September 12, 2020 -- John 8:42 -- At the outermost edge of understanding

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

John 8:42 English Standard Version

Currently I am reading a book giving scientific evidence for a young earth. This books examines proof that the Triune God created the heavens and the earth about 6,000 years ago. Some of the proofs include the unreliability of radiometric dating given the assumptions surrounding radioactive isotopes and their daughter isotopes. Stay with me here. I don’t understand it all either. I understand each word individually, but stringing them together and learning about Alpha and Beta decay and that 14C beta-decays to 14N, well, I can tell I am in way over my head. Yet there are gifted men and women who are sifting through this all unto the glory of God.

Why mention this at all? Understanding the Trinity—One Being: God—Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is difficult to understand. I am at the edge of understanding. I know the individual words and terms, but putting it all together is richness and beauty that takes long examination and prayer.

Jesus spoke as directly to His critics then as He does to us today through the Bible. He is sent from God the Father. He is united with the Father in purpose and love. This already distinguishes Christianity from all the other religions and sects and cults in the world. Co-eternal the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit live in perfect community and love.

There are not many ways and paths to God. Jesus is it. He is sent by the Father to make the way plain. There is no chance of “achieving heaven by basically living okay, or at least living better than your neighbour”. Our hearts are sin-blackened, pus-filled cesspools of evil. Only Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, can address our sins. Only the Spirit of the Living God can take us from our dead-in-sin condition and raise us to life in Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God, the Blessed and Triune, for life that begins now and stretches into eternity. Life which is full of wonder and searching to understand, life that is rich with inquiry and answers. Thanks be to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for stooping to our weakness and dullness and making Himself known. Today if you hear His voice, humble yourself, admit your need for Him. Jesus will raise you to new life in the power of His Spirit.

Tomorrow is Sunday. Get to a Bible believing and preaching church and hear the glorious Good News. Find a Christian friend whose faith you admire and ask your questions! Learn more about God, the great and glorious—He sent Jesus, His Interpreter, He sent the Spirit so that we could grasp the glorious knowledge He is giving. Go ahead, ask!

O LORD our God—As is written in the Bible, so we declare: You are the Redeemer, the Holy One! Faithful God, You declared: “I AM the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.” We confess, there is no god beside You! You declared the end from the beginning. Those who run to You, obeying Your commandments, find peace which never dries up, but is like a river flowing in them. Those governed by Your Spirit in the way of Jesus grow in righteousness that is as dependable and constant as the waves on the shore. Blessed are You, Triune God of glory and splendour, radiant and power. Amen.

(Isaiah 48:17-18 forms the basis of today’s prayer).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjOGX5zT8KU

September 11, 2020 -- John 8:33 -- Being Set Free

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

John 8:33 English Standard Version

Jesus had just made the bold claim if His listeners abide in His word they will know the truth and the truth will set them free. His listeners scoffed. They answered with the text above. Jewish people are biologically descended from Abraham. So in a sense that is literally true. This is significant because the covenant promise God the Mighty had made was those who bless Abraham will be blessed, those who curse Abraham will be cursed. Jesus’s listeners equated being biological descended from Abraham with being blessed. They missed the point.

Abraham believed in God. He served God. That is true freedom. Those who believe in the Triune God of the Holy Bible are truly descendants of Abraham. It is a bit rich for the Jewish people to claim “we have never been enslaved to anyone”. They were slaves in Egypt. They were currently under the domination of the Roman Empire. Through-out their history the Covenant-Making God has issued charges against His people—calling them to account for their waywardness. As such, they are proving themselves to be slaves to sin, slaves to foreign gods, slaves to immorality, slaves to accommodation which compromises their faithfulness to the Living God.

Our only freedom is found in Jesus Christ. Our only freedom is to live in the world without being part of it. Our only freedom is to be fully aware of the evil that surrounds us, but making a stand for Jesus Christ and obedience to His Word. This is Jesus’s point. Those who stood before Him then, and we who hear these words today, must ask: are we free? Do we acknowledge Jesus Christ and Him alone as our source of fullness of life and freedom? If we answer “yes”, then we are descendants of Abraham. Then we are those who walk in the blessings of God our Father as those who are free from enslavement to sin.

Spirit of the Living God, confront us with the Word of Truth so that we will recognize the blinders which are covering our eyes. Uncover for us also the sins which abound in our culture, such as those which would enslave us so that in Your power we will throw them off in whole-hearted service to Jesus Christ. Enable us to see all the enslavement to sin which entangle and chain people in our culture today—the same which threaten to make us slaves also. Thank You, Father in heaven, that You have shown us the pathway of full life and true freedom given in the Mighty and Majestic Name of Jesus Christ—Your precious Son, our Savior. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agROj9nTQP4

September 10, 2020 -- John 8:31-32 -- True Freedom

So Jesus said to the Jews who had 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.”

John 8:31 English Standard Version

New Brunswick is currently in the throes of a provincial election. Yesterday I was listening to a debate and candidates were being asked various questions. I was startled to hear one candidate say, “people’s financial well-being is the most important factor for their life”. He went on to say people are able to feel good about themselves, support their family, grow the economy and so on. As a Christian I hear this as a gross lie. The fact is, Jesus teaches us that which gives us the greatest sense of well-being and freedom: it is abiding in His Word.

When Covid-19 strikes, whether we are rich or poor, we know He is in charge.

When the Black Lives Matter protesters loot stores, harm and kill people in their protests against police as they call for cities to be set on fire, we know our hope and greatest sense of well-being is anchored not in political movements, but in Jesus.

When our government at every level calls abortion an essential service and at tax payer expense puts to death our future, while on the other hand calling every life important imposing six months of lock downs so that Covid-19 curve is flattened, we know we are not dealing with a truthful government. This same government is mouthing platitudes on the importance of life while lining up citizens in our hospitals for lethal injections, putting to death many of our vulnerable citizens. Our government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth. It is incapable of speaking the truth.

The point Jesus made for His listeners then is as relevant today. Listening to people who are non-Christians and trying to fold your life into pretzel-like contortions to fit their crazy schemes and ever shifting ideas is exhausting, God-denying and destructive to true, life-affirming community.

The Bible, the Word of God, is God’s great gift so that we can know God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Bible reveals humanity at our best and at our worst and shows us our very best is still dirty rags (Isaiah 64:6). Unless we are washed in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ and empowered by the Spirit Who is sent to us by God our Father, we are slaves to all the basest philosophies and twisted ideas.

Read the bible—it is the gift of the Father to reveal the work and Person of Jesus Christ and it is laid open to us by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit.

Abide in the word of God—think about it. Compare what you hear in the Bible to all political strategies, self-help books, philosophies, and so on. You will find the Word of God is excellence and truth. Imagine living in country like Pakistan, China or Saudi Arabia and declaring your views against the government and speaking in favour of whatever religion you hold. (Think of the Uyghur people of China. Think of Christians imprisoned in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia whose only crime is converting to Christianity!) In Canada the precious Name of God is violated by our government, while people of other religions and ardent atheists are given freedoms even while seeking to forbid Jesus’s Name to be honoured in public services. Already 15 years ago, when I was involved in a local, small town event Native Canadians were drumming and invoking the deity they claim, an atheist proclaimed her views, while I, as a minister of the Word invited to participate in that same event was asked not to use the Bible or Jesus’s Name. Other faiths are not denied their sacred scriptures and holy names. In the name of godless, secular science, men and women invoke Darwin as their god and do not understand how they doing violence to the Word of God and inestimable value of life. Think how the Word of God has given us the freest society on the planet—and those freedoms are eroding when we no longer abide in His Word.

Abide in the Word of God—while you are jogging, doing dishes, or tidying up, listen to the Word being read. For example a site like https://www.biblegateway.com/ is free and has many versions of the Bible available for listening. Listening to extended portions of Scripture gives you context, background, helps you see how each part is connected to whole.

Abide in the Word of God and know that by it the Spirit will reveal what is unholy and untrue in your life. Then the Spirit will lead you in repentance while directing you deeper into the knowledge and joy of being a follower of Jesus.

Jesus, in You we find our only source of well-being. Thank You for the gift of Your Word—which leads us in all Truth and freedom. By Your Word and Spirit direct us so that we grow in the gladness of being Your obedient disciples, to the honour and praise of our Father in heaven. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6LC8cu03Ig

September 9, 2020 -- John 8:23 -- Threatening doubts

He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.”

John 8:23 English Standard Version

How do we wrestle through the claims of Jesus? We read Scripture and know we are called to believe, but there is so much that is hard to understand. In our passage today Jesus is speaking to “the Jews”—that is shorthand John used to describe the assemblage of interested people, questioning people, skeptics, scholars, and those who wanted to put Him to death. In the face of this He declared Who He Is. Jesus is the One Who has come from the Presence of the Father, to make Him known. His ways are not our ways. His teaching confronts the pagan philosophies and hubris of human understanding.

Some people standing before Him doubted. Is doubt bad? What if you wrestle with it? Admirably those in the crowd who doubted went to Jesus to seek answers to their questions. A few days ago I heard a preacher quote this:

“A faith without some doubts is like a human body without any antibodies in it. People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic. A person’s faith can collapse almost overnight if she has failed over the years to listen patiently to her own doubts, which should only be discarded after long reflection.”

Tim Keller The Reason for God page 17.

Okay, so doubts are like antibodies—but what if I have a bad case of doubt? What if I am feeling sickened by it? There are many Christian leaders and singers recently who have renounced their faith—what happens if my faith crumbles?

1. Bring your questions to the Spirit of God—ask for answers. Search them out as you get to your knees and ask the Spirit “for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God…So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” I Corinthians 2:10 & 11.)

2. Know that God welcomes your searching and seeking. He is all-knowing, all wise. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search things out” Proverbs 25:2. Our glorious God has made life fun, interesting, challenging, offering us the joy of discovery.

3. Find people whose faith you respect and ask your hard questions. Someone who is honest will at times say, “I don’t know the answer to that—let’s search it out!” Be confident of this “we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (I Corinthians 2:12)

4. Teach others. What you do know about Jesus, about the treasury of all that is ours because of His saving work, teach and proclaim to others. This will increase your faith and confirm what you know.

Spirit of the Living God—Who rejoices to reveal the Truth which is grounded in Jesus Christ—help us. We believe, help us overcome our unbelief and doubts. Give us the faith we need to hold on until understanding catches up to faith. Spirit of Wisdom, keep us attentive to the people in our lives. When a friend or colleague asks a question, perhaps too casually and yet hopefully we can help with it, let us experience the blessing of sharing what we know—not from a place of lofty pride, but in awe-filled humility let us teach so that we may grow up together in this precious faith given to us by the Father’s love, which anchors us in the redeeming work of Jesus. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8FKZIz97AU

September 8, 2020 -- John 8:12 -- Living in the Light of Life

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.

John 8:12 English Standard Version

The context is so important here. Jesus is speaking to the crowds of people who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Booths. Each year there was a week-long Festival where the people of Israel remembered that the LORD their God by His might and power rescued them from Egypt. He proved Himself greater than any and all earthly rulers. The people made booths, or a lean to of branches, to commemorate their journey through the wilderness from Egypt to the Promised Land. During those forty years God the Provider fed them mana, provided water in the arid wilderness and led them by a fiery pillar of cloud. God showed them the way they should go by the light of that fiery pillar of cloud.

It was foreshadowing of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is the bread come down from heaven, the new mana, which feeds our souls so that we live for God. Jesus is the water which wells us to eternal life. Jesus is the Light—not just for the people of Israel and those Egyptians, who convinced of the glory of God by the sequence of plagues which ravaged their land joined with the Israelites—listen again to Jesus’s declaration: “I AM the Light of the World”. Jesus is Light for all people every tribe, every people, in every age, everywhere across this celestial globe

All who believe in Him receive the light of life. All who believe in Him do not walk in the darkness of this world or its obtuse philosophies. All who believe in Him know right from wrong, life from death, light from darkness. All who believe in Jesus receive from His Spirit direction and leading. The Spirit takes the Word of Jesus and makes it shine into us. The Spirit points us to the Person of Jesus in the Bible so that we are not merely reading words or gleaning facts—we are meeting Jesus, the True Light that gives Light to every one who believes.

Ah, Blessed Jesus, we recognize You as the world’s True Light. Your Word is as true today as the moment it was written—we can perceive “people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil”. We confess how often our own words and thoughts betray the evil inclinations of our dark inner thought life. Rescue us. As we walk in Your Light, we bless You and praise You for the work of the Spirit Who applies to us the cleansing blood. As by the light of Scripture and the work of Your Spirit we recognize our sinful thoughts and dark actions, enable us to confess our sins, strengthen us to turn from them and hate evil more and more. Thank You, Father in heaven, for Your great love which flows through generation upon generation so that the Son You love has become for us the Light of Life and Salvation. Amen.

The song selection today is Psalm 27 set to music. Look up Psalm 27 and you’ll read along as the choir sings, celebrating the LORD as our Light and Salvation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE51e2rKpUk

September 7, 2020 -- John 8:3-4 -- Caught in sin; how to be freed

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery..”

John 8:3-4 English Standard Version

The scribes and Pharisees are aiming to trap Jesus between the laws of the Romans and the laws of the Jews. They imagine this will be a tightrope and Jesus will have to fall off on one side or the other and get Himself bound up in all kinds of trouble.

As this story unfolds we’ll notice, quickly, Jesus does not make a misstep. “I will cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!” (Psalm 119:31-32). He keeps Himself close to the Word of God, He is steeped in the Word and He does not make any misstep. The Word of God gives us glorious freedom so that we can run in the way of our Father’s commandments. In every and all situations the Word is powerful, relevant and insightful.

Notice how the scribes and Pharisees stumble and fall even as they seek to trap Jesus. Leviticus 20:10 commands that both the man and the woman caught in adultery must be put to death. Hmm. Where is the man? The woman was not caught in adultery by herself—by definition that is not adultery. So was she set up? Was the adulterer paid to trap her so that the scribes and Pharisees have a case to bring to Jesus? Who knows. The fact is, the scribes and Pharisees were wrong from the start, bringing the woman alone.

Beloved of God—delight we are to delight ourselves in the Law of God. Know the whole Word of God so that we will not be put to shame! And our text today is teaching us to be aware of the circumstances of any case put before us. When someone is about to accuse someone else, we need to know as much as we can, or at least realize every story has at least three sides (one, opponent, and God’s). Again, notice Psalm 119:32, the commandments of God enlarge our hearts. We understand Jesus Christ—His sacrifice that brings us without blemish or spot—means we see others with the eyes of faith. Jesus conquers our sins and the sins of those we would accuse. Our dearest desire is to bring people to Jesus, so that they and we ourselves, will not be put to shame but be able to judge circumstances rightly and run in the way of His commandments.

Thank You for the joy and blessing of worship. Thank You for preachers and missionaries, bible teachers and evangelists who brought Your Word of Truth to Your hungry people. King Jesus, as the week unfolds, constantly bring us to Your Word and by Your Spirit make it for us living and pertinent in every situation. Thank You, Father in heaven, for the gift of the Law which shows us our sinfulness and directs us to Your Son, our Good Shepherd, so that we can follow Him in thankful obedience. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0rCabJ16c

September 6, 2020 -- John 7:50-51 -- Who Is Your Defense Lawyer?

Nicodemus, who had gone to him [Jesus] before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?"

John 7:50-51 English Standard Version

The Jewish Leadership was indeed prepared to judge a man without first giving him a hearing. At chapter 11 we learn that the most radical part of the Pharisees were prepared to put Jesus to death because He raised Lazarus up from the dead—so they wanted Lazarus killed also!

I was listening to Michael Kruger preach and teach on Hebrews 3. He noted that one of the most important things a person accused of crime must do is to get a good lawyer. In fact, to paraphrase, a man who represents himself at court has a fool for a lawyer. An uninformed defendant will make procedural mistakes, will antagonize the judge and likely unwittingly reveal even greater depths of his own criminality.

Nicodemus, part of a human court, did his part to represent Jesus. Nicodemus would fail. Jesus ultimately would be put to death, though innocent. Jesus was prepared to be the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. However, Jesus took all of God’s wrath and punishment against our sin so that He would be for us the Best, Only, Divine Lawyer of Heaven.

When we as sinners are convicted of our sin, we appeal to Jesus, the Lamb of God Who has taken away our sin and we ask Him to represent us to the Father in heaven. Jesus is our Advocate. He Is our Sure Help. A man would be a fool to represent himself before God—God is the Just Judge and He has provided Jesus as the ONLY representative for sinners. Anyone who refuses Jesus, refuses the help God the Father Himself has given.

Jesus, our Lawyer, Savior and King—blessed are You! Our souls sing in praise and adoration to You. Spirit of God, when our sins and the awareness of our guilt would drive us away from our only source of Help and Counsel, hold on to us tightly and keep us in the powerful Presence of our Sure Defender and Lord. Great and glorious are You, Father in heaven, drawing us ever nearer to Yourself in Christ by the Spirit of Power. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyxXGdG3-Io&list=PLvmfEMFi4D1GIXTScJV9tC-tIMzQ9gKOM

September 5, 2020 -- John 7:45 -- Live Boldly for Jesus

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”

John 7:45 English Standard Version

Through-out the Gospel of John you’ll get indicators, like this one, of the power of Jesus Christ. Nicodemus, who was part of the Pharisees, approached Jesus at night to ask Him questions. He said to Jesus “Rabbi, we know that you are teacher come from God” (John 3:2). Let that sink in for a moment. What a statement that is and a declaration of the truth of Who Jesus Is.

Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. He did so on the Sabbath—a day the Pharisees had filled with their own regulations and by-laws. The Pharisees were furious at Jesus. “This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18).

Jesus will not be arrested until the hour has come. He is not helpless. He is not caught up in a political cancel culture that He can’t fight. He had come to the earth at the exact moment determined by the Father. He will accomplish His mission. He will not be deterred nor will He fail at any point. He will voluntarily yield Himself to arrest when the hour appointed by His Father in heaven. Not one moment before that.

Fellows Christians, what keeps you from witnessing? What fears bind you? Know this, our life and our death are in the hands of our Faithful, Powerful King—Jesus. We need not fear people nor circumstances. Everything that happens to us is for the forging of our faith and for the glory of God. He will bring us safely to eternity in His Presence at the hour He has appointed. He is at our Father’s right hand, praying for us. Let that glorious truth carry you forward to live boldly for Jesus.

Mighty Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for all You suffered so that all appointed to be the sons and daughters would be brought to our Father in heaven. Spirit of Power, thank You for teaching us in the way of Jesus Christ. Give us long-suffering obedience and confident faith to live boldly for Jesus, declaring Him to all we meet. Triune God, be our life’s vision and highest, joy-filled goal. Amen.

This song today is the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuWr4gYJ6nM

September 4, 2020 -- John 7:41 -- Your life's most important question

Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?”

John 7:41 English Standard Version

It is the most important question of our lives: “Who is Jesus?” There is no other question that should grip us. Knowing Who He Is changes everything in us and about us.

The leading atheist of our time, whose views are almost cartoonish in their anti-Christian-faith vehemence said, “Somebody as intelligent as Jesus would have been an atheist” (quoted from Oct. 27, 2011 in the Guardian). Later Dawkins suggested Jesus was a cult leader whose popularity was given a dramatic boost by his untimely crucifixion (this in 2014). Sad. Misguided. And utterly uninformed.

Biology should lead us to see how our very D.N.A. declares the glory of God. How does non-life, pre-life “evolve” to bring life? Where does the information for our DNA come from? John 1:4 teaches us in Christ there is life—life that informs our D.N.A. and declares the glory of our Creator.

Those who seek Jesus and do so with a desire to believe in Him will have their belief confirmed again and again through the study of history, geology, biology, law, and, in fact, all that we seek to understand is given us to study so that we can know more about the Living God. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Scientific investigation is possible only because He brings order and sustains order in our universe.

Who is Jesus? How you answer will affect you today and forever.

Mighty God of breeching whales and particle-forming quarks, all of creation declares Your splendor! As we work, live, explore and rest may the knowledge of Your creative-life-giving presence direct us to offer all of our lives in worship and holy service to Jesus Christ, revealed to us by the Word and Spirit and affirmed by Creation so that Your Name, Father in heaven, will truly be hallowed. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTfLcIKQ3dU

September 3, 2020 -- John 7:37-39 -- What thirsts are driving you?

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 7:37-39 English Standard Version

Jesus cried out: “If anyone thirsts”—the first important point here is to know whether or not you are thirsty! After the initial phase of feeling thirsty a person who is becoming dehydrated will experience symptoms like: sunken eyes, dizziness, hot and dry skin because sweating has stopped, lack of energy, some people will eat when in fact they are thirsty. If you haven’t figured out the problem, you don’t know how to address it. There are many spiritually thirsty people in the world, parched for a true encounter and deep relationship with the God the Father and our Creator. Because they do not realize this is what they long for, they indulge in all kinds of things which is like chewing sand when one wants water.

When we meet Jesus Christ—believing in Him—our hearts are satisfied. In fact, there is such an abundance of life-giving water that from the overflow of our hearts we are able to speak with others about Jesus. We tell them the joy we have found in Him. We let others know our sinful inclinations and the wickedness that had gripped us these all have lost their powers because of the greater blessing and stronger pull of knowing Jesus Christ.

Notice what Jesus directed His hearers to: the Word and the Spirit (Who would be poured out at Pentecost). For us to remain at the spout where the blessings of God are poured out into our hearts because of Jesus Christ we must go to the Word asking for the help of the Spirit. In all things we must continually submit our lives and our words, our actions and our thought-life to Jesus Christ.

When I was at the Gather To Go event on Tuesday, I heard something Eli said. (Gather to Go is a time where youth and all those drawn by the Spirit of God gather to worship Him and pray in order that they may go and proclaim Jesus’s Name to others.) Eli said, “We are singing ‘And highest praises, Lord of all (We bring to You)’. What are those, highest praises? It is our obedience to God, not just words, but a life submitted to Him". That is wonderful insight.

As Voddie Baucham says it, often we just want our liver to quiver. We want a “worship experience” and then go home unchanged. It just means we will live as dehydrated people. For us to experience what Jesus promised, Living Water flowing out from us, we must go to Him Who is the Source. Delighting in Him in worship. Listening to His Word. Bathed in the Presence of the Spirit Who delights to bring us to Jesus and make Him known to us. From that place of refreshment and satiation it is both a discipline and a heart-satisfying impulse to live in obedience to Jesus in all things.

Forgive us, King Jesus, for the times we are choosing to crunch sand between our teeth and then complain because we are not finding You to be Living Water. Spirit of the Living God, show us our thirstiness for the things of Jesus. Spirit lead us away from all the siren songs of our age so that our hearts and ears are tuned to Your invitation to drink deeply from the wells of salvation: Jesus the Source of Living Water. Blessed are You, mighty God of Wonder, for You have in Your awesome love provided for us a way to know You, delight in You, and find in You soul satiation and satisfaction that starts now and will stretch into all eternity. Hallelujah, we sing to You, Triune God, highest praises. Amen.

Today’s song is a cover version. This man’s voice is not perfect. His quiet acoustic rendition of this song is quite inviting and I think the lyrics are quite clear as he sings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JomRoHM9NTk

September 2, 2020 -- John 7:33-34 -- A carnival for worms?

Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am going you cannot come.”

John 7:33-34 English Standard Version

While Jesus conducted His earthly ministry He appeared to young and old, Jewish and non-Jewish, those who had maintained the Jewish faith and those who were far from any knowledge of God. Now He spoke with Pharisees and those who should have recognized Him as the Promised One. Based on all the Old Testament said of the Father’s great love, the prophesies of the Suffering Servant and the One Who would take away Israel’s shame and guilt—they should have received Jesus on bended knee. Here Jesus is speaking directly to those who should have recognized Him and acknowledged Him, He is speaking to the crowd that merely wants a miracle-working magician rather than a Savior—they will not see Him after His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. When Jesus rises, only believers will see Him and be encouraged.

Yesterday I was listening to a sermon which Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached in the mid 1800’s. The manuscript of that sermon was read by narrator and many of Spurgeon’s sermons are available on various platforms! That sermon I listened to was so encouraging. Spurgeon made a point, quite graphically, he said: “Soon this body of mine must become a carnival for worms”. All of us die. It is the consequence of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. He was our representative, the head of our race. His sin affects us all. Those who heard Jesus guessed that “where I am going you cannot come” meant He was going to die. That He would be a carnival for worms. How wrong they were!

Jesus was placed in a tomb, but death could not hold Him. Three days later He rose from that grave and He appeared to the women, to the disciples and to 500 (!) witnesses. He encouraged the believers. He did not appear before skeptics and those who would deny Him. Jesus is the New Adam, the Representative of all who believe, the Head of all who believe.

Beloved, now is the day of salvation. If the Spirit of God is stirring your curiosity and causing you to ask questions about Jesus, pursue this. Seek Him out. The Father in heaven sent Jesus as His Interpreter and the One Who explains and demonstrates the Father’s love. But don’t miss the warning, the time will come when people will hear no more. The door will close and those who do not believe will face terrible and fierce punishment because they did not believe in Jesus Christ. Read the Bible. Find a friend whose faith you admire. Ask your questions and take hold of your questions until you know Jesus Christ and His wonderful salvation.

King Jesus thank You for revealing Yourself and the Father! Thank You for the fact that the God of Splendor and Glory, Radiance and Power is the Father of all who believe in You, Jesus. Spirit of God, thank You for the questions stirred up in the hearts of those around us—coworkers, neighbours, friends, and family members. May we, who know and love Jesus, be prepared to answer questions. When there are things we don’t know, give us holy boldness to help them search out answers until they know Jesus. Bless us, Jesus, with the joy of seeing many people come to know You and worship You and obey You because of our testimony! Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05jKxv8ApuI

September 1, 2020 -- John 7:32 -- Battle-scarred and witnessing

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.

John 7:32 English Standard Version

Jesus spoke of His Father in heaven. He revealed the wrath of God against sin. He represented the mercy of God the Just as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. The crowds of Jesus’s day were hearing a message radically different than any they would hear from their government, or from their religious leaders. Crowds of people were asking important questions about Jesus. That is why the establishment wanted to arrest Him. It is ominously “modern”. The people in power preach tolerance, the only “sin” in our world today is to be intolerant—except if it is Jesus and the Christian faith which is in view—then intolerance is the order of the day.

Our world today forgets the long-suffering patience of God the Glorious and Almighty. He hates sin. He cannot tolerate evil to be in His presence. Yet God is not willing that any should perish, so He allowed the wickedness of our world to continue so that confronted with Jesus Christ some will turn from their evil ways and find their sins punished in Him in order that they can rise to new life. Do not mistake the delay of God’s final judgment of the earth as tolerant acceptance of our wickedness and sinfulness and licentiousness. There will be a moment when the trumpet shall sound, the LORD Jesus will descend and all the earth will be judged. All wrongs will be addressed.

We live in an age where statues of our founding fathers are torn down (case in point, the statue of Sir John A. Macdonald torn down in a park in Montreal on Aug. 29th). This is tolerance? We live in a time of “cancel culture”, any public speaker considered intolerant or privileged is shouted down by an intolerant crowd, ironically doing so in the name of tolerance. Mobs protesting wrongful death at the hands of police are allowed to rampage, assaulting officers, breaking windows, looting store owners and themselves causing terror, inciting fatal violence. Where does it all end?

Intolerance ends, when Christians serve Jesus, bearing in their bodies the marks of Christ—the marks of Jesus are evidences of the world’s hatred of their message. Such marks show Christians will be mocked, hated, jailed, fined, beaten, and more—we should expect this. We are speaking the most radical message of hope to each generation. We do not cower in the face of cancel culture. We do not back down because of consequences to ourselves of our property. We take a stand for Jesus Christ, by the power of His Spirit living within us, so that the love of our Father in heaven and His great salvation will be made known to our violence-loving, tolerance-imploding, cancel-culture. I leave you with the words of Jesus:

Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.'

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.

If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also”

(John 15:20).

Blessed Jesus give us an ever greater measure of Your Spirit so that we will withstand the raging of this world and the firehose blasts of hatred poured out against us. As we suffer for Your Name’s sake, may the truth of our Father’s love reverberate through-out our culture and our age so that many sons and daughters be brought to You in repentance and holy wonder. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1GiZL60c80

August 31, 2020 -- John 7:31 -- Following your questions

Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

John 7:31 English Standard Version

In this passage Jesus is called the Christ . This highlights something about Jesus. Christ means anointed one. The signs Jesus performed (walking on water John 6:19; feeding 5,000 John 6:1ff; healing a man who had been paralyzed 38 years John 5:5ff and so on) all pointed to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. He was sent by the Father to reveal the Father’s proper, just, anger against sin. Jesus’s perfections show us our own sinfulness and inclinations to doing wrong. And Jesus, the Christ, is the Lamb of God Who takes away our sins—He is punished so that we are set free to worship God the Father and serve Him in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus’s day, some in the crowd believed because of the signs, the miracles. What is it about Jesus that has grabbed your attention today? Perhaps you see a Christian who handles difficult work situations and an angry boss with great grace and calm and you are driven to wonder, “is there something to this Jesus?” Maybe you see a friend struggling against illness and you admire her perseverance and confidence in Jesus, even though she is suffering so greatly. It could be you have heard snippets of teaching which are credited to Jesus and you think, “If even a tenth of this were true, I’d follow this man to the ends of the earth”. This is the Spirit. God is getting your attention by these people or that circumstance. Now is the time to listen.

Explore the holy tug on your heart. My pastor, Michael Jaatinen, says “sin will seduce you'“. By that Jaatinen means sin will always take you on a dark path away from God. However, God Who is Holy, He is the Light of Life—His way will intrigue you and require you to stir yourself from the seductive ways of sin in order to rise in newness of life. Today, if you hear Jesus’s voice, do not harden your heart. Find a Christian friend whose walk you admire and ask your questions. Know Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. He is ready to be found by you!

Fellow Christians, keep your heart tender and your attention open to the possibility that the way you are living is drawing others to the Light of Christ. Remember, when you love Jesus His light shines out from you. Be prepared to answer questions. Be prepared for times of lots of questions and times when there are silences as people ponder what you are saying. Pray. Give thanks to God the Father that He has qualified you in Jesus Christ to be a witness to all the Christ is doing. The Spirit will direct you into all truth.

You are infinitely creative and masterful, Mighty God of Wonders. Blessed are You. Thank You for the glorious gift of Jesus Christ. Thank You for the many ways in which Your Spirit draws Jesus into our peripheral vision, so that we catch many intriguing glimpses of His majesty until our Spirit-pricked consciences seek Him out. Spirit of God, help us, who love Jesus and seek to make Him known by our words and actions, keep us so gentle in Jesus as to be open to all inquiries and ready to give an answer for the faith that is in us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fpUvEKd91w

August 30, 2020 -- John 7:30 -- Kept Safe

So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

John 7:30 English Standard Version

What is clear through-out the whole Gospel of John is the fact that Jesus is in charge of all that happens to Him. Repeatedly the conflict between the sons of the First Adam and the Son of God—our final, true Adam, the head of all who believe—are laid bare. Right from John 1 the very people who were His own did not receive him (John 1:11). The Pharisees sent people to investigate—they were keenly aware of all the prophesies of Messiah—but they rejected Jesus. Again and again the very people who should have pointed others to Jesus did themselves reject Jesus and they aimed to have others turn from Him also. They showed themselves to be the children of sin, the children of the first Adam, in whom there is only death.

This conflict traces through the whole Gospel and Jesus is never trapped, never cornered by the corrupt. Instead, Jesus preached and taught until the hour appointed by the Father when His redeeming work on the cross had come. In fact, even Jesus’ arrest and trial required His cooperation. But that is for later devotionals.

How is this brief text comforting for us today? The Sovereign of Heaven and Earth knows the purpose of our lives and the length of our days. Our lives and the moment of our death are in His hands. We need not fear health crises. We need not be overcome by our sins—Jesus paid it all!

We are comforted by the teaching of today’s text because we learn that our Father in heaven will give us all we need as we need it. Jesus faced tremendous hardship and persecution, but He was given the Spirit of God to sustain Him. All who believe in Jesus Christ will be given the same Spirit, the Spirit of Comfort and of Power, so that we will be able to face whatever our Father in heaven has appointed for us. We have times of joy and times of sorrow we will have times of testing and times of Sabbath. All of these are used by our Father in heaven in order to forge in us that faith that will be perfected in eternity.

Do not lose heart nor be discouraged if the day is particularly hard. Our Father is near. His Spirit will anchor you on the Rock of our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Thank You, Father in heaven, that You have numbered our days. Thank You for the work of Jesus Christ because of Whom we are counted as Your beloved sons and daughters. Thank You for the Spirit of God, given and sealed in us until the day of Jesus’s return in glory. We pray, faithful Father, for our friends and family members who do not know You. May this day be for them the day of salvation and wondrous joy. Guide us, by Your Word and Spirit to be open and ready for every opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus, our Savior-King. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihJAJA4ibEs&list=RDW-U4Rv_d_Ws&index=4

August 29, 2020 -- John 7:18 -- God the Foundation of all knowing

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

John 7:18 English Standard Version

“There is no god.” It is a (ridiculous) statement you will hear as men debate morality, origins of the universe and the grounds for science or understanding. My question is this: how do you know there is no god? By what authority have you determined this to be true?

Stephen Hawking, the great thinker, cosmologist, and atheist was quoted as saying:

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance,

it is the illusion of knowledge.

His words are ironic. He himself was trapped in his own illusion of knowledge. He had opinions about heaven (there isn’t one); about death (our lives are like computers when we die they just shut off)—this is from Time magazine, March 14, 2018.. For all Hawking’s great insights and prodigious learning and exploration of mysteries, he cut himself off from the possibility of deep and true knowledge, knowledge that is rooted in God, Who is the creator of heaven and earth. He is proves himself to be part of a long heritage of thinkers who are trapped in the illusion of knowledge.

Protagoras, 490 BC to 420 BC, stated man is the measure of all things. By this he believed man set the standards for morality and for value—no god is necessary. Again, what we encounter is a man boxed in by the illusion of knowledge, someone who at first glance seems profound and deep in his thinking, but is, in fact, deeply ignorant and incapable of true insight. Protagoras, and others who speak like the Father of Lies, cannot grasp the true nature of knowledge.

The majestic glory of the LORD Most High, Who is the source of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding invites thinkers and philosophers, explorers and theologians to dive into seeking out all knowledge and understanding. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, it is the glory of kings (philosophers, cosmologists, geologists, and theologians) to search it out (Proverbs 25:2). The reason Jesus was credited with authority, and crowds longed to hear and know more, can be traced to the fact that His speaking and teaching were anchored in the glory of the Father. Jesus was not boxed in by the illusion of knowledge, Jesus was trusting in His Father in heaven, seeking all knowledge and revealing all truth which can only be found in Him Who is All-knowing.

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalm 16:1-2

Great are You, LORD, and worthy of glory. High and deep are the marvelous mysteries of creation. Thank You for the wonderful joy of seeking to learn, exploring to understanding and examining closely so that we, puny as we are, may grow in knowledge. You are the Source of all Truth. You undergird creation so that it all hangs together in Jesus Christ—the Head. By Your Word and Spirit continue to grant men and women the wonderful privilege of delving deeply into matters as diverse as religion and cosmology, biology and languages so that Your great splendour and awesome beauty may be known among us. As we learn, as we make new discoveries, may Your Name be praised and the wondrous intricacies of creation cause us to bless You with ever greater wonder, delight, thanksgiving and praise. Amen.

Note it takes about one minute to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTfLcIKQ3dU

August 27, 2020 -- John 7:17 -- Breathing in His will

If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

John 7:17 English Standard Version

The Contemporary Christian Music group (wait, does anyone actually use the expression CCM anymore?!) “All Sons and Daughters” sings “Its Your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise”. (The song is “Great Are You Lord"). To argue against God is to borrow breath, breathing in deeply His gift of oxygen into the lungs He has given you which are located in the body which He has wonderfully knit together in your mother’s womb in order to tell Him Who Is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, that you know better than He does. Our very DNA—A, T, C, G—the four letters which represent the chemical building blocks of our DNA—declares the language, the information He spoke in you so that you are unique, created for His purposes and His glory.

What Jesus declared to His listeners then and to us today is simple and profound and easy to miss. He is drawing from centuries of prayers represented in the Psalms—the Bible’s prayer book. Consider this: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…but his delight is in the law of the LORD” Psalm 1:1,2. The Mighty One of heaven and earth has decreed blessedness for those who follow Him, seeking to know Him.

“So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight” (Psalm 18:24). As the believer determines to honour God in His thoughts and actions, his words and way of living, so the LORD brings His great blessing and reward on that man, that woman, that child. So awesome to contemplate

“To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust; let me knot be put to shame; let not my enemies exult (triumph) over me. Indeed, none who wait for your shall be put to shame;” Psalm 25:1-2. The whole of this Psalm shows how one writer wrestled against great odds and circumstances to find the goodness of the LORD and God showed up in power and glory.

Straight up, willingness on our part to do God’s will is sufficient so that Jesus Christ will be revealed as true and as the Messenger sent from our Father in heaven. Willingness on our part to read the Bible and hear what the Spirit of God teaches will confirm Jesus Christ to be exactly Who He claimed to be: the One sent by the Father to show us the Father’s love and rescue us from our sins and bring us up from our deadness in sin into the life and light found in the authority and blessedness of Jesus.

Send out Your Spirit Jesus, so that our hearts and minds will be teachable, so that our wills may be conquered and subdued enough to be willing to do the Father’s will. Let the prayer book of the Bible, the Psalms, become so precious to us that we will grow in our ability to speak to and listen to You. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jCnAAeEJSQ

August 26, 2020 -- John 7:12-13 -- Why we tell others about Jesus

And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

John 7:12-13 English Standard Version

It is the most important question for us to answer: “Who is Jesus?” It was the critical question that needed to be answered when Jesus walked the earth among the people whom He had created. The Gospel of John records these damning words: “He came to his own and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11). In this devotional series I have been carefully going through various passages and texts in the Gospel of John. This book so beautifully clarifies Who Jesus is. Jesus is:

~Co-eternal with His Father in Heaven (John 1:1)

~Co-Creator with His Father in Heaven (John 1:3)

~True light that gives light to everyone (John 1:9)

~He is the Exegete, the One Who shows and explains Who the Father is (John 1:14, 18)

~He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)

~He is the Messiah, the anointed prophet of God (John 1:41)

~He is the King of Israel and by extension the true King of all the earth, and the Son of God (John 1:49)

~He is the One Who is seated in glory and power at the Father’s right hand ruling until history will end at

His return and all the living and dead will be judged (John 1:51)

Those who affirm these statements find Jesus to be their soul’s Salvation and Chief Desire and Blessing Who alone is worthy of worship. We conquer every rebel sigh and wayward inclination of our stubborn hearts. We are prone to wander, so in the strength of the Holy Spirit Who lives within us and by the bright light of the Word of God, we subdue every traitorous thought which would rise up in us against His glory.

One of the most powerful ways to grow in faithfulness and deepen our joy is to share the Good News with others. Last night I attended part of the Gather to Go meeting. Seeing fifty or so young people, high school and college-aged youth, declaring their love for Jesus and their commitment to boldly preach Him stirred up joy and delight in my own soul. I was reminded why evangelism is so critical. When we tell others Who Jesus is:

~the Spirit within us confirms Jesus as Lord of our lives

~the Word and Spirit bear down to unmask the lies of Satan

~the Triune Gods show the tremendous unity that is ours, a unity that is greater than denominations

~the Spirit applies the Word in us so we grow in our tremendous anticipation of His return in glory when every eye shall see Him and every knee shall bow and declare Him the Son of God to the glory of the Father

~all of this increases the joy of our salvation and our ability to withstand persecution and trials in the holy cause of serving Jesus with all we have and all we are.

Blessed Jesus, Holy and True, give to us a fuller and greater measure of Your Spirit so that we will understand the Word, grow in our knowledge of the Omnipotent God of Heaven Who, by Your saving work Jesus, is now our Father. We believe, help us overcome any unbelief. We believe, help us to declare Your great Name to all the people to whom You send us. Forgive us our timidity and increase in us a holy boldness, in Your Name Jesus and for the glory of the Triune God we pray. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCcX8frsWr0

August 25, 2020 -- John 7:2 -- Satiated by His Faithfulness

Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.

John 7:2 English Standard Version

This is pivotal information. Jesus had just declared “I AM the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger” John 6:35. As this chapter unfolds we learn Jesus will travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. This was a seven-day festival and as the people celebrated it they recognized that God Almighty had provided mana in the wilderness. Six days a week for the forty years of desert wandering there was bread from heaven on the ground available for the people to eat. The mana was available six days a week, and on the sixth day the people were to gather up a double portion so that they did not have to work the next day, on the Sabbath, which was the day of rest. The forty year span stretched between the Exodus and the Israelites’ entry into the Promised Land. Through-out those forty years, the LORD provided water. Later in this chapter Jesus will declare “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:18).

Imagine one million people who left Egypt by the mighty power and outstretched hand of God’s victorious grace wandering in the desert! He fed and sustained His people through-out. It was miraculous. And it was important that the people of the LORD then, and today, understand He provides for our daily needs. In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus taught us to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread”. In some ways it seems strange to our ears to pray this. I mean, don’t I take care of my own needs? I work. I make money. I shop. I cook the food. This is my doing, right? No!

Who gives you the strength to work? Who gives you the talents and abilities to be employable? Who has given fruitfulness to the fields? Who has provided, in drought years and in plenty for supply systems that allow us, in North America, to enjoy such food security? It is God our Father Who in great faithfulness has given this all. The Christian acknowledges God is our Provider and faithful in all this. Certainly Covid-19 has taught us how vulnerable we truly are. How a little speck of infection can bring the world to its knees! Truly we are dependent on God’s gracious, daily, sustaining care!

More than just a focus on our physical needs, we understand from Jesus’s teaching at the Festival of Booths, that He Himself is the Bread of Life and the Living Water that wells up to eternal life in us. To neglect the daily feast of Jesus the bread of life is to slowly starve oneself. Neglecting to drink this living water means we are dying of thirst. If we are not delighting in Jesus Christ we do not see the vast storehouse of blessings being poured out into our lives! The Spirit of God takes the bible reading and makes it for us living and precious. The Spirit of God connects us to Jesus Christ so that in Him our souls are refreshed, the Living Water wells up within us flowing and overflowing unto eternal life.

Father in heaven, glorious and blessed, Jesus taught us to pray “give us this day our daily bread”. By the powerful presence of Your Spirit in us, may we give you thanks for our physical food and drink and urgently look to the Word to find our truest sustenance, the Living Bread and Living Water—Jesus Christ. Revive us in Him so that our souls will be satisfied and from this place of overflowing blessing sin will lose its appeal because we are already deeply contented in You! Amen.

August 24, 2020 -- John 7:1 -- No more gloom!

After this Jesus went about in Galilee.

He would not go in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

John 7:1 English Standard Version

There are no throw-away sentences in Scripture, no verses which are not in some way informative. Today’s verse is an example of one that could easily be skipped over. That is why we rest on these words today and briefly consider them.

Galilee is the region where Jesus grew up. Nazareth, His home town, is in that region. Capernaum, one of Jesus’ key ministry towns is located in the region of Galilee as well. The Gospel of John records Jesus’ first sign, the turning of water into wine, which happened in Cana, and you guessed it, Cana is located in Galilee of the Gentiles as well. Why does this matter?

Read these words:

Nevertheless the gloom will not be upon her who is distressed,
As when at first He lightly esteemed
The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
And afterward more heavily oppressed her,
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined. Isaiah 9:1-2 NKJV

Zebulun and Naphtali were two tribes given the land in the Northern Territories of Israel, by the Sea of Galilee. These were the regions which were greatly distressed because of the sinfulness of the all the Northern tribes. They were the peoples who were the first to experience enemy incursions. Their territory and people were overrun and thrown into exile as the first conquests which eventually would swallow up all of the Northern Territory. They experienced great oppression. But now, that is the place, seven centuries later, which is bathed in the light of Jesus Christ. His work and His ministry is the shining light that breaks oppression and throws off distress.

Today’s simple verse is more than a geographical reference. It is a strong invitation to walk in the light of Jesus Christ. It is a call to examine your life, are you walking in despair in these Covid-19 times? Are you feeling hopeless because of circumstances in your life? Ah, look to Jesus Christ. He is the Light of Life.

The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus. He was fully aware of the plots and trials wicked people would hurl against Him, but He walked in the blessedness of His Father’s protection, sharing the love and mercy of His Father in heaven with all who were in need and did so, until the hour was right for Him to become the sacrifice that takes away sin. Perhaps today is the time of light breaking through the gloom of your heart and soul, perhaps now is the hour when the shining presence of Jesus Christ will transform you.

Mighty Father in heaven, if You should record all our sins, who among us could withstand Your judgment and wrath. But the Bible teaches us You hold in Your hand forgiveness—full forgiveness that meets our every need. Oh God of Glory, thank You for the shining light of Jesus Christ and His great salvation. Today, Jesus, You Who are the radiance of the Father’s glory, bring many sons and daughters to glory. Encourage those who are wandering, discouraged in gloom and darkness. Triune God of Splendor, Blessed are You, now and always. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8pCbtLeXzc&list=RDzyIR4N5EFt8&index=3

August 22, 2020 -- John 6:70-71 -- Every chance to be sheltered by mercy

 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”  He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

John 6:70-71 English Standard Version

You know the old expression hindsight is 20/20. While we as humans cannot see the future clearly, and often we can’t even determine what is going on around us in the presence, when we look back we can connect events and circumstances and realize what was really going on.

Jesus, however, was informed by the Spirit of God of the condition of Judas Iscariot’s [J.I.] heart. Why didn’t Jesus just dump him, or expose him or hold him up as an example to the others? It was recently pointed out to me that the other disciples didn’t realize how corrupt J.I. was. When they were all gathered at the Last Supper Jesus declared one of the disciples would betray Him. They were all shocked and surprised. In fact, each one asked: “Is it I, Lord"?

Let me phrase what I’m going to say bluntly, why would Jesus waste His time on J.I.? I believe Jesus was highlighting the patient mercy of God. Our Father is not willing that any one should perish. For as long as J.I. walked with Jesus, he was exposed to the mercy, love and kindness of the Living God. J.I. had every opportunity to repent and believe on Jesus. Every act of mercy and miracle exposed the goodness of God and His faithfulness. J.I. had a front-row seat and despite it all hardened his heart against Jesus.

As long as we draw breath we can see the goodness of God, the extravagant blessings displayed in creation and we are living in the radiance of His great mercy. We have every opportunity to see our sin for what it is, to hate it, believe in Jesus as the One sent by the Father. If the Spirit of God is prompting you, encouraging you, find a Christian friend whose walk with God you admire and ask about Jesus. Now is the day of God’s kindness.

Who is like You, O God, great in mercy and lovingkindness?! Move us by Your Spirit to respond deeply and truly to all You are showing us in Jesus Christ. Give us the courage to speak with a Christian friend and so drink deeply of Your salvation. Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_IXFEO8yE