Today’s reading is John 21:1-25; I John 1:1-10.

As Jesus is allowing Peter to be reconciled following his trifold denial, He says something really strange. When I first read it, I thought, “Jesus, if you’re trying to pump Peter up, is this really the right way?”

In John 21:18-19, Jesus said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

To be honest with you, if I were trying to get someone to follow me and feed my sheep, I don’t think I’d tell him that the end of that whole journey is death (seemingly by crucifixion). Yet, that is exactly what Jesus says. What on earth was He thinking?

However, with a little more thought. I get it now. What was Peter’s problem? He had promised Jesus that even if he had to die with Him, he would never forsake Jesus. But when push came to shove, that is exactly what he did not do. He promised to die, but instead he protected his hide. He failed. Think about how that would plague him forever. No matter what great things he did, there would be the reminder that this was nothing, when he came to the ultimate test, he failed. Every bad thing he did would simply be a reminder that he probably did this because he was worthless. After all, he failed the ultimate test.

Jesus is telling Peter, “You’ll make it, Peter. You are going to keep your promise. You are going to succeed. You are going to pass the test. Just keep following Me. Keep feeding my sheep. You said you would die for me and one day you will. You will win.” Imagine how this could change Peter’s outlook. When he succeeds, he can see it as a step to passing the ultimate test. When he messed things up again (which he would), he didn’t have to see it as reinforcement that he was just a failure. Instead of giving up, he could remember, “Jesus said I would win. I just need to keep trying. I’m going to make it.”

But Peter isn’t the only one to whom Jesus makes this promise. In Romans 8:28-30 and Philippians 2:12-13, He makes the promise to us. If we love God, we’ll win. If we love God, God is working to make sure we conform to the image of God’s Son. Maybe we messed things up today. Let’s not give up. God said we aren’t working alone. God is working with us. We’ll make it. We will win. Just like Peter.

***Question: What do you do or say to yourself to keep on keeping on after you messed up?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. I also use this as the final point in one of my favorite sermons. Check it out here.

Today’s reading is John 19:1-20:31.

Doubting Thomas. What a bum. Why couldn’t he just accept the testimony of the other apostles. They said they had seen Jesus, but he wouldn’t believe unless he saw the hands and feet. We’ve held that over poor Thomas’s head for centuries. We completely forget Courageous Thomas who encouraged the disciples to go with Jesus to Jerusalem even if it meant they all died (John 11:16). We don’t remember him for his greatest moment. We remember him for his weakest moment.

Of course, it would have been different if he had not stood out as so unique. If the others had doubted like him, maybe we wouldn’t remember him that way. Ooops. There’s the problem. We have a tendency to talk about Thomas as if he was so alone in his doubts. But didn’t the apostles hear testimony from Mary? Didn’t some of them go to the tomb and find it empty? Yet, they didn’t believe. 

(Yes, yes, I know John 20:8 says John believed. However, based on vs. 9, I don’t think the text means he believed Jesus was raised from the dead. The next verse says he didn’t understand the scripture. I think it just means he believed the tomb was empty. If he believed in a resurrected Messiah, why is he holed up with the other apostles “for fear of the Jews” [John 20:19]?)

When did they believe? John 20:20, “When had had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” When were they glad? Not when Mary reported it. Not when they saw the empty tomb. They were glad when they saw Jesus’ hands and side for themselves.

Did you see that? Thomas actually wasn’t alone. Every single one of the apostles believed when they got to see Jesus’ hands and side for themselves and did not believe before that.

Why am I going into all this? Because I often treat myself like I have treated Thomas. I know my own doubts, fears, struggles, temptations, failures. I have a tendency to think I’m alone in that. I attend the church’s assemblies and see smiling faces and hear polite conversation. I think that no one here faces the battles I do every day. No one here knows what I’m going through. No one can help me. I’m alone. I’m so very alone. But I’m not. We’re all dealing with this stuff. Perhaps what we need to do is take the masks off. Be up front like Thomas and share what we are facing. Only then can we help each other.

***Question: What do you do to get help from brethren spiritually?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 17:1-18:40.

This may be a bit of an odd thought today, but something came out of left field today and smacked me as I was reading. It was one of those V8 moments.

I know a lot of people have struggled with issues surrounding God’s knowledge and times when He asked questions like “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9) or “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). They struggle with God’s interactions with man like Abraham’s bartering with God in Genesis 18:22-33 or Moses “convincing” God not to wipe out Israel and start over with him in Deuteronomy 9:13-29. How do these interactions mesh with God knowing everything.

A verse in today’s reading brought some resolution to my mind. John 18:3-4 says:

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

My conclusion from this verse is not really new to me. I just hadn’t seen it so clearly demonstrated as in this verse. Look at what happens here. Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him. That means He knew exactly who they were coming to seek. They were coming to seek Him and He knew it. Why the question then? It was not because He needed information. This question was asked for the benefit of the seekers. This question was asked to make them think about who they were actually coming to get. This question was asked to set up the situation of freely giving Himself over. A situation that shocked the seekers so badly they fell back at first.

Here is the point. This passage demonstrates that when God asks questions, it is not because He needs information. He asks questions for our benefit. Adam and Eve needed to think about where they were. Adam needed to give consideration to how he knew he was naked. Even the exchanges between God and Moses and God and Abraham can be interpreted in light of this. God didn’t need convincing. These men needed to do some convincing. God’s foretold plan had been to bring the Messiah through Judah. He couldn’t possibly do that if He wiped out Israel and started with Moses. God knew that wasn’t going to happen. This exchange wasn’t really for God’s benefit. It was for Moses’ benefit. He needed to see how important it was for God to preserve the people. He needed to intercede on their behalf because there would be days when he didn’t want to. God didn’t need Abraham to barter with Him. Abraham needed to see that God would do what was right. 

Jesus knew who they were coming to seek, but asked the question anyway. God’s questions and exchanges with man aren’t for His benefit; they are for ours.

***Question: How has God benefited you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 15:1-16:33.

I can hardly imagine what it must have been like for Jesus as He faced the cross. He knew his friends would all abandon Him. None would stand with Him as He endured the trials and beatings. Judas would betray Him. Peter would deny Him. The rest would scatter like the wind.

However, John 16:32 tells us Jesus’ anchor: “Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” 

Of course, this demonstrates why the separation of Father and Son on the cross was so brutal for Jesus. But the point I want us to see is that Jesus’ did not base His esteem, His sense of well-being, His sense of purpose on the people around Him. I have no doubt that Jesus had deep relationships with these men. I have no doubt it cut deeply to know they would abandon Him when He most needed support. Yet, He didn’t get His sense of purpose from them. He was anchored in His relationship with the Father. If all others abandoned Him, He could take comfort in God. 

We can do the same. People are fickle. They let us down sometimes. The answer is not to cut people off. Relationships are good. The answer is to make the underlying foundation of everything in our lives our relationship with God and not the people around us. If and when people let us down, when friends abandon us, when co-workers betray us, when brethren let us down, we’ll mourn. But we won’t be overcome. We know that God is still with us and He is solid, unchanging, ever-blessing. 

No matter how you feel in your relationships with others, remind yourself today, “I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”

***Question: How do you remind yourself that God is with you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 13:1-14:31. 

“Honk if you love Jesus!” said the soaped message on the rear window of the car in front of me. I wasn’t sure if he really wanted me to honk or if he might get upset. We were at a stoplight and he might forget the message on his back window. 

Messages like this abound. Is that really what shows our love for God? Honking? Maybe what we need is a bumper sticker that says something about God or a fish symbol. Maybe we should get a neat shirt with a profound spiritual message. Putting our faith in God on display like this must surely prove how spiritual we are. That is, until you’ve been cussed out by someone in a “Jesus” shirt or given the bird by someone with a fish symbol on their car. I had a friend once who told me she always stayed away from anyone who put a fish symbol on their business card. She’d been taken advantage of by too many “Christian” businessmen.

Jesus explains how we let the world know we love God in John 14:31, saying, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” I’m not saying neat t-shirts and bumper stickers are wrong. I’m just pointing that those are symbolism over substance. A catchy saying on a t-shirt is no substitute for obeying God. 

If you want folks to know you love God, you don’t have to scream it to them. You just have to do what God says. Treat them the way God says to, even when they aren’t treating you that way. Act the way God says to around them. They’ll see it. Trust me. Most folks don’t live the way God has asked us to. If you do this, you’ll stand out. And you’ll be loving God.

***Question: How do you show you love God every day?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 11:1-12:50.

Once again, Jesus hits me right in the heart. I’m reminded of the statement I’ve heard: “It’s none of my business what others think of me.”

Here’s how John said it: “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:42-43).

We look back on these folks with disdain. Yet, do we not sometimes do the same? Perhaps we believe in Jesus but we don’t tell a lost friend because we fear they will reject us. Or perhaps we’ve studied something in the Word that our brethren don’t generally believe and we won’t share it because we are afraid they’ll kick us out of the church or write us up in a paper. The problem with this, of course, is if we are wrong, we don’t get the correction we need until it is usually too late. On the other hand, if we are right, we aren’t actually helping anybody.

But back to the mantra I shared at the beginning. I think many Christians will balk at it. But think, why does it really matter what folks think of you? This statement is not intended to say don’t worry how you live. It doesn’t say it is none of your business what God thinks of you. It’s none of my business what others think of me.

Here’s the point. If I’m doing wrong, I can put on the mask and get you to think that I’m wonderful. I may receive all kinds of glory from you. That won’t change that I’m not going to receive glory from God. However, if I’m doing what is right, you may despise me. I may never receive glory from you. You may be judging me in your heart as an awful person. However, that won’t change that I’m right with God and will receive glory from Him. So, in the end, it really doesn’t matter what you think of me. What matters is what God thinks of me. Why then should I let worry about your like or dislike of me cause me to get into an unhealthy obsession about our relationship or about impressing you? Instead, I should simply strive to please God in our relationship and let your thoughts of me be between you and God.

Does this mean I don’t have to be nice to you or considerate? Of course not. But why am I nice and considerate? Is it because I want to impress you so you’ll like me? No. It is because God has said I should be compassionate, tender-hearted, kind, and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). This is the right thing to do, not to get you to like me but to please God. If I focus on pleasing God, I’ll live toward you as I ought. If, however, I focus on pleasing you, I will probably not live toward God as I ought.

For some of us, this is a real struggle. It’s not that we don’t care about God, it’s just that somewhere along the way we picked up an unhealthy habit of needing approval. Thus, we filter all our decisions through what will this decision make so and so think of me. I’m not exactly sure how to overcome this unhealthy obsession with what others think of us. But I think it begins with remembering no matter what anyone else thinks of us, God loves us. As we read earlier in John’s gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” When we are seeking man’s approval, we are looking for true love in all the wrong places. Rest in God’s love. Only then can you really love others and accept what love they are willing to offer or survive despite the love they withhold.

Remember today, it’s none of your business what everyone else thinks of you.

***Question: How do you focus on pleasing God instead of man?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 9:1-10:42.

There’s so much good stuff in John, it is hard to write these posts every day because I just want to keep writing and writing and writing. Today, I’ll note two.

1) A little tidbit caught my eye while reading. As the Jews were rebuking the former blind man, they said of Jesus, “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from” (John 9:31). That grabbed my attention because I remembered in John 7:27  some decided Jesus wasn’t the Messiah because, “But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” I don’t exactly know why they had this idea; I just couldn’t help but notice the contrast. Frankly, what I get from it is if we don’t want to believe God, any excuse will do. We may eve take opposite sides of the fence at different times just to not believe. 

A little caution here: It is too easy to see this and point the finger at all those out there who don’t believe what I do. The warning is I can be susceptible to this too. That is why we have to keep our hearts open to God’s Word and ask Him to enlighten us through it.

2) That first point really caught my eye, but the point about this reading that really helped me today is actually in John 10:7-10.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. I anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I’ve often read this as a distinction between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. I’m sure that applies. However, today it hit me just a little bit differently. Satan sends a lot of false shepherds our way. That is, he sends a lot of messages that promise comfort and pasturing. He says, “Tell this little white lie. It’s not that big of a deal and it will get you out of trouble. Go ahead.” He says, “Just drink a little of this alcohol. No one can really prove it is wrong. It’s okay. It will make you feel better, calm your nerves, help you face the day and all its troubles.” He says, “Click this link to find out which hot women are searching your name on Google, oh and here are some naked pictures of them. Just look at a few of these, it will make you feel better.” He says, “That guy didn’t have a right to speak to you that way. You need to let him have it. You don’t get mad, you get even. That will make you feel better.” I could keep going. When we take refuge in these temptations, we are looking for pasture. We are looking for comfort. We are looking for something that will just feel right and feel at home. 

But these other “shepherds” are actually robbers, thieves, murderers. Satan promises pasturing through them, but all we get is guilt, shame, anxiety, death. They suck the life right out of us. Sometimes we don’t even know it. All we know is that something just isn’t working but we can’t figure out what so we can run in circles, trying these same things over and over again, butting our heads into the tree trunks, until we finally collapse from utter exhaustion and despair.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He can pasture us, making us lie down in green pastures, leading us beside still waters. Don’t let the thief, Satan, steal your life. Trust Jesus.

***Question: What do you do to stay with Jesus and stay away from false shepherds?

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

Today’s reading is John 7:1-8:59.

Once again, the Scripture humbles me and plots a correction course for me. Jesus said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:16-18).

I love to preach. I love to teach. I love teaching classes. I love teaching one on one. I love to write. I enjoy this blog, my personal blog, and the blog for the congregation with which I work. I love to write articles when asked. I love writing books or participating in the books others are putting together. The problem is with all this teaching, whether verbal or written, there is a huge temptation. I want to say something new. I want to say something profound. I want to say something for which others will look at me and say, “Wow, Edwin, you are amazing.” Jesus explains that when my motivation is glorifying me, I’m not helping anyone. When I’m glorifying God, I avoid falsehood. 

Today’s reading reminds me of my job in Christ’s kingdom. It is not my job to be a profound preacher, a witty writer, a talented teacher. My job is to learn God’s will and pass it on. Why? Because God’s way works and mine doesn’t.

Please forgive me for the arrogant pride that sometimes creeps in as I try to be of help. Hold me accountable and let’s work together to glorify God instead of ourselves.

***Question: What do you do to get rid of pride and instead glorify God?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is John 5:1-6:71.

John 5:30 grabbed my attention today. Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

What really gets me is the one saying this was spoken about in John 1:1-5.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

I know this is talking about Jesus because in John 1:14 the text says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

Here is the one who created all things, but He cannot do anything on His own? Of course, contextually, this doesn’t seem to be saying He can’t do anything by His own power but rather He won’t do anything from His own will. Perhaps both statements are true. But either way it is an amazing statement.

If we want to take it the way it first hits us, that He can’t do anything by His own power, we should be greatly humbled. If God the Son, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ could not do anything on His own but relied on the power of His Father for all His work, who are we to think we can do anything on our own? We must acknowledge God in all our ways (Proverbs 3:6). If He were to remove His grace completely and totally from our lives, we would be dissolved into speechless, powerless, hopeless blobs of matter. He is the one who grants life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:25). So many of us settle for mediocrity in life because we only do what we think we can accomplish on our own. Perhaps if we began to realize we accomplish nothing on our own and therefore fully rely on God, His power might work through us mightily (II Corinthians 12:7-10; Ephesians 3:20). Who knows? We might lead Israel out of Egypt on the heels of 10 amazing plagues, part the Red Sea, kill a giant, bring down walls, withstand lions. Mere people like us do amazing things when they quit relying on their own strength.

If we want to take Jesus’ statement in the more contextual sense that He does not do anything from His own will but only as His Father has directed Him, we should still be greatly humbled. Jesus is as much God as the Father is. He is divine in every sense. He has the power of deity. He has the mind of deity. Yet, He doesn’t go His own way. He submits to the Father. He surrenders to the Father. If Jesus will only do what is the Father’s will, how much more should we? We are not to go our own way. We are not to pursue our own will. Rather, we are to sacrifice ourselves to God’s will (Romans 12:1). We are to crucify ourselves and live by faith in Jesus (Galatians 2:20). We are to seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33). Sadly, many today laugh at the idea of seeking authority for all that we do from God’s word, but Jesus could do nothing from His own will, but only did the will of His Father. We need to be like Jesus and only do what God wills.

However, notice that Jesus didn’t simply say, “I will do nothing of my own.” He said, “I can do nothing of my own.” Why do you think He phrased it that way?

***Question: What do you do to stay within God’s will?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Todays’ reading is John 19:1-20:31.

John 20:30-31 says: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Why did Jesus perform signs? Not simply to perform signs. Why did He heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, make the lame walk? It was not because God had given Him a healing ministry. Not at all. Sadly, many modern endeavors into the realms of the miraculous have totally missed the point. Jesus didn’t heal in order to heal. He healed in order to demonstrate He was from God.

I think we need to recognize that today for several reasons. First, so that we can quit the notion that says the miraculous gifts of healing are to remain forever because God wants to use Christians to heal the sick. That is just not so. If Jesus came into the world to heal the sick, He failed. Most of the sick were left that way and they continue to be that way. Jesus came into the world to seek and save the lost. He did that by dying, not by healing the sick. Healing the sick simply pointed out that folks needed to listen to Him.

Second, we need to understand that Jesus didn’t leave behind His church to perform a healing ministry. No doubt, Christians should do good works. But we must not confuse starting a hospital with the work Jesus asked us to do of saving souls. We must not make the mistake of claiming that social welfare, medicinal aid, or some other kind of physical benevolence equals evangelism. Granted, like Jesus, our good works may cause folks to see the Spirit living through us so that they might listen to our words. I’m not denying that. However, thinking that providing someone with medicine is the same as saving souls is simply not so. Building a hospital is not at all carrying on the ministry of Jesus. His ministry was not about healing the sick. That was simply the sign that said they should listen to His ministry of saving the lost.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?