Month: August 2022

John 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

Jesus clearly loves Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. He was not withholding healing out of spite or malice or to make Himself look good. He was completing the will of the Father, working in His (the Father’s) time and for His (the Father’s) glory.

John 11:2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)

Did the sisters understand that Jesus loved them but that He was working in and through the Father’s timing? Were their comments (“if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”) sorrowful? frustrated? accusatory?

John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

Lord, Grief and pain are so difficult. Thank You for loving us even during the hard times, especially then. Waiting on Your timing can be so painful. Help us to cling to You in love and support during these agonizing times and always. Help us to wait patiently on the glory of the Lord. Amen.

John 11:4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

Have a blessed day.

John 10:1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

The Pharisees and religious leaders are all about following the arbitrary rules that they assigned to scripture, the Sabbath, etc. Here, Jesus is reinforcing that, yes, there are rules, but they aren’t yours and they aren’t arbitrary.

John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.

This scripture also seems to speak to familiarity with the Shepherd. It implies a relationship between sheep and Shepherd, an intentional relationship that is cultivated to the point that the sheep recognize and trust the voice of the Shepherd.

John 10:8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.

Lord, Thank You for the reminder that You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Thank You for the reminder that I need to cultivate a personal, intentional relationship with You daily. Draw me closer. Amen.

John 10:9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

Have a blessed day.

John 9:14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.

I am a rule follower. The Pharisees and religious leaders are also rule followers, rule creators, rule enforcers, but somewhere along the way, creating and enforcing rules became more important to them than the reasons for the rules in the first place. Breaking rules was perceived as being about disrespect for the authority of the rule creators instead of about mercy and compassion for the people.

John 9:16a Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

For me, today’s scripture seems to have practical applications for my return to work as a new school year always means new rules and routines, new ways of operating and cooperating. I’m not so good with new and with change. I’m rather like the Pharisees, grumbling at Jesus for breaking their precious, sacred Sabbath rules—a comparison and admission that both shocks and saddens me.

John 9:16b …But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Lord, As I return to the classroom next week, help me to be merciful and compassionate both to those I work for and those I work with. Help me to enforce necessary rules while still showing mercy, love, and compassion to my fellow human beings. Help me to be more like Jesus. Amen.

John 9:22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.

Have a blessed day.

John 8:3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group….

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were using this woman as a pawn in their quest to trap Jesus. That’s not to say that the woman wasn’t guilty of sin. She was. That’s to say that for the teachers and the Pharisees, this was not about bringing a sinner back to God, it was about trapping Jesus.

John 8:4 …and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

Jesus, however, cares about the woman. His motivation is return and restoration. He knows why the teachers and Pharisees have set this up, but He focuses on what He can affect—the woman and her standing in sin and with God.

John 8:5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

Lord, We have a choice daily. We can use people as pawns, as means to a self-serving end, or we can try to love people and point them to You. Help me always choose love. Amen.

John 8:6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

Have a blessed day.

John 7:6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

Today’s scripture talks about Jesus’s timing a lot and has me thinking about God’s timing for my life. I believe He has a plan for my life and a timeline. I also believe that, like GPS, He can get me back on track when I stray from His plan.

John 7:8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

I’ve heard “not yet” when it comes to something that I think is a good move for me but is not in His timing. And I think, perhaps, this message today is directly related to the longings I’m currently experiencing—I’m not where I feel like I should be, not where I want to be, yet I am exactly where He needs me at this moment.

John 7:18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

Lord, I love my family, my home, my work, those I work with and for. You know my heart on these things. So this “end of summer, shifting back to work” blues I’m struggling with is brutal and obnoxious. I hear You whispering to my heart to trust Your plan, trust Your timing. Wrap me in Your peace and help me to live fully for You in each moment. Help me to be content in You alone. Amen.

John 7:30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Have a blessed day.

John 6:2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.

Precious Savior, You know the things with which I am struggling. I realize today that I am no better than the scores of disciples lining the shore—I have had a taste of Your bread. It stopped my hunger. I want more. I want whatever will stop the hunger, the longing.

John 6:22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.

What I realize this morning, though, is that the thing I seem to be after, the bread itself, can never give me lasting peace and satisfaction. If I am seeking You only to satisfy a temporary desire, I’m not actually seeking You, I’m seeking what You can provide for me—relief, peace. I’m no better than all those disciples on the shore. Forgive me.

John 6:26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Lord, It’s hard to admit my motivations are not what they should be, not what I thought they were. It’s even harder to know the truth if it. I don’t want to struggle anymore. I don’t want to doubt and fret and fight. I also don’t want to seek You, chase You for the wrong reasons. Help me, Jesus. Please help me. Amen.

John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Have a blessed day.

John 4:6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

This conversation at the well broke so many social norms of the day. A Jew talking with a Samaritan. A lone man talking to a lone woman. A religious person talking to, from all appearances, a woman of ill repute. Yet Jesus does talk to her, earnestly, honestly. He shows her deep, fierce, unconditional love, and it completely changes her life.

John 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

From the time of day she’s at the well and the fact that she’s alone, we can assume that she is intentionally avoiding others. From the fact that she’s had five husbands and isn’t married to the current man, we can assume that she’s a social outcast. Yet she is so affected, so changed by her time with Jesus that she intentionally seeks out people and shares her story and Jesus’s influence on her so that they may be changed as well.

John 4:9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Lord, We all want to be loved and accepted. We all worry that we have strayed too far from Your ways for You to truly embrace us as Your own. We all put up walls and defenses to keep us safe. Help us to be like the woman at the well. Help us to feel Your profound love so deeply that we want to share it with everyone. Help us break down the walls and draw closer to You. Amen.

John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Have a blessed day.

John 3:8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3 speaks directly to my heart, my struggles, in two specific ways: the need for understanding and the need for acknowledgment. Verse 8 speaks to the need for understanding. Jesus talks to Nicodemus about the fact that you don’t have to understand the way of the wind to see it at work. So it is with the Spirit.

John 3:30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

In verse 30, John the Baptist is talking to his disciples about Jesus and the fact that more people are going to Him for baptism. John is not angry or upset. He knows that’s the way it should be—Jesus’s glory is proclaimed while John’s pride takes a back seat.

John 3:16 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.

Lord, Thank You for knowing my heart and understanding my struggles. Thank You for loving me too much to let me continue with a divided heart. You gave me this deep knowledge to understand and this understanding that people need to feel acknowledged and appreciated. Help me use them only and always to bring You praise and glory. Amen.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Have a blessed day.

John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Commentary on this section mentioned a saying that I’ve heard often from my pastor: The worst thing is never the last thing. Another way I’ve seen this idea worded in popular culture is the saying: Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not ok, it’s not the end.

John 2:7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

I’ve never thought to apply that philosophy to this scripture, though. And I find it fascinating that this first sign takes place at a wedding feast. I think it shows that Jesus cares deeply about us and therefore cares about the things that we care about—not in an eternity distorting way, but in a way that shows His deep compassion for His people.

John 2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

Lord, Thank You for the ability to see today’s scripture with new eyes. Thank You for the insights You whisper to my heart. Thank You for caring about what I care about and for ensuring that the worst thing is never the last thing. Thank You for holding my eternity in Your capable hands. Amen.

John 2:10 …[the master of the banquet] said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

Have a blessed day.