Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus)

There is a new trend in our world today—the world tells us we must have a life coach if we want to reach higher levels of achievement.  I have lived long enough to realize that this really isn’t a new idea, however, as I experienced, well timed people of wisdom come into my life to guide me but were called mentors.  Life Coach seems to be an upgrade of the mentor process.  People with the gift and ability to mentor, are now trained with specific ways to “coach” people to realizing their gifts and abilities so they can effectively reach their goals in life. 

Defined, a life coach is now a type of wellness professional who is paid to help people make progress in their lives to attain greater fulfillment.  This “professional” becomes an advisor in every area of your life as you make decisions, set and reach goals, and deal with problems that arise along the way.  Life coaching is the process of helping clients gain clarity about different aspects of their lives.

Jesus, Son of God is The Coach of Life!  Let’s listen in as Jesus coaches Nicodemus!  In this coaching session, Jesus listens to this “well respected teacher of Israel” and leads him to Truth by explaining the basics of Life.  Real Life.  Eternal Life.

John 3, The Message

Born from Above

^1-2 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews. Late one night he visited Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we all know you’re a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren’t in on it.”

³ Jesus said, “You’re absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.”

⁴ “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?”

^5-6 Jesus said, “You’re not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the ‘wind-hovering-over-the-water’ creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

^7-8 “So don’t be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be ‘born from above’—out of this world, so to speak. You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next. That’s the way it is with everyone ‘born from above’ by the wind of God, the Spirit of God.”

⁹ Nicodemus asked, “What do you mean by this? How does this happen?”

^10-12 Jesus said, “You’re a respected teacher of Israel and you don’t know these basics? Listen carefully. I’m speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions. If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?

^13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus—The greatest Life Coach of all!  Watch, listen and learn how Jesus coaches Nicodemus:

• Jesus listens to Nicodemus express his thoughts before telling Him what He needs to know.  This helps Nicodemus see for himself where he stands with God.  By saying his questioning thoughts out loud to Someone who is really listening to him, he is put at ease to express more and ask more. 

• Jesus understands what Nicodemus currently believes about God as it relates to his faith in God.  Jesus knows who Nicodemus is and who he associates with in the religious community of leaders.

• Jesus presents new information to extend what Nicodemus already knows about Scripture.  Jesus begins with where he is, accepts him, then presents new information that leads to salvation—spiritually “born again” into a new life—eternal life with God!

• Jesus patiently clarifies Truth by saying it in a way Nicodemus can understand.  “Let me say it again” …   “When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.”

• Jesus follows up with more examples about God’s Spirit that Nicodemus can relate to in his world.  “You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it’s headed next.”  “That’s the way it is with God’s Spirit.”

• Jesus does not give up on Nicodemus. Jesus see the heart of Nicodemus and knows he is still having a hard time relating his past knowledge and diligent obedience to The Law while trying to understand that Jesus is showing the way to have a new relationship with God.  So, Jesus stops to go over the “basics” once more.  I am reminded of scripture that tells us it is not God’s desire that anyone perish.  (2 Peter 3:9)

• Jesus is the Truth who tells the Truth of who He is to Nicodemus—so that Nicodemus might grasp the love of God that is in Him.  That love is so great, Nicodemus, that “He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.”

• Jesus did not come to condemn but to reconcile all people to God.  “God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.”

• Jesus is the Way to God who gives life eternal!  Jesus relates information that not many in the community have heard yet:  I am the Way, the Only Way, to an intimate relationship with God.  “In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

• Jesus teaches opposing views to point out the difference between living life to the full here with the bonus of eternal life with God and living a life that only leads to death.
• “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

Bottomline, we have two choices:  God-Light of Life Eternal or the eternal darkness of death.  What we say we believe will be reflected in our behaviors each day.  We will mess up and allow evil to distract and deceive us at times or we will react to circumstances in our lives that are less than holy know this:  Jesus does not give up on us.  He made a way for us to be perfectly forgiven.  All we need to do is ask. 

Who is your life coach?  Want the best life coach known to mankind? 

When we repent of our sins, God’s Holy Spirit rushes in immediately to live within us as our “life coach” who guides us to all that is of God.  His Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, and sent by God is our ever-present Counselor and Helper in decision making, discernment of right and wrong, while leading us to grow in our intimate, loving relationship with God.  God’s Holy Spirit helps us design holy priorities for living a life that develops the character of Jesus in us. When we remain in Jesus as He remains in us, we will see our behaviors begin to change to reflect these holy traits!  The behaviors we are striving to develop as we live to reflect the love of God in our lives are listed in Galatians 5:22-23; “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Lord,

Thank you for not giving up on me but teaching me your love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  All for God nothing less. I’m still a work in progress, but I’m not where I was.  All because of You, dear Jesus.  I trust you with my life because you ARE Life! 

In Jesus Name, Amen 

Have you ever come between a mother bear and her cubs?  We were in gathered as a family in the mountains of Tennessee one summer to celebrate our 50^th anniversary of marriage with our kids and grandkids.  What a fun few days this was!  We rented a huge cabin that housed all of us high in the mountains.  The wraparound deck was the place to gather to gaze at the magnificent mountain views.  One morning, Randy decided to take walk down the mountain to stretch his legs.  Not used to the altitude, he tired when he began to hike the steep road back to the lodge.  Something within me, decided that he was taking too long to return so a couple of granddaughters followed me to see where he was.  He was okay but we sent for a car to come and get us. 

Only minutes later, we all decided to pile into our vans to go sight-seeing.  As we came down the mountain, a mother bear with three cubs following close behind her, appeared on the path—the same path that Randy had walked.  She guarded her cubs by bringing them close to her, then she angrily looked at our stopped vans.  Time stood still.  We had enough wisdom not to get out our vans, but we did stop to take video of the scene.  She rose up to let us know, this is where she lived with her family and we were intruding!  And she was right!  We respected her territory and at the same time, admired the way she protected her cubs.  She would have given her life for theirs, if necessary.  This God-created instinct to protect and draw your offspring close to you is prevalent in the animal kingdom.

When we read the display of emotion of what seems to us to be anger and retaliation of Jesus at the Temple, our minds are troubled.  Jesus is kind, compassionate, gentle, and loving—just like His Father!  So why is this happening? 

John 2, The Message

Tear Down This Temple . . .

^13-14 When the Passover Feast, celebrated each spring by the Jews, was about to take place, Jesus traveled up to Jerusalem. He found the Temple teeming with people selling cattle and sheep and doves. The loan sharks were also there in full strength.

^15-17 Jesus put together a whip out of strips of leather and chased them out of the Temple, stampeding the sheep and cattle, upending the tables of the loan sharks, spilling coins left and right. He told the dove merchants, “Get your things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a shopping mall!” That’s when his disciples remembered the Scripture, “Zeal for your house consumes me.”

^18-19 But the Jews were upset. They asked, “What credentials can you present to justify this?” Jesus answered, “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”

^20-22 They were indignant: “It took forty-six years to build this Temple, and you’re going to rebuild it in three days?” But Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple. Later, after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered he had said this. They then put two and two together and believed both what was written in Scripture and what Jesus had said.

^23-25 During the time he was in Jerusalem, those days of the Passover Feast, many people noticed the signs he was displaying and, seeing they pointed straight to God, entrusted their lives to him. But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus loves like His Father.  The Temple was built as a safe, beautiful haven for God’s people to come to Him in prayer and receive word from Him.  The sins of His people were ceremoniously placed on the heads of animals as directed by God and then sacrificed as a offering to God.  This sacrifice was the way for God to “cover” over their sins with the blood of an animal.  So, when Jesus sees that The Temple had become anything but what it was meant to be, His love for God, His love for God’s place of worship for His people, along with the love of God’s people stirred within Him.  Jesus’ heart of protection for God’s people rose up within Him.  He saw for Himself how God’s people were being cheated by the riff-raff and carnival barkers trying to sell them “sacrifices” at gouged prices.  The Temple because a market place for the profit of individuals.

It was Jesus’ deep love for His Father and for God’s people that drove him to protect His people from this obvious threat of disrespect, distraction, and deception; that if left unnoticed would eventually result in destroying the purpose of God and His Temple.  There is nothing that will destroy God but the evil one opposed to God will do every thing in his limited power to bring destruction to the souls of God’s people.  Jesus knows this.  Jesus loves us so greatly that He will rise up to protect his own, giving His own life, to save us! 

Jesus has authority from God and is in consistent communication with God, the Father. It was the God in Jesus who had been angered by the idolatry of the courtyard carnies.  Our God is a compassionate Father who so loved the world that He gave us His Son as the once and for all sacrifice for our sins.  Our God so loved that He protects us from the evil one’s advances.  Our God so loved that he laid down the life of His One and Only Son so that we would receive eternal life when we believe and repent in Jesus’ Name.

Jesus is the Temple.  Jesus tells his opponents exactly what they will do later…try to destroy His mission to seek and to save lost people and reconcile (connect) them to God by killing his Body.  “Tear down this Temple and in three days I’ll put it back together.”  Jesus declares who He is but they do not recognize Him.  The scriptures point to Jesus as Messiah, but His very own do not accept Him.  The religious leaders only see brick and mortar but are blind to the Son of God standing right in front of them in power, authority, mixed with a love and compassion they have never known or experienced.

We are God’s Temple.  Upon believing that Jesus died to pay the debt of our own sins, repenting by asking for forgiveness, we are redeemed.  By believing that Jesus rose from death to life, victorious over death forever on that third day; we become His Temple of Hope where His Holy Spirit comes to reside.  “Remain in Me and I will remain in you,” says Jesus. 

Jesus is still cleaning out the Temples of our hearts!  Like a mother bear, God’s Holy Spirit will rise up within us to warn us again the evil schemes of this world meant to distract us from God.  God’s Holy Spirit is our Counselor who lives in us to confront us when the “chief among liars” attempts to deceive us with what looks right but is not of God. The Holy Spirit of God flashes warning lights in our minds when we prefer to think we can do life all by ourselves because we think our way is the best way without knowing what lies ahead.  His Holy Spirit protects us from destructive, negative thinking that is prompted by our real enemy. 

God’s Spirit, our Helper who lives within us protects, guides, comforts, draws us close in adversity, challenges us to learn and grow in our faith and teaches us how to love like God loves—sacrificially.

So, when we read this passage, I now think of the great love of Jesus.  Jesus loved enough to confront sin.  Jesus loved us enough to die for our sins.  Jesus loved His Father and His House enough to be “consumed with zeal” for God with protection for God’s people.  “Like Father, like Son.”

Lord,

This passage no longer bothers my heart for I see the love expressed by you for people wanting to worship you in spirit and in truth. I pray for your churches today to be on guard against the enemy who is in our midst trying to distract and deceive us within the walls of brick and mortar.  I pray that we would rise up when warned by Your Spirit to clean out the Temple of our hearts daily, removing all that is not You.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  I believe.  I will remain in You.  Come, Holy Spirit for you are welcome.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen

There are many biblical catch phrases we use in our English language today that many may not realize where they come from such as; “turn this water to wine then tell me how good you are” or “bless it to stretch it” meaning if we ask for God’s blessing on the amount of food we have hastily prepared for guests, maybe it will be enough.  Our attitudes border unholy thinking with a bit of arrogance thrown in.  Yikes!

Today we get the real story from John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, who saw Him turn water to wine at the request of Mary so that the hosts of a family wedding would not be disgraced for running out.  Weddings in that culture lasted more than a few hours.  The celebration might go on until the next day!  Guests would have traveled by foot to get there—like Jesus and his followers along with his mother, so the hosts must “have enough” to accommodate them.  At the urging of his mother, whose heart went out to the hosts who were probably family, Jesus intervened.  Everyone in the “know” that day learned that Jesus is truly more than enough for every life circumstance.

Jesus is the One who can and will provide more than enough as His Father God provides the power. According to John, this “act” was Jesus’ first miracle used to declare God’s glory and show his disciples who He really is; Son of God.  Mary already knew.

John 2, The Message

From Water to Wine

2 ^1-3 Three days later there was a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. Jesus and his disciples were guests also. When they started running low on wine at the wedding banquet, Jesus’ mother told him, “They’re just about out of wine.”

⁴ Jesus said, “Is that any of our business, Mother—yours or mine? This isn’t my time. Don’t push me.”

⁵ She went ahead anyway, telling the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”

^6-7 Six stoneware water pots were there, used by the Jews for ritual washings. Each held twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” And they filled them to the brim.

⁸ “Now fill your pitchers and take them to the host,” Jesus said, and they did.

^9-10 When the host tasted the water that had become wine (he didn’t know what had just happened but the servants, of course, knew), he called out to the bridegroom, “Everybody I know begins with their finest wines and after the guests have had their fill brings in the cheap stuff. But you’ve saved the best till now!”

¹¹ This act in Cana of Galilee was the first sign Jesus gave, the first glimpse of his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum along with his mother, brothers, and disciples, and stayed several days.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Whatever he tells you, do it.”  Mary has lived her days know who Jesus is from birth!  She knows His Father God as well as she knows His Son. She knows, without doubt, that God can do anything and that nothing is impossible with God.  Mary is devoted to God and His Son.  She has staked her upon believing in all that God says.  She watched as God provided for her family all these years.  Now, Jesus is coming into his own ministry—with followers who are learning from Him.  Mary knows Jesus can help, but the help must be done as God directs.  “Whatever He tells you, do it.”  This statement of command carries a strong, unflappable faith in Mary in the One who can. 

Weddings were an important part of Jewish culture. An entire village or town often participated in the festivities. Mary seems pushy, yes, but she knows Jesus well. Mary’s love for Jesus and for others is displayed by her request.  Why allow others to suffer humiliation when you know Who can help?

“Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.”

“Why would we go to a wedding?”  This might have been the question on the minds of Jesus’ new followers…is this a big deal?  Max Lucado offers: “I think so. I think it’s significant that common folk in a little town enjoyed being with Jesus. Jesus was a likable fellow. And his disciples should be the same. I’m not talking debauchery, drunkenness, and adultery. I’m not endorsing compromise, coarseness, or obscenity. I am simply crusading for the freedom to enjoy a good joke, enliven a dull party, and appreciate a fun evening.  Jesus wants us to rejoice and enjoy life. Celebrate!”

Just make sure there is more than enough food and drink!

But, let’s go deeper…remembering that all scripture, “old and new”, point to Jesus! 

Warren Wiersbe writes;

“Jesus would certainly have a special message here for His people, Israel. In the Old Testament, the nation is pictured as “married” to God and unfaithful to her marriage covenant (Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 2:2). The wine ran out, and all Israel had left were six empty waterpots! They held water for external washings, but they could provide nothing for internal cleansing and joy. In this miracle, Jesus brought fullness where there was emptiness, joy where there was disappointment, and something internal for that which was only external (water for ceremonial washings).

Whoa, let that settle in. Everything God does through His Son is significant for living our lives to the full!  Do you long for an abundant, joy-filled life to replace the emptiness you feel? God provides many verses in His Word to us about how to live life to the fill!  Here are a few:

“…Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land…” Deuteronomy 30:19-20 

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

With the knowledge of choice found in Deuteronomy we may wonder how exactly to follow through on that choice. The beautiful truth is that God clearly lays out the path of life for us. We are not left to guess His will for our lives. His very presence blesses us with fullness of joy and pleasures evermore. 

Remember, God’s idea of joy and eternal blessing is different from what the prosperity gospel teaches. It very well might be forged through times of fire in our lives. Remember also that God always without a doubt knows what is best for our hearts. He knows the path we will each take. As we walk through challenging seasons of life, we must not lose sight of the full life He longs to provide and will—because HE is the One who can and will.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1

“Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Since it is human nature to battle against self-worship, we are tempted to focus on the latter half of this verse which seems to promise that God will give us whatever our little heart’s desire.  Delight in the heart desires of God, then pray that God’s desires match our desires for He knows what we need most and knows what lies ahead.  As we grow in our relationship with the Lord, the closer we come near to Him to know Him better.  Our hearts begin to beat like His and our desires reflect what He would have for us.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:33

“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.’” Mark 8:34-35

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10 This is perhaps one of the best-known verses when it comes to the abundant life. Jesus clarifies what God wants for us versus what the enemy plans for us. Satan’s desire is for us to be destroyed, he has a target on our backs as believers. That is the cold hard truth. He will fight against us to distract, deceive, with allusions of what is best until the day we die.

The good news Jesus is the One who can and will always have the final victory. While our fullest life will be found in heaven, the promise of abundance plays into our time on earth as well. “My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.” 1 John 4:4-6

Or in the NIV— “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

So, like Mary said, ““Whatever he tells you, do it.”  This is our response to live life to the full.

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds.  Fill our emptiness with life to the full that can only be found in You.  Transform us from the waters of merely getting by in this world to the new wine of your salvation at work within us that produces the joy and peace of abundant living with You!  I’m listening, ready to do what you tell me.

In Jesus Name, Amen! Yes!  I believe! 

When a real person you know and trust who is not an actor in a commercial, tells you about a product they have used and how it benefitted their life, you believe.  You might be skeptical and ask questions, but if your questions are answered to your satisfaction, you believe.

Word of mouth is the best way to present something new.  Producers of new products know that.  Producers will give their new product, at no cost, to a few “reviewers” before mass production to see how they like it.  The reviewers test the product and readily tell their unbiased, honest opinion.  Production companies know that word of mouth is the best way to advertise a new product.  The “buzz” begins when a few influencers try it!  Producers know, without doubt, that getting the new product in the hands of consumers who will be honest and open is a solid investment that pays off!  “Come and try this, it really works and will do what it says it will do.”  “Come and see…I’ll show you how it works!”

“You heard it through the grapevine” …  Word of mouth, also called viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a story about a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and traditions transmitted by word of mouth through successive generations. Storytelling and oral tradition are forms of word of mouth that play important roles in folklore and mythology. Another example of oral communication is oral history—the recording, preservation, and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker. Oral history preservation is the field that deals with the care and upkeep of oral history materials collected by word of mouth, whatever format they may be in.

But, above all that, what happens when Someone you have heard about through oral tradition and history and have been waiting for all your life— “moves into your neighborhood”? 

“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 the Baptizer was the first to tell who Jesus was and why He came in one statement of Truth; “Here He is, God’s Passover Lamb.”  The rest is the history of how Jesus, Truth and Light, came to reconcile people back to God. 

Jesus, the Messiah, promised by God, talked about by His Prophets long ago, is here—Come and See for yourself!

John 1, The Message

Come, See for Yourself

^35-36 The next day John was back at his post with two disciples, who were watching. He looked up, saw Jesus walking nearby, and said, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb.”

^37-38 The two disciples heard him and went after Jesus. Jesus looked over his shoulder and said to them, “What are you after?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ He replied, “Come along and see for yourself.”

They came, saw where he was living, and ended up staying with him for the day. It was late afternoon when this happened.

^40-42 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John’s witness and followed Jesus. The first thing he did after finding where Jesus lived was find his own brother, Simon, telling him, “We’ve found the Messiah” (that is, “Christ”). He immediately led him to Jesus.

Jesus took one look up and said, “You’re John’s son, Simon? From now on your name is Cephas” (or Peter, which means “Rock”).

^43-44 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.)

^45-46 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.”

But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.”

⁴⁷ When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

⁴⁸ Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

⁴⁹ Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

^50-51 Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

As soon as Jesus was announced by John the Baptist as the One, word spread. 

It only took the word of John who believed relentlessly and unreservedly in Jesus as Messiah for others to believe. People believed John because he was a Truth teller who could be trusted.  In this short passage we get a ringside seat to see how the Word begins to spread like an untamed fire in a dry forest!  “We found the Messiah!”

• Andrew believed and quickly told his brother, Simon. 
• Phillip, from Andrew and Simon Peter’s hometown, interacted with Jesus and believed.  He told his brother Nathaniel, who needed a bit more convincing, so Jesus provided exactly what he needed.
• Four energetic young men with unique talents and abilities came to Jesus  because of John’s witness of Truth. 
• These men will leave their former life behind to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives.

John’s gospel shows us how the life-changing, life-transforming Good News of Jesus is spread to the world.  Life won’t be easy for these new believing followers but their investment pays off with their redemption of sins with the bonus of eternal life. When we follow up with the reading of the Acts of the Apostles (Disciples), we learn how word of mouth spreads the Truth of Jesus’ saving grace to thousands in a short period of time—because of the faithful Truth telling of Jesus’ obedient followers.  (See Acts) 

We begin where we are right now to tell the Truth, who is Jesus in us, with the same intensity and excitement as we would when a new product does what it says it would.  Truth telling is a matter of life or death for all we love and care for.  Come and see for yourselves, is our Truth.  “Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”—Jesus

So, come and see and believe, really believe, in the One who saves us and set us free!  Then go and tell …there is so much more to come!  Be the one who can be trusted with Truth then be a Truth teller!  We can only tell what we truly believe.

Lord,

The energy of this passage is explosive with love, excitement, dedication, and devotion to You.  You came to seek and to save the lost.  You moved into the neighborhood of humanity to show us how Truth loves, forgives, shows mercy and compassion, heals and helps.  You give hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless.  You show us the way back home and then You welcome us as we are into your family.  You don’t stop there.  You guide us to a better way to live that is pleasing to You and brings out your best in us!  You are amazing!  You are God!  You are Messiah who saved us from ourselves.  Give us boldness, energy, and the tenacity to go and tell others about You on a moment’s notice with your words of Truth flowing from us.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen.  I believe.

The term “advance man” was first used in 1925-1930.  The advance man, used as a noun is defined as an employee or close associate who makes arrangements, plans meetings with influential people, secures a safe environment, and handles publicity in advance of an appearance or engagement by the employer. Most known in the political world as those advance persons sent ahead of the candidate to cities and towns to explore the best ways and means of influencing people for support of the candidate. 

It was Billy Graham’s organization, however, that used this tactic as the Biblical way to advance the work of the Kingdom of God in evangelistic crusades attended by thousands for optimum success in reaching and teaching the lost!  “Advance men” were sent months ahead of a crusade planned for a certain city to form teams of people to help their salvation efforts.  These advance men would meet with local community leaders to train and encourage them to help the lost find and follow Jesus!  This training included learning the logistics of managing a crowd of individuals seeking to know Jesus after the call to repent was delivered by Billy Graham each evening.  Encouragement was given to help others know Jesus by allowing the Holy Spirit to lead them.  The advance men also recruited and trained men and women of the extreme importance of follow up in the lives of the new believers.  “Open your hearts and church doors to these new babes in Christ” with weekly encouragement to grow and mature in the faith so they won’t fall away and go back to the “old life”.

We discover that the idea of sending an advance man is not really a new concept.  This unique plan of advanced action was created by God who sent John the Baptizer as the “advance man” for Jesus, the Messiah.  John was born to be the advance man for Jesus!  Remember the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth?  (See Luke 1:5-19).  Zechariah was a Jewish high priest and the husband of Elizabeth. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah were very old and they were never able to have any children. In this passage, an angel tells Zechariah that he and Elizabeth are going to have a baby and to name him John. Later, Elizabeth gave birth to a son, John. As an adult, he was known as John the Baptist, who proclaimed that Jesus was coming—the advance man of God to prepare the way for His Son! 

Now, let’s dive in…

John 1, The Message

^6-8 There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.

^9-13 The Life-Light was the real thing:
    Every person entering Life
    he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
    the world was there through him,
    and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people,
    but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him,
    who believed he was who he claimed
    and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
    their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
    not blood-begotten,
    not flesh-begotten,
    not sex-begotten.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.”

^16-18 We all live off his generous abundance,
    gift after gift after gift.
We got the basics from Moses,
    and then this exuberant giving and receiving,
This endless knowing and understanding—
    all this came through Jesus, the Messiah.
No one has ever seen God,
    not so much as a glimpse.
This one-of-a-kind God-Expression,
    who exists at the very heart of the Father,
    has made him plain as day.

Thunder in the Desert

^19-20 When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest. He didn’t evade the question. He told the plain truth: “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They pressed him, “Who, then? Elijah?”

“I am not.”

“The Prophet?”

“No.”

²² Exasperated, they said, “Who, then? We need an answer for those who sent us. Tell us something—anything!—about yourself.”

²³ “I’m thunder in the desert: ‘Make the road straight for God!’ I’m doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.”

^24-25 Those sent to question him were from the Pharisee party. Now they had a question of their own: “If you’re neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet, why do you baptize?”

^26-27 John answered, “I only baptize using water. A person you don’t recognize has taken his stand in your midst. He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me. I’m not even worthy to hold his coat for him.”

²⁸ These conversations took place in Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing at the time.

The God-Revealer

^29-31 The very next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and yelled out, “Here he is, God’s Passover Lamb! He forgives the sins of the world! This is the man I’ve been talking about, ‘the One who comes after me but is really ahead of me.’ I knew nothing about who he was—only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”

^32-34 John clinched his witness with this: “I watched the Spirit, like a dove flying down out of the sky, making himself at home in him. I repeat, I know nothing about him except this: The One who authorized me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit come down and stay, this One will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ That’s exactly what I saw happen, and I’m telling you, there’s no question about it: This is the Son of God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

John was born with the sole purpose of preparing the way for Jesus, the Savior of the world.  God has a purpose and plan for each one of us!

John was born miraculously to an elderly couple who had given up bearing children.  We know, or should know, that God is in the miracle business.  “Nothing is too hard or impossible with God.”

“Call him John” said God’s angel to Zechariah.  This naming directive reminds us of Mary’s encounter with God’s angel, who said, “and His name will be Jesus.” 

Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin, a beloved family member who was probably the only person who would be able to understand Mary’s Holy Spirit pregnancy.  Think of the orchestration of God who provided encouragement and help to both devoted women of God by giving them each other! (I’m not crying…you’re crying!)

John knew his position and mission.  He was relentlessly focused on what God created him to be and do.  He was honest and open to the world.  He was not afraid of those who opposed him.  We can learn much from John’s character and behavior!

John lived a humble life, unrestrained, and traveled light.  He had a work to do and avoided anything that got in the way of that work given to Him by God.  He was “born to be wild”—wildly devoted to God who gave him life and meaning!  He was truly excited when John saw his cousin, Jesus, the Messiah, coming down the road.  He knew his days were coming to an end when he said, “He must increase; I must decrease.” 

Yes, later in John 3:30, John, the gospel writer, will share John, the Baptizer’s humble words; “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptist is talking about Jesus, saying his purpose in this world is to decrease. John, the Baptist realizes he has done the advance work according to God’s will and purpose.  Now, Jesus must increase in the work of seeking and saving the lost. Jesus saves.  John introduces them to the One who saves and redeems forever!  John the Baptist’s purpose in this world was to exalt Christ, not himself.

If you really think about it, as believers in Jesus we are the “advance men and women” to the lost-not-yet-saved of the world. But first, In Jesus Name, we pray for God’s Spirit to prepare hearts to receive Jesus!  We pray for opportunities to tell His story.  Don’t worry, God will provide them for it is not His desire that anyone should perish without Him!  We pray for boldness, courage, and clarity in telling; as led by His Spirit with the right words at the right time—because that’s what it means to be a “disciple” of Jesus.

Jesus calls and commands all disciples 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

Just as God was with John, the Baptizer and affirmed by Jesus, God’s Son, God is with us as wetell the Truth:  Jesus IS the Son of God, Messiah, the One who saves us from all our sins once and for all.  –And Jesus is coming back someday soon!

Lord,

It is inspiring and encouraging to read about your advance man, John, the Baptizer.  You take us deeper in to the story each time we read it and meditate on the significance of each role of the participants.  Thank you for teaching us that we all have purpose in you. Thank you for loving us the way you do for that teaches us to love well.  Thank you for John who introduced Jesus as the One and Only who removes the sins of the world who believes.  I pray for the lost around me who need to know you and for those reading this right now who want to grow in your love.  Help us.  Lead us.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen.  I believe.

What would it mean to you to be called “someone’s beloved”? What if it came from the lips of our Lord, Jesus?  What did Jesus mean when he called John “His beloved” disciple? As we begin to read the gospel of John, we will notice that the word, “beloved,” carries a great deal of responsibility for John. 

Recap of the gospels:  Matthew tells us about how the Son of Man fits into the history of the Jewish people with who Jesus is.  He is The Messiah promised who will fulfill everything about God’s Law to them.  Mark excitedly tells us the basic facts of Truth with meaningful concepts of Jesus’ teachings so we can become more like Jesus in following Him.  Luke proclaims how lost and downtrodden people are sought after with compassion and saved for eternity by Jesus’ touch, a word from God, while showing mankind the love of God. John takes us farther down the road of understanding God’s love with what it really means to be His Beloved.

Take notice as John impresses on the hearts of his readers to know love—like God loves them.  His entire, God-inspired writing is so that others may believe Jesus and follow in the way Jesus loves.  His goal is for us to know God, for only then will we know the real, relentless, unconditional, never changing love found only by knowing God.  God is Love.  In fact, it is John who tells us how God demonstrated His Love for us: “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—the most quoted verse in the world!

John is the one who clarifies why Jesus came to earth with the verses that follows: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17

Towards the end of John’s gospel, he declares, once more, his purpose for writing as inspired by God: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

Two major themes for John:  So that we would know the love of God and so that we would be believe in Jesus.  Hold that thought as we read about Jesus through the eyewitness of John—about Jesus, who knew us and loved us so much He died and rose again for us— “just as He said He would.” 

At the foot of the cross of Jesus, John is given the greatest responsibility of all—”When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”  John 19:26

John is writing of himself.  John’s devoted love was proven to known by Jesus with this act of compassionate love.  John, the beloved of Jesus was trusted to become Mary’s beloved son.  John would care for the earthly mother of Jesus for the rest of Mary’s  days on earth.  Jesus trusted the love of John!  What an amazing snapshot of John’s love for Jesus and Jesus’ love for John and Mary!  Yes, this is a precious moment between Jesus and John.

We who love Jesus with all that is in us love because Jesus first loved us!  We who believe what Jesus did to demonstrate God’s Love for us by dying for our sins and rising a victor over death for eternity so that we would have eternal life only then begin to realize the depth and breadth of God’s Love.  Love is a responsible response to God’s relentless Love of us.  We, too, are His beloved who experience His love, knowing the full extent of His love.  God’s Love is expressed in those precious moments when He intervenes on our behalf to show us His Love. 

This is what John wants us to know and believe.  Let us begin—

John 1, The Message

The Life-Light

^1-2 The Word was first,
    the Word present to God,
    God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
    in readiness for God from day one.

^3-5 Everything was created through him;
    nothing—not one thing!—
    came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
    and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
    the darkness couldn’t put it out.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

As much as our words reveal to others our hearts and minds, so Jesus Christ is God’s “Word” to reveal His heart and mind to us. According to John, and is repeated, Jesus is the Light that the darkness of this world cannot extinguish. The “Life-Light” is still blazing a trail to our darkened hearts to reveal Truth.

Jesus was there with God at the beginning of Creation.  Jesus is “Alpha and Omega,” John writes in Revelation 1:8, the beginning and the end.  According to Hebrews 1:1-3, Jesus Christ is God’s last Word to mankind, for Jesus is the climax of divine revelation.

John explains The Light who is opposed to darkness.

God is light (1 John 1:5), while Satan is “the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). People love either the light or the darkness, and this love controls their actions (1 John 3:16–19). Those who believe on Christ are the “sons of light” (John 12:35, 36). Just as the first creation began with “Let there be light!” so the new creation begins with the entrance of light into the heart of the believer (2 Corinthians 4:3–6).

The coming of Jesus Christ into the world was the dawning of a new day for sinful man (Luke 1:78, 79).  Truth made flesh.  This is the beginning of “all things made new” through our decision to believe, repent, and follow Jesus who made all things new for us by His sacrificial act of love.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus declares The Light: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”—Jesus, John 8:12

May the Love-Light be found in us today. 

Lord,

Thank you for bring the light of Truth into a world of darkness.  You not only shed light but you dispel darkness.  When Light enters, darkness flees for it is no match for you!  Thank you for loving us so much that you created a plan from the beginning to save us.  Cleanse our hearts, remove all the darkness with your Light of Truth.  Renew our minds, refresh our souls with knowledge of You.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Thank you for the peace that comes from knowing and following you.

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen.  I believe.

My husband has had medical issues more than once that compelled us to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.  As soon as the emergency personal hear of his heart history, they snap to attention and proceed without haste with the procedures of life saving protocols.  Although my heart is pounding and my mind reeling, peace comes as soon as I know he is being cared for by life-saving professionals. Then I wait.

As I wait, I pray God’s guidance for the ones who will care for him.  I also pray for Randy’s peace while they do what must be done.  Saving a life requires training as well as a knowing what tools and procedures are best for this person at the appropriate time.  Ah, and time is so precious.  Seconds and minutes cannot be wasted in indecision.  So, I pray, knowing God is our ever-present help.

Medical emergencies bring on roller coasters of emotions that overwhelm our thoughts.  We are less than able to make decisions, wondering about food to eat or clothes to wear, because at that time in that place all our focus is on the one whose life needs to be saved.  It occurs to me that the same urgency for lost souls should be our focus today!

Imagine the emotions of these followers, dearly beloved friends, of Jesus who watched him suffer and die a cruel death on a cross of shame.  Even though He told them it would happen, they were too fearful and sad to understand that this sacrificial act on Jesus’ part was fulfilling Scripture.  Their grief overtakes their memories of Jesus’ words to them about how He must do this to save the world!  It occurs to me that not one person is recorded as saying, “It’s okay, this isn’t the end, remember Jesus said he would come back to life in three days…so, wait for it…”  Instead, they are broken hearted and feel hopeless.

Then on the third day, Jesus is risen. The women see Him first, hear His voice, and run to tell the Good News!  But the hearers of the news do not believe at first.  Peter must check it out so he runs immediately to see an empty grave but then is more confused.  Jesus appears later to two men walking and talking on the road to Emmaus, going over all the details of his death without realizing the risen Jesus has appeared on the road with them!  Their eyes open to Truth as Jesus prays over the meal in their home.  Imagine the new emotions that rise up in these men!  Hope replaces grief!  Joy replaces sadness. They run to tell the Eleven who are hiding out.  And as they tell their story of Jesus, Jesus appears right on cue to verify the Truth.  Truth has risen and Hope is restored.

And “YOU will be my witnesses!” says Jesus.  This is the message: You will proclaim a “total life-change through the forgiveness of sins” in my Name. 

FINAL WORDS…

But that’s not all!  We will need Help.  Jesus tells them to wait, be still, and stay where they are for another powerful gift.  Yes, there’s a new Wind blowing that will come to equip them with power from God to each believer.  Their witness work will be delivered in power by God’s Holy Spirit who will now reside in them!  Wow!  His Spirit will give us the words to say…just ask Peter!  (See Acts 1 and 2)

Now imagine their emotions as they watch Jesus blessing them as He ascends into the heavens on His way back to His Father!  The emotion of unspeakable joy, full of the glory of God, overtakes them and drives them to their knees in worship of Him.  Oh, what a Savior!  There is no one like our God!  What He says, He will do!  He has restored Life for eternity!

Luke 24, The Message

You’re the Witnesses

⁴⁴ Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”

^45-49 He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”

^50-51 He then led them out of the city over to Bethany. Raising his hands he blessed them, and while blessing them, made his exit, being carried up to heaven.

^52-53 And they were on their knees, worshiping him. They returned to Jerusalem bursting with joy. They spent all their time in the Temple praising God. Yes.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

This same Jesus who died and rose again in front of many eye witnesses saves our souls as we come to Him with believing, repentant hearts.  His life-saving protocol is this: Jesus sets us free as soon as we ask for His forgiveness.  His Holy Spirit rushes in to reside in our hearts, minds, and souls to begin the work of transforming our behaviors to match who we say we believe.  We cannot do this work alone.  We need a Savior.  We need the gift of God’s Holy Spirit that delivers the power to change and the power to tell others. 

Once we believe, really believe that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do through His Son, Jesus, His love becomes who we are and His Spirit leads what we do.

How do I know?  I believe.  I am not perfect but I know I am perfectly forgiven.  I know of His great power that flows through me when I tell the story of Jesus.   His power is at work within me, even now, as I write this in Jesus Name for His glory and pray for those who will read it. I am a witness of His life-saving love, mercy, and grace in me. 

Believe and be saved.  Then go and tell…

Many are in the ER of lostness and life and we must tell them how to have Life restored!

Lord,

Cleanse our hearts, remove all that offends you.  Renew our minds that transforms our behaviors with power!  Refresh our souls with your new mercies for today.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us daily.  You are God.  I believe.  I trust you, dear Jesus.  Thank you for being with us always as we go and tell in Your Name.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Each one of us have certain ways about us that make us recognizable–even from a distance.  Maybe it is distinguishable gait in our walk.  Perhaps it is the way we use our hands as we talk that sets us apart from others.  Maybe it’s the particular way we inflect our words as we use our body language to express our ideas or comment on the issues of the day.  Maybe it is how we eat or dress ourselves.  No matter what it might be, everything about us is distinctive with God-created characteristics that are not exactly like anyone else.

I remember waiting breathlessly excited that day for our son to get off the military transport plane with hundreds of other soldiers after a six-month deployment in a faraway land.  The plane had landed to cheers of a huge crowd of family members waiting their arrival.  These men and women had been missed by those who loved them dearly!  We cheered again when the ramp of stairs was put into place.  We cheered louder as the doors opened wide and military persons began making their descent down the steps. 

Then it dawned on us; in this huge crowd of people, how will we recognize our son who is dressed in military garb just like his comrades?  My husband said not to worry—he has that walk—like your dad.  True.

We craned our necks as we held up our welcome home signs as a family.  We searched the crowds for a glimpse of our son (and his walk) when suddenly he appeared in our midst!  “Hello!”  We couldn’t believe it—here he is in the flesh, standing our circle!  He saw us from the top steps, put his eyes on us, and walked right through the crowd and found us before we had our eyes on him.  Tears of joy flowed. Words of thanks said to God for his safe return, followed by tight hugs from everyone.  Our son is home with his family who loves him most.  We see him, feel him, and recognize him as our own who has come home alive and well.  What we longed for finally happened!

Jesus said He would rise from the dead in three days—and He did!  But His beloved still had a hard time believing it!  Jesus appeared to the two broken hearted men who walked on the road to Emmaus; but they did not recognize Jesus until He broke bread with them in their home.  Was it how He twisted the bread in a certain way or how Jesus prayed as He did it that opened their eyes to recognition of Jesus whom they had seen crucified? Or could be it was God’s timing and Jesus’ obedience to His timing. These are human thoughts of wonder, but the Truth is this:  Jesus is alive in the same Body that was beaten and nailed to a cross.  He has the scars to prove it. 

Those who believe, really believe, now see Him for who He is—Savior and Lord!

Luke 24, The Message

A Ghost Doesn’t Have Muscle and Bone

^33-34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!”

³⁵ Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.

^36-41 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.

^41-43 He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus, Son of Man/Son of God, has certain characteristics and ways about Him that are like no other human who lived on earth:

• Jesus was without sin but placed all the sins of the world, yours and mine, upon his shoulders and nailed them to the cross—once and for all. 
• Jesus is perfect in love for God is love and they are One. 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.
• Jesus willingly gave His life for ours.  He had the power to walk away but chose to stay—for you and for me.
• Jesus is the One and Only Way to come to God.  “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” –Jesus, John 14:6
• Jesus said and did as God directed with each encounter with people on earth.  “For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.” John 12:49 
• “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.” John 5:19-20
• Jesus came to serve and who led his followers to serve.  “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28
• Jesus’ compassion was shown in His healings.  Jesus’ passion was shown as He laid down His life for ours.  Jesus demonstrated the full extent of His love as he knelt down in a servant posture to wash the dirty feet of His followers—even the feet of His betrayer!  John 13
• Jesus has all authority to be God in the flesh and save all who believe in Him.
• Jesus is the Prince of Peace who gives peace to us as a gift.  “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27
• Jesus is greater than our sin, our enemy, and ourselves.  “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.  1 John 4:4 Jesus is love, mercy, and grace who forgives our sins and makes us holy before him and reconnects us to God.  We cannot do that for ourselves.

Jesus walked and talked just like His Dad.  This is what makes Jesus distinctive and recognizable from all others who walked the earth.  There is no one like Jesus.  There is no one like our God!

Recognize Jesus for who He really is—Son of God! Believe, repent, and be saved for eternity with Him.

Lord,

I could spend all day listing your characteristics of your love, mercy, and grace!  You are Savior and Lord of those who believe.  I believe!  I really believe what you say is truth.  I am grateful for you.  Thank you for forgiving me and cleansing my heart of all that entangles my thinking and behaving.  Renew my minds, transform my behaviors.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within me.  Remove all that is not you.  Help me to be more like you and less like me.  Use what you have created in me as distinct  for your glory, honor and praise!

In Jesus Name, Amen

Believing gives us hope and confidence.  But it is hard to fully believe while living in a world driven by getting by or getting ahead attitudes based on half-truths or almost truths as the way we see life now. Humans want to believe what we are told about a new product that will make us look good, smell better, give us confidence, and “make life easier.” But the product or person does not deliver so we have wasted time and funds pursuing it.

We want to believe in new and growing relationships.  We want to believe in the new friend who says they love us and would never betray us with talking smack behind our backs.  But then we soon learn of the gossip and are dismayed.  We want to believe family members who say they love and respect us but then betrayal occurs and our belief in them is challenged as our hearts break.  We may forgive, but our memories cause us to be cautious.

We want to believe institutions who hold and manage our investments to keep our hard-earned monies safe.  But then mismanagement causes losses and we lose trust in all institutions. We want to believe church people, knowing full well that no one is perfect.  We want to believe when they say they love us and simply want us to come be a part of their group—all for the sake of the Kingdom.  But then we discover some people just want to see what we can do for them with the goal of becoming like them, following in their imperfections, so they will feel condoned and justified. 

Jesus, The Great Physician has a diagnosis for this:  You have forgotten your “first love.”  (Revelation 2:4) Wounded but not destroyed, we look for a place to worship with those who simply believe with obedient hearts, eager to live Jesus.  We look for a gathering who know we are all a work in progress but at the same time we do not settle for merely condoning and getting by.  Instead, we strive and begin to thrive through continual examinations of our hearts, asking for God’s help to grow in His Truth while bearing the fruits of His Holy Spirit—His character traits developing in us.

We want to trust God in all life circumstances until—what we expected to happen didn’t happen.  We blame God when we do not understand.  We blame others in our pathway.  We blame circumstances and offer excuses because we humans think there is a solution for every problem, a reason for every occurrence, and an explanation that we must offer.

Hope, trust, faith and love are challenged.  For some hope is shattered.  Trust escapes.  Darkness overcomes the Light.  Love is lost.  And the greatest of these is love.

We have trouble simply believing because of betrayal, disillusionment, and despair coupled with the fear produced in our current circumstances that seem impossible to understand.  Panic sets in for what lies ahead in a world that is harsh and unkind and cannot be trusted.  We forget for a time Jesus’ words that warned us that this world is led by a dark prince who works overtime to distract and deceive, with the goal of destroying our faith in the One and Only who saved us and set us free from our sins.

But there is Good News!  Jesus appears to the dismayed, confused, and dishearten to bring understanding.  He turns dark back to Light.  He opens our eyes to see from His higher place with a Love that is deeper, greater, relentless, and completely reliable because He is The King of kings and The Lord of lords.  We recall all that Jesus taught us and with His help, we begin to put it all together.  Jesus is Truth.  There is no denying, Truth.  Truth accomplished exactly what God told Him to do.  Truth has come to set us free from this world of lies. Truth’s fire of faith and confidence burns once more within us and we simply believe.  And Hope is restored. 

Luke 24, The Message

The Road to Emmaus

^13-16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.

^17-18 He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”

They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”

^19-24 He said, “What has happened?”

They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”

^25-27 Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.

^28-31 They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.

³² Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

On the Emmaus Road—

Notice that Jesus didn’t jump into the conversation with “Surprise, here I am!”  Instead, He asked what was on their hearts and uppermost in the minds.  Jesus knew of course, but had them go back over the details so they could hear themselves speak of what just happened.  Maybe this was a way of measuring their belief barometers as they tried to unravel the events.

Jesus asks us where we are in our faith journey by prodding us to go over what we know currently so He can lead us to Truth.  He does that with these men. Notice how Jesus led them to tell the whole story.  They tell who Jesus was with who was against Jesus.  Then their belief barometer spikes when they tell Jesus who Jesus was to them.  These confused, perplexed, brokenhearted men shared how all their hope was in Jesus, but now He is gone—even His Body is gone!  They are not only confused; they are hopeless without Jesus!

Ah, a great place to begin! Jesus walks beside them and guides them back to Truth as written by the prophets.  Jesus began with Moses, showing them that ALL of scripture is and always has been about Jesus!  When Jesus speaks, we are drawn to the One who is Truth because we long for Truth—we’re empty without Jesus!

Upon breaking bread, their eyes are opened, and they see Jesus!  And there He is—The living, breathing Word of God, the Word who became flesh and walked among them, the One who died and rose again, defeating death and has the scars to prove it, is sitting and breaking bread at a meal with them.  They see Him as the One who saved them just as He said He would.  Hope is restored as Jesus reveals Truth. 

Ah, and when He spoke, “did you feel the fire within us as He opened up Scripture to us?”  Yes, Truth has a way of doing that.

“This is my Son with Whom I AM well pleased”— “Listen to Him.” –God (Matthew 17:5)

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, (Turn from the world)

Look full in His wonderful face (Focus on Truth)

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim (Truth replaces confusion)

In the Light of His glory and grace. (Truth is revealed and forever is Truth)

Lord,

Thank you for Your Word. Thank you, Holy Spirit for opening our eyes to the Truth your Word reveals to us each day.  Cleanse our hearts.  Remove all obstacles between you and us.  Renew our minds.  Transform our behaviors as a result.  Turn all confusion to holy confidence in You.  Refresh our souls with your new mercies, fresh for each new day.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  Thank you for saving our souls. Thank you for being with us always.  I believe.  I simply believe.

In Jesus Name, Amen

First thought:  What just happened? 

When death comes to someone we love dearly, I have noticed that a certain way about us takes over all our senses in those first moments as this life leaves earth. I believe God has built into a believers’ being a kind of “shock absorber” of strength, calm assurance, with a resolve to do what is necessary to take care of the circumstance at hand as the grief mounts in our broken hearts. 

God provided this for me when first my mom and then later my dad passed from this life to Jesus’ arms.  I held their hands until their lives left here and was restored for eternity there.  But then comes all the arrangements and paperwork detail that follow a death in the family.  This begins within the hour of a person’s death and most times in our country is not fully resolved for up to a year later.  The after-death care is almost as hard as the initial passing.  But God’s strength and wisdom mounts as the believer is assured and guided.  He provides more than we can imagine.

After a few months, with most end-of-life tasks completed, flashbacks flood memories.  We watch “movies” of their lives in our thoughts of all they used to say to us, all they did for us, with episodes of life with them that made us laugh and cry. We remember.  It is good to remember.  Memories honor the one missed.  But then the grief can grow to dishearten us as it begins to take up residence in our thoughts.  Grief comes in like waves hitting the shore.  We know it will come; but we are still surprised with it smacks us from behind, seemingly without notice.  When the waves try to overwhelm us as they do; believers must remember Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”  (Matthew 5:4)

God is there, softens the blow, and assures us once more, that He is with us always and will be our strength.  Those crashing waves are replaced by sacred moments of comfort from our God who so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son so that all who believed in Him would not perish but be saved for eternity.

We see this “shock absorber” built into the women who diligently sat or stood at the foot of the cross, unrattled from the earthquake and darkness, undeterred from the mocking of the passersby.  They remained until Jesus’ earthly body breathed His last breath.  Of course, they were mournful, fearful of the unknown, wondering what to do next.  Then they saw that God provided a merciful man of importance who was able to finally take the humbled, bloodied Body of Jesus down from the cross of shame.  With dignity this Joseph wrapped the Body in linen cloths.  The women did not walk away but followed close behind to see where the men would lay his Body.  Once they knew, they went home to not only prepare for Sabbath as commanded but to prepare the spices for His burial as an act of love. 

Soon, very soon, these women will experience a very sacred moment with their Savior and Lord.  They will begin to remember the words, among many, that Jesus taught that day on the mountain top and at other times and will resonant in their memories; “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

Luke 24, The Message

Looking for the Living One in a Cemetery

24 ^1-3 At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.

^4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

^9-11 They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.

¹² But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God knows exactly what we need when we need it most.  Jesus’ sermon on the mount as theologians like to call it is packed with wisdom, encouragement, and comfort, along with life lessons that guide us in the ways of God that bring us peace and joy.  Jesus’ followers have these precious words in their memory banks. When will they remember?

Jesus suffered, died, and rose again, exactly what He said.  Jesus told his closest followers more than once; “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Luke 9:22  And now it has happened.  But the mourning over his death and the fear of what a Roman soldier can do has taken over most of his followers’ thinking.  They have forgotten about the “third day,” the best part of the message!

On that third day, the women come to place where they knew they had laid Him.  They wonder how they will roll the heavy stone away from the entrance but they soon discover that it has been done for them.  God provides another gift to these faithful women who loved Jesus well.  They experienced a holy, sacred moment with the angels of God who reminded them of what Jesus had said; “and on the third day, I will rise up from the dead.”  Their mourning turned to joy for He has risen—just as He said! 

The “shock absorber” of comfort that attended their grief was now replaced by Jesus’ victory over death with an urgency to tell others this Good News!

God gives us sacred moments with Him when we need it most.  Jesus’ words on the mountain top show and tell us how He provides.  We must listen and watch expectantly for God who is always at work for us.  God provides sacred moments in our lives that turn to sacred delights as He teaches us when walk and talk with Him.  This wonderful relationship with God is fully provided for us by His Son, Jesus, who reconciled (reconnected) us back to the God who loved us first.

Concerning the words Jesus said on the Mountain, Max Lucado writes—

“Sacred delight is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It’s what you’d always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. It’s having God as your pinch-hitter, your lawyer, your dad, your biggest fan, and your best friend. God on your side, in your heart, out in front, and protecting your back. It’s hope where you least expected it: a flower in life’s sidewalk.

It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is a delight because it thrills. Since it is sacred, it can’t be stolen. And since it is delightful, it can’t be predicted.

It was this gladness that danced through the Red Sea. It was this joy that blew the trumpet at Jericho. It was this secret that made Mary sing. It was this surprise that put the springtime into Easter morning.

It is this sacred delight that Jesus promises in the Sermon on the Mount.

Nine times he promises it. And he promises it to an unlikely crowd:

“The poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . the meek . . . those who hunger and thirst . . . the merciful . . . the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers . . . those who are persecuted . . .” (Matthew 5:3–10).

It is to this band of pilgrims that God promises a special blessing. A heavenly joy. A sacred delight.” –Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Jesus, the Living One, lives forever as our advocate to God as Savior and Lord.  God gives us sacred moments of special delights as we trust in Him.  The women are the first to experience the sacred in the empty tomb.

Don’t forget the message God’s angels gave of great importance to all the women who came to serve; “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.”  Imagine the scene; Upon hearing the news, the women left immediately with bowls of spices left upturned and rolling aimlessly on the ground, to “go and tell”—Jesus is ALIVE!

Mark tells us Jesus appeared first to one the devoted, grateful women who had served Him with all her heart— “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.”  Mark 16:9 What a sacred moment for Mary who was healed and made whole by Jesus with whom she had placed her life.

So, our memories are given to us to remind us how God has brought us through it all on this journey on earth.  Memories are not a place to set up camp.  They are precious sacred moments of thoughts that comfort and challenge us to move forward to what God has next for us.  “He is our ever-present help,” the Psalmist reminds us. (Psalm 46:1)

I praise God for the memories of my grandparents, parents and others that affected my life in so many ways.  But I praise God most of all for the sacred moments with Him that only He can provide in the good times and the challenging times.  “And lo, I am with you always—until the end of the age.”—Jesus (Matthew 28:20)

Lord,

Thank you for your comfort, mercy, grace, and help that comes from a love that is limitless and unconditional.  You are God.  There is no one like you.  Thank you for helping us to remember your Word when we are faced with mourning over loss.  Thank you for your voice that whispers wisdom to our hearts as others clamor for our attention.  I trust you, dear Jesus.  You are Life everlasting!

In Jesus Name, Amen