John 20

Toward the end of the book that John wrote of his personal experiences with&about Jesus,he says n John20:30-31,”And truly Jesus did many other things n the presence of His disciples,which r not written n this book;but these r written that u may believe that Jesus is the Christ,the Son of God,& that believing u may have life n His name”.John’s HOPE is that we will not JUST believe,but that by believing Jesus is the Christ,the Son of God,that we will become living “representatives” of The Glory of His Holiness;His Righteousness;His Grace;His Mercy;His Word;& His Spirit...by living our lives through TRUSTING in Jesus for HOW we live!In essence,John is saying that “just believing” these things about Jesus does not result in us having the “life” John is talking about!After all,Satan himself believe these things about Jesus through personal experiences he had w Jesus,including when he was banished from heaven by The Lord(Isaiah14:12-15;Revelation12:7-12);when Satan tried to tempt Jesus(Matthew4:1-11;Mark1:12-13Luke4:1-13),and when Jesus destroys Satan’s plans to take away all hope mankind could ever have of redemption(Hebrews2:14-15).In other-words,Satan absolutely believes that Jesus is The Christ;is The Son of God!BUT,Satan rejects giving Jesus the Honor&Praise for WHO Jesus is & rebels against the Love of God for his own rebellious&selfish desires/having life that he trusts into hands other than the Loving Arms of Jesus.In a way Satan is much like the younger son n the parable Jesus tells about the prodigal son that decides to leave the love of his father to have what he thought was a better life,a “more free” life of deciding his own pleasures.The difference with the prodigal is that he is humbled by what his decisions have brought into his life,& n his “pit” turns back toward the love of his father!When Satan finds himself n his “pit”,he grows ever more arrogant and turns further away from the Love of God n all he does and all he thinks!And the rebellion of Satan gets worse&worse,making him so full of rebellion that he is forever an enemy of The Lord and those The Lord has called to Himself!This is why John says,”...but these r written that u may believe that Jesus is the Christ,the Son of God,& that believing u may have life n His name”!!!!!There is a growing crescendo n these words as the final plea is made->”that by believing u may have life in His name”->that our hearts/minds/lives will be so impacted by the TRUTHS of Christ that we will be compelled(by His great expressions of love for us)to trust Him with our lives...to seek and follow Him only!Dear Lord,forgive me for letting my life b “in my name” so many times....please help me to b increasingly aware of the ways that You reveal Your Glory;Your Holiness;Your Grace;You Mercy;Your Love...to me,and may my life b so overwhelming impacted by these TRUTHS that my life always turn to You,& that I seek and follow You only....to live in Your Name.

John 18:28-John 19

TRUTH is an integral part of the Power of Creation,and a significant part of the Foundation of THE LOVE that is ETERNALLY AUTHENTIC.TRUTH is part of the fabric of God’s Character,and a major means that God leverages to express His Awesome Love,His Loving desire for us to have the Eternal Benefits of True Wisdom->TRUTH!Yet,there is something about TRUTH that can make us uncomfortable & cause us to turn away from it.This happens to Pilate when he is questioning Jesus n John18:28-John19:1.Pilate is asking Jesus questions about who He is,& what He is.Pilate is probably curious because of the miracles that he(and everyone else)has heard about Jesus performing;&Pilate has heard what Jesus has been teaching about The Kingdom of God.So Pilate is sincerely curious!Jesus knows what Pilate is most curious about!The same thing that is at the core of ever human being-> there is a CORE CURIOSITY about->WHAT IS TRUTH/WHAT ARE THE TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE?!N John18:37 Jesus addresses this when He says,”You are right n saying I am a king.N fact,for this very reason I was born,& came n2 the world,2 testify 2 the TRUTH.Everyone on the side of TRUTH listens to me”.Jesus offers at the very least a conversation about TRUTH...& something makes Pilate so uncomfortable/uneasy that he says,”What is truth?”,& then turns away from Jesus & goes back to the angry crowd of those wanting to put Jesus to death!Pilat asked the question,but didn’t truly want to hear The Answer(He was not really on the “side of truth”)!Pilate has already framed n his own heart&mind what he WANTED to hear about truth...and didn’t want anything to threaten what might b UNtrue n his paradigms about truth.Pilate’s unwillingness to have his own ideas challenged by TRUTH identified him as one NOT being on the “side of truth”(not sincerely wanting to know what TRUTH really is,if IT might threaten any of his preformed desires&notions).N fact this made Pilate angry enough that he had Jesus flogged...nstead of listening to THE ONE w the TRUE answers about TRUTH,Pilate had Him flogged(John19:1,”Then Pilate had Him flogged.”).I do the same thing n my life when I let my preconceived notions and desires draw me away from seeking to know what Jesus has to say about the things that are AUTHENTIC about “why I am here?”,”what is the purpose for my life”?,”what is TRUE LOVE”?,etc.I become very uncomfortable when I begin to think that some of THE ANSWERS may not agree w MY desires&notions! The SAME PROBLEM Pilate had that made him turn away from THE SOURCE of TRUTH,& even flog Him!Dear Jesus,forgive me from turning away from YOUR LOVE/Your desire for my life to be forever blessed by what is TRUE,and not continue n the direction of deceptive desires&notions that get me lost n a sea of things that are far from TRUTH.Dear Lord,make my heart to b one that will always be on “the side of TRUTH”!

John 18

N the 1st verses of John18,a detachment of soldiers have come w Judas 2 apprehend Jesus.Knowing this was happening,Jesus didn’t wait for this group to reach Him,Jesus went out to them and asked,”Who is it you want?”They respond,”Jesus of Nazareth.”Something happens then that is Jesus personally giving everyone n this scene an opportunity 2 know for certain that He is God!Jesus answers by identifying Himself n the same way that Almighty God gave Moses to identify HIMSELF to the Israelites when n Exodus3:14 God says,”I AM WHO I AM!”Jesus says “I am He”,using the same word/name used n Exodus3:14!By responding to the group this way,they were given an AWESOME MINUSCULE PEEK at the Glory of God through Christ when He reveals His FULL IDENTITY to them,and they were knocked down by a the tiniest of tiny minuscule peek at The Glory of God(John:18:6,”When Jesus said to them,’I am He,’they drew back and fell to the ground.”)They each had a personal experience of being “knocked down” by the knowledge that Jesus IS The Son of God...nothing less than The Incarnate God!Jesus personally made Himself known n a way that they had very opportunity to receive Him.Yet,they denied what had just been made overwhelmingly TRUTH!OH Lord,I shutter to think of the times You have n so many ways revealed Your Glory/Love/Mercy/Grace,&Your Truth to me as You did w these soldiers,& I have quickly forgotten “what just happened” just like this crowd n the Garden of Gethsemane.Whatever it is that makes me oblivious to Your Presence n my life,please help me to address these things so that I may never more b oblivious to the WONDERS of WHO YOU ARE,WHAT YOU HAVE DONE,& The Promises You have for me n Your Word.

John 17

One of the most significant prayers of ALL TIME can b read n less than 3 minutes.John17 captures this prayer,which is also the longest recorded prayer of Jesus!1st thing this makes me realize is how many times I have not gone to The Lord n prayer because I thought I didn’t have enough to say,or my “list” was was too short & I needed to “wait” to have more to talk w The Lord about....that I needed “more material” before God would “give me an audience” b4 His Throne...that my prayer would not b eloquent enough,etc.Jesus dispels this with His models of prayer.At a “moments notice” we see Jesus turning to God The Father n brief prayers,with issues that were on his heart at that moment.This indicates an intimate relationship w God The Father that made Jesus’ “brief praying” significant.How did Jesus,God Incarnate,have this kind of intimacy w The Father?There r prayers&times that Jesus went someplace to have personal time w  The Father where the intimacy between Father-Son-Spirit were nurtured by Jesus,God Incarnate(Matthew4:1,”...Jesus was led by the Spirit n2 the wilderness....fasting 40 days & 40 nights..”Matt4:42,”At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place.”Mark1:35,”And rising very early n the morning,while still dark,he(Jesus)departed & went out 2 a desolate place.&there he prayed.”Mark6:15,”...Jesus again withdrew to the mountain by himself.”And when Jesus went n2 The Garden of Gethsemane to pray).Jesus sets the example for a life that feels secure n coming to Our Father God to talk about what’s on our heart-secure n a personal relationship w God that enables us 2 come 2 HIM as a child comes to their earthly father.So the 2nd thing this makes me realize is that I am either not having the kind of “quality time” w God that Jesus models for us,or I am letting something come between me and the Love that my Father n Heaven has for me(the Love that would never turn me away!),the Love that is always pleased w me climbing up into HIS LAP carrying what is heavy on my heart at that moment.Dear Lord,I want Your Help...so I will always have a childlike security&confidence n coming to YOU as my Father n Heaven.Draw me to significant personal times with You that nurture this n my life,& help me to know the true desires of my heart that only You can speak w me about at any moment...that You want me to crawl up n2 Your Lap of Prayer w, at any moment.

John 16:13-15

When we turn to Christ to save us from the penalties of sin,& then truly seek to know Him as Lord n our life...a metamorphosis begins when we graft our lives into a life of total dependency on nothing other than what only Christ can provide through His Life;His Sufferings;His Death;His Resurrection;&His Ascension to the very Throne of God.Jesus says n John16:13-15 that The METAMORPHOSIS begins, “When the Spirit of Truth comes(the Holy Spirit comes into our life when trust Christ alone to save us from sin) he will not speak of his own authority,but whatever he hears(from God our Father n Heaven) he will speak,& he will declare to you the things that r to come(TRUE wisdom&TRUE discernment).He will glorify me(in&through our lives).For he will take what is mine(All Absolute Truth/All True Discernment) & declare it to you.All that The Father has is mine;therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you”.As we hold firm to the GRAFTING of our lives to Christ through The Holy Spirit,we become increasingly more like The SOURCE of what we DEPEND on,and a METAMORPHOSIS begins of our becoming less & less like the characteristics of the World,& increasingly more like the characteristics of Christ(thereby glorifying Christ).Our hearts/thoughts/lives,which were once darkened by the shadows of sin&death,begin to have a metamorphosis that creates n us a new heart/a new thought life/a new life as king David knew he needed when he prayed n Psalm51:10-12,”Create n me a clean heart,O God,& renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from your presence,& take not your Holy Spirit from me.Restore to me the joy of your salvation,& uphold me with a willing spirit”.David knew that for “The Graft” that Jesus speaks of n his lesson about the Vine and the Vinedresser to take “permanent hold” on our lives we must depend on nothing but the Presence of Christ n our lives & the Guidance of The Holy Spirit...David knew this,& that is why he fervently prayed the prayer of Psalm51.David knew that his worst enemy was those parts of his own heart&life that would cling to his “old self” that lived before The METAMORPHOSIS began n his heart,his thoughts,& his life.Dear Lord,there r many areas n my heart&life that I will either cling to or try to reclaim...may The Light of Your Presence n my life clearly expose these to me,& then bless me with the same willing spirit that David prayed for...so I may always continue the process of Your metamorphosis for my life.