which is sown in us and that we who are the good ground increase it, sharing the word with many others. We have even heard some preach that you cannot out give God, which is a principle Jesus did teach in a certain sense, when he told us if we judge, we will be judged, if we condemn we will be condemned, if we do not forgive we will not be forgiven, and if we don’t give we not get, all those things will be measured back to us in the measure we give out and even more so, overflowing as it were, but we only use it for the money part. This increasing the food supplied to him is about increasing what we give him for the needs of others. So maybe, just maybe if there is a need of a certain amount, we could simply give a small portion of it and allow Jesus to do the rest. But then that might be living a life of faith, and we certainly would rather meet the need ourselves, then we could boast about how much our church gave to this or that project. We should notice that the small boy who had the loaves and fish is not mentioned by name or given any praise for offering up his food. It is not about who gives what, as we know that when we give we should not let out right hand know what our left hand is doing, and that should include the church as well. The church should give anonymously to whatever it gives to, allowing Jesus to increase it and receive all the praise and glory for providing the needs of the many. This is about Jesus showing his divine power, his divine purpose, bringing people to faith in him, looking to Jesus for their salvation. We might be that small boy in this narrative, or one of the disciples, but for the most part we are the people on the hillside, having Jesus providing life sustaining food in the natural sense, but showing he also provides life sustaining food in the spiritual sense. Jesus provides what man is hungry for, eternal life. Yes this also shows the compassion of Jesus wanting to materially feed people, but ultimately it is about him wanting to feed the people eternal life.  

How Do We See?

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HOW DO WE SEE?

John 6:1-9

6:1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"  6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

NIV

This is just the beginning of one of the more famous miracles of Jesus, which is often told, but we have enough here to learn before we get to the actual miracle part. Jesus knew what he was going to do, but wanted to see what Philip would think of feeding all those people. Jesus tested Philip, which would then seem to imply Jesus might just possibly test us, our faith as he did Philip’s. Philip was looking at the physical problem with merely a physical solution. Andrew on the other hand, which John is, the only one who records this about Andrew, came up with the bread and fish but he too could only see the physical solution to the problem. Either we do not have enough money or enough provisions to meet the need of others. It would seem this was a rather hopeless situation for them to be in; Jesus was looking to them to figure out a way to resolve what he wanted to do. It would appear all they would have needed to say was, “Lord, we have no idea how we could do this, but you are the Son of God, we have seen you turn water into wine, we have seen you heal a man that had been lame for thirty-eight years, we have seen you do so many other miracles, surely you can feed them.” But no, they could only see the physical. What a sad commentary on men who walked the earth with Jesus, but of course we know eventually they got it. How much, how long do we take to get it? Jesus knows what he is going to do in our lives as he did in those who walked with him. He may test us to see if we are going to response in faith, or in the solution of our own minds. So often we might hear believers saying Jesus has provided all they need through the great job they have, that he has blessed them with the ability to make a lot of money. Maybe that is true, but what about those of us believers who do not have a lot of money, has Jesus failed to bless us? That seems to be the implication by those who claim he blessed them. Again they may only being seeing as Philip or Andrew did. Jesus does not need our physical solutions, but only our faith in him in order for him to provide the solution. Of course we give to the needy; we sent bundles of money as a church to meet the needs of others. We provide through all sorts of physical solutions, but then non-believers do the same in the name of humanitarianism. What we believers need to see is God is more than able to take a small  amount of something, with a lot amount of faith and increase it into something abundantly more than is needed, but we get ahead of ourselves here, for we are into the miracle rather than on only seeing the physical solution to a physical problem. We need to see Jesus’s solution first. We need to have faith in God to provide for the needs of others, as well as to provide our needs, as to someone, we are the others in need of Jesus’s provision. How did Philip and Andrew see? How do we see? 

Live free or Die

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LIVING FREE OR DIE

John 5:45-47

45 "But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" 

NIV

The old saying, “If you live by the sword, you will die by the sword” comes from what Jesus has just finished telling those Jews who were looking for a way to kill him. They were trying to live under the Law of Moses, which of course in hind sight, we know was only to prove man could not live by the law, so man needs a Savior, Jesus. They were convinced God had given them the Law through Moses in order to find salvation through the successful accomplishment of that Law and they tried very hard to do just that, as well as impose the Law and all their interpretations of it upon the rest of the people of Israel. But we know, because God explained it perfectly through Paul’s letter to the Galatians, once we did live under the Law but Christ has freed us from the Law. Why than should we place ourselves under the burden of the Law again? Yet like those Jews, many believers live under the rules and regulations that denominations have set up as acceptable and unacceptable beliefs and behaviors, which of course are evidence of denominationalism, rather than freedom in Christ, because of all the differences in those beliefs and behaviors. Why do we put ourselves under that yoke of denominational bondage? Why do we put ourselves under that yoke of rules and regulations set forth by various interpretations of the scriptures? That is the basis of the whole principle God lays out for all of us through Paul in that letter. Once we have been set free, why become slaves again? If we try to abide by every aspect of the Law, we will be judged by that Law, rather than by our faith in Christ. If we have faith in Christ, why then do we try to live by the Law? True, we should not go about living in sin, doing whatever we please. True, we should endeavor to live according to the principles laid out in scripture, yet Jesus himself said the greatest commandment was to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If we live according to the law of love, we will live by faith, and we will live a life worthy of being called Christians and called children of God. Whatever else there is, it will cease, but love covers all wrongs, love builds up, it never fails. The greatest all things is faith, hope and love and the greatest of those three is love. Yes, we believe all that Moses wrote, and we believe he wrote about Jesus who shows us the true meaning of love. Let us not burden ourselves with the yoke of church, with denominationalism, with all the rules and regulations, as good as all they are, as we should not be opposed of gathering ourselves together for worship, but let us live in the freedom of love. 

Praise from God

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PRAISE FROM GOD

John 5:41-44

41 "I do not accept praise from men, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

NIV

It has never ceased to amaze me how believers will give applause to each other for some sort of performance, even when that performance is billed as a ministry. Why do we applaud someone who sings, but not someone who preaches? Are we actually giving praise to the singer, or are we praising God? If we are praising God with our applause, then why not when the pastor is finished with his sermon? It may be appropriate to applaud a performer for whom we have paid to hear, but certainly we should not be giving each other praise for ministry, although some come up after a sermon to praise the pastor saying, “ That was good” or “You’re a good preacher” or some other attempt at giving affirmation. It seems what Jesus is saying is pretty clear about accepting praise from other people. Do we look for praise from other people? Do we want other people to think we are “Good Christians?” Do we serve in the church so others will think we are doing good deeds? What is the reason we do anything? Jesus has some harsh words for his listeners here when he tells them they do not have the love of God in their hearts. These were people who were very religious, followed all the laws, perhaps even made up some of their own, at least from their interpretation of the law, but they did not have the love of God in their hearts, instead they were praising each other for being so religious. It is one thing to claim to be a believer in Christ, attempt to live a holy life, doing all the right things, and checking off the list of things not to do, but it is entirely a different life if we have the love of God in our hearts. It is far better to receive praise from God than from men, yet some believers seem to live for the praise of men. If we have the Love of God in our hearts then we certainly will do many good deeds, deeds we would consider a ministry that we have been called by God to do, and we certainly would not anyone to praise us for doing what we do. If we are praised in any many we should simply redirect that praise to God, for all we are, all we say and all we do is because of God working through us. If God is not working through us then all we have is humanity at its finest and men praising men, such as in the Nobel prizes, Oscars, Emmy’s or some other form of human praise. In the church we should especially not what any praise from men or recognition of ministry. It is painful to see people lifted up in church for doing something special, brought before the congregation and given praise. It just seems this is not what having the love of God in our hearts is all about, but rather about having the praise of men. It is quite appropriate for a person to say, “It is not me, I can do nothing without the power of God working in me” or “Any ability I have is all because of God”. Many do say that and that is a reflection of the love of God in their hearts. We should always remember that God’s grace is most cases mean his divine influence on our hearts and how that is reflected in our hearts. That is having the love of God in our hearts and having God praise us, as he did David, “This is a man after my own heart”. Let us seek only the praise from God. 

The Only Way

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE ONLY WAY

John 5:31-40

31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. 33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

NIV

It sure seems like Jesus is making it clear that it does not matter how much of a scholar we are about the scriptures. It also seems he is saying that those who do study the scriptures so carefully looking for truth about eternal life, hoping to find it through diligent study of all the law, the rules and regulations, trying to abide by every aspect of the law are in deep trouble if they do not come to Jesus for eternal life. It also seems Jesus is telling that all the words of men regarding him are really not worth very much. Although we spend time listening to the testimony of men concerning Christ, he has the greatest testimony which brings people to salvation. One of the great truths within this statement is about the Father doing the work to bring us to salvation. We are sinners, disobedient people who deserve the death penalty because we are descendants of Adam, as well as our own personal sin. God declared the penalty for sin is death, not just the physical death, but a spiritual death, a complete and total separation from him. But he does not desire any of his people to have to suffer that end and there is not a single person, who through the study of the scriptures, or an attempt to abide by all the rules and regulations of the scripture or a denominational interruption of the scriptures in the form of a statement of faith, believe they can satisfy the justice God demands for sin. No person can find salvation through any good deeds at all. God is the only one who can satisfy his own need for justice and he set about to do just that. He sent Jesus to complete that work to satisfy his own need for justice so that we might have a provision to regain our relationship with him, or rather he might regain his proper relationship with us. If a person does diligent study of the scriptures that person should find Jesus, yet he says that those he was talking to still refuse to come to him for life. How sad that is for people who think they are a theologian of sorts, intelligent in scripture and still refuse to come to Jesus. Religious intelligence is meaningless unless it leads to Jesus. Jesus finished all that needed to be finished in order for God’s justice to be satisfied. It is true that once we come to Jesus we should make every effort to live as he lived, but living as he lived without coming to him first is also meaningless, it is just humanity trying to be good. It is far better to come to Jesus and make a few mistakes along the way, than trying to appear so perfectly Christ-like but refusing to actually accept him as Lord and Savior, and the one and only way to salvation. Jesus is the only way. 

What Is To Come

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHAT IS TO COME

John 5:28-30

28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

NIV

There can be no mistake about what Jesus is saying here regarding those who are dead and in the grave. Each person who has ever lived will rise to be judged by Jesus. All of mankind, those who have been dead for thousands of years and they bodies returned to dust will be raised. Although the dead are out of human view, God still sees them and knows them all, and will gather them back to him for Jesus to judge their life choice, evil or good. We know from what God tells us through Paul in Corinthians, the perishable will put on imperishable, that we will be changed, so those in the grave may not rise as the same flesh they once were, but in some heavenly body, yet the same spirit, the same person with their knowledge and memories. We also know from Daniel that all men will be judged by they lives, some will be judged as good and enter into eternal life with Jesus, and some will be condemned to perish, which may be what words Jesus was using, as most Jews were familiar with the words of the prophets like Daniel. But we cannot mistake that the judgment is based on being a good person or a bad person except that the good person here is the one who accepts Jesus and the evil person is the one who rejects Jesus. Again, we have to know that every person is without excuse, as what may be known about God is plain to them. All throughout the ages, from the beginning of mankind, every person who has ever lived has an opportunity to know God, which would include Jesus. That is just a fact, we have been told so, again through Paul in the letter to the Romans. Those wicked people who will experience the wrath of God, the Judgment of Jesus to condemnation, will do so because they suppressed the truth. This certainly tells us they knew the truth, and therefore are without excuse. We need to make sure we continue in the truth never suppressing it in order to live our own pleasures, our own desires, and our own plans for our lives. We must always keep the plan of God for us in the forefront of our thinking, setting our sights on the prize, the finish line. Somehow it seems foolish to think that we can confess we are believers, then go about living as the rest of the world does, making plans for our future, securing our goals, surrounding ourselves with all the same ideas of success and prosperity as those who refuse Jesus. Just as God will change our physical form when we are raised, either while we still are alive or after we have died, we should experience a radical change in our inner self when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We should experience a change in our thought life, our life choices, our goals, ambitions as well as our lifestyle. The judgment of Jesus will be based on what choice we made, him or self, but still we should live accordingly to our choice of him. Jesus tells us he does nothing but to live to please God. He does not live to please self, but to please God. Can we do any less? Should we not live knowing what is to come?

Hear Him

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HEAR HIM

John 5:24-27

24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

NIV

It comes down to a simply fact that we all, at one time in our lives, lived within the city of sin, the city of darkness. Some are still living in that city of darkness and sin and have not yet crossed over to the city of light and life. But for us who believe in Jesus Christ, who believe in God the Almighty, creator of all things, have indeed made that journey from the city of sin and darkness into the city of light and life. This is the truth Jesus is telling us about here in this portion of his dissertation. Jesus also answers the age old question which is asked by so many unbelievers. They question about all the people who lived and died before Jesus and how did they get a chance at eternal life. Jesus tells us that all those who have died will have an opportunity to hear his voice, that is, really hear what he is saying, about him being the Son of God about the power of his name, the eternal life he has to offer, and if they accept what he has to say they will live, they will inherit eternal life. It is a bit of a mystery how that will all work, but it is what Jesus is saying and we believe him, for he speaks only the truth. It is also true that many people are dead in their sins, a different type of death, they are not dead in the grave, but dead spiritually, separated from God because they live in that city of sin and darkness. Jesus is speaking to that kind of death as well here, a spiritually death which is more deadly than physical death. But some who are dead in their sins, as we once were, will hear the voice of Jesus and make that journey over the great divide on the cross of Jesus to the city of life and light. Some will hear, as we did and he will give eternal life to them as he has done for us. This is the twofold truth as much of scripture has a meaning for the present as well as a meaning for the future. The simple truth is whoever hears the voice of Jesus will not be condemned but has crossed over from eternal death to eternal life. Just as a judge must condemn a criminal who refuses to comply with the laws of man, Jesus must pass judgment on those who refuse to comply with the words of God. We see this picture in the story of the goats and the sheep being separated at the judgment seat of Christ, those who crossed over are the sheep and will enter into his rest, the goats are those who heard his voice but refused it, will be condemned by their own choosing to the lake of burning sulfur, and they will perish, they will experience the second death. Jesus is telling us the simple truth; if we want to live, hear him. 

Judged

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

JUDGED

John 5:19-23

19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

NIV

If we were to hear someone say those words to us for the first time in our lives, not having all of the New Testament knowledge of Jesus that we do, we might think he was crazy. Certainly the Pharisees had never heard anyone speak of themselves in the way, speaking about being the Son of God and having all authority given to him by the Father. Yet we know that Jesus is making it clear that he is the one and true Son of God and he has all authority, but to give life and to judge all. The rest of this dissertation of Jesus gets even more intense but this beginning gives us enough to know he will be the one who passes final judgment of each person who have ever lived, and that he has the power to give life, which we know, means eternal life. Now some might use that phrase “to whom he is pleased to give it” as proof to declare Jesus decides who gets life and who doesn’t. But we also know that God desires all men to be saved and we have never heard Jesus declare that he came to die on the cross for only those he selected, but for the whole world, all men. We also must see that we should give Jesus as much praise, glory and honor as we do the Father, for we know they are three but also they are one, which is in some sense a mystery we may not fully grasp until we are with them. For now we should see Jesus is declaring his Sonship, his divinity and that if you see Jesus you see the Father. Although Jesus judges all, we also know we do not have to live under the fear of being judged for each and every offense we commit. Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we have been judged as justified, saved, secure in Christ. Yes we must repent of a life of unbelief; a life of disobedience to God, a life spent searching to satisfy self. Yes we should true from our wicked ways and make every effort to live a life that pleases our Lord. It is also true we will fail, we will fall short of the mark from time to time, but we will not be judged for every time we fail, as we have already been justified, not that we should go on doing whatever we want, God forbid, but we do not need to fear judgment either. The judgment will be based on who has accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and who has not. We will see later the result of the choice each person makes. Actually we already know the result but Jesus will declare it again in the rest of his words to follow. All people will have to face to Judge. What verdict will be for whom when the Judge comes?

At Work

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

AT WORK

John 5:16-18

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."  18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

NIV

From the very beginning when God instructed the people of Israel, when he provided manna from heaven he established the Sabbath and told them that on the sixth day to gather two days’ worth and it would not spoil so they were not go gather on the Sabbath day, not working as it were. Then when giving the Commands to Moses, the one was specific about not working on the Sabbath, keeping it Holy. Although it was the command of God these Pharisees had taken it to a whole new level, adding many rules and regulations regarding what was considered work. But Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and that just would not do as far as they were concerned. Rules were more important than doing what was the right thing to do. Yet Jesus most likely knew how the Pharisees would react and what they would accuse him of, so we might consider he did this purposely so as to be able to make this statement about his Father is always at work and so is he. It was difficult for them to grasp the concept that Jesus was the Son of God. They could not open their minds past their own thinking. Man had made the Sabbath something God had not intended it to be and Jesus was making that very clear. This truth reveals two points for us. One is that Jesus is equal with God as he is God, and the second is that we should not be so rigid about rules and regulations about the Sabbath, which of course we are not as all the church staff work on our Sabbath, all the people who serve us breakfast after church work on the Sabbath and we who have shift work employment work on the Sabbath ourselves. We might even say we have completely disregarded the Command of God about the Sabbath, except we think we keep it holy by attending church, if we are not working that is or we have some special reason why we aren’t in church. Jesus was doing the work of God even to this day, even on this day. Why do we pray to God on the Sabbath for him to do something, if we think we should rest from all our work on the Sabbath and keep it holy? Why are we asking God to answer our prayers on the Sabbath if we expect him to rest from all his work on the Sabbath? God is always at work doing good for his creation, Jesus is always there making intersession for us before the Father, even on the Sabbath, and we should always be ready willing and able to assist those in need, even on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is about God at work. 

Made Well

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MADE WELL

John 5:14-15

14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."  15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

NIV

One of the first things which pops right out at us is a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years, having to lay on a mat all day long hoping when the water of the pool was stirred he might crawl in first, but never ever made it, is told by Jesus to stop sinning. This man after being healed was in temple to boot. What kind of sin could this man possible have in his life? Envy, Jealousy, hatred, greed, lust, gossip, gluttony, slander, malice, just to name a few, might have been a part of this man’s life which Jesus was addressing. The other thing which pops out is want Jesus told him about something worse happening to him. Is it possible that because of continued voluntary sin we might have something really bad happen to us? Does God punish us because we continue to sin? How can we be sinless? How can we avoid all sin? How can we be perfect as Christ is perfect? It is most likely Jesus was telling them man that living a life of sin does result in something worse than being lame, it ends in being cast into the lake of burning sulfur, and there is nothing worse than that. Jesus could also being telling him that unconfessed, non-repented sin can cause more harm to us than being physically lame. Either way Jesus was telling him and us that we should not live a life of sin, which we need to stop sinning. All of us believers are aware of that and for the most part we do all we can to live a life without sin, although we fail, we fall short of perfection; it is our desire to please God. The healing of this man also shows us that Jesus does not expect a perfect to be sinless before he heals them, but in that healing he desires the person to know it is him who healed them, making them aware of their need to change. This narrative also shows us the need to tell others that it is Jesus who heals us. So often we give so much credit to the doctor and not so much credit to Jesus, unless we are healed in a miraculous way, without the need of a doctor. We give great testimony to the skill of the doctor, we even want people to know our doctor is one of the top ones in their field, the best, but we seem to miss giving Jesus the credit. It was Jesus who made him well. 

When to Rejoice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 WHEN TO REJOICE

John 5:9-13

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" 3 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

NIV

It is amazing how some people would rather pay so close attention to the law, to the rules and regulations than to see God at work in people’s lives. This is what is happening in this portion of the narrative. Those Pharisees could only see the fact this was done on the Sabbath and could not rejoice with this man in his healing. Blinded by their own lives, their own twisted interpretation of the law, their own addenda’s they could only question him to find the culprit who broke the law they so desperately wanted everyone to see they adhered to. The text is not clear if the man actually knew it was Jesus, but implies he did not at the time of his healing as Jesus had slipped away in the crowd. We will see later he does find out, but for now we should focus on the reaction of the Pharisees. We should ask ourselves if we are so invested in our own lives that we truly cannot rejoice for a blessing someone else receives. Sometimes it seems, this is the case as when in conversations many believers, like most people do not really listen because they are so intent on what they want to say when we stop talking, and if we mention something about our lives, our children, grandchildren they have to one up us about theirs. This is ony a symptom of the larger problem we might be guilty of like those Pharisees, so concerned with self we cannot rejoice with others when God does something special in their lives. Maybe there is jealousy, or envy that drive the self-centered attitude of those Pharisees, maybe that is what drives some of us in those times when others are being blesse by God. It would seem if we are supposed to be more like Jesus than the Pharisees then we would be so thankful, so grateful for the blessings of God in others. Whenever God mores, no matter in who, we should rejoice. 

"Do You Want to be healed?"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?

John 5:1-9

5:1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.   5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"  7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."  9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

NIV

Do you want to get well? Those words seem a little odd to be asked of a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Why won’t he want to get well? Maybe that is the lesson we should be focused on. How long have some of us been burdened with some sickness, disease or other discomfort in our bodies and are just lying there, so to speak, because we have no one to help us into the pool? Sometimes it almost seems as if we enjoy having some infirmity so we can talk about it with everyone, even one upping others with ours being worse than theirs. Many conversations of believers are centered on our aches and pains, or health issues rather than about the blessing Jesus has done in our lives. Those words of Jesus, “Do you want get well?” ring so loud in light of all the illness today yet it seems many of us simply ignore them, or make some excuse why we can get to the pool. But Jesus is there ready, willing and able to say to us, “Get up! Pick up you mat and walk.” If we want to be healed we merely only ask Jesus. Maybe the reason some do not ask is they really do not believe he will heal them. Maybe some do not ask because they are afraid he will not heal them. Maybe some do not ask because they think they are unworthy of being healed. Maybe some do not ask because they like being sick. There are those who would tell us, we do not have enough faith, but that is so bogus, for God gives to every person a measure of faith. It is true faith is build bigger by workouts, and we need to exercise our faith daily. Maybe some simply have never exercised their faith and it has shivered up to almost nothing, so they do not ask. Whatever the reason that some are sick among us we cannot be certain, but we can be certain that Jesus is asking, “Do you want to get well?” 

Footnote:  

There might be something to not being healed because as we know if we ask with wrong motives we will not receive. If we are asking to be healed so that we can go about our own agendas, pursuing our own passions, desires and lusts without giving testimony to others about the healing power of Jesus, maybe, just maybe that is why we are not healed. We need to be focused on the fact that all our life should be about giving glory to God. 

Second Footnote,
We also should understand there is the sovereignty of God, there may be times God allows us to live with some infirmity as Paul with his thorn in his flesh, so that we can give credit to God, that his grace is sufficient for us. There may be times God wants to take us home, reasons we may never understand until we get there, but those words of Jesus still hold a truth.    

Just Words

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

JUST WORDS

John 4:46-54

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."  49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

NIV

We could think Jesus said what he did with a bit of indignity, or we could see it as he said it out of compassion, but in reality we do not know the tone of his voice, but just the words. Maybe that is true of all of us, in that unless we see a miracle we will not truly believe. We might say we do, but we also have that certain amount of doubt as well, because we have never witnessed or experienced a real miracle from the words of Jesus. That is not to say that some of us have actually experienced a miracle and perhaps more than one, which of course does give us an unwavering faith in Jesus. Some might say that it would have been great to live in the time of Jesus so as to actually see him preform the miracles, but this man lived in that time and only heard the words of Jesus, as he was not with his son when his son experienced the miracle. Although it is true others in the household were and after this man returned home everyone shared their experience of this miracle and the timing of it which resulted in the entire household believed. We may not have Jesus in the physical but we still have Jesus, and we have his word, and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling with us to confirm the words of Jesus. If we need a miracle in order to believe, Jesus will do it in order for us to believe. If we need a miracle in order to bring others to believe, it will be done. We need only believe in the words of Jesus. Those of us who have experienced miracles from the words of Jesus need to share those with others, we cannot keep a miracle from them, and we must give testimony about Jesus. We need to share miracles of healing and miracles in material blessings or whatever other kind of miracle Jesus did for, in or through us. We only need the words of Jesus, just words. 

Welcome

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WELCOME

John 4:43-45

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

NIV

Somehow John does not include what Matthew, Mark and Luke do about Jesus talking about a prophet having no honor in his own town. They include that Jesus was talking about Nazareth and not the whole of Galilee as within Galilee he did most of his miracles and made most of his converts. Yet what can we learn from what appears to be simply a historic account in the life and legend of Jesus. When he arrived in Galilee those they welcomed him, of course the reason we are told is because they have already see what Jesus had done Jerusalem. We are not told if all the Galileans were there, or some of them and the news spread like wildfire about Jesus and his miraculous power. It is not as if they all knew he was the Messiah, the Son of God who would take away their sin. They only knew of him as a prophet or as some man who could do miracles. They were interested in the supernatural, as many people today are. So many people today follow after those who appear to have some supernatural power, or gifted with some special ability, either to summons the spirits of dead relatives, or foretell the future or some other “spiritual” psycho-babble. These people were glad Jesus was there, for perhaps they would see more of his power, even be the recipients of it, as we will see in the coming narrative. Is life all about welcoming Jesus so as to be a recipient of his blessings? True we are indeed just that because of his taking away our sin, but do we live to see what we can get from Jesus, or do we live to see what we can give to Jesus? We should examine to see if we are like those Galileans who welcomed Jesus because they had seen what he had already done and perhaps expecting more of the same in their area. Although it is true Jesus has done some wild miracles in some of our lives, some to get us to come to salvation, some after we have believed, but all he does is so people will know who he really is and what he is about, so they will turn from the darkness of their own self and live in his light. Yet perhaps some of us still do not welcome Jesus into every portion of our lives, keeping some tiny amount of our own desires, our own passions, or own plans from him. We need to welcome Jesus in every aspect of our lives. 

Seeing the Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SEEING THE TRUTH

John 4:39-42

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

NIV

It is one thing to be a witness for Christ, to tell everyone about what Jesus has done in our lives, but it is entirely a different matter when those people we told about Jesus have an honest to God real experience with Jesus themselves. We see here that many of the Samaritans came to see Jesus based on the testimony of the woman, one who may not even had the best reputation in town, having gone through five husbands and living with the sixth without the legality of marriage. Nevertheless based on her words, they urged him to stay a while, which he did. They were open to investigate the possibility that he was the Messiah, as she had asked them, “Could this be the Christ?” After several days of listening to Jesus and we are not told here if he did any miracles, but rather just talked with them, many more of them came to know that he was the Christ, the Savior of the world. Some simply believed because of the woman’s testimony, but many more believed because of their encounter with Jesus. The point here is they were open to listening to him. He came as a Jew because that is how God had decided to reveal Jesus to the world, but he came for the whole world, which here we see he had already expanded to the Samaritans. We could learn a great lesson here in that we can share our testimony about what Jesus did in our lives, but it still requires the openness of those who still need to see and listen to Jesus. Some may believe based on our testimony, but some may not believe until they encounter Jesus for themselves and the truth is he will met them right where they are. He will stay, tarry with them, speaking to their hearts and mind, convincing them he is the Christ, the Savior of the world. People can refuse to listen, close their minds from the truth about him, and we already know it is because they love the darkness, they would rather live completely within self, serving only their own needs, even those who do great humanitarian deeds, if they do not do it for the sake of Christ, they do it for the sake of self. But if people are open minded as these Samaritans where they will see the truth about Jesus.