Do I Know You?

John 1:43-51

In 2020, when we have the world at our fingertips, why do so many people feel alone?  How can we have 1000+ “friends” and feel like no one knows us?

In today’s passage, Nathanael is surprised that Jesus knows him.  He asks, “How do you know me?” and Jesus answers, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree.”  God’s ability to SEE is far greater than we can comprehend.  God sees us before we are even “us.”  He knows each of us intimately and wants us to witness great things and experience the wonders of his love.

In this new year, I plan to use Psalm 25:4-5 as my prayer. (I imagine Nathanael prayed something similar):  Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.  Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

And like Nathanael, I’ll ask Jesus with an earnest heart, “How do you know me?”  Then I’ll listen for his answer because the key to developing a deeper relationship with Him is knowing Him and knowing that with Him, I’m never alone.

So, if you need to hear these words today… God sees you.  He sees you sitting there under the fig tree and you are not alone.

Ready to Declare?

John 1:9-13

The world didn’t recognize him, they didn’t even notice.  Not being recognized for who you are and what you mean; not being believed, can be crushing.  We all want to be recognized and validated and have people believe in us.  

Was Jesus hurt by this?  Was he disappointed and frustrated?  If he came as a man to live among men, then he had feelings.  He felt what others felt, yet it was heaped with a God-sized portion of empathy.  It’s why he hung out with the “lowly.”  

Jesus knew what it was like to be overlooked and taken for granted.  He knew pain, but the difference was he didn’t let it cloud his vision and cause him to lash out, shut down and abandon his mission.  Jesus knew the truth and he wasn’t about to let people’s failure to take notice throw him off course.  

He came to make those who believed, children of God.  Why children and not men and women of God?  Because a child’s capacity to believe is so much greater.  Once we’re tainted by life, it gets harder and harder to believe in anything. Our minds want to study and analyze and prove or disprove any information we receive.  It’s why it’s so much harder to convince us of anything at 40, than it is at four.

Some say that children are naive and unwise, but what I wouldn’t give to love with abandon the way a child does.  I want to be a child of God, I need to be a child of God, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. 

It’s that simple.  Believe, and receive the right to become His child.  In this new year, are you ready to declare (or redeclare) your status as His child?  It’s not a step back - it’s really the only way forward.  

Enjoy the journey in 2019!

The Word Became Flesh

December 19                                                                               

Scripture Reading
Read John 1:14-17 and reflect on the passage.

I don't want to be overly personal, but honestly, these verses made me think of a modern Christmas morning.  This passage is like that one Christmas from your childhood that you'll always remember.  The one where you got both the starter pack and boxes and boxes of refills.  Wrapping paper was thrown everywhere.  You didn’t even know where to start, what gift to take out of the box first.  Your little mind was completely blown. You couldn’t stop repeating, “Thank you! Thank you!”

Of course, as we Christians know, that awesome gift is Jesus. We say it every year though, and so the freshness of the idea can be lost on us.  But to anyone who has really, really messed up lately, and received that wonderful gift of grace anew, that is grace upon grace upon grace. We become like the woman in Luke 7, weeping at His feet, thanking Him over and over again.  The gift is an embarrassment of riches.  Our little minds (and hearts) are blown.   Jesus, so perfect, so lovely, given for you and me.

Questions

1    What is a time you were most thankful for God's grace?

How can we extend that grace to others? 

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank you for being our Gift.  You are more than we ever could have asked for.  In Your precious name, Amen.

                                                                                                                                    Ashley Hyatt

Stars

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “... a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.”  Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.  Genesis 15:4-6. 

Of course, it began for Abraham with one “star,” Isaac.  And from Isaac came the next generation, 12 more glowing points of light.  Add 70 great-grandkids and Abraham was already up to 83 radiant descendants in just three short generations.  And it all began when “the word of the Lord came to him.” 

It is through Abraham’s offspring, actually, that the “Word” of the Lord has come to all of us now – this time as one of us, Jesus Christ, the Son of God shining through human frame.  He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being¹, for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him².  “In him was life,” writes John, “and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). 

Should it surprise us then that we who are Abraham's descendants through faith in Christ are called "the light of the world"³?  And for a purpose!  Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  

So we “shine like stars in the universe,” says Paul, as we “hold out the word of life” (Philippians 3:15, 16).  What might that look like today? 

Will we speak peace to one in turmoil and care to the afflicted? 
Will we project hope to one in despair and empathy to the hurting? 
Will we speak truth to one who is deceived and grace in place of judgment? 
Will we call out the way to one groping in darkness, as others have led us? 
Will we forgive as we have been forgiven and restore relationships?  
Will we show care to one downtrodden and intervene with justice?  
Will we hold out the word of life, eternal life in the “Word”? 

The fact of the matter is, we don’t know how God will use us today.  And when the day is done, we likely still won’t know all the ways God used us for his glory.  But if we go where he sends us, speak as he inspires us, love as he loves us, serve as he has served us ... our today will matter to someone.  

From us a light will shine.  It will be his.  

[Click here to see the today’s Scripture in John 1:1-8.]

¹ Hebrews 1:3
² Colossians 1:19
³ Matthew 5:14

John's testimony and ours

Brother John!  Can I have a witness? 

Then John [the Baptist] gave this testimony ... 

“I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him” (John 1:32).  If I were to begin my testimony with what I saw, as John did, it might sound like this: I saw many people change in deeply profound ways.  I saw angry people become joyful people … ‘wasted’ people become wholesome people … directionless people now with wisdom and understanding.  What did you see?  What stirred in your life and awoke you to the possibility that Jesus is real? 

“I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me ...” (John 1:33).  I couldn’t possibly name all the people who told me who Jesus is!  There were so many!  Dave, Barb, Eric, Del, Jim, Cathy, Keith, Gary, Sue, Pat, Ed, Lisa, Mom ... these are just a few of the dozens upon dozens of people who told me of their encounter with the Christ.  And I am deeply grateful for each one who spoke openly of him to me, because I eventually came to know him, too.  Who told you who Jesus is?  Do these people occupy a special place in your heart yet today? 

“I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God” (John 1:34).  That’s all we need to do.  That’s all we can do.  Just tell people who Jesus is and how you’ve experienced him.  It is the Holy Spirit who will ignite the spark within their souls, just as he did in us.  He is the one who will breathe life into their spirits, even as we have received from him.  Do you think there’s anyone in your life who has been wanting to know him?  If you also have come to know this Son of God, can you simply tell others when the Spirit is leading you to do so?

* * * * *

A personal note.  One of the great surprises in my life over the past five years is that realization that Jesus’ yoke truly is easy and his burden actually is quite light, just as he said.  It took three things for me to “get” this: 1) understanding and accepting the fact that God loves me very deeply and very proactively; 2) trusting and savoring God’s unconditional favor more than man’s conditional acceptance; and 3) recognizing that God opens ministry doors all around us every day – we just need to watch for them and step through them, and he will do the work through us.  Living in this freedom and love of Christ, we can all testify like Brother John. 

[Click here to see today's reading, John 1:19-34.]

It Starts at the Cross

John 1:34 (NIV)
 ^" I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." 

John the Baptist's job was to point people to Jesus, the long awaited Messiah. This is our job also. I never really made this connect before. John, Jesus's cousin, was the first to be charged with telling the world the good news and then pointing right at him and saying, "Make straight the way for the Lord." John was preparing the hearts of man to receive the Savior into their midst.

The prophet Isaiah foretold John the Baptist, who would come into the world proclaiming a Messiah would soon appear. Isaiah's people had been exiled for their sin, they had been in captivity for 70 years as a result of their evil and wicked ways. They spend 70 years living in a foreign land as a way to atone for their sin.

Isaiah and John were preparing their people, their world, for a long awaited Savior, one who would forgive sins and cleanse hearts the moment repentance took place. It sounds so easy, doesn't it? It seems like a free pass.  To think we can simply change our behavior and turn to God for forgiveness and it is done. But anyone who has ever attempted to change a behavior knows it isn't easy.

We struggle daily to do the next right thing. We fight temptations, addictions, resentments, and many days we have to start over again. But the wonderful thing is, we can start over. We have a God who loves us and wants us to keep trying and He will be at our side.

Our flesh is weak and we need help, lots of help. We need forgiveness and understanding. We need grace to get through each day.  We need the love of Jesus even give us the desire and then the fortitude to continue through each day, battling Satan. For that is what we do every day. Temptations abound.

Our world is filled with pain and suffering and sin.  But Jesus has overcome the world.

 John 1:19-34

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.” John 1:1-2

Many people around the world will read or hear this Scripture for the first time today. And regardless of nation, race, culture or tongue, most will respond in the same profound way: there will arise above their heads a collective question mark. Someone will have to explain it to them.

To the Jews and Greeks of John's day, however, “the Word” had meaning. To the Greeks, it denoted a divine reason or plan. To the Jews, God’s word was the means by which he executed his will. And into these partial understandings, John spoke revelation and clarity, for “the Word” was more than means to an end and much more than a notion.

Perhaps you’ve heard it said that “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” In this sense, John was perfectly consistent in building his gospel on a familiar foundational phrase: “In the beginning.” The difference was only a matter of revelation ...

For in the beginning, God created by speaking a word: “Let there be ...” And John revealed that this creating Word was a person – a “he,” not an “it” – and that he existed in the beginning.

In the beginning, God said “Let us make man in our image.” And John confirmed that the Word, this person, was with God and that all was created through him.

In the Genesis creation story, the Hebrew word translated “God” was “Elohim,” which is a plural noun, yet mainly used with singular verb forms, adjectives and pronouns. And John clarified for all time that the Word who was with God, actually was God.

The Word has a name; his name is Jesus. It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua, which means “the Lord saves.” For, just as the world was created through the Word in the beginning, so it would be saved by him in the end. And as the Word who was unseen created all that is seen, so he also became flesh, so we would be restored in spirit.

God is a marvelous God. His wisdom is unsearchable. His ways are beyond our comprehension. Yet he reveals them to us.

Ours is simply to worship him, for he is good. He is good to us.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given!
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing!
O, come, let us adore him,
O, come, let us adore him,
O, come, let us adore him,
Christ, the Lord.

From "O, come, all ye faithful"
John F. Wade

The Story – Chapter 22 – The Birth of the King

John 1    God Became One of Us

John 1:4 “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” This reminds me of the line about being a mushroom- always kept in the dark and unaware of what is happening outside of that cold, gloomy blackness.

John speaks of Jesus coming into the world to be the light amidst the darkness, but man was unable to see or understand. Why are we so simple minded and stubborn?  It seems impossible to imagine that people did not realize who Jesus truly was.  He was a walking, talking fountain of peace and love, with wisdom and hope beyond compare. Perhaps it’s because He did not come off as a tough, burly he man. Maybe He appeared too weak to be one with God. Possibly if He had shown anger and physical strength He would have been more respected. Wow, we sure miss out because of our human limitations and inability to comprehend what is important. Because we are driven by the mundane and insignificant we totally miss that which is essential. God help us!

Jesus was with God in the beginning. He came to this earth not as just a good man, but as the God-Man. The second in the trinity, temporarily disconnected from the other two in order to bring true light and life to us all. “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” He was here! John 1: 10 “He was in the world and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.” How could that happen? Why were they so blind as not to see God when he was right here on this earth? So often Jesus revealed His true identity, but was questioned, denied, and despised-just like now.

In John 8:23-24 Jesus again revealed his origin. “You are from below, I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world….” The true basis for our Christian faith is not just the moral teachings of Jesus, but Jesus himself as part of the Holy trinity. I believe it’s time we mushrooms come out of the darkness and drag a few other mushrooms out with us to soak up the light……and live!  

Mark your calendar 3-3-13 The Bible on The History Channel

Read John 1 

Listen to John 1