John

Buckets or Fountains

Today’s Reading: John 7

John 7 is another glorious invitation that Jesus provides to the people. There was probably not a single day that went by where Jesus didn’t invite people to salvation, forgiveness, and eternal life. If you go back to John 4, He invites the woman at the well. “ The water that I give you is eternal or living water. Drink of this water, and you will never thirst again.” Chapter 6 Lynden talked about the “bread of life.”

As I read about the importance of small things from Lynden yesterday, I love how he highlighted the importance of bread. Today we are going to talk about the simplicity and necessity of water. Did you know that over 60% of your body is water? That over 70% of your brain and heart is made up of water. As adults, it is recommended that we drink 2.7 – 3.7 liters of water daily. How much are you drinking?

John 7: 37-39 reads, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’

Are you thirsty? Have you ever been dehydrated? Research shows how madness can set in when you have not had water after some time. I connect this with not having Jesus in our lives as not having water. Think of where you might be?

Three verbs stick out in this invite. When you think about evangelism, it makes sense.

Thirst – Recognizing your condition. Realizing that you are apart from God, you will always want something to drink.
Come – trust in Him, abandon sin and turn towards God.
Drink – live with Him each day. Surrender daily.

The last awesome part that convicts me in this scripture is the last line that reminds us that from our innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

This is where my picture connects. There are many days that I’m just like the bucket taking it all in and just sitting there—just getting my fill. Jesus wants us to be a river sharing the living water with others just like He did every day.

Who will you share with the Living Water with today?

Have a blessed day!

Today’s reading is 1 John 1-2 and Revelation 1.

The Greek word for sin in the original New Testament was “hamartia” which is translated as missing the mark. Have you missed the mark? I know I have…every hour of every day of my life…maybe every minute. It is clear John wants us to realize this. God is the mark, and we miss it and Him. I’m taken back to my roots and part of the Lutheran liturgy with the words of 1 John 1:8-10…

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

Paul also states in Romans 3:23…

“..for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

John is clear not only that we miss the mark and sin, but also tells us how to avoid it as much as possible in 1 John 1:15-16…

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from the Father but is from the world.”

Constantly the world is trying to tell us what is “ok.” It’s on the internet, TV shows, commercials, movies, books, and the list goes on and on. And not only is the world trying to force things God says is wrong upon us, but the world tries to tell us that if we don’t agree with the world we are not only in the wrong, but we are also practicing hate. Isn’t it crazy what Satan is capable of and how he works? He can twist things not only from what is actually bad to make it look good, but also make the world believe what is good is hate. The world tells us we cannot dislike a sin and still love the sinner. We can because we in fact ourselves as Christians are sinners (1 John 1:8-10), and yet Christ loves us.

The first step in finding Jesus is realizing we need Him. How? We have to be truthful with ourselves about our sin problem. Let’s go back to 1 John 1:8 for a moment. We must specifically name our sins. That’s how we realize we have missed the mark and need Him. We must not compare ourselves to others and what the world says is acceptable. John tells us the world is not the mark…God is!

So, what do we do now that we realize we’ve not done what God wants? 1 John 1:9 tells us we must confess our sins, and He makes us white as snow..cleaning us from all our dirty deeds. John wants us to know we have an advocate in Jesus who took our place; He is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). Through Him, and only through Him, do we please God. He knew we could not do it on our own..that we would miss the mark. John is clear that God had a game plan all along. John tells us God knew we needed Jesus, and Jesus was their all along with the Father from the beginning of Creation (John 1:1-5 and 1 John 1:1-2).

There is no relationship like with Him. All relationships are two sided and conditional….know matter how much we say, or even try not to make them that way. This is not the case in the relationship with Him though..He loved us before we loved Him and still loves us today when we miss the mark. All we can do is try to do our best to follow His will by walking in the light John discusses, and say, “Thanks! Praise be to God!”

The Gospel of John

Good morning Monday readers! How did I get so lucky to get to introduce not one but two of our gospel authors this year? I’m very excited for all of us to dive into John’s words in this Easter season. God’s timing couldn’t be more perfect for us! The apostle John wrote his Gospel around 85 AD after the destruction of Jerusalem and before his exile to the island of Patmos. John’s Gospels are different from the three previous synoptic Gospels in that over 90 percent of its material is unique. Rather than focusing on miracles, parables and the public words of Jesus, the Gospel of John emphasizes the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. Research suggests that the most likely place of writing was Ephesus.

John’s main purpose in writing his gospel is to prove Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God. In fact, he reveals Jesus’ deity to us in the very first verse:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…” John 1:1

How many times have you breezed over those words in your reading? I know I have! John gives us the plot line to one of the best true stories ever told in verse one! Together with the Gospel of Matthew, John provides what I think is the most compelling proof of Jesus as the messiah. I’m not afraid to admit that there have been times in my journey with Christ that I have doubted power of Jesus. The Gospel of John is an opportunity for us as Christ followers to truly walk with Him and see the Messiah that John knew. Chapter 2 reveals the seven messianic signs beginning with the wedding at Cana. In Chapter 6 we hear his first of seven “I am” phrases:

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and who believes in my shall not thirst.” John 6:35

John goes on to reveal Jesus through six more powerful “I am” statements throughout his Gospel:

“I am the light of the world”

“I am the door of the sheep”

“I am the good shepherd”

“I am the resurrection and the life”

“I am the way, the truth, the life”

“I am the true vine”

Of course what comes at the end of this beautiful and powerful writing is the death and resurrection of Jesus. I invite you go deep in your study of this last Gospel. I know that we will all find evidence of our Savior there. Perhaps more than any other writing about Jesus, it will be painful. When we allow ourselves to calm the voices of this world in order to enter His, we’ll see Jesus for the man and Messiah he truly is. We’ll see and hear his closest disciples betray him. We’ll have the opportunity to see ourselves as disciples and understand how we betray him with our everyday sins. We’ll also have the opportunity for redemption in Him.

May you be blessed by this season of quiet, intentional study of the Gospel of John.