Category Archives: God

ONE — A Life Connected to God

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Today let’s read John 14:9-14.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus came to show us the Father. Everything that Jesus did was what His Heavenly Father did. Jesus told His disciples repeatedly that He and His Father were one. He wanted them to understand something that is VERY important to us today. We are invited to participate in that relationship of being one with Him.

Jesus said:

“On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

We were created for this very purpose — to live connected to our God, united to Him — one. As we live connected to Him — one with Him, we will do the things He does — His works. We will demonstrate and reflect God to everyone around us. So essentially Jesus was saying in the verses above, I’ve been doing God’s works and displaying who He is to this world. Now I am going back to my Father… Tag you’re it! 

When we come to Jesus our life is no longer our own. Our purpose is no longer to do what we want, when and how we want to. We are here to “do the works {Jesus} had been doing, … and greater things…” 

When we accept Jesus into our lives His Holy Spirit comes to live in us. He is in us and we are in Him. We now are empowered to do the works that the Father had prepared in advance for us to do.(Ephesians 2:10) 

Am I living my life connected to God in a deep and intimate relationship? 

Are His plans my plans?

Are His desires my desires? 

Am I doing His works? 

Am I living one with Him? 

Where I Am You May Also Be

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Today let’s read John 14:1-14.

The story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was a story of living with God in a close relationship. They had everything! they experienced God fully — walking and talking with Him. 

When they chose to sin, separation came i.e. death. It is hard for us to understand anything different. It is all we have known. God is perfectly holy — sin cannot exist in Him. Sin has separated us from Him. 

Jesus came to restore the relationship lost. His desire is for us to live connected to Him now and to one day be with Him in heaven. 

““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

He wants us to be with Him, where He is! What was lost in the Garden was restored on the Cross! When we accept Jesus we live our lives no longer separated by sin! 

Where Jesus is, we may also be! 

Am I experiencing the relationship that Jesus died to restore me to? Am I walking and talking with God every moment of every day? Or is sin keeping me at a distance from my God?

Love As Jesus Loved

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Today let’s read John 13:18-38.

Time is ticking. Jesus knows His time with His disciples on earth is coming to a close. He gives them a new command: 

““A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus had already told them what the greatest command was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” And the second to love your neighbor as yourself. 

Jesus wanted the ones who follow Him to take that further. That is to love as He loves! This Agape love, “God’s love” is self sacrificial, forgiving, and gives away all for another. It is the kind of love that benefits and prospers another person with no expectation of receiving anything in return. This kind of love is not possible for us to demonstrate in our own lives on our own. It is His love that He pours out inside of us through the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us. (Romans 5:5) 

When we love as Jesus loves, we demonstrate or reflect Him to the world. In fact Jesus says that this is how everyone will know that we are “HIS” disciples — when we love as He loves. We will be living as one who bears HIS Image to the world. 

Holy Spirit we ask You to fill us with Your love so we can do as Jesus commanded. We desire to love as Jesus loved! 

Jesus Served

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Good morning! Today let’s read John 13:1-17.

“It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is omniscient (all knowing). Jesus is God so He knows all things. 

“…Jesus knew…” The events that occurred right before Jesus died did not happen by chance and they were not a surprise to Jesus. He knew! He knew that one of His twelve disciples, Judas, would betray Him. He knew another one, Peter, would deny Him. He knew the rest would scatter when faced with the danger in the moments ahead. He knew He would be arrested, beaten, spit upon, have His beard pulled out. He knew He would be made to carry a heavy cross, a Roman instrument of torture, up a hill. He knew He would be crucified. 

So what was Jesus’s response to all the injustice He would suffer? He washed feet… He humbled Himself, took the position of a lowly servant and bowed before the ones who called Him teacher. The Master served…

Why would Jesus do such a thing? LOVE.  He loved His own and He loved them to the end. Everything Jesus did was from His love, His desire to benefit and prosper us with absolutely nothing that could be repaid to Him. 

I think the thing about this account that gets me the most is that Jesus washed Judas’s feet. Even though He knew… Would I do that? Would I serve the one who would betray me?

One more thought… It’s easy to read this account and forget that I am one of those He loves and loved to the end… When I have chosen sin over obedience, I have betrayed Jesus. When I have chosen to go my own way instead of follow His, I have denied Him as Lord. When I have repeatedly refused to live as He has called me to do, I have abandoned Him. Yet, He knows all this and He would willingly wash my feet. Because Jesus came to serve not to be served… 

What is my response to such love?  What is your response to such love? 

Jesus finishes washing feet and then gives an instruction:

““You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”‭‭ John‬ ‭13‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Help me to love as You love, Jesus. Help me to serve as You serve. 

Who Do I Really Love?

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Today let’s read John 12:37-50.

“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.” ‭‭John‬ ‭12‬:‭42‬-‭43‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Who am I living for? Who do I really love? 

It is very possible to have an encounter with Jesus and believe that He is God, yet not acknowledge that you ever believed, or live like it…

Complete surrender to Jesus and His ways is uncomfortable to our sinful nature/flesh. Openly acknowledging Him and living with Him as your Lord for all to see will cause rejection by those who are not living for Him. If you are a people pleaser and you love to hear people complementing and praising you, the tendency will be to hide what God is doing in your life and not give glory to Him. But living this way points to a heart that really isn’t surrendered to Jesus as Lord of your life. 

If your concern is about “what will people think?” and not about “what will God think?”, there is a problem. You cannot serve two masters! 

You cannot live waiting for the world to say “well done” and waiting for Jesus to say “well done” as well. There is only One that we need approval from! 

Again it is good to reflect on these questions:

Who am I living for? Who do I really love? 

The Hour Has Come — Glorify Him!

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Today let’s read John 12:20-36. 

“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”” (Verse 23) 

Glorified — honored, dignified, exalted to glory. (Websters 1828)

Jesus speaks the words above and then begins to predict His death. Glorified but losing His life? Glorified but being lifted up on a cross — the most horrid method of Roman torture and execution… ? It almost seems to contradict. 

But with Jesus death is not the end of the story! He is the Resurrection and the Life! Those who die in Him will live and never die! (John 11:25-26) 

We are invited to participate in Jesus’s life where He is glorified (right here right now), but as His servants, we also go where He goes. This means we follow Jesus to the cross/ death to ourselves —our selfish and sinful nature. 

If we really want to experience Jesus and His life to the fullest, we must lose our lives built on ourselves— what we want, when and how we want it. (verse 25) Taking on Jesus’s life where He is glorified — displayed in us! 

You and I were created with a purpose — to know God! As we come to know Him, we will display Him wherever we go. This is being His image bearer. In order for us to glorify God with our lives, display Him to those around us, who we were before we came to Jesus must die daily. 

Am I experiencing the true life of Jesus? Or am I holding on to my old sinful life? Am I following Jesus all the way to the cross/ death to my selfish ways so I can be alive to Him? 

The hour has come for us to live our lives Glorifying Jesus! 

Extravagant Love

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Let’s read John 12:1-11 today! 

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is one of my favorite stories of worship, which is defined as honoring Jesus with extravagant love and extreme submission. Mary gave something very costly to express her love for Jesus. She wanted to express her recognition of how valuable He was to her and what He meant to her. She had seen Him do miracles, including raising her brother from the dead. He had changed her life! Her response was DEEP love for Him!

When I read this account, I wonder about my heart. Do I love Him deeply? When you love someone deeply, the cost you pay to express that love is never too great! 

Do I express extravagant love and extreme submission in my relationship with God? Do I value Him and Him alone? 

Hard heartedness

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Today let’s read John 11:45-57.

“Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.””

‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭47‬-‭48‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am always amazed at the hard heartedness of the religious leaders of Jesus’s time. Jesus simply did not fit into their agenda. They wanted things the way they wanted them, when and how they wanted it… They pursued their ways so much that they had drifted further and further from the very God they claimed to serve. They could see Jesus doing miracles that were beyond explanation, but they chose to pursue their ways instead of following Him. They stood there in the very presence of Jesus and they were not moved by His words, His miracles, His love… I would like to point my finger, but there have been times in my life that I chose to go my way instead of pursuing Him. There have been times I’ve heard His voice, saw His miracles, and yet turned away. 

Lifehouse recorded a song in the year 2000 thats lyrics have been rolling around in my head this morning as I have thought of this section of scripture. 

“You are the life to my soul

You are my purpose, you’re everything

… And how can I stand here with you

And not be moved by you?

Would you tell me how could it be

Any better than this?” 

You and I were created with a purpose — to Know God! A hard heart will keep us from realizing this purpose. Sin hardens our hearts. What is it that stands between you and God? Are you able to stand in the very presence of Jesus and not be moved by Him? 

This video illustrates the things that get in between us and God. Let’s ask  these questions: “How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?” 

Is there an area of sin in my heart that has caused me to have a heart that is hardened towards God? 

Am I living my life wanting only what I want when and how I want it? Or is knowing Jesus my one true purpose, my everything? 

God’s Delays

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(I’ve been writing a lot on the Gospel of John lately. I felt like I should share today’s thoughts on the account of Lazarus’s death:)

Good morning! Let’s read John 11:1-16 today!

“So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,”
‭‭John‬ ‭11‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Being sick is a horrible thing. Especially a major illness. In sickness, there is pain and discomfort. Jesus heard His friend, the one He loved, was sick. BUT Jesus delayed going to His friend for two days…

I have been thinking this morning about God’s delays. Jesus knew all things. He was and He is God. He also knew the end of Lazarus’s story, “…This sickness will not END in death. No, it is for God’s Glory…” God always had a plan. Jesus’s delay was a part of it.

In the book of Isaiah God tells us something that is very important to consider:

““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus knew the reason that Lazarus had to SUFFER and DIE. He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead in order to display the glory of God to the people. It was an opportunity for Him to make Himself known in a way the people had not known Him as before. “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Verse 25) Jesus was going to display HIs power over death itself.

There are circumstances of life that we simply will not understand. Sometimes it seems that God is delaying doing what is best for us. We suffer. BUT God wants us to know that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways either. What we think is best may not be what is the best in His Heavenly perspective. We must trust in Him!

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Is there a circumstance in my life that I am suffering in? Am I trying to make sense out of it? Does it feel like Jesus has delayed?
Can I believe and trust that Jesus is always working in every circumstance for my good? (Romans 8:28)