For some, to be served seems like a divine right. They would not not think twice of who is doing the serving because, to them, everyone is beneath them. When Jesus washed the feet of the disciples He set a whole new standard for them, a new commandment He would call it but we'll talk about that when we get there.
Jesus was not telling them, from now on wash one another's feet. He actually said what He was doing, "I have given you an example." The new example or pattern would be that they not think themselves better than others, that their status as Apostles, disciples or even children of God would keep them from serving each other and others. Jesus said, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet." A humble leader is so easy to follow because you know that whatever he is asking he is willing to do or has done himself. For some it is an act of humility to accept help from others. You would think not allowing someone to help you and you figuring it out or doing it on you own would be humble. The reality is, it is prideful. If someone wants to help you, the truth is that allowing them to. humbles you and gives them the opportunity to fulfill Jesus' mandate of serving one another. How will you serve someone today? They may fight it and even say no, like Peter, but we do what we do out love for Jesus. There are also some who will treat it as if they deserve it. They may even look down on you but remember if we choose to serve someone let it be that we are serving them in Jesus name. Keep in mind Jesus washed Judas' feet knowing he would betray Him. See it as your serving Jesus Himself. In the end it is Him we want to please. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good!
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What comes to mind when you think of your last day? For some it is terrifying because they do not know what comes next or maybe they are wondering if the good they have done outweighs the bad. For the believer it is joy, knowing we will enter the presence of God where Jesus waits as our sin bearer and advocate. We finally get to meet the One we have surrendered to, worshiped and served face to face.
Jesus could not say it more plainly, He did not come to judge but all will be judged on the last day. That is both a comforting and alarming thought. Comforting because they have until a their last breath or that last day for them to repent and believe. Alarming because none of us know when is the last day of our life or THE last day that Jesus spoke of. Dylan comments correctly that Jesus is talking about judgement day. The Good News is that, for those who believe and receive Jesus, He has been judged in our place. Everyone else is waiting to be judged by their own works and the word that Jesus spoke. May we have God's heart to see others as we once were and pray accordingly rather than lost souls beyond help. As Jesus said, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! In one of the Fast and Furious movies the character named Letty looses her memory. When she discovers that she was actually married and has a long history with Dom, the character played by Vin Diesel he goes on to prove how much he knows her by pointing out various scars and their origin. Scars are permanent and with each scar there is a story that is unique to that particular scar. For some their scars are a reminder of what God has brought them through and they wouldn't have it any other way like my daughter Dalia who has a scar on her neck that reminds us of the God's gift of sparing her life over 20 years ago.
Some people are easily recognized by their scars. In today's reading of thelifebook, Jesus presents Himself to His disciples and so they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is really Him, He shows them His hand and feet. We too will made alive again one day and will be given a new body that the Bible calls glorious and immortal the only difference will be that it will not have any scars. Nothing about that body will remind us of what we suffered here during this time. We know Jesus could have easily been raised to new life in a body with no scars, but for the glory of God, Jesus will forever be marked by His crucifixion. This will make Him the most recognizable person for all eternity. Thank You Jesus! Have great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! ,It's interesting to hear that people say they "found Jesus". It may be a matter of perspective or they may have heard it said before and just repeated it. Then you have those who sarcastically say "I didn't know Jesus was lost". Either way these comments are made out of ignorance. If we want to know how a person is saved we must read God's word. It plainly says, "There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;" Romans 3:11
That we find Jesus or that He is lost is one thing but today's reading says that Jesus, "departed and hid himself from them". This was not a cruel act to keep people from Him. It wasn't as if all these people just needed a little more time and they would come to believe. Jesus said very clearly that His works speak for themselves and that the Father authenticates who He is and what He is saying by them. The comments of the different students are interesting. Vanessa says...How could they not believe in him after seeing everything he’d done? The Bible teaches us that, "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 1 Corinthians 4:4 Vanessa also says... That’s me too. But I guess I ’m just starting to understand what Jesus and God is all about as I go through this. So maybe things will change . This is the very purpose of the book of John. He writes... "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." John 20:31 This can be a bit misleading because we read today that some believed but were afraid to confess there belief because of fear. This leads up to Taylor's comment... Can you be a secret believer in Jesus? They answer is yes and no. Yes, people can secretly believe in Jesus, there are many living as the underground church around the world because of fear of death but they have confessed Jesus as Lord. The ones we read of today have not so they do not have the right to be called children of God as the Apostle John wrote, "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name," John 1:11,12 Believing and receiving must come together if someone is going to be saved. The way we receive once we believe is to confess Jesus Christ as Lord which is the very thing the people in today's reading were unwilling to do. It is a scary thing to read that God hardens hearts or blinds eyes, Taylor comments, "It’s hard to think about God blinding their eyes and hardening their hearts. I wish he’d soften my dad’s heart. " In the end, we must not wish but rather pray for those who do not know Jesus as Lord because only God can soften their heart, take off the blinders and draw them to Himself. We all know people like this, let us never give up hope but pray until God decides to do what we cannot. As the youngest in the family for my first 16 years there were times that my older sister would be in charge. When she would try and tell me what do, of course I ignored her until she said, "Dad/Mom said." There was a certain amount of respect and fear that I had of my parents and unless I wanted to a good woopin' I had better listen to my sister. Your name is so much more than what someone calls you. Your name embodies you as a person and all the power you have. When Jesus said, "Father, glorify your name.", He was not saying that the Father should put His name in lights and everyone reverence it. What He was saying is that the power of God would be made manifest in His death, burial and resurrection. It was, for this purpose Jesus came and He and the Father are one. Although they are two distinct persons they were are and forever will be one in nature, power and purpose. We hear this from Jesus' mouth just before His ascension. He tells His disciples, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: One name three persons. One in nature, power and purpose. "Now is the judgement of the world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." These can be terrifying words to hear if all you hear is JUDGEMENT. Jesus also said He will draw all people to Himself. Apparently they didn't hear that because they said, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever." PB points out that Jesus never seems to give a direct answer. This is true and the reason He doesn't is because He wants to redirect their thoughts to a better question in order to get beneath the question they are asking. In the end Jesus would be crucified buried and rise again and He calls them to simply believe. In other words, trust that what He is saying is true and that in doing so you become sons/daughter of light. It seems so easy to understand this on this side of the Cross but never forget that Jesus said. "I will draw all people to Myself." So if you believe today, thank Jesus for His mighty work. Have a great day loved ones and God bless you real good! There are always worshipers among us any given Sunday. People who on the surface know God and are there on their own terms seeking to worship and even serve Him. Our prayer, as we faithfully preach and teach the Gospel is that in time they will hear the Gospel and go from worshipers to Jesus followers. In today's portion of thelifebook there are those who went up to Jerusalem to worship and were challenged by Jesus to move from worshipers to follower. Let's read today's portion of thelifebook... If it was enough to be in church these Greeks would not have to come to Jesus at all. The fact they they worshiped the True and Living God would have been enough but Jesus' response is both revealing and a bit alarming. He didn't say what many would say today, "Jesus loves you and has a plan for your life". Rather He refers to His impending death and tells them die to self, serve, follow Me and be rewarded by the Father.
This is NOT a prescription it's a description. It is NOT that Jesus is saying if you do this then heaven is your reward. He is saying that this will describe those who are truly worshipers of the True and Living God. In the end there are so many who seem close to being Jesus followers but they are actually so far away. Jesus said those who belong to Him will die to self, serve, follow and in the end, be rewarded by the Father. May we continue to faithfully lift up Jesus that God would draw them to Himself in His time. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! At last Jesus came and made plain His claim to be the Messiah. The prophet Zachariah hundreds of years before this day said how the Messiah and King of Israel would come to His people, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Zachariah 9:9 It wasn't just the way Jesus came in that was told beforehand it was also the exact time. The angel Gabriel came with God's answer to Daniel prayer and told him, "Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks." Daniel 9:25 These "seven weeks" are seven sets of sevens, in this case they are years. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on that donkey 490 years had passed since King Cyrus of Persia signed the decree to allow the Jewish people to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Jesus knew his time had come and he no longer would be escaping or evading the hands of those who wanted to kill Him. Apart from the Holy Spirit even those who physically saw Jesus and His miracles could not comprehend how it all fit together. Even His own disciples didn't understand the significance of what happened that day but would understand it fully after Jesus had been glorified. In the end the people crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” were just there because of what they heard about Jesus and what He did. This just made the fire of the Pharisees' anger burn hotter. They were losing followers and they didn't like it! We may not live in their time where we can physically come to Jesus but many fill our churches and youth groups and in some sense come to see Jesus. Just like those in Jesus' day, people come because they heard something about Jesus. The sad truth is that what they hear may not even be accurate. May we come to hear what God has revealed and preserved accurately about Himself, the world He created and the salvation He sent His Son into the world to secure for all those who will declare Jesus is Lord. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! Such a short but serious passage today in thelifebook. The Bible tells us that Jesus was handed over but this was not outside of the plan and purpose of God.
"“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, It delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." Acts 2:22,23 It is sometimes debated who killed Jesus. Some would say it was the religious leaders fault and others would say it was the Romans that nailed Jesus to the cross and still others would say it was our sin that put Him and held there. All are true but it was Jesus who said to Pilate, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin." John 19:11 It is a terrifying thing to think of these men standing before God without excuse. But let us remember but for the grace of God our roles would be reversed. I wonder if Lazarus knew they were seeking to kill him as well. One thing we know for sure is that NOTHING happens to God's people without it going through the hands of the Father first. Thank you God that in the this sin cursed world you still reign. Have a great day loved ones and God bless you real good! When you consider the selfless act of Mary and what she did in plain sight of all those who were guests in her house and in front of her one family it is amazing. I often observe others worshiping the Lord during our Sunday service and they seem so free and happy. With eyes closed and hands raised toward heaven I imagine they are picturing our Lord seated on the throne. Here we have Mary in the very presence of Jesus and she anoints Him with oil. The room must have been filled with the scent of the oil and all eyes were on her.
Although this act of worship was beautiful I would imagine it was, to many there, a bit scandalous. The very touch of a woman is intimate. I'm not sure what was acceptable in Jesus day but I know for many in the middle eastern cultures today will simply not even shake hands with a man let alone touch His feet. So here is Mary touching Jesus' feet, anointing Him with oil and wiped them with her hair. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying, Jesus was fully worthy to be worshiped with all that we have but this must turned some heads there on that day. Paul tells us that a women's hair is her glory. (1Corinthians 11:15) So it was not only that Mary was touching Jesus feet but her hair was also exposed and touching Him as well. I am in no way saying this tempted Jesus in any way on the contrary He received it as worship and commended her for it. One take away for me from today's reading is that true worship should not be inhibited by who is around you or what is acceptable to others. Of course we are to worship in Spirit and truth but today we can worship our Great God with all that we have. Also worship is centered around Jesus, I don't think she did this in spite of what people thought she only had Jesus and her love for Him in mind. Authentic worship is contagious, may we get around others who love Jesus this way and let it rub off on us. If you are one of those who worship Jesus holding nothing back, thank you and keep it up. You inspire and humble us all. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! I've heard it said that objects do have have color in and of themselves but it is the light that reflects off of the object that we see. So I may see a red fire hydrant but it's the color red that is reflected off of the Hydrant that I actually see. The darker it is, the lesser the light and the colors seem to fade but in reality the light is what fades. Sometimes it seems that the light shone brighter when Jesus walked the earth in a human body but the truth is that when we read His word it shines bright because the Spirit of God shines the light of His Truth that we would see Jesus like even the people in His day couldn't. Living on this side of the Cross give us a vantage point. We see the story as a whole where they only saw it in part. Today will conclude chapter 11, let's dig into today's portion of thelifebook... After rereading chapter 11, the thing that stands out to me is "the glory of God". The miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead was for the glory of God and would glorify the Son as well. Jesus said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” and to Mary He said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” As beautiful as it is to see human emotion expressed by the Son of God, for whatever reason we want to believe Jesus wept, we see His humanity and how He shared in our humanity. Ultimately the raising of Lazarus was for God's glory. This miracle led to the resolve of the religious leaders to kill Jesus.
The high priest unknowingly prophesies that Jesus would die for His people and John says, "He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." Jesus did not potentially die for all people but as John said, "to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad." As Jesus said "I lay down my life for the sheep". Lay it down He did and picked it up again, resulting in the salvation and gathering of His Sheep throughout these last 2,000 years and until He returns so that where He is we can be also. Have a great day Loved Ones and God bless you real good! |
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