Category: John

Let’s Be Thankful For “Trust” This Thanksgiving Holiday

John 10. A chapter that talks all about sheep, so what does that mean to us? Let’s dive into to this story.

We are his sheep and he is our Shepard. This means that God knows each of us and we know him. Without that continual relationship, how could we trust God? Think of the job of a Shepard. Shepard’s are responsible for making sure the flock of sheep is taken care of. They are responsible for finding any sheep that are lost and also defending the flock to the point of death. So if we as sheep truly trust in God to be our Shepard than we should have no fear, right?

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

I don’t think God wants us to walk around thinking we are invincible but I do think God wants us to be reassured that when anything comes against us, he will be there.

If we could take anything from this passage, I would say that the key word is trust. Trust is so important in relationships. Without trust, a relationship cannot function. A marriage without trust becomes two roommates with a shared bank account. A parent/child relationship without trust becomes a rebellious child with no one to lean on. A friend relationship without trust becomes a never-ending battle against jealousy and fear. The list goes on and on.

It’s easy to say that our world would be a terrible place without trust. The funny thing is that our meaning of trust, and how we value that word, is only a glimpse of what God intended that to be. We won’t fully understand that word until we are united with our king in heaven.

So as we enjoy our turkey and football today, add, “trust” to your list of things to be thankful for. Thank you, lord, for being our Shepard and helping us through every situation because we know you’ve won every battle already. We trust you, God.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time with family and have a great rest of your week! Thanks for reading.

Blind leading the blind

Last weekend I worked alongside a young man of 13 years.  In conversation, we landed on the topic of a series of sci-fi books that he enjoys reading.  The books are about a group of criminal clones.  The characters in the story were cloned from the worst criminals in the world and raised in a controlled utopia environment.  The question posed by the scientists conducting this experiment, “Were these criminals born this way?”.  They wanted to see if the clones would show criminal tendencies in an environment free of negative influence.

“What an excellent question.” I said, “The Bible has the answer.” I asked him, “What is the book’s answer?” He told me that the criminal clones escaped and committed crimes.  Here is what I told him.

The truth is that they were born that way.  A utopia environment will not prevent people from becoming criminals.  A bad environment does not turn people into criminals, though it can make the situation worse.  The real issue is that we are all born with sin in our hearts.  We all need Jesus to reign in our hearts.  He is the only way to freedom from sin and death.  These scientists were confused in thinking an environment causes people to be good or bad.  What is good and what is bad?  Only God is good.  Those that do not want to listen to God, choose to compare themselves to other standards to determine if they are good or bad. The problem with that is no one gets to choose with whom to compare themselves to determine if they are good or bad.  Even the worst of criminals will find something in this world to compare themselves with and think himself good.  God is the true standard and He is perfect.  He makes the rules.  Jesus is our only hope.  Those that accept God’s truth know they need help.  They can ask Jesus to save them from what is in store for bad people and He will.   

From today’s reading: John 9 and Psalm 111

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.  – John 9:39-41

While they said, “We see.”  and felt assured in their salvation, the Pharisees compared themselves to the wrong standard.  

Painting: The Blind Leading the Blind by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

 

Picking up Stones

Today’s Reading: John 8 and Psalm 110

Imagine sitting somewhere in these temple courts in this image of Mount of Olives above. A group is gathered to listen to Jesus share story, probably a lesson on how we should be living. Not to far into this lesson, voices and sounds of mockery, crying, and unwanted insults are being hurled at a person as they are brought closer and closer eventually, right in front of the group.  There are scribes and Pharisees who have brought a woman caught in an adulterous act and taken, in that moment, to go face to face with Jesus. While we sit there, the questions being pondered in our heads include, “Who is this?, What have they done? How long have they been doing this? or Who have they impacted by their actions?” We watch this public judgment brought by the teachers of the law and Pharisees. I imagine her outfit, the sweat, tears, dirt, and blood that is present from being dragged, manhandled, and throw down on the ground at the feet of Jesus. On the inside I can feel her pain, for her it is probably embarrassment, guilt, a helpless feeling that death could be on the way. Her face is looking down with shame that won’t allow anyone to read it on her eyes.  The last sounds we hear is sobbing as she gasps for air waiting for her fate to be decided. Others keep asking what should we do with her?  Can you picture it?

Now, think in our current lives, have you been in a similar spot? Maybe not the same situation but the same level of pain, same level of embarrassment, same level of struggle. Are you here today? Have you been here ever? Do you know anyone who is going through a hard situation?

Jesus said in  John 8:7,  “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

I think about being there, seeing, hearing, and witnessing Jesus’s grace. Watching as one by one, those present start to leave. Verse 9 says that when they heard this, one by one they started to leave.  Older ones first until Jesus and the women were left alone.  The mention of the older ones makes me reflect on why they put and order on this event. For me,  I’m left with the thought, “I get it, who hasn’t messed up?” Our earthly lives can bring about desires that can leave you at times helpless until you lift up your head, open your heart, repent, allowing God’s grace to fill your heart.

Who am I to judge if I were to look at my own life?  

Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn, you; go, and from now on sin no more”

My study bible emphasizes the word order of this statement pointing out the significance of, “go now and sin no more”. That, in Christ, the pardon is given first, Jesus is quick to forgive, but we as individuals are accountable to stop sinning. (Jeremiah Study Bible)

I also looked back at some of my notes on a sermon that was preached on these verse once at Eastview Cristian Church where pastor Baker said,  All of us are guilty. Why do we condemn?

So I ask myself, Am I quick to pick up stones?     We have all been given God’s grace. It’s not too late.  Share this with someone today.  As you head into Thanksgiving show God’s love with grace.  Let’s not condemn or pass judgement.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, As God in Christ forgave you.

Dear God,

Thank you for your grace you have given to all of us even though we don’t deserve it.  You love us and shown us by sending your son to die for all of us. This story of your love, compassion, and grace fills our hearts and is an example of the love you have for us all.

John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Go share that light of life with others! Happy Thanksgiving.

For more on this chapter read Throwing Stones by Jon Harris     

This Is Amazing Grace   – Phil Wickham

 

 

You Haven’t Seen Anything Yet

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” (Eph. 3:20)

Has God ever stopped you in your tracks? Have you ever been so blown away by what God did that you just had to pause and let it sink in for a bit? Even though you know how big God is, has His work in your life ever still stunned you?

I’m guessing you probably would answer “yes” to each of these questions. And so could I. I’ve known the Lord since I was little, and yet He still blows me away on the daily with His incredible faithfulness, mercy, love, and goodness in my life. There are certainly seasons where He seems far away, but He never is, and in the end, I ultimately can look back and know that He showed up for me even when I couldn’t see Him or feel Him.

I haven’t been around for decades upon decades yet, but I can imagine that by the time I am, I’ll have millions of stories about both the little and the big ways God showed up in my life. Part of me can’t wait to be there and look back on everything, but my story is still in the midst of unfolding now.

Here’s the thing, though: Sometimes, I have to think God must be a bit surprised (if God ever gets surprised, that is!) that Christians haven’t yet caught on to the fact that He’s pretty powerful… or that we’re blown away by something small in comparison to what He’s actually capable of doing.

A situation just like this unfolds at the end of John 1, the passage we’re focusing on today. In John 1:35-51, Phillip, one of Jesus’ disciples, was so overcome by the fact that he’d found the Son of God that he immediately had to bring his friend Nathanael along, too. However, Nathanael was hesitant at first, and he didn’t believe Phillip had really found the Messiah. Verse 45 of John 1 (The Message) says,

Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”

But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”

47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

48 Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

49 Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

50-51 Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

All it took for Nathanael to believe was Jesus telling Nathanael He’d known him even before Phillip had thought to call Nathanael along on this journey. Now, Nathanael is displaying some admirable faith, for sure… but I love Jesus’ line at the end of verse 50:

“You haven’t seen anything yet!”

While Jesus was referencing the fact that Nathanael was about to have a front row seat to the single most important event in human history, I have to believe this statement is true for our lives also. We think God has been faithful to us in our past? He has even more faithfulness to give throughout the rest of our lives. We wonder if God’s finished using us for His glory after a season has come to an end? There is always more that He is waiting to call us to in the days to come. We saw God work a miracle or show up in a situation a few years ago? He is capable of showing up in even bigger and MORE miraculous ways in years to come. And on top of all of these things, we have the ultimate hope of heaven to look forward to after this life is all over.

Whether we’re talking about life here on earth or life after earth in heaven, God is not done with us, friends. And we haven’t seen anything yet. I’m thankful to know and believe that truth today.