No Fear

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NO FEAR

John 9:18-23

18 The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man's parents. 19 "Is this your son?" they asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?" 20 "We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

NIV

Now it is time to learn a lesson from the blind man’s parents. Actually we can learn two lessons from them. The first lesson we can learn, being in somewhat of a human sense, is that although these parents may still have been involved in their son’s life due to his blindness and need of care, they also were not going to be accountable for him, as he was of age. Now it is true their refusal was based on their fear of being excommunicated from the synagogue, it is also true their son was old enough to answer for himself. Some of us believers have different views on our role as parents of adult children. Some believe they still have the rights of parenthood, while others believe their children should live their own lives, speaking for themselves, making their own decisions. Neither may be wrong, but it would appear, scripturally, it is clear; children become accountable to God for their own lives at a certain age. If they are accountable to God for their own lives, then surely they should no longer be accountable to their parents.  Although in that Jewish cultural a boy was a man, accountable to God at the age of twelve and most likely still lived in the household of his father, and thus still had to live under his father’s authority it is different today. Our children, by the law of the land become adults much later in life, but whenever the time comes when they leave our home, either due to marriage, or just forging their own single life, we must surrender authority over them, as they are surely accountable to God for their own lives, and are no longer accountable to us. It is this accountability which renders authority, not authority demanding accountability.  Ultimately, in our society, it should come down to who is paying for their life. If a parent is still paying for the life of a child, then some authority still should still exist, but it the child is independent, paying for their own life, then the parent must surrender all authority over the child to the adult child for its own life. Of course we never stop loving them, praying for them, being concerned for them, but they must forge their own paths, accountable only to God. The second lesson and most likely the most important one is regarding how these parents feared being cast out of the group because of the truth. They would much rather abstain from telling the truth they knew, then to speak the truth and suffer the consequences of being thrown out of the synagogue. Do we fear being a cast out because of telling the truth? Would we rather be a part of a congregation which has some untruths within its way of life, then to speak up and tell the truth, if that means being considered a trouble maker, perhaps even asked to leave? Surely we are not asked to leave, but we are certainly are left out of the inner circle, if we speak up and tell the truth. It is much safer not to make any waves; just to go alone with the flow, keep our mouths shut and refuse to speak about what we know is true. At least they might think us to be wise and spiritual if they never hear us speak anything at all.  This blind man’s parents would rather keep silent about the truth they knew so they could be a part of the group. How sad this is, how sad it is if we are anything like those parents. We need to speak the truth, not fear because of the truth.  No fear! We should be bold and forthright concerning the truth of God. When asked what we know, we should not hold back because of fearing the consequences. The truth is always the truth and we should never fear the truth. No Fear!

Now We Can See

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NOW WE CAN SEE

John 9:12-17

12 "Where is this man?" they asked him. "I don't know," he said. 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man's eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see." 16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. 17 Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened." The man replied, "He is a prophet."

NIV

It is amazing how these Pharisees looked at life. They surely must have thought they were not sinners, as well as thinking they actually kept the Sabbath. They also had absolutely no second thoughts about making judgments about other people. It also seems interesting that we just heard the healed blind man tell his neighbors that it was Jesus who had put the mud on his eyes and told him to go wash it off, but now when asked who did this, he merely says a prophet. We are in the middle of this whole account and it is a lacking some of the other information that completes the account, but there is some truth here we should pay close attention to. We certainly can learn a lesson from the attitude of the Pharisees, even if we already know they are a bunch of self-righteous fools. It is clear that if people do not believe exactly the way they do, those people are sinners. They judge people according to their ideas of what it is to be religious. We also can learn a lesson from this blind man. Although he knew it was Jesus, and as we will see later, so did his parents, but neither of them would tell the Pharisees it was Jesus, but that he was just a prophet. Why was he so afraid of telling the Pharisees it was Jesus? We will see his parents were afraid because they feared being thrown out of the synagogue, but was the blind man filled with the same fear? Was it because he felt the Pharisees were more intellectual, more knowledgeable about the scriptures and he feared being ridiculed? Was he simply afraid they would make him into a laughing stock, because Jesus healed him. Or did he actually know that they wanted to find a way to put Jesus to death, so he was protecting Jesus, keeping him out of the conversation? We will see more of this later, but for now we should be concerned with how we handle ourselves among all sorts of people, our neighbors and as well as those who think themselves superior to us. We should surely be ready willing and able to testify that Jesus has healed us, that once we were blind but now we can see.   

It Was Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IT WAS JESUS

John 9:6-11

6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn't this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was. Others said, "No, he only looks like him." But he himself insisted, "I am the man." 10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded. 11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."

NIV

Here we are in the middle of this story about Jesus healing the man born blind. We are actually here where Jesus does the healing, but it is not in the normal way we think of a healing. But of course what is normal about Jesus? Some are healed because of their faith, some are healed simply by him telling they are, some by his forgiving their sin, some without him even being there, but just saying so, and others by his lifting them up, so here he makes mud with his spit, and anoints the man’s eyes with it and tells him to go wash it off.  There is nothing too strange or abnormal going on here for Jesus. We should note this man does know who healed him, even though he was blind when faced with Jesus. Of course we also see that some people still will not believe when faced with a miracle right before their eyes. But the truth we should ponder on today is about that fact that there may be a time when Jesus does require something of us in order for us to receive a healing. Each example of healing has a reason, perhaps which is why there are so many different methods Jesus used to heal people, so we can learn something from each of those examples. When other believers tell us the reason we are not healed is because we do not have enough faith, they have such a narrow view of Jesus; in fact, they are actually blinded to the truth and are in need of a healing themselves. In this example, this healing we learn that we might be asked to partner with Jesus in order to be healed. If we have some infirmity we might be asked to go and do something in order to be healed. What that would be could only be conjecture at this time, but the point is we could be asked to do something in order to be healed. It may not be just a matter of having faith. There was once time Jesus told a man to go show himself to the doctor, so the doctor could authenticate the man’s healing. Whatever the case, we need to be open to however Jesus desires to heal us. But we should always remember it is Jesus who heals us.  

Giving Sight

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GIVING SIGHT

John 9:1-5

9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

NIV

Why did his disciples assume that because a man was blind from birth that it was caused by sin, either his or his parents? This is interesting in that if the reason for this man being born blind was due to his sin, then he must have sinned in the womb. Could his disciples have that much insight into original sin? But does original sin cause us to be born with defects, or did his disciples think that it was due to personal sin, that this man or his parents did something so horrible against God that he was born blind? This would lead us down a path of God bringing physical defects, physical illness, harm to our bodies in some way because of sin. This would then lead us down a slippery slope of judging how severe a person’s sin is based on the severity of their defect or illness. All of that kind of thinking is flawed because Jesus put it to rest. “Neither this man or his parents sinned.” This man was blind so that Jesus could heal him, so that there was an opportunity not only for God to do a work in his life, but that it would be displayed in his life. That is others would see this work that God had done in giving sight to a man who had been blind from birth. This should give us some reason to pause when we see a person who has some defect or has been ill for many years, such as that woman with the issue of blood. If we were to follow the words of Jesus, we would see an opportunity within a person’s life who is suffering in some manner to have God do a work so that the power of God would be displayed in that person’s life. Yet it seems for the most part many believers first instinct when faced with some defect, or illness is to look to the medical profession, rather than God. It seems only when the medical professionals have given up hope these believers might turn to God. Yes, perhaps God has given us doctors, but when a doctor heals us, he gets the credit and we must pay for it, but when God heals us, his power is displayed in our lives and he gets all the glory, honor and praise, and the healing is freely given. Is the reason many believers do not look to God for a healing, is they believe Jesus has left the building? Is it because he said while he was here he was the light of the world, but he is no longer here so he cannot do the work of God? It is still light, the night has not come, Jesus is still in the business of doing the work of God, and healing people so that the power of God can be displayed in their lives. Perhaps more people than just this one man are blind from birth, but their blindness is of the spiritual nature. Jesus can give sight to the blind. 

The Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THIS IS THE TRUTH

John 8:48-59

48 The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" 49 "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."  52 At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" 54 Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."  57 "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" 58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"  59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

NIV

This is the end of the conversation with these Pharisees who wanted to kill Jesus and within this back and forth dialog several truths ring out. Maybe we should divide this up, but it screams to be all together. First we have to note that God the Father will judge each person’s life, not on the good and bad deeds each of us do, but on the fact of whether or not we accepted the one he sent, Jesus. The second truth is that if we honor Jesus by accepting him as the one and only Son of God sent by the Father to redeem us, we will never see death. Of course these Jews were outraged at that thought because they knew that Abraham had died many years before them, and so Jesus simply had to be demon possessed because he was talking nonsense as far as they were concerned. Again they could only see and reason with their human minds, because their spirits were dead in need of being born again. Another great truth here is that Abraham saw the day of Jesus. First, Abraham believed God and it was counted onto him as righteousness. Second, God told Abraham what he was going to and that the redeemer would come from his seed. Third Abraham did not actually see death, as he saw the day of Jesus. Abraham is in the presence of God, and was in God’s presence with Jesus when he was sent from the Father. Abraham witnessed the sending. Those of us who honor Jesus by accepting him as the one and only Son of God, sent by the Father to redeem us, to set us free from our sin will also be in the presence of God the Father when we are finished with being in these perishable bodies. We will not see death. Yes we will leave this shell, this form of flesh we now occupy, and it will be put in the grave, but we will not be dead, we will be alive and well in the presence of God, in an unperishable form. Jesus has told us that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God; He rose from the grave in a glorified form, able to walk through a locked door to appear to Thomas. Someday our bodies will also rise from the grave in a gloried form, unperishable, incorruptible, changed in a twinkling of an eye. In some sense it may be a bit of a mystery. We could be as if we are asleep when we die, and wake up glorified on that day, just as we do each morning, or it could be the moment we are finished with this body, and we die in the flesh we are transported in the spirit into his presence, and someday in the future we are reunited with our transformed glorified bodies, so we can live in the new city of Jerusalem on the new earth. Either way death has no power over us. The last truth is that Jesus was making sure we all knew that he was before Abraham. Jesus is an eternal being, that was there in the beginning, before all else. This is the truth.

Who Is our Father

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHO IS OUR FATHER

John 8:39-47

39 "Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." 

NIV

This is a big bunch but it just should not be broken up, for here we are faced with the simple truth, we either belong to God or we belong to the devil. We either have God as our Father or we have the devil as our father. The words of that song of Bob Dylan’s “You have to serve somebody” surely was inspired by these words of Jesus. Those Pharisees tried to convince Jesus they were children of Abraham, but Abraham was considered righteous because he believed God, and these Pharisees were not believing God, they were not believing what Jesus was telling them, although they had all the proof they needed to know he was who he said he was. They were living under the influence of the father of lies, and therefore they could other believe lies, not the truth. It is not much different today as many people who refuse to believe in Jesus are living under the influence of the devil. The other entire world religions which have even made such great inroads into our culture are nothing but figments of the devils imagination. He has deceived so many people with his lies in his efforts to keep people from hearing the words of Jesus, the truth. Jesus tells the world, and even the world of Christianity that if God was actually their Father then they would believe Jesus was the only way to obtain eternal life. If God is our Father then we would know that Jesus was with him in the beginning and that all things that were made were made though him. There are still people in the world who do not believe that, even people who say they are Christians. It seems unbelievable, but that is the truth. The Pharisees truly thought they were righteous, that they believed in God, and were following the Law given to Moses. They believed they were living rightly, but Jesus told them they had been deceived by their father the devil. The same applies today. We need to make sure we know the truth and live by that truth rather than by some version devised by the devil to appear as the truth, but is in fact a lie. Is it possible that all these different world religions including so many, hundreds of, different forms of the Christian religion are lies of the devil because he knows a house divided cannot stand and therefore has done as much as he could to divide all mankind? We have to make sure we are not a part of that great division, that we hear the words of Jesus and believe the truth, the only truth. We cannot afford to be distracted by anything or anybody. We must be true to Jesus, knowing he is the only way, and it is him alone. We have to make sure who our Father is. 

Room

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ROOM

John 8:33-38

33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." 

NIV

One of the first truths within this section of dialog between Jesus and the Jews, or the Pharisees, because he tells them they are trying to kill him and it is only the Pharisees which are in that position at this time, is about being free or being a slave to sin. Now of course we know we all sin, that is none of us are absolutely free of some sort of sin, but to be a slave to sin is to be living full force under the influence of our own evil desires, as well as giving in to every temptation we face as presented by Satan. It appears the Pharisees were slaves to their own self-righteousness, pride in their adherence to the Law, and if we extrapolate to the end of the story, they were guilty of murder, in their hearts right now, but in the physical when they forced the Romans to crucify Christ. But the main issue Jesus was talking about was the condition of their hearts, as he knew they wanted to kill him. What is the condition of our hearts? If Jesus has set us free then we are no longer slaves to sin, but we have become a part of the family, co-heirs with Jesus. Yes, we still commit sin, but how can we not, being human, as it is only the divine that has no sin? In the context of what Jesus was saying the son of a family had the right to free slaves, slaves could not free themselves, and they had no rights in the family. Although they argued they were a part of the family of Abraham and therefore they were not slaves, but sons of Abraham and therefore able to be free on their own, Jesus told them they were slaves to sin and not free unless he freed them. When people have no room in their heart for the truth of Jesus, the truth of God, they are not free, but slaves to their own form of sin. Some people like the Pharisees are so intent in living in their own style, living for their own passions, lusts, greed, self-pride, they argue in their own defense that religion, that faith in God is for weak minded people, that either it is a hoax or that God loves everyone and therefore a loving God will admit all people to heaven no matter of their sin. We who know the truth, know that is simply not true, but the words of Jesus are. We must always be open to his words within our hearts. We must never shut out the words of Jesus, or even crowd them out with all our own thoughts, our own desires, our own wants, our own life. We must always ensure the main room of our heart is full of the words of Jesus. Grace is the divine influence upon our hearts and how that is reflected in our lives. If we are allowing our own needs and desires to influence our lives more than the words of Jesus, we need to examine our hearts to see who has the biggest room. 

Disciples of Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DISCIPLES OF JESUS

John 8:31-32

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

NIV

We are in the midst of a very long discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees, as well as the Jews who believed what he had already said. The conversation is going to turn a little ugly, at least for these Jews, but we should deal with one truth at a time so we have to take this conversation one bite at a time. Here Jesus is telling them and us that in order to truly be a disciple of his we need to hold to his teaching and by doing so we will know the truth and that truth will set us free. Now in the rest of this conversation we will see the discussion about being free, and being slaves, and it is difficult to leave that out of this truth, but for now we should focus on being disciples. We do not often call ourselves disciples, but rather believers, well actually not even believers, as we usually call ourselves Christians. Some of us really call ourselves by our denominational affiliation, such as, “I am Nazarene”, “I am a Catholic”, “I am a Baptist”, but few if any of us call ourselves Disciples of Christ. Is that because we would rather hold to our denominational doctrines, their rules and regulations than to the teachings of Jesus? Perhaps some think the denomination they have chosen to be a partner with is the only one who knows the truth. If there are so many differences between all the denominations then is it possible many of them do not know the truth and therefore those people who adhere to their doctrines are not free because their do not know the truth? It would seem the only truth that can set us free is the truth of Jesus’s teaching. Yes there are a lot of instructions for life within all the letters written by the apostles that we should pay careful attention to, but those instructions do not set us free. We need to hold to the teaching of Jesus if we truly want to be free. We know that truth, we all know that truth, we all know that Jesus came from heaven, the Divine came to earth as a man to live and die as a man so that he could satisfy the Fathers need for Justice, to take our sin away, to set us free from sin. His teaching is simple, believe in him and we will be free of death and have eternal life. Why then should we not just call ourselves Disciples of Jesus? 

Live Accordingly

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LIVE ACCORDINGLY

John 8:25-30

25 "Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. 26 "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."  27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."  30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

NIV

Jesus is who he has been saying he is all along, so why are some so resistant to the truth? It is also noticed that Jesus said he had much to say in judgment of them, but he had just also said that he does not pass judgment on anyone. If he does not pass judgment on anyone how can he have so much to say in judgment of them? It is true that he actually does not judge people, as he came to die on the cross for all people, so that whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. But the word he speaks the truth he speaks is judgment against those who do not listen and believe. It is the truth that is judgment in that sense. If we do not believe the truth which Jesus spoke then we have place judgment upon ourselves. All people are able to be in a non-judgmental relationship with Jesus, they only need to believe. Jesus does not judge us, he died for us, but the truth stands in judgment of us. The other truth which strikes a chord here is about God the Father always being with Jesus. The reason is always with him is because Jesus says he always does what pleases him. Would that imply that God would leave him, leave us if he, if we did not do what pleased him? Surely that might lead us to think we have to continually be in fear of God leaving us whenever we fail to be perfect. Maybe that is why so many believers try to convince themselves they do not sin anymore. But that is not the case, as the truth is not about God leaving us every time we fail, or fall short of perfection. Jesus told us that he would be with us always to the very end of the age. True he also said in that statement we should teach people to live by his commands, to make disciples, but he would never leave us. God the Father will never leave him, even on the cross when Jesus felt as if he was alone; God did not leave him because Jesus was doing what pleased the Father. What can we do that pleases God, how can we live in order to please God so that he will not leave us? Although it is true that we should live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness, which is good and pleases God our Savior, but the best way to please God is to accept his Son as our Savior. It is God’s desire that all men be saved, that they come to knowledge of the truth. Being a believer, accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, being born again, is the best way we could ever please God. In doing this we can be assured he will never leave us.

It may be at times we when we fail him so miserably, we wish he wasn't there with us, but he is. When we do or say things which we should not do or say, guilt and shame flood our being, but that comes from Satan, not God. Sure he does not approve, or like our behavior, but that does not mean he abandons us, judges us, and condemns us. Yes, we need to repent, we need to ask for forgiveness, but he is always with us, always faithful and always loving toward us, forgiving, without reservation, always protecting, always hoping, always trusting and always persevering. His love never fails; he will be with us to the end of this age. So we should make every effort to live accordingly. 

If You Do Not Believe

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE

John 8:21-24

21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."  22 This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" 23 But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins." 

NIV

It just cannot be much clearer than what Jesus just said here to those Pharisees. They were going to die in their sin. It does not matter how religious the Pharisees appears to be, even if they actually believe they are doing the right thing by adhering to the Law, which was given by God through Moses. It would seem they did believe in the Law and that they were doing want was required of them, sort of. History records they sort of perverted the Law given by Moses into their own form of religion by their adding to it by their own interpretations of it.  Jesus told them as long as they wanted to live by the Law they would die by the Law, and the only thing the Law actually did was show them they are sinners in need of salvation. Religion does not bring salvation, Jesus does. Religious rituals do not bring salvation, they do not bring eternal life because they are not from above, but they are from below, from the world, from the mind of man. Jesus is telling them as well as all who read his words that unless we believe in him for our salvation we will indeed die in our sin. Unless we acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was in Heaven before he came to the world in the flesh, we will die in our sin. We must believe in Jesus. It is one thing to know that he is who he is, but it is entirely a different thing to believe in him. The other truth which also stands out here is that if we die in our sin, we will not go to heaven. Many people believe those who do not go to heaven will go to hell and even if they do, they will not spend eternity there for hell will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur. If it imperative that if we what to escape such an end, we need to believe in Jesus for salvation, not in religion, not in religious activities, good deeds, not in rituals, or even in lists of do’s and don’ts. The only correct course of action is to believe in Jesus. Sure, once we believe in Jesus we will desire make changes in our lives, continued changes, but we will never be completely free of all our sin, we will never be completely changed until Jesus comes back for us, so we can only believe in Jesus if we want to go where he is. We must not be among those who do not believe.

Knowing Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

KNOWING JESUS

John 8:19-20

19 Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."  20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

NIV

How is it that Jesus is telling the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Israel, they do not know God the Father? It surely does seem they do not know who Jesus is, other than a trouble maker that is destroying their authority over the people. But Jesus is telling them if they think they know God then they would know who Jesus is, but because they do not know Jesus is God they simply do not know God at all. What they do know is their religion, their man imposed rules and regulations determined by their interpretation of the Law given to Moses, which was to show them they need for Jesus. The Law was not given to bring them salvation, but to bring them to repentance and see their need for a Savior, the Messiah. It seems they were blinded to the simple truth of salvation by faith in Jesus by they need for the Law, for rules to live by. Have we replaced the simple truth of faith in Jesus with all our rules and regulations in our various denominations? Do we argue among ourselves, perhaps not in a loud vocal manner, but in that quite unyielding, unbending, stubborn insistence on our rightness and their wrongness, about many points in the scripture? The gifts are for today, no they ended with the apostles, some ended, others are for today, healer stays but tongues ended, just as an example. The list of different opinions would take an entire book. Every single denomination has some difference in their understanding of scripture then all the others, and it is they understanding which they stand on, rather than on the simple truth of faith in Jesus. If we know who Jesus is then we surely should know who the Father is, and what more do we need to know. Just as we can see in the Old Testament the history of God the Father and his relationship to the people of Israel we can see in the New Testament the history of Jesus and his relationship to all mankind. We can see in retrospect the purpose of the Law, and the purpose of Jesus. We can also see the sending and the giving of the Holy Spirit to all who live after Jesus to lead us to the truth. This is the whole of the Bible; it is not about rules and regulations, but about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and their relationship with us. We just need to know Jesus. 

A Right Judgment

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

A RIGHT JUDGMENT

John 8:13-18

13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." 

NIV

If there was any question that about where Jesus was before he was here, he puts that question to rest with his own words. It is one thing for a another person to tell someone that Jesus is one of the Godhead, that he was there in the beginning, that though him all things were created, but it is entirely a different thing when Jesus says it about himself. Yet there will always be people who will make some excuse about his testimony of who he is. These Pharisees knew the Law that required the testimony of two men in order to pass judgment about a case and that was they reasoning for rebutting what Jesus had just told them about himself. But they were making a wrong judgment, in fact Jesus tells them so and that even to make that judgment is wrong for he does not judge anyone. This dialog between Jesus and the Pharisees is just part of a much longer one, but the truth here is enough to ponder on for now. If Jesus does not pass judgment on anyone, although if he did, his decisions are right, then we certainly should not pass judgment on one anyone. Jesus makes it clear that people make judgments on human standards. Of course it is appropriate for us to judge people accused of murder, stealing, or some other crime against humanity, but that is not the type of judgment Jesus is talking about. He is referring to the judgment people make about him. When people make a judgment about whom Jesus is by human standards they will always be wrong. It may well be impossible for people to understand who Jesus really is, unless they understand in their spirit. Human religion is just that, human, but God is Spirit. We have already heard Jesus tell the Samaritans they must worship God in spirit and in truth. Whenever we attempt to understand God, to understand Jesus in our human intellectual capacity we make a human, a wrong judgment. Sometimes some people put their faith in the human statements of those believed to be scholars just because they possess the title, scholar or theologian without knowing if those scholars or theologian are in the spirit or in the flesh. God has seen it fit to make sure every single one of his creation has the ability to see him in the spirit, for he has created all of us in his image, which includes a spirit with which to worship and understand him in. We really cannot think in human terms when it comes to God, or Jesus. Whenever we attempt to explain who he is in human terms we fail miserably, we make a wrong judgment. That is why is it so important that we must be born again, that our spirits must be reborn alive in Christ, so that within our spirit we know God, we know Jesus. We must be in the spirit in order to make a right judgment, as Jesus would if he did. In fact we should not judge at all, but being in the spirit, worship him. 

In the Light

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IN THE LIGHT

John 8:12

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

NIV

It is a terrible thing to walk in the darkness, to live in darkness, not being able to see the way to go. It is even more terrible to be in spiritual darkness, not having any vision of the truth about God, about Jesus. Because of the rest of scripture it is evident that some people prefer to walk in spiritual darkness so they can continue to fulfill their every desire, their lust for whatever they want, without restraint or accountability. It is as if because they refuse to believe there is the light, there is no light, therefore why be concerned about it. But some of us, who have lived in that city of darkness and sin, have seen the city of light and life and crossed over to follow Jesus. We live in this light, our lives are exposed by the light and we can see our sin, our failure, our disobedience, our faults, and our inability to enter into eternal life on our own. We see our need for Jesus. If we follow Jesus how could we ever live in the darkness again? Why would we ever look to anything other than Jesus? Why would we try to live according to the Law when we have Jesus? Why would we insist on having lists of do’s and don’ts when we have Jesus? Living in the light surely exposes our faults, and does not excuse them, but the light also washes them as white as snow. Living in the light allows us to see the truth about God, and the truth about ourselves, sinners saved by grace. As long as we follow Jesus we will never have to be concerned about being in the darkness, not being able to see, not being about to have a vision of the truth.  If living in the light means we have eternal life, then living in the darkness means no eternal life, which would agree with death, the second death, perish. How could anyone choose complete total death, both physical and spiritual for a few short years of self-gratification? Is their love for sin that strong, or have they simple been deceived by Satan into believing all good people get to go to heaven, having eternal life? The only way to life is in the light. 

Start a New Life or Truth and Grace

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

START A NEW LIFE

John 8:1-11

8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." 

NIV

Although there is a lengthy debate among the greatest scholars from times of old to the present day regarding whether this section of text is part of the original record John penned as inspired by the Spirit or it was added by some scribe in some of the latter copies but not all has no answer. There is none who have the absolute solution but rather only their opinion from their research. So with that in mind we still cannot just ignore it as if it were not there. Yet if we were to read the narrative up to verse 7:52 and then immediately read verse 8:12 it does seem to flow in the style John writes. But again should we just ignore this? Without going into the details of the narrative, there still is a truth with stands out for us to learn from. Surely if God did not want any of this to be there for us to learn from he would have kept these words from being written at all, whether by John or a later scribe. The truth is simple in that Jesus does not condemn her, but he also does not pardon her as if she had not sinned. By his words he instructs us that there is not a single one of us who has the right to pass judgment on any other person. There is not a single one of us, no matter how righteous we think we are, that is without sin. For us to say that we have no sin is blasphemous, as we are calling God a lair. This is one of the points Jesus makes here. The other is that he does not pronounce the woman innocent of sin, but he does not condemn her for her sin. He does not condone her sin but we do see grace and truth in his words. Jesus does not condemn us because of our sin for it is our own sin that condemns us. But the grace of God prevails in Jesus, giving forgiveness while also instructing this woman and us to leave the life of sin behind and start a new life. Some translations use the phase, “Go and sin no more” but that would imply that we could in fact live a life without any sin at all, which simply will not happen because of our human condition. But it does imply as Jesus was instructing this woman to leave her life of adulterous behavior and start to live a new type of life, following his ways, loving God, and being what would be called, born again. This woman surely could not live a life completely free of all sin, but she could turn her life around and follow after Jesus. This too is our state of affairs. We have left that life of sin and we have turned to follow Jesus.

Who Is Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHO IS JESUS

John 7:40-53

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. 45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" 46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. 47 "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48 "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them." 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?" 52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee." 53 [The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.]Then each went to his own home.

NIV

It seems everyone has their own opinion of who Jesus is, and it also seems none of them know he was born in Bethlehem as they are of the opinion he came from Nazareth in Galilee. This is the home town of Joseph and Mary but as Luke records that because of the census Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem because he was from the house of David. We all know this, but it is apparent none of them did and thus the confusion. It is not clear why Jesus did not tell them he was in fact born in Bethlehem, perhaps he wanted men to see him for who he was rather than because of the Law. In either case the people, except of course the Pharisees were conflicted about who Jesus was. It might well have been the Pharisees knew exactly who Jesus was, they may well have known he was the one sent from God, but that would surely disrupt their authority over the Law and thus the people. Their comment about the Temple guards might be the clue to their knowledge of Jesus. Although they were accusing the temple guards of being deceived by Jesus we have to be on guard not to be deceived by those like the Pharisees. We know who Jesus is, we know he is the Son of God, the one sent from heaven to redeem us. We cannot allow ourselves to be deceived by so many different opinions about Jesus. The proof of all these differences is squarely within all the denominational arguments over the minutia of what they believe the scripture says. We can get so catch up in this argument we could forget just who Jesus is. Sure, everyone would say Jesus is Jesus, the Son of God, But then the opinions start to shape up to hundreds of different denominations. Someone is being deceived, and then to make it worse, each denomination has to define a set of doctrines, rules and regulations based on their opinion. We are right, you are wrong and that is that. How could we all allow ourselves to be so deceived by so many? The scripture is plain enough for all to see the truth. Jesus is the only way to gain eternal life. Jesus is the Son of God, Jesus is God. Jesus came from heaven to die on the cross to pay the price for our sin. He rose from the grave, and ascended back to heaven. What more is there? What more do we need to know about Jesus? Why should we even care about all those opinions? We must ensure we are not deceived by any Pharisee like people. Jesus is all we need.

Flow from Within

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FLOW FROM WITHIN

John 7:37-39

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
NIV

Although we know as it is told to us that Jesus was meaning the Spirit, there is a truth here as well about all of mankind, us being thirsty. There is something within every human being which causes them to thirst after something. The problem is that some thirst after their own desires, while others thirst after something greater than themselves. Even those who thirst after something greater, thirst for the wrong thing. Jesus is telling us we need to thirst for him. If a person is thirsty enough they might do just about anything for a drink and a drink of just about anything, save of course poison. Yet there is so much in life which people do thirst after that is poison to their souls. Jesus said that if we thirst, not just sip from him, but thirst, gulp in the drink he offers, we will be so filled with the Spirit it will be flowing from within us. That is not just being filled the Spirit in which the Spirit is contained within us, but is is flowing from within us. That surely implies that the Spirit will be flowing out of us, overflowing from within us. That has to mean we cannot walk around with the continence of a zombie with all gloom and doom on our faces, but if we are happy and we know it we should like our faces show it. If we thirst for Jesus, and therefore have the Spirit flowing from within us, we need to be living as such. We should have that bounce in our step type of continence. We should be an example to all around us of a person who knows without a doubt his destiny. We should continue to be overflowing with the Spirit even when we face difficult situations in life. Whether we want to admit it or not, non-believers are watching us, and if they do not see the Spirit overflowing from us, they know we are just like them, without hope, trapped in the control of the world’s grip and that our words are just that, words, but not real. Sure we can be honest about having difficult times in life, but at the same time if we are thirsting after Jesus, and truly drinking in his offer, the Spirit will still be overflowing from within us. What can this world do to us that would cause us to not have the Spirit from within overflow out? The Spirit has been given if we thirst after Jesus. We need to make sure we have not been tricked by Satan to thirst after the things of this world instead of Jesus. We cannot drink from both cups, we cannot serve both God and money, or this world, or the things of the world. We cannot do both, it is one or the other. We cannot afford to be deceived by those false teachers who claim we should have all the things of the world because we are children of God. Sure he blesses us with stuff, but we cannot thirst for them, we must thirst for him, then the Spirit will flow from within us.

Seeing in the Spirit

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SEEING IN THE SPIRIT

John 7:32-36

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."  35 The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?" 
NIV

Although Jesus was only with them in the flesh for a short time, he is with all men for all times, but he was speaking about the fact of his physical self being there to teach men the truth of God. They had been looking for the Messiah even since before Moses, yet when he was there, they did not see him. They could not grasp the spiritual truth of his words. Why do people have such a difficult time understanding the spiritual? Why do people have to relate everything to their physical condition? When Jesus told them they would look for him but would not be able to find him, they could only think about him going to some far off land they could not go to. But he was referring to the fact that after he was gone, killed on the cross, buried, raised from the dead and ascended back to heaven, they would still be looking for the coming Messiah but would not be able to find him. They had missed the Messiah, he was right there with them and they could only see with their physical minds. It may not be any different for some people today, even some who call themselves believers. Yes believers put their faith in Jesus for salvation, but then put their faith in themselves for every other aspect of their lives. Some may even put more faith in their good deeds, or at least in their ability to check off all the things they do and do not do, rather than Jesus only. They are believers who think it is “Jesus plus” that in needed for salvation, but there is no plus. We cannot see any part of Salvation through the physical mind, but must look only in the spiritual. Yes, we should live a life that is pleasing to God, which in all reality in complete faith in Jesus. There is nothing more pleasing to God then for us to put our complete faith in Jesus. It is true that once we have done that we should live in a manner which proves our faith, our love for our Lord, but those actions are not required for salvation. We cannot not look to the physical actions of life, the Messiah has come, he has accomplished our salvation, we must now see him in the Spirit.

Looking for the wrong thing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOOKING FOR THE WRONG THING

John 7:25-31

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."  30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"
NIV

Why did some of the people think that the Christ would just show up in some miraculous way, poof, and he is, magically appearing from a place unknown? Did they not think the Christ would come from heaven, from God? Did they think the Christ would simply be another human being with special powers? They thought they knew who he was, but it appears they really did not know who he was or where he was from. Yet Jesus tells them they do know him and they do know where he is from. We could conclude from that statement of Jesus he was saying that all men know he is the Christ, and he comes from the Father, which we have never seen or truly know, but again, they could only see the human Christ, not the divine Christ. Some people today see only the human Christ. They see Jesus as a good man, showing the way God intended us to live, being an example. They put Jesus in the same category as Gandhi, Mohammed, Buddha or maybe even Confucius, but they cannot see that Jesus is the Son of the most high God, the creator of all that is, the one who was from the beginning and who came to earth in the form of a man, to die as a man, to paid the price his justice requires. They cannot see Jesus for who he is, but only who they believe him to be. Why are people always looking for the magic, the supernatural? That may be why so many today are deceived by Satan as he gives them something supernatural, a poof, a magically, even spiritual experience, yet it is a fake, but people are drawn to it for they do not see Jesus for who he is, but what they have been deceived into thinking he is. Even after Jesus explained who he was, and they had seen him perform miracles and heard his profound teaching of the truth and they believed in him as something, but still they could not see him as the Christ, for they thought the Christ would do more than Jesus did. People are always looking for more than Jesus did something other than bringing them eternal life. They are looking for the supernatural, not for Jesus. They are looking for the wrong thing.

Right Judgment

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RIGHT JUDGMENT

John 7:20-24

20 "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?" 21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." 
NIV

Many people make an immediate judgment of a someone they meet for the first time based on that persons appearance, at least if we are honest with ourselves we may do that as well. We look at someone and form some opinion of that person not actually ever engaging in a meaningful conversation to find out anything about them. Jesus was telling those people they were guilty of making a judgment against him based on what he was doing they judged him, rather than on who he was. It might be that we too could judge people based on what they are doing rather than on who they are. There are times we simply do not know the motives or reason someone does something, even if that something seems to break one of those denominational rules and regulations some people use as their basis for a Christian life. Some believers have more freedom in Christ then others do. Some believers prefer to live a far closer adherence to the denominational rules then other do. Each of those type people could judge the other if they are not careful based on their appearance, on they actions, on their lifestyle as it were, without actually knowing them. The right judgment is to do that which God directs us to do, love each other. If we love each other we will never judge each other no matter which type of beliefs we have as long as we are all believers in Christ. Some denominations have different ways about them, but we should not judge on their appearance of Christianity, but we should make a right judgment based on the fact there are believers. God has said through the apostle Paul, that if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus Christ is Lord we will be saved. It is the simply, that is the right judgment. Let us not judge people on appearance, but on the condition of their heart and we cannot do that unless we engage them in friendship.