Devotionary

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Ep 332 – John 17 Nov 15, 2017

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Have you ever stopped to really consider what Jesus has done for you? I am sure there have been moments when you have taken time to reflect upon the amazing gift you have received because of His sacrificial death on the cross on your behalf. But if you are like me, sometimes we allow that gift to become common place and our attitude toward it a bit too pedestrian. We are so familiar with it, that we are no longer impressed by it. But we should be. And in John 17, we get to peak in on a very intimate moment between Jesus and His heavenly Father as He prays just hours before His arrest, trials and crucifixion. Yes, Jesus prays for Himself, asking that God might consider letting this terrible trial pass Him by. But He quickly submits to His Father's will and places God's plan for His life over His own. But Jesus spends far more time praying for us. That is the truly amazing thing about this prayer. And He prays for our spiritual well-being and future sanctification. He dedicates us to God. Even before we came to faith in Christ, Jesus was lifting us up and asking the Father to unify us with them and with one another. He knew that His death was going to satisfy the just demands of a holy righteous God, and that His sacrifice was going to make it possible for us to be made right with His Father. We have been set apart by Christ for God.

Ep 331 – John 16 Nov 14, 2017

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Are you an overcomer? Do you see yourself as victorious over the enemy and as already being on the winning side of the spiritual battles of life? For Jesus, it was essential that His disciples understand that the coming days were going to get rough, but that they had no reason for concern. He was going to conquer sin and death by sacrificing His life on the cross. He was going to be raised from the dead through the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. And He would ascend back to heaven and send that same Holy Spirit to indwell them. His victory would be their victory. His defeat of sin and death would be theirs to share. In John 16, Jesus provides His disciples, and that includes us, with reassuring words concerning His battle with the flesh, Satan and the world. He has overcome them all. He has fought the battle and won the victory. But that doesn't mean there won't be days of trouble and difficulty in this life. The enemy is defeated, but not dead. He is conquered, but not yet captive. He still walks the earth like a roaring lion, seeking new prey to devour. He is the most deadly kind of enemy, one that has been mortally wounded but has enough life remaining to inflict some serious wounds on the unprepared. So, we are to have peace because of Christ's victory, but we should never be complacent.

Ep 33- – John 15 Nov 13, 2017

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In John 15, we have one of those very familiar verses that seem to promise us no-questions-asked access to God's divine storehouse of goods and services. Jesus says that we can ask whatever we wish and expect to get it. But is He talking about carte blanche access before God to get whatever it is we want from Him? Sadly, that is the way some people interpret this verse. But to get there, they have to take it out of its context. They choose to ignore the other verses surrounding it that provide a clearer understanding of what it is that Jesus is really saying. Let's face it, we all have a lot of wishes. There are so many things we think we need or deserve to have. But is Jesus telling us we can take our wish list of hopes, desires, lusts and longings before the throne of God and expect Him to deliver the goods? I don't think so. As we will see, there is more here than getting what we think we want. It is really about us getting what God wants and what He wants is the exact same thing we should desire or wish for. Jesus will talk a lot about abiding in this chapter, and part of abiding or remaining in Him will be that our lives produce what He desires. We become conduits of His grace and goodness. Our lives become dispensers of His love, grace, and mercy to others. It is not about getting, but giving.

Ep 329 – John 14 Nov 12, 2017

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Do you consider yourself a loving person? Most of us do. Maybe, not all of the time, but overall, we would probably think of ourselves as loving. But we are about to discover that Jesus raised the bar on our definition of love. It was He who said, "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends" (john 15:13 NLT). Now, let me ask you again, do you consider yourself a loving person? You see, Jesus has provided us with a criteria for true love that goes far beyond what this world considers the standard for love. And He didn't just talk about it, He demonstrated it with His own life. Jesus showed love for the Father by laying down His life in obedience to the Father's will. He also showed love for us by sacrificing His life so that we might be freed from slavery to sin and enjoy eternal life, and a restored relationship with God the Father. True love requires sacrifice. It is selfless, not self-serving. God gave up His own Son. Jesus gave up His own life. But for many of us, as soon as love starts costing us more than we bargained for, we begin to have second thoughts. We start to panic. And too often, we bail on the very ones we claim to love. But in John 14, we are going to see Jesus love to death. No running. No quitting. No attempts at self-preservation. Just selfless, sacrificial love.

Ep 328 – John 13 Nov 11, 2017

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How do you bring glory to God? Is it through your worship on Sunday mornings or the time you spend in the Word during the week? The answer would certainly be, "Yes." But are there other times and ways to give God glory? And are they always associated with those moments in time when we are doing well and our God appears to be nothing but good? The Bible would seem to indicate that God gets glory in the good times and the bad times. It all depends on how we view those moments and whether we see God's hand in them. Today, as we look at John 13, we will hear Jesus declare that all that is about to happen to Him is going to bring glory to His Father. And He is not just speaking of His coming resurrection. There was a betrayal that had to happen first. There was the denial by Peter and the desertion of the other disciples. There would be a series of trials, accompanied by beatings, false accusations, ridicule and mockery. There would be a grueling and painful crucifixion where His body would suffer greatly and the pain would be unbearable. Then there would be death. And Jesus says that all of it, yes, all of it, will bring God glory. And yet, we have a hard time accepting the difficulties that head our way in life. We somehow believe they are anomalies that are to be avoided at all costs. But what if we saw them as a means of bringing God glory? Just like Jesus did.

Ep 327 – John 12 Nov 10, 2017

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John chapter 12 has a somewhat interesting and perversely funny story regarding Lazarus. It is a great follow-up to Jesus' miraculous raising of his once-dead friend from the grave. Just six days before the celebration of the Passover, when Jesus and His disciples would make their way to Jerusalem, He made a stop in Bethany, the town where He had brought Lazarus back to life. Obviously, Lazarus had become somewhat of a sensation, a first-century rock star. He had celebrity status. After all, it's not everyone who can claim to have been dead and then brought back to life. And when Jesus joined a dinner with Lazarus and his sisters, it caused quite a stir, attracting the attention of the religious leaders. They now had a second target for their hatred, because Lazarus was literal living proof that Jesus was something special. His claims to be the Son of God had been given credibility with the people because of the raising of Lazarus. So, the high priest and his cohorts decided the next course of action was to get rid of Jesus and the evidence. In other words, Lazarus. But what they didn't realize was that Jesus had no fear of death. In fact, death was why He came. For Him, death was not an end, but a means to God's preferred end of salvation through the sacrificial death of His Son.

Ep 326 – John 11 Nov 09, 2017

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John chapter 11 contains the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept." But those two words are filled with significance and paint a vivid portrait of our Savior. He had just received news that His dear friend, Lazarus, had died. But this was not something that took Him by surprise. From the moment Mary and Martha had sent word for Jesus to come and heal their brother, He had chosen to delay his arrival for two days. In other words, He purposefully put off his trip for 48 hours, knowing full well that Lazarus was going to die. But his death would not last. That's why Jesus told the disciples that "this illness does not lead to death." And yet, when they arrived on the scene, Lazarus was dead, and had been for three days. In fact, he was already buried. But Jesus had told the disciples one other thing. He had told them that this illness was "for the glory of God." And they were about to discover exactly what Jesus meant. He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. So, why did Jesus cry when He walked up to the tomb that day? If He knew that He was going to restore life to Lazarus' body, what was He crying about? I think the answer is simple. He saw the sadness in the eyes of Martha and Mary. He saw the devastating damage that had occurred as a result of the fall of man. Death reigned. It was everywhere. It touched everything and everyone. And it would soon touch Jesus Himself. But God can even use death to bring Himself glory. And Jesus would glorify the Father through His own death.

Ep 325 – John 10 Nov 08, 2017

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Fullness of life. What does that really mean? We all want it. At least, as long as we get it based on our definition. But what does the Bible have to say about it? Better yet, what did Jesus mean when He offered it? That is where we're going in today's episode on John 10. Jesus is going to present Himself as the Good Shepherd. The shepherd/sheep analogy was well-understood by the typical audience to whom Jesus spoke. Theirs was an agrarian culture and they were well-acquainted with sheep and shepherds. But sometimes that comparison loses something in the translation for us as 21st-Century Americans. Few of us grew up on a farm, let alone around sheep. But the real point of Jesus' use of this analogy is to help us understand His role in our lives. He is the "good" shepherd and we are His sheep, those for whom He gave His life. He cares deeply for us and wants God's best for us. That's why He was willing to die in our place. And because He died, we have new life. And not just any kind of life. As He described it, we are to be enjoying abundant life. That doesn't mean a trouble-free, completely healthy, blue-skies-and-sunshine kind of life. So, what did He mean? And how are we supposed to know it when we see it? Let's find out.

Ep 324 – John 9 Nov 07, 2017

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Darkness can be intimidating. But there's always the hope of light. The darkness of midnight is always followed by the dawn of day. That is, unless you're actually blind. Then one day looks pretty much like another. One particular hour of the day is no different than any other, because your world is cloaked in darkness. And as we open up John 9, we're going to see Jesus using the metaphor of blindness to explain the problem of spiritual blindness that plagued His generation, especially the religious leaders of His day. Using a timely opportunity to restore sight to a man born blind, Jesus will juxtapose this man's physical blindness with the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees. They even ask Jesus, "are we also blind?" And His response reveals the sad reality of their situation and the hopelessness of their condition, brought on by their pride and spiritual arrogance. They claimed that Jesus broke the law by healing on the Sabbath, and claimed He was nothing more than a sinner. But the man whose sight had been restored had a different point of view. He simply stated, "I don't know whether he is a sinner, but I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!" The blind man could see. The sighted men could not. The sinner had his sight restored. The self-proclaimed righteous remained in the dark. Blind to their sin and opposed to the Light of the World.

Ep 323 – John 8 Nov 06, 2017

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The light of the world. That's how Jesus chose to describe Himself in chapter eight of John. A fairly bold statement, especially when you take the time to dig into His meaning. He wasn't merely claiming to be another source of light or intellectual illumination. He was claiming to be the sole source of light. And Jesus goes out of His way to differentiate between the light and the dark. The world into which He came was marked by moral darkness. The people living in the world were spiritually blind and hopelessly stumbling around the in the dark, unable to see and incapable of discerning truth. And the spiritual leaders of the day were no better. They were like the blind leading the blind. In fact, that was exactly how Jesus had described them. "They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch" (Matthew 15:14 NLT). In the very next chapter of his gospel, John records Jesus' explanation regarding His incarnation, the reason for His coming to earth. "I entered this world to render judgment--to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind" (John 9:39 NLT). Jesus is the light. He shines in the darkness. But He does more than that. He opens the eyes of the blind so that they might see all that the light makes available. He gives light so we can run the race, rather than stumble around in the darkness.

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