Tag: QT

This whole story of Jesus taking the posture of a servant to wash the disciple’s feet is uncomfortable to read. Here is the Son of God (God Himself) putting a towel around his waist and then proceeding to wash the, what would be, the nasty street dirt ridden feet of the disciples.

Jesus took on this role fully knowing three things (according to John 13:1-3).

1. The time for Jesus to complete His work on the cross had come.
2. He knew that satan had placed the idea to betray Jesus in the heart of Judas Iscariot.
3. He knew that God the Father had placed everything in His hands to complete.

Jesus took role and action to model for His disciples what they should be willing to do for one another after He had returned to heaven. Additionally, this act was an example of what Christ had done and will continue to do for them through His death on the cross. Through their acceptance of Jesus as God in the form of man, that He truly was the Messiah, they had their sins forgiven; not unlike bathing the whole body cleans the whole body. But as we walk through life, we will become dirty with sin which must be cleansed from us through regular confession and repentance.

APPLICATION: I must move on today not only listening to what the Lord has shown me in the reading of this chapter but also putting into action -> SERVANTHOOD. I must model for my family what it means to be selfless toward other Christians and the common man. Not only will I be directly doing something Jesus wants me to do, He says that it will make me blessed and happy.

“I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, A servant is not greater than his master, and no one who is sent is superior to the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed and happy and to be envied are you if you practice them [if you act accordingly and really do them].” John 13:16-17 AMP

Today I spent a majority of my time reading John 7 through 12. Jesus spends so much time trying to teach the Jews about Himself yet the people’s eyes were closed. They were not the sheep of Jesus, they did not hear His voice, and he did not know their names. Jesus told us that we need to live in the LIGHT so that we might be prepared for walking in DARKNESS.

Living in the LIGHT means to live IN Jesus. He IS the LIGHT and His LIGHT will be IN our hearts if we FOLLOW Him. Follow in the Greek is Akoloutheo – which means a road or way, walk in the footsteps of, or to do what someone else does/says.

Now that I am a believer and saved by Gods grace through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, the LIGHT of God is in me when I FOLLOW Him. I can confidently walk in DARKNESS, the world, because His LIGHT is IN me.

For you were once Darkness but now you ARE LIGHT IN THE LORD – > Live as children of LIGHT. (Ephesians 5:8)

For the Lord is a Sun (LIGHT) and a shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. (Psalms 118:27)

Passage: John 7:1-9

Jesus avoided real physical danger [John 7:1]:
Jesus knew the Jewish leaders were trying to find ways to kill Jesus. Jesus was following the plan of His Father which is the Redemption plan. Going somewhere He new to be trouble was not the right decision to support His Fathers plan.
TAKEAWAY -> When we know what the Lord has called us to do, we make decisions that support that plan. We make choices that do not put us in a situation that could threaten that plan.

Jesus’ own brothers tried to bring honor to the family through Jesus’ fame. [John 7:3-5]:
This happens right after Jesus lost so many followers due to His “Bread of Life” message that turned so many of the followers away. His brother’s although they did not believe He was the Messiah, did still want to leverage the popularity of Jesus to bring honor to the family name; which was a big deal during those times. At the end of the day, the motives of Jesus’ brothers was not to protect Jesus but to bring themselves more prideful attention.
TAKEAWAY -> Do not use Jesus for any thing. Jesus has paid the ultimate price for my salvation and His word and message of instruction are only to provide what is best for me. Jesus did not come to everything to all people; He came to shed light on the evil ways of the world and to share the hope of God through Himself.

Jesus does things in His own timeframe. [John 7:6-9]:
Jesus tells His brothers that it is not yet the appropriate time for Him to go. He uses the word Kairos versus the work Hora to define time. Kairos leads us to believe that Jesus was saying that the festival’s start and completion time was not in play. However, it is thought that one of the reasons Jesus did not go is because He knew the Jewish leaders would be waiting because they would assume that Jesus would be there at the start. Instead, Jesus did end up going but not until after the festival had started.
TAKEAWAY -> Jesus told His brothers that they could go anytime they wanted because they had nothing to fear. We need to keep our Kingdom at the front of our Christian Worldview mindset. What might seem right timing in the world’s eyes may not be the timing of what facilitates the growth of God’s Kingdom.

4th “But the salvation of the [consistently] righteous is of the Lord; He is their Refuge and secure Stronghold in the time of trouble.  And the Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they trust and take refuge in Him.” Psalms 37:39-40

Note the from him (39) and the in him (40): his initiative in sending, and our response in taking shelter; the help that he gives, and the refuge that he is. [Tyndale]  Its interesting that the Amplified qualifies the ‘righteous’ as consistently.  What I take from this is that any perceived salvation that is not from the Lord, does not have His helping hand to keep the righteous consistent.  Everyone can have a streak of righteousness, but this speaks of consistent, never-ending, strive and execution for righteousness.  When I lean all the way into allowing God to be my refuge and object of my trust, He delivers and saves me from the wicked.  This doesn’t say that we won’t incur hardship or suffer the effects of disease; instead it means that when evil rises its condemnation of a [consistently] righteous person, He will deliver and save the believer from them.

17th (Day 77) “The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.” Psalms 37:30-31

Righteousness begets a lot of great things -> wisdom, justice, and sure-footed-ness. I love this part: “the law of HIS God is in his heart”. That is so awesome. Not only am I His but He is mine…and I dwell on His law day and night. I hope you guys are doing well. Christmas (the celebration of the coming of our King) is one week away tomorrow. I love and miss you all tons!

16th (Day 76) “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” Psalms 37:23-24

I like to just restate verses like this that just help me consume what is being said. ‘When I delight in the way of Lord, my steps are established by Him.’  The second verse reminds me of walking Brooklyn by the hand. We walk along and when she trips I take her weight by holding her hand and then set her back down to regain her own stance. So, when I delight in the Lord and my steps are established by Him, I will still trip but I won’t fall to the ground. The Lord is there, holding my hand, ready to set me back in my stance. We missed everyone last night. Had a great time playing Pandemic (appropriate) and then a round of 7 Wonders. Great time hanging, visiting, and laughing. Loved it. Thank you Chris for opening your home.

14th (Day 74) “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” Psalms 37:11

Definition of Meek: possessing a mild, moderate, humble, or submissive quality.  I’d like to think that I, at times, can be found to be this way but, as a man under Gods process of sanctification, it needs to be an aspect of my personality that, to the outsider, is apparent both in interactions and behind closed doors.  This is another example of a condition of the heart that the Lord is looking for; not the random acts of meekness. Doesn’t ‘abundant peace’ sound good to you?

13th (Day 73) “Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” Psalms 37:3-5

Each day that I consume more of this book the more I am encouraged and challenged by David and God’s word through him.  These three verses are a recipe for living in comfort and peace here on earth.  I like this ‘dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness’. Doing a little study we can see that ‘dwell in the land’ is to find safe pasture and then enjoy its security.  Then we see the verse that most of us know and many mis-apply ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your hear’ is followed by ‘trust in Him and He will act’ which tells me that the desires of your heart become transformed in to the desire to follow His will and purpose for our life; the desire to glorify Him in all that we do.  When that is the case, God most assuredly will give us the desires of THAT heart.  This is the faithfulness of God and His word that Marianne and I have seen in the shaping of our family over the last several years.

12th (Day 73) “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” Psalms 37:1-2

Psalms is just packed full of these goodies. This all comes down to trust and perseverance. I trust God that He has he final say and His justice will be  complete…I just need to hold out until the end. Stay focused on Him and live IN Christ until the day of His return. Whether it be in this lifetime or eternity, I will get to see the just hand of God sweep over the unrighteous and evils of this fallen world. My job is to courageously share the good news of the gospel every opportunity I get to impact the Kingdom that matters. I am just a sojourner.