Week 14 Day 1

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 14 Day 1

Introduction…As we studied earlier in the chapter, Nicodemus noted something powerfully unique about Jesus. He stated accurately that God the Father had sent Jesus, but initially he didn’t recognize the reality of Jesus being God in the flesh. John the Baptist, on the other hand, recognized and exalted Jesus as the Christ, God the Son, the Savior of the world and rightly pointed people to follow Jesus and look to Him for salvation.

Read John 3: 22-30 “After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, becasuse there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. “you yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.’ He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegrooms voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Bible Study

• John the Baptist portrayed servant leadership, as did Jesus. John honored Jesus and Jesus exalted God the Father.
  • A servant leader exhibits humilty in serving others and rejects fear and pride that surfaces when someone tries to hold onto position or power.
  • John’s disciples were concerned that more people were following Jesus than him and wanted John to do something about it.
  • The natural man would find it easy to feel hurt, abandoned and have their pride injured when anothers success surpasses yours.
• John’s reaction, showed the Godly man that he was. John’s reaction taught his disciples and all of us today some lessons to remember.
  • There is great value in playing a subordinate role. John was prepared for stepping down and fulfilled his calling without resentment. John understood that any role or task done for God is necessarily great.
  • No person can receive more than God gave them. There is no good or right reason for jealousy. Accepting God’s blessing and calling with thanksgiving is the right way to live. “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6
  • There is great merit in bringing people to Christ. Leading someone to Christ is a great honor, but after the connection is made, love flows from God directly to the person. We are the Church and Christ is the bridegoom. That is the relationship that matters. See Ephesians 5: 25-27.

Application

• E. Stanley Jones said, “The calling of a Christian is not to do extraordinary things, but to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.”

Tags: Take 10

Week 14 Day 2

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 14 Day 2

Introduction…“On your feet now-applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into His presence. Know this: God is God…He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people…enter with the password: thank you! Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.” Psalms 100 The Message Bible

Read John 3:31-36 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies, and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all t hings into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Bible Study

• If you want to know me ask my family because they live with me. If you want to know God, hear and listen to Jesus, for it is the very voice of God.
• Only Jesus has been with the Father and the Bible says that He speaks with knowledge from above, from heaven, and from God.
• Be aware, know, understand, let it sink in and fully realize…
  • No one ever came to this world like Jesus. His prophesied virgin birth.
  • No one ever lived, spoke, or did the miracle works as did Jesus.
  • No one ever died for our sins, rose again and ascended into heaven like Jesus.
• Jesus was not just a good man, a prophet, or a teacher. He was with God, was and is God and He came to earth out of love for us, so that whoever believes (trusts, commits and lives for Him) would not be judged and condemned.
  • “For in him (Jesus) dwells the godhead bodily…” Colossians 2:9
• Truth is not merely a word or a philosophy. It is a person…God…and it goes forth to all people. “His truth endures to all generations.” Psalms 100:5
• The Holy Spirit was given to Jesus without measure, like no other person.
  • The Spirit reveals God’s truth to people.
  • The Spirit enables people to recognize and understand truth

• Everlasting life is not only a future hope for true believers, but a very present possession that gives us the love, peace and joy of God everyday we live in His Presence.

Application

• Read and reread the Gospels and get to know Jesus. Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and note the person of Jesus.

“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young, page 3 says:

“Relax in my Healing Presence. As you spend time with Me, your thoughts tend to jump ahead to today’s plans and problems. Bring your mind back to Me for refreshment and renewal. Let the Light of My Presence soak into you as you focus your thoughts on Me.  This sacrifice of time together. Resist the clamor of tasks waiting to be done. You have chosen the better and it will not be taken away from you.”

Tags: Take 10

Week 14 Day 3

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 14 Day 3

Introduction…We don’t know her name. The Jews wouldn’t speak with her. She was a snubbed gender and a part of a despised race of half breeds in Samaria. Yet because Jesus was God in the flesh and so loved the world, this was an opportunity to reach her with God’s truth and love. Soon the entire city of Sychar would be greatly affected with Jesus’ amazing love, compelling message and miraculous works.
Read John 4: 1-9 “Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again unto Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about midday. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman said to Him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Bible Study

• John the Baptist and the disciples of Jesus baptized believers in water.
  • Water baptism is a picture of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that believers enter into. It is an act of spiritual consecration to God
  • The Greek word baptizo or to baptize literally means to immerse.
  • Examples of the use of this word are: cloth is submerged/baptized into a vat of dye to change its color.
  • Water baptism is an ordinance of the Church because Jesus endorsed it.
    • Matthew 3:15 Jesus says regarding his own baptism “Permit it to be for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
    • Matthew 28:18-20 is the Great Commission given by Jesus which says “go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
  • Being born again requires the believers’ self-determined act of confession, repentance, and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior. Water baptism should also be a self-determined act of the new believer. See Acts 8:34-40 and read the account of the salvation and baptism of the Ethiopian.
• Jesus was noted to be the one who would baptize believers in the Holy Spirit, which indwells all believers at salvation
  • Matthew 3: 11 John the Baptist explained, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who coming after me (referring to Jesus) is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

• A little background:
  • Israel/Canaan land was 120 miles long north to south.
  • Samaria was in the middle of Israel
  • To get from southern Israel/Judea to northern Israel/Galilee one had to go outside Israel and around Samaria or go through it.

• The Jews would not go into Samaria due to their hatred for these people, but Jesus walked into Samaria intentionally, thus showing God’s love for ‘the world’.

• Jesus in speaking to this woman at the well broke down barriers and expressed the universality of God’s love for all people, everywhere and at all times.
  • Jesus broke the barrier of orthodoxy and Jewish custom for a man, much more a Rabbi speaking to a woman in public, which they never did. Jesus saw the equality of women with men and honored both.
  • Jesus broke the barrier of nationality, as a Jew, spoke to a Samaritan, a despised group hated by the Jews and seen as inferior.
  • Jesus broke the barrier of sin and as the Son of God spoke to this woman who was living immorally, He became a bridge of forgiveness and offered acceptance and new life in Christ.

Application

• God did not love in theory or on paper, but in reality.
• To whom can we show God’s love, acceptance and forgiveness?
• That is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Tags: Take 10

Week 14 Day 4

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 14 Day 4

Introduction…Have you ever led someone to Christ? Striking up a conversation is the beginning. Finding common ground, a common interest is next as familiarity and trust grows. Bringing the conversation around to God, expressing your experience with Him  and sharing your knowledge of God, what it means to you to be a disciple of Jesus follows. Sharing the powerful truth of the Word of God and God’s love for the world is of great value. In the process of sharing our faith and hopefully leading someone to Christ, our role is to plant the seed and water the seed by what we say and do. But it is God who draws a person to Himself and brings about the miraculous growth of the seed.

Read John 4: 10-15  “Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself as well as his sons and livestock? Jesus answered and said to her, ‘whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.” The woman said to Him, ‘Sir give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Bible Study

• There is a thirst for God in each of us. Jesus spoke of living water from God which can only satisfy the soul of a person. See Psalms 42:1 “As the deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after you, oh God.”
• Revelation 7:17 speaks of we who know God being led to drink from the springs of living water and then in Rev. 21:6 the promise is, “To the thirsty I will give water without price from the fountain of water of life.”
• The prophet Isaiah speaks for God when he says in 55:1, “Everyone that is thirsty, come and drink and he that has no money, come buy and eat…without money.
• The prophet Jeremiah in 2:13 sadly declares that the people had forsaken God who was the fountain of living water and instead had chosen their own broken water pots that could hold no water. What a travesty!
• Jesus’ claim to the woman was she would never thirst again. He could say this because, He the Messiah brings God to us and will rule and reign on earth at His 2^nd Coming:
  • Psalms 36:9 declares “With you oh God is the fountain of life.”
  • Revelation 22:1 says it is from the very throne of God that the river of life will flow.
• There are moments in life when we see clearly and it is then we can see that only eternity with God holds our greatest hope and there is a certainty that only Jesus can satisfy the thirst of our soul.

Application

• Someone has said, “There are certain truths which a person cannot accept. He or she must discover them for themselves.”
• Pray for the opportunity to share your faith with someone. God will open the door. You can only share what you have. It is God who will do the work of discovery within the person.

Tags: Take 10

Week 14 Day 5

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 14 Day 5

Introduction…There are times when we must and do face the truth. The woman at the well asks Jesus for convenience, free water that she will not have to work for, but Jesus brought her to her senses. The woman caught a glimpse of herself, a snapshot of her life and the person she was. When was the last time you had a reality check or saw life differently or saw yourself for who you are? Reading the Word of God, a message from a Pastor or sometimes a circumstance that comes up in life brings us to our senses.

Read John 4:15-26 “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst and so I will not have to come here to draw water.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’ The woman answered, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said, ‘you have well said I have no husband, for you have had 5 husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman believe me the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not known; we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah is coming and when He comes, He will teach us all things.’ Jesus said, ‘I who speak to you am He.”

Bible Study

• Being born again, becoming a true believer, a Christian and an eventual disciple of Jesus Christ begins with a view and sense of sin, our sin.
• Before coming to God, we realize we aren’t making it and will not make it. We need something, someone, and it is only God who has the cure for our lives.
• Christianity and serving God is not about living in constant guilt, it is all about seeing our need and the answer of God’s love. We can live free and forgiven.
• Someone said that prophecy is criticism based upon hope. A prophet exposes the wrong with a person or nation, but also points to the way of escape and resolve.
• The Samaritans had a convenient religion that had some truth (we need to worship God), but like all religions of this world, they will not take you to God.
• The real question is who is the real and living God and where can I find God?
  • Zephaniah 2:11, the prophet explains that people could and would find God everywhere and worship Him wherever they are.
  • Malachi 1:11, the prophet declares that in every place pure offerings of worship can be made to God.
  • Jesus’ answer to the woman and to all of us is man made religion and efforts are ended. True worshippers, God seekers, would find God!
• False worship is…
  • Selective, choosing only what I want to know about God.
  • Ignorant based upon wrong information and inclinations lacking the truth. See 1 Peter 3:15
  • Superstitious, based upon fear and silly beliefs.
• True worship is based upon a real relationship with the Creator, True and Living God that reaches out to us in love and as a result of this revelation of love our response is worship to Him.  It is in return for His goodness, mercy and forgiveness toward us.
  • God is Spirit, therefore is not confined to places and times.
  • God is Spirit, therefore does not want or need gifts or sacrifices of dead animals, but rather lives that are dead to self and alive to God.
  • Romans 12:1-2 says it right. “…present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Application

• God’s Word is a mirror, giving us clear revelation of God and ourselves.
• We cannot look at either God or ourselves for who we really are and walk away, forget what we saw and be unchanged.

“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young:

• “I am creating something new in you: a bubbling spring of joy that spills over into others’ lives. Do not mistake this Joy for your own or try to take credit for it in any way. Instead, watch in delight as My Spirit flows through you to bless others. Let yourself become a reservoir of the Spirit’s fruit. Your part is to live close to Me, open to all that I am doing in you. Don’t try to control the streaming of My Spirit through you. Just keep focusing on Me as we walk through this day together. Enjoy My Presence, which permeates you with Love, Joy and Peace.”

Tags: Take 10

January 18, 2010 – Restart, Part 3

Just like holding onto our yesterday, or failing to move beyond the good intentions of today – the fear of tomorrow can rob us of the fresh start we get today.  Fear in general can be debilitating – fear is a powerful thing…phobias can keep us from all that God wants us to be.  Carrying fear into tomorrow can keep us from embracing the fresh start we have with God.

But the Bible is not silent on the subject of fear (II Tim 1:7).  God knew as humans we would face fear and that is why the Bible says “fear not” over 189 times.  But God’s spirit does not produce fear – it produces love, power and a sound mind or another version says a disciplined mind.  Keeping your mind disciplined by not allowing it to run through the “what if” scenario game.  Here are 2 thoughts that can help keep your mind disciplined.

One – don’t go retro.  Don’t look back, borrowing from your past bringing fear about what you do today or how you act in your future.  Examples:

• Looking back and saying, “oh, I remember that comment someone made” – and it alters our esteem today
• The scar of a poor decision made – not wanting the pain of another mistake so not taking the risk but settling for the status quo
• The memory of how one handled a relationship and it ending poorly – never opening up and being vulnerable again
• Cant stop thinking about that moral turnover – never being able to forgive yourself

It produces a feeling in you that God can’t use you today or that you are damaged goods for making impacts for the Kingdom in the future.  All false thinking so don’t go retro bringing up fear of future robbing you from the restart we get today.

Second suggestion is don’t deify fear.  FDR said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and that is so very true.  We don’t need to ever bow down to our fears making them bigger than they are.  Ps 46:10 Be still and know that I am God.  Stop and think about the God you serve and the bigger He gets in your windshield the smaller your fears will become in comparison of Him.

Ps. 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

What are you afraid of in this new year…what is keeping you from having peace today, and the boldness for tomorrow.  Hit the restart button and lets face the freedom we have of a new beginning.

No fear,

Jonathan

Tags: Jonathan Spuler

Week 13 Day 1

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 13 Day 1

Introduction…Searching for truth is a waste of time for some and for others it is merely a past time. But for others it is a desperate and necessary activity that grips them until they find it. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, he states that the most basic need of humanity is physiological, that we tend to focus on meeting safety needs first.  The next level of need is social, where we look for love and belongingness. After achieving these levels we pursue esteem and only after these needs are sensed as met, one reaches the apex of self-actualization where we are free and driven to search out matters of truth. The Bible in Proverbs 25:2 says it is the honor of a king or free man to search out a matter. The famous French philosopher Pascal said, ‘nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.’

Read John 3:1-6 “There was a man who was one of the Pharisees who was called Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do the signs which you do unless God is with him’. Jesus answered, ‘this is the truth I tell you, unless a man is reborn from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said, ‘how can a man be born when he is old? Surely he cannot enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘this is the truth I tell you, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born from the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’”

Bible Study

• Nicodemus was a wealthy ruler of the Sanhedrin, the top 70 in Israel and a Pharisee, the separated one, meaning he was one of the elite in Israel that vowed to precisely follow the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible.
  • These devout people defined every word and followed every precept explicitly and with tenacity.
  • They thought of themselves as superior people and were judgmental of others
  • Jesus presented a problem to them since what He said and did was powerful and right, however it conflicted with their life mission, position and tradition.
• Nicodemus was searching and needed answers from Jesus. Don’t we as well?
• Jesus points out that the signs and wonders He did were not the important issue, what mattered was the inner life, new birth in a person that would change him.
• Jesus declares being born anew or from above is a radical and life changing event. Being born anew and rebirth is a common theme in the New Testament.
  • 1 Peter 1:3 speaks of being born anew by God’s great mercy. Then in 1 Peter 1:22-3 it is being born anew not of perishable seed, but imperishable
  • See James 1:18 and Titus 3:5 we are recreated and regenerated
  • Romans 6:1-11 tells us we die with Christ and then rise to life anew
  • 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 reveals we are babes in Christ
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 & Galatians 6:15 states we are new creations in Christ.
• In Matthew 18:3 the same great truth is put more simply and vividly, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
• What seems impossible to man, to be born again, is possible with God. See Luke 18:26-7 “who then can be saved? And Jesus answered, the things which are impossible with man are possible with God.”

Application

• The Pharisees often in their quest for the impossible life of perfection, they looked critically at the life and judged the errors of other people.
• But God is full of mercy. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “woe to you…for you pay tithes of mint …and have omitted the weightier matters of justice, mercy, and faith.”
• Johann Von Goethe, the German novelist said, “it is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth where few are willing to search for it.”

Tags: Take 10

Week 13 Day 2

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 13 Day 2

Introduction…the Kingdom of God is a place, a society where God’s will is done. As children of God we willingly accept His will as our own and live in that place where His Kingdom comes and His will is done in and through us on earth as it is in heaven.

Read John 3:7-13 “Don’t be surprised I said to you that you must be reborn from above. The wind blows where it will and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from where it came and where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered,  how can these things happen? Jesus answered, are you the man whom everyone regards as the teacher of Israel and you do not understand these things? This is the truth I tell you, we speak what we know and we bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our witness. If I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe me, how will you believe me if I speak to you about heavenly things. No one has gone up to heaven except he who came down from heaven, I mean the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Bible Study

• There is a casual search that really is not intent on finding anything of value and then there is a diligent search where passion and determination meet.  When that happens there will be results.
  • Nicodemus was not willing to let down his status and religious practices for the truth.
  • Here is the truth, the very Son of God standing in front of him and speaking. If Nicodemus truly looked for truth at any cost, he would have believed this was the Christ/Messiah and be ready to accept God’s truth.
  • Jeremiah 29: 13-14 speaks of the truth that if we search for God with our hearts we will find Him
  • Romans 10:6-8 teaches that we do not have to go beyond human constraints to find God. He is within easy reach of us.
• Jesus accurately challenges Nicodemus’ lame search by saying how can a teacher of God, not know the subject matter.
  • Teaching about a new birth from God was spoken of by Ezekiel, the prophet of God, who Nicodemus studied as an expert in Scripture.
  • Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and new spirit! Why will you die, oh Israel?”
  • Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within in.”
• Romans 1:18-32 tells us that God reveals himself to all mankind, to all people of all times. If they push the truth away from them from God, they will live in their lying beliefs and die in them. God will give them over to what they desire and stop drawing them.
  • When God reveals himself to us, and He does to all of us, we must be ready and willing to say ‘yes’ come into my life.
  • A life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is a life of continual openness to Him to lead us into all truth, abundant life and eternal life.
  • We are saved by faith. We will never on this earth understand all about life and God, but we must believe in Him to be forgiven, saved and enjoy life with Him.
  • Romans 11:33-4 says, “oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”

Application

• When the Lord comes to or speaks to us to change us, recreate us, renew us…do we say yes, I want all of you, or do we think and say not now, I am OK, I want to stay as I am?
• Or do we say, come Holy Spirit, I need you. Work and move in me. Have your good pleasure in my life. Perfect all that concerns me. I present my body as a living sacrifice unto you.

Tags: Take 10

Week 13 Day 3

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 13 Day 3

Introduction…There is an account in the Old Testament (Numbers 21:4-9) where the people of Israel murmured against God’s plan of freeing them from slavery and Moses their leader. God warned them against this rebellion and sent serpents as punishment to wake them up. God instructed Moses to make a brass serpent in the middle of the camp and whoever would look upon it would be healed. It was God who would heal them.

Read John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

Bible Study

• The Gospel of John uses that Old Testament story of the serpents and God’s deliverance to paint the picture of what God was doing for us.
  • As people looked at the serpent that was lifted up and their thoughts turned to God as they looked for His touch of healing, God would provide
  • Even so as Jesus must be lifted up upon the Cross as our Savior from sin and lifted up into glory as our Mediator to the Father.
  • As people look to God for salvation and believe God’s provision, they will find eternal life and healing.
• For each of us, as with Jesus, the Cross leads to the Crown.
  • Acts 5:29-31 “…we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, who you killed and hanged upon a Cross. God has exalted him at his right hand to be a Prince and Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sins.”
  • Philippians 2:8-9 “And being found in fashion as a man, Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death of the Cross. Wherefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.”
• John 3:15, “Whosoever believes in him…” has significant and deep meaning.
  • It means believing that God loves, cares and wants to provide forgiveness for us and relationship with us.
  • It means believing Jesus is the Son of God, knows and expresses in person that love and provision of God.
  • It means believing the life and words of Jesus show us the way to live. To be disciples of Jesus we must die to self, embrace God and obey as He did.
• John 3:15, “may have eternal life”
  • Eternal life is the very life of God himself.
  • Eternal life gives us peace with God. God is not our judge but our Father
  • Eternal life gives us peace with people. If we have been forgiven, we must be forgiving. We see people as God sees them.
  • Eternal life gives us peace with life knowing that God our Father works all things out for our good.
  • Eternal life gives us peace with ourselves as we face life, temptation, and our own weaknesses with Christ living us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Application

• The deepest peace on earth is only a shadow of the peace and life to come when we are with God in heaven. That blessed hope fuels us through the ups and downs of life knowing even in death that in God’s eyes…‘precious is death of His saints’, as it says in Psalms 116:15 and ‘rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord’ as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:8 is our eventual and ultimate goal in life.

Tags: Take 10

Week 13 Day 4

The Daily Take 10

The Gospel of John

Week 13 Day 4

Introduction…Sometimes we have the tendency to become cynical, closed-minded, or disinterested with life.  When we concentrate on what we already know rather than searching for more of life and more of God, the giver of life, we can become bored.  The more we know of God and His world, the more we stimulate wonder. The more we look for wonder, the more wonder we see of God and His world. When was the last time you stood in amazement at God’s world and wonder at His work of love?

Read John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Bible Study

• “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you? – Majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?”(Exodus 15:11 NET Bible)
• Amazing love is what God is all about. The wonder of all wonders is His great love for us.
  • “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise…but is patient toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
• The initiative in all salvation is with God, not us. It all started with God. It is He that looks for and finds us. It is God that sees and meets our need of forgiveness and reconciliation with Him.
  • “We love Him because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
• God acts in great love, shows mercy and sends His Son for our sake and due to our great need…forgiveness for sin and reconciliation with God.
• God loves the world, everyone, good/bad, the lovely and unlovely, male/female, rich/poor, young/old from every nation, kindred and language.
  • St. Augustine said, “God loves each one of us as if there was only one of  us to love.”
  • The Great Wonder of this World is God’s love for us, sinful mankind.
• The Great Promise of God is:
  • If and when we believe in Jesus, God’s Son that was sent into this world for us, to take away our sin, we will be forgiven and inherit eternal life.

Application

• Wonder has two great adversaries: entertainment and acquisition.  Entertainment satisfies our longing to live outside ourselves.  The fantasy of TV, for example, is often just interesting enough to keep us watching and just not quite bad enough to make us turn it off.  We anesthetize ourselves.  We dull our spirits and lose our sense of awe and wonder.
• Acquisition gives us artificial satisfaction through ownership of things.  Our hunger for more and more deadens our thirst for deeper and deeper.  Our energy and excitement get used up in the process. Acquisition fuels our pride and starves our wonder.
• When God’s people sacrifice the urgency for awe, appreciation and wonder for God, they fall into “leanness of soul” and dullness of spirit.  Each morning is an opportunity for mind-opening excitement, gratitude and life in Christ.
• Fred Smith said, “The universe of wonderment is never exhausted.  Flee mediocrity and chase wonder.”

Tags: Take 10