Speak Lord, Your Servant Hears (John 3:31-36)

God is talking to us . . . are we listening? Ordinarily I would say sure, I am listening God. But am I really? I do not know about you, but it seems that I constantly find myself screwing up this "holy" lifestyle that God has called us to live. So, why is it that I have such problems? I believe there are some strong cues that can be found in John 3:31-36:

"He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Now really look at what is being said here. Jesus, who came from God is above all things, thoughts, temptations and so on. And this Jesus, who is above all, is constantly trying to teach and guide us. And, according to this passage, it is when we are truly listening and "receive" His words that we find the truth of God certified, or sealed, in our lives. It is in making the lessons of Christ a very real part of our lives that we find total surrender to the Spirit of God possible.

I have often found myself praying that God would send His Spirit to fill my life and guide me. I will pray that God's Spirit would inhabit my life. The thing is, when God gave me His Spirit at the point of salvation, He gave me all of His Spirit. There is nothing more of the Spirit for me to get. The real issue has to do with surrender to His Spirit. When I have surrendered all to the Spirit of God then He does have access to all my weaknesses and can strengthen me. At that point of total surrender God can enable me to find victory in life's struggles.

That brings us to the real rub. How do I find myself experiencing total surrender so that I can hear His voice in my life? I think John has given us the key in verse 36. Remember that to believe is to have proactive faith and trust in God. When I live out my faith in a real way, I find life and all the blessings that come with it. When I am not living in faith then I experience His wrath. The word used here for wrath in the original language can mean to not only experience His punishment for our sins, but to also incur His righteous indignation for our lack of faith.

Personally, I would prefer to live in the wealth of His blessings and presence, than in the wrath of His displeasure. I would rather know that His Spirit fills every nook and cranny of my life, and not just the public areas that everyone sees. To do that, I must be listening to His voice and receiving into my life the lessons He has for me. My testimony of the truth of God must be found in the attitude of young Samuel. "Speak Lord, for your servant hears."(1 Samuel 3:10)

Father God, help us to truly surrender all by not only listening to Your voice, but also by taking those lessons and living them out in a proactive life of trust. Amen!

A Whole Lot More - A Whole Lot Less (John 3:22-30)

Today's post is short and simple. What will it take for us to see God do great things in our lives? I used to think it would only take God giving me the opportunity to do what it is I do. I used to act like it was all about what I wanted, could do with my talents and gifts, or what I felt I deserved given my training and education level. Well, it is amazing how God can disabuse us of such notions. Of all the men in Biblical times that had the right to expect more, I believe John the Baptist was the man. He was a miracle babe who had a large following. He was a fulfillment of prophecy who had a commanding presence that people were drawn to. Hey, he had a baptism record that would make any modern Baptist pastors envious. Yet, when pressed about his priorities he gave a simple, straight forward answer. We read it in John 3:30:

He must increase and I must decrease.

That's it. For John, his success had nothing to do with himself, it was all about Christ. It was about his ministry getting smaller if that meant Christ was even more renowned. How hard it is for us to actually be willing to say that we want Jesus to become so important that we will take a cut in popularity, prestige or power if it means that Jesus is proclaimed. Sometimes God has to remind us that success as Christians is actually measured by how Jesus is lifted up, not by how we are lifted up. After all, Jesus said it best:

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32)

May we be about the business of lifting up Christ. It is my prayer that God will continue to teach me and mold me into the kind of man of God that is constantly lifting up Christ rather than myself. It is my prayer that there will be a whole more of Jesus and a whole lot less of me. That is what I call the increase-decrease principle of Christian success.

The New Birth (part 3) - Lurking in the Dark, Living in the Light (John 3:16-21)

I found it very interesting that when we come to Jesus it is more than just "being saved." It is also learning not to lurk. Most of us know that great expression of the gospel message in one verse, John 3:16:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

As I noted in my last post; the word "believe" used here means to have active faith. . . to trust Jesus completely. God provides this life not because we deserve life, but simply because His love is ever so massive. When I was a Youth Minister I made up a word that I eventually had the entire youth group using; "mongambi." The word basically meant anything that was huge, beyond big and so on. I guess you could say that God has the mongambi of mongambi of all loves. And that loves is for anyone who will trust His Son with an active faith.

And then comes the kicker, at least for me. Jesus does not leave it with simply believing in Him. he then has to start with talking about condemnation. And the condemnation is found to be on a select group of people, John 318-21 says:

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

According to this verse the condemnation is basically on those who continue to lurk in the darkness, rather than live in the light. To lurk means that we hide in the shadows with the intent of doing something wrong. I find it interesting how many times Christians lurk, no they are doing something they should not be doing (of course they do it in secret). We are called to come out of the dark places and live in the light, and we can only live in the light when we are believing (active faith) in Jesus. I have to wonder, even though I have trusted in Jesus for my salvation, am I living like it. Too often, we as Christians seem to think that we can get our "fire insurance" from hell and then live mostly however we desire. But the truth of the matter is, if I have believed on the Son of God. . . I will live like. Perhaps it is time for Christian to stop lurking in the darkness and and start truly living in the light. The Apostle Paul once stated in Acts 26:20;

...repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Lord, help me to live like one who has truly trusted in You, repented of my sins, and am living in the light. Amen!

The New Birth (part 2) - Snakes and Old Chairs (John 3:9-15)

Sometimes it amazes me how Jesus just seems to know what it will take to help us understand. We struggle with His lessons and teaching and yet here He is, loving us and meeting us where we are. As we pick up the story of Nicodemus, we come to a very interesting point. Jesus seems to be a little bit frustrated with Nicodemus' inability to understand, or sheer stubbornness. And then, almost as if He takes a deep breath and starts over, Jesus gives the following seemingly simple illustration. In John 3:14-15 we read:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

For any good Pharisee like Nicodemus this simple reminder from their past would speak volumes. You see, in the time that the Israelites where in the wilderness there came a point when the people rebelled against God (again). This time God allowed "fiery serpents" to enter the camp and begin poisoning the people. Of course they cried to Moses who talked to God on their behalf. God's response is listed in Numbers 21:8.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Notice the conditions. For those bitten by the serpent (a metaphor for sin) they had to not only believe God would heal them, they had to actually look at the serpent on the pole (the image of what was killing them). For us Jesus would become that serpent on a pole, a Savior on the cross. And like the Israelites of old, we must not only believe that God will save us from the poison of sin, we must act on that belief by trusting ourselves to Him. The word "believe" in John 3:15 is an action verb meaning to trust in an active way. I once used the illustration of an old chair, to help people understand. Have you ever seen a chair that you needed to sit in. You have seen that chair used by many people. You have complete belief that the chair can hold you up. But, until you actually sit in the chair you have not demonstrated faith.

Salvation, or for that matter forgiveness from any kind of sin, takes not only knowing you have been bit by the poison, or your desire to be healed of it; it takes more than just believing that God can heal you of the poison; it must involve an active faith. In Proverbs 28:13 we are told...

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

We cannot just lay there and let sin's poison wreak havoc on our lives. We must look to the serpent on the pole, the cross of Christ, and move from belief to active faith. Only then will we truly know the wonder of God's forgiveness and healing in our lives. May we move from snakes in the grass to the rickety old chair of faith.

The New Birth [part 1] - The Techno Geek (John 3:1-8)

One of the great passages in Scripture is the story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus and learning about the New Birth.  As I was looking at this passage I find that there are a few things that I should be pointed out about the lesson Nicodemus needed to learn.  So, I have decided to break this passage into three parts over the next three posts.  The first lesson for us is taken from John 3:1-8, which says:

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

We have all heard the rather straight forward statement by Jesus - "You must be born again."  Yet, when sharing my faith with others I have noted that it is not uncommon for people to wrestle with the same question: "How does God give a person a spiritual birthday?" or "How can God truly save me?"  In these instances I point people to verse 8 in this passage.  Jesus describes the wind blowing where it wishes, and we have no idea how that happens, yet we still see the effect.  Let me try to use another way to explain it, with a modern example.

 

One of my favorite past-times is working on computers.  I am admittedly a closet techno-geek.  I was doing work on my in-laws' computer recently and tried to explain what I was doing to them.  And yes, my father-in-law developed that thousand yard stare.  You know the one; that stare that goes out of focus because he understands nothing I am saying.  The technical details are beyond his knowledge base.   At the same time, I know computer techs who can begin to talk about even more details in the working of a computer; and guess what happens when they talk to me - I get the out of focus thousand yard stare.  Most of the people I know have different levels of understanding about the inner workings of a computer.  But you know what I have also noticed.  The computer programs and games that I play, work no better for me than they do for my father-in-law.  My six year old son plays his games and he knows nothing about the computer.  We do not have to know all the details to be able to enjoy the bennefits. 

 

The same holds true for God's working in our lives; be it salvation or just His works of grace.  A big part of the lesson about the new birth is found in the simple fact that I do not have to have some great theological understanding to be saved, I just need to be able to trust Him.  I need to allow His Spirit to work that great work of grace and regeneration in my heart and life.  I do not need to be a spiritual techno-geek to be born again.  Just a man of faith.........more ont hat in my next post.

Can Jesus Trust Us? (John 2:23-25)

Sometimes when we go before God to learn from Him, He does not just teach us, He hits us right between the eyes.  We talk about trusting and believing on Him, but I have never really given a lot of thought to the question; "Can He trust me?"  In John 2:23-25 we read;

Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

For many of us the main part of this passage has been that people were believing in Jesus because they beheld His miracle working glory.  Yet, I realized today that the real story is found in how Jesus responded to them.  Here are all these poeple "believing" in Him and the Bible tells us that Jesus "did not commit Himself to them."  Some translations will say that He did not trust, or entrust, Himself to them.  Hmmmmmm.  I realized that this needed some more investigation. 

It is interesting to note that the word used here, commit, is the Greek word "pisteuo" which is the verb form of the word "pistis" or faith.  In other words, Jesus did not have active faith in them, enough to give Himself over to them.  Of note, this is the same word used in the previous verse, and elsewhere in John's writings, to describe believing in Him.  We talk about believing in Him for salvation, trusting ourselves into His care.  But in this passage the same word is used to say that Jesus could not believe in these who were believing in Him.  WOW!   Why is that?

The next verse states that Jesus knew them, meaning He could see into their hearts and minds.  I think back to the times in my life when I believed in Jesus, yet I still committed willfull sin.  Jesus teaches us that God is a discerner of the heart.  He knows when we hide those little acts of rebellion from Him.  He knows when we do not truly trust Him with all of ourselves.  He knows the truth about us, and so, there are times when He cannot truly trust us.

In Psalm 139:23-24 we read:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

My prayer is that God will truly look into my heart and mind, and if there be any wickedness or sin there, that He will purge me.  Or as the chorus goes....

Change my heart, O God, make it ever true.

Change my heart, O God, may I be like You.

You are the Potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.

Father God, please change my heart.  Cleanse me, mold me, make me and use me for Your glory.  May I be a man of You that can truly walk in his integrity.  Make me into someone You can trust and commit Yourself and the gospel message to. Amen!

House Cleaning (John 2:13-22)

With spring not too far away, I must ask...how many of you have times when you just do a good old fashioned house cleaning, or as it is called - a spring cleaning?  Most of us do.  We go through the house, garage, closets, attic, and so on and so on .......   What we are doing is getting rid of the junk that is not doing us any good.  Now keep that in mind as we explore the thoughts for today.

There have been times when I have gone to church and quite honestly, left feeling unfulfilled.  I would blame it on the Preacher, the music service, the lady with the big hair in front of me, or whatever else I can find to gripe about.  But how often is the problem really me?  The question needs to be asked...why am I going to church?  Is it to be seen?  Is it to impress everybody with my great spiritual maturity (or lack there of)?  Is it because it is my job or any other of a multitude of reasons? 

I find it interesting that on two occasions Jesus is seen going into the temple and "cleansing" God's house: at the beginning of His ministry and at the end of His earthly ministry.  When I look at the early account I notice a couple of things.  First, look at verses 16-17:

And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

I wonder, when was the last time that my "zeal" for God's house ate me up?  Just being so full of being in His place, that place that is meant to be a house of prayer, that all the trappings and doings are purely secondary.  We get so caught up in what is being said, done, or not done that we forget to worship.  We get so caught up in the business of the church that we forget to see the purpose fo the church.

The second point that I would like to make about this passage is found in verse 15:

When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.

Jesus' response to the junk in the temple was fairly straight forward...He drove it out.  No compromise, no debate...this stuff is spoiling the purpose for which God gave us His house so it must go.  The same can be said of the spiritual temple that God has given us...our selves.  When was the last time I truly did a good old fashioned house cleaning of myself?  To go in and find the junk, tucked away in closets, the attic, the garage of my life...and then to take that junk and throw it out. 

God promised that if we "confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrigtheousness." (1 John 1:9)  When we allow God to clean us out, and do it with authority and totality, we will experience the ability to get all out of worship that God intended us to get.  We will enter a temple that is once again consecrated for God's purpose.  Not just our local church, but God's temple in us.  Dear God, please begin today to clean out my temple and make it once again a house of prayer. Amen!

Just Do It (John 2:1-12)

Why is it that so many Christians do not seem to get the blessings they should from living the Christian life?  I mean, we do the Bible Studies; we do the Spiritual "disiplines"; we do Worship.  We do the things that God has told us to do, yet for some reason we still find ourselves struggling with motivation and fulfillment.  Ok, so maybe that isn't you, I may just be the only Christian around who finds that he sometimes wrestles with it.  So I will allow this post to be for me instead of you other spiritual giants out there.

As I was doing my quiet time the other day I found what I believe to be part of the answer to my question.  I was reading in John 2:1-12.  Most of you will recognize the story of Jesus' first recorded miracle.  In this passage we find ourselves placed at a wedding feast in the small village of Cana.  They have run out of wine to give the guest and the bridegroom is about to be humiliated.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, tells Jesus about it.  I have always loved this picture of Jesus' mom.  After she tells Him and He tells her that it is not time for His glory to be revealed, she goes on as if He had not said a word.  Now I know none of you mothers out there ever do that to your child.  Do you?  Anyway, Mary then turns to the servants at the wedding feast and simply says:

"Whatever He says to you, do it."

Of course, after that Jesus performs the miralce of turning the water into wine.  But, in the midst of this story I came to realize that the real story is not the miracle, Mary's complete belief that Jesus could do it, or even Jesus' willingnes to obey His mother.  The real story here are the servants.  Let's look at this more closely.  Jesus, after what I am sure was a sigh because of His mother's assumption, turns to the servants and tells them to fill the six waterpots. Much can be said about the significance of the waters of purificaion and so on.  But what jumped out at me was that when Jesus said fill the pots, the servants filled them..."to the brim."  When Jesus said dip a pitcher into the pot of water and take it to the wedding feast master, they dipped the pitcher "and took it."  The passage even says that:

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

Notice that the servants did not do as many of us do.  Sometimes what God tells us to do does not make sense.  I could just see the servants wanting to look at Jesus when He said to fill the water pots with water.  "What kind of wacko is this?" They might have thought.  But, instead of questioning the wisdom of this, they simply did what He said to do.  When they drew out the water I can imagine that they might of thought that this was going to be interesting when they gave the wedding director a bunch of water.  But instead, they took it...because Jesus had told them to do it. 

What the servants did was the simple act of faith working in obedience.  God's will does not always make sense to us.  What He tells us to do can seem tedious and even nonsensical.  But when we act on His words in faith, not out of simple obedience we begin to see Him do miracles in our lives.  We need to, like the servants, act out of faith that God knows what He is doing and can see the end result.  Our obedience does not need to come from some sense of obligation.  Our obedience to God's will should come out of our faith in Him, knowing that He can see the next step, even if we can't.

Next time you find yourself complaining about what God is doing, or seeming to not do, ask yourself if you trust Him.  Faith is trust.  And when I trust His judegment, then I can find fulfillment in doing the simple acts of obedience, because I know that He is working all things together for my good.  May we never forget that simple lesson.  Father God help us to trust You and find the joy that comes from living out that faith in the works that we do.  Help us to just do it  Amen.

Come And See (John 1:43-51)

Do you ever find yourself wrestling with doubt?  I mean, after all, we were not there to see the miracles, love and resurrection of Christ.  When we admit that sometimes the doubts will arise, then the next logical question becomes - how do we overcome our doubts?  Well, let's look at what God taught me a couple of days ago when I hung out in His word once again.  In  John 1:43ff we read the story of Jesus calling Philip and Nathanael to be His disciples.  Once Jesus had called Philip to follow Him we read these words:

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

I do not know why Nathanael was incredulous about Philip's statement (perhaps his brother had a tendancy to be excitable or something), but whatever the reason he still doubted.  And then Philip gave that great response - well, come and see for yourself.  The word used here for "see" literally means: to know, percieve, consider, or to understand.  Now think about that for a moment.  When we truly let ourselves see Jesus then all doubts will be washed away.

In the Chronicles of Narnia books there is an account of when the world of Narnia was first created.  As Aslan (the Christ figure) speaks Narnia into existance there is a man who is seeing this happen.  But this man is full of doubt.  And as the event carries on the man gets further and futher away from Aslan until all he hears is a lion roaring, instead of God talking.  The statement is made that when we try so very hard to be stupid, we will often times find that we have succeeded.  We can become so engrossed in our doubts and questions that we forget to see Jesus.

The more I behold His story - the more I see the truth.  The more times I hear testimony of lives changed by this Savior - the more my doubts are quenched.  The more I allow myslef to know Him in a personal way; to perceive His love for mankind (and me in particular); to consider the works which He has done; and to understand the awesome glory that is Christ - the more I find my questions answered and my faith established.

Dear Lord, help me to truly "come and see" Your Son and the glroy of His presence.  May I know what it is to truly experience the Savior of the World, the One who has called me to be His disciple.

Open My Eyes That I May See (John 1:35-42)

I have developed a bit of a mantra that is part of my prayer before I delve into God's word for devotion and study.  The mantra is basically this: "open my eyes that I may see, open my ears that I may hear, open my mind that I may understand, and open my heart that I may be moved."  While hardly an earth shattering prayer, it is still from the heart.  Well, during my devotional time this morning part of that mantra took on another meaning.  In John 1:35-42 we read:

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”  The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”  He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).  One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.  He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.  Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

This is the story of Jesus' calling of His first disciples.  As I was reading this passage I noticed one word, used twice, that spoke to me.  In verse 36 we read that John was "looking" at Jesus.   In verse 42 Jesus "looked" at Simon.  Now this may sound a bit odd, for this simple word to jump out at me.  But think about it for a moment.  We "look" at people all the time.  But when we do, what do we see?  How they are dressed?  What they generally look like?  The car they drive?  And so on.  So often we look at the cover without seeing the book inside. 

The word used here for looking/looked is the Greek word "emblepō" which has some interesting meanings.  It can mean to "observe fixedly," to really focus on someone or something.  It can also mean to "discern clearly."  Jesus taught that while we may look at the outward appearance of a man, God sees the heart.  When John truly focused on Jesus he saw the Lamb of God, the One sent for the pardoning of our sin.  When Jesus loooked at Simon He saw not the gruff fisherman who would make so many mistakes in his life.  Jesus saw the one who would become known as the Stone (Peter).  Jesus saw what Simon Peter could be when God truly got a hold of him.  By the way, in the language usage here, Cephas mean "The Rock," while John translates it "A Stone."  Peter was not the ROCK on which we build our faith, but rather a piece of that Rock, a Stone usable by God.

It is amazing to think that God sees our hearts and potential.  And He has a plan for each of us.  When we find Him we can see with a whole new set of eyes.  When Andrew went and followed Jesus, and really saw Him he gained an understanding of who Jesus is.  Or as Andrew worded it "we had found (the word means to perceive) the Messiah."  Let me ask you the questions I had to ask myself this morning.  When I look at Jesus do I really focus on Him and perceive who He is and what He can do in my life?  And, when I look at others, do I look with God's eyes, discerning clearly who God has created them to be rather than if they meet some criteria that I have set up?

Dear Lord, please open my eyes that I may see what You see.  Amen!

Sin and the Lamb of God (John 1:29-34)

Let me start of by saying, I hate it when I find out that I have been misquoting Scripture for my roughly 30 years of ministry.  You see, during my quiet time this morning I was hanging out in the gospel of John again and I was hit with one of those moments.  In John 1:29-34 we read:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”  And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

For most of my life I have been quoting this passage, saying that when John saw Jesus he said; "Behold!  The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world."  Do you see the difference?  John did not say "the sins" [plural] he actually said "the sin" [singular].  So what's the big deal?  For those of us who have grown up in the church we have heard the classic definition of the Greek word for sin - "missing the mark."   But interestingly enough, the Greek word used here is slightly different than the one traditionally used for sin.  The word here means - "offense" rather than missing the mark.

That is when it hit me.  You see, when we bring our sins before the throne of God and ask His forgiveness for each of them (1 John 1:9) several things actually happen.  First, if true repentance is behind our confession, God forgives us our sins absolutely.  Second, He then washes us white as snow - cleansing our lives of that sin.  But thridly, and this is where John's statement of Jesus' ministry comes into play, God also wipes away all record and personal hurt that our offense has caused Him.  Calling Jesus the Lamb of God is God's way of reminding us that when the sacrificial lamb was offered for the sins of the people that lamb provided attonement, or pardon, for those sins.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, offered His blood so that I could not only be forgiven and washed clean of my sin, but that my SIN and the offense/harm caused by that sin would be espunged from my heavenly record, as if it never happened.  In Titus 3:4-7 we read:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

John said Jesus would baptize us (that is to make us fully and totally engulfed) with the Holy Spirit.  When we immerse ourselves in the Spirit of God we are regenerated and renewed, jusitfied by the grace of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Prasie be to God for His grace and new hope.

Preachers, Pedestals, and the Preferred (John 1:19-28)

As a minister and a preacher I have had to ask myself a hard question; do I ever find myself being caught up in the accolades and focus of others?  One of the dangers for any man of God is to become caught up in the adoration of the congregation, after all - what an amazing ego boost that is, and we all like to feel good about ourselves.  In the midst of this struggle I came to John 1:19-28, where we read:

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”  And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”  He said, “I am not.”  “Are you the Prophet?”  And he answered, “No.”  Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?”  He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  “Make straight the way of the LORD,”’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”  John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.”  These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

There are a couple of things that I woudl like to point out in this passage.  First, understand that John had a presence about him that drew the crowds.  He had, as we would say today, a certain amount of charisma that people would become enthralled with.  Look at your own church.  Is there a minister there that just seems to draw your attention, they have a certain something about them that makes you focus on them and their ministry?  Often times I have gone into a chruch and encountered church members who were so in love with the previous Pastor that they almost blamed me for following after him. 

The danger that we as Christians face is that it is easy to take our pastors and put them up on a pedestal.  In the world of ministry it is called "Pastor Worship."  And when we become Pastor followers we look at the man as if he can do no wrong.  And, speaking as a man who has spent the better part of the last 30 years in ministry, that can be quite addictive for the preacher.  And quite dangerous for both the clergyman and the congregant.  In fact, in the case of John, people had become so engrossed in the messenger that many had forgot to hear the message.  So what happened, instead of listening to John's message of hope, there were those in the crowd who just wanted to know how special John was.  "Are you Elijah or the Prophet?" - in other words, "hey Preacher, are you a miracle and the voice of God made flesh?" 

Yet, I do love John's answer.  He gave them the greatest of messages...he said; "no."  Ok, maybe he had more to teach them than to simply say that he was not the voice of God made flesh.  He went on to say that he was nothing more than a voice in the wilderness preparing the way.  John knew that it was not about him, his followers, or his preaching style...it was and always would be about Jesus.  You see the second notable lesson in this passage that I would like to touch on is that John understood that "the Preferred" One was the whole point.  John would have said, don't look at me - look at Him. 

I found one statment of his particuraly intersting.  John stated that "there is One among you whom you do not know."  Notice, he does not say that there is One coming.  Jesus was in their midst, in the world, and they had no idea...after all they were too enamered with the messenger to hear the message.  How many times have I missed the presence of Christ because I was focused on the messenger, wether it is the preacher I am listening too or myself and the accolades of being the preacher?

Dear Lord, may I never forget that it is about Christ, the One who is Preferred above all, the Savior of the world.  May it never be about the Preacher and the Pedestal.  May it always be about JESUS. Amen!

To Behold His Glory (John 1:14-18)

Have you ever wondered why it is that we seem to have times when we struggle with truly living out the Christian life?  We have given our hearts to Christ, but we seem to keep failing Christ.  Perhaps you may struggle with truly believing and trusting Jesus with all of your life (the public and private aspects).  Whatever the struggle, it is still a struggle.  Well, let me tell you what I learned this morning.  In John 1:14-18 we read the following words:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.  John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’”  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

There are so many little lessons that are in these five verses, but one in particular has been my prayer for today.  We could talk about God, in the Person of Jesus, actually taking on the form of a human being with all its pains and struggles.  We could talk about the reality that Jesus must be "before us" in precedence if for no other reason than that as God's Son He was "before us" in existance, Divinity and holiness.  Yet, I believe among the most powerful statements that John makes here is that "we beheld His glory."  And that is what I think gets to the heart of our faith walk struggles.

I found myself actually reflecting on whether or not I have truly beheld the glory of the Father in the Person of Jesus Christ.  The word for beheld used in the Greek is the word theaomai
which can be taken to mean a few different things. 

1. To Look Clsely At - have I truly gazed on just who Jesus is.  The glory of the Father revealed and walking among us.  The One who knew no sin.  The One who is "full" of grace and truth.  That word full means to be complete and covered with. 
2.  To Percieve - Imagine truly becoming aware of Jesus with a personal understanding.  John talks about receiving the "fullness" of Christ.  The same root word as was used for Jesus being "full" of grace and truth.  To understand that the same completion that Jesus knew as the author and agent of grace can be ours.  We can become complete in Him through His grace.
3. To Visit - I ask myself, do I truly sit down with Jesus, and visit Him?  Get to know Him on a personal level?  Paul talks about knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection.  When you go to visit someone, ministerially speaking, the focus is the one you are visiting, not yourself.  How many of us spend our time with Jesus talking about ourselves and what we want?

It is my prayer that I can truly behold this One who is from the Father, of the Father, and sent by the Father.  To see Christ and all His glory is the first step to truly finding completion in Him; to gain the full value of His grace which is given to us.  To be complete as a man of God I must behold THE MAN and all His glory.

Father God, may I behold the glory of Christ in all of its life changing power.  May I find completion through Your grace and truth.  Amen.

Who's The Man? (John 1:6-13)

What does a witness do?  Bottom line is that they point to someone else, they tell someone else's story and they are not the focus of the story but rather just a conduit for the story.  In John 1:6-13 we read:

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

I have often wondered why it is that so many men of God have struggles in their walks of faith and pitfalls of their own making.  Certainly these men should have the deepest of faiths and the strongests of testimonies.  Certainly they should never screw-up or allow themselves to be tempted or placed in situations that can allow for accusation (true or false) to be made that impinge on their reputation.  Yet, somehow we see it day after day through-out Christendom.  So why is it?

I believe that there are two simple insights that can be found in this passage. First, did you notice that when Jesus came "to His own" that He was not received.  The people who should have known better, who saw the quiality of Man Jesus was through-out His life could not see Who Jesus was.  Sometimes we are so busy preaching, teaching and talking about Jesus, we forget to SEE Jesus and truly worship and focus on the Son of God "who takes away the sins of the world."

Which brings me to the second insight.  Who is the Light of the world? - JESUS!  Who is the One who makes it possible for us to become children of God? - JESUS!  Who is it about whom we testify? - JESUS!  John knew the secert; it was not about him, his gifts, his following or his authority as God's witness and messenger here on earth.  John was not "the man," Jesus was and is the Man.

One phrase that has been often quuted is the statement by the supplicant who came before Jesus and simply said; "I believe, help my unbelief."  I wonder if those of us who are called to be witness to the Light have gotten to where we believe so much in our message that we have forgotten how to believe in the Soucre and Topic of that message.  It is not about what I say or do, it is about the One who saves mankind.  It is about the One who is our Light in those dark places.  And when we begin to see ourselves instead of Him whom we serve we throw a thick blanket over that Light in the darkness.  And so what happens then, we stumble in the dark because we have lost sight of the Light.

Lord, may I never lose sight of my calling...to be a witness of the Light, and not a servant of my own self importance.  May I know You, point to You and never waver in my service to You.  Amen!

Logos, Life & Light (John 1:1-5)

I had a really cool devotional/Bible study time this morning. My text was John 1:1-5. I am beginning to work through this Gospel once again and will be sharing lessons I learn in the days and weeks to come. Let me begin by saying that once again God has proven to be not only incredible, but timely as well.

To put things bluntly, Michelle and I are under attack.  It seems that the forces of the evil one have begun a concerted effort to draw us away from each other, God and our personal walks of faith.  Most of you know that we have been grieving over the loss of our precious Janie Beth.  Well, in the last 6-7 days the forces of darkness have been trying to cause doubt, hurt and hardship in our lives.  And let me tell you, when people let you down, both in personal relationships and even your church, the darkness can seem overwhelming and intense.  And it is into this period of darkness and attack that I found myself in John 1:1-5.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Let me point out that the Greek word that John is using for the "Word" is LOGOS.  Whihc literally means the Divine Expression (God expressed in Jesus Christ).  And I found it cool to think that this manifestation of God has not only been around since the beginning of time, but when darkness and light were being separated, He did it.  And then that Divine Expression went further, in that He not only created it all, but He became the source of life..."In HIM is life."  Think about it, He is life, not our jobs, relationships, religions or any other thing.  When we look for other things to help us feel alive then we have lost the focus.  He must be the source, sustainer and security for our lives.

Well then I came to one of those truly cool insights from God's Word this morning.  John's Gospel talks about the light shinning in our darkness and dark times.  The Greek word for light is "phos" as in our word phosphorescense.  This word can literally be translated to mean "luminousness."  Or, let's put it this way; have you ever been in a cave and noticed that it was not totally dark as you supposed, there were perhaps types of plants that gave off a faint light, of some other glowing essence that made the darkness not be truly complete?  That is part of the wonder of this light that shines in our darkness.  The darkness may not realize, or comprehend what is happening, but when we trust in and draw life from the Logos of God, we will always have, at the very least, some light with which to navigate the dark times in our lives.

I praise God that no matter what the demonic forces of darkness try to throw at Michelle and I we can always depend on the Logos, Life and Light that is Jesus our Christ, Savior, and Bright and Morning Star.