Scripture:
John 15:12-13 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Observation:
It’s easy for life, tasks mainly, to get in the way of this command.
Application:
Focus on people!
Prayer:
Thank you, Lord, for giving us a very simple directive for life – help me follow it.
Scripture:
John 13:3 “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.”
Observation:
We just did a mini study on this verse working through Leadership Essentials, a workbook the staff is going through. The focus was about the servant heart of a leader. The author used this verse to point out that, to truly serve, the leader must have a firm grounding in his identity. Finding that identity in God, realizing our value as a child of God, gives us the ability to serve. Why? Presumably because the intrinsic value over-rides the value derived from what we do. I’m not sure this is necessarily the primary motivation for service. Actually, come to think of it, the motivation comes from verse 1 in this chapter: “…Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world … [and so] he now showed them the full extent of his love.” Christ didn’t serve because of his value to God, but because of deep love for those around him. Whether we are fully aware of and embrace our value as children of God is less relevant to our ability to serve than our love for the other. Further motivation could be better found in grasping that those around us are children of God.
Prayer:
Lord, give me true, deep love for those around me.
John 9-11: Jesus heals a blind man, claims to be the Son of God, and raises Lazarus from the dead.
Several weeks ago I was at Todd and Laura’s house and one of the evenings I asked Finn if he would read to me; I was quite surprised when he lugged over a tome on the life and works of Michelangelo. As we started flipping through the book, we came upon many portraits of Christ and Finn started asking questions about who he is, and why he was on the cross. Honestly it was somewhat awkward, especially with Todd sitting right there. Whatever the case, I told Finn that Christ was on the cross because the leaders of his day were angry with his teaching because it challenged their authority and their laws. It was interesting.
I couldn’t help but think of that conversation when I read through these passages leading up to the pharisee’s ultimate decision to plot Jesus’ death. On one hand, it’s astonishing that they so completely missed it. He healed, he brought people to God, he brought people together. On the other hand, the understandable part, there is no greater affront to who we think we are or who we want to be than the person of Jesus Christ. We are born seeking our own fulfillment, desiring pleasure and decadence. Christ asks us to give it all up – every bit of ourselves – to him.
Have I been affronted by Christ? Am I threatened by his teaching? Have I really considered its meaning to me? Then, if I have, do I reflect Christ’s offensiveness to the human nature? Is my life an affront to anyone? Interestingly, my first thought is applied to “the world” around me – but to those, Jesus was life, he was healing, he was restorative. The people he offended were the religious around him. I can’t think of many examples in my life of people offending, at the very core, the Christians around them … Is there anyone around me whom I ought to offend?
Lord, I want to be responsive to your message; Though the sinful part of me should be challenged, it has hope in redemption. The religious part of me Lord – That is a deeper lie still; let me identify those portions of my life and expel them quickly.
Scripture:
2 Peter 1:4 “[By Christ's power] he has promised that you will escape the decadence around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.”
Observation:
Here’s another example of when the NLT differs from the other major interpretations, but I like this one. Essentially others say “escape corruption caused by evil desire.” What christian wants to be part of corruption? None that I know. But we all want decadence in our life; I can identify with that. However, it’s something I need to escape. Building or contributing to it establishes my life as grounded in the world rather than grounded in Christ. It makes me spiritually fat and yet malnourished. On the other hand, we are promised divine nature – decadence (fleeting) verses divinity (eternal).
Application:
I can’t even begin to identify the decadence around me. Perhaps that’s the best start – identifying the “corruption” I eschew but is disguised as decadence I embrace.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to take part in your divine nature – help me identify and shed the corrupting decadence in my life.
Scripture:
James 3:2 “We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way.”
Observation:
James calls out the importance of controlling your tongue in the rest of chapter 3, but I like that he starts it off with this benefit: if you can learn to do this one thing, you can do anything. I just had the thought that controlling my tongue wasn’t just holding it, but also learning to use my words wisely and effectively. Perhaps at this stage of my life I should focus on just holding it.
Application:
Self control is a discipline I really value; holding my tongue is an important step and practice of that discipline. I know the benefits not only include keeping myself from looking like a fool, but also the opportunity to gain understanding of another. Today I will (attempt to) only speak (I should probably add in email as well) if my words have the potential to add value.
Prayer:
Lord, watch over my tongue, help me assess my words before they come out of my mouth – give me and those around me grace when I fail.
