Knowing Him

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

KNOWING HIM

John 17:24-26

24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." 

NIV

It would seem that it is the Father who gives Jesus those who are saved, which is what some believe shows predestination rather than our free will to choose God. But this is not the case as this simply shows that the Father has chosen Jesus to be the method by which people will be saved. The life application we derive from these last words of his prayer is that we will be where he is and we will see his glory. Because of all the imagines of Jesus that are available, we have a tendency to think of him as a Jewish man, good looking, long hair and a pleasant smile or personality. For the most part Hollywood uses fairly good looking men to act the part of Jesus in their movies so we have a preconceived notion of what Jesus would appear like. But here we are seeing that when we arrive at the place he is, we will see his glory, his magnificence, his majesty, his incredible holiness that he has been before the foundation of the world. What those men saw was a man, but what they have seen and what we will see is the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in all their Glory, a sight almost too holy to even look at. It is a wonderful sense to know the Righteous Father because we know he sent Jesus to the world to be the ultimate sacrifice for all sin for all time, so that we might be restored to our rightful relationship with the Father. If Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of the Father and has left the earth and has sent the Holy spirit, how does he continue to make the Father known to us?  Jesus told his disciples that he must go so he could send the Holy Spirit, and through him we are continually made known of the Father. The Spirit leads us into all truth and so we can sense the love of the Father and the presence of Jesus within us. Yet Jesus said he would be in us as well. He is in heaven, but he is also God who is omniscient and thus we can experience the presence of Jesus within us, as the Holy Spirit makes him known to us. Those who have refused the conviction of the Holy Spirit cannot sense the presence of Jesus for they may know of God, but they do not know God. What a joy life is because we know the love of the Father, for he loves us so much that he sent his only Son to earth to be a sacrifice for us. What greater love is there then to lay down life for another? Knowing Jesus, knowing the Spirit, knowing the Father and their love for us can only bring us hope, peace and joy in our lives. We have no need to worry, to fret, and to be anxious about anything, for God is with us. We only need to experience the love of God and we can because we know him.

Oneness

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ONENESS

John 17:20-23

20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

NIV

Although Jesus has been focused for the most part on the twelve, he now turns his attention to those of us who have believed because of the message of the disciples. We have heard the message of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as those messages of Paul, a later disciple of Christ. Now we are the disciples with a message for others so they can hear it. Our message is needed so others may believe that God sent Jesus into the world to die for all our sins. In this one act he did for all of us as if we all were one, one creation of God, his creation. Even though God confounded their language and thus scattered all peoples from Babel to prevent them from thinking they could reach heaven on their own, we have scattered and divided ourselves even more. We have separated ourselves by cultural, social, economic, educational and even ethnic, as we might not be racist, but we are still divided.  By most human standards we are not one, but by the standard of God we are. There is not even a hint of unity in the world, and maybe just a slight hint within Christianity. At least most Christian churches base their faith on Jesus Christ, using the Holy Scriptures as the only source of truth, although some have added additional material to base their doctrines on. But that is as far as it goes, for unity does not exist where it should. If Jesus prayed that we all would be one as he and the Father are one so that we would be brought to complete unity to let the world know that the Father sent Jesus and that God loves all the people of the world, as John so eloquently stated it through the power of the Spirit in what we know as the sixteenth verse of chapter three, then we should be that one. If Jesus prayed it and the Father answered his prayer why are we not one? Is it human disobedience? Is it the deceitfully wicked heart within us that refuses to be one with each other as the Father and Jesus are one? We would think that within the body of Christ we would be one, as they are one, but it seems we still have so many divisions keeping us from being that one. If we were one, there would be no barriers in our beliefs, in our conversations, in our position in life or the church, for we would truly be transparent with each other, being one, but that is not the case. Perhaps that is why our message is so weak, and we are not effective in declaring our message. In a world so divided by the entire human standard, if they actually saw all those things melted away by the believers, the followers of Christ, they would see the love of God at work and turn from their wicked ways and believe. We know the way to unity, to being one, but we must make the journey to that unity, to that oneness. 

Made Holy

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MADE HOLY

John 17:13-19

13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

NIV

So far it would seem the world only hates Jesus, but it sure seems as though he spoke prophetically as later the world would certainly hate them enough to kill them also. It is a good thing the world does not hate us that much, although some believers are being killed because of their faith, but not like it was back in those days. Perhaps the world hated them so much because they were out there preaching Jesus a lot more than we are, although we may have encountered some hateful attitudes toward us when we bring up Jesus and accepting him as a personal Savior, being born again, as the only way to have eternal life. We also have to consider that by the power of God, in the name of Jesus, he protects us from the evil one, but there are evil people in this world who have done evil against believers. We also should understand that we who are true believers are not of this world. It would seem we should not pray that Jesus would take us out of the world, for he has in fact sent us into the world, as he sent his disciples, but we are aliens, strangers, foreigners who do not belong to this world. Our home is in heaven, and we have been sent into the world to be an ambassador for our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus prays that we would be sanctified, to be set apart, to be made holy, consecrated for the work he has set us aside to do. As ambassadors we have diplomatic immunity from the law of this world which is the law of evil which leads to destruction. We should not get too comfortable with the ways of the world. We cannot afford to assimilate into its cultural or its principles. Sure we have to live here, work here, have a place to live, clothes, food and stuff, but we do not have to abide by the same philosophies of this world. Because Jesus set himself apart, and made himself holy, if we are in Christ then we are truly set apart, made holy, we are truly sanctified.  

Being One

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEING ONE

John 17:6-12

6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name — the name you gave me — so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

NIV

It does appear Jesus is praying about certain individuals, such as his twelve disciples, which the Father has given to him, especially when he includes Judas as the only one he was not able to protect, but then that was the plan all along. We will also see a little later in his prayer that he does not pray for them alone, but for all who will believe in him because of their message. So if this part of his prayer is specific to his disciples then what kind of life application can there be for us? Could we make the case the Father has given us to Jesus as well and it really was not our choice, but his? Could we think there are others who are like Judas that are doomed to destruction by the choice of God so some other scripture would be fulfilled? Perhaps we should just look at this as a historic record of his prayer for his disciples and leave it at that. Yet if we already heard Jesus tell us that if we remain in him and he in us we will bear much fruit and in doing so will show we are his disciples, in fact, it is God’s will that we bear much fruit showing ourselves to be his disciples. So if we are to show ourselves to be his disciples by bearing much fruit then this prayer of Jesus is for us as well, and those others who will believe because of our message are still out there. We therefore could make the case that the Father is in fact protecting us by the power of the name of Jesus. We can also see that although we are individuals, as the Holy Trinity is, we are supposed to be one as they are one. A mystery if there ever was one. Sometimes it seems not any two of us can agree on any one thing, so how are we all to be one? We parse every aspect of the scriptures finding the minutest things to differ on, instead of focusing on the main truth of God. If the Father is protecting us by the name of Jesus, so we can be one as they are, then we are being one if we all trust in the name of Jesus for our salvation. Yes we might differ on some of the other points, but if we agree we are saved through the name of Jesus then we are of one mind, one spirit, one heart, calling ourselves by his name, identifying ourselves as his disciples because we are bearing much fruit. But what if we call ourselves by his name, Christians, and believe we are saved by his name, but we are not bearing much fruit, showing ourselves to be his disciples, which is the will of the Father. Are we still one as he prays we should be? This fruit we must bear includes or at least is encompassed in love, which again we were told by Jesus that he commands us to love each other. So then are we one if we are not, in fact, actually loving each other? There is so much needed in our lives if we are to be one as they are. Where do we start being one?

Glorifying

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GLORIFYING

John 17:1-5

17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

NIV

We are at the beginning of this great prayer of Jesus and his prayer is jam packed with life applications for us. One of the first things Jesus requests of the Father is that Jesus is glorified. If he were to leave it at that it might sound a little selfish, but he does not, and continues to explain the reason he desires the Father to glorify him which is so that he may glorify the Father. If we could learn only one thing as a purpose for our life, we could learn it is to bring glory to the Father. If God glorifies us in any way, lifting us up, using us in any way to accomplish his will concerning others, the sole purpose is so we could glorify him. If for one second we think more highly of ourselves then we should, we are not bringing glory to God, but rather to our own self. The second thing we can learn here is the authority Jesus has over all people. Jesus uses the third person in referring to himself having been granted authority over all people so that  he might give eternal life to all those God the Father has given to him. Some people may try to use this last phrase to indicate God only gives some people to Jesus, those the Father has chosen to give to Jesus to save. But that is simply not the case, as all people have been put under the authority of Jesus. The Father has granted authority over all people so he might give eternal life to all those people the Father has given him authority over, which is all people, not just some. We also learn the meaning of eternal life here as it is to know God, the one true God and Jesus Christ. To know, to perceive, to understand and have knowledge of the one true God and Jesus Christ is what is encompassed in eternal life. Many people may know of God, or know of Jesus Christ, but to know, to perceive and understand is entirely different. There may be a lot of people who attend churches all over this country who know of God, but do not know God. If we know of a certain television star it does not mean we know them, and we certainly cannot love them unless we actually know them. The same holds true about the Father and Jesus. The third life application we can learn here is that if Jesus brought glory to the Father by completing the work on earth he gave him to do; we should be doing the same thing. We can bring glory to the Father by accomplishing the work he gave us to do. We must see the Father is the one who gives us the work to do. If we are doing what we desire to do, then perhaps we should rethink what we are doing. Maybe God gives us that desire and that is the way he gives us the work to do. Maybe he puts that desire deep within us, but we need to make sure we are doing the work he gave us. We cannot retire from that work, we must continue the work he gave us to do until we accomplish it and in doing so bring glory to the Father. There is no doubt that Jesus was full of glory before the world began, he was there, in fact nothing was made that he did not make, and now he is once again in that same glory at the right hand of the Father, which in that time, in that culture it was understand at the right hand indicated an equal status. The main point we learn here, is all about our lives, how we live, what we do, should be all about bringing glory to the Father until he takes us home.  

Take Heart

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TAKE HEART

John 16:25-33

25 "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."  29 Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God." 31 "You believe at last!"  Jesus answered. 32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." 

NIV

This certainly makes it appear as if Jesus is speaking only to his disciples, and perhaps has been all along and we are just peering into a past conversation between him and them with no meaning for us at all. When would there be a time when we would be scattered, each to our own home and leave him all alone? We definitely already know that he came into this world and that he also left it and went back to the Father. We have understood him plainly for some time, even if his disciples did not. However perhaps we have been a little off in our understanding about one thing. Here again Jesus tells them that he is not saying that he will ask the Father on our behalf. This would indicate the Father is who we should be asking, in the name of Jesus. That is by using the name of Jesus we are telling the Father that we love Jesus  and so we then know that the Father loves us and he is the one who will answer our prayer. If we are praying to Jesus, or even to the Holy Spirit, we might be using the wrong language. True all of them are God, but Jesus prayed to the Father and when he taught his disciples to pray he started with Our Father. So once again it is the Father who we pray to in the name of Jesus. We might be in some sort of error even when we thank Jesus. We should be thanking our Father. But back to this scattering and leaving Jesus all alone, yet of course he is not alone for the Father is with him. We should remember that when he yells from the cross about feeling like he was forsaken by the Father. Darrel Scott once said there is a difference between the conscious presence of God and the constant presence of God. The disciples did in fact scatter because of the fear of persecution yet Jesus assured them here of two truths. First if he would never be alone, because the Father is with him, then we too will never be alone, because the Father is with us. This should bring about the second truth of having true peace even in the face of any trouble this world can bring to us. If we take heart knowing that Jesus has overcome the world, then we should never experience any anxiety, any frustration, any turmoil, any fear of any kind or any other kind of negative feelings about our situation or life itself. If we do have those thoughts than perhaps we should see them as disbelief which is sin. Jesus told us all this so we may have peace, which is the exact opposite of all those other feelings. So we need to take heart.   

Our Father

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 OUR FATHER

John 16:19-24

19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

NIV

Certainly Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the time they would grieve because of him dying on the cross, and they would no longer see him as he would be in the tomb. They would see him again after he was resurrected from the dead and indeed they would rejoice. But he would then ascend to heaven and they would not see him any more at all and perhaps they would mourn his leaving them. If we had the opportunity to spend several years with Jesus, hoping he would change the world and that we would be a part of this great movement, in fact, maybe would might be chosen to sit in his right or left side as we take over the world, we would be rather mournful if then he suddenly left, especially after returning from the dead. Then we might feel a little hopeless, a little rejected, mournful, thinking it is all over now. But we all, his disciples and all of us who ever believed in his name will see him again. But was Jesus only speaking to his disciples when he told them in that day they will no longer ask him anything? Perhaps all those years they were with Jesus, they never asked for anything from him, but they only followed after him. They never saw him as their provider, their redeemer, their Savior, their God. They never prayed to Jesus or to God in the name of Jesus. Surely he had taught them how to pray to God and now he was adding to their prayer his name. It is interesting that Jesus referred to his Father rather than using the word God. If we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, as he referred to us who do the will of his Father in heaven, then perhaps we should be using the term Father rather than God as well. Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name……. so we should pray to our Father in the name of Jesus. Sometimes we just use dear Lord, or some other combination of words other than Father. Sure, it is most likely he still hears us, but maybe we should just use the word Father and ask him anything in the name of Jesus and believe that which we ask for we will receive. If we have doubt in our hearts it is certain we will not receive. Jesus told us which both Matthew and Mark recorded that when we ask for anything we should believe and not doubt. The Father told us through James that if we doubt we are a double minded person who is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind, and thus we should not expect anything from God. This double minded is when we try to figure out a way we can help the Father answer our prayer request. When we look to our making it happen, or looking to a world system to make it happen, we actually doubt that the Father will bring it to happen. If we simply ask the Father in the name of Jesus and truly believe without doubt, and when we ask we should make sure we have nothing against anyone at all. If we can do what Jesus is telling us to do, we will receive and when we receive from the hand of the Father our joy will be complete, it will not be in part, but it will be complete. We will have complete joy, overwhelming joy; whole hearted joy for the Father has given onto us that which we asked for. Thank you Father!

A Little While

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

A LITTLE WHILE

John 16:16-18

16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."  17 Some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" 18 They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying."

NIV

 A little while has, in the mind of some people, been over two thousand years now and still counting, but perhaps they do not know the truth concerning a little while. Perhaps they believe Jesus was talking about the time between his return to the Father and when he comes back for his bride, us. Of course the response of Jesus which we will see next give us a clue to the truth, and it appears it did in fact reveal the truth to his disciples, and thus it reveals the truth to us. But we should not get ahead of ourselves on this point, yet this little while does have need to be understood. If the little while is the time between Jesus returning to the Father and then coming back for us, in the course of eternity which has no time, several thousand years might just be a little while. Then again we could also view our lifespan in contrast to eternity and our puny seventy, eighty, ninety or even one hundred years is but a very little while. Although he was speaking directly to his disciples who were able to physically see him and would no longer be able to see him after his ascension, it is still true for us, that we cannot see him, but we will see him again in a little while. For some of us that little while is littler then for others. The older we get the littler it becomes. One day soon we all will take that step into eternity and when we do, we will see Jesus. For now his disciples did not understand, but we do simply because we know the rest of the story. Jesus is going to explain it more clearly to them, and they will get it, so we already having heard his explanation and understand it will be in a little while then we will be able to see Jesus. It does seem strange that after those years of walking and talking, learning from Jesus they would have a better understanding of how he teaches them, and what is means, but they did not. Is there a truth in that for us? Is it possible we could after spending as much time as we do reading the scriptures not understand what he meant? Perhaps that is why there are so many denominations because they cannot agree on what he meant and therefor really do not understand what he meant. Perhaps that is the mystery he talked about. Yet it is plain, he was here, he went back to the Father, and some day, whatever a little while is, we will see Jesus. Whether it is when he raptures his church, or when we are finished with this body, we who believe will see Jesus. Now it is also true that those who do not believe we see Jesus at some point in time, and that will be the time of judgment when he separates the sheep from the goats. But for now we should be content to know we who believe will be present with the lord when we are absent from this body. So we live joyfully for a little while.  

The Guide

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE GUIDE

John 16:12-15

12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

NIV

Jesus was referring to what we call the day of Pentecost when the Spirit came and filled all the disciples and the poured out into the street praising God in language they had not known. The Spirit came in an instinct as a mighty rushing wind, it was a happening, a moment in time when he filled them with power, such as the speech Peter preached that day. But he did not leave them either and he kept revealing may things to them that Jesus had spoken, as well as he told them of want was to come, as in the case with John’s revelation. The Spirit is still here and he is still ready to fill anyone who desires and is expecting his filling, as the disciples were. Who can really understand the truth of scripture without the filling of the Holy Spirit? If it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth, we must listen, and follow his leading. If we do not, if we are not filled with the Spirit we cannot see the truth, it is that simple. The Spirit makes known to us all that Jesus said, all that is recorded for us. We cannot make a religious ritual out of being filled with the Spirit. It is not something any denomination can determine when a young person, or for that matter an adult, can and should receive the Spirit. This is a very personal matter for each and every person to desire and ask Jesus to send the Spirit to them. Although he is here in the world he, like the Father and the Son, will not force himself on us, we must ask and be ready to receive him. Having the filling of the Spirit is not an evolution of maturity in the Lord, but it is a moment in time, an event as was the day of Pentecost. Just as we should be able to mark the day we were saved, when we became born again, we should be able to mark the day, or least remember the time the moment when we were filled with the Spirit. The Spirit is our guide, without him we do not know the way to the truth. Without the Spirit we could not bear the truth, it would be too heavy a burden, that is why the non-believers cannot bear to hear the truth, they rebuke the truth because it convicts them of their wicked heart. But we who have accepted Jesus, and have been filled with the Spirit can bear to hear that truth even when he reveals areas in our life that need repentance and change. We thrive on the truth, we feast on the truth, and we devour the truth, as the Spirit guides us to it and through it. Come Holy Spirit we need thee.

Sin, Righteousness and Judgment

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT

John 16:5-11

5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

NIV

Guilt, righteousness and judgment are the three actions the Holy Spirit will accomplish in this world. Of course we know now what the disciples did not know then. Jesus ascended into heaven and sent the Spirit into the world to do all this. All of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ felt at one time the conviction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Not a single one of us was born convicted but rather born with a deceitfully wicked heart, and at some point in our lives we have to repent of our sin, turn from our wicked ways and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It is simply impossible to become a believer any other way. We cannot evolve from wickedness to righteousness, we cannot always have been a believer, and we must have experienced the conviction of the Holy Spirit. He will also convict us of righteousness, which is he will give us the incentive to live in accordance to God’s way rather than our own. Just because we are believers does not automatically mean we are perfect human beings and that we always do the right thing all the time. So the Holy Spirit will convict us of the right way to behave as believers. When we fail, we will know in our heart we have failed, we will not be deceived by Satan into thinking we are alright when we are not. We will know deep within our spirit that our actions, reactions, responses, feelings, thoughts, are not righteous and we will seek the forgiveness of God. The Holy Spirit will also convict with Judgment. It would seem that Satan has already been judged and condemned, so why would anyone in their right mind decide to align themselves with him? Perhaps it is only us believers who understand the conviction of the Spirit in regard to judgment. Those who are now in the world of the prince of this world seem to care less about judgment from the Spirit. It would seem the deception is complete and they are mindless robots, puppets or drones completely in the control of the prince of this world. They spew hatred toward God, toward being born again. Some even accuse us of being weak minded, but it is them who have yielded their so called strong mind to the prince of this world. They are the weak minded, and will be judged accordingly, but we believers are the strong minded people of God, who once had yielded up our minds to the Satan, but listened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and fought back, stood up against Satan and said, "No more", we are finished being your puppet, we are listening to God instead of you. We should be so thankful to Jesus for sending him to us. Now we truly know sin, righteousness and judgment.  

What are we waiting for?

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

John 16:1-4

16:1 "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

NIV

Someone is trying to kill us. Certainly we could see these words of Jesus as spoken directly and solely to his disciples and in fact most of them were killed for their faith, but these words still apply to us. Throughout the world there are people who would kill us and think they are doing a service to God. Those who subscribe to Islam believe us Christians are infidels and truly believe if we do not believe as they do, we should be killed. Yet even in this country if we could ask Rachel Scott, the girl killed at Columbine high school, why she was killed, it would be because of her faith. Yet for the most part at least in this country we live a rather safe and secure life as a Christian so it would seem these words do not have much application in our lives. Yet there is a movement within this country, perhaps not to kill us physically, but to kill the idea of God, to kill us spiritually. There is a movement that would put to end the Christian beliefs of sharing the Gospel message. They want any reference of God removed from the public square. They want their equal rights, their human rights above those of God. Perhaps we feel safe and secure because for the most part those of the world are not threatened by us. Perhaps if we were to tell them they are going to hell, if they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that they need to be born again, they would indeed wish us to be killed. They would not actually kill us, but certainly might wish we would just disappear. So we just tell them that God loves them, see how he loves you, see how I love you, see all the things I do for you to show how much God loves you. So they let us work our fingers to the bone for them, use us and laugh behind our backs. But if we told them they need to repent of their sin, and if they don’t they have condemned themselves to hell, they would hate us, rebuke us, refuse to have anything to do with us, in effect we would be dead to them. They would listen not to our words or ideas; they would close their minds to anything we would have to say after proclaiming the truth to them. So instead we pander to them hoping by loving them somehow by osmosis they will know the truth. The disciples were killed because they stood up, spoke up, telling the truth about Jesus Christ and called people to repent, turn from their wicked ways and believe in Jesus. So what are we waiting for? Are we afraid what will happen? Are we afraid of losing our Job? Are we afraid of losing a so called friend? Are we afraid of what people will say about us? Sticks and stones can hurt my bones but words can never hurt me. What are we waiting for? Jesus warned the church about being luke warm, he would rather us be cold or hot, but luke warm will be spit out of his mouth. What are we waiting for? 

Testify

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TESTIFY

John 15:26-27

26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

NIV

This is how we know all this is true. It is the Counselor, the Parakleetos, the Holy Spirit of truth who makes all the scriptures real to us. People who have not yet allowed the Spirit of truth to speak to their hearts and mind cannot see the truth in the scriptures, in fact, their cannot see the truth period, for they live in a vacuum of their own thoughts and ideas. The Spirit tells us the truth about Jesus, he reveals all the truth to us and allows us to understand the truth about Jesus. It would seem even those disciples who had spent those years with Jesus did not fully understand all that he was, but as we know from other scriptures when the day of Pentecost came, and the Spirit of truth descended upon those disciples then they truly understood all about Jesus. Peter, a simple uneducated fisherman, stood and gave one of the most eloquent speeches, testifying to who Jesus was and what he had done for the people. His testimony brought thousands to faith in Christ. It was the power of the Spirit of truth within Peter and it is the same power that resides within us. It does not matter of our personality, whether we are extroverted or introverted, it does not matter how much education we have or in what area it is in. It does not matter our position in life, whether we have much or little, whether we employ or are employed. It simply does not matter who we are in any way at all, except the fact that we are believers, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit of truth, and that we are to testify about Jesus. The Spirit will always give us the right words to say at the right time to the right person or people. It is not for us to make an effort to convince them of their wrong thinking. It is not for us to convince them to believe in Jesus. It is simply for us to testify, to tell them what we have seen, heard and experienced. If we were to testify in a court of law, that is all we could say, and Jesus tells us that is what we should say also. What have we experienced having the Spirit of truth dwell with us? What have we heard? What have we seen? The Spirit speaks to us, The Father answers our prayers, and we have experienced miracle after miracle in our lives, miracles far beyond our own ability to achieve. This is what we can testify about; this is what we must tell others about, even other believers. What we say to non-believers can bring them face to face with the Spirit of truth and he will do the rest. What we say to believers can strengthen; encourage their faith and allowing the Spirit of truth to have an even greater influence in their lives. As the Spirit testifies within us, we must testify with our life and our words. 

Love or Hate

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOVE OR HATE

John 15:18-25

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'  

NIV

Jesus or the world, there is not fence riding allowed. We cannot live in both camps, we must live wholly in one or the other. So why do we spend so much time trying to make the world love us, in the name of Jesus, of course. We do so much to try to show the love of Jesus to the world, which is a command, but we are also commanded to share the gospel message, and although it is a message about love, it is a message that declares a person will perish and never see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. It should be apparent that if we were to tell them unless they are born again they will never see the kingdom of God, they might well hate us for being so closed or narrow minded. As long as they are good people they will go to heaven might be their idea, but they would be wrong, dead wrong. But Jesus also made a certain warning in saying that if the world does love us, that is they are not threatened by us in any way, and think of us as being like them, the reason is that in fact we are like them, and not like Jesus. It would appear Jesus was not in a popularity contest, but it is possible that we could get caught up in that very thing, trying to be liked by the world. All the efforts to appear not like a church so the unchurched will feel comfortable may be bordering on trying to be liked so much by the world, we are beginning to look like the world, and if that is the case, woe to us. Yet there are people who actually hate Jesus, hate organized religion, hate the very idea of God, because it puts restrictions on their lives, their sin. If they do not believe in God then there is no consequence for their sin. That is what Jesus is saying, but once they hear his words, they are no longer without excuse. Of course Jesus was speaking about the chief priests who were about to get him crucified, but he also speaks to all mankind throughout the ages. There will also be some who hate him and hate God, and if we are truly following Jesus, they will hate us as well, no matter how much we try to make them love us, by whatever we do to entice them. What matters is that we tell them about Jesus, then they have the choice to live or die, but it is their choice. If no one tells them about Jesus they have no choice, they will just die. This phrase of Jesus about if he had not come they would not be guilty of sin, might well be directed solely to those who rejected him and in fact wanted to kill him. If he had not come they would not have been guilty of hating him, and wanting to kill him, but he did come, he did everything in front of them to prove he was the Messiah and still they rejected him, so now they are without excuse. But this truth also holds true to all of mankind. We have the record of what he did to prove he is the Messiah, and those who reject this truth are without excuse, they are still guilty of all their sin, but the rejection of Jesus is what will ultimately condemn them. Our task is to make sure they have the choice, and we cannot do that unless we tell them, unless we stand our ground, speaking the truth. If we try to look too much like them in order to tell them, they will not listen, as they will tell us we are no different than them. We cannot live in both camps, we are either followers of Jesus or we are not. Does the world love us or hate us?

The Command

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE COMMAND

John 15:9-17

9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

NIV

Obey my commands seems to be a general theme of these last instructions to his disciples. From this we might well have extrapolated a whole list of do’s and don’ts that we have turned into ritualistic formula for gauging our spirituality, or at least our decree of being a “Good Christian”. Yet what Jesus has been saying all along he makes extremely clear here in his words to his disciples. First we must remain in him, that is a given, but there is a point here that it is our choice to remain in his love. He does put criteria for remaining in his love, which is obeying his commands. Now if we disobey his commands, does he stop loving us? Heavens no, but it certainly would imply that we have stopped loving him. So we endeavor to create this list of things we must not do and things we must do in order to remain in his love, but he tells us right here that this command we are to obey is to love each other as Jesus loves us. True Jesus did in fact lay his life down for us, yet he tells us that no greater love, which he commands us to do, is to lay down our life for each other. So it comes down to one simple, well not really simple, command, to love each other as Jesus loves us. This requires a whole lot more than making a list of do’s and don’ts, and keeping score as to how well we are doing. This requires we set aside all our personal preferences, all our prejudices, all our self-centeredness, all our hurt feelings, everything which has to do with our, for the sake of others, for the love of others. We can do all the personal relationship stuff we want, making it a heart issue, between us and the Lord, but the truth is he commands us to love one another as he loves us. If we want to make any list we should start at first Corinthians thirteen and see what loving each other includes. As to the other words Jesus speaks to us here about us not choosing him, but he chose us, some make the case for election here, but that is the farthest from the truth. Yes he went around and called each of his disciples from their present tasks in life to follow him. They certainly did not seek him out, but he did seek them out. We could just leave it at that, he was speaking only to his disciples and that was specifically meant just to them. But then we would have to do that with everything else, so we must see this as he is also speaking directly to us. So what did he mean, we did not choose him, but he chose us? The fact is that mankind, all of mankind does not seek after God, we all have a heart that is bent toward evil all the time, our hearts are deceitfully wicked and thus we in and of ourselves do not seek after a righteous God. But He seeks after all of us, for we are his creation and he loves us and desires for us to be reunited to him as he intended us to be from the very beginning. So it is still down to loving each other, loving God, and because Christ is in us, we will bear much fruit, fruit that will last and once again we can ask whatever in the name of Jesus and the Father will give it to us. But we should be careful about the whatever; it must bring glory to God. But we also must do just one thing, one command which sums up everything we have been told throughout the whole of scripture, love each other, this is the command. 

Ask Whatever

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ASK WHATEVER

John 15:5-8

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

NIV

We just heard Jesus say that if we do not bear fruit we will be cut off and thrown away, and now we are hearing that by remaining in him we will bear much fruit. It does appear as if Jesus is specifically talking to believers here because he is speaking about remaining in him and him in us. Surely any non- believer has not even started with Jesus and thus cannot remain in him. So it is that we believers are being admonished to remain in Jesus. Would any of us not remain in him? Apparently the temptations of the world are strong enough, and Jesus knows full well they are, to draw us away from him, that is why he is exhorting us to remain in him. We certainly would never say that we have left Jesus for the world, but in fact we must examine ourselves closely. If we are remaining in him then there is absolutely no doubt that we would be full to the brim bearing fruit. Jesus does not lie, and he just said that if we are remaining in him then we would be bearing much fruit. So if we are not bearing much fruit we must check to see if we might be following the ways of the world too much and not following the ways of Jesus as much. Has our spiritual life withered at all? Are we just going through the motions of being a Christian, church on Sunday morning, maybe Sunday school, or a small group, but in reality we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with power and filled with the fruit? If we are remaining in Jesus bearing much fruit then we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given to us. The fruit is not a requirement but it is a result of remaining in him, just as the gifts are a result of being filled with the Spirit. The central point is remaining in him and if we do we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given to us. So are we looking to ourselves to provide all we wish, or are we looking to Jesus? Do we work our fingers to the bone trying to make as much as we can to buy all the stuff that we wish or do we simply ask Jesus? Maybe that is too simple. Maybe that is foolish to think Jesus would just give it to us. Maybe we think Jesus is giving us the ability to earn all the money we would ever want. Yet that is not a world view of Jesus. There are believers who live in other cultures that are literally living in poverty so how do we deal with that? This truth in transcultural regarding remaining in him, bearing much fruit and so being able to ask whatever we wish, so the question is what should we ask for. It would seem obvious that we should ask that God be glorified in our lives, that we ask for the Spirit to do the necessary work in our lives so that we do bear much fruit, and thus show ourselves to be his disciples. It is not about the things, as Jesus also told us that if we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness all the things would automatically be added onto us. So this asking is all about bringing glory to God. That should be our number one priority in life. That should be our number one thing to ask for, so that it will be given to us so that we might bring glory to God. Yes, maybe we can ask for the stuff too, but let us not make the stuff the whatever. 

Bearing Fruit

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEARING FRUIT

John 15:1-4

15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

NIV

Some people might want to say Jesus used a metaphor or an analogy here but in fact it is a similitude. They had just left the room and were on their way to the place where he would be arrested, not sure exactly where he was when he begins this discourse that lasts several chapters, of course he did not chapter it, he just talked with his disciples telling them a whole lot before the end was to come and he would not be able to be with them in the manner he now was. So it is possible they were walking along the road with wild vines lining the path, and he took the occasion to use this similitude saying he was the true vine and the Father is the gardener. Of course they had just finished sharing the fruit of the vine at the meal we refer to as the last supper. So again he could be coming back to this point as they walked along the vines. The point he was making is that if we are believers we must bear fruit and there is absolutely no way we can bear fruit unless we are connected to the vine. The question is what kind of fruit are we to bear? It is the fruit of the Spirit or could it be the fruit of other souls? He will continue to speak about this subject and we will see more about this fruit and the vine, but at this point we should be quite sure that we must bear fruit. We also can be quite sure if we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off. Now that is something to ponder on, as whom of us want to be cut off. But the fact is if we are believers we must bear fruit. If it is the fruit of the Spirit Jesus is making reference to then we must have the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control hanging all over our branches so that others might come along and enjoy our fruit. What good is the fruit to the branch? It is only good when someone comes alone and picks the fruit for themselves. It is true that some non-believers can be very nice people, being kind, gentle, and exhibiting love, joy and even peace, but that is of the human kind, which we cannot be sure of its true motive. The fruit we must bear cannot be from human kind or its motive, as we must bear the fruit that is from God with the motive of showing God, sharing Jesus, being connected to the true vine, having the fruit of the vine. Our fruit is not to be praised, but our fruit it to bring praise to the vine. Human fruit cannot bring glory to the vine, but our fruit must. 

Rejoice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

REJOICE

John 14:28-31

28 "You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

"Come now; let us leave.                                 

NIV

It seems God has everything under control and we are going to the part where we call Good Friday, yet we act all sad or doomy and gloomy. Those churches with crosses outside drape dark purple or black on them. But here we see that our Lord is telling us that he is going away, he told his disciples that he knew about the plan of the Father, the will of the Father concerning how he was going to restore us back to our rightful place with him. Jesus also told them, and us, that he would be coming back for them and for us. Now here is the part where most Christians seem to be disobedient to Christ. He said if we love him, we would be glad that he is going to the Father. If we love him we would be glad he is going to the cross to die for our sin, so he could go back to the Father and there be our advocate, ever interceding for us. Job uttered some very prophetic words when he said: 18 "O earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest! 19 Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. 20 My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God; 21 on behalf of a man he pleads with God as a man pleads for his friend.” We also have what God has told us through the Apostle Paul that Jesus was raised and is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. So then why is Friday such a gloom and doom day? Sure we say we are sad that he had to die for our sin, but if that is truly the case, why do we continue to sin? This Friday should be a day of rejoicing for it is the day our sin will no longer be counted against us, as long as we have accepted Jesus as the sacrifice God provided for our sin. This should be the greatest day of rejoicing we know, but we reserve that day for Easter, the day we can say that we serve a risen Savior. Yes that is wonderful and amazing and all that it is, because Jesus is not in the grave and therefore neither will we, but it is all about the sacrifice and Jesus has told us that if we love him we would be glad, not sad. We also see that all this happened because of the will of God, that he did all that was needed to satisfy his own need for justice. True Satan may have thought he had won the day, motivating Judas to betray Jesus and get Jesus arrested and crucified, that is simply not true, for Jesus just told us that Satan was coming, but that he has no hold on him, he is only playing a part in the plan of God for our salvation. Jesus is not going to be crucified because of the work of Satan, but because of the work of God. So we need to see that when Friday gets here we should be rejoicing, not bemoaning. Rejoice, again I say Rejoice!

He is Here

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE IS HERE

John 14:25-27

25 "All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

NIV

Three in one, that is what we have here, not just the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but we have the Counselor, we have the peace Jesus gives and we have no reason to be afraid. Although it is true they are one, they are also three, and the Father is in heaven, Jesus was on earth but now is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and now it is the Holy Spirit who is here. So in one sense, and that is not a pun they have come to make their home with us, as Jesus had just said previously, but in another sense it is the Holy Spirit, who is the one of the three, who is actually making his home with us now. He is our teacher, for he will guide us into all truth, and he will remind us of all that Jesus has said, all the God has said, that is all of scripture, but of course that implies we first must read it. Secondly we can rest assured of living in the greatest peace a person can ever know. Sometimes we try to create our own sense of peace. This word peace has a wide range of applications, the most common in those days was prosperity, which is spiritual in this case, but could be used as material since Jesus made the distinction between his prosperity and the prosperity the world can give. But, Jesus could have been referring to, at least particularly to the Christian concept, which is our tranquil state of being assured of our salvation through Christ Jesus and thus fearing nothing from God and content with our earthly lot of whatever sort that is. But it is doubtful his disciples knew of that definition, nor did Jesus mean that application. It is possible Jesus meant the freedom from the havoc of war, not world war, but the war which can wage within us. If we have the peace of Christ then we should be at peace within, our hearts and minds settled, at peace with God, at peace with ourselves. If we have the peace of Christ, we do not need to look for peace of mind the world has to offer, which in the context of his words, would be prosperity, or financial security, which seems to be the most sought after form of peace of mind in the world. But we should not allow that to infiltrate our lives, as we have the peace of Christ and therefore there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to be troubled about anything, nor is there any reason to experience fear. If God is for us who can be against us? We have the Holy Spirit making his home with us, dwelling within, reminding us daily we can have peace of mind no matter what, and we do not have a troubled heart. We can live a life of tranquility, a life of joy, a life filled to the brim; we can stand, run, leaping for joy, praising God without being crippled by the ways of the world for they are here.