““I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””
John 16:33 NIV
Jesus wanted to prepare His disciples for what was coming. He knew He would suffer and die soon on the cross and He wanted them to understand that His death would not be the end. He promised that their grief would turn into joy that would never be taken away from them. He told them what was to come so they could have peace in the midst of trials and sadness — trouble. He wanted them to know that no matter what came their way, He had overcome the world!
Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday and He is the same forever!
He has overcome! Even death could not stop Jesus! We can be assured that with Jesus on our side we will overcome as well! We can live in peace and have complete joy because of Jesus!
“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”” John 14:21 NIV
Our one true purpose is to KNOW God! Jesus tells His disciples how to fulfill that purpose. He told them that it is the one who “keeps” His commands that truly loves Him. It is the one who truly loves Jesus who Jesus shows Himself to or makes Himself KNOWN.
Jesus said that if we love Him, we will OBEY His teachings and His Father will love us and they will come and make their home with us, or dwell with us. (John 14:23-24)
Obedience to what God says gives us a close and intimate relationship. Disobedience (sin) put’s God at a distance. It separates us from Him.
We need to remember that all that God commands us in the Bible is for our good. What He tells us He requires is meant to keep us from harm and to help us walk close to Him. When we are truly in love with Jesus, we will want to do what He says because we will want to please Him and be close to Him.
The problem is when we are not truly living our lives close to Jesus we want our way… when we want it and how we want it… THEN “obedience” seems like it is a “dirty word.” We do not consider what God wants. If we live our lives at a distance from Him, obedience will seem like a task and a burden.
Here’s the kicker….We can’t come to God on our own terms… If we live our lives chasing our ways with no consideration of what He has told us, we need to take a look at what is in our spiritual hearts.
Jesus said the greatest command is this:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your souls and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
If you and I are truly loving God, we will do what He says in His Word. Which means we need to know His Word so we can obey it.
How is my love life with God?
Do I desire to KNOW Him and His Word so I can obey Him and then live my life connected to Him in an intimate relationship?
Or does the word “obey” feel like a dirty word to me? Does it make me recoil at the thought of it?
“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.
“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!
“At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.” John 12:16 NIV
The conquering kings of Jesus’s time would ride into their newly acquired territories on their war horses. They displayed their power in order for their new subjects to understand their need to submit. “Jesus found a young donkey…” This was to fulfill a messianic prophecy regarding Him. He had come as King! The crowds shouted it! BUT He had not come as a conquering King, but as a King of peace! Riding a donkey symbolized a King who had come to reconcile the people to Himself. It was a symbol of humility and service.
BUT the people did not understand… including Jesus’s very own disciples.
Jesus displayed the heart of His Heavenly Father to the world. What we see Jesus doing as we read the Gospels is exactly what Our Heavenly Father does. Jesus came in peace. Our Father comes to us in peace as well! He comes to us for our deliverance from sin! He comes to us in humility and love! He does not come to force us to follow Him! He comes to provide the way for us to be restored to what He had designed us for all along… relationship with Him!
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming seated on a donkey’s colt.” (verse 15) Jesus our Servant King displayed what God had revealed about Himself almost 1400 years earlier when He spoke to Moses regarding who He is. He said He is:
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin...”Exodus 34:6-7 NIV
God never changes! Who He was to Moses, He was in Jesus’s time. Jesus is still our Servant King, humble, and “abounding in love and faithfulness” today!
Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey so the people could know and understand exactly who He was.
Jesus wanted them to KNOW Him! He still wants us to KNOW Him today!
“I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.” Romans 15:18-29 NIV
We live in exciting times! God is working His plan out that He established before the creation of the world.
I know that these statements fly in the face of what the news reports present to us… shootings, turmoil, disunity, disease, wars, etc. It is very dark, but light shines the brightest in the darkness. People are looking for something real. They are spiritually ill, and as believers in Jesus, we have the Truth! We have the cure!
The Apostle Paul lived in a very dark time of history as well. Everywhere he went he shined the light of hope in Jesus Christ. In fact, he made it his “ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known…” (Romans 15:20) God used him in his words and actions to make Jesus known.
This is God’s desire for us today. We were created to know God and make Him known! God wants to use what we say and what we do to reach the broken, hurting, and lost. He wants us to shine His light. He wants to work through us. He will do this, if we will simply yield ourselves to Him, listen to what He says, and obey.
When God works, He works “signs and wonders.” He does things we cannot do on our own. His ways are miraculous. He does what only He can do through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ accomplishes great things through us. We get to participate!
May we live our lives fully surrendered to God. May we totally obey Him. May we depend on Him for everything we do. Living this way will be exciting. Because God will use us when we are entirely, completely, and totally devoted to Him! We will see Him do great things in us and through us as we participate with Him!
“Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.” Romans 14:1 NIV
There are some areas that you and I will disagree. This does not mean that I have to prove myself right, or that you need to prove yourself either. It is easy to get hung up on “disputable matters.” In our culture these matters can range from the Covid Vaccine, to “does God have a preference in our Bible Version KJV or NIV…?” And it is so easy to desire to prove our opinions to be right. When we see someone who doesn’t agree with our stand, it is easy to judge them and look at them as less wise, less informed, less spiritual, etc. We can let these matters divide us!
In Paul’s time this kind of division was present. Some people said, “eat only vegetables.” Some said “I can eat meat too.” Others had special religious days that had to be observed. Arguments abounded. Judgements were made. He told the Christians, don’t quarrel, don’t judge. Ultimately, we aren’t the ones who make the call.
“Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.” Romans 14:4 NIV
We answer individually to God in the things that seem to be “disputable matters.” We need to stack them up against the Word of God. If it isn’t clearly defined as right or wrong, pray and listen to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
In the meantime, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, your brothers and sisters in Christ.
“And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
You and I have a small part to play in God’s Orchestral Piece called “History.” Our time here is short… But God makes no mistakes. He has placed us right here, right now for His purpose! Will we step up and play our part?
We can look at the events of our world and become VERY afraid, or we can accept our call.
Let us not cower in the corner with fear or live our lives with indifference. We have our part to play. We are not our own. We are God’s. He wants us to shine His light into ever dark corner of our communities and our world! He is not done! He has not abandoned His plan.
“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14 NIV
“For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Romans 13:4 NIV
God establishes authorities. He has placed them over us “for your good” As a Christian citizen, we are to respect those that God has placed in authority over us. Those who serve us in governmental offices are placed in those positions to promote good and restrain evil. They are working for the welfare of our society.
If we are doing what is good, “you will receive his {the authority’s }approval.” (Verse 3 ESV) BUT, if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid because God has placed these authorities in position to “bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
Simply put, God has placed those who govern over us in that position. We are to respect and honor them for the service they provide.
“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Romans 13:7 NIV
May we resolve to pray for those who serve as governmental authorities over us. They hold an important role and service to us. This is our first and foremost civic duty!
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,” 1 Timothy 2:1-3 NIV
Your Love 