Thursday, March 4: John 3-that you might believe.

 

   Almost everyone knows the famous 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. What struck me as I was reading this chapter was that John repeats that spiritual invitation to Jesus again in verse 36 with John the Baptist saying, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.

Reading these two statements got me thinking. How often has John already witnessed to Jesus as the giver of eternal life or Jesus being the one sent from God? Off hand I can think of at least one other announcement, John 1:12, Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- but let me make a quick perusal for chapter 1&2:

·       John 1:17, For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

·       John 1:29-34, The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! … I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

·       John 1:31, I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

·       John 1:49, Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

·       John 3:11, I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

Some of these stand alone and are clear, others declare loudest within their context but no matter how one slices it, John has an agenda. John is writing to convince people to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life.

Have you? Have you put your faith in Jesus? Do you believe in Jesus? Are you born again? Remember that is the implicit question Jesus put to Nicodemus when He said, “You must be born again” (7).

John is writing for a decision and so am I. I made my decision to believe in Jesus, October 3, 1975, have you? You may not have a clear-cut date like I do; having a specific date is not the issue. Believing in Jesus is. So let me put it another way. Right now today, do you believe and affirm that Jesus is your Lord and Savior?  Do you believe that He is God, that He has forgiven your sins? Will you believe His word, the Bible and will you follow Him and Him alone for salvation? Through Jesus do you believe in one God, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit and will you forsake any other who would seek to be your spiritual guide? Today will you say, I believe in Jesus, He is the one and only who will direct my life?

O, Lord Jesus, I pray for everyone who reads these words, that they will put their total and complete faith in Jesus. That You Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit, will open their eyes and heart to the truth in Your word and that You will lead them to be faithful disciples.  That You will lead them to churches that preach Your word, and that You will lead them to a fellowship of brothers and sisters in Jesus who will walk the road of faith with them until You bring them home to Your glory in heaven when their life on earth concludes. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Wednesday, March 3: John 2-

Reading the miracle of Cana, I was immediately attracted to Mary. What faith she had in Jesus.  A few words capture the moment. Verses 1-5: a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." We learn later in verse 11 that this was Jesus’ first miracle.

Something in Mary said, ‘Jesus can fix this’. Something in Mary told her Jesus was the answer to the bridegroom’s problem. Luke tells us that from His miraculous birth, Mary had been treasuring and pondering the events of Jesus’ life. Something in Mary said, ‘Tell Him, ask Him, expect Him to make things right.

Incredible faith. Jesus was not a miracle worker with a long resume. According to John’s account, Jesus had only recently called disciples. His mission was barely underway. And yet Mary knew, Jesus could, Jesus would … "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. Without so much as a flinch, Mary turns to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

 

Faith, incredible, out-of-the-box faith, that’s what Mary showed me this morning. And her faith, apparently, incubated the miracle at Cana

Lord, I am inspired by Mary’s out-of-the-box faith in Jesus. Honestly, I don’t have that. I may have a measure of copy-cat faith, seen-it-before-so-I-may-ask-for-it-now, kind of faith, but I don’t have do-the-impossible, never-seen-it-done-before faith in Jesus. I wish I did. It seems this is 1Cor 12 gift-of-the-Spirit faith or mountain-moving faith (Mt 17:20, 1Cor 13:2).

Lord, if it is pure gift, I am open for You to give it.

If like Mary, I have to ponder and treasure the life and events of Jesus, then lead me to new depths, treasuring and pondering, so that my life and my faith will be grown.

Lord, I am asking for the incredible faith I see in Mary. Lord, I am asking not for any personal benefit or prestige or power, but so that Your kingdom will be advance. I seek only to be a tool in Your mighty and majestic hand. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

Note: just to be perfectly clear, my prayer for faith is not a prayer for saving faith. God granted that to me when I first believed in Jesus. If fact, I believe only because God first granted me saving faith. I am praying for Matthew 17, 1Cor 12 and 13 faith…

 

 

Tuesday, March 2: John 1-

It felt so good to read this chapter.   Like a cool breeze on an autumn day, reading these words refreshed my soul. Judges was a long journey and  Ruth an encouraging account… but my soul longed for words of life and that’s what I received this morning.

The opening verses are so rich I just want to print them here. Verses 1-5, 14:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The chapter began with this marvelous description of Jesus and then rolled on explaining the mission of John the Baptist and on to Jesus calling his first disciples… breathtaking, invigorating. This is Who I worship and follow. This is Jesus.

Interestingly, it was verse 29 that fed my soul the most this morning. John, upon seeing Jesus, calls out, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” I don’t think the significance of this description would have hit me like it did had I not just finished reading Judges. I still think about the meditation I wrote, “how low can it go?”; the ugliness of human life and the disturbing images of the last chapters of Judges. Sin wreaks…

Over Christmas I spent a few days in Washington DC. Among the sights I took in was the Holocaust Museum. Masterfully designed, at least for me as a visitor, it told the horrendous story of the Holocaust in a pensive, thought-provoking way. Sin wreaks…and it is everywhere!

Apparently neither education nor technology nor any ‘human advancement’ has removed, dare I say can remove the stench of sin from our lives…

And then came John’s comment about Jesus: "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Oh, Jesus, You are the answer for my woes, my stench, my sin! You and You alone can take away the sin of my life. Jesus I surrender to You… do what You must in my life to bleach out the stench of sin in me…

O, Lord Jesus, how refreshing this prayer is… O, Lord Jesus, how cleansing this prayer is…

Amen.

 

Some Background about John’s Gospel

John was one of the "12" and one of the closest friends of Jesus, as well as of Peter. John's gospel is very different from the other three gospels. It was the last gospel to be written, probably late in the first century. John assumes that everyone knows the facts about Jesus' life, so John chooses to concentrate on interpreting the meaning of Jesus’ life. The goal of John, in writing his gospel, is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”  (John 20:21).

 

Monday, March 1: Ruth 4-live faithfully and trust in God

   Ruth is one of those happily-ever-after stories. In the end after hardship, pain and perseverance, by Ruth and Naomi, things work out for the best.

With the last line, we discover why God was so interested in preserving the story of the tragedy and triumph of one obscure woman from Moab.  She is Ruth, is the great-grandmother of David, the most famous King of Israel.

Yes, God has been at work, behind the scenes and underneath the surface, preserving His plan of salvation.

I started thinking… about the Lord. He was working His will through it all. During the dark days in Moab and the tough times following the return to Israel, no one in the story understood God was at work. They were simple people, keeping faith in the Lord, trying to survive. Living honorably, working hard, and eking out their survival, barely. Only from the end can we see God’s hand in the whole adventure.

Life is like that. We are to live faithfully, come what may, and allow God to work His will, whatever that may be, behind the scenes and underneath the surface, until He makes things clear. Another thing I realized, there are no happily-ever-after guarantees. Yes, Naomi holds a surrogate son. Did she live long after that?  I don’t know. She was certainly old by then and no  one would see her life as a ‘blessed life.’ What she did was live faithfully all the days of her life. However, from God’s vantage point, she was strategic in the arrival of David, revered King of Israel.

The moral and my message from the Lord: live faithfully and trust in the Lord.

O, Lord, allow me to do just that… live faithfully today, this week, this month… my life. Give me strength and courage to make righteous decisions about my time, my wealth, my entertainment and the use of my gifts. Help me to stay close to You, to constantly listen for Your voice and leading and to follow wherever You lead. And in the end may You receive honor and glory through the way I live and the things I do as I follow and worship You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Saturday, February 27: Ruth 3- can a person be both humble and bold at the same time?

This question tumbled in my thoughts as I read and pondered this chapter. Today I struggled to receive devotional thoughts from the Lord. Most of the struggle was my doing. I didn’t guard my time in the Word.  I read and got distracted, I read again and my mind flitted to other things. I came back again to the Word and bounced from it to other things and back again. Like a super ball bouncing in a small room, I ws all over the place. This was not my finest hour.

I persevered, literally, throughout the day.  Now almost 4 pm I write, having first read the text at 8 am.

At different moments throughout the day, Naomi, Boaz or Ruth would seem to be highlighted. In the end I landed with Ruth.

Can a person be both humble and bold at the same time? Watching Ruth, I would have to say, “Yes.”

Ruth is incredibly humble. First she listens to and then attends to Naomi’s plan with nary a complaint or fuss. Now maybe Boaz is a hunk, a real catch but the circumstances would seem to indicate, NOT. He is after all, successful and unmarried (that suggests some issues) and advance in years (hmmm, more issues). There must be some reason he is unmarried.

Then the plan itself calls for Ruth to put herself in a position of extreme vulnerability and humility. Threshing floors were outside in the open air, so after Boaz is fast asleep from a hard day of work, she slips under his cloak at his feet. I suspect lying at his feet made for pleasant sleeping???! Apparently that maneuver implies her willingness to wed Boaz. A woman approaching a man in that day and age … bold, dare I say, ‘BOLD move Ruth!’

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Here I see the two seemingly disparate character traits combining.  She is humble enough to place herself in a completely humble and vulnerable position, yet bold enough to advance the notion of them marrying.

Lord, may I display such a mix in my life. May I always be humble before You and may I put others in a position where they feel good about themselves. Yet, Lord, may I draw so close to You that I have the boldness to believe that You are at work and that You will open doors. Lord, steer me from the arrogance that says I am right, that puts off others and gives Your name, in whom I live and move and have my being, a bad rap.

Bold and humble, Humble and bold… they are worth striving for together. Like Jesus before Pilate, bold and humble, humble and bold. Teach me how to put these two together in my life… amen.

 

Friday, February 26: Ruth 2-Love, honor, perseverance and virtuous living

God’s hand is floating quietly beneath this account. Ruth just happens to glean in the field of an honorable man, Boaz.  Boaz happens to come to the field that day and also happens to be Naomi’s close relative. God is quietly at work, His hand unnoticed, at least to Ruth.

Ruth displays love for Naomi. She honors her mother-in-law by putting her life in danger and quietly doing the belittling work of following harvesters by rooting through their leftovers for any missed grain. She keeps at this, persevering through the barley and wheat harvests.

Unbeknownst to her, God is at work (I know the story, I know what happens).

Ruth’s dedication to doing what she had to do gave me pause. Without complaining, Ruth kept at it, doing what she needed to do to provide for Naomi and herself. In doing so, Ruth gave substance to her pledge from chapter 1. Ruth was a woman of her word. Honorable, hard working, compassionate (she saved part of her lunch for Naomi), and dedicated are all words that can be used to describe Ruth. Beneath the surface God is at work.

Ruth reminds me that there is virtue in honorable living, hard work, compassion and dedication. Her life gives me pause. Do I display similar character in my life?

Lord, give my hands and heart strength to labor honorably, to do those things I know in my heart I should do and to do them well. Lord, may my faith in You find expression in the diligence and work of my hands… amen.

 

 

Thursday, February 25: Ruth 1-Actions the substance of our faith

I wonder what it was in Ruth that propelled her to stay with her mother-in-law instead of returning to her own people. Was it her love and trust for Naomi, her mother-in-law? Was it her love and trust in the Lord who had become the God she worshipped? We don’t know. The best we can do is surmise or guess. The text is silent.

I thought about that situation. Without inside information, we cannot know what motivates a person. All we can do is watch their actions and surmise their motivation. Actions are important. Actions are the stuff of faith. Our actions, more than merely our words, are the stuff of our faith.

Ruth’s determination (actions) to remain faithful to both Naomi and the Lord, thunder through the lines of this chapter. The author of this book tells us what Ruth is planning to do. Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me (16-17). But her actions, going with Naomi, who offers no future and where she will be an outcast, proved her metal. Actions are the stuff of faith…

It was at this point that the Lord turned the tables on me. Text moved to life… “Bill, how about your actions? Do you follow through on your words spoken about Me and spoken to Me? Bill, do your actions show that I am your God?”

I think it was Lloyd Olgivie who asked, “If you were put on trial for being a Christ-follower, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” That question drove these thoughts deeper into my soul…

Lord, I adapt Ruth’s promise to Naomi as my pledge and words to You today.  Where You want me to go I will go and where You want me to stay I will stay. And, Lord, I ask that You send the Holy Spirit so that I might have His strength to let these words of mine be more than words, but be lived out by my actions… In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.