Get advice before you act. Cultivate a personal board of advisors for your life decisions. Choose those whose lives exemplify godly wisdom. Pray together with them, seeking direction from the Lord. Then, be humble enough to follow their counsel.
Get advice before you act. Cultivate a personal board of advisors for your life decisions. Choose those whose lives exemplify godly wisdom. Pray together with them, seeking direction from the Lord. Then, be humble enough to follow their counsel.
In many places Jesus was rejected, but in the land where John the Baptist had preached, “many believed.” I wonder what made this place different? Was it John’s plowing that prepared the soil of their hearts to receive the gospel seed? What made the people there more spiritually receptive to the gospel? Whether we are plowing, sowing or reaping, I pray that we will ultimately see “many believe.”
Jesus came that we might have life. The Greek word here is ζωή (zóé), which speaks of both physical and spiritual life. This life originates with, and is sustained by Jesus, who is Life. “Zoe” life is described both by its quantity (eternal), and its quality (abundant). Receiving Jesus, we receive His life. Many focus on the eternal nature of this life, but miss Christ’s emphasis on its “abundance” for the present. In Christ we are to thrive, living life to the full, bearing fruit, and exploding with vibrance all around!
As Jesus and his disciples passed by they encountered a blind man. The disciples entered into a theological debate concerning the reason for his blindness. For them, the man represented a philosophical puzzle. But Jesus was not interested in such metaphysical conundrums while he felt the urgency of this man’s condition. While the disciples argued, Jesus acted. He knew that his remaining time on earth was short. The shadow of the cross loomed before him. Jesus, the Light of the World, opened the eyes of the man born blind. He led him out of darkness and into the light.
This was Christ’s response to the Jewish leaders who claimed to have no need of being “set free.” He told them that they were “slaves to sin.” In other words, sin owned them. Even if they wanted to stop sinning, they couldn’t. Sin was their master. And the fact that they were blind to this slavery, made its grip upon them all the more powerful. Denying their sinfulness, they remained enslaved. Yet, if only they had confessed. If only they had admitted their sin and powerlessness to stop, then Christ would have broken their bonds and set them free.
Jesus only did what the Father authorized and only said what the Father instructed. He was perfectly attuned to the Father at all times. The one that would follow Christ is invited into this oneness (John 17:20-23). Not a rote or ritual checking of boxes, but a real relationship. It is this relationship that Christ came to offer, giving His life that we might believe and be made right with the Father.
Early in the morning, just as the rising sun dispelled the shadows in the temple courts, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” On the day after the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, when the Jews remembered their 40 years in the wilderness and lit huge lamps in the temple for the seven nights of the feast to commemorate the pillar of fire that guided them by night, Jesus said, “I am the light of life.” There in the temple courts where they came to worship the Lord, Jesus said, “I AM.” That day, as Isaiah prophesied, “the people who walked in darkness saw a great light” (Isa.9:2). Some chose to remain in darkness, but many others believed and came into the Light (John 8:30).
David declared his intent to “give great thanks” to God in “the midst of the throng.” Not little thanks, but “great” thanks. Not private thanks, but public, in the middle of a noisy multitude. David, who often wrote of his gratitude in a psalmist journal, declared his intent to shout out loud thanks with his “mouth,” and not just his pen. He saw no separation between his private and public faith. He was ready to stand in the “midst” of a cacophonous crowd and be heard praising the Lord.
Jesus had four younger half-brothers named James, Joses, Judas and Simon and several unnamed sisters (Mark 6:3) by his mother, Mary and his adopted father, Joseph. Prior to Christ’s resurrection his brothers didn’t believe in him. We don’t read much about them, but here John records how they gave Jesus sarcastic advice about how to become more famous. Jesus calmly replied to them that they didn’t understand God’s timing nor purpose for him. Often the hardest people to live out your faith in front of is your own family. They have expectations of you and when you don’t live up to them, they punish you with biting comments. Yet, Jesus was obedient to God’s will for him. And after they saw him suffer and rise again, his family finally believed. James and Judas (Jude) both authored NT books. James, who became the lead pastor of the first church of Jerusalem, opened his little book with “James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). Can you think of a more convincing testimony for Jesus than this?
‘ (John 6:64 ESV).
Many followed Jesus without truly believing. They had their own reasons. Some followed for the free bread. Others for the chance to see a miraculous sign. Still others followed because they hoped He would fulfill their own earthly ends. Yet, Jesus was not naive. He knew their hearts (Matt. 9:4). Today’s church is no different. It is a mixed congregation. The fellow members may not suspect, but Jesus knows who truly believes and who does not.