Month: August 2022

John 21:15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Here, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him and three times gave him the directive to feed and care for His sheep. Some posit that it was necessary for Jesus to say this three times for Peter to fully understand that Jesus still has a plan and a use for him in His kingdom, even after his repeated denial.

John 21:16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The thing that gets me here, that makes Peter so relatable to me, is that after Jesus gives him a specific directive (“Follow me”), Peter’s response is not to accept the invitation but to ask about Jesus’s plans for another disciple. Was this because he was nervous about what Jesus was calling him to? Was he jealous? Was he afraid? Was he hesitant to commit and therefore deflecting?

John 21:17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

Lord, I fully believe that You have a plan for each of us, something that could be accomplished in other ways but that You uniquely created us to do. Help me to dedicate myself to Your call for me and not to worry about the ways in which You are calling others. Help me to bring You praise and glory always. Amen.

John 21:20-21 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them….When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Have a blessed day.

John 19:4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”

I wonder if, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, Pilate ever thought about these moments, his role, what he did and could have done differently. Did he beat himself up for failing to act? Did he learn a lesson from his inaction and do differently in the future? Did Jesus’s death have any effect?

John 19:6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

How and how often am I guilty of the same things as Pilate, having the ability to act and failing to do so? What causes me to act this way? Fear? Ignorance? Jealousy? Anger?

John 19:8-9 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

Lord, Help me to act when I have the ability to positively affect a situation. Help me to love and not doubt or fear or hate. Help me to be Your hands and feet in this world, to have Your heart, to love and serve as You do. Amen.

John 19:10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

Have a blessed day.

John 17:4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

Lord, Empty me of myself, of the desire for earthly recognition and accomplishment, of the anger and bitterness that creeps in when I feel unrecognized and unappreciated. Help me.

John 17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.

Empty me of myself and fill me with Your love, Your mercy, Your compassion. Help me to seek only to glorify Your name and comfort Your people. Please, Lord. Help me.

John 17:11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

As I start this new day, new school year, new opportunity, help me to lay my earthly desires, cares, and concerns at Your feet. Help me to humble myself before You. Help me to strive only to glorify Your name and love Your people. Help me, Lord. Amen.

John 17:13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

Have a blessed day.

John 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.

The terrible things humans do in the name of God…. That’s what comes to mind when I read verse 2. I’m as guilty as everyone else of injustices in God’s name: judgements, anger, bitterness, hate. Jesus forgive me. Help me to love like You do.

John 16:22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

There are so many paradoxes described in this chapter: grief and joy, hope and despair, support and desolation. Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples, prepare us for the trials of this world: Be careful when you think you are doing the right thing in My name. If it’s not love, it’s not of Me. Hold on in your grief. Joy will come again. Don’t worry that I’m facing trials alone. God is with me. I am with you.

John 16:32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

Lord, Thank You for the reminders, the hope, the encouragement in this chapter. Thank You for understanding what my heart and mind can absorb and endure. Thank You that You will turn my grief into joy, that You are with me, even in trials. Draw me ever closer. Amen.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Have a blessed day.

John 15:4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Years ago, I used to keep an index card at my desk that said, “Abide in Christ.” It was a reminder that I needed to stay rooted and grounded in Christ throughout my day. I feel like I do a pretty fair job of that in the mornings with my coffee and my daily Bible study, but the world’s pull is so strong during the day it’s easy to get sidetracked.

John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

However, my reading this morning reminds me that abiding in Christ means keeping His commandments, chief of which is to love one another as He loves us—fiercely completely, sacrificially, without reservations. I’m not perfect at that by any means, but I definitely think my capacity to love others and my love of others have both increased over the years.

John 15:10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

Lord, I want more than anything to abide in You and keep Your commandments. Thank You for the understanding that maybe I’m on the right path, even though I end up in the ditch sometimes. Help me to abide in You every second of every day. Help me to love Your people, all Your people, as You love me and them—fiercely completely, sacrificially, without reservations. Amen.

John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Have a blessed day.

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

Verse 1 and verse 27 of John 14 both speak to a peaceful, untroubled heart. What a beautiful image that is. For someone like me—always running through “what if” scenarios, always trying to plan for problems, always worrying about everything—peace is often in short supply. I want an untroubled heart.

John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

Jesus tells the disciples several things in this chapter to shore up their untroubled hearts—He is going to prepare a place for them, He is not leaving them as orphans, He is leaving them an Advocate, a Helper, He is coming back for them. I wonder if it was any easier for the disciples to have untroubled hearts because they heard all of this firsthand? I’m betting it wasn’t.

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Lord, You want an untroubled heart for me. I want an untroubled heart for myself. You’ve laid out all the reasons why an untroubled heart is mine for the taking. And yet…I still worry and fret, moving far, far away from an untroubled heart. Forgive me. Help me. Draw me closer. Amen.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Have a blessed day.

John 13:5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Lord, Thank You for helping me to see that I am like Peter and not in a good way. I, too, have trouble accepting, receiving Your love and grace. I feel I need to earn it in some way, to do something to be worthy of it, but that is not Your way. To fully be Your beloved child, I have to be willing to accept being served with the same grace that I accept serving others. That is really hard for me, and I’ve never seen the connection to pride involved here until this moment.

John 13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

It’s not lost on me, Lord, that Peter tries to dictate Your sacrificial service even in this supreme act of love by insisting that You wash not only his feet but all of him. I see myself in that action, too, Lord, when I try to tell You how to go about things. I don’t mean to imply conditional obedience or lack of humility, but I can absolutely see how those actions are still trying to maintain control. Forgive me.

John 13:7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Lord, You’ve been working on my heart in the areas of pride and humility for a long time. Thank You for the deeper level of understanding that I have after today’s reading and studying. Root out all the pride in my heart, Lord, and help me to be only Your humble servant. Amen.

John 13:8-9 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Have a blessed day.

John 12:4-5 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.”

In today’s scripture we see a bit more of the true nature of Judas Iscariot. He objects to Mary’s anointing of Jesus because he, Judas, is a thief, helping himself to the money in the treasury entrusted to him. This, for me, raises all sorts of questions. Jesus knows Judas’s heart. He knows his character. He knows his ultimate betrayal.

John 12:6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

So why does Jesus put Judas in the position to eventually betray Him? Why does He break bread with him, pray with him, trust him? Is there a lesson here about redemption or a reinforcement of the idea that evil can be used to accomplish good? What am I supposed to do with Jesus’s love of Judas, despite the fact that 1. Judas seems an unsavory character and 2. Judas is going to betray Jesus?

John 12:7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

Lord, I feel like there is something here—in the character of Judas or in his inclusion with the disciples, in Your love of him even though You know Judas will betray You—there is something here that You are trying to show me, trying to help me see, but I don’t know what it is. Help me to understand what You are whispering to my heart. Show me Your wisdom. Help me to glorify You. Amen.

John 12:8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Have a blessed day.