THE STORY OF JESUS: John 10:40-42
“And in that place many believed in Jesus.” (John 10:42)
I would love to see this myself – many people believing in Jesus.
Sometimes I wonder why we do not see this as much in our tradition.
I have friends from other traditions who see people coming to Jesus all the time.
In our tradition we have the usual crew of youth doing profession of faith.
This is great, but why do we see this, but not people outside the church.
(The rare exception is someone who marries into the church).
With youth in the church, and those who marry in, they are connected.
When we gather at church we speak about believing in Jesus.
Maybe our problem is that we’re not connecting with people outside the church.
And if we do, we do not speak about our relationship with Jesus.
People need to see and hear in us that Jesus is important.
My friends from other traditions do talk about Jesus outside the church.
In this passage Jesus went to where the people were, and connected with them.
Maybe we need to get Jesus out of our church, and into our community?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, its easy to talk about You at church, everyone expects it. Help me – help us to bring You with us outside of the church (in word and deed), so that they can believe in Him too!/em>

THE STORY OF JESUS: John 10:31-39
“Is it not written in your Law, “I have said you are ‘gods'”” (John 10:34)
By calling God His Father, the Jews want to stone Jesus for blasphemy.
Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6, which addresses those whom God calls ‘gods’.
Apparently even God, according to Psalm 82:6, is willing to share the god title.
To be clear, neither God nor the scriptures say that we ARE God.
But we should not ignore the high value God places on us, His image bearers.
To be God’s children, in His image, is to be as God in the world.
(See Exodus 4:16,7:1, where Moses is said to be as God to Aaron and Pharoah).
As God’s children, we represent God to the world, as ‘gods’ in this world.
Jesus describes His relationship as “the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (v.38)
Personally, I see this as an Adam statement, what Adam could have said as well.
He’s not saying He IS God, but one in identity, character and purpose with God.
This is not blasphemy, this is humbly accepting God’s high value placed on us.
It’s also a huge responsibility: we are ‘gods’ in the world but we have messed up.
Thankfully Jesus came to restore us, and God’s kingdom, by being Adam for us!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I am Your brother, and I am God’s son. This ought to shock me, and to shake me out of my careless living. Help me to live into, and up to, my identity and responsibility in the world!

THE STORY OF JESUS: John 10:22-30
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
Debates have raged through the centuries about this.
How can the eternal God and a human being be one.
The bible teaches that there is only one God (Romans 3:30, Ephesians 4:6)
It teaches a special link between God and Jesus (1 Corinthians 8:6).
Jesus as the Word of God made flesh, to live among us (John 1:1,14)
Jesus as the fullness of God in human form (Colossians 1:19, 2:9-10)
Or as Jesus says it here, the other hand of God.
I do not pretend to understand HOW this works, I just accept it.
I believe it experientially, by resting in their two hands!
In Jesus we see the hand of God reaching down to us, to help us.
Jesus is the other hand of God – in Their two hands, we are secure.
Don’t get bogged down into trying to explain it, allow yourself to experience it.
“No one will snatch them out of my hand…
No one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, with You and God by my side, I am secure. Nothing can separate me from Your loving hands.

Many years ago (2007), I wrote this “good news parable” to try to communicate why the message of Jesus is good news to me, and to everyone. I posted it then, and thought I would post it again…

The kingdom of heaven is like…

A man who left his wife for a younger mistress. Driven by his passions and pleasures, his mistress eventually left him for someone else, and his life began to fall apart. Soon he was living on the streets, a shell of the man he once was.

Back at her home, the wife still loved her husband. She saw what had become of him, and had compassion on him. She made a decision to forgive him and to reach out to him in love, in the hopes of rescuing him and bringing him home.

She went to the dangerous streets, and finally found him. In fear and shame he pulled back from her. But she reached out to him and touched him (dirty and smelly as he was) and told him of her love, and her desire to bring him home. Continue reading ‘a good news parable (by me)’ »

THE STORY OF JESUS: John 10:11-21
“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
As a leader in a church, I often focus on different aspects of leadership.
Casting vision, mobilizing believers, setting S.M.A.R.T. goals for success.
Providing inspirational, helpful leadership through challenging situations.
But Jesus reminds me of another important aspect of a good leader (shepherd).
Jesus here refers to Ezekiel’s prophecies, about leaders who look out for themselves.
“Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves!” (Ezekiel 34:2)
Self-serving leaders who look out primarily for their own interests.
But Ezekiel also promises that one day God Himself will come for His sheep.
“I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.
I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.” (Ezekiel 34:15)
I believe that Jesus is the one Ezekiel is talking about.
Jesus is a good shepherd, the kind of leader our world needs.
Not only do I look to Him as my Leader (Lord), I want to be a good leader like Him!
As a shepherd (leader, teacher, parent, manager, boss, etc.) who is your role model?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to see that the way I ‘lead’ others matters. It is bad leadership at all levels that ruins our world, we need Your good leadership to save it. Help me to seek AND follow Your leadership.

THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 117
“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.” (Psalm 117:1)
There is a God, but this God does not belong to just a few people.
God is the God of all nations and all peoples.
Our religions attempt to describe God, but they do not confine God.
All nations and all peoples have reasons to praise God.
EVERYONE can praise Him for His great love and enduring faithfulness.
There is not a different God for every religion and culture.
There’s only one God, and each religion is an attempt to describe this God.
And they all get it wrong in many ways… including Christianity.
The only One to describe and embody God in a helpful, accurate way, is Jesus.
Jesus is the living embodiment of God’s great love and enduring faithfulness.
And not just for the ‘in’ people, but for all people.
Rich and poor, strong and weak, Jew and non-Jew… all nations and all peoples.
God so loved all nations and all peoples that he gave Jesus, for ‘whoever believes!’
Our witness to Jesus should lead all races to praise Jesus, and not exclude them!
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, Your love for ALL nations is great, Your faithfulness for all peoples endures forever. Forgive us for not loving all nations and all peoples. Make Your family one! All nations under God.

THE STORY OF JESUS: Hosea 4-6
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)
We know so much more than they did back then.
Think of the amazing scientific discoveries and insights into the universe.
We are absolutely brilliant, and yet we are as foolish as they were then.
“There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery.
They break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” (Hosea 4:2)
This sounds like the evening news, or conversations in workplaces.
I’m no prophet, but as I look at the world, I sense something deeply wrong.
When I hear peoples’ stories, and watch peoples’ lives, there’s so much brokenness.
Our world is in crisis, yet too many of us act as if everything is normal.
I’m the first to admit that religion hasn’t helped, so I do not preach religion.
But I do preach Jesus: His message and His way offer a life-changing wisdom.
We don’t need religion, we don’t need church; we need God, Jesus and each other.
We need to rediscover God’s ways, and find freedom within God’s bounds.
We are looking for intelligent life out there; can we find it down here?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, we’ve made a huge mess of things. Even worse, we’ve turned Your love into a dead and deadly system of oppression. We need help, we need You. Open our minds so that we can know, and stop destroying ourselves.

THE STORY OF JESUS: Hosea 1-3
“Show your love to your wife again, though she is… an adulteress.” (Hosea 3:1)
God commands Hosea to marry a prostitute as a sermon illustration.
Their children’s names become reflect the consequences of cheating on God.
She remains unfaithful in their marriage, and Hosea pulls away for a time.
But now he must go back to his cheating wife, and help restore her.
First of all, this is shocking, could you imagine it happening today?
But what is also shocking is that we are not disturbed by our unfaithfulness.
We cheat on God all the time, sharing our devotion to Him with other things.
God is the source of our blessings, but we use them for Baal (2:8).
If my life is a partnership with God, I often fail to show up.
God’s point is that this is as shocking as an unfaithful spouse.
There are very few people that keep on loving their cheating partner.
Yet God still loves us: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
God continues to show His love for us, though we continue to cheat.
He keeps fighting for us, to rescue and restore us from our cheating hearts.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I admit that my devotion to You is poor, compared to Your patient love for me. Please don’t give up on me, and help me not to give up on You!

THE STORY OF JESUS: John 10:1-10
“His sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:4)
Jesus speaks by His Spirit into our heart and minds.
We receive spiritual words – thoughts or impressions or intuitions.
Many do not recognize His voice in their head, though they do hear it.
The problem is, we also hear other voices, without discerning their source.
Where do negative, doubtful, fearful or hurtful thoughts come from.
I can assure you, they do not come from Jesus.
After many years spent listening to Jesus in scripture, I can tell His voice.
He does not tell me that I’m stupid, or worthless, or to steal something.
He does not prompt me to take care of myself, or do what I want.
Recognizing Jesus voice does not take long, but learning to listen to it does.
It takes deep trust, based on knowing Who He is, and what He wants for us.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!” (John 10:10)
The voices we follow, do they lead us to “life to the full”?
Sadly many of us are following the wrong voices, and its ruining us.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, today’s verse is challenging me to do more than recognize Your voice, I need to follow it! Listening to and following You is the only way I will experience life to the full!