Jn18

What would have happened if Peter would have cut off Malchus' head instead of his ear? Would Jesus have calmly told Peter to put his sword away, carefully picked up the head and put it back? Who knows?

As it is, I wonder if Malchus ever believed. Did he realize that no mere man could have replaced his ear? Could he feel the healing touch of Jesus effecting more than his severed ear? What was he thinking as he was tying Jesus up and bringing Him in?

And what were the disciples thinking? They all ran! John watched at a distance and Peter began a series of denials. Jesus was utterly alone. Abandoned by his closest friends, falsely accused  by the religious leaders and about to be beaten and crucified. And He "knew everything that was about to happen to Him!"

Thank you Jesus for choosing to save us!

Jn17

There is nothing like a broken relationship that ruins the quality of life! Jesus' prayer for His disciples centered around unity. He wanted His disciples to know Him and the experience the unity that He experienced with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He wanted them to experience the unity with each other that can only come through a relationship with Him.

Are there broken relationships in your life? Are they broken because of you? Jesus is praying that we would eliminate brokenness in our lives. Brokenness brings pain to ourselves, to others and the the witness of Jesus.

Work hard to bring healing in your relationships today. That is what Jesus is praying for.

Jn16

Who is the Holy Spirit? Jesus said,"He is the One who convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement." 

John 14-16 contains the Jesus' teaching on the Holy Spirit. He called Him a "helper, a counselor, and a comforter". He told his frantic disciples that it would be good for Him to leave, because the Holy Spirit would come. Jesus could only be "with" them, but the Holy Spirit would be "in" them and would guide them into all truth.

Are you aware of the Holy Spirit's work in your life? Is He convicting you from within about sin, righteousness and judgement. Does He turn your heart and mind toward the things of God? Do you hear His voice calling you to be obedient to God's word?

Personally, I don't know what I would do without Him to guide my daily life. Thank you Father for the gift of your Holy Spirit.

Jn15

How much "joy" do you have in your life? Joy is an interesting word and carries with it a sense of happiness. They are not the same. 

Happiness comes when things go our way. When we get a job, win a game, the weather is nice, have a good meal, etc., we feel happy. But joy is not connected to external circumstances. In fact, we can have joy even when everything is not going our way or even in the midst of extreme difficulty! 

Joy is recognizing the reality of Christ in our life and placing ultimate value on that! Joy is the overflow of a heart that is dependent on Jesus. The greatest evidence of true joy is difficulty. When a believer goes through a difficult situation, they can reach around the specific situation and experience the joy of the Lord.

Be joyful today!

Jn14

Truth is as essential to God's character as His love. In fact, it is the preferred adjective describing the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." He said about the Holy Spirit, "He is the Spirit of truth."

Without truth, no one will encounter God. Satan is the father of lies and the lover of darkness. Walking with Jesus requires that we live in the light and speak the truth. It is not possible to be in God's way, yet living and speaking lies. The Holy Spirit lives to convict us of the darkness in our hearts and to call us to walk in the light. He enables us to confess our sin and draw near to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit will not allow us to continue in sin! His constant pressure to lead us to Jesus is without limits. He never gives up. He will never give in. I have learned to love the Holy Spirit's urging in my daily life. Don't resist the Holy Spirit. He is wanting God's best for your life.

He is our "helper".

Jn13

Do people assume you are a christian simply based on how you love others? Jesus said you can recognize His disciples by the way they love each other!

Loving people is the evidence that we love God. Not loving people causes others to be confused about the reality of our faith. If you want others to know you are a disciple of Jesus, then He would have you practicing love. Think less of yourself and more about others. Serve others more than you serve yourself.

Jesus began this chapter modeling what it means to love and to serve. He has set an example for us to follow.

Jn12

Believing in Jesus and confessing Him are not the same thing. Many "believed" in Jesus, but did NOT confess Him because of their love for the praise of men and their fear of what they would do.

Even in the first century people were hesitant to confess Christ because of what others would think! They believed in Jesus, but they didn't want others to know for fear of rejection and persecution. They preferred to be "praised by men" and not rejected by them. It is still so common.

Sometimes our confession doesn't match our belief! Sometimes there are other factors that cover the reality of our hearts. Believing is placing our faith in Jesus. Boldness is being willing to confess that belief to others! Be bold today.

Jn11

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live."  Then He proceeded to prove His words by raising Lazarus from the grave!

Unfortunately Lazarus had to die again. In fact, the religious leaders wanted to kill him because of his testimony about Jesus. I wish more words were recorded from the risen Lazarus!! What would he have said about the days he spent dead? Maybe he would have written a book! I would have loved to hear the story. I will some day.

Only Jesus was resurrected to never die again. His life is eternal! His body was a resurrected body. Those he raised from the dead in the NT all died again. When Jesus raised Himself from the grave, He began "living" forever.

Live in Him today.

Jn10

Over 2000 years ago today, Jesus died for our sins! Our hearts and lives should overflow with gratitude to Him. It truly is "Good Friday".

Jesus describes Himself as the "good Shepherd" in this chapter. He says, "I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." Wow! What value does a sheep have compared to a shepherd? There is no comparison. Yet, Jesus valued our lives above His own. In fact, He exchanged His life for ours.

His death on the cross made forgiveness of sins possible. His death on the cross brought life to all who will believe. This is truly a day to celebrate.

Happy Good Friday.

Jn9

What change has Jesus made in your life? What is your story? The man in John 9 simply said, "This I know. Once I was blind, now I see." The second time he met Jesus, and the first time he saw him, he declared, "I believe Lord!" and he worshiped Jesus.

I love this story. The religious leaders were so intent on killing Jesus that they completely overlooked the awesome miracle that stood before them. Rather than rejoice with this young man, they accused and questioned him. They even accused and questioned his parents! They were so lost in their religion that they could not see.

Their belief, or lack thereof, truly blinded them. It makes me wonder what is blinding me. Are there things that I have "decided" that keep me from seeing what Jesus is doing? Are there things in my life that actually distract me from true worship?

Lord help us to all see clearly.

Jn7

If Christ is in you, He will flow out of you. Jesus said, "whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within Him." Believing in Jesus changes a person from the inside out.

My parents were always wanting me to be "christian". They taught me God's word. They taught me God's ways. They even insisted that my actions reflected christian beliefs. Yet my heart was never to follow God UNTIL I put my faith in Jesus. Whenever I truly believed, my desires completely changed.

Now the desire to be "christian" was coming from within. Desire for Christ comes from God. Living to please Him flows from within. Jesus spoke of "living waters". It was a reference to His Spirit being alive in our hearts.

Is the Spirit "in" you?

Jn6

The one "work" required for salvation…believe in Jesus.  Jesus said, "I assure you: Anyone who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life."

Twelve times in this chapter Jesus talks about eternal life. He says that He is the source, sustainer and guaranteer of true life. If we are placing our faith in anything other than Jesus, we are without life and without hope for eternal life.

Jesus is the One who gives life to the world.

Jn5

What are we looking for to give us "life"? If it is something or someone other than Jesus, we will be disappointed.

There are plenty of distractions today from pursuing Jesus. Take the time to pursue Him. He alone has the life that we are truly looking for. Everything else will ultimately disappoint and come up empty.

I am amazed at the sick man in this chapter. For 38 years he had been struggling with sickness. 38 years! Jesus came and healed him and he didn't even know it was Jesus. Later when Jesus had an additional conversation with him, he neither worshiped Jesus nor thanked Him. He simply found the religious leaders and told them, "it was Jesus who healed me."

I think this man got healed physically, but missed the most important "life" that Jesus came to give. For this man, Jesus was a means of healing, but not worthy of his worship and service. What a sad thing to have been healed by Jesus, but to not have been healed for more than this life!

Awful thoughts.

Jn4

What do you truly worship? Jesus said, "true worshipers worship in spirit and in truth."

We all worship something or someone. God has made us worshipers. We are predisposed to give our affections fully to the things that we worship! Unfortunately, most people worship something or someone other than God. He alone is worthy of our worship.

Today is a great day to examine our worship. What do we give our time, attention and affections to? What captures our minds and dreams? Is it God and His ways or something far less significant? Worship is an overflow of what our heart desires. Today is a good day to examine our hearts.

Jn3

It was Jesus who said, "unless a man is born again he will not see the kingdom of God". Just for emphasis He said it again. He spoke this to a religious man who was working hard to have peace with God and gain eternal life. Jesus made it clear; it is not good works that justifies us before God, it is only through faith in Him.

There are two kinds of people in the world. DO people and DONE people. Do people are those who believe that their salvation is rooted in the things they do. Done people are those who believe their salvation is in what Jesus has Done for them. What kind of person are you?

Jesus came to save us because we cannot save ourselves! The work is done…believe.

Jn2

There is no better guest at a wedding than Jesus! Most failed to see that it was His presence, not HIs miracle that was the greatest blessing.

Even today many look to Jesus for the miracle that He could preform to make their life better. Jesus is primarily interested in giving us eternal life, not making our earthly life a better party. In fact, often the life that He gives actually makes this life more difficult.

As we place our faith in Jesus, let's be among those who are not expecting Him to make our lives more comfortable, but rather among those who are looking to obey Him in this life so that our eternal live will be full of His great reward.

Jn1

Often the first true response to meeting Jesus is introducing someone else to Him! It was the pattern in which John begins his gospel and it will be the reason that he writes.

The apostle John was fundamentally concerned with one thing: that people would believe in Jesus and have life in His name. From chapter 1 to chapter 21 we will see John, under the inspiration of God's spirit, writing this gospel for us to believe.

If you are someone who is still a skeptic, I challenge you to read carefully and ask God to reveal Himself to you. If you are already a follower, I challenge you to read daily and find someone who is not a follower yet to share these truth with. John's clear purpose and God's clear design is for those who believe to help those who do not believe yet.

This Gospel will encourage us!

Lk24

Jesus, please open our eyes and our minds so that we can fully see and embrace you.

After the resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples in multiple venues. Each time they did not recognize him until He opened their eyes and minds. So many of us continue to not see Jesus in our lives. We fail to see His hand at work in our daily lives. We fail to see the truths revealed in His word.

We need His help to gain insight and understanding. His desire is for us to know and love Him. Pray that He will open your eyes and mind. Seek Jesus today.

Lk23

The most amazing words spoken from the cross, "Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing."

If there was ever a group beyond forgiveness, it would be the group that physically murdered Jesus! In a sense, all of us murdered Jesus because He died for our sins, but there was a group who literally nailed Him to that cross! They punched Him literally. They spat on Him literally. They mocked Him literally and ultimately thrust a spear into his side! There was no doubt in their minds that they had been the ones to physically killed Jesus.

It was to these people that Jesus spoke these powerful words. Looking at His accusers, He uttered forgiveness. His love was never overshadowed by resentment or bitterness. His grace was always the expression of His life. The ultimate act of sacrifice was accompanied with the request for other's forgiveness. Overwhelming!

Lk22

If you desire to be great, then make yourself a servant of all. First, of Jesus and then of others. Jesus clearly taught his disciples that greatness was not in "being served" but actually in "serving" others.

This profound instruction and example came on the heals of them arguing about who would betray Jesus, which evolved into an argument about which of them was the greatest! The disciples were not different than we are. They too were easily distracted from the the mission of Jesus for their own selfish desires.

Peter went from boldness to coward, from fighter to fleer in a single night. It only takes a moment to become a coward. It takes a radical life choice to become a servant.

Choose to serve today.

Lk21

Jesus motivated his disciples in the midst of certain suffering by telling them that their suffering would be an opportunity to witness! Would that be enough to motivate you to follow Jesus even when it's tough? I pray so because that is the call of the gospel.

It's tragic the expectations that most christians bring to God these days. Jesus never promised wealth, health and an easy life on earth. In fact, His promises expected that life would be more difficult for His followers. He promised that they would suffer "many things". He promised that they would be "persecuted". He promised that they would be "hated and insulted". These are the "promises" of Jesus to those who will fully trust and follow Him.

Have you ever heard a sermon on this? Me either. And, I have never given one! It is not unclear though, is it? Yet Jesus promised that it would be worth it in eternity. He also promised that this "suffering" would be an opportunity to witness for His kingdom. He cared little about earthly pleasures. He spoke often of the world to come.

Live for the promise of the life to come.