Week 29 Day 1

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 29 Day 1

Introduction…In 2005 Jack Nicholson stated one of the all time great lines in the movie, “A Few Good Men”. He said, “You can’t handle the truth.” Many people today can handle the truth, but don’t want the truth. They would rather live a lie, be deceived, or just don’t want truth. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns about some people saying, “for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine (teaching) but, after their own lusts, shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears and they will turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned to fables.” Then in Titus 1:14-15 it underscores the same warning, “do not give heed to fables and commandments of men, that turn from the truth…but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

Read John 16:12-15 “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of Truth has come, he will lead you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority and out of his own knowledge, but he will speak all that he will hear and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of the things which belong to me and will tell you of them. All things that the Father has are mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take of the things which belong to me and tell them to you.”

Bible Study

• Jesus clearly stated that when He was leaving, there would remain many things unrevealed until the Holy Spirit would be sent. See John 16:12
• Jesus assured that this further revelation would be completed after the Spirit came to guide us into all truth. See John 16:13
• Jesus promised the further revelation would come. No doubt referring to Scripture that would be written. It would be…
  • Historical by “bringing all things into remembrance.” See John 14:26
  • Doctrinal by “teaching you all things.” See John 14:26 and 16:14
  • Prophetic by “showing you things to come.” See John 16:13
  • Given to certain chosen people to receive and witness the revelations. See Matthew 28:19; John 15:27&16:13; Acts 9:15-17
  • The revelation would be recorded for posterity, ‘those yet to come to Christ’. See John 17:20 & Acts 1:8
• The Apostle Paul was chosen to receive new revelation and record it in Scripture. Ephesians 3:3-5 gives us insight into how God revealed to Paul. “By revelation God made known to me the mystery, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge …which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Sprit.”
• The further revelation Jesus promised would come after His departure is seen in Romans 16:25-26, “now to Him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God…”
• “For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:5-6

Application

• The spirit of deception is rampant in the world. Billboards, TV, magazines and Internet advertisement show smiling Hollywood people who are in the process of divorce, drug and alcohol rehab and a host of other problems and issues, but they are still made to look good for the pictures and products they are selling.
• Instead of being deceived like many people choose to be, we can choose to know and live in truth, with the Spirit of Truth that gives us discernment between good and evil, right and wrong, real and fake and truth from error.
• Choose to hear the voice of the Spirit within you speaking and hold onto the truth from the Spirit of Truth that is living within you and I.

Tags: Take 10

Week 29 Day 2

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 29 Day 2

Introduction…hindsight is 20/20. God has been moving by His Spirit since the beginning. In Genesis 1 it tells us the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can look back at what God was doing and see how He was moving with greater clarity. In fact, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. While you are going through certain things, you don’t readily see the hand of God, but only later do we understand, as the Spirit reveals to us His footprints in the sand of our lives.
Read John 16:16-24 “In a little while you will not see me anymore and again in a little while you will see me.” Some of his disciples said to each other: “What is the meaning of this that he is saying to us, in a little while you will not see me and again in a little while you will see me? And what does he mean when he says: “I am going to my Father?” What does he mean when he talks about, ‘a little’? We do not know what he means. Jesus knew that they wished to ask him their questions and he said to them: “you are discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said: “In a little while you will not see me and again in a little while you will see me.” This is the truth I tell you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be grieved, but your grief will turn into joy. When a woman bears a child she has grief, because her hour has come. But when the child is born, she does not remember her pain because her joy that a man is born into the world. So you too for the present have grief. But I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will not have any questions to ask me. This is the truth I tell you, the Father will give you in my name whatever you will ask him. Up to now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, that your joy may stand complete.”

Bible Study

• In this passage, Jesus is telling His disciples God’s plan before it happened. They couldn’t grasp it or understand. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, “eye has not seen, neither ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.”
• Jesus was giving a basic outline and the Holy Spirit would fill in the details and content to the disciples and to us as believers.
  • Jesus outlined God’s plan in the short term, saying His leaving referred to His sacrificial death on the Cross, but He would return the risen Christ, which He did, showing Himself to believers for 40 days thereafter.
  • Jesus also outlined God’s plan in the longer term, speaking of His 2^nd return to earth. After His ascension to the Father, which ended His 1^st Advent, He promised to return to this world. His 2^nd Advent would be to rule and reign. Acts 1:8-11 “This same Jesus…taken up into heaven, will come in like manner…” The return of Christ will happen. See Matthew 23:39, 24:30 & 25:31; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17.
  • In both the short and long term plans, it was the Holy Spirit that reminded believers of what Jesus said, leading them and us into all truth, giving understanding, meaning, direction, hope and purpose for the future.
• Jesus outlines the life of the believer, the disciple of Christ who endures:
  • Our sorrow will turn to joy. In this time period before the return of Jesus, it seems the world lives carelessly while the Christian lives for Christ and endures. In Mark 13:13, Jesus says, “he who endures until the end shall be saved.” We are to endure hardship and afflictions while living by faith and maintaining our trust in God. See 2 Timothy 2:3-5
  • Our joy is secure. Christian life is faith based and built upon the stable Rock of Jesus. Worldly ‘joy’ depends on circumstances, but our joy is secure in the unchanging love and goodness of God. See Psalms 89:14-15.
  • Our joy is perfect. Why? How? Think of it…the Creator God loves us. We are forgiven through Christ. We will live eternally with Him. The work was done. Completed in Christ. That promise will not change nor can we be separated from that love. See 1 Peter 1:8, 4:13; 2 John 12.
  • Our pain, sorrow and sacrifice in this life will be forgotten as we enter into greater joy and eternal reward. “It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.”
  • Our knowledge will be complete. We shall know Him and be like Him. 1 John 3:2 “…it does not appear what we will be, but we will be like him…”
  • Our relationship with God is intimate. Hebrews 10:20 tells us of a new and living way to God through Jesus and entering the Presence of God boldly (see Hebrews 4:16) asking the Father in Jesus’ name, what we need.

Application

“The Desert Song”

This is my prayer in the desert

And all that’s within me feels dry

This is my prayer, the hunger in me

My God is a God who provides

And this is my prayer in the fire

In weakness or trial or pain

There is a faith proved, of more worth than gold

So refine me Lord through the flames

And this is my prayer in the battle

And triumph is still on it’s way

I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ

So firm on His promise I’ll stand

This is my prayer in the harvest

When favor and providence flow

I know I’m filled to be emptied again

The seed I’ve received, I will sow

All my life in every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing

I have a reason to worship

Tags: Take 10

Week 28 Day 3

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 28 Day 3

Introduction…Missionary to Africa, E. Stanley Jones is quoted saying, “The call of the Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.” Living life for God, our Creator, with the courage to be different, with the willingness to swim upstream while the world floats and swims downstream is extraordinary. Christians should have the inner strength and boldness to be different. Yes, being different can be uncomfortable and even dangerous, but no person can be a disciple of Jesus Christ unless they accept that risk.

Read John 15:24-27  “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have no excuse for their sins. He who hates me hates the Father too. If I had not done deeds among them, which no one else had ever done, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen and they have heard both me and my Father. But it has all happened that the word which stands written in their law might be fulfilled. They hated me without a cause. When the Helper comes, the Helper whom I will send to you from my Father, I mean the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father, he will be a witness about me. And you will be witnesses about me because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Bible Study

• God expects us to live up to the light, the understanding we have been given.
  • What is expected from a child is less than an adult who knows better.
  • What is expected from a primitive Aborigine is less than that of a priest or pastor who is knowledgeable of God and His Word.
  • At the same time, God is just. He will judge us according to the knowledge, to the light we have been given.
  • Romans 1 tells us God reveals Himself to all people of all times with the purpose of giving them the opportunity to respond to Him.
• All Jesus did and said while on earth precisely exposed who God is and expects of us and fully manifested God’s love for us.
  • Jesus exposed sin. He told, taught, explained and showed the way to live.
  • Jesus remedied sin. He opened the way to forgiveness for sinful mankind.
• People rejecting Jesus Christ are refusing God and His love.
  • The person rejecting Jesus is rejecting God’s diagnosis of sin and certain death and only cure through acceptance and belief in Jesus.
  • Rejecting Jesus is man’s prerogative, but it will become God’s judgment.
  • “They hated me without a cause,” was prophesied by David in the Psalms 2x in Psalms 35:19 and 69:4 and it was fulfilled with Jesus.  Think of it…what is the cause of hating Jesus? There truly is none!
• The Holy Spirit repeats, yes He plays back to us what Jesus said until the truth dawns upon us. The Holy Spirit…
  • Moves us to respond to God’s drawing…”come unto me” says Jesus. “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man open, I will come in.”
  • Nudges us back to God when we go astray. “If you confess your sin, I will forgive and cleanse you,” says God

Application

• It is our honor to work with God, our task given to us as disciples of Jesus Christ and privilege to be co laborers with Him to be witnesses of Jesus Christ…
  • From many years of fellowship with Him. We have known Him with personal intimacy for years and found Him totally faithful and true. We can say factually and convincingly as witnesses, “I know Him.”
  • From an inner conviction of the Holy Spirit that speaks to us. Telling us this is the way, right from wrong, and counsels us to do the right things and do them the right way.
  • From what we outwardly state as a testimony of our faith and life in Christ. We want to let others know of His faithfulness and truth. Since we are forgiven and found the way, we share the secret, the way, with others.

Tags: Take 10

Week 28 Day 5

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 28 Day 5

Introduction…Have you ever had something happen to you and think it was bad, only later to find out it was good? Jesus’ disciples were bewildered after hearing Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, was leaving them and God sovereignty was changing things. Contrary to the disciple’s bleak outlook, Jesus said if He left this earth with the physical limitations it placed upon Him, it was going to great for them. How could this be possible? The omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient Comforter, the Holy Spirit would come. Do you know the Holy Spirit?

Read John 16:7-11 “But it is the truth I am telling you, it is to your interest that I should go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But when he has come, he will convict the world of sin and convince it of righteousness and judgment of sin, because they do not believe in me. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you no longer see me of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Bible Study

• The Helper, Comforter, Holy Spirit is the 3^rd person of the Trinity.
  • The Triune God is made up of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
  • Each person of the Trinity has a different role, but each is God.
  • “God is one” yet like H2O can be a liquid, vapor or solid, so God is 3 in 1.
• The Holy Spirit can be everywhere at all times with all believers, everywhere.
  • The indwelling Holy Spirit is with us, in us, and upon us…as He counsels, enlightens, leads and guides us.
  • Jesus’ promised in Matthew 28:20 “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” This was fulfilled with the coming and uninterrupted fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit convicts of sin. See Acts 2:37
  • A strong sense of sin and personal responsibility dawns upon a person.
• The Holy Spirit convinces of righteousness. See Matthew 27:54 and Acts 9:1-9
  • The sheer righteousness of Jesus becomes clear to a person
• The Holy Spirit convinces of judgment
  • The assurance that we will give account someday for our lives before God.
• The Holy Spirit assures of our salvation
  • The confidence and hope that in Christ we are forgiven and made righteous

Application

• The Holy Spirit is a person. The person of God who indwells us as believers, disciples of Jesus Christ.
• The Holy Spirit thinks, decides and has feelings. That is why in Ephesians 4:30 we are warned, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you are sealed unto the day of redemption” with our resistance of His work in us, perfecting us to the image of God.

The anecdote for moving from a sinful life and habits and moving to a life that is pleasing to God is found in Galatians 5:16, 18 encourage us to “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” And “if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law.”

Tags: Take 10

Week 27 Day 2

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 27 Day 2

Introduction… If someone said to you, “I don’t know God, but I want to know Him” What would you tell them? How would you describe God? There are 5 senses…seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. Can one experience God through the 5 senses? And then there is knowing. Can knowing be accomplished without the 5 senses? How can we know God?

Read John 14:7-11 “If you had known me, you would have known my Father too. From now on you are beginning to know him and you have seen him.’ Philip said to him: ‘Lord show us the Father and that is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him: ‘Have I been with you for so long and you did not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say: ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me? I am not the source of the words that I speak to you. It is the Father who dwells in me who is doing his own work. Believe me that I am in the Father and that the Father is in me. If you cannot believe it because I say it, believe it because of the very works I do.”

Bible Study

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 speaks of knowing and God. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of man…or of God?”
• No man had ever seen God, until in Exodus 33:12-32 it tells of the only time God revealed Himself. In this case it was to Moses. It was an awesome event, but Moses had already known God for years.
• Psalms 34:8 says for us to spiritually…“taste and see that the Lord is good.”
• Philip the disciple, asks the incredible, or the impossible…show us the Father, as if seeing Him would result in knowing Him.
• Jesus says with utter simplicity, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” You have seen me in action, my heart intentions and purposes. You now know God.

• Jesus reflected God. To see and know Jesus, is to see and know God. See Hebrews 1:1-3 where it says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past by the prophets, has in these last days, spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person…”

• Because we “see Jesus”, we can say and know about God that He…

• • Knows ordinary life, as He experienced human birth, the home, family and childhood.
  • Knows the necessity and honor of work. Not ashamed to do man’s work.
  • Knows what it means and is to be tempted.
  • Knows the joy and wounds that comes from loving others.
  • Knows the sacrifice, pain and suffering of the Cross.
  • Came here out of the love He had for His creation longing to bring back the relationship He had with mankind before the fall.
• The claim and test Jesus put forth relating to God was for one to look at…
  • What Jesus said…His words. They were wonderful words of life. He spoke as one with authority, wisdom, insight and like none other.
  • What Jesus did…His deeds. They were acts no one else ever did. Supernatural and yet done from a heart of love, the very heart of God. See Matthew 11:1-6.

Application

• Would your explanation speak well for God? Would your life be able to be used as an example? Do you reflect God?
• Does your life produce the fruit of His spirit alive, active, changing you from the inside out?
• Pointing people to Jesus and saying…listen to Him, look at Him, know Him and believe in Him is to see and know God.
• From the right and from the left, may we draw them by His Spirit to the straight and narrow way of God that states, Jesus is the way, truth and life and no one comes to the Father but by Him.

Tags: Take 10

Week 27 Day 3

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 27 Day 3

Introduction…Jesus said to all of us, to those who would be His disciples…“listen to me, look at me and believe in me.” If we do this, we become enabled believers and effective disciples. Throughout the Scriptures there are some amazing challenges and tremendous promises. The ones found in these 3 verses are quite stimulating because they, like all Scripture, are true.

Read John 14:12-17 “This is the truth I tell you, he that believes on me will do the works that I do and he will do greater works than these because I go to my Father. And I will do whatever you shall ask in my name that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, I mean the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive him because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he remains among you and will be within you.

Bible Study

• What did Jesus mean when He said His disciples would do what He did and even greater works?
  • 1 Corinthians 12: 9, 28 and 30 speaks of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are gracious bestowments given to certain members of the Church to be used for and within the Church to bless and build it.
  • James 5:14 tells us that Christians should pray for each other with faith for those who are in need and God would heal them.
  • But Jesus saw the sea of humanity and the plethora of need they represented throughout the ages and said there is much more to do.
  • It would be His disciples in every decade and around the world that would do greater works by virtue of sheer numbers than Jesus did in His short 3 year ministry that took place only in Israel.
• Jesus taught us to pray. He taught us to pray to the Father. See Matthew 6
  • In the passage we study today, Jesus teaches us to pray in His name.
  • Pray in the strong and mighty name of Jesus, our mediator and intercessor who is on the right hand of the Father.
• If we love the Lord, we will obey Him and His Word and not our selfish desires
  • We use the word ‘love’ in too many situations. We love Dr. Pepper, nachos, surfing, baseball and God! Something is wrong here.
• Jesus would not leave His disciples or us today all alone without Him when Jesus ascended and returned to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit.
  • Jesus would ask the Father and He would send ‘another of the same as Jesus’, the Holy Spirit, not someone different that we must get to know.
  • Parakletos is the word used for ‘helper or comforter’ that is called in for the purpose of God being with us, in us and upon us to guide and help us.
  • Jesus was limited by time and space because He had a physical body, but the Holy Spirit, the 3^rd person of the Triune God, is omnipresent.
  • We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit, but cherish His presence in us.
  • The Holy Spirit reveals to us Truth. Reveals to us Jesus, who reveals to us the Father.

Application

• We as disciples of Jesus Christ and Christians everywhere recognize and believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
• With the power of Jesus name and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to take His Gospel into all the world.
• Jesus lived His life as the greatest Servant Leader the world has ever known. Why can we say that with certainty?
• He was…
  • Born in a stable
  • Worked as a carpenter
  • Ministered for only 3 years
  • Wasn’t a king or political figure
  • Developed 12 disciples
  • Washed people’s feet with humility
  • Served the needs of others before His own
  • Died for His people when other leaders required their people to die
  • Influenced people for all time and eternity for good and for God
• We too can lead like Jesus and do the work He did loving this world as an ambassador of God.

Tags: Take 10

Week 27 Day 4

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 27 Day 4

Introduction…Joy and Peace! What wonderfully descriptive words that are so intertwined that when you have one, it seems you have the other too. Joy and peace flow from the inside of us and pour out over our life. Joy is mentioned in the Bible 166 times and peace nearly the same amount of times. Half of those in the Old Testament and half in the New. Joy emerges from the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), and like springs of living water within us, they flow up and over us. Ephesians 2:14-18 tells us, “He, Jesus, is our peace…reconciling us to God”.  So the source of joy and peace is God and we are one with God, having “access by one Spirit unto the Father”.

Read John 14:25-31 “I have spoken these things to you while I am still with you. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of all that I have said. I am leaving you peace. I am giving you my peace. I do not give it to you as the world gives peace. Let not your heart be distressed or fear stricken. You have heard that I said to you: ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to my Father because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you about it before it happens so that whenever it does happen, you will believe. I shall not say much more to you because the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me. His coming will only make the world know that I love the Father and that I do as the Father has commanded me. Rise, let us be going.”

Bible Study

• A Christian and a disciple of Jesus Christ is a learner. The good news is the Holy Spirit is our teacher and reveals to us the deep and even deeper things of God.
  • In Jeremiah 29:13 God challenges us to be hungry learners. “And you shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”
• The Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance all truth pertaining to Jesus and the Word that builds us up, encourages our belief and perfects all that concerns us.
• The Holy Spirit keeps us living and acting right if we listen to the Spirit within us, He will guide and give course correction to us.
• Jesus promises His gift of peace, shalom, which is not the absence of war or trouble, but beyond that He makes things work out for our highest good and we can sense…it is well with our soul.
• My prayer is “Oh Prince of Peace, visit me with your Presence and give me your peace that is beyond my ability to muster or comprehend!”
• Jesus was returning to the Father and would be released from the limitations of this world, ascend on high, be restored to glory and become our advocate and mediator to the Father.
  • Philippians 2:8-11 tells us Jesus was obedient to death on the Cross for us and then was highly exalted by the Father with a name above all names.
• Jesus conquered death so that all believers who die enter the blessedness of His Presence and eternal life.
  • Psalms 116:15 says, “blessed and precious are the death of His saints.”
  • 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory?” Indicating death is defeated by Jesus’ death/resurrection.
• Jesus speaks of the final battleground that He would win at the Cross. Sin and death were defeated, thus fulfilling the 1^st prophecy found in Scripture.
  • In Genesis 3:15 after mankind sins, God speaks to Satan saying, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed (fulfilled in the virgin birth of Jesus, the Messiah) He shall bruise your head (Rosh –leadership/rule) and you shall bruise his heel.”

Application

• The words to the song “At the Foot of the Cross” say it all.

At the foot of the cross

Where grace and suffering meet.

You have shown me your love

Through the judgment you received.

And you won my heart

Yes, You’ve won my heart, now I can

Trade these ashes in for beauty

And wear forgiveness like a crown

Coming to kiss the feet of mercy,

I lay every burden down

At the foot of the Cross

Where I am made complete.

You have given me life

Through the death you bore for me.

Tags: Take 10