Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

In elementary school science we learn that a test can be done using litmus paper to establish the acidity or alkalinity of certain solutions.  The litmus test was a “sure thing,” deemed trusted and reliable by research scientists.  The test decides what is truly present in a mixed solution.  The litmus test repeatedly gives a reliable answer.

Later, the phrase “use the litmus test” was coined as a reliable way to flesh out truth of an individual.  The litmus test of character is given among political, religious, and other leaders to research what single factor or trait (such as an attitude, event, or fact) that is decisively true in the makeup of this individual. The “litmus test” is used to make a judgment about whether someone or something is acceptable.  The litmus test of truth is a critical indication of future success or failure according to the researchers.  Bias?  Probably.

In other words, are they really who they say they are?  What is the truth?

Jesus is Truth—And Jesus was tested. 

John 7, The Message

^1-2 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.

^3-5 His brothers said, “Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either.

^6-8 Jesus came back at them, “Don’t pressure me. This isn’t my time. It’s your time—it’s always your time; you have nothing to lose. The world has nothing against you, but it’s up in arms against me. It’s against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. I’m not ready. It’s not the right time for me.”

^9-11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, “Where is that man?”

^12-13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” But others said, “Not so. He’s selling snake oil.” This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.

The Question of the Day—Could It Be the Messiah?

^14-15 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: “How does he know so much without being schooled?”

^16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The religious teachers of the Law test Jesus with every breath, every word, and every action.  He is Truth but they cannot accept Jesus as Truth, the Messiah come as promised.  Is it because they have been so far removed from Truth that they forgot what Truth looks like?

The litmus test is given often by a pretentious, biased establishment.  Truth be told, Jesus was found to be who He says He is.  But they did not tell the truth because they were not who they pretended to be!

As Jesus does what His Father tells Him to do at exactly the time God tells Him to say or do it, the religious leaders reprimand Him.  In fact, they want to kill Him.  But that does not stop Jesus from obeying God.

Jesus knows that more tests will come by those whose hearts “are far removed from Me” (See Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8-9); but He has a mission from God to fulfill God’s Plan set in motion since the beginning of creation. (Camp on this thought for a moment.)  God’s compassion for his created beloved fails not.  “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24

Jesus’ unbelieving, earthly family of brothers push Jesus: “Show your stuff so you can become more popular in your ministry.” 

Oh church, how many times do we fall for this one?  We can learn from Jesus as he pushed back with this vital truth: “…I expose the evil behind its pretensions.”  In any walk of life, wherever God has called you to be with whatever He has called to do; there will be people who push you to do what they want so they can profit from what you are willing to give.  God is not pleased with our giving in to please others above pleasing Him. 

Pleasing others will never satisfy or fill the void within our being meant only for God alone.  Pretending to be who we are not is the greatest evil of all!  Repent of it quickly!  Pretense leads us down a dark road of constantly seeking approval from others, discontentment, becoming full of pride along with hateful arrogance.  Love is lost.  Life is lost to the world.

The Litmus Test: “Could He be the Messiah”?

Jesus answers as the Master Teacher who is Truth with a lesson:

“What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality.

And there you have it: Truth tested.  Truth wins every time.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1 NLT

“The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.  We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” John 1:14, MSG

Lord,

Thank you for a large dose of Truth today that cleanses our hearts, renews our minds, refreshes our souls with your new mercies for today and restores the joy of your salvation work within us.  Truth is healing.  Truth is refreshing! 

As we meditate on Truth, we are changed.  As we grow in believing faith, our behaviors are transformed.  Fill every part of our being with Truth so we will never forget who we belong to and love.  I’m yours and that’s the Truth!  I will stick to the facts and not tamper with the reality of You in me and me in You!

In Jesus Name, Amen

There will be times in everyone’s life when Truth is revealed to us in ways we cannot ignore.  We must decide about Truth.  (To not make a decision is also a decision, so there’s no getting around it!)  We either stand with Truth or question Truth.  As we question Truth with a real desire to understand, we begin to see Truth for who He is.  If we question, looking for loopholes to make Truth easier to swallow, we are giving in to dark thinking that entices us to follow all other voices of the world around us advising us “not to get too involved” and “to stay cool.”  Complacency is also a decision. 

When Truth is too hard to swallow, too hard to understand, or too overwhelming to allow a transformation of our lives to live it; we commit or we leave.  Commitment means believing without seeing; following without knowing what happens next.  We either believe with confidence in the will of God or we do not.  We trust God for who He is and what He is doing in our lives or we do not.  When we do not, we move on down the road of self-will. 

Jesus is Truth.  Jesus allows us the freedom to choose between Truth or lies; Life or death.  When Truth is revealed and explained; unbelievers argue and debate.  At the end of all the noise, The Twelve, Jesus handpicked, were given a chance of choice after many followers left Jesus because Truth was just too hard to swallow.

Jesus asked, “Do you also want to leave?” 

We, too, must decide:  Do we leave or stay?  Commit or ignore?  Believe or not?  Life or death?  Whatever we choose, Jesus expects us to all in or all out.  There is no middle ground to stand on.

John 6, The Message

The Bread of Life

²⁷ “Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”

²⁸ To that they said, “Well, what do we do then to get in on God’s works?”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Sign on with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s works.”

^30-31 They waffled: “Why don’t you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what’s going on? When we see what’s up, we’ll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

^32-33 Jesus responded, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.”

³⁴ They jumped at that: “Master, give us this bread, now and forever!”

^35-38 Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.

^39-40 “This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.”

^41-42 At this, because he said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven,” the Jews started arguing over him: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?”

^43-46 Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.

^47-51 “I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”

⁵² At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: “How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?”

^53-58 But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”

⁵⁹ He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.

Too Tough to Swallow

⁶⁰ Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”

^61-65 Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this rattle you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”

^66-67 After this, many of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”

^68-69 Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”

^70-71 Jesus responded, “Haven’t I handpicked you, the Twelve? Still, one of you is a devil!” He was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This man—one from the Twelve!—was even then getting ready to betray him.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

TRUTH:  God is in charge.

TRUTH:  Jesus was sent by God to reconcile (reconnect) people to Him.

TRUTH:  God desires a personal relationship with us. 

TRUTH:  God wants no one to perish but have eternal life.

TRUTH:  No one comes to God except through Jesus, His Son who died for our sins and rose again in resurrection power to give us hope of this eternal life.

TRUTH: We have the freedom to choose.

TRUTH IN A NUTSHELL: “The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’

God seeks a personal relationship with each one of us!  Jesus reveals the heart of God: “This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life.”  What blessed assurance when Jesus says,  “…once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go.” 

“I am the Bread of Life”—Jesus is reveals that HE will provide all we need to live a committed life with Him that leads to eternal life.  But the religious who are programmed to only follow rules with little to no relationship with God took Truth literally, not spiritually, so Truth was just too hard to swallow.  Jesus was the enemy to those seeking to hold on tightly to what they themselves had established for themselves.  When self-made power is threatened we look for every argument against Truth.  The debaters confused and convinced many of Jesus followers—so they left!

Even the Twelve were confused until Jesus patiently revealed Truth as the will of God to save lost souls as the Way to reconcile each soul to God.  This isn’t going to be easy!  So, Jesus gave them a chance to leave.  Jesus already knew the heart of Judas, “the elephant in the room,” when He asked, “Do you also want to leave?”

Peter, not surprisingly, is the first to speak up: “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.” 

If you’re still deciding, don’t miss this, friends!  Jesus explains how our commitment and confidence grows by believing and leaning on the power of His Holy Spirit.  We cannot to do life by ourselves.  God knows that.  “Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making.”—Jesus

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –Jesus, Matthew 28:20

So, are you in or out?

Lord,

I’m with Peter’s thinking, where else would I go?  Who else but God would I follow?  There is no one like You, Lord.  And besides that, you wouldn’t let me go once I believed.  You remain in me, so I will remain in You.  There is no other way but to trust in You.  You are Life.  You are all I need.  You are love, mercy, and grace as you patiently work out your salvation in me.  All I am I owe to you.  All I am I give to you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Do we really believe what God says to be really real? 

Do we really believe what God does and is doing right now on our behalf? 

Do we really believe in His Son with all our hearts, minds, and souls with a desire to grow to be like Him?  

Do we really believe Jesus did indeed save us by forgiving us of all our sins when we ask in His Name?

What is it about Jesus that attracts us to Him, to be impressed by Him, and easily love Him back?  Is it the promise of being with us always?  Is it the peace that He gives us? 

Or is because of what we expect Him to do for us?

Am I different since I believe?

All these questions are good for self-examination.  Jesus already knows the outcome of the exam before we do.  His Holy Spirit prompts the exam so we see the work that still needs to be done in our lives!  It is reassuring to know that our God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit are patient with us as our faith builds and expands within us with His power.  God knows we cannot do this on our own—we need His help and He gives it—help that is beyond our abilities. 

God knows our hearts, see us from the inside out.  He knows we are not perfect but made a way for us to be forgiven.  Jesus is that Way.   As we examine our lives, beginning with what is in our hearts, may we lean into God’s Holy Spirit who convicts us to repent then provides us with the resurrection power to be transformed.  With each stage or phase of change we go through; we discover that living this new life is an exciting adventure of an ever-expanding faith that becomes who we are and guides what we do.

As we read the true stories of Jesus through His eye witnesses, we get a birds-eye view of how He grew the faith of His disciples.  We observe how each one responded to each new situation.  We watch how Jesus brought them into the process to solve problems for in doing so they became apprentices of a faith that lasts.  Jesus’ goal was not necessarily to teach how to feed a crowd but to expand their faith with how God provides for every life situation. 

These insiders who walked and talked with Him for three years learned by watching and participating in the power of Jesus that came from the Father which resulted in the expansion of their knowledge of God and solidified their building faith in God.  The disciples didn’t always get it the first time—but neither do we who have read the whole story from beginning to end!  Jesus’ disciples hang in there with a tenacious appetite to learn everything they can from their Master Teacher, the Bread of Life! 

John 6, The Message

Bread and Fish for All

^1-4 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.

^5-6 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”

^8-9 One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”

^10-11 Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.

^12-13 When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.

^14-15 The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.

^16-21 In the evening his disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned. A huge wind blew up, churning the sea. They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless, but he reassured them, “It’s me. It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.” So they took him on board. In no time they reached land—the exact spot they were headed to.

^22-24 The next day the crowd that was left behind realized that there had been only one boat, and that Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. They had seen them go off without him. By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master. So when the crowd realized he was gone and wasn’t coming back, they piled into the Tiberias boats and headed for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him back across the sea, they said, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn from the final observation of Jesus in the last sentence of this passage; to be merely impressed with His miraculous ways, expecting Jesus to be the Santa Claus of never-ending gifts, we totally miss out knowing God, seeing God for Who He is with humbled praise and adoration of God.  “When’s the next show?”  “When’s the meal, my stomach is growling for more?”  As our attitudes reflect entitled thinking our faith stalls and stagnates. 

Jesus is so much more—more than enough for all our real and perceived needs.  Truthfully, Jesus knows what we need before we know we need it! 

Jesus is the Only Way to the Father who longs for us to love Him back!  Jesus is Truth in a world filled with lies and unkept promises.  Jesus is Life who provides new Life to us.  This reborn, New Life is alive and active, expectant, generous, growing and expanding as His love, mercy, and grace rejuvenates and refreshes us daily!

“’It’s me. It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.’ So they took him on board. In no time they reached land—the exact spot they were headed to.”  With Jesus, we will reach our destination!

As we continue reading the gospels, we get a ringside seat to watch God do a “new thing” through His Son, Jesus. We remember the prophets’ words:  The former things pass away and all things are made new…God doesn’t remember our past, he gives us a fresh start. Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

We read and readily observe how the disciples’ faith begins to produce perseverance as they follow Jesus.  Their new tenacious faith develops endurance through all kinds of trials—in all but one of the Twelve—and becomes the path to new beginnings!  Perseverance is the pathway to a new start because a new beginning often requires patience.  James 5:11 says, “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the LORD finally brought about. The LORD is full of compassion and mercy.”  God’s characteristics grow in us as our faith in Him expands!

A new beginning can start right where you are.  A new beginning awaits anyone who is willing and wanting to make Jesus Christ the Lord of their life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

There are things to do and places to go! “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are.  Romans 8:15-16, MSG

Lord,

Cleanse my heart.  Remove all that does not belong.  Renew my mind in ways that transforms my behaviors.  Refresh my soul with your new mercies for this day.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  Change me from the inside out as I seek you.  I love you, Lord, with all that is within me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your love and care as you grow and expand my enduring faith in You.  I’m yours.

In Jesus Name, Amen

“Whenever God raises up a spiritual leader who commands attention, there is always the danger of attracting people who want to bask in his popularity but not submit to his authority. A “mixed multitude” followed Moses and Israel out of Egypt, people who were impressed with the miracles but not yielded to the Lord. The prophets and apostles, as well as the great leaders in church history, all had to put up with shallow people who followed the crowd but refused to obey the truth. We have them in churches today.”  –Warren Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Study Bible

Following without obedience is like trying to swim without water.  Impressed by but not yielded to Jesus is the worst way to exist.  James, Jesus’ brother, will write later, “faith without works” is a dead faith.  Reading God’s Word, seeking Truth, getting the facts of life, merely adding more information to our lives produces no fruit for our efforts. We are merely attaching or added Jesus to our regularly scheduled programed lives instead of allow Jesus to BE Life that lives in us and leads us in all we think, say. and do. 

Danger ahead!  This attitude causes us to take in just enough information to be dangerous.  We read how to live, preach it, while self-righteously pointing fingers at others who do not obey.  In other words, we do not practice what we preach, we do not obey what we know as Truth.  We are still led by our own desires.  We are “missing the forest for the trees” as Jesus says.

John 5, The Message

^39-40 “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.

^41-44 “I’m not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?

^45-47 “But don’t think I’m going to accuse you before my Father. Moses, in whom you put so much stock, is your accuser. If you believed, really believed, what Moses said, you would believe me. He wrote of me. If you won’t take seriously what he wrote, how can I expect you to take seriously what I speak?”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The very Scriptures that the Jewish leaders used to defend their religion would one day bear witness against them. The Jews knew what Moses wrote, but they did not really believe what he wrote. It is one thing to have the Word in our hands or our heads, but quite another thing to have it in our hearts.

Jesus is the Word made flesh, and the written Word bears witness to the Incarnate Word—God in flesh.  Let us revisit how John began his gospel:

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5, NIV
• “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”          John 1:14, MSG
• “These Scriptures are all about me!”  Jesus IS the Word.  Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life that people seek.  He is the One and Only who can fill the emptiness in our  hearts. 
• Jesus is the Only Way to the God.  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”—Jesus, John 14:6

And Jesus is standing right in front of them!  Jesus is standing right in front of us.

If we believe, really believe we are reborn into a new life that bursts into bloom with a new way of thinking that transforms old behaviors into new behaviors that are more like the one we say we believe!

If we believe, really believe our faith is living and growing!  Our believing faith leads to obedience to Jesus living in us!  Believing faith is alive and well! 

“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, ‘Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.’  Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.”  James 2:14-18, MSG

If we believe, really believe, others are attracted to Jesus in us.  People were attracted to Jesus while He walked through the neighborhoods of humanity because He was Truth and Love present and presented.  He didn’t just talk about Love, He was Love.  He didn’t just talk about Truth, He was Truth. 

So, if Jesus is Lord of our lives, His love in us is evident.  As we live in obedience to Him, people who are seeking what is real—notice.  Remember, that they are attracted, not to us, but to Jesus in us.  As all of Scripture points to Jesus, so must our lives!

If we believe, really believe, we smell good to God!  “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2, NIV

If we believe, really believe, we are in constant communion with God—like Jesus.  We offer our lives back to Him as an offering to Him daily.  “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2, MSG

If we believe, really believe, we depend on God for all the details of life.  “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV

“The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24, NLT

If we believe, really believe, God’s love grows deep within us as we begin to realize the expanse of His love to us.  The more we realize His love for us; our love for Him and for others expands beyond our wildest imaginations! God is love.  To know God is to know love—real love.  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 3:38-39, NIV

Believe, really believe in Jesus and be saved forever. 

Believe and experience Life!  “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

Lord,

You are Life to me.  Thank you for saving my soul by cleansing my heart.  Continue to daily wash me white as snow as I offer my life to you.  Renew my mind that transforms my behaviors.  Refresh my soul with your new mercies.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  Replace all my worry and concerns with your peace. 

I will rejoice in this new day, listening to you, obeying what you say, as I walk with you with your Helper guiding me.  I need you every hour.  Every hour you are there. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

In Jesus Name, Amen

If we look back over our lives, we discover that we naturally imitate who we admire, observe, hang around and think about most in our lives.  God gave me good people, people who loved Him well.  These people came into my life at just the right time to show me a better way to respond to difficult people, challenging circumstances, or those times of waiting on God that no one likes!  I conclude that these people were a gift from God who pointed me to Christ in them.  I observed how Jesus led their lives while learning how to live a life pleasing to God as I matured in my thinking and behaving I followed Jesus.  I haven’t fully arrived, but I’m not where I was thanks be to God!  I am still a work in progress.

Godly people who impressed me most had relentless, tenacious strength, wisdom, and hope.  I often would say to these admirable people, “I want to be like you when I grow up!”  This was spoken as a compliment to the Holy Spirit “fruits of Christ-like character displayed in their lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5)  Who I was really admiring was Christ in them!

Come to find out, they were imitating Christ, the One who is the perfect standard in which to measure our lives.  They would always be the first to say, “I’m not perfect, I’m perfectly forgiven by Jesus.”  “Don’t follow me, follow Jesus.”  Imitators of Jesus know that they cannot do life without the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit teaching, guiding, comforting, encouraging, and challenging them to live a life led by His love, mercy, and grace.  It’s a package deal.  You can’t have one without the other.  Jesus living in us is the secret sauce of living life to the full as we imitate what He did. (Colossians 1:27)

Jesus teaches us to be like the Father in character and do what He says because God is God and we are not. God knows what lies ahead on our journey—we do not. God loves us beyond our human ability to love for God is the origin of love.  The more we come to know God, the more of His love expands within us.  That’s how God works. 

Like Father, like Son.

John 5, The Message

What the Father Does, the Son Does

^19-20 So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.

^20-23 “But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.

²⁴ “It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.

^25-27 “It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.

^28-29 “Don’t act so surprised at all this. The time is coming when everyone dead and buried will hear his voice. Those who have lived the right way will walk out into a resurrection Life; those who have lived the wrong way, into a resurrection Judgment.

^30-33 “I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn’t he?

^34-38 “But my purpose is not to get your vote, and not to appeal to mere human testimony. I’m speaking to you this way so that you will be saved. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus and His Father work in tandem for one purpose:  To save the world God loves who do not yet believe or know Him. 

Verse 24 clarifies the benefits of believing in Him: “Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.”

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17

John’s passionate gospel theme is “that they might believe” in Jesus, God’s Son.  Only then can we know the Love of God and experience His love flowing through us. 

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” John 20:30-31, NKJV

Don’t miss Jesus!  Listen to Jesus.  Believe and be saved.  It’s a matter of life or death!

The more we love Jesus, the more we want to imitate the way He responded to people with love.  The more we learn about Jesus, the more we begin to behave like He taught us. The more we trust in Jesus, the less we worry.  The more we realize the depth of love He has for us, the greater our love is for others.  Christ is more and our earthly desires become less.

“Remain in Me and I will remain in you” –Jesus, John 15:4 

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2, NLT

Like Father, like Son, like sons and daughters, joint heirs with Jesus!  Wow!

Lord,

I want to be more and more like you as I grow up in your love, mercy, and grace. Thank you for teaching us how to live with why to live a life pleasing to You.  Thank you for the power to overcome and run from all that is not you.  Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole.  Thank for opening my blinded eyes to see your glory at work in me and all around me in others.  We cannot do life without you.  I don’t want to do life without you in the lead.  You are Life!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Bear with me, some of you will relate.  Growing up in the fifties and sixties, church kids were given a set of “don’t” rules that applied specifically to Sundays.  These rules were decided upon by the “elders” of our family.  The rules were sanctioned and approved by the elder who was a preacher.  At least that’s how it was in my family.  As kids, if we questioned the rules, the response was, “Well, we asked Uncle Frank and he said no.”  Discussion was over.

Here are some examples— “On any given Sunday”

Girls wore dresses to church.  Boys wore slacks with their best “church shirt.”  After Sunday morning church, the dresses and slacks with shirts were hung up to stay nice before Sunday lunch.  After lunch we could play outside until 4pm.

At 4pm we were called back inside to clean up, take off play clothes and put back on our church clothes. We were then headed to Sunday night church. Youth Group was at 6pm followed by Sunday night church at 7pm.  The service was a bit more “informal” with more songs, personal testimonies, and a lot of prayer to take care of all the prayer requests given that morning. We would close with a condensed but just as passionate sermon from the preacher.  This would “hold us over” until Wednesday night Bible Study.

The “nevers” included:

• No swimming on Sundays—unless okayed by Uncle Frank or another elder. Running through the sprinkler was later accepted by my “liberal parents.” (In the backyard where no one could see. Ha!)
• Never go swimming mixed with boys and girls for sure.  We took turns.  This was the rule for all the days of the week at church camp—even though we went to a public pool.  Go figure.
• No play clothes could be worn to church, only your “Sunday best” to be at our best for God.
• No going to ball games on a Sunday.
• No shopping, doing business of any sort, or writing checks on Sundays.
• Never read the Sunday paper before church. After lunch was okay.
• Never leave newspapers or magazines laying on top of the Family Bible on the coffee table after reading.
• No eating out on Sundays to make someone else work.
• Never work on Sundays unless your earthly boss has threatened loss of your job.

The “always,” however, enrich my life to this day:

• Always give thanks when food is served because it is God who provides all.
• Always pray immediately for those who ask for prayer.
• Always find ways to help those who are in need.
• Always pray for the lost.
• Always pray before making decisions in life from buying groceries to the purchase of a home, from which college to attend to what job to take when offered.  God provides it all and delights in all the details of our lives.
• Always give a tithe of what God has provided for this is one of our acts of worship to the One who owns it all.

In this passage, Jesus reiterates that he must do what God does who is always at work on behalf of his people.  Manmade rules that are merely ceremonial, meant to judge and reprimand with fines to the rule makers and are not helpful to people, are set aside by Jesus.  Jesus teaches that it is God who commands.  It is God who loves people, all people.  His desire is for us to love Him back.  God must be first in all we are and in all we do.  Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath but the religious community do not accept Him.

John 5, The Message

Even on the Sabbath

^1-6 Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

^8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.

^9-10 That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”

¹¹ But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’”

^12-13 They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?” But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.

¹⁴ A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”

^15-16 The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath.

¹⁷ But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.”

¹⁸ That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Do you want to get well?”

“Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

Jesus encounter with this man defied all rules and traditions about the pool.  It seems there is more to Jesus’ question: “Do you want to get well?”—are you ready to live differently after 38 years—relying on God’s power instead of the superstitions of the world?  Are you ready to leave this behind?  

Getting well means doing what Jesus says, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.”  The man obeyed and he was healed on the spot.

But all this happened on the Sabbath.  Uh, Oh. 

The greatest commandments according to His Son, Jesus, who was sent to save us from manmade rules of oppression as well as the sins of our own making, are these:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” –Jesus, Matthew 22:37-40

Simply put:  1. Love God.  2.  Love Others.

Jesus has come to redefine the intent of God’s commandments to His people. In doing so, Jesus also demonstrates what loving God and others in intimate loving relationships looks like.  Jesus is our greatest example of doing exactly what God, the Father, tells His Son to say and do at the right time and place—all for the glory of God!  Jesus is in relationship with God. Jesus loves people and draws them into a relationship with the love of God in Him!

Jesus points out the differences of belief and attitude.  Commandments of God trump manmade rules because commandments were given because of God’s love for His people. His commands protect us from each other.  His commands provide help and health. If we are ever confused, return to the Number One Commandment:  Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.  When we do, the other commandments will make perfect sense from our perfect God. 

Manmade rules for the Sabbath were created by those seeking power and position with the desire to lord it over people.  Their added rules to God’s Law had little to do with giving God glory.  The ones in charge accused or working on the Sabbat because he did what Jesus told him to do—pick up your mat and walk home.  They missed the miracle of God!  They missed the message of His Son. I wonder sometimes how much of God we have missed when our focus is more on the adherence to our manmade traditions and rules.  Yikes.  When manmade rules exclude, criticize, judge, and punish, they are probably not of God.

John’s gospel is drenched in the love of God.  “We love God because He first loved us.”  We cannot love others if we do not know and love God first.  (See 1 John 4) God IS love.  To know God is to know love.  We cannot love each other if the love of God is not in us.

Simply put:  1. Love God.  2.  Love Others with the love of God in us.

The encounter with the rulemakers and God’s Son was not pleasant but expected.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law God created not oppose it.  But they were blinded by power, position, rank of honor, and pride. 

Lord,

Help us to know the difference and be different.  Help us not to conform to this world but to follow what you say—even it is on a Sunday!  I offer my life to you, as an offering.  Cleanse my heart.  Remove all the attitude that is not of You.  I want to get well and stay well!  Renew my mind that transforms my behaviors.  Refresh my soul with your new mercies that heal and repairs.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work with me.  I love you with all my heart, mind, and soul.  Help me to love others like you love me at all times!

In Jesus Name, Amen

As a nation we are becoming a people who want to believe what our leaders say to us but we are skeptical.  So many church leaders have fallen that we are leery about believing what they say from the platform unless their lives show evidence of their belief.  But this is our own fault.  If we are reading and studying God’s Word for ourselves, evaluating our own behaviors against the standard of Jesus with hearts of obedience and surrender, then we understand that perfection will not be found in the lives of humans.  Only Jesus is perfect.  Only Jesus saves us from the world of skepticism, darkness, deception and our own sins with redemption and truth. Only Jesus can provide the Way to Truth that leads us to eternal Life.  No human can provide all we need and should not be expected to—only Jesus who died and rose again can provide all we need to live life to the full. 

This truth alone, aside from all the miracles of healing, the provisions and protection of God through Jesus, is what should impress us to give our whole heart, mind, and soul to Him so that we may have a rich, loving, intimate relationship with God our Father.  God is searching for seeking hearts like this…who will He find?

“The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9a 

When we completely give our hearts to Him, He give us strength beyond ourselves in our daily walk with Him.  The last half of that verse is just as important; “What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.”  2 Chronicles 16:9b God is speaking to those who refuse to do what He says.  We live foolish lives when we do life on our own, ignoring messages from God through His leaders who know Him and speak His words to us.  We succumb to foolish habits of calling out to God only in times of trouble, when we want him to please us or when the battle with the evil one overwhelms us.  At the end of ourselves we call out because we are impressed with what we know He can do; but our hearts are far from being fully His.

The back story of this verse in Chronicles that is quoted often is this:  God sent a prophet to tell the king that his treaty with the enemy is not going to work.  Everyone was happy with the results of the treaty except God. God sent the prophet Hanani to rebuke the king and rely God’s message.  

A prophet’s task was to rebuke kings and other leaders, including priests, when they had disobeyed God’s laws. The prophet’s message was clear: If Asa had relied on the Lord, the army of Judah would have defeated both Israel and Aram. Instead, Judah merely gained a few towns, the Lord’s treasury was robbed, and the king was entangled in a sinful alliance with the Arameans. 

So, you see how foolish it is to be merely impressed with God but not listen to what He says.  This is living half-heartedly, relying only on human wisdom.  From the experience of these prophets and now His own, “Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up…”  The home crowd wanted Jesus to perform for them.  They were merely impressed but did not whole heartedly believe in Jesus.   

“Dazzle us, Jesus.”  Oh, what fools we are when we play this game with the One who died for our sins and rose again in power and majesty.

John 4, The Message

^43-45 After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.

^46-48 Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king’s court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: “Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.”

⁴⁹ But the court official wouldn’t be put off. “Come down! It’s life or death for my son.”

^50-51 Jesus simply replied, “Go home. Your son lives.”

The man believed the bare word Jesus spoke and headed home. On his way back, his servants intercepted him and announced, “Your son lives!”

^52-53 He asked them what time he began to get better. They said, “The fever broke yesterday afternoon at one o’clock.” The father knew that that was the very moment Jesus had said, “Your son lives.”

^53-54 That settled it. Not only he but his entire household believed. This was now the second sign Jesus gave after having come from Judea into Galilee.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Like easily impressed children who are looking to be entertained again by the mesmerizing water to wine miracle man, people’s hearts bear the lack of belief in who Jesus really was and is now.  People in his hometown do not go out of their way to honor Him either. From experience, Jesus is used to this.  How sad.  But from our own experiences, we can understand.  Hometown people who knew you as a kid, freeze frame you as a kid.  Family and friends you related to as a children do not realize you went through normal stages of growth with new experiences that transformed you, right?

But then there’s one man who rises above the crowd of skeptics who truly believes that Jesus is who He is says He is—A court official of the king.  This court official’s son will die unless Jesus intervenes.  His desperate faith in Jesus’ ability to heal his son stood firm as he persistently asked for Jesus’ help for his beloved son.

The court official wasn’t asking for another performance to dazzle onlookers.  His heart was broken for his son.  If you have children you know.  When our children are very ill, we would rather take their place to spare their hurt and pain.  Jesus saw the honest heart of this man and healed his son immediately.  The official went back home to find his son healed.  He believed Jesus then and especially now!  Imagine the testimony he told his family!  Now the whole household believed—because that’s how persistent faith works!

We discover, once again, that a sincere, honest heart of faith grabs the attention of Jesus.  What is in our hearts either fills our souls with His love, mercy, and grace and renews our minds that transforms our behaviors or it does not. It’s a matter of who we allow to control our hearts, minds and souls.

As for me, I choose the One who is looks for hearts committed to Him.  I choose the strength He promises when we commit to Him.  I choose the wisdom of God over folly of man.  I choose Jesus who redeemed me for life!  Thank you, Jesus!  Other choices lead to foolishness that leads to darkness and emptiness. 

Lord,

Thank you for teaching us a new perspective of your multifaceted love, mercy, and grace through this story of healing and faith. Thank you for seeking us and saving us. Thank you for always being with us to provide all we need with protection from the enemy who seeks to distract, deceive, dishearten, and ultimately destroy us.  The enemy cannot separate us from your love.  We can walk away but your love remains intact, so why turn away from a love like that?  There is no one like you, dear Jesus.  Greater are you in me than he that is in the world.  What a promise!

In Jesus Name, Amen

For centuries there has been a culture of hate between Samaritans and Jews.  Jews deemed the Samaritans “unclean” while Samaritans spit upon proud Jews who judged the validity of the “chosen of God” by keeping their genealogies pure.  The Samaritans were a mixed race, part Jew and part Gentile, that grew out of the Assyrian captivity of the ten northern tribes in 727 B.C. Rejected by the Jews because they could not prove their genealogy, the Samaritans established their own temple and religious services on Mount Gerizim.

Then God sent Jesus to Samaria.  Jesus changes everything, going “rogue” in tradition, doing things no one does, to save the lost of the world while demonstrating the love of God. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16-17.

In that day, it was not considered proper for any man, especially a rabbi, to speak in public to a strange woman (back up and read verse 27). But Jesus set aside the less important social customs for the most important because a soul’s eternal salvation was at stake.  Now, by her witness, Jesus is invited along with his confused disciples to hang out with Samaritans. 

Yes, when Jesus comes into our hearts and welcomed to hang out in our lives—Everything changes. 

John 4, The Message

It’s Harvest Time

³¹ In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?”

³² He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.”

³³ The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?”

^34-35 Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!

^36-38 “The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.”

^39-42 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Because of one woman loved, forgiven and transformed by the One and Only, many lives committed their lives to Jesus.  It seems the more we realize the depth of love Jesus has for us—we must tell someone—anyone!  The more we realize the incredible, undeniable complete transaction of redemption, secured, as a binding contract, sealed by the blood of Jesus, we must tell everyone!

Not a burden but a blessed opportunity!  Jesus did not look on the Father’s will as a heavy burden or a distasteful task. He viewed His work as the very nourishment of His soul. Doing the Father’s will fed Him and satisfied Him inwardly. “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). Because of the attitude and heart of Jesus, the Samaritan woman was now doing the Father’s will and finding excitement and enrichment in it, too!  Jesus changes everything.

Prayerfully pause and ask—

Do I really believe that what Jesus did for me is really real?

Life transformation begins with believing in Jesus.  Excitement and joy builds as we discover new ways of Kingdom of God thinking which births new behaviors as we learn to lean into the wisdom of His Holy Spirit now living in us. 

Our trust in the Life-Changer builds or collapses with each challenge the enemy presents or when unexpected circumstances arise based on who we believe.  Who do we believe?  Life is a continual test of trust. But when the power that raised Jesus from death to life is realized, relied on, and released—our test becomes a testament of our faith in Jesus!

We quickly discover we cannot do life without Jesus’ help.  We cannot transform our lives without His Holy Spirit sent from God to help us. We can profess to know Him and our desire to follow Him all day long; but it is our transformed behaviors that will prove the true measure of our faith.

Who we talk about most is who we love most.  What occupies our minds reflects what we treasure most and are storing in our hearts.  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Jesus, Matthew 6:20

The woman met Jesus who changed everything about her.  She no longer worried about her reputation and avoidance of people who despised her for who she was because now she is different—made new!  She has a new way of thinking.  Jesus showed her a love and compassion she had been looking for in all the wrong places her entire life.  This woman is a life that was changed by the grace of God who would affect an entire village!  “Come and see!”  “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!”  I think He is the Messiah! 

The people of Samaria were changed: “We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”

Yes, the souls of all the people of the world who God created and loves are ripe for harvest.  God prepares harvest.  Jesus provides salvation.  The Holy Spirit guides us to reap what we did not sow—souls in need of a Savior!  If we remember, God sent someone lead us and point us to Christ—now we do the same!

We might be asked to go and hang out with those we never thought of before knowing Jesus.  Go with it, I have learned that God’s surprises are always worth the risk.  All people have one thing in common—we are all in need of a Savior and He is Jesus. 

Jesus indeed changes everything.  His relentless, unchanging love brings us together as one as we give our lives as an offering back to Him in gratitude for giving us Life.  (See Romans 12:1-2)

Lord,

It occurs to me that the people of Samaria must have been a joy for you to hang out with as a respite from the harassment of the Jewish leaders for a while.  And what a joy for them to hear and believe in Someone they never thought they would until they came to know You!  You went where you were led and did what you were sent to do.  What a demonstration of your love for all people!

Thank you for this lesson of sowing and reaping in unexpected places.  Open our eyes to see who you see with hearts open to your will and leading.

In Jesus Name, Amen

From the moment we begin to utter a few sounds of communication as toddlers, we are taught to count.  We count our fingers and toes.  We count how many blocks we are stacking. We count how many sleeps before Christmas or vacations.  We count how many more bites we must take from our plate left with yucky peas and swallow.  (Yeah, I still don’t like peas!)  We count as a way of life. How many reps of this exercise are left?  How many steps will I complete today?  How many…the list goes on and on.

Counting tells us how much we have and don’t have. Counting helps us plan for what we need in supplies.  Counting points in a game become seriously important if you are close to winning—or losing.  Counting can drive us to compete and compare which can lead our hearts to fill with envy, discontent, and jealousy. Counting to measure our highest level of performance for the purpose of being known as better than anyone else can lead to pride and arrogance.

The Pharisees counted.  They kept score between the ministries of Jesus and John, the Baptist by counting the number of baptisms.  Jesus’ response?  He left.  (Church, we’ll just leave that right here.)  God then led Jesus down a dangerous road to Samaria to what really counts—saving a soul that opened the door to salvation for everyone!  Wow.

John 4, The Message

The Woman at the Well

^1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

^4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

^7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

¹⁰ Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

^11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

^13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

¹⁵ The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”

¹⁶ He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”

^17-18 “I have no husband,” she said.

“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

^19-20 “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”

^21-23 “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

^23-24 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

²⁵ The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”

²⁶ “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

²⁷ Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.

^28-30 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The Samarian women came to the well at noon to avoid the gossip and ridicule of the other people of the village who despised her and her lifestyle.

The Son of Man was tired and thirsty.  We see the physical human side of Jesus who ask for drink from the bucket of the woman who has come from the village to simply get enough water for the day. This leads to a discussion that begins with sarcasm from the lips of a very weary woman who has simply come to draw water at the hottest time of day—noon.

“I have no husband.”  Honestly said as she finishes getting water from the well.  Jesus, Son of God, knew the real headcount of husbands but accepted her honesty as she reported her current condition.

Jesus’ “knowing” unnerves her.  What could she be thinking?  We get an answer in her response…” Oh, so you’re a prophet” …we can almost hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice as she thinks, great, someone else to add up my sins and hold the count over my head.  She is used to the condemnation of others so she craftily deflects the conversation to a different discussion of theology.

Jesus hears and sees her.  Her well-crafted comeback led to Truth that she could not ignore and walk away from as Jesus tells her (and us) what really counts:

“God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.” “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth.”

Imagine all the weight bearing down on this woman from years of living a life that you didn’t really ask for, didn’t enjoy, but felt trapped in as a woman searching for real love and compassion. 

Imagine knowing enough about God to hear of the promise of a Messiah who would come to save you and then hearing from this man: “I am He.” 

“You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.” 

Real love found at last!  Truth gently removed her heavy backpack of burden and set her free.  Freedom renewed her energy to run back to the village—without her water bucket—because of being filled with the Living Water from the Messiah. 

Jesus not only set her free, God gave her message:

“’Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?’ And they went out to see for themselves.”

Salvation is for everyone.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:17

“That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” –Jesus

Believe, repent and be saved for life!  Leave behind the past count of sins and look forward to a new life with a clean slate with the One who is the Only Way to God, the Truth of God that leads to Life with God now and for eternity!  That’s what counts!

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. You know me, too.  You see and hear me.  You love me no matter what I’ve done.  Thank you for taking the burdens of my past off my shoulders and setting me free to love like you love us.  Thank you for teaching us what counts before God and enriches our lives.  Lead and guide my thoughts and behaviors today.  May others see you in me.  May your glory be seen in me.  Thank you for not counting my repented sins against me.

In Jesus Name, Amen

The church, by definition, is not a temple or structure of brick and mortar of any kind.  The church is not a shade tree by the river.  The church is not even a thatched roof over the heads of gatherers in a hot climate.  The church is not the home of a person who hosts a meeting or an abandoned store front where people meet to worship. 

The “church” as Jesus defines church are people who meet in His Name.  I know we have heard this concept and definition many times if we grew up living a “church life” but are we really listening and internalizing Jesus’ definition of church?  There are many scriptural references to help us understand.  I feel the need to go over this again as I watch leaders of congregation be driven by competition and manipulation for their fair “market share” of attenders who will come to their place of worship to support their programs of ministry. 

John, the Baptist, took more joy in seeing the One coming after him do even greater things than what he was doing himself.  All glory to God!  We can learn so much from John, the Baptist that is applicable to the church.  Jesus is the Head of His Body called church. if we really lean into to what God is saying through John to all of us who believe—really believe and call ourselves church we might be led to repent.

John 3, The Message

The Bridegroom’s Friend

^22-26 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John’s disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us.”

^27-29 John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?

^29-30 “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.

^31-33 “The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.

^34-36 “The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Over the centuries, temple worship became big business.  It still included religious leaders assigned to go behind a curtain to ceremoniously ask God to cover the sins of the people but this behavior meant to honor God became tainted as unholy leaders tried to become gods and lord it over the people seeking God.  These leaders used religious ceremonies as a way to line their pockets with the sacrifices of the poor who came in obedience to The Law of God. 

The religious had little to no relationship with God as they were more concerned with gaining more power as they competed piously within the ranks for the attention from all who saw them and bowed down to them in fear.  These leaders, teachers, and scribes wanted everyone to know that the only way to be holy was to do what they said.  The leaders would meet to discuss The Law which became nothing more than heated debates over who was right and who was wrong, completely missing the point of God’s longing to love and bless His people in relationship.  The leaders even dared to create new additions to The Law to suit their fancy and bring in more funds from people disobeying their addendums. God’s leaders, who knew Him not, became manipulators of justice and mutilators of mercy to the lowly who must obey at all costs.  God came in last to the self-appointed humans in first place and who thought they were in charge.  God was not pleased.  This gives us greater understanding of Jesus’ trip to the Temple that day to “clean house”!

NEW PLAN—

God sent His Son to earth to seek and to save the lost caught up in this manmade unholy system as well their own sins.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Belief in Jesus as God’s Son drew new believers to gather to learn from Jesus as they followed Him.  A new connection to God was found by listening to a new message of Truth.  They leaned into what Jesus told them about His Father, who was their God above all!  God loves you, cares for you, and wants you to love Him back in a relationship that leads to eternal life with Him. This is different.  This is Jesus telling the world who God really is and what He expects from the people He loves and what they can expect from Him!

The new believers (and nearly believers) gathered to simply hear what Jesus had to say next.  “We’ve never heard anyone speak this way” was said often by the hearers as God spoke to them through Jesus, His Son.  Jesus came to set the world right side up by turning the religious and political systems upside down.  He taught Kingdom of God thinking with examples of holy living that pleased God.  (See Matthew 5-7).  Jesus taught us to love each other the way God loves us.  Jesus brought “all who believe”, individually, into a relationship with God by His once and for all sacrifice for our sins on the cross. Upon his death that day, the curtain to the holy of holies where leaders would meet with God was significantly torn in two pieces that had hung in the Temple for centuries.  The Way to God was now open to all who believe in Jesus, His Son. 

“For God so loved…” What’s love got to do with it?  Everything.

God is Love.  To know love is to know God.  If we do not know God then we do not know love.  (See 1 John 4) God’s Love was not new but needed a new understanding of the depth of His love. Jesus provided what the world was seeking most. Love is a relationship with God and that relationship with God was missing among His leaders.  God sent Jesus “to seek and to save the lost” who did not have this loving relationship.

Jesus provided exactly what was needed most to clarify—a demonstration of God’s love.  Jesus showed the followers how to love like the Father God loves them.  Jesus demonstrated this love by serving others, healing the sick, explain truth to the confused, with teaching and reteaching his disciples with patience and grace.  Jesus showed the “full extent of His love” by bending down to wash the dirty feet of his disciples—even the feet of the one who betrayed Him later that night.  (John 13)

The final demonstration was willingly laying down His life to redeem our lives from the punishment of our own sins.  “For God so loved…” His Son, that after the sacrifice was complete, God resurrected His Son in power, scars and all!  Jesus then appeared to all who would carry on the work in the Name of Jesus!  Hope was secured.

Authority and power was given from God through Jesus to all who believe and follow to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. 

What kind of love is this?  Relentless, unchanging, unconditional—full of mercy and grace with a promise to be with us—always—until Jesus comes back!

NEW TEMPLE—NEW CHURCH!

Our bodies are now God’s temple in which He chooses to dwell.  We love God because He first loved us.  God’s church are His people who gather in Jesus Name in unity of purpose—to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Jesus is the Head of His church.  Jesus assigned Peter as the Rock upon He would build His church. Peter, a former fisherman, obeyed Jesus upon receiving the Holy Spirit’s power to preach the Good News to thousands.  (See Acts 1-2) The church(people), built on Jesus begins and flourishes when built on the solid foundation of the love of God expressed through His Son, Jesus. 

Peter explains church to the believers.  Jesus is the cornerstone upon which each life aligns to in the building of His church—people, not a building—but with our very lives. 

“Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:

Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,
    a cornerstone in the place of honor.
Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation
    will never have cause to regret it.”  1 Peter 2:4-8, MSG

“Do this in remembrance of Me” –Jesus

To remember Jesus is to love like He taught us to love and serve like He taught us to serve—humbly, mercifully, graciously, without reservation.  “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

God’s love is what draws us together and keeps us in unity.  When human love competes, unity is lost.

God’s love does not compete for attention, boast, manipulate, or demand its own way. (1 Corinthians 13)

Love like Jesus.  Serve like Jesus.  Be more and more like Jesus as we remember what He has done for us.

God’s Love is Life.  Loving His way is a life worth living. 

The promised bonus for doing this in remembrance of Jesus:  “And I will be with you always”—Jesus 

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  Jesus died and rose again to set us free from sins and give us hope and a future of eternal life.

Simply believe with all your heart, mind and soul and be saved.

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank you for transforming my life by renewing my mind. Thank you for refreshing my soul each day with your new mercies. Thank you for restoring the joy of your salvation consistently at work within me. I owe you my life, so my life is yours to lead into all that you have waiting for me to be and do.

In Jesus Name, Amen