Jn12

Jesus said to Peter, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to Jesus, "You will never wash my feet."

Peter was always resisting the plans of Jesus! Not because he didn't love Jesus, but because he couldn't understand what Jesus was doing. Peter needed to have faith in Jesus, not in himself. Jesus could see into the future. Peter could only see in the past and the present. Peter's perspective almost always had him resisting the will of God.

I am the same way. I often think that I know what God wants to do and it is not at all what He wants to do. My thoughts are clouded with my own desires. My actions are shaped by those same desires. Jesus knew Peter would see clearly in time. Jesus knew Peter's heart was to follow Him. He needed to see from a different perspective. Peter would understand in time.

What is God wanting to do with us today that we are resisting because of our wrong perspective? It is not enough to love Jesus. He wants our faith and obedience. He will not follow our desires for Him. He is God. We are not.

Jn12

Most often the ones who question the generosity of others are motivated by their own selfishness. Judas loved money. Mary's generous outpouring toward Jesus, did not reveal his heart for the poor! In fact, it exposed the greed in his soul.

Greed is a horribly sticky sin. Most of us love money, but would never admit it. We like to judge others for what they do with their money, but rarely want to give an account for what we do with "our" money. One sure way to check our generosity is to examine our hearts when we see generosity in others.

If we are generous, our hearts rejoice when we see generosity. Generosity is motivated by generosity. To see others giving freely motivates us to do the same. If we are greedy, we tend to judge other's gifts by the standards that we ourselves don't keep. We justify ourselves and judge others.

Are we motivated by the generosity of others? Are we sacrificially generous towards the things of God?

Jn11

Lazarus is a powerful example of the resurrection power of Jesus! He was dead, and now he is alive. His life was totally lost. No more time. No more opportunity. No more relationships. He was dead.

In one moment, everything changed. With one short sentence Jesus changed everything. "Lazarus, come out!" From that moment, Lazarus began a new life. Every breath was a recognized gift. Every day was a bonus day. What was his new choice? To radically testify to the resurrection power of Jesus.

In the same way, our lives have been changed. We have be born again. Brought from death to life. We are to live each day as if it is a gift from God. Why? Because it is. How will we spend these bonus breaths? How will we spend the days, months and years of the rest of our lives.

Jn10

My prayer is that all of us experience the love and concern of the "Good Shepherd". Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd who lays down my life for the sheep".

Jesus knows us! He loves us! He knows that we are weak, defenseless and vulnerable without Him. His desire is for our good. He knows what is truly best for us. We can not only trust Him for eternal life, we can trust Him today.

Think about these amazing truths today. Follow Jesus.

Jn9

"This I know, once I was blind and now I see." - The blind man Jesus healed

There is nothing more powerful than a personal testimony. A changed life speaks more boldly than a well crafted speech. How has Jesus changed our lives?

I both love and hate it when people who knew me before I knew Jesus talk about the person they knew. I hate it because I was a godless man (even though I could talk a great talk). I love it because almost always they are talking about how "different" I am.

My only response is to say, "I used to only know about Jesus, now I have met Him personally. He has changed my life."

Jn8

This chapter begins and ends with religious leaders holding rocks in their hands in order to stone someone! The first is a woman "caught" in adultery. The second is Jesus because He was "blaspheming". In both instances their stone judgements were the result of unbelieving, hard hearts.

They accused Jesus of having a demon and Jesus told them they were sons of Satan. Can you imagine this conversation? Was it heated? Did Jesus raise His voice? I often wonder what these interactions were like.

Jesus said to those who believed in Him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." True freedom is in knowing and following Jesus.

Jn7

Jesus described the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who would believe in Him as a "river of living water flowing out of their heart." This river would enable them to follow Jesus.

The river that most of Jesus' hearers would have been familiar with would have been the Jordan river. The Jordan provided life for the entire region. Without the Jordan, life in Israel would be miserable.

In the same way the Holy Spirit enables us to experience the life of Christ. It comes from within and helps us obey Jesus' commands. Without the Holy Spirit there is no life. Without the Holy Spirit there is no ability to obey Jesus.