DBSQ 2020

January 2020 DBSQs

Friday, January 31, 2020
(Thank the Father that He helps us see what is true, righteous, holy, and good!)
-Read John 8:19-20
“Then they asked him, “Where is this Father of yours?” Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you had known me, you would’ve known my Father, too.” He spoke these words in the treasury, while he was teaching in the Temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where was Jesus during this interchange?
2. How can someone know what the Father is like?
3. Why wasn’t Jesus arrested yet?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus had been teaching in the Temple complex, specifically near the treasury. The Temple complex was huge and had many sections and compartments. No Gentiles (non Jews) were allowed into the interior part of the complex at all, but Jewish women were allowed to a certain point (the women’s court—which was where “the treasury” was) and only priests (of the tribe of Levi) were allowed in the Temple proper. Only the high priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies, and that was just once a year.

I’ve been thinking lately about how many Scripture passages can be applied in different ways. Let me explain. Scripture only ever has one accurate interpretation, but there can be a variety of ways to apply it to our lives, though, it would not be accurate to say that every single idea we come up with is always right every single time. We may sometimes not understand the meaning which would affect the application. In the case of this verse, Jesus told the Pharisees that they wouldn’t need to ask questions about God the Father if they had taken what Jesus said as truth. As they learned about Who He was, what was important to Him, what messages He relayed from the Father, they would come to know both the Father and the Son better.

So, here’s the two sides of this: No one can “know” Who God is apart from salvation. The Bible is very clear that all people are dead spiritually until the Holy Spirit causes us to come alive spiritually (“quickens” us) and we trust in Jesus as our Savior from the sin we were born with. The unsaved can know facts about God, but they cannot know Him as in a personal relationship. BUT, once someone has become a Christian, they are given the opportunity to begin to “know” God in the sense of what He is all about. We can learn what He loves, what pleases Him, what brings Him glory, what gives Him honor. We can learn how He loves to meet our needs, how He teaches us about Himself, blesses our efforts done in His name—a million things. In fact, one of the hugest blessings that God gives to His children is that we will be able to spend ETERNITY learning more and more about Him because He has no end of good things; no end to His glories; no end to His wisdom.

But what about today? How do we better know God the Father and God the Son now? Studying the Bible, attending church and listening, hanging out with believers who love Him and display Him in their words and actions, in biblically accurate and God-honoring music, in biblically accurate books, Bible studies, and articles. We learn, too, through prayer. The more we learn to pray biblically, the more God reveals about Himself. The more we trust Him, the more we see how trustworthy He is. The more we praise Him, the more we see how praiseworthy He is. The more we express gratitude to Him, the more we see all the reasons to thank Him.

It’s a pretty exciting thing to “know” God, wouldn’t you say!

Thursday, January 30, 2020
(Thank the Father that it’s such a joy to live according to His Word!)
-Read John 8:17-18
“In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two people is valid. I’m testifying about myself, and the Father who sent me is testifying about me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How many people does it take to make a testimony valid?
2. How does this make Jesus’ testimony valid?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
When I was a child, I remember that it was popular to order someone to “Prove it!” when they said that they could do something that seemed a little far-fetched. Today we might say, “Put your money where your mouth is,” or “The proof is in the pudding.” Basically, we are asking for confirmation that something is true (with a strong hint that we do not believe it is true!). I think the Pharisees were questioning Jesus in this way, though there is more than a strong “hint” that they didn’t believe Him.

Here’s a critically clear distinction to make before we judge something (or someone) or act on something we have been told: is it in keeping with God’s Word? Is there anything about it that could dishonor His name or diminish our testimony? Is what’s being said true according to God’s standard of truth? Right according to His standard of right and wrong? You see, although we sometimes feel like we are floundering and are living out our lives without knowing what all is going on, that’s not really true. Oh, it’s true that we might not understand how God is working in some situation, BUT the Bible gives us clear goals for our life (to bring Him honor and glory, to please Him in all we do, to tell others about their need for a Savior, to bless other believers and build each other up in the things of the Lord) and it gives us many foundational truths, do’s and don’ts, and guidelines for godly living. In fact, I Peter 1 says that the Bible contains everything we need to live a life of godliness. And, of course, once we have become children of God by trusting in Christ as our Savior, we have the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us permanently and helping us to understand the Bible and live it out in our day, in our circumstances, and the situations we live in.

Most people go through their lives judging good and bad, pleasurable and distasteful through human eyes that have been corrupted by sin. Christians are able to see things from God’s pure, holy, righteous eyes. We have much to praise Him for!

Wednesday, January 29, 2020
(God owns you. Thank Him!)
-Read John 8:15-16
“You’re judging by human standards, but I’m not judging anyone. Yet even if I should judge, my judgment would be valid, because it is not I alone who judges, but I and the one who sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What standards were the Pharisees using to judge? ________________________________
2. Does Jesus judge alone? _____________________________________________________
3. Who is He judging with?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The Pharisees were using their opinion as their standard for looking at other people. If others behaved well according to their standards, they were approved of. If not, they were rejected, ridiculed, and often punished. The problem, of course, is that it has never been about human standards. Only God’s decrees matter.

Learning that God is the One we are to obey and please is actually an incredibly important—and even essential—truth! When we understand this and live according to it, we are actually living in a much more free and “easy” manner than when we felt we had to conform to human rules and ideas. In fact, life is ALWAYS a million times better when we live according to how GOD says to live. He is the One Who has always existed (and will always exist). He is the One Who created everything that IS. He is the One Who keeps the universe running. He is the One Who has determined the rules. It only makes sense to follow His directions!

This attitude and behavior, though, is actually only the foundation of what God wants from us and for us. He desires to pour out His love upon us. He desires to show us His might and majesty from moment to moment every day we are alive. He desires to reveal Himself to us a little bit every day. He desires to reward us in shockingly wonderful ways. BUT, He can’t and He won’t as long as we are fighting Him and choosing to live on our own terms. He demands complete obedience (which He deserves by right of His creation of us—and by right of “buying” us through the precious blood of His Son). He demands that we choose to deny sin and self and to choose holy living and attitudes and actions that bring Him glory and praise. He demands that we trust Him with our personal well-being, focusing instead on helping and encouraging others. He demands that we love Him supremely and that we love our neighbor as self.

When we live life according to God’s desire, all is well—in spite of whatever chaos the world has to throw at us.

Tuesday, January 28, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to live in such a way that your word, actions, and attitudes reflect His light.)
-Read John 8:13-14
‘The Pharisees told him, “You’re testifying about yourself. Your testimony isn’t valid.” Jesus answered them, “Even though I’m testifying about myself, my testimony is valid because I know where I’ve come from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did the Pharisees say that Jesus’ testimony wasn’t valid?
2. Why did Jesus say that it was?
3. What don’t the Pharisees know?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Only God KNOWS everything about everything. Humans may guess—and even get some things right, but only God knows the ins and outs of the universe that He has created and which He maintains and sustains.

This thought reminds me of a sermon I heard just last evening on what God OWNS. I’ll list the seven points of the sermon, but I’m going to let you be blessed by looking up the Bible references that go with each point (you’re welcome!).
#1 God owns power. Psalm 95:4-5; Job 41:11; Isaiah 64:8
#2 God owns possessions and riches. Haggai 2:8; I Chronicles 29:16
#3 God owns sovereign principles. Psalm 31:5; Psalm 890:12; Ephesians 5:16
#4 God owns the heart of the king. Proverbs 21;1
#5 God owns vengeance and justice. Deuteronomy 32:35
#6 God owns people. Leviticus 20:26; Deuteronomy 33:3
#7 God owns YOU. I Corinthians 6:14; II Corinthians 5:14-15

The take-away? God is a loving, wise, caring, compassionate, just God. It is His right to tell us how to live. It is our duty and JOY to obey Him, thus bringing Him honor and glory. As God’s children, we have no need for fear, no need for worry, no need to take matters into our own hands.

Monday, January 27, 2020
(Pray for your pastor. It’s hard labor to preach and pastor on Sunday. He’s tired and maybe discouraged. Ask the Father to encourage Him and give him the energy and enthusiasm for a new day and a new week.)
-Read John 8:12
“Later on, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus said, I am the __________ of the _________. The one who follows ______ will never walk in ______________, but will have the _________ of ________.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Verse 12 begins a new account that is later that same day.
-Jesus spoke to the crowds and identified Himself as the Light of the world. This is one of the great I AM’s of John’s Gospel (the others are found in 6:35, 10:9, 10:11, 11:25-26, 14:6, 15:5).
-Jesus promised that whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness because they will have the light of life.
-Jesus did not let interruptions or threats keep Him from sharing the message that God wanted Him to share: news of His plan to pay the sin-debt that all people are born with.

It is no coincidence that good and evil are represented by light and darkness/ white and black in movies, books, and other venues even to our day. Light has always been associated with God and darkness has been associated with sin and satan (and anything opposed to God).

The Old Testament is LOADED with references to God associated with light. God showed Himself to the newly rescued Hebrews in the wilderness (Exodus) as a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night, His presence in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and Temple is characterized by an incredibly bright light (known as the Shekinah Glory), and, of course, God is the creator of Light. In fact, I John says that God IS light. The Old Testament also heavily prophesied about the Messiah Whom God would send and how He would be light to the nations.

There would have been no question in the minds of those Jewish listeners on this day that John is describing that Jesus was claiming to be deity. As followers of Jesus Christ (disciples), we are called to reflect His light to those we come into contact with on a daily basis. As we obey His Word and live it out in what we say and do, we will be becoming more like Him and others will see this. They will see His light in us in our dark world.

Saturday, January 25, 2020
(Who does God want you to be a godly example to today? Ask Him! What God-honoring behavior of another believer is a challenge to greater godliness to you? Thank God for them and pray for them to keep on keeping on for the Lord.)
-Read John 8:10-11
“Then Jesus stood up and asked her, “Dear lady, where are your accusers? Hasn’t anyone condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she replied. Then Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on don’t sin anymore.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Were any of the woman’s accusers left?
2. How did Jesus address her?
3. What did he tell her to do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
One of the things that almost all people do is to seek out other people to hang out with, share interests with, and grow a bond of friendship and love. God made us this way. He wants us to have a servant’s heart for others and do all the good that we can for them, especially for fellow believers, and especially for those who are in our own church family. God wants us to help each other say “no” to sin and “yes” to holiness. He wants us to help each other become more and more like His righteous Son.

Sadly, because of sin, all the things that God made perfect and beautiful gets distorted and used for ugly and selfish reasons. Instead of helping others, people step on them to get what they want. Instead of forgiving and showing compassion, people get angry and bear grudges for years. Instead of tenderly helping others to flee evil, they point it out and condemn them—as did the religious leaders in this account.

However, when all is said and done, we will all stand before Jesus alone. Just Him and us. There will be no one else to either blame us or support us. In the end, we will have nothing at all to disguise or hide who and what we truly are. But, God already knows us in every possible way there is to know someone—and more so since He is the Creator and Sustainer; the Savior and King.

So, a few pretty critical questions. Will you stand before Him as a fellow heir of Christ Jesus? As one who has trusted in Him as Your Savior from sin? If not, you, as John 3:17 says, are already condemned. You are already destined for the Lake of Fire because of the sin you were born with through Adam—and because of the sins you committed personally. BUT, if you are physically alive to read this, then you still have a chance to change all that! You still have a chance to place your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. He took YOUR PLACE, your sins, upon Himself and bore the punishment that you deserved. He died while God’s anger at sin was upon Him, paying the ultimate and permanent price for it. But, because He was not only 100% Man, He was (is) 100% God, so death could not contain Him. He is the great I AM, the Self-Existing One. He returned to life in 3 days—and currently is in heaven preparing a place for all who trust in Him as Savior. Will you believe this? Will you trust in Him as the Savior from YOUR sin? That’s all that He requires—and when you do, you have become a new creation and will not be condemned for sin. You WILL go to be with Him when you die and will remain with Him forever in a place with no sickness, no sorrow, no death, no pain—only the bright glory of God’s presence.

For those of you who know you belong to God as His redeemed child, you will still stand before Jesus all alone, but you will not be there in regards to sin. He paid for your sin and it is forever gone. You will, however, be asked to give an account of how you did or did not live for Him however long He gave you from your salvation to your death (or the rapture). You will be asked to explain how you did or did not use the talents, abilities, and resources that He gave you in your life. Did you use them to bring Him honor and glory and to bless and help others—or did you squander them or use them for selfish gain?

We will all get our chance to stand before Jesus alone. Will it be in horror when we realize that our refusal to trust Him as Savior condemns us to Hell? Will it be with sorrow and heartache that we didn’t live for Him wholeheartedly—and we suddenly wish that we had? Will it be with humility and joy because we did live for Him? Oh, not in our own power and strength, because we readily acknowledge that we don’t have any, but in His. Will it be with delight as we give to Him the results of a lifetime lived for Him and through Him?

What will it be for you?

FYI: To be perfectly clear, Jesus was NOT saying that this woman’s sin did not matter. Nor was He giving her a free pass. Remember that Jesus had come to earth as a Man SO THAT He would be crucified to pay the price for man’s sin, so He most certainly never takes sin lightly. Jesus was saying that He would not punish her that day for her adultery through stoning or any other means. Rather, He commanded her to return to her home and stop sinning. Sometimes we like to make God’s commands complicated and/or give the impression that there are many things that need to happen before we stop some sin that we have been convicted of, but truth be told, it’s simple. Just stop sinning.

Friday, January 24, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to respond in a God-honoring way—both when people praise you and when they criticize you. Both must be used to praise God and point to God’s goodness.)
-Read John 8:7-9
“When they persisted in questioning him, he straightened up and told them, “Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they went away one by one, beginning with the oldest, and he was left alone with the woman standing there.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the Pharisees only ask Jesus one question?
2. Jesus said that the one without _______ could go ahead and throw a stone at the woman.
3. What was the response of the accusers?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus’ simple challenge was straight to the point and required deep introspection by these men. He wasn’t addressing, at this point, whether the woman was guilty or innocent, but forcing them to acknowledge sin—THEIR sin. And (perhaps) Jesus wasn’t necessarily asking these men to consider their ongoing sins, but the one that they were committing right then in trying to twist the Law to use it to justify the evil intentions of their hearts in trying to trick Jesus into doing something they could arrest Him for (which they were doing at the expense of this poor woman!).

I don’t think anyone can question the soberness of considering how we might judge others in light of our own sins. Clearly, we need to clean our own hearts before criticizing others. In fact, in a general sense, it seems that what we ought to be freely “giving” to others isn’t our criticism and condemnation, but our encouragement, edification, and kindness. What we should be giving ourselves is prayerful contemplation of where God wants us to be spiritually versus how well we are living in obedience to His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit to live for Him and not self. Does this mean that we are never to challenge another believer to greater godliness? No. That is a responsibility God gives to His children on behalf of others of His children. The difference between today’s account in John and how things are supposed to be is that, first, we make sure that we are right with God, and second, that what we say is done in love, with humility, and with the goal of building the other person up to greater godliness, never to cut them down, discourage them, or give the impression that we are more holy than them. This would not honor God or reflect the example that Jesus gave.

I assume that John mentions that the oldest men left first followed by the younger ones, because in that culture, the older men were the leaders and the younger ones were expected to learn from their example.

This reminded me a bit of the Titus 2 Woman. In this letter that Paul wrote to Pastor Titus, he encourages Titus to teach the older women to not only live in a manner that honors God, but to be an example to the younger women so that they would know how to be excellent wives, mothers, and stewards of our homes. If it’s been a while since you read those verses (2:3-5), be sure to do so soon so that you can prayerfully evaluate if you are being a God-honoring “older” woman and “younger” woman. Why do I list both? Because to some people, we are older in the Lord and in spiritual maturity, but we are less mature than other believers. It should be our joy and delight to both learn from those who are living for God with excellence in some area—and be willing to help those who are coming up behind us to greater godliness. I think that what we DON’T want is to follow the example of the men who forced some poor woman to be hauled in front of Jesus so that they could humiliate her and cause trouble for Him. We want to be holy as God is holy and help others to do the same.

Thursday, January 23, 2020
(Who is God bringing to your heart to pray for today? Is there some act of kindness you can do for them in addition to praying for them?)
-Read John 8:4-6
“They told him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women to death. What do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have a charge against him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the Pharisees say the woman was caught in the act of?
2. Who did they say commanded that she be stoned to death?
3. Why did they ask Jesus His opinion?
4. What did Jesus do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
So, maybe it’s not important, but until now I assumed that where Jesus was standing and teaching had a stone surface. If it did, it must have been pretty dirty in order for Him to write on it. Maybe it was like our car dashes during pollen season!

What the Jews asked Jesus was kind of a no-win scenario. Since the Jews were under Roman authority, they could not kill someone without risking getting into serious trouble legally. However, not declaring that she should be stoned could lead to Him being accused of disobeying the Law (although, the way these men were going about this was not according to the Law on several points). In other places in Scripture, we are told that Jesus knew what they were up to and refused to play their games. He often asked THEM a question that couldn’t be answered without indicting themselves or showing their lack of mercy (which the Law clearly teaches). In this account, Jesus didn’t answer them with words, but instead wrote on the ground. What exactly He wrote is unknown because it wasn’t recorded in Scripture. Whatever it was, though, must have been pretty serious, because these men melted into the crowd soon after.

Jesus is our perfect example in all things. Here, He demonstrates that we don’t need to huff and puff in outrage when we are being treated poorly or are being deliberately challenged. God is the One Who will right all wrongs and He is the One Who will judge people’s hearts and intentions. Our job is to love God supremely and to love others as self. This does not mean, of course, that we should allow people to speak blasphemy about God or His Word, but the words and attitudes that we use should be ones of righteousness and authority (not because of us, but because of God). Our job is to speak the truth (in love and with humility), God’s job is to work in people’s hearts.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God for how He is working in your life this week, month, and year.)
-Read John 8:1-3 (John 8 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8&version=ISV
John 8 ISV – The Woman Caught in Adultery – Jesus, – Bible Gateway
John 8 International Standard Version (ISV) The Woman Caught in Adultery. 8 Jesus, however, went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them. 3 But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. [] After setting her before them, [] 4 they told him, “Teacher, this …
http://www.biblegateway.com

“Jesus, however, went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them. But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. After setting her before them,”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The Pharisees went home after the long day in the Temple. Where did Jesus go?
2. When did Jesus return to the Temple to teach more?
3. Who did the Pharisees bring to Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-After Jesus taught about Himself during the Festival of Tents, He went to the Mount of Olives.
-The Mount of Olives is just a short distance west from the village of Bethany, where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha lived. At the foot of the Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane. The Mount of Olives (named for the olive groves on its slopes) is the place from which Jesus ascended back to heaven. Interestingly, it will be the place where Jesus returns for His Second Coming to earth. When His foot touches the top of the Mount of Olives, it will split in two—all the way through Jerusalem. This is when the Battle of Armageddon begins, followed by the Millennium.
-Based on the next verse, we can suppose that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to rest (other Scripture passages tell us that He rested there overnight on occasion).

Technically, John 8:1 would seem to go with the account at the end of John 7 where the crowds and religious leaders were so confused about Who Jesus was after He taught during the Festival of Tents (or Booths). The fact that Jesus went to the Mount of Olives at the end of the day is interesting. It was, presumably, to rest for the night. He could also have needed a good long time in prayer with His Father after that hard day. We know that He did both of these things on other occasions, but we don’t know for certain on this day because the Bible doesn’t state why He went there or what He did once He got there.

I’ve spoken before about how I wish we were given even more details about the accounts told in the Bible (and how I believe that God will one day reveal to us all sorts of marvelous behind-the-scene facts and information), but I think not knowing can be beneficial too. For example, we often interact with several different people on any given day. We can probably give an account of what we said to them, what they said to us, maybe what they were wearing, and maybe some of the things that we already knew about them to present a more full picture of what happened, why, and what the results were. BUT, the amount of information we don’t know is far greater than the amount we know. We don’t know if they have some secret burden that lays so heavy on their heart that they are in a near-constant state of sorrow. We don’t know if they have one or more fears that peck at their heart day after day. We don’t know if they have been hurt in the past and that’s why they react in a way that might seem strange or even “wrong” to you. We just don’t know.

What to do about it? Love them as God loves them. Pray for them—for their needs and concerns, but more so that they would use their challenges and hardships to draw closer to God and become more and more like His Son. Help them. As much as it is possible, do good to all people, most especially to those of the household of faith. Be patient in the same way God is patient with you. Be kind in the same way you appreciate others being kind to you. Thank God for them. It’s been said that we cannot praise God for something (someone!) and grumble at the same time.

Tuesday, January 21, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to yield to the Spirit’s will—and to not be ruled by your own emotions.)
Read John 7 in its entirety. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+7&version=ISV
John 7 ISV – The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers – Bible Gateway
John 7 International Standard Version (ISV) The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers. 7 After this, Jesus traveled [] throughout Galilee, because he didn’t want to travel [] in Judea, since the Jewish leaders [] there were trying to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish Festival of Tents [] was approaching. 3 So his brothers told him, “You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can …
http://www.biblegateway.com
Summarize key points and things you want to remember:

Lorie’s John 7 Summary:
As Jesus drew closer and closer to the time of His sacrificial death on behalf of wicked man (for me!!!), He was misunderstood and maligned more than ever. Even though He had fulfilled—and more than fulfilled—all the requirements set by God by which a man was to be recognized as a prophet whom He had sent with a message to His people, the people in this time and place either missed the signs or chose to not “see” them. As a whole, the people (especially the religious leaders) can be described as hardhearted.

However, Jesus was not universally rejected and there were many who believed the prophetic message that He brought from God: that He was the Son of God; that He had come to die for their sin; that placing their trust in Him as their Savior and Messiah (Christ) was not only necessary, but essential for eternal life. It will be pretty exciting to meet all the men, women, and children who trusted in Jesus after hearing Him in person!

One of the other lessons that I believe this particular chapter teaches has to do with what we wonder about in the present versus what we know later. The crowds (and religious leaders) debated long and loud about Who Jesus was, why He came, and what that had to do with them as a nation and personally. Those of us reading about it these 2,000 years later KNOW Who Jesus is, why He came, and how it affected Israel, those specific people—and us! We know that Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sin (and that of the whole world), but that He was resurrected after three days, that He returned to the Father’s side not long after that, and that He set up the Church Age—the age that we are currently living in. Because we know all that, we don’t have to wonder about the future. We can read about that in Scripture, too! We know that Jesus will return as far as the clouds to gather up every single person who has trusted in Him as Savior from His resurrection to the day of the rapture, and we know that the rapture will set off the beginning of the end of this world, eventually ushering in His thousand-year reign on earth as the first-ever completely just and righteous King. In other words, wonderful things are yet to come! We need only live faithfully for Him—and trust Him with everything else! What we know about God’s faithfulness in the past helps us to trust Him implicitly with unknowns of the future.

Monday, January 20, 2020
(Thank the Father for the blessings and lessons of the weekend!)
-Read John 7:50-53
“One of their own, Nicodemus (the man who had previously met with Jesus), asked them, “Surely our Law does not condemn a person without first hearing from him and finding out what he is doing, does it?” They answered him, “You aren’t from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee.” Then all of them went to their own homes.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Which Pharisee addressed the group?
2. What did he say that that the Law requires before condemning them?
3. They told him that prophets never came from where?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-The Religious Leaders had been meeting to discuss what to do about Jesus and His teaching. They were already upset because the Temple police had not arrested Jesus as they were told to do, and now one of their own, Nicodemus, challenged them by suggesting that they were not obeying the Law.
-The rest of the Pharisees directed their annoyance at Nicodemus, sarcastically suggesting that he might think that he is a prophet, though they didn’t think that there had EVER been any prophets that had come from Galilee.
-The Pharisees were wrong. First, Jesus did not come from Galilee, but Bethlehem. Second, there HAD been prophets sent from God from Galilee. Jonah was one and, possibly also Elijah and Nahum.

The Bible is pretty clear that cutting someone down so that we look big is a dishonorable thing to do and most definitely does not bring God glory. In fact, one of our most precious Scripture passages, Philippians 2, speaks about how Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbled Himself and became a servant on our behalf. Other well-known passages such as Isaiah 53 speak of Jesus not fighting back against those who attacked Him (verbally and physically) and how He refused to react with ungodly anger. Actually, the whole subject of the right use of our emotions is a great Bible study to consider doing at some point—and studying what Jesus did and didn’t do is very helpful.

When people allow their emotions to get out of control, much ugliness happens. Why? Because being out of control is actually stepping away from the SPIRIT’S control—and we know that apart from God’s help we will only always ever sin. We will be focused on our wants and demands, which are not ones that bring honor and glory to God and which do not help and benefit others. I think, too, that when we remember things that we have said and done when angry or otherwise out of control, we are embarrassed and sorry. How much better to ask the Lord’s help every single morning to speak, think, and act in a way that honors Him and blesses others. How much better to commit to doing the Father’s will—and not our own. How much better to submit to the Spirit’s influence so that we can grow love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, faith, meekness, and self-control.

Saturday, January 18, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to love others of His children with the same love that He gives to you, looking out for their interests and encouraging them in their walk with God.)
-Read John 7:45-49
“Then the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like that!” Then the Pharisees replied to them, “You haven’t been deceived, too, have you? None of the authorities or Pharisees has believed in him, have they? But this mob that does not know the Law—they’re under a curse!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why were the Pharisees mad at the officers? _____________________________________
2. The Pharisees accused the officers of being ________________.
3. The Pharisees stated that the “mob” was under a _________________.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
“No one ever spoke like that” is quite the statement—and it is quite accurate. How could anyone speak like the Son of God? Like the Creator of everything? Like One Who communes with the Father and the Spirit—and Who IS God Himself? ALL of humanity would be wise to “Listen to Him” as the Father commanded on the day John the Baptist baptized Jesus (and again on the Mount of Transfiguration).

So, are we? Are we listening to what Jesus said? Here are just a few of the things that He wanted us to know (these are my paraphrases of Scripture):
-Love God more than anyone or anything else.
-Do God’s will first, always, forever.
-Pray! Tell God everything, trust Him always.
-Seek God’s Kingdom first; focus on eternal values (leaving earthly needs in His capable care).
-Love brothers and sisters in Christ. Sacrifice for each other, treat their needs as more important than your own.
-Have a servant’s heart—at all times and to everyone. Let the Father be the One to exalt you.
-STAY FAITHFUL.
-Be lights, reflecting His light.
-REJOICE. ALWAYS.
-Be thankful. Always.
-Acknowledge and thank God that He is the only Source of genuine joy, peace, satisfaction, contentment—and everything else our hearts yearn for.

There are roughly a million other incredible things that we could list! Why don’t you note a few right now?

Friday, January 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the amazing things yet to come!)
-Read John 7:40-44
“When they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, “This really is the Prophet,” while others were saying, “This is the Messiah!” But some were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah is from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Some in the crowd thought Jesus could be the _________ while others thought He could be the ___________.
2. Where was the Messiah supposed to come from? ________________________________
3. Although some of the crowd wanted to seize Jesus, ___ _____ laid hands on Him.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because I’m your friend, I’m going to tell you something that is painful, but true. There are STILL divisions among people concerning Jesus Christ—and this division is even found among God’s people, as sad as that is. In fact, I believe that among the top few things that Christians will rejoice over when eternity begins is perfect unity with God, with ourselves, and with other Christians. This may even trump our appreciation over how we look and how we feel! Why? Because disunity, disharmony, and division among God’s people is definitely NOT how it is “supposed to be”! Oh, it’s very true that there will always be agree-to-disagree areas among believers, but one group of believers purposefully causing pain and discord to others is not the same thing at all! In fact, to do so is very clearly a grievous sin in God’s eyes.

Perhaps you wonder how I know this (and I do know this pain in a very personal way!). There are tremendous blessings to be part of the pastor’s family. We GET TO serve God in a full-time way! My kids and I have ready access to THE PASTOR to get help in our Bible studies and personal walk with the Lord. Wahoo! We are shown love and kindness by our church family ALL THE TIME. We get to see people come, get saved (or re-commit their lives to God), grow in the Lord, join, and do incredible things for Him. We sometimes get to participate in births, adoptions, graduations, marriages, and even deaths (which are both joyous—and heartbreaking). But, we also are often targeted when people don’t like some command of God and want to take it out on us. We are sometimes examined to see if we are perfect or not (we’re not!). We are sometimes judged and found wanting. And we have, once or twice, been cruelly “beaten up” and spit out. I can tell you, that is NOT FUN!

So why do it, you might ask? Because God CALLED my husband to pastor—and he chose me to be his bride (which I will never stop thanking God for!). But on an even bigger scale, God called ALL believers to be becoming like His Son—and His Son warned us that the more we are aligned with Him, the more the world WILL hate us. He ALSO said, though, that the reward of those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake is ENORMOUS – that He would make it all worth it when we get to glory—and then some!

Are you having some struggles because of faithful living for God? Praise God that He has given you this honor. Commit to aligning with Jesus EVEN MORE. Live for eternity’s goals—and God will be honored greatly—and you will be rewarded hugely.

Not suffering for Christ? Ever? Prayerfully consider what this could mean about your commitment to God.

Thursday, January 16, 2020
(Thank God for His written Word!)
-Read John 7:39
“Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit was not yet present and Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What would those who believe in Jesus one day “receive”?
2. Why wasn’t the Spirit yet present?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus was apparently referring to the Holy Spirit when He promised “rivers of living water flowing” from the heart of all those who believe in Him (v.38).
-The author of the gospel provides the information that when Jesus said this, the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to indwell believers. That didn’t happen until Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection (after His ascension to heaven).
-Even though very few, if any, people would understand what Jesus was saying, He was hinting at an incredibly huge gift that God would be giving to everyone who trusted in His Son as their Savior from sin. This may have been the very first hint of the indwelling Spirit.
-Jesus is NOT saying that the Holy Spirit was never present on earth before Pentecost. There are many accounts of the Spirit’s work and presence in the Old Testament (even though the accounts of Jesus’ birth are in our New Testament, technically, in “administrative” terms, all Scripture up until Jesus returned to heaven after His resurrection is Old Testament).

I think it can sometimes be frustrating to consider all that we DON’T know about eternity. Most of us are pretty curious—and most of us want to KNOW what’s happening, why, when, and how. But God has never been compelled to explain His plans fully to people, nor should He have to. He is GOD!

What He DOES do is tell us all that we NEED to know—and He asks us to trust Him with the rest. This is, in fact, something we should be doing on a daily basis. We should be studying Scripture to find out what God has done in the past, what He is doing in the present (in the Church Age), and what He plans for the future. Part of accumulating this information is so that we will know how to live as children of God, but part of it is also to learn about God so that we come to the point where we trust Him implicitly in all areas and at all times. Our job is to trust and obey knowing that God WILL help us and never forsake us, that God WILL reward faithful behavior, that God WILL give us bigger and better opportunities to serve Him when we serve Him where we are currently at, and that God WILL do every single thing that He promised in regards to eternity—and, without question—FAR BETTER than we are able to imagine!

Wednesday, January 15, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to understand His Word—and to remember what you have learned so that you can praise Him, thank Him, and obey Him.)
-Read John 7:37-38
“On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What day did Jesus welcome people to come and drink?
2. What sort of water flows from the heart of those who believe Jesus?
3. On what authority do we know this is true?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I thought it would be most helpful to provide information on this amazing verse from an online source: Dr. Thomas Constable’s commentary. Enjoy!

Early, on each of the seven mornings of the feast, the high priest would lead a procession from the Pool of Siloam to the temple. Another priest would first fill a golden ewer with water from the pool. He would then carry it through the Water Gate, located on the south side of the temple, and into the temple courtyard. There he would ceremoniously pour the water into a silver basin on the west side of the brazen altar, from which it would flow through a tube to the base of the altar.

Many Jews would accompany the ceremonial priests on those seven feast-day mornings. Some of them would drink from the pool, while others would chant Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” This was such a happy occasion that the Mishnah stated, “He that never has seen the joy of the Water-drawing has never in his life seen joy.”

The priest would then pour water into the basin at the time of the morning sacrifice. Another priest, at the same time, would also pour the daily drink offering of wine into a different basin. Then they would both pour the water and the wine out before the Lord. The pouring out of water represented God’s provision of water in the wilderness in the past, and His provision of refreshment and cleansing in the messianic age. The pouring out of wine symbolized God’s bestowal of His Spirit in the last days.

Every male present would simultaneously shake his little bundle of willow and myrtle twigs (his lulab) with his right hand, and hold a piece of citrus fruit aloft with his left hand. The twigs represented stages of the wilderness journey, marked by different kinds of vegetation, and the citrus fruit symbolized the fruit of the Promised Land. Everyone would also shout three times: “Give thanks to the Lord!” Worshippers in the temple courtyard would then sing the Hallel (Ps. 113—118).

This “water rite” had become a part of the Israelites’ traditional celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. Essentially it symbolized the fertility and fruitfulness that the rain brought. In the Old Testament, God likened His blessings in the messianic kingdom to the falling of rain (Ezek. 47:1-7; Zech. 13:1). The Jews regarded God’s provision of water in the wilderness, and rain in the land, as harbingers of His great blessings on the nation under Messiah’s reign. Thus the water rite in the Feast of Tabernacles had strong messianic connotations.

Jesus “stood” to announce His invitation. Normally rabbis sat when they taught. Therefore His standing position, as well as His words, stressed the importance of what He said. Jesus’ claim was even more striking because on the eighth day no water was ever poured out. When Jesus called out His invitation, He was claiming to be the fulfillment of all that the Feast of Tabernacles anticipated. He announced that He was the One who could provide messianic blessing, that He was the Messiah. Jesus’ words compared His own Person to the rock in the wilderness that supplied the needs of the Israelites.

Used with permission from: https://planobiblechapel.org/constable-notes-html/
Constable Notes HTML | Plano Bible Chapel
Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes, Web-based. Dr. Constable’s Notes, authored by Dr. Thomas L. Constable, provide commentary on all 66 books of the Bible in Web-based format.Dr. Constable taught at Dallas Theological Seminary for 45 years, and served as the Chairman of its Bible Exposition department for 13 years. He now spends most of his time upgrading these notes.
planobiblechapel.org

I love how Jesus cited Scripture in His promise of rivers of living water. It’s kind of paradoxical: Jesus is quoting the authority of Scripture—which is God’s Word—and He is God, so wouldn’t every single thing He said also be Scripture? But, it isn’t! The 66 Books that God gave to us as the complete canon have MANY things that God said, but it does not contain every single thing Jesus said in His 33 years on earth. Isn’t that interesting? God chose EXACTLY what He wanted us to know in the Bible, SO it stands to reason that what we have in Scripture is all that we truly NEED to know! It contains everything that we need in order to live godly lives. Would we like to know more? You bet! But, it’s clear that we’re not going to get more until the end of the Church Age.

This should also remind us that the quotes that are of Jesus’ words are not more inspired than any other part of the Bible. It’s ALL God’s Word. That being said, we would be fools to not pay very close attention to what Jesus said. After all, He is the One Who died for us so that we could live forever with Him!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020
(Thank the Father that you know exactly where Jesus is—and that you will join Him one day! Ask for opportunities to tell others how they can know how to get to heaven too.)
-Read John 7:35-36
“Then the Jewish leaders asked one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we won’t be able to find him? Surely he’s not going to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? What does this statement mean that he said, ‘You’ll look for me but won’t find me,’ and, ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the Jewish leaders know what Jesus was talking about?
2. To what “dispersion” did they wonder if He was going?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Looking back through the lens of history, and more importantly, through Scripture, we are able to recognize that Jesus was referring to His death, resurrection, and return to the Father’s side. Those listening to Him teach on that day, however, mostly had zero idea what He was talking about. Much of that was that their understanding was blinded due to sin, but even those who had trusted in Christ as their Savior did not fully understand everything that Jesus taught at the time He taught it. One of the roles the Holy Spirit would be given, as a matter of fact, was to remind them of what Jesus had said and to provide an understanding of what it meant—after the fact.

You may be surprised to hear that most people living today are still unable to retain all that they hear when they hear it. =) Well, maybe it’s only me, but I have found that if I don’t write down facts as I hear them, I’m unlikely to remember everything that was said—or even misquote what was said because my ears heard something different than what was said. That’s why if someone is calling the house with a prayer update, I take a few notes while they are talking and then repeat what they said to me to make sure I got the facts right. Even more important than that, though, is taking notes during sermons, Sunday School, and other times the Bible is being taught. I find that if I take notes I can remember tons more than if I didn’t. Furthermore, I will now have Scripture and information that I can take home to do more research on, to meditate on, and to share with others in something like, say, Daily Bible Study Question packets!

I hereby offer an official challenge to YOU! If you don’t currently take notes on Sunday—and if you do so for four weeks in a row, let me know and I will send you a prize. And even as awesome as that will be, the rewards you reap in your personal walk with the Lord will have you exclaiming with joy. What are you waiting for? Get going this Sunday!

FYI: The Dispersion refers to Jewish people living outside of the land of Israel in locations all around the Roman Empire.

Monday, January 13, 2020
(Ask the Father to apply what He taught you from His Word yesterday to your day and week. Thank Him for His constant help to obey Him more and more fully.)
-Read John 7:32-34
“The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus. Then Jesus said, “I’ll be with you only a little while longer, and then I’m going back to the one who sent me. You’ll look for me but won’t find me. And where I am, you cannot come.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What had the high priests and Pharisees decided to do?
2. Where did Jesus say He was going?
3. Would people try to find Him?
4. Would they be able to?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus reminded those in attendance on that day that His time on earth was limited, and, in fact, that time was almost up. In less than a year, the religious leaders would succeed in having Him arrested, falsely accused, and crucified as if He were a vile criminal. And yet, He was (and is!) the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior. We sometimes claim that something or someone is “unfair,” but I don’t see how anything can be more unfair than that! Yet, Jesus suffered willingly for you and for me. Just makes me want to fall on my knees and praise and thank God!

I couldn’t help but also think that OUR time on earth is also limited. I think that most people know in their heads that everyone eventually dies, but we sure don’t like to think about it, plan for it, or prepare for it. Mostly, people like to live for today, working to give no thought about death and what comes after. BUT, God’s children cannot have this laissez-faire attitude. We belong to God! He has work for us to do! We have been gifted with X number of days to learn about Him, be becoming more like Him, live as citizens of heaven, work towards eternal goals, and speak and witness of Him. Every moment counts. Let’s not waste even one!

Saturday, January 11, 2020
(Thank the Father that we can know Him better every day of our life as we learn about Him, obey His Word, and have sweet times of prayer with Him.)
-Read John 7:30-31
“Because of this, the Jewish leaders kept trying to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t do more signs than this man has done, will he?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why weren’t the Jewish leaders able to seize Jesus?
2. Why did some in the crowd believe in Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Our second verse for today begins with the word “however.” Jesus had just been challenged and insulted by the religious leaders in front of vast crowds of people, HOWEVER, many of the crowd believed in Him. Isn’t that awesome! It can be discouraging to see people come and go in our churches. Some come for a service and we never see them again. Some come for weeks or months, then fade into distant memory. Some even come, join in membership, do wonderful things for the Lord, then leave, never to be seen again for various reasons. HOWEVER, some come, get saved, commit to living for the Lord, become members, invest themselves in the work of God in their church by attending and through service, and eventually become one of the “faithful few,” the ones that everyone speaks about with respect, appreciation, and gratitude.

There are an awful lot of uncommitted believers in our churches. There are an awful lot of here today, gone tomorrow believers in our churches. There aren’t very many faithful, committed, determined to live God’s way believers in our churches. Are you one of them? If not, what could possibly be holding you back! If it’s because your church isn’t following God’s Word completely, find one that does and become an invested member. If there is something in your life that is more important than full commitment to your church family, then spend time in God’s Word, in prayer, and in conversation with your pastor to try to find out what God wants from you and for you. And if you ARE one of those extra-special, faithful and committed church members, how might you excel still more? What a joy it is to spend every day looking for ways to honor and please God in bigger and better ways!

Friday, January 10, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to excel still more today in obedient, joyful living for Him.)
-Read John 7:28-29
“At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, “So you know me and know where I’ve come from? I haven’t come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he’s the one you don’t know. I know him because I’ve come from him, and he sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. With what volume did Jesus speak?
2. Who don’t the people know?
3. Who does know God the Father?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-John 7 takes place in the Temple complex in Jerusalem during the Festival of Tents, one of the mandatory festivals the Jewish people needed to attend every year. This festival was to remind the people how God had miraculously provided for all the needs of their ancestors when in the wilderness after being rescued from slavery in Egypt.
-It was common for teachers to find a section of the Temple complex to teach their students and whoever else might want to listen. This was true on a daily basis, but the crowds were much larger during the festivals.
-Who Jesus was, why He came, and what the Religious Leaders thought of Him was a huge topic of conversation the year of this account.
-Jesus chose to challenge the crowd’s belief that they knew where He had come from. Some knew that He had been raised in Nazareth (though, He was born in Bethlehem), but most did not know that His true home was heaven or that He was the Son of God come to save them from their sin.
-Jesus said that He did not come (to earth) of His own accord. He had been sent.
-Jesus said the “the One” Who sent Him is “true” (real or genuine).
-Jesus said that the One Who sent Him was a mystery to them.

Even though Jesus appears to be speaking cryptically here, I think we can look at v.30-32 and see that the religious leaders weren’t happy with what He was saying, especially any claims having to do with deity.

Jesus pointed out to the crowds that they didn’t actually know where He had come from—or why. In fact, when you look at everything going on, they didn’t really know Him at all! This made me stop and think about how well those of us living in 21st century America know Him. Let’s not even think about unbelievers for right now, let’s just focus on those of us who have trusted in Him as our Savior. Do we TRULY know Who He is? On what do we base that? On facts as found in His Word—or on whatever ideas we might have picked up from various sources as we grew up?

Even if our facts are accurate biblically, are facts enough? Do we become mature, God-honoring believers simply by reciting 100 or more Bible verses? By knowing who “begat” who? Oh, it’s clear that knowing what our Bibles say is really, really important, BUT putting those truths into practice in our hearts and lives is what will make the difference in truly knowing Who Jesus is, Who the Father is, Who the Holy Spirit is, WHAT we should be doing and not doing on a minute to minute basis—and WHY. To truly know God, we must have a close, personal relationship with Him. This comes through Bible study, the application of Bible study, sweet, intimate, personal time in prayer (every day/ “without ceasing”), and through worshiping and serving God regularly in a local Bible-believing church. What I’m actually talking about is the difference between knowing “about” Jesus and knowing Jesus!

Do you know God? How could you come to know Him even better? What are you going to do about it?

Thursday, January 9, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to see people the way He sees them—with compassion, mercy, and grace and with the desire for them to have a right relationship with Him.)
-Read John 7:25-27
“Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, “This is the man they are trying to kill, isn’t it? And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did some people recognize that the Religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus?
2. What confused them?
3. What was their belief about where the Messiah would come from?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I’m not sure the crowd of people can be faulted for their logic when they were just listing the facts as they knew them. The problem comes, though, when Jesus clearly tells them Who He is, what He’s come to do, and what their response must be. We, too, are not held accountable for what we don’t know from God’s Word. We are, though, accountable for what we DO know. The things that we have read from Scripture and have been taught from His Word are the things that God expects us to be doing. To not do what we know to do is sin to us.

Some might argue that if we remain ignorant about what the Bible teaches as right and wrong, that we can more-or-less do what we want, but there are many problems with that kind of thinking, not the least being an appropriate response on our part to the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made for us. His love is so great and magnificent that our response can be nothing less than giving Him our ALL.

Another, perhaps better, way to look at the concept of living in a God-honoring way is to choose to be EAGER to learn what makes God smile SO THAT we can spend our minutes, hours, and LIVES working to keep making adjustments in our thinking and actions to better and better reflect Christ and to grow more and more into the image of God in holiness and righteousness. This is the idea of living with excellence as a child of God while laboring to excel still more each and every day that God gifts us here on earth. THIS brings God great glory—and results in true joy, unconquerable peace, and an eagerness for Christ’s return. And besides all that, it’s great fun!

Wednesday, January 8, 2020
(Ask the Father to help you obey Him completely and fully today, showing you areas where you might do even better.)
-Read John 7:19-24
“Moses gave you the Law, didn’t he? Yet none of you is keeping the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?” The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” Jesus answered them, “I performed one action, and all of you are astonished. Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs—and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath? Stop judging by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus say that the crowd said gave them the Law?
2. According to Moses’ Law, could people murder each other?
3. Did the crowd seem to know that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him?
4. What sort of judgment is the right kind?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Wow. The whole “judging by appearance” thing is sure something Americans have down pat. I’m not entirely sure WHY we feel the need to group people into categories or judge them by our own standards, but it is something believers certainly need to be aware of so that we don’t misjudge, misrepresent, or as in this account, believe wrong things to be true.

Part of judging righteously is to know what righteousness is. What righteousness is comprised of can be found in His Word, of course. It can also be learned in church and from godly, mature believers. Another part of having an accurate understanding of what’s what is to talk to people and LISTEN to what they are saying. How often have we asked someone something, but without really listening to their reply? Either we are thinking about something else (something more important”) or are busy framing our NEXT question while the first is being answered. Paying attention is important—and polite.

We may also draw conclusions without knowing all the facts, or, perhaps, assuming something based on former behavior or actions (thinking that God cannot change people!). We need to be careful to find out facts and not make conclusions based on suppositions, assumptions, or hearsay.

And above all, we need to love deeply (I Peter 4:8).

It is my understanding that though Jesus was at one point in His public ministry, accused of being or having a demon, that this isn’t what the crowd is saying here. They’re simply saying that Jesus (in their eyes) is acting as if He was demon-possessed. It’s similar to us telling someone who said something quite outrageous or unusual that they are “crazy.” The thing is, most of the crowd had no idea what was going on behind the scenes as far as Jesus’ impact on the religious leaders. The Bible seems to indicate that only a very small handful of those who were among the religious leaders took Jesus seriously or believed in Him as their Savior. There could very well have been many members who secretly believed in Him, but by and large, the group as a whole was out to get rid of Him. At first, they thought to simply discredit Him, but eventually, they just couldn’t bear the truth of what Jesus said about their hypocrisy and lies any longer and wanted Him killed.

HOWEVER, God had other plans. God knew exactly what Jesus’ life would be like once He began His public ministry and how the Religious Leaders would react. Jesus was going to die, but on God’s terms, in God’s timing, and for God’s purposes. And all these centuries later, regardless of what nonsense goes on in the governments around the world and in our own mixed-up country, God is STILL in control and what He has planned WILL happen. Ours isn’t to fret over all the political unrest, ours is to live faithfully according to God’s Word, sharing the gospel with the unsaved, and building up believers in the Lord.

Tuesday, January 7, 2020
(Ask the Father to help you talk about Him today, sharing treasures from His Word to bless, encourage, instruct, and challenge wrong thinking.)
-Read John 7:17-18
“If anyone wants to do his will, he’ll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I’m speaking on my own. The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there’s nothing false in him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What is the person seeking who speaks on his own?
2. Who is genuine?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Humankind is very fond of blurring the lines between right and wrong. We love to make up rules, then immediately follow up with all the exceptions (especially in regards to what WE want to do!). We DON’T like being told what to do—even by those who are telling us something that is for our own good. We like to make up the rules, but we don’t like to live by someone else’s rules. The childhood grumble, “You’re not the boss of me!” is STILL in effect even when we are grown.

This is sin. This is what sin does to our attitudes and actions.

God’s will is the opposite of “blurry,” exceptions, and “gray” areas. He has VERY definite definitions of what is good and what is evil; what He likes and what He hates. Part of the wonder of being chosen for salvation and named a child of God is the PRIVILEGE and JOY of learning to think and act like Jesus Christ and to learn to love what God loves and abhor what He abhors.

How? you might ask. By doing the things that you know He wants you to do. As we faithfully do what we know pleases Him, He reveals more about Himself so that we can broaden our understanding and refine our thinking and actions. It’s a pretty awesome place to be—the place where God blesses us for faithful living AND shows us how to excel yet more. Give it a try! Jump right in where you are TODAY.

Monday, January 6, 2020
(How did God bless you yesterday? Thank Him!)
-Read John 7:14-16
“Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching. The Jewish leaders were astonished and remarked, “How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?” Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When did Jesus begin teaching at the festival?
2. Where did He teach?
3. What astonished the Jewish leaders?
4. Whose teaching did Jesus use?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
There is a time to act and there is a time to keep quiet.

Too often we, as women, turn this around (and get ourselves into all sorts of trouble). When we have something to say, we jump in with both feet and talk until empty (which could take quite a long time!). Other times, when we should speak, perhaps to give God the glory, to thank someone for their counsel, to defend the honor of God, we are silent.

The Bible warns that too many words can be an occasion for sin (potentially displaying pride, anger, jealousy, the desire to be “the best” – or simply proving to the listeners that we don’t actually know what we’re talking about). A general biblical remedy to an overactive mouth is to listen fully and carefully, to prayerfully consider what response would bring God honor and build the other person up spiritually, and to use Scripture and biblical principles to address whatever is being discussed, keeping the needs of others as what is important.

Sometimes, as mentioned, we remain silent when we should be speaking, though it’s still true that speaking too soon or without prayer is unwise and puts us in danger of speaking our mind as opposed to Christ’s. Certainly, we should be looking for open doors to tell people that God is the answer to all of their questions and troubles and that there is a Savior Who died for them. Too, we should become more and more comfortable with bringing God into our conversation no matter who we are talking to. It’s easy to do when chatting with friends in the church foyer, but not so “automatic” when talking to the cashier at the grocery store. BUT, if we are meditating on the things of the Lord day and night, then it will be only natural to speak of God’s goodness and grace even when speaking of normal day-to-day things.

And, as Jesus is about to do in John 7, there are definitely times for a more formal type of speaking about God, His plan for us, and how we might honor Him better and better. This can be as simple as sharing what you learned in your personal devotions at testimony time at church or as official as teaching Sunday School or a ladies’ Bible study.

Saturday, January 4, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to use your time, talents, and treasures with excellence for Him today.)
-Read John 7:10-13
“But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but, as it were, in secret. The Jewish leaders kept looking for him at the festival, asking, “Where is that man?” And there was a great deal of discussion about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He is a good man,” while others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowds!” Nevertheless, no one would speak openly about him because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did Jesus make His presence well known at the festival?
2. Who was looking for Jesus?
3. Did the crowd know Who Jesus was?
4. Why didn’t the crowds speak openly about Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus not only acted according to the Father’s timetable, But He also focused on the task at hand. Jesus was often confronted with people who wanted Him to act in a way that fit with their idea of Who He was and what He should be doing as such. Many wanted miraculous healings (which we can hardly blame them for!), but most people wanted Him to overthrow the Roman army so they could be an independent nation again. There were those, though, who felt threatened by His popularity and challenged by His teaching who wanted Him gotten rid of, preferably permanently.

Jesus was fully aware of all this. He did, as a matter of act, heal hundreds, if not thousands, of people, but providing physical help was not His main focus. Jesus not only didn’t challenge Roman authority, He taught that we are accountable to those who hold authority over us. That being said, Jesus knew that once this mission was done, He would DEFINITELY overthrow ALL wicked governments and begin a righteous and just rule over the entire earth. Jesus knew that the Religious Leaders did not like Him one tiny bit (and that they planned to eliminate Him), but He did not fret about their evil plans. He entrusted His care to the Father, focusing rather on fulfilling the mission He had been given to do: die in our place on Calvary. On His way to the cross, however, along with the healing and miracle-working, Jesus told people about their sin, their need of a Savior (Him!), and how God wanted to have a family-bond with them.

And dear fellow child of God, this can be our mission too. As we travel along our days and years, we can fulfill God’s plan for us (love Him supremely, proven by our obedience to His Word, and love others, seen in how we put the needs of others before our own and how we help them grow and mature spiritually) and we can tell the people that we know and those we meet what a wonderful God we have and what a wonderful Savior Jesus is. We can invite them into the family of God. Jesus had to sometimes be secretive about where He was, but as long as we have religious freedom in this country, we should be open and generous with our testimony and witness about salvation and eternity.

BONUS: a word about fear (v.13): Fear is both a reaction and an emotion. Since it is God-given, how we respond to it shows whether we are trusting God or not. When our car is out of control on a snowy winter road and our adrenaline begins to pump as we work to keep from having an accident, fear is a “reaction.” When we slump in despair because we’re not sure how we can survive a pay cut from work, fear is an emotion. Both can be God-honoring and both can be sinful.

Obviously, when we or our loved ones are in imminent danger, it is only natural to be afraid. That’s how our bodies are wired—to have an extra “something” (adrenaline) to help us either do battle or to get out of there, whichever is wiser and necessary. Shooting out a plea for help to the Father is definitely the right FIRST step in this crisis. Gratitude for His answer should be the last. Sometimes God gives us the answer we want (which is to be saved from it), but sometimes God allows challenges and even heartache and pain into our lives to draw us closer to Himself and to mold us more into the image of His Son. No matter what happens, we must draw nearer to God and never away.

It’s also perfectly reasonable to feel fear when we are presented with some information that is an unpleasant surprise (such as that pay cut). What we think, say, and do after our initial reaction is what either honors God or dishonors Him. The right reaction is to turn to Him in prayer to both reaffirm your trust in His goodness and to seek His wisdom in what He wants you to do (or NOT do!). Allowing yourself to feel despair, accusing God of meanness, or seeking revenge on someone is never the right response. Is it easy to deal the right way with fear? Of course not! BUT, it is absolutely possible when we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to help us and when we pore over Scripture to comfort us, instruct us, and encourage us.

Friday, January 3, 2020
(When is the last time you thanked God for the rich blessings He bestows on you every single day? Today is a great day to do so!)
-Read John 7: 6-9
“Jesus told them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its actions are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival yet, because my time hasn’t fully come.” After saying this, he remained in Galilee.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why does the world hate Jesus?
2. Why didn’t Jesus go to the festival at that time?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In only two more verses we read that Jesus DID go to Jerusalem. Was He lying to His brothers? Was He deceiving them? Not at all. This cannot be the answer. Jesus is God and God cannot lie, so there’s something about what Jesus said to His brothers that our English translations weren’t able to translate in a way that fits English.

Did you know that there are several incidents where the English language and Hebrew/Greek just don’t line up? There simply aren’t always words in one language that mean exactly the same in another language. Furthermore, the passage of time changes the meaning of words—or maybe more accurately, changes what we believe words mean. An example that leaps to my mind is the word “gay.” In the KJV it means happy, but in today’s vernacular, it’s means something very different! There are, too, nuances, poetic techniques, and humorous plays on words that are extremely difficult to explain to someone who grew up in a different culture, time, or place. Should all of that cause us to look with suspicion on our Bibles? Of course not. The Holy Spirit is far bigger than translation challenges, culture differences, and the intellectual ability of readers. God will show us what we need to know, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, He most often does that through the preaching and teaching of our own pastor in our own church. Have I mentioned before how important it is to find a Bible-teaching church, attend, and become an invested member??? It’s crucial!

Back to the question at hand, Jesus did not lie to His brothers—or to anyone at any time. One of the ways that we can try to figure out some passages that confuse us is to work with some foundational truths. 1. God cannot sin. Jesus cannot sin. 2. The Bible will never contradict itself. If there seems to be a problem, the fault is in the translation or our understanding of what the original language meant. 3. God’s Word is authoritative and we are commanded to obey it. It is not a Book of suggestions. 4. God honors our sincere efforts to understand and obey His Word.

I don’t have any idea how Jesus used His time between when He finished talking with His brothers and when He knew it was time for Him to go to Jerusalem. But the thing that I DO know is that He did not waste His time or fritter it away on nonsense. NOTHING given to us by God should be wasted. Everything should be prayed about and used wisely and carefully, both to honor God and to show love to brothers and sisters in Christ. AND, all that to say that since Jesus would not have wasted His hours and minutes, I don’t think we should either. Again, I’m not advocating 24/7 work without breaks, without sleep, and without times of relaxation and fellowship. These are all good and important things—as long as they aren’t the main use of our time. Work hard for God first, then enjoy the times of relaxation and rest that He provides.

Tuesday, January 2, 2020
(Thank the Father that He leads us and directs us in the way to go as we live faithfully for Him. Ask His help to remain obedient to His Word this entire year.)
-Read John 7:3-5
“So his brothers told him, “You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can see the actions that you’re doing, since no one acts in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you’re going to do these things, you should reveal yourself to the world!” Not even his brothers believed in him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who told Jesus to go to the festival?
2. Why did they want Him to go?
3. Did Jesus’ brothers believe He was the Messiah?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These verses seem quite sad to me. “Not even. . .” indicates that very few people had, at this point in Jesus’ public ministry, believed in Him as their Savior—not even those closest to Him. Jesus must have been sad and lonely at times. He must have struggled with the reality that He simply did not belong in the same way everyone else did.

BUT, even though Jesus did have to deal with a tremendous amount of rejection and scoffing, He never swayed from His goal of living to do the Father’s will—no matter how difficult it was for Him personally. The end result of His dedication is so far-reaching as to be almost literally too deep and too complex to describe. His sacrificial life and death brought spiritual salvation to all who would believe that He is the Savior! But that’s not all, as staggering as a believer’s “born again” status is, that’s simply the BEGINNING of marvelous gift after marvelous gift that the Father has planned for those who love Him and long to be with Him. His gifts of grace, mercy, and a closer and closer relationship with Himself are something we can enjoy EVERY SINGLE DAY—and something that just gets deeper, more meaningful, and fuller over the years as we live obediently according to the Word, eager to listen, learn, and grow. Even then, God’s blessings on us multiply as He discloses Himself more and more as we learn to trust Him, depend on Him, and accept everything from His hand as very, very good. AND, all that incredibleness is only addressing this lifetime since we know from many Scripture references that the eternity that God has planned for His children will be beyond outstanding, getting more and more outstanding every single day—for forever!

Dear one, life might be pretty challenging right now, but cling to Your Savior. Trust in your God. All is well—and more than well.

Dear Student of the Word,

Welcome to a brand new year of Daily Bible Studies! I’m so excited to begin a new year together! After much prayer—and seeking the counsel of a few trusted friends, I’ve decided to stick with the Gospel of John for one more year (although we will pick up the pace a bit and change the format slightly). In looking back at last January’s introduction to this study, I decided that it said what needed to be said, so here it is again =).

Do you love to study God’s Word? I do! But I have to confess to you that I find that if I “just” read a verse or a passage of Scripture, I might not get much out of it. This is for sure not the fault of Scripture! It is my fault because I may or may not be giving it my full attention.

I have struggled over the years to figure out how to remedy this—and the solution that God has given to me is to read a verse or passage, then to stop and look for the treasure (or treasures!) that are there for me to find, marvel over, meditate on, and then apply to my heart and life. Sometimes these “gems” are really obvious (think about beloved verses that talk about Christ being our strength so that we can do all things for God’s glory, verses that teach that God’s Word is a “light” that shines, showing us what is God-honoring and what isn’t, verses that remind us that God is ALWAYS near; that His love is steadfast and permanent, and verses that remind us that NOTHING we do for God in this lifetime no matter how “big” or “small” is wasted. God is glorified in it all—and will reward us greatly in eternity for our faithfulness to Him.). Other times, though, the gems of Scripture are a bit more hidden and require more thought and study on our part. Often they become apparent to us after our pastor or another believer has pointed them out to us.

Oh. Important point. THEN I need to write down what I’m learning!!! The items that I think I ought to be able to remember almost always end up in some abandoned corner of my brain—alone and forgotten. =(

I am officially challenging you (and me!) to embark on a treasure hunt in 2020—through the Gospel of John! It is my prayer that this quest for divine treasures will allow the Holy Spirit to more deeply and thoughtfully remind us of wondrous gems we may have discovered in the past and to introduce us to a few *new (to us) amazing things from His Word. I hope you’re excited! I am!

Please note: my applications are not more “right” than what the Holy Spirit shows you. *The Bible only has one correct interpretation, but many applications. We are all at different stages of spiritual development and experience, so the applications that we need to make to our own lives may differ from each other. That being said, I hope that in sharing what God has laid on my heart, He is glorified and you are encouraged, blessed, and challenged to greater godliness.

Here’s a basic outline for our (or really any) Bible study:
#1 Pray! The foundation for all Bible study and Christian living is looking to God for help, understanding, and guidance in how to apply biblical truth to our hearts and lives, so beginning our Bible time with prayer just makes good sense!
#2 Read the verse (or verses) targeted, but keep in mind that it is always wise to read as much as is necessary before the targeted verse—and as much as is necessary after the targeted verse— in order to understand the context in which the verse is written. “Taking a verse out of context” means to try to interpret it without having a clue what’s being said. For example, maybe you read the comment, “It’s freezing!” and assumed that this was a very bad thing (Is someone stuck outside during a blizzard???), but when you look at the context, we realize that someone is having a delicious ice-cream cone on a very hot day and is enjoying it immensely.

# 3 What gems did God show you in your Bible study? These are the treasures. The treasures can be anything: a marvelous truth about God, an encouraging promise, a weapon to help us be a victorious Christian soldier, a charge to greater godliness—whatever God touched your heart with from your time in His Word. The treasures that the Holy Spirit shows YOU may differ from another person, but each one is of tremendous worth as a gem of communication from your heavenly Father to you!

#4 The application. No Bible study is complete without prayerful application. It’s SO IMPORTANT to study God’s Word, but if it has no impact on our lives, what good has it done? It is merely a religious ritual. What God really wants is for us to be becoming more like His Son and to be representatives of Heaven to those we live among here on earth.

# 5 Meditation & Further Thoughts. This is a spot to remind us to pray once more—this time for the Holy Spirit to help us remember what we have learned, to continue to give us further insight as we meditate on what He showed us, and to ask for His strength to make the changes in our lives that need to be made so that we honor God a bit better every day that He gives us. This section can also be used to note additional thoughts, questions you might have that you want to research more, or things and people that you want to pray for today.

Thank you for sharing these Bible studies with me! It’s a huge blessing to me and I appreciate you VERY MUCH. Thank you for your prayers for this ministry!

By His Grace, Lorie
(Scripture quoted from the ISV, International Standard Version, by way of BibleGateway.com.)

P.S. As a reminder, these studies are a Monday-Saturday thing. I assume that you are being fed in your church on Sundays.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020
(Thank God for a brand new year in which to serve Him even more faithfully and to enjoy His mercies that are new every morning!)
-Read John 7:1-2 (John 7 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+7&version=ISV)
“After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, because he didn’t want to travel in Judea, since the Jewish leaders there were trying to kill him. Now the Jewish Festival of Tents was approaching.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What “after this” is being spoken about (see John 6:66-71)?
2. Why did Jesus avoid traveling in Judea at that time?
3. What festival was approaching?
–Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus was not afraid that the Religious Leaders in Judea would kill Him. He knew that He was living according to God’s timetable and plan. He was simply exercising wisdom. We find, as a matter of fact, that He does travel to Jerusalem in a short while.

Though we may sometimes not know God’s will in some areas of our lives, as long as we are obeying His will in the areas we know to do so, we can be confident that He will show us what we need to know when we need to know it. Part of living according to God’s will is in not placing ourselves in harm’s way for no good reason. Jesus COULD have thrown Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple when satan asked Him to—and God WOULD have preserved His life (because that was not the time and place for Jesus to die), but would that have pleased God? Would that be showing respect for the body that God gave Him? Should we, God’s children some 2,000 years later, show our trust in God’s care by crossing Main Street without looking first? Should we smoke, drink, stay up to all hours, and eat whatever we want whenever we want? Is that trust that God will keep us healthy and well—or it is a disregard for His command that we take care of our bodies, minds, and spirits?

It takes CHOOSING to follow God’s will for us to know what His will is. It is AS we are obedient to His Word that He uses us and shows us what is next. Following GOD’S plan in every area and at all times is ALWAYS the right thing. It is His will.

FYI:
-The author of this Gospel provides the background of the account that he is about to tell by informing the reader that the Jewish Festival of Tents was about to begin.
-The Festival of Tents was also known as the Feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) and was celebrated in the fall both to thank God for the harvest and to remind them of God’s faithfulness during the years their ancestors wandered in the wilderness while waiting to enter the Promised Land. Many of those who celebrated this Feast (all the feasts were celebrated in Jerusalem) even made small dwelling places for themselves out of leafy branches to simulate the years of temporary shelters in the wilderness. They would live in these shelters for seven days. (You can find information about this time period in Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16. Look it up!)
-The Feast of Booths was six months after Passover.
-Fall grapes and olives were the crops that were harvested at this time of the year. These were both essential products to everyday Jewish life.
BONUS: to read about perhaps the most joyful celebration of this festival of all, check out Nehemiah 8!

February 2020 DBSQs

Saturday, February 29, 2020
(Ask the Father for eyes that “see.”)
-Read John 9:10-11
“So they asked him, “How, then, did you gain your eyesight?” He said, “The man named Jesus made some mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So off I went and washed, and I received my sight.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the neighbors ask the blind man?
2. Who did he say healed him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As someone who has needed WAY too many lessons about not speaking before engaging my brain, I can still appreciate the straightforwardness of simply asking someone what you want to know. Obviously, there are some important things to take into account. For one, is it even your business? Another might be to evaluate why you think you need to know. What you intend to do with this newfound knowledge is certainly an important consideration as well.

I guess we might even need to back up and consider what kind of information are we talking about and how might it affect people in their walk with the Lord (and your own testimony). In the case of today’s Bible account, it makes perfect sense for these confused folk to simply ask the man if he used to be blind and how he was healed. The obvious reason for them to wonder is to rejoice with this man that this miraculous healing took place. They should then want to give praise to God—and, perhaps, meet Jesus so they can thank Him and praise Him. A poor reason to find out about his healing is to report him or Jesus to the Religious leaders to try to get them into trouble (like the lame man did!).

As far as our own curiosity goes, maybe a nice rule to follow (shall we say, a “golden” rule!) would be to treat others the same way we would like others to treat us! Simply imagining people questioning you (how and when), then imagining what they might do with the information (for good or ill), should help us know the right way to approach others (or even IF we should approach them at all). Tied closely with common courtesy, of course, is always keeping in mind the overarching goal of pleasing the LORD and bringing glory to the Father.

Friday, February 28, 2020
(Thank the Father that He doeth all things well.)
-Read John 9:8-9
“Then the neighbors and those who had previously seen him as a beggar said, “This is the man who used to sit and beg, isn’t it?” Some were saying, “It’s him,” while others were saying, “No, but it’s someone like him.” But he himself kept saying, “It’s me!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who wasn’t sure whether the seeing man was the beggar?
2. What was the blind man trying to tell them?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I actually find this verse pretty funny. The (formerly) blind man is jumping up and down, waving his hands in front of people’s faces, declaring adamantly that He IS “the blind beggar,” but people seem more interested in their own opinions. Ha ha! How human nature that is! There may be something right in front of our faces, but we miss it because we simply are not paying attention—or, are so caught up in our ideas about it, that we choose to believe something other than the truth.

Sometimes blindness is physical and some times it is mental. Sometimes it’s stubbornness. Sometimes it is turning a “blind eye.” But, fellow child of God, God has given us all the tools we need in order to view EVERYTHING from His perspective! In fact, God has been impressing on my heart lately how often we (me!) think about things one way, but God views them in quite another. Since we are only human, how do we see as God sees? We need Him to do it for us! We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to His Word so that we can clearly see thought patterns, misconceptions, and any way of thinking that is contrary to Who He is and what He says pleases and honors Him. This can be something along the lines of critical doctrine, but it can also be something simple like remembering to say “thank you,” or to not talk too much, or to acknowledge that forgiving someone is not optional when they ask us to—and millions of other things. God says that there IS a right way to live and be—and with His help, we can be fine-tuning it a bit more every day that we are alive and in which we put into practice what we find in the Bible.

P.S. As I look back at what I just wrote, I wanted to point out that what our doctrine is WILL determine what we think, say, and do. “Doctrine” simply means “teaching” or a collection of teachings or beliefs. If you think about the term “indoctrinated,” you’ll get the idea. It is how we are influenced by what/who we listen to that will make the difference between being Christlike or worldly.

Thursday, February 27, 2020
(Ask the Father for His help to live as “children of light” in this dark world, clearly demonstrating His marvelous light.)
-Read John 9:6-7
“After saying this, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he spread the mud on the man’s eyes and told him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “Sent One”). So he went off, washed, and came back seeing.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus spread on the blind man’s eyes?
2. Where did He instruct him to go?
3. What was he supposed to do there?
4. What was the result?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Scholars debate the possible reasons why Jesus made mud and put it on the eyes of the blind man, especially considering all those He healed with just His word. I’m not sure we NEED to know—and therein lies a simple truth that can save us a lot of stress. We don’t really NEED to know all the why’s and how’s and when’s. We simply need to have faith that God is good and all He does is good, then carry on with living in a manner in keeping with what the Bible says to do, and rejoice that all is well.

I was reminded this morning in a devotional I read that we might not always appreciate just how gracious and merciful our God is! He is all about giving freely and generously. His love literally knows no bounds, His goodness is compared to an overflowing cup, His wisdom is so vast that it’s impossible to reach the end of, His strength is so powerful that it cannot even be tested. THIS is the God we serve. THIS is the One Who is worthy of our complete confidence. THIS is the Father Who deserves our constant praise and thanksgiving.

Got questions for God? It’s okay to have an inquisitive mind—God wants us to invest ourselves deeply into His Word. What we don’t need to do, however, is question God’s actions or motives. He is only always good.

Wednesday, February 26, 2020
(Thank the Father for His perfect creation—all of it!)
-Read John 9:4-5
“I must do the work of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is approaching, when no one can work. As long as I’m in the world, I’m the light of the world.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When does Jesus need to work?
2. Whose work is He doing?
3. When can’t work be done?
4. How long is Jesus the light of the world?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Although Jesus’ statement seems oddly placed in this account of the healing of the blind man (in my opinion), I know it can’t be—because God placed it here. I’m also a little uncertain exactly what “day” and “night” means in this context, except to say that it is clear that opportunities to live for God and to do what He wants us to do is limited. In other words, there WILL come a time when we can no longer do His will, so we MUST do it now. Today.

I certainly think an obvious application for us is to consider Jesus’ choice of words when He said that He MUST do the work of the One Who sent Him (and within the time parameters that God set). I think that most of us could use this attitude/focus reminder—that of the NECESSITY of doing what God planned for us to do in the course of our life as a believer. We, too often, think of God’s commands as “important,” but not always as absolute and critical. Jesus views God’s will as THE most important thing that He has to do. He remains focused on doing God’s will and determinedly plows toward it every moment of every day.

Say, what has God asked you to do with your life? Your time? Your talents? Your treasures? There can be no question that God not only gives believers specific do’s and don’ts in the Bible, but He also gives us personalized tasks that come about as we apply biblical principles to our circumstances and day-to-day situations. The Bible seems to make it clear that it is AS we live faithfully for God, doing the things that we know He wants us to do, that He will be leading us to do the specific tasks that He created us to do (Eph. 2:10). We may recognize some of these as they come up, but I’m guessing that a whole lot of these tasks we won’t know about until glory. For example, we may not know how some act of kindness blessed and encouraged someone. We may not know how something we said caused someone to chose to do the right thing instead of continuing in some sin. We may not know how our day-to-day testimony acted as an example to a younger believer. We may not know how simply showing up to church services week after week, year after year, was used by God to help a pastor keep on keeping on. We don’t know, but God does. He planned these “works” for us to do long before we were even born. He knows. He is pleased. He is glorified. And He will reward us.

BONUS:
Jesus is NOT in the world at this point in time, BUT we are! Prayerfully evaluate how you are being His light as you read these Scripture passages.
-Matthew 5:14-16  “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. People don’t light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.”
-I John 1:5-7  “This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all!  If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth.  But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
-Romans 13:11-14 “The night is almost over, and the day is near. Let’s therefore put aside the actions of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let’s behave decently, as people who live in the light of day. No wild parties, drunkenness, sexual immorality, promiscuity, quarreling, or jealousy! Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.”
-Ephesians 5:8-10 “For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light,  for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth. Determine what pleases the Lord.”
-I Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
-II Corinthians 6:14 “Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? What fellowship can light have with darkness?”

Tuesday, February 25, 2020
(Thank the Father that He sees YOU and that He cares about you and for you. This is a precious truth!)
-Read John 9:3
“Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This happened so that God’s work might be revealed in him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Whose sin led to the man’s blindness?
2. Why was he blind?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Isn’t that an interesting phrase, “that God’s work might be revealed in him”? You know, the same thing can be said about me—and you! We have all been created SO THAT God’s work would be revealed in us. Nifty!

What is it about YOU that God wants to use to show others His glory? Is it something going on with you physically? Is it some skill or talent that you have? Is it an especially sunny disposition? Is it some experience that you had, a hobby that you do, friends that you have made? You see, if we believe that nothing that happens is an accident and that God’s loving and good hand is in everything, then all that we are: our background, our experiences, our abilities, our LACK of abilities—can all be used to sing praises about God and to God! Do you see it? Although we may look at someone who was born blind as sad, do you think that this is how God sees that person? Didn’t He create them? Didn’t He create that one blind? Didn’t He know EXACTLY what He was doing and why? Hmmm… perhaps we have been looking at handicaps and blemishes the wrong way. . .

Spend some time in prayer today focusing on how God’s work is being revealed in you and how you might have been looking at His work in a wrong way (I know that I need to do this!).

Monday, February 24, 2020
(Thank the Father for what He showed you from His Word yesterday. Ask His help to obey it today and this week.)
-Read John 9:1-2 (John 9 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+9&version=ISV
“As he was walking along, he observed a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that caused him to be born blind?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus observe?
2. What did the disciples assume?
3. How did the disciples address Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Are you a people watcher? I am. I can’t seem to help myself from watching and observing people when I’m in a restaurant, airport, mall, etc. People are interesting to me and I find myself wondering sometimes what their story is: where are they from? Are they married? Do they have children? What are their joys? Sorrows? Do they know the Lord?

I think that Jesus was a people watcher, too. The difference, though, is that He is not only the One Who created each and every person, but He is the One Who became a human SO THAT He could die in their place! We find very often in the Gospel accounts that Jesus had tremendous compassion for people. Oh, to be sure, He did not ignore or condone those who chose to act in a way contrary to God’s Law, and He certainly did challenge those who refused to believe Him (as seen in chapter 8!). But Jesus definitely has a soft spot for those who are suffering, for widows, for orphans, and for those with burdens. He often healed and helped literally hundreds of people in a day time and time again.

In John 9:1, Jesus “observed” a blind man. He noticed Him. He cared about him. He had compassion for him. And as we will see, He healed him—as only God can do. And dear one, whatever your struggle today, God cares. He sees YOU. He knows your heartache, your concern, your fear. He has compassion for YOU. Best of all, He is the One Who can do something about it. Trust Him. Lean on Him, Cast your cares on Him. Believe in His goodness. Ask for His wisdom. Live in confidence of His perfect plan and timing. He will NOT let you down.

Saturday, February 22, 2020
(Thank the Father for the Trinity: for His love, for the grace found in Christ, and for the fellowship found in the Holy Spirit.)
-It’s time to review John 8. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from the month, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your hear to work on.

Lorie’s John 8 Review:
John 8:23 seems to sum up most of what this chapter addresses, “He (Jesus) told them, “You are from below, I’m from above. You are of this world, but I’m not of this world.”

Jesus knew EXACTLY Who He was (and wasn’t!), why He was present on earth in that time and place, Whose orders He was following, and what His purpose was. And while the Religious leaders THOUGHT they knew the answers to these questions, Jesus showed them just how wrong they were. In fact, they wasted hours of valuable time with the SON OF GOD arguing with Him, telling Him that they knew better than Him (!!!), and otherwise making fools of themselves. The good news is that we CAN know who we are (and Whose we are!). We CAN know why we are here, what we should be doing with our lives, and where we are headed. It’s all in God’s Word—just waiting for us to read it and live it!

One of the extra special reasons why John 8 is a treasured chapter in the Bible is that it contains one of the great “I AM” exclamations of Jesus Christ. (Pop Quiz! How many other I AMs are there—and where are they? Triple bonus points if you get it right!) Jesus emphatically states in verse 12 that He is the Light of the World. Those who believe in Him as their Savior will no longer have to walk in the darkness that all humans are born into, but will now have the light of life—spiritual life. Colossians 1:11-14 builds on this by saying, “You are being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, so that you might patiently endure everything with joy and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. God has rescued us from the power of darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” That Jesus is the Light of the World is a VERY big deal! He literally rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, death, and pain, and brought us to His kingdom of light, love, and eternal life. More importantly, He gave us access to God the Father both now and forever.

Even in the face of so much derision and scorn, Jesus lovingly taught those who did believe in Him the necessity of obeying Him (v.31). And, in fact, we may SAY we are His disciples (followers) and love Him, but if we choose to not obey His Word, then we are not what we claim to be. We may be Christians, but we are not disciples.

Jesus said that sin imprisons, but belief in God and God’s Word sets us free—able to please God and to do what He says is “right.” Furthermore, the unsaved are “children” of satan! AND, even believers who CHOOSE to not obey God’s Word are ACTING like children/slaves of satan. God has been crystal clear since creation that He will not share His throne. Either we are obeying Him—or we are in sin. That’s simple. That important.

Friday, February 21, 2020
(Thank the Father that He shows Himself in His Word so that we can know Him better and better as we keep His Word.)
-Read John 8:56-59
“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jewish leaders asked him, “You are not even 50 years old, yet you have seen Abraham?” Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, before there was an Abraham, I AM!” At this, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the Temple.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Abraham rejoice in?
2. Who was before Abraham?
3. What was the response of the Jewish leaders to Jesus claiming to be I AM?
4. What did Jesus do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus told the Religious leaders in extremely strong words that He existed before Abraham and that He WAS God.
-I AM is the name God identified Himself with to Moses from the burning bush. It means the Self-Existing One and is translated as LORD (all caps), Yahweh, and Jehovah.

No Hebrew person would have misunderstood what Jesus was claiming on that day. He said that He existed before Abraham (who had come and gone a few thousand years earlier) – and that He was, in fact, I AM. Jesus stated clearly that He was God.

Have you heard of the doctrine of the Trinity? This is what we call the biblical teaching that God is One, yet there are three distinct Persons within the Godhead. God the Father acts as the Architect of His plan, God the Son, though co-equal with God, acts to carry out God’s plan exactly the way God the Father wills it, and God the Holy Spirit (also fully God), acts as the Agent—or power—to accomplish the Father’s will. There are several Bible passages that reference all three members of the Godhead. Here are a few for you to check out:
-Genesis 1 (creation)
-Matthew 3:16-17
-Matthew 28:19
-Luke 1:35
-John 14:16-17
-Romans 14:17-18
-II Corinthians 1:1-2
-Ephesians 4:4-6
-I Peter 1:1-2

II Corinthians 13:14 is a blessed summary of this most amazing teaching about our amazing God: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you!”

Our God is an incredible God Who defies description and understanding!

BONUS:
When Jesus saw these men with great authority among the Jewish people prepare to stone Him to death, He simply left the scene. Did you know that the Bible NEVER describes Jesus as being afraid? Oh, He got lonely, He got frustrated, and He most definitely got tired. He never got afraid, though. Why? Because He trusted completely in God’s perfect care and provision.

Guess what? We do not have to be afraid for our well-being or future either. The same God Who cared perfectly for Jesus is the same God Who cares for you and your loved ones. Pretty marvelous, wouldn’t you say? Here are a few cherished Bible verses on this subject:

-John 14:27 “I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.”
-Joshua 1:9 “I’ve commanded you, haven’t I? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be fearful or discouraged, because the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
-Isaiah 43:1 “But now this is what the Lord says, the one who created you, Jacob, the one who formed you, Israel: “Do not be afraid, because I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called you by name; you are mine.”
-Psalm 34:4 “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all of my fears.”
-Psalm 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom will I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom will I be afraid?”
-I Peter 5:7 “Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you.”
-Hebrews 13:5-6 “Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, “I will never leave you or abandon you.” Hence we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”
-Philippians 4:6-7 “Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving. Then God’s peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah Jesus.”

Spend some time thanking God for His faithfulness today by claiming these promises for yourself.

Thursday, February 20, 2020
(Thank the Father that His promises are always a sure thing!)
-Read John 8:54-55
“Jesus answered, “If I were trying to glorify myself, my glory would mean nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ You don’t know him, but I know him. If I were to say that I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and keep his word.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did Jesus try to glorify Himself?
2. Why not?
3. Who gave glory to Jesus?
4. Jesus both knows God the Father and _____________ His Word.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
There are two important applications that I see here. One is that it is possible to believe that you have a relationship with God, but you don’t. The other is that we don’t need to work to get people to think highly of us. Rather, we should live lives that honor and glorify God—and He will lift us up in His timing and manner.

As far as not truly belonging to God: those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior do not belong to God, however much they might claim to belong. It’s true that God is the Creator of everything that has ever come into being, but being our Creator is different than being our Father. Once we have trusted in Christ and become new creatures, we DO belong to God’s family (and can never NOT belong), HOWEVER, we sure can LIVE as if we don’t belong to Him (and we can choose to live in a manner that demonstrates clearly that we do belong to His family). The solution for problem #1 is to trust in Christ as your Savior. The solution for problem #2 is to set aside selfish desires and pursuits and choose to live according to God’s Word (He’ll help you every step of the way!).

As far as not looking for praise and glory for what we do, this too is a matter of a right relationship with God—and a right view of how God looks at these things. For one, what the world praises and what God praises are generally polar opposites. We need to keep studying our Bible to know what pleases Him and what He considers praiseworthy. Another important truth is that God DOES see every single faithful thought and action we do—and He WILL reward every single faithful thought and action. Very often we are blessed and see good that results from our obedient living quickly, but other times we may not see how God is using us until years later—or maybe not at all. BUT, the Bible is also very clear that in the end, God will right all wrongs and God will reward those who have lived for Him in tremendous out-of-this-world kinds of ways. I’m pretty sure that our human minds are simply not ABLE to understand what glories God has in mind for eternity, but when we get there, rest assured, it will indeed be worth it.

One last thought: it is a good thing to praise another Christian when they have done something that was a blessing to you. You cannot “steal” their reward in heaven by encouraging them to greater godliness. Nor can anyone take away your reward when they notice something you have done that honored God and mentioned it to you (when someone tells you that what you did was a blessing to them, simply respond with a heartfelt, “praise the Lord!”). God WANTS us to be on the lookout every single day for ways to encourage each other in the things of the Lord, to build others up in their relationship with Christ, and to (with tenderness, humility, and great love) remind them of areas where they might be missing the mark or giving less to God than they could be.

BONUS:
It would be fun to make a collection (a list!) of all of Jesus’ declarative statements, especially in regard to Who He is, what He does, and why He does what He does. We are given two in today’s verse: “I know God,” “I keep God’s Word.”

What awesome goals for us! If we are a Christian, we “know” God in the sense that we understand He sent His Son to die on the cross so that we could be saved and become His children. BUT, it takes a lifetime of studying His Word and living it out in our daily lives that leads to knowing Him in deeper and richer ways. We simply cannot truly “know” anyone without spending time with them—quality time and quantity time. We should be able to look back at the end of each year of life (since salvation) and know that we have a closer relationship with God and are a bit more like His Son.

We should also have as one of our top goals in life that of keeping His Word. As we study it in our private devotions and as we hear it taught in Sunday School, church services, and Bible studies, we should be eagerly looking for how to obey and please God better and better. It should be our joy and challenge to labor to fine-tune how we think and live so that it honors God a bit more all the time and so that our light shines a bit brighter to all who see us, bringing that much more glory to God.

Take some time today to prayerfully evaluate just how much you can say along with Jesus Christ that you know God and keep His Word.

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to bring Him great glory today. Not just in what you do, but in what you say.)
-Read John 8:51-53
“Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Then the Jewish leaders told him, “Now we really know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets, but you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ You aren’t greater than our father Abraham, who died, are you? The prophets also died. Who are you making yourself out to be?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus say wouldn’t see death?
2. Who did the Jews name because they died?
3. The Jews wanted to know who Jesus was __.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus is not teaching anything new in this statement. He is repeating the same—and beloved—truth that those who trust in Him as their Savior from their sins will have eternal life. Becoming a believer is to exchange the certain punishment of God’s wrath in the Lake of Fire forever and ever (the “second death”) for eternal life in the presence of God Almighty and in the ABSENCE of death, pain, destruction, ugliness, and sin.

What this verse does NOT teach is that it is possible to lose our salvation. Some think that even after we have trusted in Christ as our Savior that we can become disowned by God if we sin badly enough or long enough. The Bible simply doesn’t support this view. In fact, there are many texts in the Bible that speak of the permanency of our salvation. John 3:16 is an easy enough place to start this search. Would Jesus have said that whoever believes in Him would have eternal (forever; lasting always without end) life if He meant something less or something with certain exclusions? No. Jesus was always very clear in what He taught. He did not play games or slur words where our eternity is concerned.

Perhaps one of the sweetest passages on this subject is John 10:27-30. Here, Jesus speaks of our security by telling us that we are safely tucked into HIS hand—the hand of GOD. And, if that wasn’t enough (and it is!), His hand is encircled by the Father’s hand. Nothing can pry us out. Ever. We are safe and secure in the salvation Jesus Christ bought for us with His precious blood. This is something we should be thanking Him for and praising Him for every single day. In this world of incredible insecurity, sharing this precious truth to those who do not know Him ought to be our joy and privilege.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to consider His honor more important than your comfort level. In other words, for help to never be ashamed to quash ungodly speech and humor and to give public praise to Him for little things as well as big things.)
-Read John 8:50
“I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks it, and he is the Judge.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What didn’t Jesus seek?
2. Who is the Judge?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus Christ, God and Man, had as His overarching purpose in life to glorify God. How could we do any less?
Here are the lyrics to a wonderful song on this topic by the Herbster Trio named, “I Will Glorify Your Name.” It’s on their album, “Show Thyself Strong” on majestymusic.com. You can also listen to this song on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTN5kA6VY-E

I Will Glorify Your Name
Humbly exalting You, I come before Your throne,
Rejoicing in Your presence, I worship You alone.
Great God Eternal, Ancient of Days,
Only You are worth of my praise!

I will glorify, glorify, glorify Your name in all I do!
All my praise I bring as an offering; I will glorify Your name!

My tongue will never cease to praise Your holy name.
While things of earth will perish, You remain the same.
From the depths below to the heights above, nothing can separate me from Your love!
I will glorify, glorify, glorify Your name in all I do!
All my praise I bring as an offering; I will glorify Your name!

Prayerfully evaluate if this is YOUR song as well.

Monday, February 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for a new day and a new week to live in order to please Him and bring Him glory.)
-Read John 8:48-49
“The Jewish leaders replied to him, “Surely we’re right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon, aren’t we?” Jesus answered, “I don’t have a demon. On the contrary, I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The Jews call Jesus a _______________ and say that He has a _____________.
2. Jesus said that He honors His ___________, but they ______________ Him.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Our culture has become so twisted that it isn’t considered particularly offensive to hear someone being told they are a devil in regards to some mischief they have caused. This is sometimes done in jest because they did something funny, but it can also be used derogatorily when someone is angry at someone else. The point is that no one seems offended to be called a devil.

Not so with Jesus. This was an extremely offensive thing to say to the holy, righteous Son of God. It was wrong on many levels (every level!), especially considering the sacrifices that Jesus had made, was making, and would make on behalf of THOSE PEOPLE; on behalf of all sinful mankind, on behalf of you and me.

Really, if you think about it, making a joke about either the holiness of God or the wickedness of satan is a huge part of our world and is displayed constantly in all forms of media, maybe especially in movies, TV sitcoms, talk shows, and books. At the worst, people criticize and condemn God and everything He stands for, while uplifting attitudes and actions that have satan’s full approval. Less obvious, but perhaps more dangerous, is something in-between—a blurring of the lines between holiness and profanity, an acceptance of “some” off-color humor or poking fun at either God or satan. These things ought not to be. The holiness of God and the wickedness of sin and satan is not funny. Ever. Jesus ALWAYS condemned satan and all aspects of sin and He ALWAYS praised and uplifted God, righteousness, and holiness. Children of God should do no less.

This whole mentality is what the Bible calls “godliness” and it has to do with the Spirit-given ability to see the difference between what is sacred, holy, and worthy and that which is common, profane, unwholesome, and defiled. Satan has been quite successful through the centuries in cultures the world over in helping the sin nature try to blur the line between those two. Children of God should be growing in their discernment to recognize this distinction (Lev. 20:25; Ezk. 22:26).

Saturday, February 15, 2020
(Thank the Father that He has already defeated satan and has provided for you – and all His children – the tools to resist him, flee him, and turn our backs on his lies and deceit. Ask for help to lean on Him, to obey His Word, to pray often, and to choose to live a righteous holy life so that you will NEVER be “like” him!)
-Read John 8:45-47
“But it is because I speak the truth that you don’t believe me. Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? The one who belongs to God listens to the words of God. The reason you don’t listen is because you don’t belong to God.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus asks the crowd if they can prove Him guilty of what?
2. Since He is telling the truth, they should be ___________ to Him.
3. Who listens to the words of God?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus was very frank with people, telling them not what they always wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear.
-Those who follow God will speak and accept truth. Those who follow satan will not speak or accept truth.
-Not everyone who heard Jesus teach the truth of God believed Him.

So, as much as we could wish that people are basically good, and as much as we hope that if we just treat others well and give them endless chances to change for the better then they would, the FACT is that we are all born as sinful creatures. We come pre-loaded with a sin nature and our sin nature CANNOT “improve” or make lasting change without being dealt with through the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Well, good news, Jesus did what was needed to defeat sin, and it’s now up to mankind to BELIEVE it; to trust in Him as their Savior. THIS is the essential first step to no longer being chained to sin, to no longer being unable to recognize truth, to no longer being unable to speak truth. THIS is what Jesus wanted the crowds to do on that day some two thousands years ago – and it’s what He wants your family, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances to do today.

What about us, though? What about those of us who are currently children of God? We CAN speak truth and understand truth through the work of the Holy Spirit, but do we always? Sadly, we are still capable of CHOOSING to disregard truth and live according to satan’s lies if we want to. In fact, simply choosing to NOT obey God in even the “smallest” area IS to choose the side of sin, satan, and lies. These are the facts. Oh, that we would ALWAYS choose obedience to God—and—ALWAYS forsake satan and his lies!

BONUS:
One of the (many) blessings of being able to study the Bible and read portions over and over is that we are able to glean facts, information, and oodles of practical insights and applications that help us to live in a God-honoring way in our little corners of the world today—in the century that we live in. Truth is truth and is not limited to the days when Jesus walked the earth.
So, perhaps WE could take Jesus’ question in John 8:46 to heart today and ask ourselves if we are not believing that what He said is true. Oh, I’m not speaking about our spiritual salvation since I assume you have trusted in Him as your Savior already. I’m talking about everything that FOLLOWS salvation, the nitty-gritty details of our daily lives. Prayerfully evaluate whether your actions and thoughts PROVE that you believe the truth of God’s Word in these areas:

-God loves ME. He loves me unconditionally and will never stop loving me. Even if I “feel” that He doesn’t, the irrefutable fact is that He does.
-God will never leave me or forsake me. I am never “on my own.” He is always with me, ready and able to help me with whatever I need help with.
-God will never bring me to the point where I am forced to sin. He will always provide a way for me to say “no” to sin and “yes” to righteous, holy living.
-God will always forgive—and choose to not remember ever again—all sins that I confess to Him, giving me (at that point) a clean and sin-free heart.
-God will give me wisdom as long as I ask with the intention of obeying Him and not thinking or acting as if I had the right to choose between obeying Him and doing something else that sounds better to me.
-God will provide all that I truly “need.”
-God only ever acts with the goal of my spiritual good in mind (which also brings Him glory).
-God is paying attention to every act of obedience and He will richly reward me when I get to glory.
-God will provide “abundant” life to me when I live faithfully for Him.

There are a million more of these in Scripture! Find some for yourself, then claim each promise from God as a done deal, because it is!

Friday, February 14, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to not forget that your purpose in life is what He says it is. Ask for help to obey Him cheerfully and continually, to bring Him honor and glory each and every day.)
-Read John 8:43-44
“Why don’t you understand what I’ve said? It’s because you can’t listen to my words. You belong to your father the Devil, and you want to carry out the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and has never stood for truth, since there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who does Jesus say these people belong to?
2. Describe the devil.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that they belonged to their father, who was, by the way, the devil!
-As children of the devil, He said that they wanted to carry out his desires.
-The devil is a murderer and has always been a murderer.
-The devil has never stood for the truth.
-The devil has no truth in him.
-It is the devil’s character to lie since he is a liar; in fact, he is the father of lies.

These are some pretty harsh words about satan. What else does the Bible say about him? Here are a few of the many verses that speak of his wickedness:

-Satan lies about what God has said, trying to get people to doubt Him and/or question Him (Genesis 3:1-7).
-Satan has many schemes planned (Ephesians 6:10-18).
-Satan is arrogant and even tried to use his trick of twisting the meaning of God’s Word on Jesus Christ, trying to tempt Him to step out of God’s will for His life. It didn’t work! (Matthew 4:1-11).
-Satan is described as the “prince of the power of the air,” a spirit at work in the “sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1-2).
-Satan is the adversary of believers and prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for believers to devour (I Peter 5:8).
-Satan seeks to destroy godly marriages (I Corinthians 7:5).
-Satan has been sinning from the beginning (I John 3:8).
-Satan is cunning and wishes to lead believers astray in a similar manner that he did to Eve (II Corinthians 11:3).

As ugly as all this is, that is not the whole story! If you take the time to look up the above passages, you will discover how Jesus will and HAS defeated satan! He has made it so that believers are far from defenseless when it comes to satan’s lies and temptation. Ephesians 6:10-18 explains about the “armor” available to every Christian (not the least being prayer!) James 4:7 says that we CAN “resist” him BY submitting to God—and he will be forced to flee. I Peter 5:9 also says that we can resist satan’s lies BY standing firm in the faith.

Praise the Lord, satan’s reign and influence on mankind is drawing to a close. Revelation 20, among many other passages, speaks of his complete and permanent defeat and his perpetual punishment in the Lake of Fire.

(By the way, just as I have committed to capitalizing all references to God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit out of respect, I have also committed to NOT capitalizing references to satan. He does not deserve it!)

Thursday, February 13, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to reflect well on Who He is and what is important to Him. Ask for His help to grow a little more like His Son every day.)
-Read John 8:41-42
“You are doing your father’s actions.” They told him, “We’re not illegitimate children. We have one Father, God himself.” Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would’ve loved me, because I came from God and am here. I haven’t come on my own accord, but he sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did the Jews say their father was?
2. Did Jesus agree with them?
3. What should they have done to show God was their Father?
4. Why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
We don’t have to look hard in bookstores or on the internet to find people’s thoughts about finding our purpose in life. There are as many opinions about what this is as there are authors on the subject. Everyone has a different slant; a different opinion; a different view. In fact, we could approach a complete stranger and almost certainly get THEIR opinion as to what our purpose in being is. The problem isn’t finding ideas and opinions, the problem is knowing who is right.

I’m going to guess that if you have hung in there with my Bible studies for very long that you know what’s coming next. Yup. It’s only, always, and all about GOD and HIS opinion. A+ to you! We, just like God the Son, find our purpose, goals, and direction from God the Father. He is the One Who calls the shots. He is the One Who makes the rules. He is also the One, though, Who enables us to recognize His sovereignty, to obey His will, and even to DESIRE to do so. He is the One Who deserves all praise, honor, and glory—but, He is (astonishingly) also the One Who rewards us for the very service He helps us accomplish! Wow!

We have a purpose in life. It is to serve and obey God. It is to never give up on digging treasures out of His Word so that we can honor and glorify Him more and more accurately over the course of our lives and so that we can know better and better how to think, speak, and behave. Our purpose is to slowly, but surely, be becoming more holy, more righteous—more like the Beloved Son.

Granted, these are all lofty—maybe even somewhat ethereal—statements, BUT when they are applied to the nitty-gritty details of life, then they make all the difference in what we do, why, when, and how. They determine what we do from moment to moment from the point of waking to the point of sleep again that night, day after day, decade after decade until we stand before God and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

FYI: The Jewish leaders’ comment about not being illegitimate children may have been a mean jab at Jesus since they all knew that His mother had gotten pregnant before being married to Joseph.

Wednesday, February 12, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to feed on His Word and spend your time and energies on areas that will help you mature spiritually and help others mature too.)
-Read John 8:39-40
“They replied to him, “Our father is Abraham!” Jesus told them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did. But now you’re trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t have done that.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How should the Israelites be behaving if Abraham was their true father?
2. What were they trying to do that proved that they weren’t acting like Abraham’s children?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Children generally grow up to be like their parents. They not only resemble them physically, but often use the same phrases, have the same sort of temperament, and act and react like their parents. This is, obviously, because they spent the first few decades of their life being heavily influenced by their parents. I live several hours of driving away from my sisters and generally only get to see them once a year (or even less). Furthermore, I have not spent much time with some of them for more than FORTY YEARS, yet when we get together, I am bemused at how much alike we are. We look alike, we SOUND alike, we have similar hobbies and tastes, and often have the same pet peeves and hang-ups. What’s up with that! It’s kind of funny.

Of course, we can all think of exceptions such as broken homes, growing up as a foster child, or losing one or both parents to divorce or death. Jesus’ point to these Jews, though, is that who we are will reflect who we are related to. But, we should also understand that Jesus was especially speaking about spiritual truths. Abraham was a man noted for His faith in God—which he lived out in what he said and did. The Jews whom Jesus was in contact with in that time period were not “like” Abraham in this respect. They did not trust Him (God!), nor did they choose to do what He said they should do.

We, too, are children of God as believers. We, too, should reflect His standards, His character, His actions, and His goals. Others should see us and recognize that we are members of God’s family. However well or poorly we do reflecting God today, with His help, we can improve a bit every single day from now until He calls us home. We can forget past failures and focus on being faithful NOW.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020
(Thank the Father that you are His child! Ask His help to be becoming “just like” Him in true righteousness and holiness.)
-Read John 8: 38
“I declare what I’ve seen in my Father’s presence, and you’re doing what you’ve heard from your father.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What does Jesus declare?
2. What were the Jews doing?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus continues to teach about the difference between children of God and those who are not children of God.
-What Jesus is telling them is what He has seen in God the Father’s presence. By contrast, these people are doing what they have heard from their “father.” Later, in verse 44, Jesus spells out that He is saying that their father is the devil.

There are probably several different forms of this same truth: people tend to think, speak, and act like those they spend the most time with. “Monkey see, monkey do,” “The acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree,” “If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.”

God said it this way, “How blessed is the person, who does not take the advice of the wicked, who does not stand on the path with sinners, and who does not sit in the seat of mockers. But he delights in the Lord’s instruction, and meditates in his instruction day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither. He will prosper in everything he does.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

We ARE influenced by those we spend time with. Though this is not a pass-card on needing to talk to the unsaved to tell them about the Lord, it IS a caution to be careful who or what is influencing our thoughts, our attitudes, our decisions, our speech, and how we spend our very precious hours. Children of God ought to be reflecting GOD’S codes of conduct and thought—and to do so, we must spend time in His Word and with His faithful and obedient children.

Prayerfully consider who you spend a lot of time with, why, and what the results are in your daily walk with God.

Prayerfully consider what you do with your time and how it helps or harms your relationship to God and your witness to others.

Prayerfully consider what you read, listen to, or otherwise fill your head and heart with, asking the Father to show you what should be changed, removed, or increased.

Monday, February 10, 2020
(Thank the Father for some of the blessings and lessons of the weekend. Share one of these praises with another believer today.)
-Read John 8:35-37
“The slave does not remain in the household forever, but the son does remain forever.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are trying to kill me because you’ve not received what I’ve told you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who remains in the household forever?
2. Who doesn’t?
3. Who can make us “free indeed”?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus is using the commonly understood facts about slaves to teach a spiritual truth.
-The Jews felt that they were all set with God spiritually because they were descendants of Abraham, the man God chose to be the start of their nation.
-Jesus taught that there is a distinction between the role of a slave in a household and the role of a son. The slave’s time in a household is temporary, while the son’s is forever.

Jesus wanted these Jewish listeners to understand the difference between someone who belongs to a household by virtue of birth versus someone who is there temporarily as a slave, servant, or a hired laborer. Only those born to the parents that are the head of a household “belong” to them forever. Even if there are fights and divisions, a blood relative cannot stop being a blood relative.

This is a physical truth, but it is also a spiritual truth. In a spiritual sense, there is just one way to become a child born into God’s household. That is to trust in Jesus as our Savior from sin. Once we have done this we have been born anew into a new family, the family of God. And glory of glories, this family is ours forever. It’s impossible to lose it, get kicked out, or otherwise be stricken from the family records. Blood is blood—nothing and no one can take away our salvation. If THAT’S not a huge relief, then I don’t know what is! We have much to praise God for every single day.

One last thought: the children born to a household should have far more loyalty to their parents than anyone who comes to stay with the family on a temporary basis. How are you showing your loyalty to God when you are with others? How about when you are all alone and no one is watching what you do?

Saturday, February 8, 2020
(Thank the Father for His incredible Word and how it contains everything that we need to know to live a life that pleases Him and brings Him honor. Ask His help to understand it and apply it to your day and to your life.)
-Read John 8:33-34
“They replied to him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anybody. So how can you say, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did the Jews say they were descendants of?
2. Who did Jesus say was a slave of sin?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I can hear you. You are saying, “Wait a minute, Lorie! You have said over and over that Christians are no longer slaves to sin. So, what’s this verse saying?”. Well, first, thanks for listening. =) Second, the unsaved ARE slaves to sin—and are born as such. They cannot become free from this slavery until they trust in Jesus Christ as the Savior from their sin (it’s a very personal thing that each person must do themselves). However, believers can CHOOSE to sin. Worse yet, they can choose to keep on sinning, disregarding what they know God wants them to do. There are a million examples of this kind of ugly behavior, but let’s pick on the topic of our emotions. The Bible tells us to be patient, loving, and kind with our behavior and words. And we may sincerely and with great effort work to do that. . . except for that ONE PERSON who just pushes our buttons and makes us CRAZY. For that person, we may allow ourselves the “freedom” to be rude, arrogant, grumpy, dismissive, angry, mean (you insert your own ugly behavior here). Furthermore, we so dislike that person that we have no intention of acting any differently around them. Oh, we no doubt justify it by noting what a rotter they are or counting how many means things they said or did to us, but none of that changes the fact that God is not honored when we are impatient, hateful, and unkind. To choose to not do this is sin—which gets easier the more we do it—and which is enslaving us.

Romans chapters six through eight contain a great deal of powerful material on how the believer has been freed from slavery to sin, as well as the painful reality that believers can also act like they are still slaves to sin. Jesus Christ has already won the victory over sin: no Christian ever is in a position where he or she must sin. But we often trick ourselves into thinking and behaving as though we are still chained to the corpse of the sin-principle. We died with Christ on the cross, and we have freedom to always choose to obey Jesus!

I guess the big question that we must all prayerfully consider is: what thought patterns, behavioral habits, or indifferent attitudes have we allowed to enslave us? Jesus said that obeying God’s Word would set us free. What are you waiting for!

Friday, February 7, 2020
(Take some time to pray for fellow believers, most especially those who are newly saved or young in the Lord. Ask the Father to know how to help them and encourage them.)
-Read John 8:31-32
“So Jesus told those Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are really my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus speak to?
2. What did they need to continue in?
3. What would this prove?
4. What sets people free?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Hey, have you ever given thought to the fact that not all Christians are Jesus’ disciples? The Bible teaches this in more than one place, but Jesus says it pretty clearly right here. In fact, the definition of a disciple in a general sense is someone who follows the doctrines (teachings/beliefs) of a teacher or a school of thought. Someone may SAY that they are a student of something, but if they don’t do what that person or belief says, then they are not actually a disciple/student no matter what they claim.

So. . . how about you? If you have trusted in Jesus Christ as the One Who paid the price for your sins in your place, then you are a Christian. You are an adopted child of God. Nothing and no one can take that away from you—ever. BUT, what are you doing with this incredible gift? Are you living the same way that you have always lived (but feeling relief that you will not go to Hell when you die)? Are you merely going to church when it is convenient and making a few small changes in your daily habits that you feel are “unchristian”? Are you (more or less willingly) making it a point to be in church for at least the morning service—and (mostly) reading your Bible at home throughout the week? I think that this would be a pretty good START to your life as a child of God, but God wants SO MUCH MORE FOR YOU!

The true disciple of Jesus Christ wants to know everything about Him: what He said, what He did, what He wants us to do, what He wants us to stay away from, WHO He is, and what makes Him tick—everything. A true disciple cannot get enough of Bible study. They will come to read their Bibles A LOT—paying close attention to what it says so that they can make changes in their life based on it. They will also feel COMPELLED to be in God’s House and among God’s people, not only for personal growth and education, but so that they can BE a blessing and help to other believers and so they can display a servant’s heart to one and all and be used of God however and wherever He decrees. And the true disciple will keep doing this every single day that God gives them life in the here and now. They will do so, not out of obligation or duress, but out of joy, eagerness, and a deep appreciation for how much God loves them and blesses them.

Where do you fit in the above scenario? How might you excel still more?

BONUS: A word about John 8:32.
This is a well-known verse. Sadly, it is very often misquoted and misunderstood. It very often is taken to mean that ANY knowledge is able to free the one who obtains it in whatever their need or circumstance. However, if we study the context of this verse (an essential Bible study tool every time!), we find that Jesus is speaking of, first, the knowledge that trusting in Him as Savior results in the truth that we are forever freed from the penalty of the sin that we were born with and that we commit on a daily basis. Once we have become a Christian, we will never stand before God to give account for our sin. Jesus has already paid our debt in full. We will, of course, give account for whether or not we obeyed God’s Word once we got saved and what we did with the blessings and opportunities for service that He gave us. This is how God determines eternal rewards, but not our eternal security. Once saved, always saved. That is biblical truth that sets us free from worry or sorrow!

As awesome as our salvation is, though, it’s actually only the FIRST truth that God’s Word teaches us. He’s got countless wonderful things to show us about Himself, about His faithfulness from times past, His present astonishing works, and incredible treasures planned for eons yet to come. All these truths are important for us because they free us from lies and deception from satan and from the sinful world we live in. The Word of God tells us truth so that we can KNOW what kinds of thoughts, behaviors, and words please God—and displease Him. Knowing what God says is truth helps us to not get tripped up by the lies of the world and our own sin natures (which, by the way, do NOT have any power to MAKE us sin—that’s biblical TRUTH).

God is truth. God’s Word is truth. Because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit as believers, we can recognize truth AND live according to it. Amen! Praise the Lord!

Thursday, February 6, 2020
(Ask the Father for help so that the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart are centered on Him and His glory and are pleasing to Him in every way.)
-Read John 8:29-30
“Moreover, the one who sent me is with me. He has never left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.” While he was saying these things, many believed in him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is with Jesus?
2. Why doesn’t He ever leave Jesus alone?
3. What happened while Jesus was speaking?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Isn’t verse 30 an awesome verse! In spite of the trouble that the Religious leaders caused, some of the people who heard Jesus believed what He said—and believed in Him as their Savior.

Do you know any new believers? What have you done to encourage them? Build them up in the things of the Lord? Help them to understand the Bible and what it means to be a child of God?

One of the (many) joys that God gives His children is opportunities to invest ourselves in the lives of others. While we most definitely should be praying for one another every day, there’s a whole lot more we should be doing, too. In fact, the Epistles list a whole bunch of “one another” commands. Here are a few:

-Bear with one another in love (Eph. 4:2).
-Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving (Eph. 4:32).
-Do good to one another (I Thess. 5:15).
-Don’t speak evil against one another (James 4:11).
-Pray for one another (James 5:16).
-Love one another (I John 3:11).
-Serve one another through love (Galatians 5:13).
-Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).
-Encourage one another; build one another up (I Thess. 5:11).
-Stir up one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24).

Look these verses up (and others like them!) and prayerfully consider how you might encourage other believers and help new and young believers grow.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020
(Ask the Father for His help to be a good listener—one who always turns people to His Word for answers and help.)
-Read John 8:27-28
“They didn’t realize that he was talking to them about the Father. So Jesus told them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own authority. Instead, I speak only what the Father has taught me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who was Jesus talking to them about?
2. How does Jesus refer to Himself?
3. What is the only thing that Jesus speaks?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
If we’re supposed to follow Jesus’ example (and we are), it would seem pretty important that we pay close attention to what He did and what He said. This verse reminds us that Jesus spent a lot of time talking about God the Father. Don’t you think that we should be doing that too?

How do we learn to make this a habit, though? Well, the “experts” tell us that if we practice something X number of times, it will become a new habit for us. So, if we make it a point to talk about God the Father several times a day, eventually it will be a very normal thing to us and we won’t feel awkward about it anymore. Even so, I think that there are two kinds of conversations that we might have about God with others. When we are speaking with fellow faithful Christians, our conversation is likely to be about specifics: what God has taught us, how He blessed us in some specific way, areas we are thankful to Him for, and things about God and the Bible that we are studying and thinking about. When we are speaking with the unsaved, though, we cannot FELLOWSHIP with them in what we say about God, so it would really be more of a testimony of what God is doing, what you are thankful for that He has done, and general praise for His love, wisdom, and help. And, of course, our conversation with those who aren’t saved should have frequent references to what Jesus did on the cross on their behalf. No matter WHAT their immediate problems and concerns, their true #1 need is always salvation.

One other point to consider is that we, very naturally, want to talk about the things that excite us or in which we have a strong interest. The more time we spend in God’s Word, the more time we spend in God’s House, the more time we spend with God’s people—the more excited we will be about what we are learning, seeing, and hearing. This, then, will naturally pour out of our mouth when speaking with others. When our life is all said and done, do we want to be known as the person who could talk endlessly about a new recipe—or about Almighty God?

Tuesday, February 4, 2020
(Thank God for your salvation!)
-Read John 8:25-26
“Then they asked him, “Who are you?” Jesus told them, “What have I been telling you all along? I have much to say about you and to condemn you for. But the one who sent me is truthful, and what I’ve heard from him I declare to the world.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the Jewish leaders want to know?
2. Did Jesus think that they should already know Who He is?
3. The One Who sent Jesus is _____.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As a mother, I can’t help but hear myself in Jesus’ words when He reminded the Religious leaders that He had been telling them that He was God, their Messiah, and the One sent to save them from their sins. My words, though, to my children might be something like, “Haven’t you even been listening to me???” It can be very frustrating to be talking to someone, only to realize that they were not paying attention to you AT ALL.

There are a few life lessons here: (1) When someone is talking to you, listen. This should be obvious when it is someone who is telling you something critically important (like your boss, a medical professional, your pastor, or a police officer), but we should also be attentive hearers to anyone who is talking to us: our spouse, our children, our friends, our church family, etc. It often takes quite a bit of discipline to LISTEN when someone is talking to us. This would mean that we are maintaining eye contact, paying attention to what they are saying, and prayerfully considering what our response might be. This would mean that we DON’T look at other things while they are speaking (including our phones!), that we don’t let our thoughts wander away to something we view as more important than whoever is speaking to us, and that we don’t only think about our response without fully hearing out what they are saying. Being an attentive, thoughtful, God-honoring listener is one of the marks of a mature believer. (2) When God is “speaking” to us, we MUST pay close attention. Although God does not speak to anyone audibly during the Church Age, He sure does use His Word, the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit, what the pastor is teaching and preaching in church, and the advice and admonishment of mature brothers and sisters in Christ to point out to us things that we need to know. Certainly, we must acknowledge the authority of God’s Word and choose to obey it without question and without excuse.

Prayerfully evaluate how you have been or have not been “listening” to God.

Monday, February 3, 2020
(How did God bless you yesterday? Tell Him about it. Thank Him. Ask for opportunities to share it with someone else today.)
-Read John 8: 23-24
“He told them, “You are from below, I’m from above. You are of this world, but I’m not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I AM, you’ll die in your sins.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What two contrasts did Jesus give in verse 23?
2. What did they need to believe in order to not died in their sins?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-In explaining Who He was to the Religious leaders, Jesus told them that He had come from above, referring to the throne room of God the Father. He explained this further by telling them outright that He was not “of” this world.
-Jesus told the Religious leaders that they were of this world, but that He was not. He said that they were from “below,” but that He was from “above.”
-Jesus is very blunt with the Religious leaders: unless they believed Him, they would die in their sins and never belong to Him or be with Him in heaven.
-Since all humans are born with a sin nature, we come into the world already condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire. It is only through believing in Jesus Christ as the One Who died in our place and paid the debt we could not pay, that we are born again and become alive spiritually.
-Jesus identified Himself as I AM. This is the name of God (as opposed to His many titles). This is the same as Yahweh (or a more “Englishized” version, Jehovah) in Scripture—also noted in most of our English translations in all caps as “LORD.” God is the Self-Existing One. He was not created, He has always been—and will always be.

Trying to get a handle on Jesus being 100% God AND 100% Man is a challenging thing. So is, of course, the Trinity. One God, yet three distinct, unique Persons within the Godhead. These truths are a little too much for our brains to be able to fully understand. That being said, we don’t have to understand every single thing in our theology before we can trust God, obey God, praise God, and thank God. We can glorify Him for all He is even if we don’t know the complications and details of the full matter. As a matter of fact, it’s very likely that a huge part of the incredible wonders and joy of eternity will be getting to know God more fully and more deeply. Even so, eternity is not enough to contain our God! He is infinite in His glories. His understanding knows no bounds. His love is everlasting. His way is perfect.

A mighty big praise for today is simply thanking God that though you and I are indeed “from below,” He chose us and called us His own. He has made us belong “above” and we cannot EVER not belong to Him.  What glories!  What wonder!

BONUS:
Our DBSQs (Daily Bible Study Questions) have a lot to do with living as a child of God, however, it is critically important that we each know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we ARE children of God the Father. This is not to be confused with accepting and understanding that God made the entire world and everything in it. God is the Creator of all of us, but He is not automatically our Father. This distinction is the most important distinction there could be! Indulge me by reading this bonus material so that by the end you can say with one hundred percent certainty that you ARE God’s daughter, chosen and beloved. If you ARE certain even before reading the chapter, perhaps something said will be a help to you as you share with others how they can become a child of God. God has given us a limited amount of time to tell others the good news, which is the gospel, and we sure don’t want to waste a second! Every person, by God’s grace, can KNOW that they are a child of God and have eternal life.

I suspect most of us have heard, and even used, the phrase, “by God’s grace,” but what does it really mean?   “Grace” simply means being given something we don’t deserve. Have you ever been pulled over for speeding, but not given a ticket? You were definitely guilty, but the officer decided to cut you a break—even though you didn’t deserve it! Well, God gave us something we didn’t deserve either: salvation. What is salvation? The word itself simply means to be rescued from something. It could be saved from some life-threatening situation (like a firefighter saving people in a burning building), or it could be “saved” as in someone surprising you by doing the dishes so you wouldn’t have to. What God is saving us from, though, has to do with where we will spend eternity. Long ago, shortly after the creation of the world, mankind decided to turn against God by doing something that God said not to do. This is what sin is. Sin is as simple as choosing to do what God said not to do or not doing something He said to do. It is choosing what we want over what God wants. Sin is rebellion—in any form—against God’s holy character.

Why does it matter? God hates sin with a hatred that I don’t think we will be able to fully understand until we stand before Him one day. He cannot and will not allow even the smallest of sin to go unpunished. In fact, God’s very character demands that He MUST punish sin. Therefore, when we (mankind) chose to go our own way, we chose to turn our backs on God’s righteousness which required punishment in the form of Hell, a place of eternal suffering, pain, and blackness. Did you know that Hell has no light? Did you know that it is also a place where God’s presence is never felt? Sin separates us from our holy and loving God.

You should definitely be wondering about now what could possibly improve this nightmarish scenario! Grace. God’s grace.  You see, even though we turned our backs on God, He loved us and made a way for us to not only be reconciled to Him, but He took it a step further and granted us the legal position of becoming His very own children through adoption. How?  Through the substitution of His own perfect, holy Son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf.  Jesus came to earth as a human Baby, grew up, and then allowed Himself to die on the cross so that He could take the punishment OUR sin deserved.  Because Jesus is God, He was raised to life again in three days and became the only way to have a personal relationship with God the  Father. How do you become His child?  Simple belief in Jesus Christ as your Savior from your sin.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

“But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe on His name.” John 1:12

“…believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31

Nothing else is needed besides simply believing in Jesus Christ as the Savior for your sin. You don’t have to go to church, you don’t have to give money, you don’t have to visit the elderly at the nursing home, or support missionaries. You don’t even have to pray, although you may choose to pray to thank God for what He has done on your behalf. You simply need to believe that Jesus paid the price for your sins. You can do it right now, wherever you are at this very moment.

Saturday, February 1, 2020
(Thank the Father that He is in perfect control of all the hours of your life and that of your loved ones.)
-Read John 8:21-22 (John 8 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+8&version=ISV
“Later on, he told them again, “I’m going away, and you’ll look for me, but you will die in your sin. You cannot come where I’m going.” So the Jewish leaders were asking, “He isn’t going to kill himself, is he? Is that why he said, ‘You cannot come where I’m going’?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus said that He would be going __________.
2. What did the Jewish leaders think Jesus might be planning to do? ____________________
3. Jesus stated twice that they could not ___________ where He was going.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus told His listeners that He would be going away. He told them that even if they looked for Him they would not find Him because they could not go where He was going due to their sin.
-The Religious leaders were unsure what Jesus meant when He said that He was going away and they could not go where He was going. They wondered if Jesus was telling them that He intended to kill Himself.
-The Religious leaders generally had only the slightest idea what Jesus was talking about. Jesus said that their lack of understanding was due to their hard hearts and their decision to refuse to believe Him.

Have you noticed how much of Jesus’ dialogue with the Religious leaders is ironic? They say things that are intended to cut and belittle that are actually the truth (Jesus is claiming to be God, for one example). They also ask questions that are the truth, but worded wrongly or which show their misunderstanding. For example, they are wondering here if Jesus intends to kill Himself (saving them the trouble!) when the truth of the matter is that He is kinda-sorta going to do exactly that, just not when, how, or why they are thinking. Since no one can kill God, He HAD to allow Himself to die. He had to voluntarily allow Himself to be murdered—and in that sense, yes, He was going to kill Himself. In reality, what Jesus did for us is NOTHING like suicide. Suicide definitely does not please or honor God and believers should never consider such an avenue. The Bible states that it is God Who gives life and it is God’s decision when our lives are over. Our job is to live to obey Him, honor Him, and bring Him glory right up until the very last breath that we take in these bodies. His is to pick the what, when, how, and where of our promotion to glory.

One of the foundational truths we must all live by is to believe all that God says and to live our lives based on that truth. When we do, He works out “all the details” perfectly. This is such a comfort and encouragement to us as we face each new day and each new challenge. God knows. God cares. God’s got it all worked out.

March 2020 DBSQs

Tuesday, March 31, 2020
(Thank the Father for the life that you received through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Ask Him to help you live in such a way that you are able to enjoy the “abundant” life that He wants you to have.)
-Read John 10:11
“I’m the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
Write out John 10:11.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus gives another blessed I AM. He is the Good Shepherd. In fact, He is so good that He gave up His very life for His sheep!

The word “good” here is the word “kalos” in Greek. It means to be of excellent nature or character. This same word is used Matthew 5:16 where believers are told to let their “good” works show so that God is given much glory. The word “shepherd” is actually our word for “pastor!” Did you know that? Your pastor is also your shepherd. (Sometimes, to be clear about it, we call the pastor the “undershepherd,” because we know that Christ is the “Overshepherd.”) God gave him—the pastor—as a gift to your church! Just as a shepherd cares for his sheep by making sure they are eating good, healthy grass and drinking fresh, clear water, so the pastor makes sure his people are being fed from God’s Holy Word. He teaches the things young believers need to know to grow in the Lord and learn to please God with their lives—and he teaches older, more mature believers the things they need to stay focused on what honors God and pleases Him with more excellence. They, too, of course, need to keep maturing to become more and more like Christ from year to year.

A good shepherd also sees to the well-being of his sheep, including their physical care. And though your church’s pastor is probably not a medical doctor, his prayers on your behalf and words of wisdom and comfort from Scripture will go a long, long way towards helping his flock feel better and have a good attitude when going through difficult circumstances.

Finally, I’m not sure if I have heard of a pastor literally laying down his life on behalf of his church family, but I am blessed to know many pastors who I have no doubts WOULD actually do this if God called them to do so, so great is their love for Him and for the people that God placed under his care. Being an under-shepherd to the Good Shepherd is an awesome and marvelous calling, but one that can be done with joy and encouragement when he and his flock are all living in a manner that is in keeping with Scripture, fully seeking to please God in all that they say and do.

Are you making your pastor’s job “easy” by praying for him and by living obediently according to God’s Word? Are you praying for him and his family? Are you taking the time to thank him for the many sacrifices he makes on your behalf and on behalf of your church family? Are you and your church family taking care of his physical needs? Are you making sure that he is taking time off to be with his family and getting some downtime? All excellent relationships involve each party trying to out-love the other, including the relationship between pastor and people. Are you doing your part?

Monday, March 30, 2020
(Thank the Father for the blessings of the weekend and for what He revealed about Himself through the teaching and preaching of His Word.)
-Read John 10:9-10
“I’m the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He’ll come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I’ve come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Thieves come to ______, ______, and ______.
2. Why did Jesus come?
3. What quality of life does Jesus give?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
One of the ways someone can know the difference between the True Shepherd and the false ones is to evaluate what they are doing and why. Jesus sacrificed EVERYTHING to be born as a Man, to suffer hardship here on earth, then to take onto His innocent shoulders the wretched sin of all of mankind. He did this to GIVE us spiritual life—and an ABUNDANT spiritual life. He gives, helps, guides, and protects. False teachers steal, slaughter, and destroy. They are looking for fame, fortune, and dominance.

The Bible actually has quite a few warnings for believers so that they won’t be tempted to listen to false teachers or follow them. How does it say we can know if someone is teaching God’s Word alone? They will NEVER discount Scripture nor will they put their teaching above Scripture. How do we know what is truth? Steep yourself in Scripture and learn what it says completely. It is as we compare other things to Scripture that we are able to see what is true and what is false. It is the standard by which we judge all else—and never the other way around!

F.Y.I. Verse 9 is another of the great I AM’s of Jesus Christ.

Saturday, March 28, 2020
(Thank the Father for His Word—and the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit to be able to understand it and apply it.)
-Read John 10:7-9
“So again Jesus said, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, I’m the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. I’m the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He’ll come in and go out and find pasture.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus is the____ for the sheep.
2. All who came before Him are _____ and ____.
3. If anyone enters through the gate that is Jesus, they will be _____.
4. Those who enter through the gate that is Jesus will be able to go in, out, and find ______.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus is about to transition to explaining the spiritual implications of Him being the Gate for the sheep. He begins this next paragraph of teaching with His famous, “Truly, I tell you emphatically,” or “Verily, verily, I say unto you.” He wants people to sit up and take notice. What He has to say is really important.

Jesus states very clearly that HE is the gate for the sheep. There is NO OTHER WAY for the sheep to get into the fold. John 14:6, Jesus declares, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” This same essential truth is presented other places in the Bible. There is only one way to eternal life; to a relationship with God the Father, and that is through belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior from our sin. That simple, that critical.

BUT, Christians sometimes get the foolish notion that though they needed to trust in Christ for their salvation, that once they are saved they no longer need God’s help to live in a manner that pleases Him. Nothing could be further from the truth! We NEED God’s help to understand Scripture, to obey Scripture, and to apply Scripture to our daily decisions and actions. We NEED the help of the Holy Spirit to transform into the image of Christ and to learn what it means to live as citizens of Heaven in the here and now. Oh, we ARE children of God, holy, sanctified, and righteous in God’s eyes, but we need to learn how to think like it and act like it for as long as we continue to live in these bodies that have a sin nature. The big difference between believers and unbelievers in regard to living in a way that pleases God is that we, with God’s help, ARE able to do this, while unbelievers never can. Oh, they can be “nice,” and do some kind things, but until someone has become a child of God, even what seems “good,” is, in God’s eyes, as filthy rags.

Are you trying to live the Christian life on your own? God never intended you to! He wants you to not only study His Word and pray to Him personally, but He created the local church so that all believers could join together to learn about Him and help each other mature spiritually and choose God-honoring actions as opposed to “easy” and auto-default ones.

Friday, March 27, 2020
(Thank the Father for the joy and peace that is ours when we are walking close by the Good Shepherd.)
-Read John 10:6
“Jesus used this illustration with them, but they didn’t understand what he was saying to them.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What Jesus had been saying is identified as what?
2. Did people understand His point?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Although Jesus’ listeners would have understood sheep and shepherding facts and information, they didn’t know what Jesus was REALLY trying to convey (at least up to this point). I suppose that this should be encouraging to me when I’m trying to explain something to someone and they are staring blankly back at me! If they couldn’t understand Jesus Christ, not understanding ME makes perfect sense. =)

Obviously, in this case (unlike me!), the problem is with the listener, not the explainer, although Jesus DID say on more than one occasion that the most important things to understand were actually only for those who belonged to Him and who wanted to know His truth. Those who didn’t belong to Him or refused to believe Him were not even ABLE to understand what He was REALLY teaching (spiritual truth v. facts and information). This seems to maybe be a bit of a warning. Perhaps if we, even as those who belong to the family of God, refuse to try to understand what the Bible is teaching—and more so, if we refuse to OBEY what we know the Bible is teaching, perhaps the Holy Spirit will stop trying to help us understand. Kind of a scary thought! How much better to be good listeners of Scripture WITH eagerness to implement all we learn into our hearts and lives!

By the way, there are promises in Scripture that God will help us understand His Word if we want to. Here are a few:
-Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my pathway.”

-John 16:13 “Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he’ll guide you into all truth. He won’t speak on his own accord, but he’ll speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come.”

-Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.”

-II Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.”

-Psalm 119:130 “The disclosure of your words illuminates, providing understanding to the simple.”

-Psalm 19:7 “The Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring life. The testimony of the Lord is steadfast, making foolish people wise.”

Thursday, March 26, 2020
(Pray for your church family!)
-Read John 10:3-5
“It’s to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it’s his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They’ll never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who won’t the sheep follow?
2. Why not?
3. What will they do instead of following him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The statement that the true shepherd’s sheep never run away or stop listening to his voice is a truism, not a guarantee. First, let’s make one thing perfectly clear. Any break between the shepherd and the sheep is not the shepherd’s fault. Hear this: God will NEVER forsake those who belong to Him. Once we are a part of God’s family, we will FOREVER be a part of God’s family. Furthermore, once a part of God’s family, God will NEVER get tired of us, stop listening to us, stop helping us, or otherwise abandon us or separate Himself from us. Sadly, it is we who do all those things to Him! We get distracted by busy schedules or by the leading of false shepherds. We get lazy about Bible study and prayer. We let other things keep us from church services. We allow sin to remain in our life. And one (or all of these) WILL cause a break in our relationship with God. Not because He turns His back on us, but because our sin or disinterest creates a gulf between Him and us. He will not force Himself on us, nor will He bless us when we have chosen to continue sinning. HOWEVER, when we confess our sin and make things right with Him, He welcomes us right back to the place by His side, joyously helping us to live for Him, freely providing peace beyond understanding and joy independent of circumstances. And also just for the record, when we are in God’s Word daily and maintaining a close relationship to God through prayer, He will most definitely help us recognize the “voice of strangers” so that we can run away from them and stay safely by His side.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God for the relationship you have with Him and sense of belonging you feel as part of His cherished family.)
-Read John 10:3-4
“It’s to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it’s his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who leads the sheep from the fold?
2. Where does the shepherd walk in relation to his sheep?
3. Why do the sheep follow him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I think that one of the big heart’s desires of most people is to feel as if they “belong.” I’m not sure I have ever met anyone who really and truly wanted to be completely alone. Maybe frazzled moms wish this from time to time, but once they’ve had some chill time, they are eager to welcome back into their arms the loved ones that God gave to them.

Of all the wonderful areas of belonging God has gifted to various members of the human race, NOTHING can compare to belonging to the family of God. Once we have trusted in Jesus Christ as the Savior from our sins, we belong permanently and totally to the family of God. We are not only God’s adopted children (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but we are part of something known as the Universal Church. This is a band of brothers and sisters in Christ from the day of Jesus’ resurrection until the Rapture. We ALL are a family together.

BUT, God has a new family picked out for us that’s even more intimate, personal, and personalized. He has a local church family for each of His children to belong to also. This current time period is known as the Church Age because God’s blessing and focus is primarily on local churches and those who belong to them. It is through local churches that God gives instruction, chastisement when needed, support, service opportunities, extra close fellowship, AND a sense of belonging in a way that FAR exceeds any “club” that the world has to offer. That’s because we’re not “just” a local church membership, we are the family of GOD. We don’t have some elected official calling the shots, we have JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God and our Savior as our Head. Our goals and focus aren’t just for the here and now, all we say and do matters for ETERNITY. Our bond is not shared political views or hobbies or community assistance—it’s the blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior, and our Good Shepherd!

Jesus, the True Shepherd, knows YOU. You belong to Him! Amen and Amen!

Tuesday, March 24, 2020
(Thank the Father for sending the Good Shepherd to the earth!)
-Read John 10:1-3
“Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the person who doesn’t enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. It’s to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it’s his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where does the shepherd of the sheep enter the sheepfold?
2. Who opens the gate for the true shepherd?
3. Who recognizes the voice of the true shepherd?
4. How does the true shepherd call his sheep?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus is going to use an extremely common scene to teach deep spiritual truth. This is something that He does often and with great insight and wisdom. Israel is a shepherding, farming, and fishing country. The people would have understood Jesus’ illustrations very well. It might be something akin to us telling a story based in Wal-Mart or Wal-Mart’s parking lot. Our listeners can quickly and easily picture the location—and we can quickly and easily think of a hundred stories of our own that happened in those locations, so common and ordinary it is to us.

I love that there are people, places, and things literally surrounding us every single minute that can be used to turn our thoughts and attention to God and all the wondrous things He has done and is doing. I challenge you to take a brief survey of the room/location that you are in right this second and then think of something that might be used to teach something about God to someone else (or yourself!). Not only should you find multiple items to comment on, you’ll find even more to thank God for and praise Him for. His love, mercy, and grace literally surround us every second of every day. Without Him we would not even be alive, let alone think, breathe, enjoy life, and have grand adventures every day. It’s DEFINITELY a good thing to practice noticing how God is blessing and helping you and your loved ones throughout each day!

So these verses speak of ownership and belonging. The true shepherd owns the sheep, the sheepfold, and has hired the gatekeeper. The sheep know who they belong to and readily listen to and obey the voice of their owner. We can surmise that the owner is happy with his sheep and proud of his good care of them – and we can surmise that the sheep are content and glad to have such good care and such a kind shepherd.

People who have no idea what they’re talking about believe that acknowledging God as our Father and Ruler is foolish and degrading. They feel like they should be in charge of their own lives and make decisions that fit what they think is best. That would be fine if we were ABLE to know what is good and right or able to DO what is good and right, but we’re not. We are created beings, BUT created beings of GOD. He made us, fashioned everything about us and the world we live in, and He wants to bless us beyond our ability to understand, but He can only do that when we happily and gratefully acknowledge His rule and His right to call the shots. As the Creator (and Sustainer!), He makes the rules—and it is to our benefit to cheerfully obey them. But, it’s way more than that! God wants to have an intimate, close, and loving relationship with us PERSONALLY. He wants us to come to Him for everything and find in Him our all-in-all. This happens first when we acknowledge that we are sinners in need of a Savior, then once saved, when we acknowledge that we NEED His help to live in a way that pleases Him and brings Him honor. When all that’s in place, well, every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

BONUS: A few thoughts from Pastor Brown. . .
The Lord Jesus is using a teaching technique known as “allegory” or “extended metaphor” in this passage, beginning in verse one and continuing through verse sixteen (He comes back to it in verses 26 and 27). There are actually several layers or intertwining elements in this Good Shepherd analogy.

Briefly, the “gatekeeper” is likely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One Who opened the door to the incarnation—the coming of the Son of God into the human race (Luke 1:35). So the door in verse one is the entrance into the Messiahship; there had been several false Messiahs before Christ’s time, and there have been several since. But none of them have been the Son of God as Jesus Christ is.

Jesus Christ is not only the Shepherd, He is also the Door of the Sheep: it is through Him that we have salvation (v.9); but it is also only through Him that we find daily provision, grace, and supply (“pasture” in v.10).

The Good Shepherd willingly gives up His life for the life of the sheep; and He also has a concern for the other sheep—very likely a reference to Gentiles coming into the plan of God in the church age.

A short note from Lorie:
In addressing this wonderful passage that talks about Jesus as the Good Shepherd, it may be helpful to know that the Jewish people were not only very familiar with sheep, the animal, they were also familiar with the idea of God being their Shepherd (Psalm 23, among other places). Interestingly, other leaders of the Israelites in the past were also known as shepherds of the people, many of whom did a really poor job, thus Jesus’ many condemnations in this passage. In the end, though, He clearly teaches that He is THE Shepherd and that His care of His sheep is perfect.

Monday, March 23, 2020
(Thank the Father for the lessons and blessings of the weekend. Commit this new week to His glory.)
-Read John 10:1 (John 10 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10&version=ISV
“Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the person who doesn’t enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What is one way to identify a sheep thief?
2. Are there several ways into a sheepfold?
3. What is the right way to enter a sheepfold?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus had something extremely important to say. He said that He is speaking “emphatically.” This is translated as “verily, verily” in other versions, meaning “truly, truly.”
-The person who doesn’t use the gate to enter a sheepfold is a thief and a bandit.
-The person who enters a sheepfold through the gate is the rightful owner of those sheep.
-In Bible times often many families who owned sheep would hire someone to keep them safe in a communal pen at night. The pen would be an area surrounded by a stone wall, a thicket, or perhaps even a cave. There would be one opening that was shut at night by use of whatever was handy, but often by the sleeping body of the shepherd or gatekeeper.

Jesus is introducing the precious teaching that He is the Good Shepherd. This chapter is a super special one because it gives those who belong to God comfort, security, and 100% confidence in our Shepherd and how He cares for us with perfection. It also helps us to identify those who would want to lead us astray and trick us away from our true Shepherd. Of course, this cannot be loss of salvation. In fact, John 10 is one of the best passages to come to for assurance of permanent salvation. Believers can, however, be easily led to false doctrine, wrong ideas, and wrong actions. We need to stick super close to Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, to be able to accurately identify what is true, right, and good.

One of satan’s most effective strategies to keep the unsaved from coming to Jesus Christ, the only True Shepherd, is to encourage people to believe that there are other ways to get to heaven. The ways he does this seem to be endless since people seem happy to believe in incredibly odd things, often scary things, and most often in things that SOUND like they could be true, but aren’t. Satan very often takes truths from God’s Word, then twists them so that they sound plausible, but are not how GOD says salvation happens. Right up there is the idea that if our good deeds outweigh our bad, then we’re okay. The truth is that apart from Christ, it is literally impossible to do ANY good deeds, let alone “enough” of them. What may seem good to us is as filthy rags to God. Another common belief that oddly seems to comfort many is the idea that when we die we are just gone. There is no afterlife, so living the way we want to is the only intelligent choice. Whether or not people believe in heaven and hell does not change the FACT that there is a heaven—and there is a hell. If we refuse to trust Jesus as our Savior we have chosen to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

Is Jesus YOUR Good Shepherd? Is He the Good Shepherd of your loved ones? How about friends, family, and co-workers? Who does God want you to tell His truth to first?

Saturday, March 21, 2020
(Ask the Father to be a truth-teller in a way that honors Him and edifies others.)
-It’s time to review John 9. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from the month, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 9 Review:
It was a brand new thought to the Jewish people that someone could be born with a physical ailment that was NOT the result of someone sinning. The man that Jesus healed, though, was born blind SO THAT God could be glorified and so that Jesus could teach deep spiritual truths to that man, to His disciples, to the crowds, and to the hard-hearted Pharisees. This truth should cause us to take a second look at things that we consider handicaps or not “good” in our eyes. Maybe God wants to use these things to bring glory to Himself. In fact, we know that He does!

The formerly blind man’s testimony is one that all believers should be excited to follow because it was simple, to the point, and powerful: he was blind, but now he could see. In our case, we were once sinners bound for an eternity in hell, but because we trusted in Jesus Christ as the Savior from our sin, we are now children of God, bound for an eternity in the presence of God! That simple, that profound!

An important lesson in how NOT to behave is crystal clear in John 9. The religious leaders and Pharisees REFUSED to believe Jesus, refused to even consider that they were not right, and stubbornly held to what they thought was right, utterly rejecting anything Jesus said. We, as believers, need to constantly evaluate where we might be holding to some thought or ideal that is NOT from God’s Word so that we can throw out what is wrong and cling to what is true—what God’s Word says.

Another “don’t do this” lesson from John 9 is the actions and attitude of the formerly blind man’s parents. They refused to stick out their neck for their son because of fear of men. Right is right and when we choose to do what God says we should do, we have no need to fear how people will respond. That’s God’s job. Our job is to trust and obey, His is to work things out according to His perfect will. Since He cannot do anything that is not “good,” we never need fear. We cannot MAKE people respond the right way, but we can be sure that we are acting and speaking in a way that honors God and reflects His character.

Finally, Jesus challenged His listeners to not be “blind.” First, of course, this has to do with salvation, but even those who belong to God can be blinded by the lies of the world. We need to stay in God’s Word daily personally and we need to be in church to hear God’s Word taught in order to be reminded what is true and what God wants from us and for us. Choosing to spend our time with God-honoring believers will also help us walk the straight and narrow path (while spending our time with ungodly people—whether in person or on the internet) will confuse us, cloud our judgment, and eventually lead us away from the Lord.

Friday, March 20, 2020
(Spend some time in prayer today simply thanking God and praising Him.)
-Read John 9:40-41
“Some of the Pharisees who were near him overheard this and asked him, “We aren’t blind, too, are we?” Jesus told them, “If you were blind, you would not have any sin. But now that you insist, ‘We see,’ your sin still exists.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who had been listening to Jesus speak to the blind man?
2. What did they want to know?
3. Did Jesus tell them that they did have sin or did not?
4. Why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Well, in some ways this question seems kind of humorous—because they ARE, of course, “blind.” They, no doubt, asked Jesus if He thought THEY were blind in such a way that it would have been clear that He should say “No,” but Jesus is a truth-teller and He will not mislead them concerning their spiritual well-being.

I’m sure we’ve all been in a position where it’s really hard to answer truthfully and are expected to “say the right thing.” This kind of thing definitely falls into the “uncomfortable” range of interactions with people. We need God’s help to be honest, but kind; truth-tellers, yet humble and gracious. We would not be doing anyone any favors by agreeing with what they are saying if they are not biblically accurate, even though we are aware that it is unpleasant to have mistakes pointed out. Certainly, we would want to rely on God to “pick our battles.” There are probably far, far more things that people say that we should not feel required to confront, than there are things that should be challenged for the sake of Christ. Nonetheless, if we are living wholeheartedly for Christ and if we are endeavoring to live completely true to God’s Word, then there will be times when we need to tell people truth, God’s truth.

BONUS:
After an entire chapter dealing with physical blindness versus spiritual blindness, Jesus once again points out to the Pharisees that they have hard hearts that refuse to believe in Him or even CONSIDER that what He is telling them is truth. They wouldn’t “hear” Him, nor would they “see,” so they remained in their sinful state. The fellow who had been miraculously healed from physical blindness, though, eagerly embraced Jesus Christ as his Savior and is in heaven right this minute, rejoicing to belong to God forever.

You know, the Bible uses other examples of physical and spiritual truths to help us understand that, apart from God, we are nothing, can do nothing good or worthwhile, and are unable to think wisely and accurately. Once we have trusted in Christ as Savior, though, the options for learning, growing, and serving are limitless. It is as we learn to depend on God to understand His Word and to apply it to our days that we “see” what is real and important and lasting, and that we “hear” what is true and what isn’t. It is as we allow the Holy Spirit to grow His fruit in our hearts and lives that we understand what is good, lovely, and praiseworthy—and begin to reflect this in how we think, speak, and act. It is as we observe and acknowledge the greatness of our Father in heaven that we rejoice that we are weak and utterly fallible—BECAUSE this shows to us (and those who see us) how great GOD IS.

Thursday, March 19, 2020
(Thank the Father that He gives us the opportunity to not only obey Him, but to get to know Him and have a tender relationship with Him!)
-Read John 9:38-39
“He said, “Lord, I do believe,” and worshipped him. Then Jesus said, “I have come into this world to judge it, so that those who are blind may see and so that those who see may become blind.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the blind man believe in Jesus?
2. What did he do once he said he believed?
3. Jesus said that He came into the world to _____ it. He wanted the blind to _____ and those who see to become ______.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What a beautiful verse! This man who had lived quite the incredible day was now able to SEE his Savior and to worship Him face to face.

I find this to be a blessing and a challenge. The challenge that I am confronted with here is to question what I do when the Holy Spirit “shows” me something new about God the Father or God the Son. Do I see something amazing about Him from Scripture, go “Cool!,” then carry on with my day, never having stopped to praise Him? Thank Him? Ask Him how it should affect my thoughts and actions? Do I recognize how God has worked out some circumstances in my life and done something amazing, only to go “Wow, thanks!” then dash off to the next problem? Do I stop, thank and praise Him in prayer? Do I share this blessing with others in conversation and during testimony time during church? Do I ask the Father to help me remember it the next time I am confronted with a hard situation so that I will remember to not fuss and fret, instead of trusting in His goodness, faithfulness, wisdom, and love? And do I CHOOSE to take the time every single day to thank God for saving ME, for calling me His child, for upholding me, strengthening me, growing me, and utterly blessing me every single moment of every single day?

Our God is worthy of constant worship and praise.

Wednesday, March 18, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to love people and be patient with them in the same way He loves you and is patient with you.)
-Read John 9:35-37
“Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. So when he found him, he asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus told him, “You have seen him. He is the person who is talking with you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who heard that the blind man was thrown out of the synagogue? _____________________
2. What did Jesus do after He heard this? __________________________________________
3. Jesus asked the blind man, “Do you _______________ in the Son of Man?”
4. Did the blind man want to believe in Him? ____________
5. Jesus told him that he had both _______ Him and heard Him __________ to him.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
You’ve often heard me comment and express curiosity about what emotions and inflections people had when they made the statements they did in Scripture. I can’t help but feel we might occasionally get it wrong—assigning anger when it was a honest question (or the other way around!). However, taking in this entire account, I cannot help but feel that this man, when questioned about a chance for a relationship with the One Who healed him so miraculously and mercifully, EAGERLY begged for the information about Who the Son of Man was.

Not only did the formerly blind man want to know WHO Jesus was for identification purposes, he wanted to know Him SO THAT he could believe in Him. He wanted a personal relationship with Him. He wanted more than “just” physical sight. He wanted to trust in Him as His Savior and forever belong to Him. He wanted his life to take on its real purpose and to have certainty in his forever.

This begs the question, in my mind, as one who already knows Who Jesus is and what He’s done for me, is doing for me right this second, and will yet do throughout eternity: what is my attitude and goal when I learn new things about Him from Scripture? Is my Bible study merely academic? Is listening to Sunday sermons a fact-finding mission that, once I’ve studiously taken my notes, all is well? Of course not! God wants us to KNOW HIM. God wants us to BECOME LIKE HIM in holiness and righteousness. God wants us to REFLECT Him as lights in the darkness of the world. God wants His Word to CHANGE US, to transform us, to bless us, to teach us, to correct us, to build us up in the things of the Lord. We could continue to flesh out this attitude: God wants us to DELIGHT in Him, to REJOICE in His loving control over our lives and to excitedly ANTICIPATE our coming home to be with Him forever!

What a God we serve! Are you taking the time to truly find out, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Are you telling others what you’re finding out?

Tuesday, March 17, 2020
(Ask the Father for eyes that see all His glories throughout the day. Ask His help to remember to thank and praise Him for each one.)
-Read John 9:34
“They asked him, “You were born a sinner and you are trying to instruct us?” And they threw him out.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T or F The Religious leaders were a humble group of men.
2. T or F The Religious leaders liked it when someone tried to instruct them.
3. T or F The blind man deserved to be thrown out of the synagogue.
4. T or F The blind man was born a sinner as the Religious leaders stated. (Careful! This is a tricky one!)
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This verse begs the question: how good are we at receiving instruction and/or criticism? This is a hard thing for most people, Americans especially. We’re mostly raised to stand up for our rights, to be assertive, to fight to get honor and prestige. We are NOT often taught to be meek, humble, patient when wronged, or to use opportunities of correction for prayerful contemplation. Clearly, this is one more area where we need God’s divine help to turn our back on our sin nature and to claim the promises of being able to look at things through the lens of God’s Word when we just ask Him to help us “see” and evaluate (and react) in a God honoring way. Our “natural” tendencies are likely to be just as ugly as those of the Pharisees all those years ago, but Christ defeated all sin when He died and was raised to new life—and we CAN learn to face attacks in a gracious way. We can, with God’s help, forgive and forget anything that is said about us that is a lie, WHILE evaluating carefully what was said to see if there is something that God is trying to show us that we need to refine to honor and reflect Him in an even better, more mature way. This side of heaven, there will always be a way that we can improve in how we reflect Christ to others in our actions and reactions. It’s our joy and privilege to welcome opportunities for growth—even if they sometimes come wrapped up in accusation and unkindness. We cannot make others speak and act in a way that pleases God, but with His help, we can choose to please Him in how we respond.

Monday, March 16, 2020
(What or who did God bless you with in His house yesterday? Thank Him!)
-Read John 9:32-33
“Ever since creation it has never been heard that anyone healed the eyes of a man who was born blind. If this man were not from God, he couldn’t do anything like that.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How often had God healed someone born blind?
2. Who wouldn’t be able to heal in this way?
3. What, then, is the obvious conclusion about Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I think that if we were to start listing the amazing things God has done since creation (well, really INCLUDING creation!) that we couldn’t ever really stop! I think, though, that choosing to work on this assignment would be a tremendous blessing—and—give us a renewed zeal for sticking with faithful obedience to God’s Word. You see, one of the ways to trust God with our today and our tomorrows is to recall His complete faithfulness in the past.

Why not take a few minutes right now and list some areas where you stand in awe of God. You could choose the general topic of creation, of how God has worked His will throughout the ages, or how God worked in YOUR family tree, and what He has done for you personally since your birth. You could marvel at how God brought about the birth of His Son as seen in the Old Testament or how the gospel spread once Jesus returned to heaven. You could consider the many horrible world-wide events that have happened over the millennia and how God brought about restoration and recovery. Really, as already stated, we could never actually get to the bottom of the list of all the amazing things God does, BUT it should be our goal to try anyway.

Saturday, March 14, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to humbly, kindly, and lovingly help others in their Christian walk—and to be a willing and grateful student of biblical truth.)
-Read John 9:31
“We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he does listen to anyone who worships him and does his will.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who doesn’t God listen to?
2. Who does God listen to?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The young man in this account in John has forged ahead with “teaching” the Religious instructors several important facts that should have enabled them to see the truth of Who Jesus was. Basically put, only those who are right with God could be used to do such incredible miracles, so Jesus MUST be sent from God. To the blind man, all this was obvious, but to the Religious leaders, it was not. In essence, they were the ones who were “blind.”

The concept of sin causing people to be blind is not hard to find in the Bible. In fact, not only are the unsaved blind to the truth of the gospel, they are dead in their trespasses and sins. It takes a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit to bring someone to spiritual life and to enable them to “see” spiritual truths. But before we check out of this conversation because we are already believers, it is also true that believers can put themselves into a position of blindness. Christians can be alive spiritually, but blind to spiritual truth. This happens when we allow sin to remain in our lives, when we aren’t studying God’s Word daily, when our prayer life has dried up, and any time where we live for self and disregard what God wants. To better address this topic, I am including a devotional I did several years ago entitled, “Looking at Life Through God’s Eyes.” I hope it is a blessing to you!

God blessed us with an amazing gift when He gave us the gift of sight. It is fascinating to study the physical facts of our vision and then realize how closely these truths parallel our spiritual vision. For one thing, without light, we cannot see because light is essential to the viewing process. Spiritually this is true as well. We couldn’t have spiritual vision at all without the Holy Spirit shining light on the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. God is the Author and Sustainer of light—both physically and spiritually.

As we’re all well aware, our physical vision doesn’t always remain a perfect 20/20. For example, when one of my children was in elementary school, we were told by the teacher that she thought that my daughter might have a vision problem. We brought her to the eye doctor and it quickly became apparent that she did, indeed, have a problem. We were clued in when we discovered that she couldn’t even make out the big “E” at the top of the chart! She didn’t know she couldn’t see as well as most people do because it had happened gradually over time, and having never had glasses before, she had nothing with which to compare her vision.

As is true with many areas of life, physical things can teach us great truths about spiritual things. Any one of us can develop spiritual “eye” problems and not even be aware of it. Sometimes we allow ourselves to slowly slip away from a right relationship with God which causes our spiritual vision to begin to blur. Before we know it, we can no longer see the big “E.”

In our bodies, we can develop simple errors in refraction or even more serious eye diseases or problems. We’re going to come back to some of these more serious eye troubles, but first, let’s look at what causes errors in refraction.

When light hits the retina in the back of our eye, it needs to hit dead center. If it hits in front of the retina we become nearsighted, known officially as myopia.   If the light hits behind the retina we become farsighted and are diagnosed with hyperopia. These and other errors of refraction can usually be fixed by wearing corrective lenses—either eyeglasses or contacts.

The Bible teaches about a few “errors of refraction” that occur spiritually, too.
Three Spiritual “Eye” Conditions
1. Self-opia (seeing life as right in your own eyes)
2. Uppity-opia (seeing life through haughty eyes)
3. Please-opia (seeing life as a people pleaser).

The first spiritual eye condition which could sneak up on us is Self-opia. Proverbs 21:2  “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.”

This verse seems pretty self-explanatory, but if you want more proof of this “disease,” simply look up the many, many references in the Old Testament to the sin of the Israelites connected to “every man doing what was right in his own eyes.”  You will quickly see that choosing our way over His way displeases God greatly.

Self-opia is a serious spiritual eye condition that results when we take our eyes off God and begin to listen to our own advice. What folly! God is the only Source of true wisdom. Left to ourselves, we would always choose wrongly. Our self-help books, magazines, talk shows, commercials, and often even our Christian friends, are only too happy to give us their opinion. We are told to “weigh our options,” then decide what “feels right.” In today’s society (and since the fall of man), we want to think that we can and do know what is right for us. Sadly, this is not what God says. He says only the fool is right in his own eyes. He says that the root problem is in our hearts—and that He knows what is really in our hearts: sin. Are you suffering from Self-opia?

Maybe you have developed a bad case of Uppity-opia. Uppity-opia is pride. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists seven things that God hates with all His being. Included in this list are: “haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood.”  Observe that the first item on the list is pride–haughty eyes. Scripture repeats over and over how much God hates pride. In fact,, James, chapter 4, verse 6, says that God resists (is opposed to) the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Psalm 101:5 says that God will not endure someone with a haughty look or an arrogant heart.

Our hearts are connected to our vision problems. Uppity-opia is corrected with the eyeglasses of a humble spirit. Humility is demonstrated in a servant’s heart. Jesus commanded us to follow His example in becoming great by thinking of ourselves last. He lived His life as a humble Servant of God the Father. Can we do no less?

Third, we may have developed a sickening case of Please-opia.  We may have forgotten that it is Jesus Christ we serve. Other people should not be our main focus or purpose. We may have settled for making people “happy” with us, forgetting the big picture of doing our all for the honor and glory of God. Ephesians 6:5-7 “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters, according to the flesh with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men.”

Problems with refraction are one kind of issue, but eye disease is much more serious. Examples of eye diseases include detached retinas (a peeling away of the retina from the back interior wall of the eye), glaucoma (damage to the nerve layers in the retina due to elevated pressure in the eye), macular degeneration (damage to the center of the retina causing a “hole” in the person’s vision), or cataracts (the clouding of the lens over the pupil). Eye troubles of this sort are a problem inside the eye, mostly in the retina. Spiritual eye disease indicates a problem inside as well, but in this case, the problem is inside our hearts.

Spiritual Eye Disease
I’m guessing you are already beginning to “see” that it is sin that “blinds” our eyes. The following verse is a good example, written about the unsaved. Ephesians 4:18 “being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.”

We can clearly see, based on the ending of this verse, that poor “vision” is, at the root, a heart matter. It is sad to think about the blindness and hardness of the hearts of mankind, but we tend to feel that as long as we’re speaking about the unsaved we’re okay. But are we? We believers in Jesus Christ can also have a hard heart, and yes, our spiritual eyesight can be compromised. Don’t misunderstand me, once we’ve placed our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, we cannot lose our salvation. We can, however, have our ability to understand spiritual truth become dim.

The following passage takes place after Jesus had fed over 5,000 people one time and over 4,000 people another time—all from a few small loaves of bread and a few fish. He and the disciples had just re-crossed the Sea of Galilee after a long day of teaching, healing, and ministering to the people, and found they had no food to eat. Jesus wanted to teach them by using leaven (yeast) as an object lesson. The disciples’ hearts, however, were hardened as to what Jesus meant.

Mark 8:17-18 “And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?”

Clearly Jesus thinks the disciples should trust Him by that time. The last thing they should be worrying about is food! He wanted them to pull together all that they had seen and heard and experienced and draw the proper conclusion: God is all-sufficient. He can be trusted every day in every way. Based on this, we too, must rely on Him on a daily basis and consciously depend on Him. This is what the disciples didn’t do—and what God labeled a hard heart.
How can we fix this? Instead of putting the amazing power of God in the back of our minds, we must bring it to the front and use it first, not last, when problems arise. Remember that we are not able, but He always is! When a decision has to be made, consciously make the effort to find out what God wants you to do: refer to His wisdom first. Our “automatic pilot” function is to think about a problem, ask several friends, consult some “experts,” and then do what we think is best. Asking God for wisdom is usually our last resort. The heart issue here is pride because we are so sure that we can do it on our own.  This is exactly how the world handles problems and we often go right along with them, not thinking about the much better option that we have.  Turn to God first. Have faith in Him.  Trust Him to know what is best in every area—big and small.

How about you? Do you harden your heart on a regular basis? We can often diagnose a problem by what our reaction is to difficulties and tough circumstances. We can also tell we have hardened our hearts by what comes out of our mouth.

Matthew 12:34-35 “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”

We have a “window” into our hearts. This window is our words. They clearly demonstrate if we are trusting God or not. When faced with a dilemma, what comes out of your mouth? Self-pity? Fear? Worry? Anger? Instant ideas about how to “fix” the problem as quickly as possible? God wants our words to be good because they come from the good treasure of our heart—a heart that is relying on Him.

God says our hard hearts may reveal other things that are ugly. For one thing, a hard heart may evidence itself in hatred toward brothers or sisters in Christ. These two verses are written to Christians!

I John 2:11 “But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

I John 4:20 “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” Hatred is ugly in God’s eyes. It is evidence of a hard heart and it affects our relationship with others—and with Him.
We’ve painted a pretty serious picture. Spiritual eye conditions are no small matter. So how can we restore our vision? What corrective lenses does God have for us to put on?

Spiritual Eye Treatments
Ephesians 1:18-19 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.   These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might.”

These two wonderful verses in Ephesians chapter one are a spiritual eye treatment: they are our corrective lenses. With the truths contained in these verses operating in our mind and heart, we will be able to see life and reality as it really is—through the eyes of God. We should study and treasure these truths because they will give us hope and joy.

In the book of Ephesians, Paul is writing to the believers to try to help them understand the incredibly wonderful things God has for them (and us) “in Christ.” In Christ, we operate from a position of power, not weakness.

Do you like Monopoly? I’m not a big fan of board games, but even I know that the person with hotels on Broadway AND Park Place is operating from a position of great power. There is no need for them to cringe every time they pass “Go!” Similarly, through our position in Jesus Christ, we operate from a place of great power. We have already noted that as far as our physical vision is concerned, without light, there is no vision. Spiritually this is true too.  This verse is telling us that the eyes of our heart can be enlightened.  Being enlightened is just what it sounds like—having a light shine in; in fact, it is the idea of being flooded with light!

When I was a girl, my oldest brother joined the army and was sent to boot camp. The family decided to travel from New York State to Kentucky in our Winnebago to be there for his graduation. On the way, we stopped at the Mammoth Caves. The guide led our group deep inside the caves, and wanting to impress us with the quality of absolute darkness, turned off the lights for a few minutes. I have to tell you, it was very impressive. It was so dark (and so quiet) that the darkness could actually be felt. It felt heavy—and it was alarming. Without God’s act of enlightening our hearts, we would have a darkness of understanding. Remember, this is written to believers. Believers can have darkened vision! If our eyes can be enlightened, it stands to reason that we can choose to keep them dimmed as well.

When our hearts are enlightened when no known sin is part of our life, and we are actively obeying God in the areas He has called us to pursue, what do we have?   First, we have:

“The Hope of His calling”.
Hope in Scripture isn’t the wishy-washy sentiment we express when we say, “Oh, I hope my new dress looks nice on me!” Scriptural hope means confidence—confidence in our future based on the power and attributes of God Himself. This is a huge, wonderful truth. God is all-powerful and He is our Father! When our eyes are enlightened we can see the hope of His calling. Therefore there is nothing hopeless about our daily grind of duties and responsibilities, as we so often tend to feel there is. Don’t believe it. This is a very effective lie from Satan. We have been called by God, called to great confidence in Him, never to defeat or depression.

The word “calling” means to “designate, appoint, or name.” God has said, “You belong to Me.” We no longer belong to ourselves; we are God’s—to do with as He pleases. In addition, this means that we can be 100% sure of our eternal security. Our future is wonderful because God ordained it. Our future is bright because God called us and chose us.

Our calling as children of God leads to some responsibility, though. I Peter 1:15 instructs us to be holy as God is holy. Ephesians 4:1 commands us to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. I Peter 2:9 instructs us to proclaim the excellencies of Him Who called us out of darkness.

Maybe we can understand this better by thinking of the analogy of being given the gift of a house. The house is ours free and clear and we will never have any financial obligations as part of the gift. However, do we have some responsibilities? Sure we do if we want to show gratitude and demonstrate ourselves to be a worthy recipient. What would it “say” to the person who gave us the house if the yard was a tangle of weeds and the windows were all dirty and dingy? What gratitude would be expressed in a filthy, cluttered interior emitting a horrible smell? It would be insulting and ungrateful
We have been called by God. We bear His name in all we do and say and think—and what is in our heart. How are you thanking Him? Our calling is to live for Christ, not self.

Second, we can be blessed, too, by the

“Riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”
The glory of His inheritance is a hard concept for us to grasp. What is glory? What is our inheritance? We can think about it a little bit like a treasure chest in heaven—assigned just for us. We don’t really know exactly all that it contains, but we know for certain that it is glorious and it will be worth all our efforts in this lifetime. It is much like trying to get a toddler to understand his birthday.  We tell him, “You will get presents!”   “You will have a big cake with candles on it!”  He might get excited at our excitement, but he has no idea what we are trying to describe to him.  Not until he sees a shiny gift and opens it to find a wonderful, bright new toy or taste a luscious piece of chocolate cake, will he begin to understand.  Even then, he cannot understand the real joys.  He is too young to fully grasp the sacrifice made just for him and the love that has been demonstrated on his behalf.
God has an inheritance for us. It is based on the riches of glory. It will absolutely be worth it all. The songwriter summed it up perfectly when she wrote

Oft times the day seems long, our trials hard to bear. We’re tempted to complain, to murmur and despair. But Christ will soon appear to catch His bride away. All tears forever over in God’s eternal day! It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race ‘til we see Christ.
-Esther Kerr Rusthoi

So, you see, we have the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance, and last, we see the blessing of the

“Surpassing greatness of His power toward us”
“Surpassing” means to go beyond or throw higher than the mark. “Great” means mega or big. “Power” is further defined in verses 19-21 by comparing it to the same power that raised Christ from the dead. This is our power source, too! The word “toward” means into or inside (us). God’s power is not only toward us, it is in us! We can be energized in our souls and make right decisions and glorify God in the difficulties of our life because His power comes into us.

Christian, we can know the huge, more-than-you-can-imagine, power of God in our lives. We can experience His strength and majesty and power in us and through us. It is what will get us through the darkest night or past the most laborious task or help us deal with the most hurtful people around us. We don’t need to flounder helplessly as we serve God. His power is there for the asking. God wants to enlighten our eyes to see a bright future with the certainty that our reward is far greater than we can possibly imagine. He wants us to claim His surpassing power to live for Him and He wants us to see life properly through His perfect 20/20 vision.

Conclusion
Do you have vision problems? Oh, I’m not asking if you wear glasses. I mean, how is your spiritual vision? Maybe you’ve never believed in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and you are completely blind. That can be changed today! Dear Friend, make that decision right now! Simple faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, gives us salvation.

If you are a child of God, do you have Self-opia? Do you view right as only what YOU say is right? Find out what God says is right and stick to that. Do you have Uppity-opia? Do your eyes give away the conceit found within your heart? God tells us that if we want to be great, we need to be a servant. We need to look out for the needs of others before our own needs. Do you have Please-opia—desiring more than anything to make the people around you happy? Our focus has to always be on serving God in the exact manner He asks us to. All these “vision” problems have a common source—a hard heart.  God wants to fix that for us today.  He wants us to soften our hearts to the truths of His Word so we can then see three precious things He has given us:  hope, riches, and power.

             Hope in His calling of us as His children
             Riches of the glory of His inheritance for us as His saints
             Power, that is, surpassing power, to live for Him and please Him.

Won’t you look at life through the eyes of God?

Friday, March 13, 2020
(Thank God for the many things to laugh about on any given day. Ask for His help to make the joy of the LORD your strength!)
-Read John 9:30
“The man answered them, “This is an amazing thing! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he healed my eyes.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did the blind man believe the Religious leaders should have known where Jesus came from?
2. He called their ignorance and an ____ thing.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I cannot be certain with what emotion this young man is speaking, but it sure seems to me that he is a bit flabbergasted at their continued “blindness” as to Who Jesus is because of what He had done. The young man will go on to give more explanation in the next few verses, but he clearly believes that Jesus MUST be from God in order to do the incredible miracle that He had done (this was the first recorded time that someone who had been born blind was instantaneously healed of blindness—which was a VERY big deal). It would seem that God is using a young man to teach older ones, as well as an uneducated beggar to instruct the aged educators of the Jewish people. They might have the knowledge and position of power, but he had the confidence as the one who had been miraculously healed.

As someone who is now considered middle-aged (but really a bit past that—unless I’m going to live to be 116!), I know that it can be humbling and difficult to yield to the ideas and authority of those who are much younger than me. And while it is true that it is likely that our older saints have learned a thing or two in their decades of experience, that is not to say that the thoughts and conclusions of younger folks are not note-worthy and valuable. I expect that both sides could use a little “Titus 2” thinking to both instill knowledge and skills—and to graciously receive them.

Thursday, March 12, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to boldly obey Him, while also recognizing the difference between personal preferences versus His commands.)
-Read John 9:28-29
“At this, they turned on him in fury and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know that God has spoken to Moses, but we do not know where this fellow comes from.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T or F. The Pharisees enjoyed the blind man’s question.
2. T or F. The Pharisees felt like they were all disciples/followers.
3. T or F. The Pharisees did not think they knew where Jesus had come from.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Being someone with a good sense of humor—and being raised in a family that used sarcastic humor as a sign of affection, I have to confess that I have gotten into trouble with my use of humor many times over the years. For sure, there were times when I used humor inappropriately, or maybe insensitively, but I also think that on occasion the other person could stand to lighten up a bit. I, of course, don’t know if what the formerly blind man said to the Religious leaders was meant to be humor, but they sure took it very badly. They let their frustration and insecurities get the best of them—and flew into a rage. This could not have pleased God.

There is one kind of anger that is good. This is something we tend to call “righteous anger,” because it is directed at sin. Jesus was righteously angry the two times He cleaned the Temple complex of corruption and money-making vendors. Due to our sin nature, though, our anger is probably much more likely to be sinful anger. So why do we get angry, anyway? Do you think that just maybe it’s actually because things aren’t going the way WE think they should? Could anger be just another form of selfishness, pride, and arrogance? After all, if God says that He works all things together for our good when we love Him, then our angry, unbiblical response to an undesirable situation shows that we’re thinking that God has made a mistake. Perhaps it is simply our lack of submission to His will.

Here a few verses having to do with anger. As you read, be on the lookout for biblical remedies and substitutions for ungodly anger:
-Ephesians 4:26-32 “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set while you are still angry, and do not give the Devil an opportunity to work. The thief must no longer steal but must work hard and do what is good with his own hands, so that he might earn something to give to the needy. Let no filthy talk be heard from your mouths, but only what is good for building up people and meeting the need of the moment. This way you will administer grace to those who hear you. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by whom you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, quarreling, and slander be put away from you, along with all hatred. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you in the Messiah.”

-James 1:19-20 “You must understand this, my dear brothers. Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. For human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

-Proverbs 29:11 “The fool vents all his feelings, but the wise person keeps them to himself.”

-Proverbs 15:1 “A gentle response diverts anger, but a harsh statement incites fury.”

-Colossians 3:8 “ But now you must also get rid of anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene speech, and all such sins.”

-James 4:1-3 “Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.”

Wednesday, March 11, 2020
(Thank God for His Word and what a joy it is to study. Ask Him for help to learn more about Him every day and for strength to incorporate it in how you think and act.)
-Read John 9:27
“He answered them, “I’ve already told you, but you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples, too, do you?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What hadn’t the Pharisees listened to?
2. What reason did the blind man give to explain why they kept asking him what happened?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Although it would appear that most people were exceedingly intimidated by the Religious leaders, this young man was not. I’m not sure it’s possible to know with what attitude he addressed these important men, but he is definitely direct and he is refusing to allow them to dictate to him what he experienced or his conclusions based on what he experienced.

There is, without question, times where we must follow the direction of those in authority over us, but there are also times when we must not. For example, the Bible teaches that God is our ultimate authority (and His Word, of course), while also teaching that all humans must willingly submit themselves to those who have been placed in authority over us. The exception comes when some human authority commands us to do something that is disobedient to God’s Word.

Doing what GOD said must be our #1 priority, but if we’re really analyzing situations honestly, we probably aren’t really too often asked to directly disobey God’s Word. Most times when we find a conflict between what someone is telling us to do versus what God says we must do, the real issue is our PREFERENCES versus CONVICTIONS. Preferences are areas where we feel strongly that God wants something from us by way of attitude or action. Convictions are Scripture put to action. They are the things that we are 100% convinced that God demands—and if we don’t do them, we are sinning against Him. With that in mind, we need to be a little careful about what we claim are our convictions, though this certainly isn’t a pass to not obey God’s Word fully and completely. Furthermore, we need to be very careful that we never judge or condemn someone who might be doing something that is against our preference, but not actually against God’s Word. This is where grace and biblical love come into play. This may also be a teaching moment where either you influence someone toward greater godliness—or—someone demonstrates to you a better, more biblical way to view something.

Tuesday, March 10, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the things that you know about Him—and the countless blessings He has provided, then be ready to share some of this with someone He brings across your path today.)
-Read John 9:26
“Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he heal your eyes?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the Pharisees ask the blind man?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Since the formerly blind man wouldn’t agree with them that Jesus must be a sinner, they asked him yet another time what happened and how it was that he got healed. This is odd to me. They had already asked him and he had already told them. What were they hoping to accomplish?

You know, asking questions isn’t a bad thing. Of course, it seems a little foolish to ask someone the same thing repeatedly, expecting the truth to change! But one of my favorite Bible study methods is to ask questions, then answer what I can (from the text and other Bible passages), and do some research to find out what isn’t easily answered from the passage I am working on. Asking my pastor about the things I don’t understand is always helpful—and fun. There’s a lot of joy in learning new things about God and His Word! Here’s an example of what this looks like from in an oversimplified way:

The Question Method:
1. Read a verse, several verses, or a passage of Scripture. (My example is going to be from Genesis 1:1 for simplicity sake.)
2. Ask yourself questions about the passage as if you were going to test someone else on it. Really tear it apart—phrase by phrase. (Example: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. Who created the earth? When? What else did He create?)
3. Write out the answers. (1. God. 2. In the beginning. 3. The heaven and the earth.)
4. Summarize what is being taught –a kind of mini-lesson. (God is the One Who created the heaven and the earth. This was the beginning of time as we know it, but clearly God was already there before then!)
5. Pray and ask God for one or more applications (how your life should change based on it). (As the Creator, God is the One Who has the right to make the rules. As the Creator, God has the strength to do ANYTHING—including helping me with today’s challenges! I need to live my life obeying God, trusting God, and enjoying the world He made for me.)

As a bonus, if you save your work, it may well be used by God one day to share with someone else in a Sunday school lesson or devotions—or simply be a great thing to talk about the next time your pastor asks for testimonies. Either way, taking Bible verses and tearing them apart and putting them back together again will help you learn and remember amazing things from God’s Word.

Monday, March 9, 2020
(What did God teach you yesterday that you want to thank Him for? Is there some biblical truth that you want to ask His help to apply to your day and week?)
-Read John 9:24-25
“The Jewish leaders summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” But he responded, “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not. The one thing I do know is that I used to be blind and now I can see!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Based on this verse, do you think the blind man was present when the Pharisees questioned his parents?
2. Why did the Pharisees want to give glory to God?
3. Did the blind man agree with them?
4. What “one thing” did he know?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
My husband loves to use John 9:25 when encouraging people about witnessing to others. He says that the formerly blind man’s testimony is just right because he didn’t try to talk about things he wasn’t sure of, he simply told what he knew. And this is a great guide for all of us. We sometimes feel like we can’t talk about God the Father, Jesus, or the Bible because we don’t know enough about it, but what do we REALLY need to know? What do we REALLY need to share? How about what God did for YOU? Were you born a sinner? Did God show you that Jesus died to take your sin away? Did the Bible teach you that simple faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior from your sins is all that is needed to get saved (saved from an eternity in the Lake of Fire)? Did you trust in Jesus to do that for you? Do you now have eternal life? Are you now a child of God? Does reading and obeying the Bible bring you joy? Peace? Fulfillment? A confidence for the future? Does attending a Bible-teaching church help you to know more about God? Be more useful to Him? Provide fellowship, friendship, and spiritual growth? Does being able to talk to God the Father in prayer any time about anything bring you comfort? Peace? Guidance? THESE are the things that you can confidently, accurately share with the people whom God brings into your life. These are the things that you can say in a similar manner to the blind man, “I once was blind, but now I see.”

BONUS:
The conclusion of the Religious leaders is pretty disappointing—and reeks of contrived lies. These men had decided ahead that Jesus was not the Messiah, so they refused to consider what He did to be the miracle that it was. And just for the record, God is NEVER glorified when we lie, deceive, say things that are unkind, gossip, or otherwise speak in a manner that is born of our greed, pride, or arrogance. These men were, in fact, blaspheming against God—and I have no doubt that when they died and met their Maker that they were horrified and exceedingly sorrowful. While we cannot change what we may have said or done in the past, we can sure commit to honoring God with our words and attitudes today! We can search Scripture to find out what pleases and honors Him, as well as what dishonors and displeases Him, so that we can incorporate the good and throw out the bad. Of course, we’ll never be able to do that in our own strength, BUT we can most definitely do it in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit!

Saturday, March 7, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to think His thoughts after Him—as stated in Scripture—so that we can understand what is true, good, and right. Thank Him for the peace and joy He provides for those who lean on Him and live obediently according to His Word.)
-Read John 9:21-23
“But we don’t know how it is that he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, since the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be thrown out of the synagogue. That’s why his parents said, “He is of age. Ask him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The blind man’s parents did not know ______ it is that he could now see or _____ opened his eyes.
2. Who did they suggest the Pharisees ask about this?
3. Why were they afraid?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed in these parents. They seemed a whole lot more interested in protecting themselves than in helping their son.

I suppose it is our sin nature that leads us to be selfish and self-centered, but child of God, we need not be that way. Why? Because we have the Creator God, the Almighty One, the King of kings looking out for us—so we don’t need to do it for ourselves. What do we need to focus on, then, if not our own interests? We need to focus on loving God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. We need to focus on loving our neighbor.

What does this kind of love look like? Loving God is seen in how we obey His Word—which will affect how we think, how we plan, what we do, what we refuse to do, and everything else about us. In fact, every day that we have been given to live here on Planet Earth is an opportunity and privilege to study God’s Word SO THAT we can be becoming more like Christ and so we can use His Word to guide our actions and attitudes.

What about loving our neighbor, those people who God has placed in our lives? As we study the Bible and apply its principles and truths to our thoughts and actions, we will at the same time learn how to be displaying God’s love in how we interact with people. I’ll give you a big clue, though. It will involve thinking of others before self, putting the interests of others before your own, and otherwise being helpful and kind. Just remember that GOD’S definition of what is helpful and kind may differ slightly from what you currently think. His definition of being helpful, kind, and loving will have at its heart the goal of building others up in the things of the Lord.

I’m not making any of this up. Use a Bible Concordance or even Google some of the above phrases and find Scripture that confirms or denies what I’m suggesting. God’s Word has EVERYTHING we NEED to know how to live godly lives—we just need to look.

Friday, March 6, 2020
(This is the day the Lord has made—rejoice in it!)
-Read John 9:19-20
“and asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How does he now see?” His parents replied, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who are the people in this conversation? (v.18)
2. What three questions did the Pharisees ask?
3. What was their reply?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The Religious leaders wanted to know who healed the formerly blind man and how, but refusing to believe the one person who was there and experienced it, they turned to two people who were NOT there to demand an answer from them. Besides the obvious foolishness of not listening to the eye witness (pun intended!), I think that these men in authority were still asking questions simply because they didn’t want to believe the truth. They were trying to force people to say what they wanted to hear.

It’s not that uncommon for humans to reach a conclusion before finding out the facts or disregarding the truth in order to cling to something that they want to believe. An example that comes to mind is when someone ignores the symptoms of a dreaded disease, hoping that if they don’t acknowledge their symptoms, that it might make the problem not real. Certainly, denial is present in that circumstance, but probably denial because of fear. Fear of the unknown is a pretty difficult thing to deal with. The good news is that God the Father is trustworthy, faithful, merciful, and gracious—and He NEVER stops working out all of life’s challenges for His glory and for our spiritual good. As we claim Romans 8:28, we can have peace, quiet confidence, and even joy, despite not having all the answers or being confronted with something that isn’t quite what we wanted.

P.S. Just for the record, Jesus ALSO said that the truth will set us free. We need God’s Word to instruct us, direct us, and help us to know the right way to think, speak, act, and live!

BONUS:
Let’s pause for a minute and consider those who God has given the role of caregiver to. In this case, this man and woman had a child who was born blind. Can you imagine the day when they realized that their infant son couldn’t see? Would never see? How heartbreaking it must have been for them! Every parent wants the best for their child and no parent likes to see their child suffer. I’m sure they were thinking, too, of the hardships that would fall on them as well. In that culture, there might have been a stigma on the entire family to have a disabled child. In fact, you may recall at the beginning of this account that even the disciples assumed that either the boy or his parents had sinned and that was why he was born blind. So from birth, this man, his parents, and any other siblings and relatives had a hardship in their life: that of living with a loved one who could not do everything that every other child could do and who needed special care.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how many caregivers there are all around us. Even in our small churches, there are, no doubt, several caregivers. Some are caring for family members with physical or behavioral disabilities, many are caring for aging parents, and some have taken acquaintances and even strangers into their homes to help keep them safe and well taken care of. These folks need our prayers—and our help. Frankly, even moms and dads with a passel of energetic and busy children could use an occasional day out or helping hand.

Who might God be laying on your heart to give some help to? Offering to help “some time” is a good place to start, but may also be a little too vague. Pray about WHAT to offer and how to best present it so that the caregiver you are trying to help and encourage understands that you truly want to help and feels comfortable taking you up on your offer. If you ARE a caregiver who could really use some help or encouragement, pray about who to share this with and how. God’s already got it all worked out! And for me to you, Thank you!!!! I am blessed by your sweet spirit and labor for the Lord!

Thursday, March 5, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to make the time to notice His glories and blessings that literally surround you all day and every day!)
-Read John 9:16-18
“Some of the Pharisees began to remark, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they asked the formerly blind man again, “What do you say about him, since it was your eyes he healed?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jewish leaders did not believe that the man had been blind and had gained sight until they summoned his parents”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did some of the Pharisees conclude that Jesus could not be from God?
2. What was the counter-argument?
3. Who did the blind man say Jesus was?
4. Did the Pharisees even believe that the man before them had been blind?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What was an otherwise normal Sabbath Saturday turned into both an amazingly wonderful day—and a day full of questions, uncertainties, and accusations. Unable to reach a consensus about who or what Jesus was, the Pharisees decided to ask the blind man what he thought about Jesus. The blind man believed Him to be a prophet.

Even though it’s a bit cliché to say, we just never quite know what a day will bring. I’m fairly confident that this man, who had never known what sight was, had NO IDEA that before nightfall he would forever be known as the man who USED to be blind; that great controversy about Jesus would arise due to his healing; that by day’s end he would be kicked out of his own synagogue simply because the Son of God healed him.

As is clear in this story, though, most days have an interesting blend of “good” things and “bad” things, mundane happenings and out-of-the-ordinary happenings, questions and answers, and expected events and unexpected ones. What is a right response for the child of God? To rejoice in the Lord always, to thank God in every circumstance, to pray without ceasing, to ask for wisdom from the God of all wisdom, to look for opportunities to do good for all people, especially those of the household of faith, to give a “cup of water” in the name of Christ to anyone in need, to season our conversation with salt so that we know how to answer everyone who asks us about our hope in the Lord, to sing with joy in our hearts, to look to the skies with expectation and delight at the thought that Jesus could come for us today, to lay up treasures in heaven where they cannot be stolen or destroyed.

Today is THE DAY to give your very best to God every second and in every way!

Wednesday, March 4, 2020
(Pray and ask the Father for help to focus on Jesus today and live with His will in mind.)
-Read John 9: 15
“So the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had gained his sight. He told them, “He put mud on my eyes, then I washed, and now I can see.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Were the Pharisees the first people to grill this man about his restored sight? ____________
2. He told them, “He put _________ on my _______, then I ______________, and now I can _________.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Have you ever stopped to wonder what that day was like for this fellow? We don’t know how old he is for certain, but later his parents stay that he is “of age,” so it is guessed he may be young, but old enough to be questioned as an adult. From that, we can surmise that he had only heard voices and things happening around him and only touched (or been touched) by people and things he couldn’t see for at least TWENTY YEARS—his entire life. But sometime earlier that day he became able to see clearly and perfectly. I wonder what he thought? I wonder if he was afraid of the bright colors and things moving all around him? I wonder if he was surprised at what people looked like? And houses? And food? I wonder if he recognized, by sight, what a flower was, or clouds, or a donkey? It had to be pretty overwhelming!

Did you know that when we got saved we came alive spiritually? The beauty of God and what is righteous and holy was lost to our sin-darkened eyes, but all of a sudden, we were made alive. We could see! We had a whole new world to explore—one in which we were suddenly able to see God’s goodness everywhere. It’s pretty awesome, but there’s more. One day, when this age is over, eternity will begin—and I believe that we will be a whole lot like that blind man who was suddenly thrust into a world of color, beauty, and amazing things to see all around, BUT it will be a million times BETTER because the effects of sin will no longer be within us or in the world around us. Oh, how I look forward to that day! In the meantime, in the here and now, today, let’s open our eyes to the beauty around us right now. Let’s exclaim out loud and in grateful prayer that all our God does is perfect and beautiful and astonishing.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020
(Thank the Father for the Bible and the tremendous riches found within its pages!)
-Read John 9:13-14
“So they brought to the Pharisees the man who had once been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and healed his eyes.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did the people bring the blind man?
2. What day of the week had Jesus healed the man?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I have to confess that I have never done well with even the thought of getting brought to the principal’s office, getting pulled over by the police, or being called into the boss’s office. I really dislike that kind of thing— my heart rate increases, my stomach feels sick, and my limbs feel weak. That’s not a nice thing to feel!

However, over the years I have noted that my reaction to confrontations like these are not quite as bad if I know that I am innocent of wrongdoing. I wonder, then, what the blind man was thinking about being brought before the Pharisees? You see, in their culture, being brought before the Religious leaders was a VERY big deal. Every single aspect of the Jew’s life was centered around their religion, so if they got kicked out of the synagogue, they may have also been forbidden to have any contact with other Jews (there were different levels of punishment). That meant family, that meant friends, that meant business opportunities—everything. If your crime were severe enough and you were banned for life, you might need to move away and try to start a new life—and that was a very serious hardship in those days. Today, we tend to move willy nilly all over the place for whatever reason we come up with, but in those days most people were born, lived, and died all in the same town—as did their grandparents before them and their grandchildren after them.

If you’ve read all of John 9 (which is a helpful thing to do!), you will already know that this man WAS kicked out of the synagogue, but you will also know that he took it in stride—and he considered knowing and worshipping Christ Jesus far more important than what “mere man can do.” His example of focusing on Jesus and living with God’s will in mind is an excellent way for us to live too. In fact, it’s the only “right” way to live—regardless of what anyone else does.

BONUS:
John 9:14 “Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and healed his eyes.”
We are once again given a Bible verse that’s meant to be a background verse so that we know something pertinent to the story. In this case, the important information is that Jesus healed the blind man on the Jewish Sabbath. If you’ve read much in the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), you will probably be bracing for trouble. There were other occasions where the Religious leaders condemned Jesus for doing something on the Sabbath that they didn’t think was appropriate for the holy day. How can we know who was right?

If we stop and think logically, we should quickly come to the conclusion that it is simply impossible for GOD to do something that is “wrong.” How could He? How could the One Who created our world, Who sustains our world from second to second, Who made the rules, Whose character defines what is upright and righteous, Who oversees all—how could He make a “mistake?” It’s impossible. God is PERFECT. He is totally UNABLE to make mistakes. As we’ve noted before, ANY time that we think something is wrong or not good that God has done or allowed, it’s always our perceptions that are off—and never God’s actions or intents. In fact, this truth is tremendously comforting to us and when we grasp onto its amazing truth, we need never fall into despair or burst into anger. Our God is in control. Our God is only, always good. Our God has perfect wisdom and all strength. Our God loves YOU and has your good in mind constantly.

Monday, March 2, 2020
(Thank God for a new day, a new week, and a new month to be able to please Him and walk in a manner that is worthy!)
-Read John 9:12
“They asked him, “Where is that man?” He said, “I don’t know!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is questioning who? (v.8-11)
2. What did the people want to know?
3. Did the blind man know?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Sometimes it’s okay to admit that we don’t know the answer. This is true in every application, but it is also true when we are talking to people about God, the Bible, and questions about our faith. As the blind man did, we, for sure, can convey to people what we DO know, but it’s okay to explain that there are things that we don’t know or understand. We don’t need to STAY ignorant, though. We can jot down questions that we have been asked and questions that may have come up during a sermon or Sunday School lesson, then search the Scriptures for answers, as well as talk to the pastor or another mature believer to see what they know. Learning more and more about God from the Bible should be one of our most fervent passions in life – and being asked about things we don’t know is a wonderful springboard for a focus on a new Bible study.

Having said all that, there will be certain aspects of God that are simply beyond human ability to understand (how God could love such sinful people, for example!). There will also be Bible verses or passages that are very difficult to know what exactly is being said (or which are areas of debate among biblical scholars). That’s okay. There ARE thousands of precious truths, promises, and principles that will keep us delighted and challenged our entire lives. It’s simply impossible to get “done” studying the Bible. It’s alive and able to teach us, instruct us in godly living, and take root deep in our souls. It’s a pretty amazing Book!

April 2020 DBSQs

Thursday, April 30, 2020
(Thank the Father that He made a way for mankind to be forgiven for their sin and adopted into His family. Pray for fellow believers to stay faithful to God. Pray for unbelievers to trust in Christ TODAY.)
-Read John 11:14-16
“Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. For your sake I’m glad that I wasn’t there, so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” Then Thomas, who was called the Twin, told his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too, so that we may die with him!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus tell the disciples “plainly”?
2. Why was Jesus glad for their sake?
3. Who encouraged the others to join Jesus?
4. What did Thomas think might happen?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because nothing God does is wrong, wrongly timed, or without perfect reason, He allowed Lazarus to die, even though Jesus could certainly have prevented it. Even without being asked why, though, Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus’ death was a good thing BECAUSE it would lead them to belief. We know that Jesus couldn’t have been speaking of their spiritual salvation since they believed in Him way back at the wedding in Cana. Rather, the resurrection of Lazarus would be an unforgettable lesson of God’s power—and it would be a strong hint of what would happen to Jesus, Himself, very soon.

Instead of questioning what Jesus meant about that, though, Thomas was eager to travel wherever Jesus went—even if it meant that they would all die along with Him (he isn’t referring to Jesus’ crucifixion since they didn’t really understand that yet. He is speaking about the Religious leaders wanting to kill Jesus for claiming to be God.).

I’ve always felt bad for Thomas getting a bad rap for a perfectly reasonable thing to say after Jesus was resurrected and appeared to them, but no one can deny that Thomas showed great loyalty and bravery in this passage. He was willing to risk his own death just to remain close to Jesus’ side. Of course, Jesus wasn’t in danger until God said that it was time, but Thomas didn’t know that. He just knew that he belonged by Jesus’ side, so that’s where he would be. This is, of course, where we ALL belong—and even though we too often stray, God never does. The LORD is our Shepherd, staying always by our side, providing all that we truly need. He is our Light, pointing out the right path to walk and helping us understand His Word as we walk it. He is the Master, allowing us to do small tasks for Him—richly rewarding our faithful service. He is our Friend, truly understanding all our concerns, challenges, and joys—helping us to evaluate things from God’s perspective. And, oh, so much more!

Why not spend some time today thinking about what life is like when you are NOT walking closely with Jesus—and when you are.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020
(Ask the Father for not only opportunities to speak of Him today, but for the enthusiasm and desire to do so.)
-Read John 11:11-13
“These were the things he said. Then after this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m leaving to wake him up.” So the disciples told him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about resting or sleeping.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was the confusion about Lazarus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
After reminding His disciples that His time on earth was limited (and so was theirs—and ours!), He told them that Lazarus had “fallen asleep” and that He needed to wake him. The disciples knew that Lazarus was sick, so sleeping seemed a good thing and they were confused about why Jesus would wake him up. They didn’t understand that Jesus was actually telling them that Lazarus had died. In our culture, there’s a pretty big difference between saying someone is asleep versus dead, but it was not uncommon at that time to refer to death as sleeping. In fact, there are many places in the Old Testament that speak of someone’s death as “sleeping with his ancestors.”

Were you aware that there are some people who believe that when people die their soul has gone to sleep while it waits for its resurrection body? This is not something the Bible teaches. God says that, for the believer, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (II Corinthians 5:8). In other words, for children of God, the very second physical life leaves their body, the REAL person is instantly transported to the very presence of Jesus Christ. There is no “soul sleep,” no “purgatory,” no wandering through some cosmic time-space continuum. We’re either in this body here on earth—or we are in God’s presence. That is why the funeral of a Christian isn’t the dark, depressing event that funerals can be. Oh, to be sure, the loved ones of the person who has been promoted to glory are sad to no longer be able to see and talk to them here on the earth, but they realize that being with God is “far, far better” (Philippians 1:23). They are comforted and thankful that their loved one will never again experience pain, sorrow, or hardship, but will, in fact, reside in the Light, FINALLY free from the effects of sin and the sin nature. What a grand and glorious day that will be!

But, dear ones, we cannot leave this subject without reminding ourselves that not everyone who dies goes to heaven. Those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ as the Savior for their sins will also die, but the second that their soul leaves their body—they go to Hades, the temporary holding place for unbelievers until Hades is itself thrown into Hell permanently at the end of the Millennium. This is permanent and this is permanently horrific. We CANNOT slack in telling others the good news of salvation! This is far too important to not do just because we are shy or it is “not something we are good at.” Love others enough to tell them what they need to know. Pray about who God wants you to talk to today!

Tuesday, April 28, 2020
(Commit to this day to the Father, trusting Him with every detail.)
-Read John 11:7-10
“After this, he told the disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” The disciples told him, “Rabbi, the Jewish leaders were just now trying to stone you to death, and you are going back there again?”
Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours in the day, aren’t there? If anyone walks during the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks at night he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Jesus say they needed to go?
2. Why didn’t the disciples think this was a good idea?
3. The one who walks during the day won’t ___.
4. Why?
5. Who stumbles and why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
A few days after Jesus got word that Lazarus was sick, He prepared to return to Judea. Since the last time He and the disciples were in Jerusalem, the Religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus so that they could kill Him, His disciples were surprised to have Him plan to go back. Jesus didn’t answer their concerns directly—or maybe He did. He reminded them that we all only have a limited amount of time to do the Father’s will. There is coming a time, whether through death or because of the rapture when we can no longer witness for Him through actions and words. In other words, we need to make hay while the sun is shining.

I’ve actually read about the necessity for witnessing from a few different resources recently (not because I was necessarily looking to be reminded!). One of the authors likened the attitude of telling someone about Christ to the willingness to hold open a door for someone in a wheelchair. She said that every one that is even remotely ABLE to hold open the door for someone who couldn’t open the door for themselves due to some obvious disability, will do it. Then she noted that Christians KNOW the importance of trusting in Christ for salvation and eternal life, so they should be telling others – “opening the door” – for them, as it were. The other source speaking about witnessing reminded me that it has never been about MY comfort levels or what I want or like to do. It’s about loving the other person enough to make sure their eternity is with our loving God and not in agony in the Lake of Fire. She encouraged her readers to love the person enough to tell them what they NEED to know.

Good stuff. Good reminders. Who do you love enough to open the door for?

Monday, April 27, 2020
(What about your day in the Lord’s House yesterday do you want to thank God for?)
-Read John 11:5-6
“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Now Jesus ____ Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
2. ____, when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He _____ ____ ___ ___ for two more days.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What a precious sentence that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus! YET, the verse goes on, Jesus didn’t immediately heal Lazarus, though He clearly could have (He had healed before by just giving the word). This certainly speaks to God’s timing versus human timing. Plainly put, they are not the same thing. =) In fact, God’s view of time in a general sense does not have the same rules that we are governed by. Really, nothing in this world is a “rule” that God cannot change, modify, or “break.” Just because humans discovered gravity and “created” a “law” that says that when we drop things they will fall down does NOT mean that God cannot make dropped objects go up, or over, or through something otherwise solid. Just because we are used to the sun coming up every morning does not mean that God cannot make it stand still (as He did in Joshua 10) or disappear altogether (as He will do when the heavens and earth are remade). And time cannot limit God or control Him. He is the Master of it—and to Him, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day (II Peter 3:8). All that to say that though we may be on tenterhooks waiting for God to answer our plea, God knew about the “problem” before time began—and made it work out exactly the way He wanted in the timing that He knew was perfect.

So, what’s our role in all this? Trust God. Trust His timing. Believe that He loves you (and your loved ones) and will not (can not!) do anything that is not GOOD. Realize that every single experience in our lives should lead us to praise God, bring Him glory, thank Him, and testify of His goodness to others. Every experience should cause us to be becoming a little more like Christ, to act a bit more like citizens of heaven (and not like those who belong to the earth).

Saturday, April 25, 2020
(Thank the Father that He has opened His throne room to YOU and that He loves to hear your prayers! Share with Him some of the things that lay heavy on your heart. He is ready to give you the help and comfort you need.)
-Read John 11:4
“But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness isn’t meant to end in death. It’s for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did Mary & Martha’s note get to Jesus?
2. Jesus said that the illness wasn’t meant to end in what?
3. What was its purpose?
4. And so the Son of God would be ____ through it.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had a special relationship with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (and He has a special relationship with ALL who trust in Him as their Savior!). Jesus was in Perea with His disciples when He got word from Mary & Martha that Lazarus was sick. Jesus told the messenger, the disciples, or both, that Lazarus’ illness was not meant to end in death. In fact, his illness had a huge and wonderful purpose: to bring God glory and so that Jesus would be glorified through it.

Did you know that every single one of our daily challenges, big or small, also has the purpose of bringing God glory? In fact, when we not only accept this truth (however grudgingly), but EMBRACE it as the most important part of it, then everything about it now becomes an opportunity and exciting challenge. When our first thought, when faced with a struggle, is to determine to bring God glory in it and through it, then our attitude is affected, our emotions remain stable, and response is God-focused (and others-focused) and not self-focused.

This is a game-changer!

Those of us who have walked by God’s side for a few years (or decades!) know from experience that God is always faithful. We have seen time and time again how He has taken some situation, some circumstance, that was AWFUL and turned it into something that we can’t stop thanking Him for. This personal experience coupled with God’s many fulfilled promises in Scripture should be more than enough to help us reset our auto-response buttons from dread, anger, and worry to curiosity, trust, and anticipation as we watch God do amazing things in our life and the lives of others.

BONUS: Jesus HEARD that Lazarus was sick and His dear friends needed His help. God knows what we are dealing with too. He sees, He knows, He cares, and His perfect solution is on its way. Always. Every time.

Friday, April 24, 2020
(Ask the Father for wisdom in picking your priorities and to not place to-do’s before time with Him.)
-Read John 11:3
“So the sisters sent word to Jesus and told him, “Lord, the one whom you love is ill.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who contacted Jesus?
2. How did they address Him?
3. How did they refer to Lazarus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I find this verse very precious. I love that Mary and Martha contacted Jesus when their beloved brother became sick. Their message was short and right to the point: the one whom you love is ill.

A few things to consider:
-When something unpleasant comes into our lives, our first thought should be to take it to the Father in prayer. He is the only One Who can truly do something about it, so why would we go to anyone else first?
-BUT, once this concern has been left at the feet of our loving Father, THEN we should contact brothers or sisters in Christ to enlist their prayers and support. Once a person becomes saved, they also become a part of the family of God—and being a part of the family of God is all about how we help each other, encourage each other, and ESPECIALLY build each other up in the things of the Lord. To share prayer requests with others not only enlists the prayer support of others Christians, but it also eases our load—and it demonstrates trust and a sense of reliance on those we have asked to pray for us.
-Writing from the home of a pastor, let me remind you that the pastor is not a mind reader, nor does the hospital or doctor’s office phone him when one of his flock is sick or has a sick loved one. YOU need to let him know, preferably sooner rather than later. How can he pray or be a help and a blessing if he doesn’t even know you are facing a challenge? PLEASE don’t forget to contact your pastor to let him know when you need his help, even if it is “just” to pray.
-Last, please don’t EVER say to someone, “Well, at least you can pray about it.” Dear one, to pray is the BEST you can do! To pray is to enlist Almighty GOD to help, give wisdom, and provide whatever it is that He knows is best. Praying is the best thing we can do for another person, never the least.
-And as a bonus thought, please take note that Jesus loved Lazarus when he was sick. Becoming sick, injured, or suffering in some other way NEVER means that God has withdrawn His love. He simply will not—and even CAN NOT—withdraw His love for you. In fact, we find over and over in Scripture that God GIVES hardships to HELP US mature and come to depend on Him even more.

BONUS: “the one whom You love” is the same phrase that John uses to refer to himself in this gospel (“the disciple whom Jesus loved”) in John 13:23, John 19:26, and John 21:7. This is such a sweet acknowledgment—and one ALL believers can use, because it is true!

Thursday, April 23, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God, trying not to ask for even one thing.)
-Read John 11:1-2 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11&version=ISV
“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the woman who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was ill.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who was Lazarus?
2. How is Mary remembered?
3. Where did Lazarus live?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
We are introduced to a new man, Lazarus (possibly a variation of Eleazor), who is sick. Lazarus is, in fact, the brother of Mary and Martha, two sisters introduced to us in Luke 10:38-42. The author of John also reminds the reader that this is the same family who anointed Jesus with perfume (though this hasn’t happened chronologically yet. It’s in chapter 12.). Let’s remind ourselves about Mary and Martha (‘cuz I like them!).

“Now as they were traveling along, Jesus went into a village. A woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what he was saying. But Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, you do care that my sister has left me to do the work all by myself, don’t you? Then tell her to help me.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha! You worry and fuss about a lot of things. But there’s only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her.”

Some (nifty) things to note:
-Jesus and His followers walked A LOT of miles in their lives!
-Martha was probably the one who owned the home where she, Mary, and Lazarus lived (in the little village of Bethany, about two miles east of Jerusalem). This would likely indicate that she was the oldest and/or that she may have been a widow.
-Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. It would seem that this wasn’t an unusual thing, hinting strongly that Jesus had a special relationship with this family of siblings (as John 11 states outright).
-Mary is identified as one “who sat down at the Lord’s feet and kept listening to what He was saying.” What an AWESOME way for people to think about us! Some other God-honoring descriptors might be, “She’s the one who loves to thank God for EVERYTHING.” “She’s the one who loves her Bible and talks about it all the time.” “She’s the one who won’t make a decision without praying about it first.” And so on. How would you like people to describe YOUR walk with the Lord? Are you living that way now? If so, how can you excel still more?
-Martha’s behavior is described beginning with a word of contrast (“But”). While Mary was listening to what Jesus had to say, Martha was busy trying to take care of Jesus’ physical needs (and those of His disciples and whoever else showed up for dinner). And while it is praiseworthy to be an excellent hostess and to give great effort to the care of your guests, Martha was worrying about all the things she had to do—and she was NOT taking advantage of listening to the Son of God teaching in her own living room! Poor Martha gets a bad rap, but having a servant’s heart was not the problem (having a servant’s heart is an excellent trait!). Martha’s challenge was her attitude and her timing. I am a “Martha” to be sure, and I understand what it is to have lists of my lists! BUT, fussing, fretting, worrying, and grumbling ALL indicate that we are acting on our own terms and are probably not relying on God’s timing and help. There’s probably way too much “me” thinking in this scenario. In fact, Martha actually demands that Jesus make Mary help her! I’m going to guess that she deeply regretted that later and had to work hard to give that to God and not keep thinking about it in the years to follow. THANKFULLY, when we make things right with God, He refuses to “remember” it ever again, freeing us to also leave it in the past. Yes, we should learn our lesson, but, no, we should not keep trying to punish ourselves for it.
-Jesus is a kind and compassionate Savior, but He will not mince words when it comes to pointing out sin and bad attitudes. We would do well to never try to gloss over sin, either. In fact, the Bible tells us clearly that we are in a desperate WAR with sin and dark forces and we must have a combat mentality (that of a soldier in war) when it comes to sin and anything even remotely displeasing to God. Plainly put: it must not be anywhere near us—ever, in any form AT ALL.
-Jesus uses Martha’s name to show His love for her as an individual. If Martha were the only human on the earth with sin that needed to be paid for, Jesus would STILL have allowed Himself to be crucified for her sake. And dear one, He would have done that for YOU, too. We have MUCH to be thankful for and to praise God’s name for!
-Jesus told Martha that there is really only one thing that we truly NEED. It is to hear what God has to say. Mary was doing that and Jesus would not ask her to stop. So, you might ask, what about the food that needed to be cooked, the dishes that needed to be set out, and the other hospitality to-do’s that were necessary??? People may love to hear the preaching of the Word, but sooner or later, they are going to want to be fed! I personally believe that the trick is timing and planning. One of my biggest sorrows is when I attend a Bible conference at a church, only to find out that the ladies miss pretty much the entire thing because they are in the kitchen. I play a pretty integral part in the feeding and care of our church family and guests—and have for decades, so I understand set-up, food prep, cooking, setting the food out, followed by picking it all up again and making things clean—or even ready for the next round. It’s a lot of work! BUT, with some careful planning and thought, a menu can be chosen that allows for a lot of the prep to be done well ahead. Furthermore, crockpots are a marvelous invention that allows the labor to be done HOURS ahead. Granted, there is always a bit of a rush getting everything out on the tables when it’s time to eat, especially if there is a limited time window for the meal, but it can be done with enough planning and enough workers. Another consideration is speaking with the pastor to arrange the timing of the conference so that there is time built-in for food prep and clean-up. My point, mostly, is to not cheat yourself out of “time at the feet of the Savior” with other things. This is something we “need.”

Wednesday, April 22, 2020
(Thank the Father for the privilege of living for Him today!)
-It’s time to review John 10. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+10&version=ISVRead the entire chapter, review the lessons from the month, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 10 review:
John chapter 10 is one of the more beloved passages of Scripture because in it Jesus declares that He is the Good Shepherd Who takes care of His sheep with excellence. This is such a comfort to those of us who live in a changing world and a world that is deeply troubled. Our stability, strength, safety—and even the confidence of who we are and WHOSE we are is all located in Almighty God, Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer, our Friend, and Sovereign LORD.

Jesus speaks quite a bit about the difference between the TRUE shepherd and all others as well as the sweet relationship that the sheep have with the shepherd that they belong to. I’m sure that this is all perfectly true and really nice for actual sheep, but, of course, Jesus is talking about believers and our relationship to HIM. We can KNOW Him, as in have a close and personal relationship to Him—and He, without question, knows us completely and totally, inside and out. And He loves us utterly and always!

Certainly, tied in these several verses about shepherding and sheep is both the warning to be on the lookout for any who would try to trick us into following them and not Jesus, but we also find the confidence that our salvation is permanent and secure (v. 28-29).

Also woven throughout John 10 (as in pretty much ALL of John) is the critically important truth that Jesus lived to do the Father’s will and represent Him perfectly. This is awesome on many levels, but a biggie is simply that we can know Who God the Father is and what’s important to Him simply by observing the Son. To see one is to see the other. As adopted children of God, it should be our priority to ALSO display Jesus Christ to those who see and hear us!

Tuesday, April 21, 2020
(Thank the Father for the delight and privilege it is to live in a way that brings Him glory!)
-Read John 10:39-42
“Again they tried to seize him, but he slipped away from them. Then he went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and he remained there. Many people came to him and kept saying, “John never performed a sign, but everything that John said about this man is true!” And many believed in Jesus there.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the Religious leader try to do again?
2. Were they successful?
3. Where did Jesus go?
4. Who had told the crowd truth about Jesus?
5. What was the response of many in the crowd?
Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-After yet another attempt to arrest and kill Jesus before the time was right according to God’s timing, Jesus left Jerusalem and traveled to Perea, an area on the east side of the Jordan River. This is the location where John the Baptist had heralded the imminent arrival of the Messiah, telling the Jews that they needed to repent of their sins and get right with God, and baptizing those who did. (Please note that John the Baptist did not baptize people resulting in their spiritual salvation. The Bible is crystal clear that faith in Jesus Christ as Savior is the ONLY requirement for spiritual salvation. John the Baptist’s baptism was for the Jews who acknowledged that they had drifted far from obeying God and who “repented” (a change of mind) of it, choosing to return to an obedient life before God. In this way they would be prepared for the imminent arrival of the Messiah—Jesus!)
-John the Baptist was no longer alive at this time, however, his witness among these people was so great that it still influenced their reaction to Jesus’ teaching.
-Apparently John the Baptist was never used by God to perform a sign (miracle).
-The reception of the people in Perea was the opposite of the Religious leaders in Jerusalem. Where the leaders and learned men had rejected and discounted Jesus, many of these “regular” people believed in Jesus as their Savior.

There are several nifty things in these verses, but I was especially touched to read how John the Baptist’s testimony was so great, that even after his death, people remembered and based their decisions on what he had said. I think that we may sometimes have doubts that what we are saying and doing for the Lord really and truly matters, but nothing could be further from the truth! For one thing (and the biggest thing), obeying God is NEVER wasted time and is ALWAYS rewarded by God—and always brings Him honor and glory whether or not we see it. Each and every faithful “someone” walking around out there in the world is bringing God glory—which is a pretty awesome and amazing thing!

In addition, God LOVES to use regular people just like you and me to do His bidding. There are several Bible verses that teach that God loves to use small things and weak things and even broken things, because in HIS hands, they will be magnificent. Oh, perhaps not according to what the world thinks is important or great, but who cares about that! The world is fickle, constantly changing what they “approve of,” and are servants of satan! OUR focus as children of God is on being like Him, praising Him in our words, deeds, and attitudes, and sharing His glories to one and all at all times and in every place. When we do, God grows our tiny, little effort and makes of it something grand and glorious for His glory and for our good. There is no such thing as doing too much for God, obeying Him too often, or praising His name too loudly. These are excellent things, things that will testify to the world what a wonderful Father and Savior you have—and which just might cause someone else to consider their own spiritual needs!

Monday, April 20, 2020
(What did God bless you with from His Word or from His people yesterday? Thank Him!)
-Read John 10:37-38
“If I’m not doing my Father’s actions, don’t believe me. But if I’m doing them, even though you don’t believe me, believe the actions, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus wanted them to _____ and _____ that the Father was ____ Him and He was ____ the Father.
2. He told them that if they couldn’t believe Him, they should believe the ___.
3. Whose actions was Jesus doing?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus told these skeptical Jews that what He was doing and how He was living demonstrated that God the Father was in Him and He was in God the Father. I find it very exciting to realize that one of the MANY “perks” of being a Church Age believer is that we, too, have God “in” us—and—people can recognize this by what we say, how we live, and what we are like. In fact, the term “Christian” designates us as a “little Christ” – those who mimic His attitudes, actions, and goals (“mimic” as in copying in a good way, not as in making fun of).

So, I guess the hugely important question that we must all evaluate very, very often is whether or not we ARE living, thinking, speaking, and behaving in a way that accurately reflects Jesus. Because we still have a sin nature, very frequent scrutiny must be employed to make sure that we are living holy, righteous, God-honoring lives. If not, confession and then a change of thinking/behavior are necessities. How do we know what’s right? Through God’s Word and through godly, obedient believers who share His Word with us both in what they say and in how they live.

Also, note that Jesus was pointing the attention to the Father and what He was doing and wanted for those people and from them. We, too, must live in such a way that people see Christ and want to know more about Him and God the Father.

All this is certainly not for the lazy or faint of heart, but for those who love God and are blown-out-of-the-water at all the blessings He gives, who are learning that to live in a manner that is pleasing to God is a DELIGHT and a PRIVILEGE, and who are oh, so grateful, for God’s Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit for the help, direction, and wisdom that they provide as they seek to be becoming more like our God and Savior.

Does this currently describe YOU?

Saturday, April 18, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to know the difference between what HE said and what others have altered so that you can obey HIM.)
-Read John 10:34-36
“Jesus replied to them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? If he called those to whom a message from God came ‘gods’ (and the Scripture cannot be disregarded),
how can you say to the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You’re blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’?
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus used the ___ to explain how God called someone gods.
2. What cannot be disregarded?
3. Jesus was ____ by the Father and ______ into the world.
4. Did Jesus say that he was or wasn’t blaspheming to declare Himself the Son of God?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus’ response to the Religious leaders’ debate is to quote Scripture. Quoting Scripture is always the best—and final—answer! Here, Jesus is quoting Psalm 82:6 (“Indeed I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.”) where God the Father is calling (specific) humans “gods.” Jesus is using Scripture to make an irrefutable point. (The Hebrew wording in Ps. 82:6 uses the word “el” – god, God, mighty one, judge, or ruler. It is used in other locations in the Old Testament in a variety of nuances.) We, too, must have Scripture as the foundation of not only who we are, but why we do all that we do. There can be no other “sure foundation” than God’s Word.

In this particular case, Jesus is arguing that if God the Father referred to some men as gods, why would it be wrong for Him to also refer to Himself as the Son of God. Of course, the truth is that He was not a “mere man” making false claims. He was (is!) the Son of God—and, therefore, God Himself was standing before these men whom He created listening to them denounce Him and call Him a blasphemer. We should be pretty shocked at their foolishness, arrogance, and audacity to call God names to His face, but I think that if honestly evaluate what WE are doing every time we refuse to do something that we know God wants us to do or do something that we know dishonors Him, that we, too, are displaying foolishness, arrogance, and are demeaning God to His face. These things should NEVER be.

FYI: There is some debate among scholars as to who God was referring to in Psalm 82:6. Some have suggested that He was referring to the judges who were functioning as God’s representatives while in office.

Friday, April 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the “good” things He has done for you, is doing for you, and will one day do for you!)
-Read John 10:33
“The Jewish leaders answered him, “We are not going to stone you for a good action, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, are making yourself God!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the Jewish leaders agree that they wanted to stone Jesus for doing good actions?
2. What did they say Jesus was doing?
3. They called Jesus a “___” man.
4. They accused Jesus of ___ Himself God.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The Jewish leaders acknowledged that good actions are not something you stone someone for, but they stuck to their conclusion that Jesus could not possibly be the Messiah, the Prophet, and most definitely, not God. They believed He was only a “mere man,” so to claim to be God was blasphemy. But actually, in the very next verse, Jesus points out that even calling someone “god” is not blasphemy (according to the Law), but, again, these men are not thinking accurately or calmly. They are angry at being challenged as Israel’s Religious leaders—and they were out for blood. Literally.

One of the problems that the Religious leaders couldn’t seem to overcome is acknowledging that what God said in the Law that He gave Moses was not the same as all the new laws, conditions, and addendums that they (as Religious leaders) had added in the millennia since the Law was originally given. They wanted to cling tightly to their belief that their human add-ons were just as important as what God wrote with His own finger on the original ten tablets. But the fact is that they were wrong. They might not have been wrong to try to help people better understand what God meant, but they were wrong to leave God’s commands in the dust so that their interpretations of it became what was punishable and what wasn’t. What’s an example of what this might look like? God said to not “work” on the Sabbath (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday). In order to explain what “work” was, the Jewish leaders began to list all the things that were considered labor, taking it to a ridiculous level (such as, to this day, orthodox Jews won’t push the button in an elevator on the Sabbath. They either ask someone else to do it or ride on special elevators that stop at every single floor on Sabbath days.). Jesus addressed some of this in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. He gave a series of examples of what God said versus what they hold to as “You have heard, but I say to you.” Look them up! They’re very interesting—and a warning to all believers to “hold to” what GOD said, not our own version of it.

Thursday, April 16, 2020
(Thank the Father for your eternal security.)
-Read John 10:31-32
“Again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to stone him to death. Jesus replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good actions from my Father. For which of them are you going to stone me?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did everyone who heard about eternal security delight in its truth?
2. What was the reaction of some who disbelieved Jesus?
3. What had Jesus “shown” them?
4. Where were His good actions from?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In response to Jesus claiming to be one with God the Father, the Jewish leaders could not contain their outrage any longer and actually picked stones up off the ground with the intent to throw them at Jesus until He was dead. Because we know that Jesus never broke God’s Law, what He said was definitely not stoning-worthy. These men desired to kill Him because He would not conform to THEIR ideas about what was okay and what wasn’t. Imagine how their lives might have been very different if they obeyed ONLY God’s Word and didn’t alter it to suit their ideas, plans, and goals? Imagine how OUR lives would be different if we utterly refused to listen to self, to satan, or to the world and only ever obeyed God?

Since Jesus’ claim to be one with God the Father was not stoning-worthy, Jesus questioned the angry men to ask why they wanted to kill Him. He points out that “good actions” are an indication that someone has been sent from God—and are the opposite of something to be angry about. They should have, as we’ve noted before, welcomed Jesus with open arms and have been very eager to hear what He had to pass on from God. Remember, prior to Gabriel telling Zechariah and Mary that they would be having special children, God had not sent even one message to the Jewish nation for 400 years! The people should have been THRILLED to get a new message from God.

Jesus wanted these Jews to see reason, but when people allow their emotions to get out of control, what they say, do, and think is seldom reasonable or even accurate. This is one of the many reasons why God’s children are warned to simply trust God and obey His Word. When we are living in a manner in keeping with what God says is right, then we need have no fear (or anger, or worry, or sorrow) about circumstances. We simply need to KNOW and TRUST that God has everything in His perfect control—and that He is only able to do what is good and right. In fact, Jesus states right in this verse that He has shown many GOOD actions from His Father. The truth is that God cannot even give any actions that are NOT good! These lessons are sure important to each and every believer and clinging to them will help us remain calm, level-headed, and at peace.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020
(Pray for your church family. Pray for those God wants to join your local body of believers to make that decision today.)
-Read John 10:27-30
“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is more important than anything, and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F The sheep that belong to Jesus hear His voice.
2. T/F Though the sheep that belong to Jesus hear His voice, He doesn’t know them.
3. T/F The occasional troublesome sheep can get lost or snatched away by a wolf.
4. T/F God the Father gave God the Son specific sheep.
5. T/F God the Father and God the Son are one.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Facts, nothing but the fact, Ma’am:

John 10:27-30 is among the most precious truths from Scripture. Jesus is spelling out in easy-to-understand terms that there are specific people who belong to Him who CANNOT be taken away from Him. Ever. By anyone or anything. Maybe most important of all, Jesus KNOWS them. Other Scripture said that God chose those who would belong to Him before the foundations of this world were even begun!

John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

#1 Jesus Christ gives eternal life to those who have trusted in Him as their Savior.
#2 Those who have been given eternal life by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cannot ever be lost.
#3 No one (including the person himself/herself) can snatch those who belong to Jesus out of His hand. This is often called “eternal security.” Another label we could give it is straight from this Bible text: “eternal life.” This is knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that once we belong to God, we will always belong to God. This is an exceedingly precious truth!

John 10:29 “What my Father has given me is more important than anything, and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand.”

#4 Those who belong to Jesus have been given to Him by the Father.
#5 What has been given to the Son by the Father (who!) is “more important than anything.”
#6 Those who belong to Jesus cannot be snatched from the Father’s hand. The picture is of utter safety and security. Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior are held securely in His grasp and they simply cannot be snatched away. It is truly impossible. But, if there were some shadow of concern (and there isn’t), God the Father’s almighty hand surrounds the Son’s—and together, there can be no safer place anywhere. Simply put: once saved, always saved.

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

#7 Jesus had been crystal clear about Who He is and Who His Father is, but the Jews who listened to Him didn’t always “hear” Him, so on the occasions that they DID understand that Jesus was saying that He is God, they got very angry. This is one of those occasions. Jesus stated quite clearly that He was one with the Father. This could not be misunderstood to mean anything other than that Jesus was claiming equality with God and that Their goals, aims, and plans were one and the same. Perhaps, specifically in this context, God (all of the Trinity) has chosen who were Their sheep and nothing and no one could interfere with this. What God says ALWAYS happens. His promises are a 100% certainty.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020
(Ask the Father’s help to represent Him well in what you say and do today.)
-Read John 10:26
“but you don’t believe, because you don’t belong to my sheep.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the Religious leaders believe Jesus?
2. Why not?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus told the Jewish leaders that they didn’t believe what He had told them about Who He is because they didn’t belong to His “sheep.”

God knows who belongs to Him—and who doesn’t. There is never any sort of sneaking things past God. Not only can NO ONE who hasn’t trusted in Jesus as Savior get into heaven, but believers also cannot fool God that they are obedient and faithful without living according to how God says we ought to live. He is not fooled by those who are busy for the Lord with what they do, but who do not do it for the right motives, who do not also have personal time with Him in prayer and Bible study, or are allowing some sin to remain in their lives. He will not bless a believer fully who is “worshiping” Him, but “on their own” and not as part of a church family because “they don’t NEED to be there.” God created the church, He placed His Son as the Head of the church, and He set the parameters for worship and service within the church. Our job, once we realize this from His Word, is to find a church that teaches God’s Word accurately and fully and which follows it obediently and faithfully, so that we can become a member. Once we are a member, we should attend faithfully, get involved in service opportunities, build up others of the membership, tithe, and do our best to be a blessing to one and all. This is what God wants for those of us living today.

The most important question anyone can ask is how to belong to God and obtain eternal life. The second question, once their salvation is settled, is what we should do, how, and why to obey God, to show Him our love and appreciation, and “love” Him supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. And the Bible is pretty clear that all this is done within the parameters of the local church.

Monday, April 13, 2020
(Did God show you something from His Word yesterday that He wants you to implement into your life? Talk to Him about it, pledging to do it right away!)
-Read John 10:24-25
“So the Jewish leaders surrounded him and quizzed him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you’re the Messiah, tell us so plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I have told you, but you don’t believe it. The actions that I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf,”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What testifies on Jesus’ behalf?
2. Had Jesus been keeping a secret Who He was?
3. Who kept asking Jesus Who He was?
4. Jesus said that the Jewish leaders didn’t _____ what He said.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Taking advantage of finding Jesus teaching in the porch of Solomon, the Jewish leaders surrounded Him to quiz Him. They wanted to know if He was truly the Messiah and implored Him to tell them plainly. Jesus’ response (seen in verse 25) is that He had told them, but they refused to believe Him.

I’ve, on occasion, wondered what God has shown me from His Word and from the lips of His servants that I have either not chosen to “listen” to or have misunderstood. I’m going to guess a lot! This is kind of a discouraging (and upsetting) train of thought, but then I remember God’s many promises in His Word to make Himself known to those who diligently and honestly seek Him. I think that the Bible clearly teaches that when we WANT to understand Scripture SO THAT we can know how to better obey and honor God, that He will not withhold this from us. The exception, of course, is that if we are allowing known sin to remain in our lives, we cannot truly seek Him. God cannot and will not bless His children who refuse to deal with areas that they know are sin in God’s sight. Mind you, this is not the same as NEVER sinning or even repeating a sin that has brought us low before. Until our sin natures are removed once and for all time, we are going to sin. The difference, though, is that we have chosen to be aware of it—and to confess it and make it right with God, and have chosen to work to not succumb to temptation in the future. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, Christians never HAVE to sin, but if we do, simply confessing it to the Father and making that right with Him clears the slate and returns us to a place where He can use us, bless us—and help us to understand, remember, and apply His Word to our daily lives.

After Jesus told the Jewish leaders that He HAD told them plainly that He was the long-awaited Messiah sent from God to save them and lead them back to a right relationship with Him, Jesus told them that what He did, He did in His Father’s name, and His actions, in fact, testify on His behalf that He is the Messiah. In other words, Jesus told them that it should be obvious to them Who He is because of what He has done, what He has said, and Who He represented.

Did you ever think that what you say and do also represents someone or something? Very often what we do simply shows other people that we are the most important person to ourselves, but sometimes we may indicate that our spouses, or kids, or grandkids, or friends are what’s important to us. Sometimes people dedicate their entire lives to politics or the health and welfare of others, or some “good” cause. And while these things ARE important, the most important Person anyone could ever represent is God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. In fact, it is when we accurately and rightfully represent Them that we are able to rightly and truly love others, do good, and be of real and genuine help. Our foundation has to be a right relationship with God before anything else in our life can be useful or good. This begins with salvation, but it doesn’t stop there. A right relationship with God is something that grows every single day through prayer, Bible study, obedience to God’s Word, and yes, in keeping a clear account with God by confessing any and all known sin. When this is all in place, then others will see Christ in us; they will see that we are children of God the Father and citizens of heaven. At that point, God is honored and the door is wide open for us to talk about our amazing Father and glorious Savior!

Saturday, April 11, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to only do today what you know pleases Him and shows your love for Him.)
-Read John 10:22-23
“Now Hanukkah was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking around in the Temple inside the open porch of Solomon.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where does this account take place?
2. What Jewish holiday is taking place?
3. What was Jesus doing in the Temple?
4. Where was He specifically in the Temple?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
FYI:
-This verse doesn’t necessarily mean that Hanukkah began the day after the conversation of John 10:1-21, but that it occurred next in the timeline of Jesus’ public ministry. Some scholars believe that there might have been a few months in between verses 21 and 22.
-Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication, was held in the winter (late December-early January). It was not actually one of the feasts that the Mosaic Law commanded male Jews to attend, though by Jesus’ day, all Jews celebrated it and Purim. *It is an eight-day celebration of the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek Seleucids, which occurred around 164 BC. When the Temple was rededicated after being desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes, the sacred oil for the menorah miraculously lasted all eight days of the festival though there was only enough oil for one day. This is still celebrated to this day and usually falls near or around our Christmas celebrations (*from the NIV First-Century Study Bible by Zondervan).
–The author of this gospel wanted us to know that Hanukkah was taking place, that it was winter, and that Jesus was teaching inside the open porch of Solomon in the Temple. Although Jerusalem is normally a very hot city, it can get cold and it can snow. In fact, I personally experienced this in 1983 when I was there! All of us attending the Holy Land tour that spring (March) had a suitcase full of summer clothes, but the country was in an unseasonably cold period—and it snowed. Hard! John is telling us that Jesus was teaching inside the open porch of Solomon because this part of the Temple complex has some cover from the wind. It would have been a bit warmer for people to come and listen to various rabbis teaching.

This little tidbit does remind me, though, that although we should be ready and willing to witness about our great God at any time and in any place, we might want to be at least a little cognizant of our surroundings before we trap someone with a lengthy and passionate plea to listen. Standing out in the cold, for example, may not be the most pleasant for ANYONE, but holding someone up who is in a rush may not be kind either. Trying to have a heart-to-heart with someone who has a baby in their arms and other children winding around her legs may not make for the best timing, nor is it necessarily a good thing to use the time you’re supposed to be working for your employer as “free” witnessing hours. Your testimony as an excellent employee will likely be upheld if you save personal conversations for breaks, lunch, and after work. I guess all that I’m saying is that we would be wise to pay a little attention to the timing and location before launching into deep conversations with people. There are definitely times and places that are better than others! Perhaps simply praying for God to show you the when, where, and who at the start of every day will help all those nitty-gritty details to work out smoothly.

Friday, April 10, 2020
(Thank the Father that He is trustworthy and reliable!)
-Read John 10:21
“Others were saying, “These are not the words of a man who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What two things about Jesus convinced some people that He could not be demon-possessed?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The crowd was divided in their opinion of Jesus. Some felt He was a whack-a-doodle, some felt He could be demon-possessed, but others didn’t think someone who was demon-possessed would be able to miraculously heal a man who had been born blind (John 9). A simple solution, of course, would have been to take Him at His word, but human nature seldom takes the godly, straight-forward, and sensible course of action.

Have you ever noticed how living a life that honors and pleases God is actually quite simple? Oh, it’s not easy. That’s a different point altogether! But if we summarize what God wants from us and for us, it’s actually straightforward and succinct. He wants us to love Him supremely, then as a natural byproduct of that, love the people whom He has created (seen in sacrificially putting their needs ahead of our own).

How do we love God supremely? By joyfully embracing His sovereignty and delighting in living exactly the way He wants us to. This would involve spending our entire lives studying His Word (both personally and through sermons and Bible studies at church) so that we can know what pleases Him and what doesn’t. Let’s be clear: it is God’s non-negotiable COMMAND that we do all that He wants us to do, BUT it is our choice to WANT to do it—and to do it with excellence. We’ve spoken many times over the years about the value of keeping lists as we study the Bible so that we can remember what we’ve studied in order to apply it to our lives. Lists like what God says His will is, things that God says He likes/dislikes, lists of God’s attributes and characteristics, lists of things God says to think about, lists of people who pleased God (and why), lists of things “to do,” lists of God’s promises, and as many others as you can think of. It’s not only a ton of fun, but it’s also useful and a blessing when we are struggling. At the core, though, the “simple” thing is to love what God loves and hate what He hates. As we do this, we will be loving Him supremely—and loving our neighbor as self.

Thursday, April 9, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to only do what is His will for you today.)
-Read John 10:19-20
“Once again there was a division among the Jews because of what Jesus had been saying. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why bother listening to him?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus’ words cause?
2. Why did some of them say there was no good reason to listen to Jesus?
3. Was this the first time people were divided about Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because we have the entire Bible available to us to read and re-read, and because we have the convenience of looking back at what happened during Jesus’ entire life (and after!), it’s easy for us to wonder why the people who heard Jesus face to face were so confused and uncertain. Who Jesus is, what He came to do, and why, all seems pretty clear to us, BUT those living during Jesus’ time didn’t have the advantages that we have. Furthermore, what God is doing in our lives today isn’t always obvious to us, either. We can look back and see what God was doing and, perhaps, wonder why those involved couldn’t just believe Jesus and trust God, but we ourselves aren’t always that good at it these 2,000 years later—even though we have so many more “helps” than they did (such as the completed Bible AND the indwelling Holy Spirit). I guess, at the foundation of it all is the need to accept that God is God and is sovereign. As such, it is always only His will that is perfect and “right.” As His creation, our job is to praise Him, do the things that please Him, and assume that all He has done, is doing, and will do is good.

As far as today’s text, rather than simply believing that Jesus was telling them the truth, many who heard Him were confused and upset. Because the things that He said seemed to contradict what they thought they knew about God and His plan for them, they rejected much of what He said, perhaps without truly taking the time to think it through. If they had matched what Jesus said and did with Old Testament Scripture, they would have seen that Jesus fulfilled verse after verse, passage after passage. BUT, they didn’t listen and wondered among themselves if he was insane or demon-possessed.

What can we learn from this? I guess a biggie would be to invest ourselves in knowing the Bible so that we can identify when someone is speaking truth and when they are simply providing their own opinion. Another biggie would be to BELIEVE what we read in the Bible. As God’s Word, the Bible is inerrant (completely accurate—even to the point of relating people’s lies and deceit accurately); it is infallible in all its parts—poetry as well as prophecy, instruction as well as history; and it is authoritative (because it’s from God, it cannot be debated about or argued with), it is beyond human jurisdiction to question or attempt to question).

We have MUCH to thank God for in regard to our Bibles!

Wednesday, April 8, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God for His love—and expressing your love to Him.)
-Read John 10:18
“No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is what my Father has commanded me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. COULD anyone take Jesus’ life from Him?
2. In what way is Jesus laying down His life?
3. Jesus has the _______ to lay it down and take it back.
4. Why? Who commanded Him to do so?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Continuing His discussion about His sacrificial death on our behalf, Jesus states that it was entirely His choice to lay down His life for our benefit. He wasn’t a martyr or a victim. I found it interesting that He said that He had the authority to die and be resurrected because that is what the Father commanded Him to do. Did you remember that Jesus only did what the Father wanted Him to? This is a pretty astounding thing to try to wrap our heads around! Jesus is fully God, but He is also the Son. As such, He acts entirely and only according to God the Father’s will (the Holy Spirit, also fully God, has the role of providing the power, strength, and direction to Jesus to carry out what the Father decrees).

The truth of Jesus’ sacrificial death to atone for sin is emphasized in His words here in John chapter ten—the “Good Shepherd Chapter.” Five times He said that He was laying down His life (v.11, 14, 15, 17, 18). This is one of the great truths of the Bible: the Son of God willingly laid down His life as payment for our sins.

So. . . if you and I are supposed to be “just like Jesus” (and we are!), shouldn’t we also be acting entirely and only according to God the Father’s will? Yes, we should! In fact, doing so is not a burden, but an incredible privilege. I feel very strongly that our attitude and outlook makes all the difference in the world. Instead of feeling like we “have to” live according to a bunch of “rules,” we should be DELIGHTED and AWED that we have the ability (because of the Holy Spirit’s work on our behalf) to make God smile; to please Him; to bring Him honor and glory; to represent Him to all who see and hear us! Every single morning should bring a smile to our face as we consider the anticipation of living only and completely according to the Father’s will for us.

Tuesday, April 7, 2020
(Thank the Father for including others beyond the Jewish nation to become part of His family!)
-Read John 10:17
“This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it back again.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did Jesus say the Father loves Him?
2. Did Jesus intend to stay dead?
3. Was Jesus “murdered”?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus tells us that God the Father loves Him because He will lay down His life in order to take it back again. And we know that in His doing this, He won the victory over death—not for Himself (He is GOD!), but for all who trust in Him as Savior. Because of Jesus’ sacrificial submission to the Father’s plan to restore fellowship with humans, you and I are no longer condemned to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. In fact, not only will we live forever in a place that is literally perfect, but we will spend eternity in the permanent presence of GOD. That’s pretty incredible to even TRY to imagine, but whether or not we can picture it or understand it, it is still true because God said it is true.

And, hey, have you ever considered why YOU love Jesus? Isn’t it for the same reason God the Father does? Because He laid down His life FOR YOU so that you could become a child of God! How are you thanking Him? How is your life proving that you are grateful? How are your words indicating your gratitude and awe? How does what you sing about praise Him? How is His sacrifice the foundation for all you REFUSE to do? With what enthusiasm are you seeking to please Him in your daily life?

FYI: God’s love for you and me is unconditional. That means that His love is constant and for forever. It doesn’t ebb and flow like human “love” often does. Whether or not we are living an obedient life before God, He STILL loves us. BUT, when we choose to live for Him, no matter what the sacrifice or hardship, our relationship with Him becomes more and more sweet. In addition, beyond God’s perfect love for us, He is also PLEASED with us when we choose to live in a way that honors Him and brings Him glory. It is only God’s children who are able to bring a smile of pleasure on the Father’s face. Think of that!

Monday, April 6, 2020
(Thank the Father for the blessings and lessons of the weekend.)
-Read John 10:16
“I have other sheep that don’t belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they’ll listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus said His other sheep don’t ______ to that fold.
2. Jesus will _______ those sheep too.
3. Will those sheep listen to Him?
4. What is the ultimate goal?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This, my precious fellow Church Age believers, is speaking about us. Jesus is telling these Jewish listeners that God intends to invite Gentiles (non-Jews) into the family of God. They (we) would also be given the opportunity to trust in Jesus as the Savior from their sin, forever becoming Jesus’ sheep—members of the family of God. And while there will always be a distinction between those who have been born Jews and those who have not, ALL believers in the church age are part of “one flock” with “one shepherd,” Jesus Christ. All those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior from the day of His resurrection until the day of the rapture, are part of what is known as the Universal Church. Though thousands have died since the Church Age began—and thousands may yet join God’s family before the rapture occurs, ALL believers will be caught up in the clouds when God says that it is time, and all of us will live forevermore in the presence of God the Father and God the Son. What our roles will be as Jews, Gentiles, obedient believers, and disobedient believers is one of the mysteries not fully known, but as far as all that goes, I will rely on my most favorite truism: to trust that God will do what is right. And with that blessed comfort in my heart, I can leave all the details to Him and simply do what I know He wants me to do in this moment. And that is enough and more than enough.

Saturday, April 4, 2020
(Thank the Father that He is so amazing to come to “know.”)
-Read John 10:15
“just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who knows Who?
2. What did Jesus do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The beginning of this verse is actually the end of verse 14 where Jesus states that He knows the sheep who belong to Him and they know Him—JUST AS— the Father knows the Son and the Son knows the Father.

Wowzers.

As incredible as it was to consider the privilege of believers getting to “know” God the Father and God the Son, we now find that the relationship can mirror that of the Father to the Son and the Son to the Father! I admit freely that I don’t understand this completely, because after all, how could anyone besides deity understand deity? But, I DO see this as an incredible and precious truth, one that I expect we’ll understand far better in the “by and by.”

I’m also a bit unsure of that bit of amazingness tacked on to the end of this verse: “And I lay down My life for the sheep.” I confess that it’s not uncommon for me to get stymied as to why a certain statement is located in the middle of some conversation or that I sometimes get lost in what seems to me obscure wording until I have no idea what’s actually being said. So, although I “get” that Jesus is on earth at that time to lay down His life for He sheep (me!), I’m not sure why it’s in this specific verse. Frankly, one of the things I am most looking forward to in glory is finding out more about the Bible: bigger picture items that we missed, passages that we may have misunderstood (or under-valued), behind-the-scenes facts and tidbits, and a MUCH better understanding how and why God chose the exact books, events, facts, and information that He included in our Bible. I have zero doubts that we will be blown out of the water with what we will get to learn and understand! We have SO MUCH to look forward to!3333333322222

Friday, April 3, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to live in such a way that others see and glorify Him.)
-Read John 10:14
“I’m the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus is the _________ _____________.
2. Jesus knows _______ _______.
3. Those who belong to Jesus ______ _________.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In great contrast to the hired worker and the thief, the Good Shepherd knows the sheep who belong to Him – and they know Him. This may sound like a pretty simple sentence, but if we pause to take it in, the ramifications are profound! The God Who created the heavens and the earth and Who keeps everything running from moment to moment; the One Who obediently submitted to the Father’s will to become a human Man in order to take upon Himself God’s righteous anger against wicked sin, this Man, this God, knows YOU. He is THE Good Shepherd TO YOU.

But, that’s not all! He gives YOU the opportunity to KNOW HIM. He WANTS you to learn about Him SO THAT you can not only know the “facts,” but so that you can live in a manner that is worthy of Him and that is pleasing to Him. He wants you to study your Bible so that you can grow in your knowledge of Him and at the same time, learn how to flee temptation and keep yourself from sin. He wants you to be in church and hear His Word explained by the pastor He gave to that church. He wants you to develop a bond with brothers and sisters in Christ that will help you and sustain you through this life, but also be of great benefit throughout eternity. He wants you to come to know Him in a more intimate way so that you can talk as friend to Friend, so that you can share the joys and hardships of your day, so that you can express gratitude for His incredible mercies that are new every single morning. He wants you to keep learning about Him so that you can mature spiritually and be becoming more like Him in true righteousness and holiness, bringing the Father more and more glory and honor every day you are alive—and blessing and honor for yourself when Jesus hands out rewards for faithful living upon the beginning of eternity.

Do you KNOW your Savior? What can you do beginning today to come to know Him even better?

Thursday, April 2, 2020
(Thank the Father that He provides all that you truly need—and that He ALSO gives rest, peace, strength, guidance, protection, comfort, and blessings galore.)
-Read John 10:13
“because he’s a hired worker, and the sheep don’t matter to him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who doesn’t care about the sheep he is with?
2. Why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What a sad verse! I don’t know if it bothers you, but I am often saddened greatly by the lack of compassion and basic kindness in people. Oh, I’m not speaking about fellow church members, though if we’re not living by the Spirit, we can sure display selfishness and callousness, too! No, I’m speaking about the people that we regularly come across at Walmart, the grocery store, and other public places. It’s much more common to see people pursuing their own agenda than it is to see people going out of their way to greet others, to hold a door open for someone, to allow someone to go ahead of them in line, or to simply acknowledge that they aren’t the only ones shopping in the store that day.

Children of the King of kings shouldn’t be this way. “Sheep” who are being taken excellent care of by the Good Shepherd have no need to selfishly pursue their agenda while challenging all other sheep to a head-butting contest. Those who profess to know Jesus in a personal way ought to be like Him: kind, caring, concerned, helpful, merciful, gracious, humble, and focused on what is truly important (people’s spiritual well-being). It is my personal belief that as our world spins closer and closer to the end of the Church Age and the beginning of the Tribulation Period, that those who live biblically will stand out more and more from the crowds. They will be the ones who still smile (even at strangers). They will be the ones who open the door and allow others to enter first. They will be the ones who are polite and thoughtful of the needs of others at home and out in public. They will be the ones who offer assistance, who say “Please” and “Thank you.” They will be the ones who wait patiently for their turn and who express understanding when someone else is showing signs of stress. Basically put, they will live out the lost art of kindness, courtesy, as well as displaying an excellent work ethic. How? By their reliance on the Holy Spirit to apply the Scripture that they have been studying every day and through their confidence in their completely dependable and good Father, expressed in thoughts, words, and prayer.

No need to wait! You can stand out from the crowd today as someone who looks “just like” your Father in heaven!

Wednesday, April 1, 2020
(Pray to the Father, praising Him for sending the Good Shepherd to make you His own.)
-Read John 10: 12 (John 10 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+10&version=ISV
“The hired worker, who isn’t the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them,”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The hired worker is not the _______ and he doesn’t _______ the sheep.
2. What does the hired worker do when he sees a wolf coming?
3. What does the wolf do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In John 10, Jesus is pointing out to His listeners important differences between the True Shepherd and false shepherds, thieves, and hired workers. Basically, all those who don’t own (and love!) the sheep will not take care of them and sacrifice on their behalf. In fact, those who are not the True Shepherd will steal, slaughter, destroy, and run away when danger comes, resulting in sheep that are snatched up or scattered. The Good Shepherd, however, does everything the right way, acting on behalf of his sheep’s well-being. He enters the sheepfold through the door (because he belongs there!), he knows each of his sheep by name, calling them to follow him so that he can bring them to good pasture and clean water. The Good Shepherd brings abundant life, and, in fact, will lay down his own life on behalf of his sheep, protecting his sheep from danger by any means necessary.

Obviously, Jesus DID lay down His life on behalf of His sheep—you and me! But, even beyond that, Jesus continues to help us know Him and be safe spiritually through the indwelling Holy Spirit and the written Word of God. He wants us to grow spiritually, maturing to sheep that calmly and consistently obey Him and trust Him with wherever He might be leading us—even through the dark valleys.

There are several Scripture passages that address the picture of sheep and the Good Shepherd, but none are more famous and loved than Psalm 23. Enjoy it in a translation that might not be quite as familiar to you:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.”

May 2020 DBSQs

Saturday, May 30, 2020
(Praise the Father that the day of redemption is a sure thing—and almost here!)
-Read John 12:14-16
“Then Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written: “Stop being afraid, people of Zion. Look, your king is coming, sitting upon a donkey’s colt!” At first, his disciples didn’t understand these things. However, when Jesus had been glorified, they remembered that these things had been written about him and that people had done these things to him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus sit on?
2. It is written that the people of Zion should be ___.
3. Why?
4. When did the disciples understand what was happening?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The quote from today’s verse is from Zechariah 9:9 and was prophesied about 550 years before this event, BUT God does not view time in the same way we do, yet He always keeps His promises in the perfect time. What a comfort that is to us—and an exciting prospect when we consider all He has yet to reveal to us about eternity!

I like that John explains to his readers that the disciples didn’t really know what all was going on and why until much later. I think that we sometimes get the impression that those who literally walked by Jesus’ side had a deeper understanding of spiritual truths and were much more faithful Christians, but that’s simply not true. Oh, to be sure, it must have been MAGNIFICENT to see His miracles, to witness His boldness, courage, wisdom, and insight, to be able to sit near Him and listen to Him talk about His Father. BUT, these men didn’t know the end of the story like we do! They were living it WHILE dealing with the million and one things that comprise any normal day. They had so much to process, that it must have taken their entire lives to mull over what they had seen and heard and make some sense of it. Most of all, they did not have the completed Bible as we do, they did not have access to Scripture literally any time day or night, and they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit to help them understand, remember, and apply it to their lives.

So, armed with these tremendous blessings from God, we can CHOOSE to remember what He has said in His Word, how He has been faithful in our past, and all the wonders and joys of a life that is dedicated to Him. We can CHERISH our Bibles so that we can learn more about Him every day SO THAT we can honor Him more accurately, love Him more deeply, and serve Him more wholeheartedly.

Bible verses about remembering:
-Psalm 103:2 “Bless the Lord, my soul, and never forget any of his benefits.”

-Psalm 119:55 “In the night I remember your name, Lord, and keep your instruction.”

-John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything that I have told you.”

-Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things from long ago, Because I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like me.”

-I Chronicles 16:11-12 “Seek the Lord and his strength. Always look to him. Keep remembering the awesome deeds that he has done, along with his miracles and the rulings that he has handed down.”

-Acts 20:35 “In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

-I Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you—how the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took a loaf of bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it in pieces, saying, “This is my body that is for you. Keep doing this in memory of me.” He did the same with the cup after the supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. As often as you drink from it, keep doing this in memory of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

-Lamentations 3:21-24 “This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end. They are new every morning— great

Friday, May 29, 2020
(Ask the Father’s help to accurately reflect Him in your actions, attitude, and appearance.)
-Read John 12:12-13
“The next day, the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Summarize what happened.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Here are a few important and interesting facts about Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.
-This took place on a Sunday. The following Sunday was the resurrection.
-This event was so important that all four Gospels talk about it. You can read the other accounts in Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, and Luke 19:29-40.
-This is the only public parade in His honor that Jesus allowed while on earth. The entire march was a mile or so long.
-The other gospels tell us that Jesus was riding on the colt of a donkey (and that the colt’s mother came too). The colt had not been broken in for human riders, but perhaps it realized that it was its Creator sitting on it! The other gospels also mention that the disciples and crowds gave up their outer garments to both make a comfy seat for Jesus and to place on the road in front of Him to show Him honor.
-In that culture, it was common to use palm branches as part of celebrations and festivals. You may recall that palm branches were also used to build little temporary structures during the annual Feast of Booths.
-“Hosanna” is the transliteration of a Hebrew phrase that means “give salvation now.”
-The same crowd of people who shouted with great joy, “How blessed is the One Who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel,” were shouting “Crucify Him!” only a few days later.
-“How blessed is he. . .” is a quote from Psalm 118:26 and was a definite reference to the long-awaited Messiah. Although Jesus had been silent concerning many aspects of Who He was and what He came to do, He is now demonstrating clearly that He is the Messiah, and in fact, the King.
-Jesus will one day return to Jerusalem as King, but this time He won’t be riding a colt that symbolizes peace. He will be riding a white war horse and will be coming to claim His right to be the King of the world. (You can read about His second coming in Revelation chapter 19.)

Because studying the facts of Scripture is never enough, we also need to prayerfully consider how this should impact our relationship with God and how we think, speak, and act as His children.
-The crowds of people who were cheering Jesus one second, were jeering at Him the next. We, as chosen children of God, must never turn our back on Jesus or entertain even a smidgen of a thought that He is not good, or that what He said isn’t true, or that what He commanded we don’t need to obey. Our loyalty to our Savior ought to be absolute and rock-solid. BUT, the fact that Jesus was persecuted when on earth is a reminder that those who take a stand for Christ will also be misunderstood, falsely accused, and sometimes betrayed and “unfriended.” As long as our only hope and focus is Christ, though, none of the rest of that really matters.
-In that crowd of people who marched next to Jesus WERE the faithful few, those who sincerely loved Him and lived for Him. Thank God for the people in your life who are sold out for Him! Pray for them. Learn from them. Follow their example. Encourage them. Help them in whatever way you can. These are the ones who God will most richly reward in eternity—and these are the ones that satan would most like to see fall. We MUST pray for our fellow Christians!
-What we may look on as a great circumstance can turn into an unpleasant one without notice, BUT an unpleasant one can also morph into something even nicer than we had hoped for. The point is that we need to thank God for EVERYTHING and take nothing for granted. Our every breath is a gift from His gracious and loving hand.
-Luke’s record of this account mentions that if the people weren’t shouting praises about Jesus that the rocks would be forced to do it, so important was this occasion. As children of God, praising the Father and Son should be part of our regular conversation each and every day. BUT, that’s not to say that a ringing testimony of praise when the pastor asks for testimonies shouldn’t ALSO be something we are known for!
-When your day/month/year is really hard and you are feeling overwhelmed, remember that at literally any moment God can give the call and Jesus will come to the clouds to meet up with us and usher us into heaven. Hang on! The realization of your redemption is almost here!

Thursday, May 28, 2020
(What act of devotion might you do to show your love for God? Ask Him!)
-Read John 12:9-11
“When the large crowd of Jews realized that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the high priests planned to kill Lazarus, too, since he was the reason why so many of the Jews were leaving to believe in Jesus.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did some of the Jews realize?
2. Who did they come to Bethany to see?
3. What decision did the high priests make?
4. Why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
You may recall that the great crowds of people who had come to Jerusalem for Passover were eager to talk about everything that Jesus had done, most especially raising Lazarus from the dead. They were looking for Him in the crowds in Jerusalem, but then heard that He was in Bethany, so they went there to try to see and hear Him. They were also eager to see Lazarus, of course, because who doesn’t want to see someone from the headlines of the newspaper! Lazarus is a “celebrity” now! However, the Religious leaders were still looking for Jesus in order to arrest Him and convince the Romans to kill Him. When they found out how many people were heading to Bethany, they decided that they should go ahead and have Lazarus killed too (Scripture doesn’t say anything about Lazarus after this, so we have no idea what happened to him, but we can ask him when we get to heaven!). Incidentally, this is also an illustration of how one sin (or sinful motivation) leads easily to another sin.

What a contrast between the beautiful picture of Mary anointing Jesus for His burial and the Religious leaders making the cold-hearted decision to kill whoever they wanted to! But we shouldn’t be that surprised. After all, God is light and good and holy – and sin is black and ugly and evil. Those who live for God are peaceful and full of joy that is not dependent on circumstances, but those who reject God live in a state of unhappiness, emptiness, and no hope for the future. The Bible says that there just isn’t any common ground between holiness and sin. They are polar opposites in every way.

And so people should see a HUGE difference as they observe us! Our faces, demeanors, and attitudes should be ones of joy, peace, and kindness. Our CLOTHING should make us stand out in a good way. It’s not wrong to try to be fashionable, as long as it is modest, appropriate for the occasion, and honoring to God (which would mean that we don’t wear pictures or logos of inappropriate businesses, people, or places). And, of course, people ought to HEAR a big difference in what we say and how we say it. We should be known as people who say please, thank you, and you’re welcome. We should be known as people who are good listeners and who are patient and respectful. We should be known as people who talk about their heavenly Father and Savior a lot, giving God credit for the many blessings that are given each and every day, and telling how Jesus Christ loved us SO MUCH that He literally gave His life so that they could live forever with Him.

Prayerfully evaluate how you are or are not different from the unsaved in:
-Your words (and how you say them).
-Your actions (where you go and how you use your time—and with what attitude).
-The expression on your face when things aren’t going as you wanted.
-Your reputation as someone who says thank you, you’re welcome, and please.
-Your clothing choices.
-Your music choices.
-Your book, movie, and TV show choices.
-Your church attendance.
-Your time of personal devotions and prayer.
-Your kindness and going out of your way to be helpful.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020
(Ask the Father for His help to live faithfully for Him today.)
-Read John 12:7-8
“Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone so she can observe the day of my burial, because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won’t always have me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Then Jesus said, “Leave her ____.
2. So she can _____ the day of my burial,
3. Because you will always have the destitute with you, but you won’t always have _____.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I love that Jesus told Judas (and whoever else was griping) to leave Mary alone. Jesus knew exactly what Mary was doing—and it pleased Him and honored the Father. In fact, having someone complain about someone else showing Him honor is quite the slap in the face! Why would we ever want to stop someone from serving the Lord? Aren’t we supposed to encourage each other to do bigger and better things for God on a regular basis? Aren’t we supposed to help other believers learn what it means to please and honor God while living it out in our own lives? We should all be continuously asking the Lord for His grace for us to not be judgmental or demeaning towards others who are serving God, sometimes in ways that differ significantly from our own.

Jesus said something else about Mary. We can find it in Mark 14:6-9. “But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me, because you’ll always have the destitute with you and can help them whenever you want, but you won’t always have me. She has done what she could. She poured perfume on my body in preparation for my burial. I tell all of you with certainty, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”

So, while Judas had his opinion about what Mary did, JESUS had His too. His opinion was that Mary did a beautiful thing! His opinion was that she was honoring Him while He was still alive (and not waiting until He was dead first). His opinion was that even though Mary could not serve Him all the ways that she would have liked, she DID do the one thing that she could do. His opinion was that what she did was so meaningful that it would be told and retold down through history—and here you and I are talking about it some 2,000 years later! And fellow children of God, God doesn’t forget YOUR labor of love, either! He notices, He is pleased, He won’t forget.

Prayerfully consider whose opinion you are doing what you do for.

BONUS THOUGHT: If someone you love dearly were to die tomorrow, what do you wish you would have told them today? Well, you still have the chance today! Why wait?

BONUS: This is the THIRD time we find Mary at Jesus’ feet! The first time was to listen to every word He taught, the second time was to find comfort in her sorrow, and this third time was to express her love and devotion. There is no sweeter place than at the feet of our Savior!

Tuesday, May 26, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to live in such a way today that it brings Him a smile of pleasure.)
-Read John 12:4-6
“But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, who was going to betray him, asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the destitute?” He said this, not because he cared about the destitute, but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the moneybag and would steal what was put into it.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was Judas’ objection?
2. Why did he say he cared and why did he really care?
3. How was Judas described in v.4?
4. Was Judas an honest person?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John, the author of this gospel, often gives a lot of background information for those who are reading about these accounts to help them understand better. In this case, he identifies which of the two disciples named Judas spoke, what his job was, that Judas was, in fact, stealing money from their communal treasury-bag, and that he would betray Jesus. The other disciples did not know that Judas was a thief or that he would betray Jesus at the time of this event.

It is surmised that it was because Judas was a thief that he was so outraged at the cost of the perfume that Mary poured out on Jesus. If she had given him the bottle to sell, he could have made a tidy profit, but instead, she “wasted it.”

Did you notice Judas’ lie? In order to deflect attention from his deceit, he pretended to be upset that they could not now give the money to the poor. John states quite clearly that Judas could care less about those in need.

All of this is kind of surprising—and very discouraging. We wonder how someone who had been by Jesus’ side for over THREE YEARS, seeing the amazing things He did, listening to His lessons about God, and absorbing what Jesus said His righteous kingdom would be like, could do such wicked things and have such a wrong view of life! We wonder, I suspect, not only about how Judas could do all that, but how WE allow ourselves to wander away from Jesus’ side and do things that are ugly and sinful in God’s sight. The answer is simple. Sin. Sin is evil. It is ugly. It is destructive. It deceives. It promises happiness and pleasure, but gives only sorrow and heartache. There are NO children of God who are immune to the call and consequences of sin, though it is perfectly true that Christians never HAVE to sin. God always provides a way to flee it. However, we don’t always choose to turn our backs on temptation. We sometimes want something other than what God has given us. And sadly, one sin very often leads to a chain of sins—that results in someone like Judas being a thief and planning to betray Jesus.

Don’t lose hope! God is ALWAYS available to those who call on Him! He will always provide a way for us to say “no” to sin and to say “yes” to obedience to His Word. And when we have fallen and wandered away, all we need to do is come to Him in prayer to confess that we have sinned and He will forgive us, cleanse us of all our unrighteousness, and restore the sweet fellowship that all His children have who have decided to live faithfully for Him.

Prayerfully evaluate your own heart and habits to see if there is anything big or small that is inhibiting your fellowship with God the Father. Make that right with Him today! And if you are right with God, praise His name, then ask Him to help you excel still more in all aspects of your life.

Monday, May 25, 2020
(Thank the Father for the lessons and blessing of the weekend!)
-Read John 12:3
“Mary took a litron of very expensive perfume made of pure nard and anointed Jesus’ feet. She wiped his feet with her hair, and the house became filled with the fragrance of the perfume.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who anointed Jesus’ feet?
2. What did she put on Him?
3. How did she wipe the excess off?
4. What did the fragrance do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What Mary did was an act of devotion and deep love. No one can deny that. In fact, it was such an incredibly special thing that it is also recorded in Matthew 26 and Mark 14 (Luke has an account of a different woman at a different place and a different point in Jesus’ ministry. His is recorded in Luke 7).

Nard is a plant that can be used to create perfume, oil, or ointment (called “spikenard”). It came from India and was extremely expensive. In fact, Mary’s 11-ounce bottle was the value of an entire year’s wages. This was a lavish and significant gift!

In Bible times, people ate at low tables, reclining on mats on the floor (that often doubled as beds overnight). Their heads would be pointed towards the table and their feet away from it. They would lean on one elbow and eat with the other (always the right, not the left) hand. This would have given Mary a bit more room to work for her service of love.

Interestingly, using oils and perfumes on people’s heads wasn’t uncommon, but using it on their feet was—and using your own hair to wipe it off would have been very unusual. In fact, women of good reputation kept their hair bound, so Mary was showing servitude and humility. The honor that Mary showed to Jesus would have been very noticeable for many reasons, but the strong smell of the spikenard would have filled the house with its sweet odor. Mary wasn’t doing this for anyone but Jesus, but others were blessed by her service for Him. What we do for the Lord is also often a blessing to others—and an encouragement to work for the Lord, too. But even if no one else ever sees or knows what we do for Christ, GOD KNOWS. He sees, He is pleased, He is honored, and our acts of humble service brings a smile of pleasure upon His face.

Have you ever thought that what you do can cause God to smile? It can—and does! Just as a small child brings some artwork of project that they have created to hear daddy or mommy exclaim over it, God is proud of our every act of obedience and selfless service for Him. He will, in fact, one day point these out to all the redeemed, bragging on what His dearly loved child did for HIM. So, keep on keeping on! Live in such a way that your Father in heaven smiles upon you!

Saturday, May 23, 2020
(Thank the Father for the riches from His Word. Think of some specific examples you can praise Him for.)
-Read John 12:1-2 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12&version=ISV
“Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived in Bethany, where Lazarus lived, the man whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Jesus go?
2. When?
3. What did He do there?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This is almost a déjà vu of another meal that Jesus had in the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (although this meal was held in the home of Simon the leper according to Mark 14:3). There are a few differences (such as Lazarus having died and then brought back to life!), but otherwise, it seems kind of normal. Except it isn’t normal. Even though no one there except Jesus knew it, the week to come would bring Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the last supper, the betrayal, His arrest, His crucifixion, and His death. No one knew except God. It was just a pleasant evening among friends.

We have no idea, either, what turns and twists that our days may contain (for example, were YOU expecting a pandemic in 2020???). Things may be going along in a very ordinary way, then something unexpected happens: an accident, someone you love suddenly deciding to move away, a big change with your job, the unexpected need for surgery—or any number of other events that may or may not be welcome. Unexpected changes can also be welcome, though. A surprise visit by a loved one, the realization of a new pregnancy, a new job offer, an engagement, an encouraging text. . .

These things might take us by surprise, but they never take God by surprise. Why? Because He not only knows all things, He’s been orchestrating your life from before time began. Oh, He has not made us puppets that must act a certain way. He gave us free wills to make our own choices, BUT that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t know what we’re going to do or what will happen from moment to moment throughout our lifetime. What should be our thoughts about that? Well, first and foremost we must trust God and all that He does. Simply living our lives with the unshakeable foundation that God is good and all that He does is for His glory and our spiritual good makes all the difference in the world as to our attitude when life gets mixed up a bit. Second, it should be our goal to live obediently according to God’s Word at every moment and in every circumstance, seeing the ability to do this as an incredible privilege and joy. After all, if God hadn’t saved us, we could NOT please God no matter what we did, nor would we recognize God’s perfect goodness and endless mercy and grace.

We might not know what today holds, but God does. Trust Him. Thank Him.

Friday, May 22, 2020
(Thank God that His timing is always the right timing!)
-It’s time to review John 11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+11&version=ISV
Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from the month, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John Chapter 11 Review and Summary:
In John 11, Jesus demonstrates His power over death by raising Lazarus from the dead. This, of course, foreshadows Jesus’ own death in a very short while, but there is a big difference. Lazarus was dead and made alive, but he would die again at a later time. When Jesus was resurrected from death, He would never die again. He would defeat death permanently, not only for Himself, but for all who believe in Him as their Savior. We might even differentiate these two kinds of miraculous events by calling the one a “resuscitation” – coming back to life, but with another physical death inevitable; and a “resurrection” – coming back to life, never to die again.

John 11 also demonstrates God’s great love for people—and His sorrow over sin and the heartache and suffering that it brings. Jesus not only wept with compassion upon seeing the sorrow of all who loved Lazarus, He also wept at the sheer ugliness of sin. I doubt that He WANTED to die, but I KNOW that He wanted to do away with sin once and for all time!

John 11 demonstrates that God doesn’t see mankind as a great big glob of people. He knows each and every one of us—and He loves each and every one of us in a very personal way. He knows all our scars, all our personality quirks, all our weak areas—and He loves us totally and completely and forever.

John 11 demonstrates that what we experience on any given day has a purpose and a goal. It is to teach us more about our amazing Father and it is to bring Him glory. When we remember this before a crisis and DURING a crisis, it will help us to have the right attitude and outlook. When faced with something hard, God should always be the very first One we talk to about it—and not the last.

John 11 reminds us that Jesus was constantly faced with those who were arrogant, rude, and unbelieving. These people had a predisposition to turn to violence. They wanted to do Him harm. As Jesus’ disciples and followers, we, too, are likely to face a fair amount of conflict and challenge. That is, if we are living according to God’s Word. If we are thinking and behaving as the unsaved, they will have no reason to challenge us (but, neither will God be pleased with us or be glorified through us).

John 11 points to the faithful few who stuck with Jesus and wanted to be with Him, learn from Him, and please Him. As children of God, we can ALSO live in such a way that we are part of the faithful few in our devotion to God and His Word. We can also, though, be among the faithful few who keep an eye on other brothers and sisters in Christ to provide help, support, and encouragement to keep on keeping on and to excel still more. I don’t think it’s possible to have a better friend than one who is a faithful believer (or to BE that kind of friend).

John 11 demonstrates that no matter what miracles God does for people, not everyone will believe in Him. Keeping this in mind as we witness can help us from not feeling defeated. Besides, we can’t “save” anyone anyway. Our job is to tell them about Jesus. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to save them.

John 11 reminds us that thanking God for however He plans to work things out (even before we know what He is going to do) is always the right prayer. Thanking God should be a huge part of “praying without ceasing.” John 11 also reminds us that God always hears the prayers of His obedient children. We can pray to Him in full confidence that He hears and that He answers in exactly the right way and in exactly the right time.

Thursday, May 21, 2020
(Ask for the Father’s help to live in such a way that others see Christ in you and ask the reason for the hope that you have.)
-Read John 11:55-57
“Now the Jewish Passover was approaching, and before the Passover many people from the countryside went up to Jerusalem to purify themselves. They kept looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the Temple, “What do you think? Surely he won’t come to the festival, will he?” Now the high priests and the Pharisees had given orders that whoever knew where he was should tell them so that they could arrest him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why were people from the countryside going to Jerusalem to purify themselves?
2. Who were they looking for?
3. What orders had the Pharisees given?
4. Why?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The Mosaic Law required Jewish men to purify themselves before partaking of the Passover celebration, so many men went to Jerusalem a week early to prepare themselves (Num. 9:4-14). Someone has estimated that somewhere in the range of 80,000—125,000 people came to Jerusalem for Passover (which at that time had a population of somewhere around 25,000). Not surprisingly, when all these people arrived in Jerusalem, they looked for friends and family and caught up on the news. Where Jesus was and what He was doing was a big topic of conversation that year. Since the Religious leaders had officially stated that they were going to arrest Jesus, many people didn’t think that Jesus would come to Jerusalem that year.

So, this is it. The “time” that Jesus repeatedly said was not right before, would BE right in just a few short days. Scripture is clear that Jesus knew what He needed to do to fulfill the Father’s will and save mankind from their sin, but I wonder if He knew exactly how and when He would die—and whether knowing about it made it easier or harder. Many of us have said or heard other people say that we wish we knew what was going to happen in some situation, but I have to wonder if that would truly be a good thing. Probably the biggest downside to knowing is that we wouldn’t learn how to trust God and lean on Him for understanding and peace. It very often takes difficult situations to bring us to a closer, deeper, and sweeter relationship with God. Maybe knowing the ending of some scenario would cause us to be a little less sincere in our prayer lives or not as faithful in our Scripture reading. Maybe our testimonies of praise would lack the delight that seeing how God turned something that seemed impossible into something truly awesome tends to bring.

I suppose the bottom line is that however God arranges things is always the only right and good way. Enough said. =)

Wednesday, May 20, 2020
(Ask the Father for His help to obey Him in all regards today so that you can please Him and bring Him honor.)
-Read John 11:53-54
“So from that day on they resolved to put him to death. As a result, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews. Instead, he went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness. There he remained with his disciples.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did Jesus go to Ephraim?
2. Who was with Him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The Religious leaders did not like Jesus right from the start and they wanted Him to go away so that they wouldn’t be troubled or inconvenienced by what He said, but once Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, things changed. The leaders now plotted His death. They resolved to kill Him. Little did they know that within a very short amount of time they would get their wish, but far from “getting rid of Him,” what Jesus did on behalf of sinful mankind affected literally all people. They had no idea at that time that the Man they were working so hard to kill was God’s Son Who had come to earth to die on behalf of THEIR sins. They know now.

Because of the Religious leaders’ resolution to kill Jesus, He could no longer walk openly among the people. This wasn’t because He feared them, but because He was waiting for God’s perfect timing. In only a few days He would openly ride into Jerusalem on a colt to sacrifice His life for the Jews, for us, and for the whole world. I am certain that Jesus used those last days to teach His disciples the things they would need to know to represent Him in the days, weeks, and years after His return to heaven. In fact, much of what Jesus told them over the course of His time with them is what is recorded for us in the New Testament portion of our Bible! Three of the four Gospels that tell of Jesus’ life are written by His disciples (the fourth is written by doctor Luke, who seemed to have interviewed many people who saw and spoke with Jesus, probably even Peter and Jesus’ mother, Mary.).

And now it is OUR turn to represent Christ to the people in our lives. It is our turn to tell them about Jesus: what the Bible says about Him, as well as what we have experienced personally (“I once was blind, but now I see.”). How are you doing with that? How might you excel still more?

Tuesday, May 19, 2020
(Thank the Father for giving us His Word so that we can know how to live.)
-Read John 11:49-52
“But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, told them, “You don’t know anything! You don’t realize that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” Now he did not say this on his own initiative. As high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but that he would also gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Nicodemus, who was high priest that year, told the Council that they didn’t know anything.
2. T/F Caiaphas said that it is better for one man to die than for an entire nation to be destroyed.
3. T/F Caiaphas said this of his own initiative.
4. T/F God had given Caiaphas a prophecy.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This statement from Caiaphas is pretty interesting, because, on the one hand, he was right. Jesus needed to die for the nation of Israel (and the entire world) and it was only by His death that all that is wrong with the world could be made right. Caiaphas, however, was thinking that if they made Jesus a martyr, that the unrest in the land would come to an end. He was suggesting that they take Jesus’ death into their own hands. He had NO IDEA of what God’s plans were, nor did he seem to care (which is pretty ironic considering he was supposed to be God’s chosen high priest!).

But like every other foolish and wicked decision that mankind makes in their sinful pride and rebellion, God took it and turned it into what He had planned all along. It was HIS plan for His perfect, sinless Son to die on behalf of sinful mankind, so Jesus WOULD die—just not because Caiaphas, the Jews, or the Roman soldiers had a part. God’s decrees always happen. Always.

Does that make sinful decisions okay? I mean, if God can take whatever ugliness mankind dishes out and continue to do His will, does it all really matter? You bet it does! God HATES sin. God is NEVER the Author of sin. God CANNOT turn His back on sin. Sin ALWAYS brings consequences—ugly consequences. And on the flip side, God WILL NOT have a relationship with someone who rebels against Him (which sin is!). God WILL NOT bless even His own children if they refuse to obey Him. God WILL NOT reward the efforts of His children when they are done with wrong motives and for selfish purposes. But, God WILL hear our prayers of confession and God WILL forgive our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. The only right choice for a child of God is to say “NO!” to sin and selfishness and “Yes, Lord” to all that God wants for us and from us.

Monday, May 18, 2020
(What did God show you from His Word yesterday? Thank Him! Commit to applying it to your life.)
-Read John 11:47-48
“So the high priests and the Pharisees assembled the Council and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who held a meeting?
2. What were they afraid the Romans would destroy?
3. What was Jesus doing that troubled them?
4. What did they especially not want the people to do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus bringing Lazarus back from death was the beginning of His own end. The Religious leaders realized that their campaign of slander wasn’t working well enough and that more and more people were believing in Jesus as the Messiah, which made their positions of power more tenuous. The Council (also known as the Sanhedrin) consisted of some Pharisees, Sadducees, Elders, and Chief (High) Priests (though there is a lot of overlap in these titles). These men were the “big guns” – and they did NOT want their positions of power and honor taken away! Their fear was that the Roman authorities would recognize trouble among the Jews and take over even more than they already controlled. If the Jewish people wanted one thing more than the coming of the Messiah, it was the overthrow of Roman domination.

Interestingly, the question asked at the beginning of this Council meeting is the right one (“What are we going to do?”). The HUGE problem, though, is that they turned to human reasoning to try to answer it and did not turn to God and His Word. And dear ones, we make the same foolish decision all the time in our own lives, too. Rather than making our decisions based on God’s Word, we just do what seems right to us (or what seems right to whoever we asked advice from). Oh, I suppose we are more likely to call on God for wisdom when faced with the super huge questions and concerns, but are we as earnest about seeking God’s help for all the regular day-to-day questions and decisions? The Bible says that we need to do EVERYTHING to the glory of God (I Corinthians10:31). How can we do that if His Word is not in the equation of our decision? We are to NOT be stressed and instead bring our concerns to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6; I Peter 5:7). We are to ask God for wisdom (James 1:5). We are to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17) – and if we’re acting in our own wisdom and strength, it is NOT in His name. Basically put, we need the Holy Spirit’s help to re-train our auto-response to turn to God in prayer and trust FIRST so that we can apply His Word to the situation, rather than winging it and hoping for the best. Our all-wise Father knows exactly the right answer for all of our what, why, who, and how questions!

Saturday, May 16, 2020
(Spend some time praising God for Who He is!)
-Read John 11:45-46
“Many of the Jews who had come with Mary and who had observed what Jesus did believed in him. Some of them, however, went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What were the two reactions from the crowds?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These verses demonstrate the depravity of man. Even in the face of literally bringing a man back from death, some people not only refused to believe in Jesus, they ran off to report to the Pharisees what Jesus had done. To use the current vernacular, there are always going to be haters. That is, until Jesus removes all sin from the world—and what a glorious day that will be!

BUT, focusing on the positive, MANY of those who had been mourning with Mary and Martha saw the miracle of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life and believed in Him. What a glorious thing! What a true and amazing miracle it is when even one person trusts in Christ as Savior! I hope that none of us EVER get blasé about this most-important event of all time in the life of a human. At the point of belief, an entirely new creation and life has begun. Gone is the condemnation to the Lake of Fire, gone is the gulf between them and God, gone is the hopeless, helpless state of being. Added is new life in Christ—a life that is eternal and impossible to lose. Added is the indwelling Holy Spirit, given to believers to help understand Scripture and to obey it. Added is the anytime free access to God in prayer. Added is the membership into the family of God—joint heir with Jesus Christ and sibling to all those who have also trusted in Christ as their Savior.

There’s more. Much, much more. In fact, I challenge you today to make a list of all that God has given YOU as His child. Use your Bible to help you count your blessings and name them one by one. Then, of course, spend some time in prayer thanking God for the rich blessings that are yours in Christ.

F.Y.I. Did you notice that even though Lazarus had been dead and was now alive, all the focus of this passage is on JESUS—just where it ought to be? OF COURSE everyone was thrilled to have Lazarus healthy and well, but all praise, honor, and glory belong to God and God alone.

Friday, May 15, 2020
(Thank the Father for always listening to your prayers and for having the perfect answer every time.)
-Read John 11:43-44
“After saying this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus told them, “Untie him, and let him go.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus command?
2. What was the volume of His voice?
3. Did Lazarus obey?
4. What was his appearance?
5. What did Jesus tell the people to do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Even death cannot disobey God. When He commands someone to return to life, they return to life. What an amazing thing—and what an amazing God we belong to! Knowing His endless power and perfect wisdom, we really have no reason whatsoever to get frightened, overwhelmed, depressed, or upset. Our God not only has the ability to do whatever He wants whenever He wants, He is also kind, compassionate, and caring. He does not cause people to suffer needlessly. He does not turn His back on our distress. He, in fact, cares about us far MORE than our brains can even comprehend. Perhaps that will be yet one more thing we will begin to grasp in glory!

Can you imagine the joy that those who loved Lazarus experienced that day? I have wondered, though, about Lazarus. Was he happy to return back to life? He would have spent the last four days in Paradise, also known as Abraham’s Bosom. This is the special compartment in Hades where those who died who had trusted that God would send a Redeemer for their sins went (before Jesus died and was resurrected). Adam—all the way to the believers who had died earlier that day—were there, and I imagine that it was pretty delightful for Lazarus to be with these believers and experience perfect peace and the lack of pain and discomfort. BUT, we don’t know how Lazarus felt about returning to life. After seeing for himself what God had in store for believers, I can’t imagine that he would feel resentment toward God for pulling him away again, but still, I wonder how that changed the rest of his life. It HAD to have had a profound impact on how he thought and acted.

Dear one, try to never lose sight of the FACT of WHO you belong to and WHERE your eternal destination is! God has promised over and over in His Word that any hardships and challenges we face in the here and now will feel as NOTHING in comparison to the glories of eternity spent in His presence. Believe. Trust. Rejoice. Let this profoundly affect you for the rest of your life. One day it will be YOU that God Himself calls into His presence!

Thursday, May 14, 2020
(Ask the Father for His help to be still and know that He is God.)
-Read John 11:41-42
“So they removed the stone. Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was the first step?
2. Who did Jesus pray to?
3. Jesus thanked the Father for ______ Him and _____ hearing Him.
4. For whose sake did Jesus thank God?
5. What did He want the crowd to do?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It’s very interesting to me that even though Jesus Christ is God the Son, when on earth, He prayed to God the Father (we have what He said recorded a few times—definitely worth looking over very carefully!). I wouldn’t think that He would NEED to—that the Father and Son have a connection that doesn’t require words. But, frankly, I think that there’s a ton that we don’t understand about how Jesus operated as a Man when on earth. We DO know that He did not use His own powers as God, instead relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and the direction from God’s Word (which, at that time, was Old Testament books). I have long wondered how old He was when He understood Who He really was—and when He understood what His mission was on earth. It all just boggles the mind and I hope that we get to find out these kinds of things when we get to heaven!

In the meantime, though, Jesus gave us critical teaching about prayer while He was here. First, HE DID IT. I read recently that we will NOT find a vibrant, growing, enthusiastic believer who doesn’t also have an excellent prayer life. Obedience, victory, and the joy of the Lord just do not happen without deep personal Bible study time and a regular and vibrant prayer life. Second, we find that Jesus used prayer to thank God. In today’s account, Jesus thanks the Father simply for hearing Him. We have a God WHO LISTENS TO US—everything, all the time. THE ALMIGHTY opens His throne room to YOU. He cares about everything you have to say to Him and He provides the perfect answer in the perfect timing—every single time. Third, Jesus praises God for what He is about to do, making note of His wonderful attributes, His kindness, His grace, His mercy, and His understanding. Our prayers should be loaded to the hilt with praise. Our God is utterly praiseworthy in every way and at all times. And though Jesus’ words don’t reflect it in today’s passage, Jesus DID pour out His heart to the Father and He did make requests (according to His will). God WANTS to know what is on our hearts. He cares. He comforts. He shares in our joy. He is our all-loving, all-wise FATHER! Prayer is a beautiful thing!

BTW, Stating that “prayer changes things” isn’t quite accurate. It is the God Who answers prayer that changes things, praise His name!

Wednesday, May 13, 2020
(Thank the Father for your pastor and his family—and all your church family.)
-Read John 11:38-40 (entire chapter found on page 2-3)
“Groaning deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there must be a stench by now, because he’s been dead for four days. Jesus told her, “I told you that if you believed you would see God’s glory, didn’t I?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Groaning deeply, Jesus came to the hole in the ground where Lazarus was buried.
2. T/F When Jesus wanted the stone moved, Mary pointed out that it would be smelly.
3. T/F Jesus’ goal was to show God’s glory.
4. T/F When we believe God, we will see His glory.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I know that this is a pretty serious scene and we’ve just seen how compassionate Jesus was, but I had to stop to make note of Martha’s comment. It’s just too funny!

You see, I have this need to stick up for Martha—because we are just way too much alike! I, too, am compelled to “do the right thing,” to keep laboring until the task is done (and done right), and I am too often guilty of ordering other people to get hopping with their tasks and pointing out something that I think someone needed to know (like, say, pointing out to the Creator that a dead body’s smell might be kind of unpleasant!). Martha, Martha! Lorie, Lorie!

How thankful I am that God loves us—even when we are displaying weird little personality quirks, even when our focus is a bit misplaced, even when we are trying to do His business for Him. He loves us and shows us MUCH grace. There are lessons to be learned, though!!! Jesus gently pointed out to Martha that Mary was right and she was wrong that time He was in her home—and here He pointed out that He had promised her that she would see God’s glory. In other words, He was telling her to step back a moment, restrain the need to “do something,” force her lips to NOT say what was on her mind. He wanted her to look to Him for comfort, for answers, and for GRACE.

There is zero question that we should be hard, hard workers for the Lord! This will be seen in how we take care of our families, homes, church family, jobs, and whatever else God asks us to do. God CREATED us to be hard workers, so doing this should never be looked upon as a burden. BUT, it’s also true that God created us to bring Him glory and honor; to learn about Him from His Word, to “be still” and KNOW that He is God, to purposefully LOOK for His constant blessings that all around us all day, every day. And, yes, sometimes God wants us to simply be quiet so that we can “see God’s glory.”

Tuesday, May 12, 2020
(Thank the Father for Jesus, our sympathetic High Priest and Friend.)
-Read John 11:36-37
“So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” But some of them said, “Surely the one who opened the eyes of the blind man could have kept this man from dying, couldn’t he?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who made note of how much Jesus loved Lazarus?
2. What did some of them think Jesus should have done?
3. What miracle did they remember Him doing?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Even in observing Jesus’ sorrow, the Jews were analyzing Who He was, trying to figure Him out. Jesus was truly under intense scrutiny, if not His entire life, certainly most of it—especially once He began His public ministry at age 30. That couldn’t have been a lot of fun.
You know, speaking as one who lives in a parsonage, it can be kind of uncomfortable to be watched—and sometimes held to a different standard. Now, it is perfectly true that the pastor and his family SHOULD live God-honoring lives and SHOULD be excellent examples of Christian behavior, but it’s equally true that ALL believers should be living to the same high standard. The pastor is a pastor because God called him to serve Him in this full-time way (designated/”called” him), but he is just a regular guy. It’s true that there are specific qualifications that must be met (I Timothy and Titus 1), but since God has no double standards in His Word, ALL men should be living in this way (the difference is that if a man is NOT meeting these qualifications, then he isn’t qualified to be a pastor). That being said, the pastor and his family are a special part of any church family, and as such, are sometimes misunderstood or are expected to hold to different rules than the rest of the church family. They are ALSO, though, very often blessed and spoiled by their church family and loved deeply—even when they aren’t really anything special. Let me assure you that your pastor, his wife, and his family LOVE each and every one of you and deeply appreciate your prayers, kindness, encouragement, and support!!!

BONUS: This is an excerpt from my Solid Rock Publications book entitled, Pastor’s Wife School.
Ten Things Your Pastor’s Wife Wants You to Know About Her
1. I love God. I must do what He tells me. My priorities have to be serving Him, helping my husband, teaching my kids to love and serve God, and to serve Him as He directs me — in that order. God might have given me the ability to play the piano, but maybe not. God might have given me a heart to lead ladies’ ministries, but maybe not. I need to do what He directs me to do, which may or may not be what you expect.
2. I love my husband. The main way I am to serve God is to be his number one helper, encourager, and cheerleader. I will always choose his needs over my own (or yours). Thank you for understanding. Thank you for not telling me things that you think he needs to improve at or criticizing him in my presence. These are things you should be telling God, and if necessary, him. It is okay, though, to tell me the things you love about him. I think he is the BEST, too!
3. I love my kids. Another huge job God gave to me is to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. They are kids. Thanks for not expecting them to be perfect. Thanks for helping me keep an eye on them when they are little and their father is preaching. Sometimes they are a handful for just one parent. Thank you for praying for them. They need to trust in Christ as their Savior and learn how to become more like Him just as you and I do. Thank you, too, for loving them for who they are.
4. I love you. God called my husband to be your pastor. You are in his special care and thus are in my special care. I pray for you by name. I cry when you are hurting and when you are not walking with God. I rejoice when you are rejoicing and when you are living victoriously. I love you enough to offer words of encouragement, and, sometimes to lovingly confront you when God prods me to do so. I love you in spite of all your funny little character traits—and I am so thankful that you love me in spite of mine!
5. I may be in the ministry alongside my husband, but I am not another pastor or deacon or church leader in any capacity. I am simply another church member looking to please God in and through my life. However, it is my desire to serve God however He asks me to do so.
6. I am not your last pastor’s wife. We are different people with different backgrounds, characteristics, loves, burdens, outlooks, talents—everything. Thank you for accepting me the way God made me and allowing me the blessing of serving God in the areas He and my husband want me to.
7. I am a real person. I get tired. I get cranky. I get angry. I get silly. I can be sad. I may be hormonal. I may be overwhelmed and not “seem” friendly. Criticism hurts me just as much as it would you. I need your prayers and your compassion. God has a long, long way to go with me yet.
8. I sometimes want to protect my husband. Being a pastor is more than a full-time job. He is never NOT a pastor. Not at night, not on vacation, not when he is sick. If someone calls and needs to talk, he will do it. So, sometimes I try to shield him a bit by encouraging him to take some time off, to spend some time on a hobby, to go somewhere without his phone, to NOT stay at church for hours at the end of every service just so everyone who wants to chat gets a chance, to occasionally take the phone off the hook, to once in a while sleep in or go to bed early. Your pastor loves God and he loves you. He would literally kill himself for you. Help me help him take a break from time to time.
9. I willingly give my husband to you when you need him. There is all the difference in the world between long chats about nothing in particular and the need for godly counsel and wisdom. My husband is always available to you for your troubles and any crisis you might be facing. Please call him when you need him. Maybe, though, you could keep his family in your prayers when he is out helping others. When he is gone, the kids and I are on our own and we get lonely when our husband and father is gone.
10. My life is different than the other church members’ lives. While it is true that the pastor’s wife doesn’t have special “power” or authority, it IS true that my life is very different than yours. Here are some examples of what I mean:
-In many ways, I am like the wife of an ER doctor who is on call 24/7. I need to be ready to see my husband off any time day or night and be ready to take over the parenting while he is gone. However, unlike a doctor’s wife who does not know her husband’s patients personally, I do know every member of our church family (and there are no days off!).
-When the phone rings, I am always aware that whoever is on the other end of the call may tell my husband something that will change our day, or even our life. I feel guilty about occasionally taking the phone off the hook.
-Planning someone’s wedding or baby shower is one of the most joyous occasions of my life, but planning someone’s funeral is one of the most difficult. Sitting all alone in the pew (because my husband is up front for you) is lonely and heart-breaking at times. Assisting at a funeral is one of the hardest things I get called on to do.
-I get asked to counsel with ladies. Some of their burdens are heart breaking and my life is forever changed after sharing their burdens with them. Even though it is a joy to be a blessing in other people’s lives, it can be hard too.
-I enjoy having friends just like everyone else, but I also have to maintain boundaries so I am not accused of being cliquish.
-I am constantly aware that everything about my husband, my children, and myself is being scrutinized. My family lives in what has been sometimes called a “fish bowl,” meaning what we do and say, how we appear, and what our behaviors are, are being watched and often judged. We are not without sin and we do fail, but it is our heart’s desire to not sin, and to walk obediently with God. Thanks for giving us the benefit of the doubt.
-Sunday is not our day off. It is the busiest day of the week for us. Saturday is a close second-busiest day.
-It is often assumed the pastor, his wife, and kids will do the 101 “little” jobs that are part of a church life. We are almost always the first ones in church on Sunday and the last ones out. We are the ones who unlock the doors in the morning and relock them at night. We are the ones who make sure the lights are on in the morning and off before we leave. We make sure the building is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We put the hymn numbers up on the boards in the front of the auditorium. We shovel. We weed. We mow. We police the ground for debris. We set up tables for church functions and take them down afterward. We turn on the coffee maker. We make extra food “just in case.” We love being a blessing, and we are glad to serve the Lord in small ways and big ways, but in case you wanted to know who handles the behind-the-scenes work, it is often us.
-You are family to us. We think of YOU 24/7 and it affects how we live our life—and that is our JOY and delight, for it is God we are serving as well.

Monday, May 11, 2020
(Thank the Father for the new day and week and the opportunities He is going to provide for us to demonstrate our love for Him by our obedience.)
-Read John 11:33-35
“When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was greatly troubled in spirit and deeply moved. He asked, “Where have you put him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus burst into tears”.
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What specifically troubled and moved Jesus?
2. What did He want to know?
3. What was His response?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Aren’t these precious verses! Seeing and feeling the compassion of people for people is a very special thing—and one that shows the best in people. That being said, let’s focus a minute on Jesus’ tears. When most humans burst into tears, isn’t if often because we (at least to some degree) feel bad for ourselves? Some tears are angry tears, some tears are tears of despondency and giving up. Some tears are selfish and some are out of control fear. Does it seem likely that any of these are the reason for Jesus’ tears? After all, He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, so there wasn’t really any reason to cry for him. Jesus wasn’t EVER unrighteously angry, selfish, despondent, or feeling no hope. He knew better than anyone ever born the greatness of the Father and all that the Father has planned for those who love Him throughout eternity. He knew that sin would one day be completely eradicated and God’s holiness and righteousness would prevail eternally.

So why the tears? Well, certainly, Jesus has tremendous compassion for the people He created. He felt great empathy for Mary, Martha, and all those who were mourning the loss of their loved one and friend—and He felt their pain. But, perhaps, the deeper reason for Jesus’ tears was His sorrow over the ugliness of sin and the heartache and horrors it brought into His once perfect world. Perhaps He YEARNED to get past His upcoming torture and suffering SO THAT the world, and mankind, in particular, could FINALLY live as God intended from the very beginning: without sin, without hardship, without pain, without sorrow, without loss—and WITH Him! With the Father! With the Holy Spirit! Forever being able to serve God wholeheartedly, faithfully, and completely victoriously.

When things look especially dark to you, remember that God cares. He is available every single second to go to for comfort, wisdom, direction, and peace. Remember, too, to claim His promises and be encouraged by what is yet to come. Sin HAS been paid for and it will NOT be here forever. When God states that the Church Age is over, we’ll be out of here—and forever by His side; forever by the side of our Savior. INCREDIBLE days are just around the corner!

Saturday, May 9, 2020
(Ask the Father for a good attitude and the right response when someone asks you to do something for them.)
-Read John 11:32
“As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Mary do as soon as she was near Jesus?
2. What did she call Jesus?
3. What did she say to Him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It’s interesting that Mary & Martha said exactly the same thing, yet it sounds different. For one thing, Mary once again placed herself at Jesus’ feet before she even said anything. Secondly, based on that and the next few verses, we can assume that Mary’s voice and tone was full of emotion while Martha’s didn’t necessarily come across in the same way. That is certainly not to say, though, that Martha was any less anguished or that Jesus gave Mary more emotional support.

I think that maybe at least some of this is that Mary & Martha are two very different people. Oh, they have a lot in common! They are sisters! But Martha sure appears to be the take-charge kind of gal, while Mary comes across as very quiet and serious. That doesn’t mean that Martha refused to listen to others—or that Mary never teased or got into mischief. My point? We shouldn’t assume that people who laugh a lot are ALWAYS in a good mood, nor should we think that someone who gives tremendous praises about how good God is never gets overwhelmed and discouraged. Nor should we think of sisters as carbon copies of each other. As the 4th of four sisters, I can appreciate wanting to be recognized for my own pros and cons—and not being compared either favorably or unfavorably with a sister.

THANKFULLY – and praise His name! – God NEVER groups us all together as clones of one another, can’t remember which sister is which (even among identical twins!), or doesn’t console our hurts, share in our joy, or reward our obedient acts. He knows all of us as individuals and loves us exactly as we are! In fact, He rejoices over us! He is eager to hear our prayers, eager to share more about Himself when we want to draw closer to Him, and delighted to bless our attempts to please and honor Him.

Friday, May 8, 2020
(Thank the Father for the privilege of a Bible in your own language and the Holy Spirit to help you understand it and obey it.)
-Read John 11:31
“When the Jews who had been with her, consoling her in the house, saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she had gone to the tomb to cry there.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who followed Mary?
2. Why?
3. Where were they before this?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because Martha told Mary privately that Jesus was asking for her, I have to wonder if Mary wanted all those people in her home to follow her to the grave? I wonder if what she really wanted was her privacy? The text doesn’t say—and it would be hard to guess because this is a very different culture from ours and gathering around those who were grieving was a VERY big deal. BUT, I know that I sure sometimes want privacy and to have the freedom to NOT answer the phone—or the door, but then I wonder if that’s the right attitude? I’m not sure that it’s right to be belligerent—and dare I say “selfish” about “me time,” but neither am I willing to say that we have to ALWAYS answer every single demand that is imposed on us. For sure, being selfish and self-focused is a wrong attitude. The Bible is pretty clear that our focus should be on giving, being a blessing, helping others, and otherwise sacrificing self in order to serve. But, then again, does that mean that we give to the point of sacrificing our health and well-being? Is it “Christian” to give our very last penny to someone else just for the sake of generosity?

These can be hard questions, but I think a few biblical principles can help us when faced with such dilemmas. For one, obeying what we KNOW God wants us to do is ALWAYS the right thing. To do so is also to trust Him to provide us with what we truly need. Second, the Bible seems to focus a lot on balance. Don’t get me wrong, that is NOT the same as “give and take,” mediocrity, or anything less than our absolute best. Furthermore, we don’t need to “balance” Bible truth against some other authority-source, because the Bible is, by definition, “balanced” already. God wants us to give Him our first, best, and all (which is very often demonstrated in how we interact with people). Biblical balance is sacrificing for others, but without harming self. It is laboring wholeheartedly, but without purposefully placing ourselves in danger (in any capacity).

By the way, none of what I just said is what I thought I would be talking about. I wanted to focus on the positive aspect of these fellow Jews following Mary in order to support her in her grief. I wanted to admire their loyalty—something many Americans lack in this day and age. And, sadly, something many believers lack in regard to their family, their employers, their friends, their church family, and even their Lord. We most definitely ought to be first and foremost, loyal children of God: living for Him, praising His name, expressing gratitude to Him and about Him. And by extension, we ought to be loyal to the church family He blessed us with. Being an active part of the family, enjoying and rejoicing with all the good and fun stuff—and praying and looking for ways to help during the hard stuff. God is 100% loyal to us, how could we do any less for Him?

Thursday, May 7, 2020
(Pray to the Father, asking for eyes to see challenges and struggles as opportunities to draw even closer to Him.)
-Read John 11:28-30
“When she had said this, she went away and called her sister Mary and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you!” As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet arrived at the village but was still at the place where Martha had met him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Martha go after speaking with Jesus?
2. Who did she tell Mary was asking for her?
3. How quickly did Mary respond?
4. Where was Jesus at this time?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
There is clearly additional dialog between Jesus and Martha after she declared her belief in Him that isn’t in the text – because Martha left to find Mary to tell her that Jesus was asking for her. We find in this section that Jesus wasn’t actually in the village of Bethany yet. I would guess that He wanted a chance to speak with the sisters privately before the crowds of people knew He was there.

As soon as Mary heard that Jesus was there, she got up quickly to go to Him. Again, this simple sentence of fact is full of meaning and lessons for us all these years later.
-Being WITH Jesus was Mary’s priority.
-Finding out what Jesus wanted to say to her was incredibly important to Mary.
-Mary went to Jesus quickly. She wasn’t willing to waste even one precious second doing lesser things, even though those items may have also been “important.”

How can we make application for ourselves today?
-Personal Bible Study and prayer is a PRIVILEGE, but it is also a necessity. We should be eager to get to it each and every morning, giving it top priority of all the important things on our to-do list. Of course, our attitude about this will make the difference between viewing it as a chore or a delight. If what you are doing for Bible study has become routine or dull, perhaps it’s time to shake things up a bit and try a new Bible study method. There are LOTS of ways to approach Bible study and switching things up from time to time can be a lot of fun.

-Similarly, making church attendance a priority is essential for our Christian walk both to hear God’s Word being taught, but also to share the experience with others of God’s children, both to praise God together and to build each other up in the things of the Lord. Once again, our attitude will make all the difference in the world. If we look at church services, Bible studies, and fellowships as “get to’s” as opposed to “have to’s,” they will be that much more of a treasure to our hearts.

-When Mary heard that Jesus was calling her, she hopped up and went to meet Him quickly. Those of us living in the Church Age do not hear God audibly, but we sure can “hear” Him in Scripture, through the words of godly friends, and in the “still small voice” that He uses to nudge us in the right direction as we recall Scripture and apply it to the circumstances that we are faced with. The things that we know God wants us to do, we should do quickly and to the best of our ability. The things that we know He does not want us to do must be rejected and run away from, if necessary. Quickly.

-ALSO, don’t miss the fact that Martha was quick to tell Mary about Jesus. We should also be ready, willing, and eager to share how we have been blessed by God to everyone we can, maybe most especially our church family members.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020
(Spend some time thanking the Father for the ways He has blessed you in the last 24 hours.)
-Read John 11:26-27
“Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was to come into the world.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who won’t die?
2. Did Martha believe what Jesus said?
3. What did she say she believed about Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus told Martha (and us!) that He is the Resurrection and the Life (“I AM”), that the one who believes in Him, though his body may die, the “real” them will live. He goes on to say that those who are saved spiritually will live forever (both spiritually and physically). These are all very strong words and make it clear that no one can lose their salvation. Jesus said that they will NEVER die.

When asked if she believed Him, Martha quickly and confidently expressed her faith in Him as the Savior, as the Son of God, and as the One that God had promised to send to restore the broken relationship that sin brought into the world. This is a sweet record of Martha’s relationship with Jesus as not only as her Friend, but her God and Savior.

Say, when was the last time you prayed simply to thank God for all that He has given you? We could spend a long, long time on blessings that have been given to us in the area of our physical lives (and those of our loved ones), but have you ever sat down with an open Bible in front of you to thank God for the spiritually-related blessings and help that He gives? I think that if we were to open one of the epistles (Romans-Jude), we could find examples of God’s spiritual blessing almost continuously.

Has anyone ever challenged you to grab your Bible, a notebook, and go someplace where you can think uninterrupted (this would mean turning your phone off too!). I’m confident that if we did this—with the goal of looking for the many ways God helps and blesses us spiritually (and thanking Him for each one as you find them)—we would come away from the time re-energized, re-enthused for being holy as He is holy, and soaring on eagle’s wings. Give it a try!

Tuesday, May 5, 2020
(Thank the Father for His plan to send Jesus to retrieve us at any moment. Ask His help to be found living faithfully for Him until it happens.)
-Read John 11:24-25
“Martha told him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. “Martha told him, “I ____ that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
2. Jesus told her, “__ __ the resurrection and the life.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Martha’s response to Jesus telling her that Lazarus would rise again was to express her confidence that this was true— “in the resurrection on the last day.” She, and many Jews, believed that those who trusted that God would one day send a Messiah—a Savior—that would pay the price for their sins, would be raised to new life when God’s timetable was ready for the heavens and earth to be made new. Abraham was one of those Old Testament characters who believed in a resurrection. He proved it by being willing to offer his own son, Isaac, on the altar (read about it in Genesis 22). He is, in fact, commended for his faith in this regard in Hebrews 11.

Jesus’ response to Martha’s words of faith was to tell her something pretty amazing—something earth-shaking (literally!): He IS the Resurrection and Life.

Wow. This is worthy of another moment of prayerful meditation and praise (selah!). Jesus’ next-to-the-last I AM in the gospel of John is the biggest one yet. He is the Resurrection and the Life. As the Creator and Sustainer of all that there is, life COMES from Jesus Christ, life is SUSTAINED by Jesus Christ on a daily basis, and it is He Who provided a way for spiritual eternal life. Once sin entered the world, all mankind was condemned to spiritual death—an eternity in the Lake of Fire, but because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, once a man, woman, or child trusts in His work on the cross to pay the price their sin demanded (the death of a perfect, sinless human—something impossible until God became Man), they now have eternal spiritual LIFE in HIM.

Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Spend some time thanking God for His rich gift: His Son, the Resurrection and the Life!

Monday, May 4, 2020
(Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! What are your praises to God today? Tell Him!)
-Read John 11:23
“Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Just how confident was Jesus that Lazarus would rise again?
2. Who is the One Who made this promise?
3. Has God ever not fulfilled a promise?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
There’s more to Jesus’ dialog with Martha, but I wanted to take a few minutes to stop at this one verse and try to take in the grandeur of it. Lazarus WILL rise again. Our loved ones in the Lord WILL rise again. Should the rapture not happen in our lifetime, you and I, dear sisters in Christ, WILL rise again.

This isn’t an empty platitude that Jesus offered to comfort the grieving Martha. This is FACT, this is HOPE, this is REALITY. Life will not always go on as it has since sin entered the world. Just as there was for all the other time periods since creation, this current age (the Church Age, or “Age of Grace,” as it is also known) will come to an end. And dear one, there is literally nothing that has yet to happen before it can end. That means that we are listening right this moment for God’s trumpet call which will summon all Christians, from the point of Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb until today, to the clouds to meet up with our Savior and accompany Him to Heaven. This glorious Age-ending event can happen at literally any second!

So, what do we do with all that? Don’t grow weary in doing well! Keep seeking God’s righteousness, trusting Him to provide all your needs. Be becoming holy—using God’s standard of holiness as your measuring stick. Clothe yourself in kindness, in humility, and in the kind of love that labors to help others do well in their walk with the Lord. Resist satan with the sure confidence that he will be forced to flee you, because God said he would have to. Study God’s Word, growing as a workman who doesn’t need to be overwhelmed or discouraged. Pray without ceasing, thanking God, praising God, and lifting brothers and sisters in Christ before God’s throne. Commit yourself to your church and church family, attending, serving, and growing.

Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead, ALL Christians will also rise again. Thank God. Praise Him.

Saturday, May 2, 2020
(Thank the Father for those He has used in your life to help you grow in your Christian walk. Ask for His help to be a good example to those who may be looking to you for direction.)
-Read John 11:20-22
“As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, he will give it to you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How quickly did Martha go to Jesus?
2. Did Mary go with her?
3. What did Martha say would have saved her brother’s life?
4. What was Martha’s big consolation?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
True to their natures, Martha immediately went to meet with Jesus, but Mary stayed at home.

I really love Martha in this scene. It just seems such a tender one-on-one between two people who loved each other. Martha’s beloved brother had died and she was very sad, yet as soon as she heard Jesus had come, she hopped up to talk to Him. She expressed her implicit trust in Jesus that He could have prevented Lazarus’ death, but she isn’t accusing Him, blaming Him, or questioning Him. She just stated the truth, following it up with another truth: that God would give to His Son whatever He asked from Him.

I’m not entirely sure why Martha said this (and scholars like to debate it), but based on verse 39, it’s doubtful that she was asking Jesus to restore Lazarus to life and health then and there. Thinking about the next few verses, she DID trust that in God’s timing there would be a resurrection of the dead who had believed that God would one day send a Redeemer. Perhaps Martha was simply thankful to have Jesus with her and Mary and was expressing her confidence in Who He was and what He was capable of doing (Anything! Everything!).

It’s okay to express our sorrow and confusion to God in prayer. In fact, Who better to go to than the One Who knows you in and out—and Who created and sustains not only you, but the entire world? And why would we try to hide it or deny it to our loving and all-knowing heavenly Father? Once we’ve shared our struggles, though, what comes next should begin, like Martha’s, with a “but.” “I am heartbroken, Father, BUT. . .” But what? But God is only always good, but God has every tiny little detail in His perfect, all-powerful grasp, but God has already dealt with it, but God, in His mercy, wants to use it to draw you even closer to Himself, but God needs to remind you that you belong to Him and not to yourself, but. . . GOD. Expressing our confidence, trust, loyalty, and love to God is ALWAYS the right kind of prayer—and the right kind of thinking.

Friday, May 1, 2020
(Thank the Father for a brand new month in which to learn more about Him, live in a manner that is pleasing to Him, and be a help and a blessing to brothers and sisters in Christ.)
-Read John 11:17-19 (John 11 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+11&version=ISV“When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stadia away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How long had Lazarus been in the tomb when Jesus arrived in Bethany?
2. How were so many people able to easily come and console Mary & Martha?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Just as Jesus had told His disciples, Lazarus was dead. In fact, he had already been in his tomb for four days.

I assume that most of you have heard of a wake. A wake is a get-together of family members and friends of someone who has died. Depending on what sort of people we are talking about, this is either a pleasant evening of reminiscing—or an all-out party. Did you know that this tradition began a long, long time ago when technology wasn’t quite what it is today and people wanted to be CERTAIN that their loved one was dead before they buried him or her? The person who had (presumably) died was laid out in a private room with at least one person keeping an eye on them (the rest of the people were eating, sharing stories, etc..) The person in the room with the deceased was there in case the person WOKE UP. If someone had merely slipped into a coma or had some sort of temporary condition that made them appear dead, but they weren’t, I’m sure they would really appreciate not being buried quite yet!

In Bible times there may have been something along those lines, but I guess the really important point was that if someone stayed dead for 3 or more days, then they were most DEFINITELY dead (like the proclamation of the coroner in the Wizard of Oz about the Wicked Witch of the East— “she is really most sincerely dead!”). The author of this gospel points this out so that the reader will know that Lazarus was thoroughly and completely dead. Incidentally, he does this again after Jesus died, which I’m sure you are aware, was critical to authenticate. Our Savior DIED for us and was resurrected back to life from death, NOT from a coma or anything similar. If He hadn’t died, we would not have salvation!

The author also notes that Bethany was only a few miles from Jerusalem, making it easy for several friends and family members to come to Martha’s home to share in the sister’s sorrow (this was about a 40-minute walk.). This reminded me of how important it is for us to love and support our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re family! This is true among all believers, but is extra special among the members of a local church. God brought each and every man, woman, and child to THAT church in that timing to become a family unit (“one body” together!). When one of the members is sad, the others cry with them. When one of the members rejoices, the other members rejoice, too. We are to help each other, support each other, sacrifice for each other, prefer each other, and LOVE each other—all seen in a thousand big and little ways. Most church families that are living obediently according to God’s Word are, in fact, quite a bit closer than blood relatives. It’s truly a precious and beautiful thing.

June 2020 DBSQs

Tuesday, June 30, 2020
(Ask for the Father’s help to obey Him wholeheartedly today so that others will see and give Him glory.)
-Read John 13:34-35 (entire chapter found on page 28-29)
“I’m giving you a new commandment…to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. I’m giving you a ____ commandment…to ______ _____ ______
2. ____ ____ I have loved you, you also should love one another.
3. This is how everyone will ____ that you are my ______, if you have love for one another.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
What Jesus had to teach His disciples in these last crucial hours was what He considered the most important things. What did He say was critically important? That they love each other. Wow. This, in one way, seems kind of underwhelming (of course, we know that we’re supposed to love each other!), but in another way, this is a very deep thought. For example, in what way is this a “new” commandment?

Scholars probably have all sorts of answers to that question, but I believe that Jesus answered it Himself in identifying it as “just as I have loved you.” In other words, looking back on all the ways Jesus demonstrated biblical love to them, then looking ahead (in their timetable) to Jesus willingly dying on the cross because of His love, then looking to our current situation where God demonstrates His love in a million ways literally every second, to the future where His love is seen in the removal of sin and the opportunity to serve Him in bigger and better ways—and remain in our presence for all of eternity.

In fact, Jesus said, the way people know that we are Jesus’ disciples (followers, students) is that we love each other as He loves us. Clearly, it’s not enough to SAY nice things, we also need to DO what is needed to help, encourage, bless, and otherwise put the needs of others before our own and demonstrate a servant’s heart (as Jesus demonstrated just prior to this statement).

So, just how big or small is YOUR world? Just how much do you invest (or hold back from investing) in the lives of others (fellow believers, especially)? If people were to sit around and discuss you, would they KNOW that you are a child of God? A disciple of Jesus? Why or why not?

Monday, June 29, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God for all the blessings and lessons from the weekend!)
-Read John 13:31-33
“After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “The Son of Man is now glorified, and God has been glorified by him. If God has been glorified by him, God himself also will glorify the Son of Man, and he will do so quickly. Little children, I’m with you only a little longer. You will look for me, but what I told the Jewish leaders I now tell you, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come.’”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus say had been glorified?
2. Who will the Father glorify?
3. How does Jesus address the men?
4. Would the disciples be able to find Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus had a lot of important things to say to the Eleven and not much time to say it. This reminds me that none of us know what tomorrow may bring, so don’t put off what must be said. This certainly includes making things right with someone you may be having a tiff with, it includes reminding those you love that you do, indeed, love them, it includes encouraging believers and inspiring them to even more God-honoring lives, and it definitely includes gently but firmly telling those who aren’t right with God how they can get (or return to) a right relationship with God. All this is just too important to set aside!

Jesus again refers to Himself as “the Son of Man.” This is, in fact, the last time He does so before His death. This title that Jesus gave to Himself speaks both of His deity and His humanity. It speaks of how He is representing the Father to mankind and how He intercedes for mankind to the Father; how He is substituting Himself in the place of man, paying their sin debt because they could not do it for themselves.

Jesus is glorifying God by completing His will—and as God’s children, we, too, glorify God every time we choose to do something the way God wants us to, from little areas to huge ones. Each obedient act done out of love for Him grows into a lifetime that honors Him and brings Him glory. The Father, in return, glorifies the Son because of His willing submission to His will—and one day God will also express His pleasure in OUR willing submission to His will. This will be a VERY big deal!

Jesus told the disciples whom He loved and who loved Him very much that He was leaving—and that they couldn’t come. This must have been so alarming and sad to them! BUT, that was definitely not the end of the story! Jesus meant that they couldn’t be with Him for a time. But, they—and all who have trusted in Him as Savior—WILL be by Jesus’ side one day. It’s as sure as the faithfulness of the One Who promised (and there is NOTHING more rock-solid than God). So, while we may go through our days YEARNING to be in heaven and away from the ugliness of this current world system, we can rest assured that we WILL eventually be with God, so we shouldn’t waste even one second of the precious life God has gifted to us. We should be sharing the essential truths about our loving Father and glorious Savior, we should be looking for ways to build up other believers in the things of the Lord, and we should be aiming to glorify God with our every breath and our every action.

Saturday, June 27, 2020
(Thank the Father for His amazing plan for the past, the present, and eternity. Thank Him for the incredible blessing of being able to be a part of it!)
-Read John 13:27-30
“After he had taken the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus told him, “Do quickly what you are going to do!” Now no one at the table knew why Jesus said this to him. Some thought that, since Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the festival or to give something to the destitute. So Judas took the piece of bread, immediately went outside…and it was night.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When did satan enter Judas?
2. What did Jesus tell Judas?
3. Did the disciples understand what was going on?
4. Did Judas obey Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Satan seemed to know that Jesus was very close to fulfilling the Father’s plan, and so he wanted to do all that he could to thwart him. He, personally, entered Judas to direct Judas to betray Jesus (or, perhaps, simply to not let him chicken out at the last minute). He was only able to do this because believers prior to Pentecost did not have the indwelling Spirit. And to some degree, this betrayal also fulfilled Scripture (though God is never the author of sin). Believers today cannot be demon-possessed, though we can be influenced or harassed by them.

It’s interesting how well Judas hid his sin. It wasn’t until much later that the other disciples realized that Judas had been stealing from their treasury, so the idea of him betraying Jesus blindsided them.

I believe that the first part of today’s passage is a warning to not let sin remain in our lives. A little sin always leads to more sin—and sin unrestrained knows no limits. Because Judas was a thief and because he didn’t repent of it, he ended up doing something that he bitterly regretted, so much so that he took his own life in his devastation. I don’t think it’s all that uncommon for many Christians to think that they can have control over small areas of sin in their lives. They may feel that as long as they are obeying God in the “big” ways that the small things just aren’t that important. Scripture denies this comfortable notion completely and thoroughly. EVERY sin matters. EVERY sin is a personal slap in the face to God. EVERY sin leads to additional sin. EVERY sin must be dealt with the second we realize that we’ve done it. We need to confess it to God (confess means to “say the same thing as” – in other words, agree with God that it is sin) and ask His forgiveness. He will always forgive, but He expects us to choose to NOT do it ever again. AND, praise His name, with His help, we don’t HAVE to!

Prayerfully consider if there is something in your life that doesn’t please God and ask for His help to get rid of it, substituting something that DOES please and honor Him in its place. Thank Him for His help to maintain a right relationship with Him!

BONUS:
I think that an argument could be made that there is a bit of a warning about making assumptions in this passage, too. In this particular case, to the disciples’ credit, their assumptions were GOOD ones on behalf of Judas. They did NOT think that he was a thief or that he would ever betray Jesus. Good for them! We, on the other hand, are probably more prone to assuming bad things of other people—and that does not please God. I Corinthians 13:7 says that we SHOULD assume the best of others, supporting and encouraging each other to greater godliness. In a similar topic, how much nicer to look around us and see the things to praise the Lord for, rather than being the kind of person who looks around and sees everyone’s flaws! That’s not how God chooses to look at us, why would we do that to others?

Friday, June 26, 2020
(Thank the Father for His lavish love.)
-Read John 13:23-26
“One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus kept loving, had been sitting very close to him. So Simon Peter motioned to this man to ask Jesus about whom he was speaking. Leaning forward on Jesus’ chest, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “He is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread after I have dipped it in the dish.” Then he took a piece of bread, dipped it, and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus point out as the betrayer?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
You may remember that the Jews in Bible times did not sit at a table as we do for special meals. Their tables were very low and the men would lie on their side on mats with their head held up with one arm while the other was used for food. It is clear that John was on one side of Jesus—and some have suggested that Judas was on the other (which was actually considered the place of honor!). It would seem that Peter was on the opposite side of the table, therefore unable to whisper his question to Jesus directly. Instead, he motioned to John to ask Jesus which of them would betray Him.

It was also normal to have several communal dishes of various sauces available for the diners along with bread (and because this was the Passover, unleavened bread) to dip into the sauce. Jesus took a piece of bread, dipped it into one of the sauces, then handed it to Judas Iscariot to indicate that he was the one who would betray Jesus.

I cannot even imagine the emotion going on in that room! The Passover was a celebration, yet Jesus was talking about going away, about being betrayed, and about suffering. But one more huge thing happened that John’s gospel doesn’t touch on. Read about it in Luke 22:14-23.

“Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table, along with his apostles. He told them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover meal with you before I suffer, because I tell all of you, I will never eat it again until it finds its fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves, because I tell you, from now on I will never drink the product of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” Then he took a loaf of bread, gave thanks, broke it in pieces, and handed it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Keep on doing this in memory of me.” He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood, which is being poured out for you. Yet look! The hand of the man who is betraying me is with me on the table! The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!” Then they began to discuss among themselves which one of them was going to do this.”

It was at this meal that Jesus introduced the concept that a new covenant was beginning. It would take some time for the Jews to figure out what all this meant—and it was earth-shattering— because, for the first time in 1,500 years, the Law would no longer be in effect and those who trusted in Christ as Savior would now be under grace. There would no longer be a need for animal sacrifice because Jesus had come to offer up Himself as the only Perfect Lamb, and once He died and rose again, the debt for sin that God required was paid. The Law was no longer needed.

For us, this is simple history, but for the Jews, it was incomprehensible to consider NOT following the Law. But that was because God had brought something “better” – and you and I have the privilege of being able to thank God for it whenever our church observes the Lord’s Table/Communion. This special ordinance was given to the church to help us remember what Christ did so that we can thank Him and be reminded that there are awesome things yet to come in the history of the world. Jesus’ words also seem to indicate that He will join us in observing the Lord’s Table in the Millennium—kind of amazing!

Thursday, June 25, 2020
(Thank the Father for His love for you and ask His help to prove your love for Him through your obedience to Him today.)
-Read John 13:21-24
“After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled in spirit and declared solemnly, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, one of you is going to betray me!” The disciples began looking at one another, completely mystified about whom he was speaking. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus kept loving, had been sitting very close to him. So Simon Peter motioned to this man to ask Jesus about whom he was speaking.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Did the disciples have any idea what Jesus was talking about?
2. Who wanted John to ask Jesus who He meant?
3. How does John describe himself here?
4. Where was John sitting?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It apparently shocked the disciples to the core to hear that one of them was going to betray Jesus. It just didn’t make sense!

Have you ever felt that way? That something didn’t make any sense at all? I believe that this is our opportunity to look to God and to trust Him and His Word. NOTHING apart from His influence even CAN make sense, but everything that He does is perfectly right and good—even if we don’t understand in the here and now.

What I really wanted to address, though, is how John refers to himself in this gospel that he wrote. Some versions say “the beloved disciple,” some say “the one Jesus loved,” or something very similar. I kind of prefer this version (ISV, International Standard Version). It translates what John said about himself as, “the one whom Jesus kept loving.” I LOVE the word “kept” in there! To me, this focuses on Jesus and His amazing love, and not as much on the recipient (though John is CLEARLY deeply in love and thankful for Jesus). It also focuses on the permanence and continuity of Jesus’ love. Unlike human love, Jesus doesn’t give it, then take it away. Unlike human love, it isn’t about reciprocation. Unlike human love, it is perfect, unconditional, and always has the goal of the other’s spiritual good.

Did you know that God KEEPS loving YOU? Did you know that He has loved you since before the foundation of the world? Did you know that He will love you for all of eternity—something we can’t even begin to imagine? Did you know that He loves you unconditionally, that nothing and no one can EVER create a gap between Him and you? Did you know that He loves you exactly as you are?

So, what, then, should be our response to such lavish love? To love Him back! To live our lives PROVING our love by our obedience to His Word. Not forced love or love born out of duty, but love that comes from the awe His name inspires. Love that comes from the realization of WHO God is that we discover from His Word and from His faithfulness to us throughout our lives.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020
(Thank God that He is the Promise Keeper!)
-Read John 13:21
“After saying this, Jesus was deeply troubled in spirit and declared solemnly, “Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, one of you is going to betray me!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus tell His disciples?
2. What was He feeling just then?
3. Was His betrayal in doubt?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Can you feel Jesus’ anguish here? Jesus the Man—and Jesus the Son of God—feels such sorrow at the thought that one of His very own would betray Him. I believe, too, that His anguish goes beyond personal hurt, but covers the heartache and sorrow that will befall the one who does this horrible thing. Jesus knew what Judas was up to—and He agonized over him. He knew that Judas would be HORRIFIED over what his betrayal led to (none of the disciples seemed to have any idea what truly awful things were about to happen to Jesus), and that, ultimately, Judas wouldn’t be able to bear it and would end his own life. How sad! How tragic!

Have you ever given thought to the PAIN you cause God (all three Persons of the Godhead!) when you choose to disregard Him in any way—even in “little” areas? I read a devotional by Joni Erikson Tada recently that likened the sorrow a father of a child whose disobedience resulted in tremendous physical pain and suffering for the child to how our sin affects God. In her illustration, she pointed out that it wasn’t just the child who suffered due to his act. The father suffered, too. In fact, an argument can be made that the father suffered MORE because he had a greater understanding of what the ramifications were of the child’s injuries and how it may affect him for the rest of his life. More than that, though, is perhaps the heartache of betrayal when the child deliberately disobeyed a family rule (which resulted in his injury).

To disobey God is to dishonor Him – to say that His commands are not worth our taking notice of. It is to, at least for that moment, to say that we DON’T love God (I John says it pretty clearly, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.”)! This is pretty heavy stuff, but didn’t one sin lead to the distortion and destruction of the entire world and the ruin of all mankind? When it comes down to it, ONLY God’s way is the right way and the path to joy, peace, and a smile of pleasure on our Father’s face.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020
(Ask for the Father’s help to obey today what you already know He wants you to do with a great attitude.)
-Read John 13:18-20
“I’m not talking about all of you. I know the ones I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: ‘The one who ate bread with me has turned against me.’ I’m telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the one who receives whomever I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Does Jesus know who He has chosen?
2. Scripture must be _____.
3. Once the betrayal happens, it will help the remaining disciples believe that Jesus is __ _____.
4. The one who receives those Jesus sends, receives ___.
5. The one who receives Jesus, receives _____.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These are a hard few verses! Jesus speaks first about what has happened in the past (He chose these 12 men to be His apostles “called out ones”). He also speaks about a few things that are currently true (He is I AM, the Self-Existing One; God), and then He gives a heads-up about what is to come. Jesus reminds His disciples that He has been sent by God the Father, but that soon He will be sending THEM out to represent Him. He states that those who listen to their message about Him, salvation, and the way to a right relationship with God are ALSO “receiving” Him, and in doing so, are receiving a relationship with the Father.

Jesus quoted Scripture that prophesied that He would be betrayed. He quoted Psalm 41:9, which seems to be a reference to how King David’s son, Absalom, betrayed him (spoken about in II Samuel 15:1-2). Everything that God says will happen, thus every single prophecy concerning Jesus Christ was fulfilled before He declared, “It is finished” and died.

What sort of take-aways can we ponder on from these verses? First, God knows all of us—far better than we know ourselves. Psalm 139 is a wonderful chapter to read and re-read to be reminded of your priceless worth in God’s eyes. As your Creator, Savior, and FATHER, Who better to go to when you wonder what makes you tick, or how to deal with some challenge, or how to best use your time, talents, and treasures? God should always be our FIRST go-to Person—and never our last.

Scripture must be fulfilled. In other words, what God has promised, He will accomplish. What a fun study to look up all the things God has promised! Don’t only look up the things in the past, delightful though that is, look up what He promises to you and me (His children) for RIGHT NOW. Some of the wonders are ours regardless of anything we do, but a whole lot of them are dependent on our choices: pleasing God or ourselves. The more we learn about God, the more likely we are to WANT to live the way He desires for us, and the more we live the way He wants, the more He blesses and helps us! It’s a pretty awesome cycle to be in!

Christians should desire to want everyone to become Christians and though we may not be speaking non-stop about salvation, our attitudes, our choices, our topics of interest, our appearance—all of that should be SHOUTING to others about Who our God is and how praiseworthy He is. And when a comment comes our way complimenting us in some area, THEN we can share about the great I AM, the God Who, with tremendous sacrifice and unfathomable love, made a way for sinful man to be reconciled to Him and live forever in His presence.

Monday, June 22, 2020
(Did God show you something He wanted you to work on in your Christian walk yesterday? Ask His help to begin to better honor Him in this area beginning today.)
-Read John 13:12-17
“When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer robe, he sat down again and told them, “Do you realize what I’ve done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right because that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you must also wash one another’s feet. I’ve set an example for you, so that you may do as I have done to you. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, a servant isn’t greater than his master, and a messenger isn’t greater than the one who sent him. If you understand these things, how blessed you are if you put them into practice!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus told His disciples that they rightly called Him their ___ and ___.
2. Jesus, in washing their feet, set for them an ___ for them to also do.
3. Jesus said, “Do ____ I have done to you.”
4. A servant must never think he is greater than his ___.
5. When we understand God’s view of greatness, we are ___ when we put them into ___.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Once Jesus had finished washing the disciples’ feet, He put on His regular clothes and resumed His role as Rabbi (the Teacher). He told them that what He had done was one example of how someone with a servant’s heart behaved. No matter how “important” we might be (HE is the SON OF GOD!), we can never be greater than when we are serving others. Jesus wanted them to understand that our roles do not define our worth. If we are the chairman of the deacon board or the one who sweeps the sidewalk in the summer, if we are putting the needs of others before our own and are happy to be in the service of the King no matter where He places us, then we are great in God’s eyes.

Did you remember that our study in the gospel of John is a hunt for treasures? Well, verse 17 is a HUGE treasure! How blessed (fulfilled) we are when we do what God’s Word has shown us that we need to do! Write it down! Post it where you’ll see it! Tweet it to the masses! God’s blessing is found in simple obedience to His Word.

Now, go and do it!

P.S. There does not seem to be a command here that believers should be taking part in foot washing in the church. It would seem that this is simply an example of what having a servant’s heart looks like (following the example of THE Servant). The Bible teaches that there are only two ordinances that each church family must observe: Baptism (after salvation) and the Lord’s Supper. Incidentally, though a church may have many positions and jobs, there are only two offices found in Scripture, that of pastor and deacon.

Saturday, June 20, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to simply trust and obey today—not trying to do His job for Him.)
-Read John 13:6-11
“Then he came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “You don’t realize now what I’m doing, but later on you’ll understand.” Peter told him, “You must never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you cannot be involved with me.” Simon Peter told him, “Lord, not just my feet, but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus told him, “Whoever has bathed is entirely clean. He doesn’t need to wash himself further, except for his feet. And you men are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him. That’s why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Peter was not okay with Jesus washing his feet.
2. T/F When Jesus explained things, Peter still didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet.
3. T/F People need Jesus in order to be “clean.”
4. T/F Judas’ betrayal came as a total surprise to Jesus.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus warned Peter that he wouldn’t understand what Jesus was doing by washing their feet, then Peter went ahead and proved that what Jesus had just said was true. It’s kind of like me saying to myself, “You will not say that unnecessary thing to ______!” Then I turn right around and do it! I imagine that many of us have the propensity to go ahead and respond to things prematurely or unnecessarily.

Of course, Jesus wasn’t really talking about washing Peter’s feet, body, or anything physical in that manner. Jesus was speaking about spiritual truth. It takes salvation for any of us to BEGIN to understand spiritual truth and to act in a way that pleases God or which He calls “good.” But, even though salvation removed the guilt and penalty of sin, as long as we are alive on Planet Earth, we will still have our sin natures to contend with—and that sin nature wants most desperately to, well, sin! The very second we realize that we have sinned, we need to go to the Father, confessing our sins, so that He can cleanse us from all unrighteousness, making us “clean.”

Furthermore, as we move through this “dirty” world, we WILL pick up smears of wrong thinking and attitudes and get smudges on our elbows, grease stains on our knees, and debris in our eyes. To combat this, we need to keep studying God’s Word and keep listening to it being preached and taught in church so that we can recognize where our thinking, attitude, and actions have veered from God’s path and led to a muddy pit. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we can turn our back on all that and return to acting as the holy and sanctified “saint” that we ARE in Christ.

One last thought, though. All Jesus was asking from Peter was to trust Him. HE said that Peter should allow Him to wash is feet. The best response from Peter would be to say, “Yes, Lord.” And that ought to be OUR response every time we recognize that God wants us to do something, change something, or stop something. Simple obedience to the One Who gave His all for us.

P.S. Please note that Jesus washed ALL the disciples’ feet, even Judas, in spite of the fact that He knew what Judas was about to do.

Friday, John 19, 2020
(Ask for the Father’s help to be His humble servant today, seeking to be a blessing to one and all.)
-Read John 13:6-7
“Then he came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “You don’t realize now what I’m doing, but later on you’ll understand.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is the first disciple who questioned what Jesus was doing?
2. Jesus told Peter that he would understand ____, not now.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I am sometimes teased for being a born and bred “keeper of the rules.” I seem to have a pretty strong sense of “right” and “wrong” and it genuinely distresses me when things are happening that shouldn’t—or—when things aren’t happening that should (Yes, I am the one holding up traffic because I drive at the posted speed. I am also the one meticulously counting how many items I have in my basket before entering the 14-or-less lane). =) That is why I can definitely feel Peter’s rising stress levels as he observes Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of the world, taking on the extremely menial role of servant to wash the hot, dirty, dusty feet of His students, the other eleven disciples. Perhaps he, at first, finds his eyes opening wide in shock, then maybe his mouth drops open. After that, his heart rate increases, and sweat begins to form. He hears a voice (his own voice) shouting inside his head, “This is wrong! How can these men allow the Master to wash their FEET?? Surely, He won’t try to do mine! Please, Lord, Don’t wash MY feet!” But, then it is his turn and Jesus DOES kneel before him. He just cannot take it any longer and HAS to say, “Lord! You’re not going to wash my feet too, are You???”

And Gentle Jesus, the One Who created Peter and intimately understands all his weaknesses and strengths, Who understands Peter’s confusion and doubt, Who knows the agonies Peter is about to face that very night—and the next many days, calmly tells him to trust Him that He knows full well what He is doing and why. He assures Peter that even though he doesn’t get why He is demonstrating this tremendous level of humility at this time, there is a reason and he will one day understand.

And dear one, He offers this same comfort to you and me, too. There is so much about our lives now that we don’t understand. There is so much about our past—and, really, the past of the entire world! – that doesn’t make any sense to us whatsoever. There is even a pretty significant ignorance about what eternity will be like, which can leave us feeling a bit anxious or even annoyed. BUT, God knows. God cares. God’s got it all figured out to PERFECTION.

And to you other “alpha” take-charge kinds of gals, it is God Who is in charge—and He’s doing an awesome job (so we don’t need to try to do it for Him). Focus on YOU doing what is right (that is, what God says is “right”) and leave everything else in His very capable hands. As I read recently, only God is good at being God.

Thursday, June 18, 2020
(Thank God for His mercy and grace! Thank Him for His forgiveness and for His willingness and help to keep on keeping on for Him!)
-Read John 13:3-5
“Because Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his control, that he had come from God, and that he was returning to God,  therefore he got up from the table, removed his outer robe, and took a towel and fastened it around his waist.  Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. ____ Jesus knew that the Father had given ____ into his control,
2. That he had ___ from God, and that he was ____ to God,
3. _____ he got up from the table, removed his outer robe, and took a ___ and fastened it around his waist.
4. Then he poured some ____ into a basin and began to ____ the disciples’ ____ and to dry them with the towel that was tied around his waist.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus had complete confidence that the Father had given everything into His control. We, too, can have complete confidence that everything that the Father has told us in His Word is true and 100% secure.
-Jesus knew that He had come from God (from heaven). We can know with complete confidence that God created us as well as the entire universe. He not only created us in a general sense, He created you and me EXACTLY the way that He wanted and He is delighted with His creation.
-Jesus knew that when the mission the Father had given Him was complete, He would return to the Father’s side in heaven so that He could intercede on believers’ behalf until the Rapture and so that He could prepare the perfect place for us to come to when our time on earth is completed. All who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior can also be 100% positive that to leave this life is to enter into the presence of God. In fact, upon death, the first face that we will see is our beloved Savior’s!
-Because Jesus knew Who He was and what His role was as the Son, He was free to demonstrate His love and His joy to be a Servant by taking upon Himself the job of the lowliest slave. The job of washing the feet of weary family members and guests was so menial that it was usually given to a non-Jewish slave! Yet, our Savior, our King, our LORD, willingly did it as both a demonstration of His love—and as an example for all of His followers to follow. In order to be “great” in God’s eyes, our hearts, words, and actions should be that of a willing and eager servant. Our goals in regard to other people should be one of thinking of them as more important and focusing on being a blessing (and not our “usual” of seeking attention and expecting appreciation and accolades!).
-True love, biblical love, is more than the right words, the right thoughts, and even the right prayers. Biblical love is putting action behind the words and thought. Biblical love is getting up from the table, donning a servant’s garment, and doing what needs to be done to be a help and a blessing. And as we’ll see in the next few verses, biblical love is humbly, kindly, but firmly telling the truth—God’s truth.
-Jesus is ALSO teaching the disciples a little something about what God considers “great” as opposed to what the world says. Luke 22:24-30 explains what happened just prior to this special meal and maybe why Jesus did what He did in this verse (check it out!).

Have I told you lately how much I LOVE just how many amazing things can be found in just one or two verses? God’s Word is a tremendous treasure house of facts, truth, and practical helps for godly living!

Wednesday, June 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for His love—which resulted in Him choosing to send His Son into the world to save YOU. Thank Him for love that is forever and “complete.”)
-Read John 13:2
“By supper time, the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who influenced Judas to betray Jesus?
2. When?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 22:1-6 gives us a little background to Judas’ betrayal. “Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was near. So the high priests and the scribes were looking for a way to put him to death, because they were afraid of the crowd. But Satan went into Judas called Iscariot, who belonged to the circle of the Twelve. So he went off and discussed with the high priests and the Temple police how he could betray Jesus to them. They were delighted, and agreed to give him money. Judas accepted their offer and began to look for a good opportunity to betray Jesus to them when no crowd was present.”

Brace yourself. In spite of what Judas did, I am from the (admittedly small) camp who believe that Judas was saved when he did this horrific thing. I can’t deny that what he did was disgusting, but to be frank, when any of us choose to live our lives apart from God’s direction and help, there is no limit to the ugly.

On what, you may ask, do I base my belief that Judas was a Christian? Do you remember Jesus’ very first miracle when He turned regular water into delicious “fruit-of-the-vine”? The Bible says that the Twelve believed “into” Jesus. Read John 2:11. “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” The tiny preposition “in” used at the end of this verse is the Greek word for “into.” It indicates that the disciples had, at that moment, or potentially before this time, trusted in Jesus as their Savior. All twelve of them.

So, what sort of lessons and applications can we make from this verse?
-The fact that satan could “put (a plan) into the heart of Judas” is troubling to the extreme. You may remember, though, that it wasn’t until Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, that the Holy Spirit began to indwell believers at all times and for forever. Before then, He came and went in some believers. Even WITH His constant presence in our hearts, those of us living today STILL way too often choose to disobey God and do ugly things. How much more if the Holy Spirit weren’t there to constrain us and help us to choose right!
-God ALLOWED this to happen. He had a plan and He carried it out. This is NOT to say that God is the author of sin. EVER. He does, though, take advantage of the sin that humans do to bring about His will. Judas was still accountable for his wrongdoing.
-Satan might have felt tremendous victory in tricking Judas to betray Christ, but he was merely fulfilling GOD’S plan to bring salvation to mankind! God wins. God has never, nor could ever, lose. Only God could POSSIBLY win.
-The Religious leaders were also pleased that the way to get what they wanted, to utterly defeat and destroy Jesus, had been handed to them on a silver platter. They, too, came to regret their wickedness and the part they played in bringing about Jesus’ death. Nonetheless, they, too, were used in God’s plan to bring about salvation.
-God’s will WILL come about. How much better to cooperate with Him by intentionally and consistently obeying His Word and living a life that honors Him, pleases Him, and brings Him glory!
-Neither satan nor his demons can inhabit a Christian. Our God is a jealous God and He will not share us! However, Christians can be affected by demons or influenced for evil. The best way to steer clear of this is to stick close to the Father’s side, join and be faithful in every way to a local Bible-teaching church, maintain daily Bible study, and be “without ceasing” in prayer. We do not need to fear satan or his demons, but neither should we allow them easy access to our hearts or minds by going foolish places or doing foolish things. This would include, but not be limited to, anything even remotely questionable as far as websites, gaming, movies, etc. Doing things like playing with an Ouija board, expressing interest in witch-related things, watching shows where someone is supposedly “talking to the dead,” or anything occult in any way whatsoever—even if it seems hokey and harmless. Christians are wise to just say NO.
-Judas’ betrayal of Jesus didn’t happen in a vacuum. He didn’t just wake up that morning and feel the need to do this one evil deed. You may recall that after Jesus’ death, the other disciples became aware that Judas had been stealing from their joint money bag all along. He had been deceitful and devious for quite some time. It is by refusing to do what may seem a “tiny” wrong that we will be less tempted to do a “big” one. Put the other way around, living a life of trust in God and obedience to His Word in the everyday and mundane parts of our life will help us to trust and obey during the momentous and difficult times.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to speak His words today.)
-Read John 13:1 (John 13 can be found here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john+13&version=ISV
“Now before the Passover Festival, Jesus realized that his hour had come to leave this world and return to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was it time for?
2. When did Jesus realize this?
3. Who did Jesus love?
4. How long is His love?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I read that there are 89 chapters altogether in the four gospels. Of those, 4 chapters are dedicated to the first 30 years of Jesus’ life, while 85 chapters deal with His last 3 and a half years of life. Of those 85 chapters, 27 of them deal with the last 7 days of Jesus’ life ( https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/nt/john/john.htm). John 13 is from Jesus’ last few days. In fact, it is later in the night of this particular day where Jesus is arrested. First, though, Jesus had essential information to give to His disciples. That is what’s going on in John 13-17.

Here are a few facts that are applicable to this verse:
-This was probably the Passover meal. Jesus ate it privately with only the 12 disciples. It is known as the Last Supper and other information about it can be found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22 (it would be very helpful for you to take the time to look these up!).
-We often wonder what all Jesus knew about what needed to happen and when, but this verse clearly states that Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave the world and return to heaven.
-The word “world” here may not mean the physical structure of the planet, and it might not mean Jesus’ physical departure, though that certainly happened. It may have more to do with the mass of humanity that resides in the world, that is, people. Jesus would no longer be walking around the earth with people, but He was aware that His disciples sure would be. That is why He tenderly devotes so much time to instructing them and encouraging them in how to live once He has returned to heaven. He later tells them that one reason why He gave the Holy Spirit to them after He returned to heaven is so that they can remember what He taught and figure out what it means.
-Jesus’ love for those who belong to Him is so vast and so incomprehensible that we can only shake our head in wonder and jaw-dropping gratitude and give praise to the Father.
-John tells us that Jesus loved “His own” and that He loved them to the end. Now, it’s certainly true that Jesus proved His love for us by going all the way through with His mission and allowing Himself to be killed, but the beauty of this word may be something “more” than that (even though this love is unbelievably incredible). Jesus’ love for you and for me is complete. There is no end to it. It is all-encompassing. It is fully developed. It is “utmost.” It is literally impossible for Him to love us more or in a better way. There is no “more” or “better.” His love is perfect and all that we’ll ever need.

P.S. The word “love” would make an amazing word study! It’s a really, REALLY huge concept in Scripture, so be prepared to take quite a bit of time to work on it. If you want a simpler and delightful short study, though, simply read the book of I John. It will fill your heart with appreciation and joy!

Monday, June 15, 2020
(What did God bless you with this last weekend? Thank Him!)
-It’s time to review John 12. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from the month, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 12 Review & Summary
This chapter seems to be a sort of summary of Jesus’ public ministry. Some people listened to Him, believed in Him as their Savior, and displayed lavish love towards Him when they could. Other people were confused and uncertain; unwilling to commit to believing Him or learning from Him. Still others were threatened by His presence and teaching, choosing to refuse to consider that everything that He said was true—and that because it was true, demanded a huge change of thinking and behavior. Those who refused to believe Him eventually realized that it was “Him or them,” and began conspiring to get rid of Him permanently.

Through it all, however, Jesus remained the same. He had come to fulfill the Father’s will perfectly and thoroughly, so everything He did, everything He said, everything He DIDN’T do, had as its goal honoring and obeying the Father.

The example of Jesus’ life is, of course, the prime thing we are supposed to be following, so what Jesus did and said is always important. In this chapter, for example, Jesus pointed out that worshiping Him is always the right thing to do and that figuring out what our priorities are matters. Jesus, having waited for God’s perfect timing, finally allowed people to identify Him as the One Who came in the name of the LORD and Who is the King of Israel. These things had always been true, but God had a specific time when it could be publically shared. Observing Jesus patiently waiting for God’s will and timing to be revealed should be an encouragement to us to also be patient and trusting too.

As a Man, Jesus did NOT want to have to be beaten, humiliated, and killed in such a brutal and insulting manner. Bigger yet, the thought of the first-ever rift between Him and the Father (because He bore OUR sin) would have been extraordinarily painful. Really I think, that last thought is more painful than we can possibly imagine. YET, Jesus never for one second entertained the thought of NOT fulfilling God’s plan in this way. WOW. And we whine when it rains, when we discover mold on our bread, and when we are asked to do a favor by someone! Maybe worse yet, in light of what Jesus endured for us, we DON’T have anything to share during testimony time at church, we find “reasons” why we “have to” miss church services, and we actively avoid being asked to work in the nursery or teach Junior Church.

Jesus kept teaching about His Father and how important it was to obey Him through thick and thin, to believers and scoffers, even to demons and satan himself. This should describe us, too! Jesus taught that there IS a judgment, but that there is a way to not be condemned: simple belief in Him. Why? Because that’s what GOD said. Why? Because becoming a child of God is how the blessing begin—and how they keep coming and coming.

And finally, in John 12, Jesus reminds His followers to speak only what the Father wants them to speak, just as He did. A very simple truth that is world-shakingly important.

Saturday, June 13, 2020
(Praise the Father that He is Light! Ask His help to reflect that light in your life today.)
-Read John 12:47-50
“If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I don’t condemn him, because I didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my words has something to judge him: The word that I’ve spoken will judge him on the last day, because I haven’t spoken on my own authority. Instead, the Father who sent me has himself commanded me what to say and how to speak. And I know that what he commands brings eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What judges people on the last day?
2. On Whose authority did Jesus say what He said while on earth?
3. What God commands brings _____ ____.
4. Jesus speaks _____ ____ the Father has told Him.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These verses contain some pretty huge truths! We could spend a lot of time “unpacking” them and standing in awe of God’s perfect plan and timing – and I hope that you will do that at some point in your life! But for today, let’s focus on the last part of verse 50 (because I LOVE it!), “What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

One of the phrases that I cannot help but notice and be blessed by when I spy it in reading the Bible is various versions of: “I speak (or do) just as the Father has told me.” Noah did all that God commanded him to do—EXACTLY as instructed. Joseph of Nazareth did everything the angel from God told him to do IMMEDIATELY. Joshua obeyed EVERY command of God concerning the “unusual” plan to defeat Jericho (and in many other ways). When told to leave EVERYTHING behind by God, Abram did all that the LORD commanded him to do. Right before Saul became Paul, Jesus literally interrupted everything about Paul’s beliefs, goals, and plans, and commanded him to follow Him—and Paul did exactly that right away and without delay. And a last, and favorite example, Mary, who upon being told something that had NEVER happened before (and would never happen again), humbly accepted the Father’s will as her own without hesitation or struggle.

So, I guess that brings the question to you and me: are WE speaking, acting, and behaving EXACTLY the way the Father wants us to? I sincerely want to, that much is certain. But what is also true is that this is a constant struggle and one that I need to keep giving to God in prayer, seeking HIS help and HIS wisdom for.

Let’s pray for each other! Let’s support each other in the determination to do all and exactly what God wants for us and from us! What INCREDIBLE blessings God has in store for all those who live faithfully for Him!

“But he said, “Instead, how blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it!” Luke 11:28

Friday, June 12, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to “look like” His Son today in what you do and how you do it.)
-Read John 12:46
“I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus came into the world as ____.
2. Why?
3. Apart from Jesus, what does everyone remain in?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
We’ve spoken from time to time about different ways to study the Bible. Since the word “light” has come up several times in the gospel of John, I thought it would be fun to do a little word study on it. What you are seeing below is the step AFTER I collected a bunch of verses that use the word light in them and then put them into categories (summarizing what is being said about light). Light is a ginormous subject in the Bible, so be aware that this is a very small sampling of verses. So, what does the Bible teach about light?

-Light Describes God’s Character:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?”  Proverbs 27:1
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light, in Him is no darkness at all.”  I John 1:5
-Jesus Christ is Light:
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12
“I’ve come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me won’t remain in the darkness.”   John 12:46
“(Jesus is) a light that will reveal salvation to unbelievers and bring glory to your people Israel.”  Luke 2:32
“In him (Jesus) was life, and that life brought light to humanity. And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out. . . This was the true light that enlightens every person by his coming into the world.”   John 1:4-5, 9
-Light divides the Darkness:
“Then God said, ‘Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”  Genesis 1:3-4

-Scripture is Light:
“For the commandment is a lamp, and the Law is a light…”  Proverbs 6:2
“Your word is a lamp for my feet,  a light for my pathway.” Psalm 119:105
“The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”  Psalm 119:130

-Believers are Lights:
“You are the light of the world…” Matthew 5:14
“For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness.” I Thessalonians 5:5
-As Lights, Believers’ Lives Should be Different:
“In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good actions and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
“Stop becoming unevenly yoked with unbelievers. What partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? What fellowship can light have with darkness?” II Corinthians 6:14
“For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, for the fruit that the light produces consists of every form of goodness, righteousness, and truth.” Ephesians 5:8-9
“Light” as We Know it Now Will Change:
“There will be no more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule forever and ever.” Revelation 5:5

Application:
If you’ve hung out with me and my Bible studies long enough, you will not be surprised to hear that simply studying the Bible isn’t enough. We need to know how God wants to use it to make us more like His image, that is, like Jesus Christ. So, two essential steps in addition to reading the Bible is to pray before opening it to ask for help to understand what you are reading and prayer after you are done to ask for help in how to apply it to your life and your circumstances. With that in mind, what conclusions and applications might we make from these verses about light?

The conclusions/summary statements are already listed above:
-Light describes God’s character.
-Jesus Christ is light.
-Light divides the darkness.
-Scripture is light.
-Believers are lights.
-As lights, believers’ lives should be different.

How does all this affect ME?
Since God IS light, it stands to reason that if I want to understand it, I need to study God to see in what ways He is light, or maybe to better state it, what about Him identifies what light really is (as opposed to how science or human opinion might define it)? This is really important, because as a child of God, I, too, am light. Or, at least, I am SUPPOSED to be modeling Jesus’ light to everyone who sees me! What I do either brings glory to God—or brings Him dishonor! To live as a child of light I need to “produce” fruit that is consistent with goodness, righteousness, and truth. That means NOT ugly, not selfish, not mean, not sinful, not dishonest, not “bad” or of the “darkness”. In order to know what is light and what isn’t, I need to be studying God’s Word to find out what HE says it is and isn’t. He has promised that His Word will give me understanding and direct me in the right way to go.

I hope that this blessed you, challenged you spiritually, and gave you encouragement to start a few word studies of your own! Studying God’s Word is ALWAYS a wonderful thing!

Thursday, June 11, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the people and circumstances He has used in your life to help you become a stronger, more faithful believer.)
-Read John 12:44-45
“Then Jesus said loudly, “The one who believes in me does not believe in me only, but also in the one who sent me. The one who sees me sees the one who sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Then Jesus said loudly, “The one who __________ in me does not believe in me only, but also in the ______ _______ sent me.
2. The one who __________ me ___________ the one who sent me.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
A few things to keep in mind:
-Jesus had just entered Jerusalem for Passover on the colt of a donkey, heralded as the One Who came in the name of the LORD and as the King of Israel.
-It was less than a week before Jesus would be crucified.
-The Religious leaders had determined to arrest Jesus and have Him killed as soon as possible.
-Jesus never stopped teaching spiritual truth, He never stopped obeying the Father’s will, and He never stopped being a perfect example of what children of God should think, choose, and do.
-Jesus identified Himself as a light in the darkness; One Who came to save the world. Those who believed in Him would become children of light.
-God the Father spoke audibly on that incredible day, confirming the glory that Jesus has brought, and continues to bring, to His name.
-Jesus had made the statement that the time had finally come for “the Son of Man to be glorified.”

I have long loved and been challenged by Jesus’ statements that to see Him is to see the Father. Is this true as far as physical appearance? Well, maybe before Jesus took on the permanent body of a human Man, but not necessarily. No, I think we all understand that Jesus is speaking about attitudes and actions, plans and goals, and the essence of WHO God really is. This, of course, should COMPEL us to study everything Scripture says about Jesus Christ so that we can praise Him—and so that we can praise the Father. But there’s more to consider. When the Holy Spirit brought you to spiritual life, He also made you an adopted child of God with all the rights and responsibilities of a physically born child. His gifts to us are too many to count, but as far as this conversation goes, He gives us the ability to recognize what pleases Him (and doesn’t) and the ability to do it (and NOT do what we shouldn’t). Apart from Him, we could not do good. BUT, it doesn’t stop there! Becoming more like Jesus doesn’t happen simply by reading the Bible and recognizing what is “good” and what is sin. No, siree! God has ALSO gifted us with the free will to WANT to choose to obey Him and please Him! He could have made us all mindless robots, but He WANTS us to want to love Him and do His will! It PLEASES Him when we choose to do “what Jesus would do.” He is HONORED and GLORIFIED when our attitudes and actions bring “glory to His name” and represent His character well.

Who or what do people see when they see YOU? Carefully, PRAYERFULLY, evaluate different aspects of your life on a regular basis so that God can show you how to prune off what is unfruitful and nurture what He can use in mighty ways in your life and the lives that you touch.

Wednesday, June 10, 2020
(Commit to being even more wholehearted in your devotion to God today. Pray also for those who have not yet trusted in Jesus as their Savior, being on the lookout for the ones God wants you to talk to about Him.)
-Read John 12:42-43
“Yet many people, even some of the authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not admit it so they would not be thrown out of the synagogue. For they loved the praise of human beings more than the praise of God.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did believe Jesus?
2. Did they admit it?
3. Why not?
4. Whose praise was the most important to them?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These verses give us reason to rejoice (people were getting saved!), reason to be sorrowful (people were not willing to take a stand for Christ), and reason to be challenged (people considering the opinion of others more important than that of God’s).

This, for sure, should cause us to evaluate who or what we love the praise of. I think that this is quite a personal question—and our answers will be based on many factors, maybe most especially, who or what most influenced us to this point in our lives. Was it a parent or parents? A sibling? A good friend? Someone who didn’t like you? Was it a teacher? What about an experience you had during your school years, while in a job, while sick or injured? Was it a simple casual comment someone made that impacted how you think ever since?

We ALL have a whole boatload of “baggage” from our past that can affect us and influence us in pretty earth-shaking ways, but when we come down to it, NOTHING should impact us more than our relationship to God and our realization of what Jesus Christ has done and is doing for us. Any “bad,” “unpleasant,” and “heartbreaking” that might influence us to think, act, or react in a certain way is washed away by the love of God and the JOY of belonging to Him. Focusing on His love for us—and—opportunities to prove our love for Him, can blank out wrong attitudes and painful memories. We can, by God’s grace, learn to love GOD’S PRAISE far, far more than any human being’s.

P.S. That is not to say that it is wrong to appreciate the words of encouragement and support by godly brothers and sisters in Christ! Helping and encouraging each other is a joyful task that we are commanded to do. And when Christians live obediently according to God’s Word TOGETHER, then God gets all the praise for that, too.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020
(Thank the Father that you belong to Him! Pray for all those who still walk in darkness.)
-Read John 12:37-41
“Although he had performed numerous signs in their presence, they did not believe in him, so that what the prophet Isaiah spoke might be fulfilled when he said: “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the Lord’s power been revealed?” This is why they could not believe: Isaiah also said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they might not perceive with their eyes, and understand with their mind and turn, and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this when he saw his glory and spoke about him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus’ many signs (miracles) did not result in what?
2. What Old Testament prophet is quoted?
3. God has ____ their eyes and hardened their ____.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
So, I don’t deny for a second that there are some pretty difficult things to understand and accept in this passage! John is trying to explain why so many of the Jews didn’t believe Who Jesus was in spite of the fact that His many miracles should have caused every single one of them to believe what He said immediately. John quotes Isaiah 53:1 and 6:10. Here they are:

Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Isaiah 6:10 “Dull the mind of this people, deafen their ears, and blind their eyes.
By doing so, they won’t see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.”

Interestingly, John may well ALSO be quoting Jesus, since He addressed this very topic with His disciples earlier in His ministry. Jesus had been teaching in parables, and though the disciples were able (with Jesus’ help) to understand the spiritual lessons found within the parables, generally speaking, the crowds could not. They wanted to know why. Here’s what Jesus said:

Matthew 13:10-15 “Then the disciples came and asked Jesus, “Why do you speak to people in parables?” He answered them, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom from heaven, but it hasn’t been given to them, because to anyone who has something, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who doesn’t have anything, even what he has will be taken away from him. That’s why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but don’t see, and they listen but don’t hear or understand.’ “With them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says: ‘You will listen and listen but never understand. You will look and look but never comprehend, for this people’s heart has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing. They have shut their eyes so that they might not see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ “How blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear! I tell all of you with certainty, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them.”

There are (at least!) two key truths here: God’s sovereignty is indisputable. He is in control and no one can challenge or change that. God is good—and regardless of what we may THINK is “okay” and “not okay,” we are not God and don’t have the ability to make that call (or the wisdom to recognize what is best). Secondly, God will not put up with sin, hard hearts, and the decision to not obey Him forever. He gave Israel COUNTLESS opportunities to obey Him and they turned their backs on Him over and over and over! God eventually made it so they could NOT “see,” could not “hear,” and would always have hard hearts. This, for sure, should give us goosebumps—because God will not ignore our sin and defiance forever, either. He is INCREDIBLY gracious and INCREDIBLY merciful, but He is also RIGHTEOUS, and HOLY, and He will not tolerate sin. He not only will not bless the believer who is choosing to allow sin to remain in their lives, He will punish them because of His great love for them. And if the sin escalates or He sees that it is “enough,” He may take that child of God home in death so as to stop their dishonorable life. God does not play games with sin. Sometimes the punishment that God deals out is the toughest possible kind: giving people what they want. That might be a life without God’s joy, peace, and fulfillment; it might be a hardened heart; it might be a godless, miserable existence.

BUT, all is not lost, because God IS merciful and full of lovingkindness—and God HAS chosen many for salvation. The very next verse in John 12 says that some Jews DID believe, praise His name! And God wants your loved ones to trust in Jesus as Savior, too. Maybe they are among the ones yet to be saved before the Rapture occurs. We don’t know who He will save, when, or when the clock has wound down as far as our opportunities to witness about Him has come. We need to never stop talking about Him and sharing the good news of the gospel!

Monday, June 8, 2020
(Thank God once again for the ways He blessed and challenged you yesterday.)
-Read John 12:34-36
“Then the crowd answered him, “We have learned from the Law that the Messiah remains forever. So how can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
Jesus replied to the crowd, “The light is among you only for a short time. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. The person who walks in the darkness is in the darkness and does not know where he is going. As long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he went away and hid from them.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The crowds didn’t seem to understand how Jesus could be the Messiah and the _____.
2. Jesus referred to Himself as the ____ that was only among them a short while.
3. How could they avoid darkness overtaking them?
4. The person who walks in the darkness doesn’t know what?
5. Believing in the Light makes us _____ of light.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This is the last record of Jesus speaking to the crowds in the Gospel of John. We find that they continue to be a bit perplexed and doubtful, BUT Jesus continues to share critical truths and the promise of great hope. Sadly, the lion’s share of the crowd simply didn’t understand and missed their opportunity to respond to God’s own Son personally.

The crowd wanted to talk about the Messiah and how He would rescue them from Rome and set up the marvelous kingdom promised in the Old Testament. Because God ALWAYS keeps His promises, that kingdom WILL happen, but that wasn’t why Jesus was on earth at that time. Jesus’ reign as King of the world begins during the Millennium, which is still at least 7 years away from today.

What JESUS wanted to talk about on that last day with them, though, was not about His kingdom, as awesome as that will be. He wanted to talk to them about how to become children of light. He told them that HE was “light,” but that His time physically with them was just about done, so they needed to take advantage of every single second that they had with Him to avoid being “taken over” by the darkness. He said that the ones who believe in Him will become “children of light.” Note that Jesus didn’t say that they needed to “confess Him as Lord,” to go to the synagogue every Saturday without fail, or to do good deeds. To become His child, they needed to believe in Him. This is STILL true today.

Being “a child of . . .” is the idea of displaying the characteristics of someone/something. We might say that someone is a “man of integrity,” meaning that their reputation is one of honesty and fairness. In this exact case, Jesus is saying that those who trust in Him as their Savior become children of light. Here’s the challenge for you and me to be aware of: even though Christians ARE children of light, we may or may not display it. It is only as we are following Jesus’ example in our own lives that we are displaying His light. This basic truth is seen in many areas of Christianity. In God’s eyes, we ARE holy, that is, set apart from sin and belonging to Him, but that doesn’t mean that our attitudes and behavior always reflect this fact. God has given us free will, and sadly, we sometimes use it to indulge our sin nature. In God’s eyes, we are righteous, that is upright and having a right standing with Him. Sadly, we can choose to live just like the ungodly world and think and act more like satan than our Heavenly Father. BUT, unlike the ungodly world, we CAN choose to obey God’s Word and live a life that is right in His eyes and which demonstrates His light to those who know us and see our lifestyle and choices. With the help of the Holy Spirit to remind us what God wants (as stated in the Bible) and with His endless strength, we CAN choose to do right and choose to NOT give in to the flesh and darkness. Praise the Lord for all that He gives us “in” Christ!

Saturday, June 6, 2020
(Thank God that every day you wake up is one day closer to an eternity with Him—and without sin, satan, and ugliness.)
-Read John 12:32-33
“for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was about to die.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was Jesus’ purpose in speaking about being “lifted up”?
2. He said that being lifted up would do what?
3. According to this statement, how close was Jesus’ death?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus presents a contrast for His listeners. His death may make it SEEM like He has been cast down and has been defeated, but the truth is that it is satan who will be utterly defeated (and eventually cast down—all the way into the Lake of Fire!) and Jesus will be lifted up. His willingness to be “lifted” onto a cross to bring about His death will end up with Him forever defeating both sin and death, with Him being lifted up to heaven after His resurrection (three or four weeks later), AND with Him being lifted up, that is, glorified by God the Father for His willing obedience to His will. Furthermore, because of Jesus being lifted up in this way, everyone who trusts in His work on the cross on behalf of their sin WILL become children of God and spiritually alive. They, too, are given victory over death and will dwell in the presence of God forever.

Is today the day when Christ leaves heaven, comes to the clouds of earth, and claims all those who have trusted in Him as Savior? Is today the day you and I will be “lifted up?” I don’t know, but we sure ought to be watching for Him—and we sure ought to be living in such a way that we are can greet Him with joy and gladness, and not shame and sorrow.

How might knowing Jesus could return for you today affect how you live TODAY? How might it affect what sorts of conversations you have with the people that you come across today?

Friday, June 5, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to glorify Him in every way and at all times today!)
-Read John 12:29-31
“The crowd standing there heard this and said that it was thunder. Others were saying, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus replied, “This voice is for your benefit, not for mine. Now is the time for the judgment of this world to begin. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did the crowd mistake the Father’s voice as?
2. What did others think?
3. For whose benefit did God the Father speak?
4. It was time for what two things?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It’s very interesting to me how different people’s perspectives can be! Jesus, being perfectly in tune with the Father, heard His words clearly and concisely. Others heard a voice, but weren’t sure exactly what they heard or who said it. Others, still, blamed it on thunder as a plausible explanation. Do you see how our closeness to God affects how we are able to discern and understand things? As God’s children, we are able to look around at nature and see God’s magnificent hand in EVERYTHING—and we stand in awe, praising His name. The world sees nature and thinks how clever it was to crawl up out of the muck and make something of itself. Those walking faithfully with God see each child—no matter how much of a “surprise” they might have been—as a miracle and an incredibly precious gift from God. Those who turn their backs on God see a child before birth as a bunch of “cells” that can be destroyed if they aren’t in the mood for a baby at that time. Christians see animals as food, as helpers to raise and harvest food, and sure, some as companions, guard dogs, and helpers in some way, but the world is coming more and more to view animals as literal children and as having “rights” in the same way as humans.

Christians, though, aren’t immune to wrong perspectives and views. It takes searching Scripture daily, maintaining a close relationship to God in prayer, regularly being fed God’s Word at church, and putting into practice what we know God wants us to do for us to be able to discern God’s will and to adjust our faulty thinking to match His perfect thoughts. AND HE HELPS US DO THIS through the ongoing work of the Indwelling Spirit. It takes constant diligence, though, and a determination like Jesus’ in verse 28, to set aside our wishes and, instead, live to bring God great glory.

P.S. Don’t miss that Jesus is announcing that satan’s rule is just about over. His death and resurrection will forever defeat sin and death—and satan’s final doom is just a matter of time.

Thursday, June 4, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to pay attention to what you say and do today so that it accurately reflects His character and standards.)
-Read John 12:27-28
“Now my soul is in turmoil, and what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No! It was for this very reason that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus said that His soul was in ______.
2. If He could, what might He ask the Father to save Him from?
3. Why wouldn’t He ask?
4. What did Jesus want more than anything?
5. How did the Father respond?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These are two pretty spectacular verses, wouldn’t you say? In the one, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the “Son of Man,” reveals His human side by sharing with those who were listening to Him that His soul was in turmoil. He was dreading all the agony and pain that He knew was imminent, but He knew that He HAD to go through it. His bravery, His courage, His steely determination was for you. And it was for me. He, Himself, had NOTHING to do with sin coming into the world and destroying all of His glorious creation, yet He had chosen to LOVE mankind, and He had chosen to sacrifice Himself in ways that our human minds may never be able to fully comprehend—for you. And for me.

And, so, because He knew that He must, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, bowed to the will of the Father and committed to the cross. His only plea: that the Father be glorified. And, wonder of wonders, the Father spoke audibly from heaven! This was a rare and incredibly amazing event! What did He say to Jesus and to all who could hear Him (and to us through the pages of Scripture)? His name WAS being glorified through His Son—and would continue to be glorified. Wowsers! What a huge deal!

Have you ever thought that one of the outcomes of choosing to act and react as Christ would have is that God’s name is glorified? It’s true! Other Bible passages say the same thing. When children of God obey His Word, He is glorified. When believers give praise to His name in whatever form, in whatever place, He is glorified. When Christians pay attention to the words of the hymns they are singing on Sunday morning and mean them, God is glorified. When God’s children remember to rejoice in each new day God has given them in the morning, then thank Him for His mercy and grace as the day comes to an end, He is glorified. Each and every single time we say “no” to sin and self and “yes” to righteousness and holiness, God is glorified. And in the end, which is really the beginning, when we stand before the Father and our Savior, God will be glorified in our lives lived faithfully for Him.

Prayerfully contemplate how you might bring God glory a bit better in various areas of your life, asking His help to excel still more from day to day, year to year. Ask for the Father’s help to choose to bring Him glory instead of having things happen the way you would like—just like Jesus did in this passage.

BONUS: God spoke audibly two other times during Jesus’ time on earth. Once was upon Jesus’ baptism (Mt. 3:17, Mk. 1:11, Luke 3:21-22), and the other was at His transfiguration (Mt. 17:5, Mk. 9:7, Luke 9:35). Jesus spoke once (after His return to heaven). It was to Saul/Paul in Acts 9:4-6. Look them up!

Wednesday, June 3, 2020
(Spend some time simply thanking God for what He has done in the past, what He is doing in the present, and all He will do in the future.)
-Read John 12:23-26
“Jesus told them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces a lot of grain. The one who loves his life will destroy it, and the one who hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will also be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus told them, “The hour ____ ___ for the Son of Man to be ___
2. The one who ___ his life will ___ it, and the one who hates his life in this world will __ it for eternal life.
3. If anyone serves me, ____ _____ _____ ____.
4. And where I am, there my servant will ____ _____.
5. If anyone serves me, the ___ will honor him.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Does this sound familiar? Jesus mentioned this before. Check it out in Matthew 10:39, Mark 8:36, and Luke 14:26. Basically put, it takes turning our backs on selfishness, arrogance, and pride to be useful to the Master. But the faithful Christian life is more than what we DON’T do, it’s about what we DO do! We need to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We do this by obeying Him wholeheartedly, willingly, joyfully, and constantly. It is only when we set aside our agenda and our idea about “how things should go” that we are able to look to God for the answers to all of life’s questions—and do what He says. AND, because this is GOD we are talking about yielding to, the reward that we will receive for our right choices is HEAVENLY. God will bless us in the here and now with peace, joy, and a sense that we are living as we ought (but probably NOT with oodles of money, prestige, or what the unsaved think of as “good”). God will ALSO bless us in eternity by giving us even more awesome ways to serve Him and bring Him honor, BUT, He will also give us honor!! That is, He will in some way indicate to all His children which of them had been especially faithful to Him and who were true servants of Christ.

B.T.W. In these few verses, Jesus is talking about two things at the same time. He is talking about His physical death and how it was only through His death that many would become alive spiritually—and He was saying that those who have trusted in Him as Savior also need to “die” to self and sin and choose to live according to their new name in heaven in order to be useful to God and produce a marvelous crop.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020
(Thank the Father for choosing this time and place for you to live. It was His absolute best for you!)
-Read John 12:20-23
“Now some Greeks were among those who had come up to worship at the festival. They went to Philip (who was from Bethsaida in Galilee) and told him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus told them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who wanted to see Jesus?
2. Who did they first ask?
3. Who asked Jesus?
4. What was Jesus’ response?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The interesting tidbit that there were Greeks worshiping God at the Passover festival is only mentioned in the gospel of John, though once they are introduced, we don’t hear anything more about them! It’s possible that their presence was a reminder that Jesus’ sacrifice was not only for Jews, but for the entire world.

Someone who is identified as a “Greek” isn’t necessarily from Greece. This same term was used of non-Jews from many locations. In fact, there have always been Gentiles in Israel and surrounding locations who worshiped God alongside the Jews, though they would not have been allowed in the most holy places of the Temple complex. Why they approached Philip is also a mystery—as is why Philip went to Andrew before telling Jesus. What IS important, though, is what Jesus said. What God says is ALWAYS the most important—and that’s an essential truth to always keep in our minds and hearts.

After dozens of times of saying “My hour has not come,” Jesus is finally able to declare that “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Did you hear it? Did you hear the shift in the very foundation of the world? God has come to earth to give His LIFE so that you and I can be spiritually alive. Take a moment to reflect on that, to thank God, to praise Him, and to give Him great glory!

Dear Fellow Student of the Word,

It’s been a while since I last said hi. So, Hi! =) We’ve had new folks join our Monday-Saturday Bible studies and I wanted to remind you of where we have been and where we are headed. This year’s focus is on treasure hunting in the Gospel of John for whatever nuggets God has for us to teach us more about Himself, to remind us of His plan for the world (and for us as His children), and to point out to us what we can do to please Him and bring Him glory (and what things we should stay away from so that He is not dishonored and so our fellowship with Him isn’t marred).

We actually began our work in John in January of 2019—and we hope to complete John by the end of this year. If you want to see where we have been or be reminded what we studied to date, you can go to our church website, firstbaptistnorthconway.org, and find the information under the “ministries” tab on the top of the screen. While I’m talking about internet things, I might also point out that our church has over three years of sermons, devotions, and special programs recorded on YouTube. Our home address there is FBCNorthConway.

One important reminder is that I send these devotions out Monday-Saturday, and I will not stop sending them until you tell me to stop or if I HAVE to stop for some reason (which I would tell you about). So, if you stop getting them without getting notice from me, then please contact me so that I can try to figure out what went wrong. I have NO IDEA if anyone receives these after I hit “send” unless you tell me. You also have my permission to forward them to anyone the Lord lays on your heart.

I cannot tell you how much I am blessed to share my journey through the Gospel of John with YOU! It is such a joy to my heart to hear of others who love God’s Word and who love to live out what they have learned in their lives. May God continue to be honored with our efforts and may we all continue to grow closer to Him as we be becoming more like His Son bit by bit, day by day.

By His Grace, Lorie

Monday, June 1, 2020
(Mondays are a great day to thank God for a new week—and this Monday is a great day to thank God for a new month, too!)
-Read John 12:17-19
“So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify to what they had seen. The crowd was going out to meet Jesus because they had heard that he had performed this sign. Then the Pharisees told one another, “You see, there is nothing you can do. Look, the world has gone after him!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who testified about Lazarus being raised from the dead?
2. What did the crowd do as a result?
3. What was the reaction of the Pharisees?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
There is turmoil going on somewhere in our world all the time. Sometimes its something weather-related. Sometimes it is political. Sometimes it is out and out war. But what was happening in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago was literally world history at a pivotal point. Everything from the creation of the world until that day was leading up to the events of the upcoming week. What Jesus was entering Jerusalem to do would rock the world and the entire universe. It was the beginning of the end of sin. It was the start of the restoration of the perfect world and life that God intended from the very beginning. It was an incredibly important day.

Do you think anyone besides the Trinity and (maybe) the angelic realm knew it? I kind of doubt it. But you and I are aware of it this side of the cross—and meditating on what Jesus did and how it changed the course of history should cause us to get CRAZY EXCITED about the next HUGE day in history. It could be today! No one but God the Father knows when He is going to send Jesus to meet us in the sky. It’ll happen in the snap of a finger; in the twinkling of an eye, in the space between breaths. What we have always known as what life is “like” will forevermore be in the past. What God has in store for our future will be glorious forevermore! Take a leaf (pun intended) from the example of the crowds that day in Jerusalem and shout praises to God for the wonders of His great mercy and grace! Shout “Praise the Lord!” loud and long.

July 2020 DBSQs

Friday, July 31, 2020
(Ask the Father to point out any areas that aren’t quite right with Him and for help to deal with it so that you can fully please Him once again.)
-Read John 15:26-27
“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father— the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father—he will testify on my behalf. You will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is Jesus sending to us from the Father?
2. What two names are given for Him?
3. What will He testify of?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These two verses are among several precious verses that speak of the three Persons of the Godhead and the exceptional relationship they have with each other. All are God, yet They each have a specific role that they are delighted to fulfill. They are not secretly wishing to fulfill each other’s roles; rather they work together in literally perfect harmony. I suspect that we might not value this glimpse into deity as much as we should!

God the Father is the Architect of God’s will. He creates a plan and God the Son carries it out to perfection with the support, power, and help of the Holy Spirit. Did you note how the Holy Spirit was sent to indwell believers by the will of the Father in the same way Jesus came to earth to become a Man by the will of the Father? And just as Jesus spent His whole life testifying of the Father and demonstrating what He is like by His own actions, words, and attitude, the Holy Spirit will be acting on behalf of the Son. He will help the disciples remember and apply all the things that Jesus had been teaching them for three and a half years. They, in turn, shared that with those they taught and preached to—including us, in the form of the New Testament.

It doesn’t stop there, though. The Holy Spirit is STILL indwelling believers upon their salvation, He is STILL teaching us about God, He is STILL helping us to understand—and remember—Scripture. He is STILL helping us to share this good news with others. He will help YOU live a God-honoring life, to want to study Scripture and to pray, and He will help you apply its principles to your life. As you do that, He will use your words and testimony to be an encouragement and help to other believers and He will use it to cause unbelievers to notice that you are not like the rest of the world – and to wonder why.

God is perfect. All that God does is perfect. We can trust Him utterly and always, freeing us to simply obey His Word without question, doubt, or deviation.

Thursday, July 30, 2020
(Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ and for help to love them in a way that honors God.)
-Read John 15:22-25
“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. The person who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done among them the actions that no one else did, they wouldn’t have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that what has been written in their Law might be fulfilled: ‘They hated me for no reason.’”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Is there an excuse for sin?
2. Those who hate Jesus also hate Who?
3. What was fulfilled from the Law?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Have you ever caught someone in an incredibly obvious lie, or perhaps in a state of denial over something that is clearly true? An example of an obvious lie might be a child who swears that they did not eat any of the forbidden chocolate-chip cookies, but who has a chocolate smear on their lips. An example of foolish denial might be the memory I have of one of my sisters as a child who proclaimed to not be angry, but who then immediately kicked another sibling as hard as she could. Just because these people denied their theft and anger, did it make it not true? Of course not!

Jesus came to die on behalf of sin, even though thousands of people in His life on earth denied having it—as have millions since then. Denial doesn’t mean it isn’t so. In fact, if GOD is the One Who says something, it is as true as it is possible to be true! Therefore, as He said, every man, woman, and child is born with sin (Jesus Christ is the ONLY exception because He did not have a sin nature) – and since this has been pointed out to them, they have no excuse, and frankly, they didn’t like it. In fact, those who realize they have sin hate God because sin is the enemy of our holy, righteous God.

Jesus is actually describing quite the bleak situation! In fact, the Book of Romans points out that if things were left as they were, we would all be without any hope whatsoever, doomed to an eternity in the Lake of Fire! BUT, God did NOT leave the situation as it was. He intervened and made a way of restoration and new life through the sacrifice of His own beloved Son. Belief in His death, burial, and resurrection removes the guilt of sin and gives new life and an eternal adoption into the family of God. People can deny all of that all they want, but it’s still true.

So, if we already know all that (praise the LORD!), what sort of application can we make (besides the obvious of telling others about it!)?

Christians are capable of deceiving themselves, too. Shocker, I know! We are fully able to pretend we are right with God in every area, while choosing to not obey Him in one or more areas that seem “hard” or “unnecessary” in our opinion. But as noted earlier, it’s not our opinion that matters. True obedience is living fully according to GOD’S opinion. BUT, good news! When we humbly and sincerely ask Him to show us how we might be fooling ourselves—or even knowingly disobeying—He always lovingly shows us what we need to see AND helps us return to the place of sweet submission to Him. There is literally no better place to be than walking side-by-side with our Savior!

F.Y.I. Jesus may be quoting Psalm 35:19 and/or Psalm 69:4 in verse 25.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020
(Thank the Father for Who He is, all that He does, and the wonderful blessings He gives literally every moment of every day!)
-Read John 15:17-21
“I am giving you these commandments so that you may love one another.” “If the world hates you, you should realize that it hated me before you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as one of its own. But because you do not belong to the world and I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. They will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why does the world hate believers?
2. Who does the world love?
3. Why does the world persecute believers?
4. Who don’t they know?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus told the disciples what a vibrant, delightfully close fellowship with Him and the Father looks like; now He moves on to discuss relationships with people. You see, we simply cannot and will not have edifying, God-honoring relationships with people until our hearts and lives are right with God. That is always the essential first step in every single aspect of life.

One of the goals of keeping God’s Word fully and faithfully is that we can then learn how to rightly love others. But, Jesus points out, even though we know how to love others in a God-honoring way, that does not guarantee that we will be loved back. As a matter of fact, since the world does not have a relationship to God, and hates Him, it will hate us too when we are acting like Him. In fact, a kind of quick self-check to evaluate if we are living wholeheartedly for the Lord is to evaluate who we get along with. If we are great friends with ungodly folks and fit right in with their language, their interests, and their activities, it seems unlikely that we are standing out as a child of God. Sadly, those who are sold out for the Lord may have some contention even with other believers if the other believers are not living obediently according to God’s Word.

Have you seen the triangle that shows how to have sweet and strong relationships with other people? God is at the top (at the point) and you and others are at the bottom two points. It is only as you both move closer to God that you will also be closer to each other. This is true of marriages, this is true of friendships, this is true of fellow church family members.

Tuesday, July 28, 2020
(Have you asked God lately what’s holding you back from an even closer walk with Him? Ask Him and thank Him for helping you be becoming more like His precious Son.)
-Read John 15:16
“You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. I have appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F We have chosen God.
2. T/F Jesus chose us.
3. T/F Jesus appointed us to go and produce fruit.
4. T/F God wants to be able to give us what we ask for when we pray.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As Americans, we’re kind of taught from childhood to resent being told what to do, how to do it, and when. We MUCH prefer making our own decisions, or better yet, being the one to tell other people what to do. Of course, the root of all that “independence” is the sin nature that we are born with. Our sin nature does NOT want to acknowledge that as created beings, we NEED to obey our Creator. Sadly, even once we have been saved and are now part of God’s own family, we too often buck at what seems to us to be restraints, not really understanding that what God wants from us isn’t to hold us back, but it is to enable us to push ahead, to excel, and to do bigger and better things for Him. And as we faithfully obey God’s guidelines and do’s and don’ts, He gives us more important areas in which to trust and obey—and the only end to this incredible cycle of faithfulness, blessing, more faithfulness, more blessing, is entering into eternity itself, where this cycle is EVEN MORE wondrous.

Why did I bring all that up? Because before Jesus moves on to give instruction in how the disciples should think and act among other people, He tells these eleven men that He CHOSE them and He APPOINTED them to do a task—so that—they can live fruitfully for Him and have fulfilling prayer lives.

There is NO higher privilege and honor than to be called by God to become one of His children and to live to bring Him honor and glory with our lives. You’ve heard it rightly said that we cannot out-give God and Scripture bears this out. Each and every act of trustful obedience is rewarded richly by God (even though He is the One Who helps us see the need, want to do whatever needs to be done, and have the strength to do it—it’s ALL Him!). We would definitely fit the biblical definition of a fool to disregard obeying any of God’s commands. And when we do obey Him with the right attitude and behavior, we will produce fruit that will last and our prayers will be answered because they will be “in Jesus’ name,” that is, reflecting His character, goals, and personality.

Monday, July 27, 2020
(Did God impress something on your heart yesterday to work on this week? Ask His help to be victorious in it today.)
-Read John 15:14-15
“You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I don’t call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. But I’ve called you friends, because I’ve made known to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What defines who is a friend of Jesus?
2. Jesus’ friends are no longer considered His ______.
3. Why?
4. What has Jesus made known?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I feel pretty confident that we all know what a friend is. In our culture, though, we definitely have levels of friendship. We have casual friends (our hairdresser? A fellow soccer mom?), we have past friends (those we remember fondly, but whom we no longer really have contact with), we have good friends (those we like to hang out with, email with, and stay in contact with), and we sometimes have extra-close friends, the really special ones that are uber important to us.

Have you noticed that the key to creating a closer, sweeter friendship with someone is time and energy that you (and they) have invested in the relationship? For example, we’ve all had good friends who lived geographically close to us for a time, but who became less close friends after one of you moved away. You might have both genuinely loved and enjoyed your friendship, but moving lends itself to new experiences, new demands, and new friends. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if we want to maintain a close friendship with someone we no longer see, everyone is going to have to work at it a whole lot harder than when they were neighbors.

God offers His friendship to His children. Did you hear that? He WANTS to be your FRIEND. He wants to reveal more about Himself, to share with you His loves and passions, to delight you with what He has in store for your eternity. He wants to show you amazing things from His Word, to grant you peace in the midst of trouble, to give you joy in the face of hardship. All this for just one requirement: obedience. Simply obeying the God of creation yields so much that our “measuring cups” literally overflow day after day after day.

Are you stopping at “servant” when you can have friendship? What have you allowed to remain in your life that is holding you back from the full riches of God’s grace? Talk to Him about it. He loves to help us know what to work on so that He can grow a deeper and more wonderful relationship with us!

Saturday, July 25, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to love Him sincerely and obey Him fully so that He can bless you with full joy.)
-Read John 15:12-13
“This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. No one shows greater love than when he lays down his life for his friends.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What is Jesus’ commandment?
2. In what manner are we to love each other?
3. What is the greatest proof of love?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Have you ever noticed how Scripture first teaches the truth that we need to learn, then shows what it looks like in regard to our relationship to God, THEN shows us what it looks like in relationship to people? We need to know, first, just what God says is good v. bad, righteous v. sinful, correct v. incorrect. When we have that information, it should then impact our worship and obedience. When our relationship with God is right according to His Word, THEN we can act and react in a godly manner in our interactions with people, both saved and unsaved.

Jesus had just spent three and a half years showing His disciples what a life that pleases God looks like. Part of that was demonstrating the right way to help and edify people. Of course, Jesus is God and all that He does is perfect—including the fact that He would literally DIE to prove His love. While throwing yourself in front of a bus to save another person definitely displays a loving and caring heart, this is not something that we are regularly called on to do. However, how about patiently listening to an older saint who is telling you the same story for the tenth time? How about giving the neighbor’s kids a ride to church every Sunday—even though the parents are certainly able to do it themselves? How about choosing to not buy the new blouse that you think is really cute and instead using the money to take someone in your church out for coffee who has been going through a rough time? How about coming a bit early for a church fellowship so that you can help with the preparation or staying a bit late after it is done to help clean up? How about surprising someone by shoveling their walk, raking their leaves, or weeding their flower beds? How about taking a turn in the church nursery to give someone else a break even if it’s not your favorite thing to do? None of these things involve your actual death, but they DO involve sacrifice. And isn’t biblical love about sacrifice? About putting the needs of others before your own agenda? About actions that back up our words of support?

And, of course, don’t forget that one of the most important ways that we can show true biblical love is to tell others of their need of a Savior. We wouldn’t let the people we love die in a burning building if we could help them get out, nor should we allow them to die in their trespasses and sins without informing them that there is a way of salvation.

Friday, July 24, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the incredible blessings He gives you in Christ.)
-Read John 15:10-11
“If you keep my commandments, you’ll abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I’ve told you this, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What is the prerequisite for abiding in Jesus’ love?
2. How does Jesus abide in the Father’s love?
3. What two things does Jesus want for believers?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus gave this most wonderful promise that faithful believers can and will abide in His love and that of the Father’s, and then He told the disciples that the reason why He shared this precious truth is so that His joy will be in them and that they (and us!) can have joy that is “complete.”

Have you ever noticed how your pastor sometimes takes you to a few different Bible verses to explain a word that is used in whatever Bible passage he is trying to teach? This is because using the Bible to explain the Bible just makes sense! Who could possibly explain God’s Word to us more accurately than God Himself? With that in mind, in order to try to grasp what a wonderful thing Jesus is trying to convey to us in John 15:11, let’s look at a few other places where the word translated as “complete” here is used—and how it helps us better understand this verse.

First, we can use Strong’s Concordance or some other Bible study tool to find that the Greek word that was used here is pleroo (Strong’s # g4137). It is fairly common and may be translated as: to make full, to fill, to fill up, fulfilled, to cause to abound, to furnish or supply liberally. It is used quite a bit to point out how something someone said or did “fulfilled” Scripture. Just in the Gospel of Matthew it is used in 1:22, 2:15, 2:17, 1:23, 4:14, 5:17, 8:17, 12:17, 13:35, 21,4, 26:54, 26:56, and 27:9 (look them up!).

The word is used in the Gospel of John in 3:29, 7:8, 12:3, 12:38, 13:18, 15:11, 15:25, 16:6, 16:24, 17:12-13, 18:9, 18:32, 19:24, and 19:36 (look these up!).

Some of the other ways the word gets used include nets full of fish (Mt. 13:48), in describing Jesus’ growing wisdom as a child (Luke 2:40), in the wind that filled the house when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Act. 2:2), in saying that someone’s job was done (Acts 12:25), in describing how well Peter and the others had been reaching all of Jerusalem with the gospel (Acts 5:23), and how Jesus fills “all in all” in Ephesians 1:23 (though there are more uses of this word!).

You might have figured out by now that I am showing you some of the components of what a word study looks like. You choose the word you want to study, you find out what it is in Greek (or Hebrew if you are using the OT), then look up the uses of the word, categorizing and describing how it is used so that you can summarize it accurately according to Scripture. For today, we identified a few ways the word was commonly used, but since John 15:11 is telling us that our joy can be full when we are walking obediently with Jesus, let’s take just a bit more time to look at other things that believers can be filled with.

-In Acts 2:28, Paul is quoting David from Psalm 16, saying that in God’s presence we will be full of gladness.
-When many gentiles believed in Jesus in Acts 13:52, Paul and Barnabas were filled with joy.
-Romans 15:13 tells us that the “God of hope” will fill us with joy and peace as we believe (obedience based on our trust in Him).
-Paul, addressing the believers in Corinth, states in II Corinthians 7:4 that he is filled with comfort and overflowing with joy due to their faith.
-Ephesians 1:23 states that it is Jesus Christ Who “fills all in all.”
-Ephesians 3:19 says that it is God’s will that we be filled with “all the fullness of God.”
-Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be filled with “spirit” (not THE Holy Spirit, but that which is of the character and likeness of God).
-We can be filled with the “fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” according to Philippians 1:11.
-We will have our every need filled (“supplied”) according to God’s riches in glory in Christ Jesus according to Philippians 4:19.
-Colossians 1:9 says we can be filled with the knowledge of the will of God!
-Paul reminds us that believers can cause other believers to be filled with joy in II Timothy 1:4.
And, finally, I John 1:4, John (the same fellow who wrote the Gospel we are studying) said that the Bible was written so that all believers can enjoy special fellowship with God and each other—and so our joy can be full.

How do we put all this together? Well, FULL JOY, that is joy that is filled up, complete, and ABOUNDING is one of the many benefits of being a faithful and obedient member of God’s family. It is God’s plan for us, but only available in and through Jesus Christ. In other words, God’s blessings just keep getting better and better!

Thursday, July 23, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to be fruitful and faithful today.)
-Read John 15:9-10
“Just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. So abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you’ll abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Just as the ____ has loved me, so I have loved _____.
2. So abide ______ my love.
3. If you _____ my commandments, you’ll abide in my _____,
4. ____ ____ ____ have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
So, if you’ll give me some grace as I oversimplify the above two verses, I’d like to liken the picture of what God wants to give us to the water cycle. Observe the diagram and be reminded that water falls from the sky, collects in lakes, rivers, and streams (and in the muddy parking lot behind our church building), only to eventually evaporate and enter the sky to begin the process all over again. This is a pretty awesome system God designed!

Now consider ANOTHER even more awesome system that God designed. His love for the Son and the Son’s love for the Father is so incredibly precious, that He decided to allow human beings into the cycle of love, fellowship, and fulfillment. Only it isn’t all human beings without any restrictions. The first requirement is salvation – trust in Jesus Christ as the Savior from their sin. There can be NO fellowship with the Father without first becoming part of His family. BUT, and here’s a critical life-changing truth to never forget, in order to join the Father and the Son in that special bond of fellowship, unity, and one-mindedness, the Christian MUST obey God’s commands and live the life that God has said He wants them to live. This kind of Christian is an all-in kind of believer who has made the decision to show gratitude and give glory to God for their eternal security by finding out what pleases Him, then pursuing it with their entire heart, all day, every day. WHEN they do, just like the water cycle, the blessings go round and round, getting more and more precious with each year that they walk hand-in-hand with Jesus in this life.

If you have trusted in Jesus as your Savior, this incredible privilege can be yours. If, as a believer, you aren’t enjoying this special bond, what is holding you back? God WANTS this kind of relationship with you—and He is standing at the ready to help you obtain it by turning your back on sin and self and turning toward His glorious light.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020
(Ask the Father for His strength to please Him and obey Him today.)
-Read John 15:6-8
“Unless a person abides in me, he is thrown away like a pruned branch and dries up. People gather such branches, throw them into a fire, and they are burned up. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you can ask for anything you want, and you’ll receive it. This is how my Father is glorified, when you produce a lot of fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is thrown away and dried up?
2. Who gets what they ask in prayer?
3. What two things happen when believers produce a lot of fruit?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
So, right off the bat, let’s remember that Jesus is talking to Christians ABOUT Christians. Nothing He says here is about unbelievers—nor can anything He says hint at the loss of eternal salvation because there is no such thing as the loss of “eternal” salvation. We can agree, though, that something pretty unpleasant seems to be happening in verse 6. Is it that Christians who refuse to obey God and live the life that He commands will eventually be set aside and no longer given opportunities to serve Him (and thus, not have opportunities to earn heavenly rewards)? Is it that disobedient Christians will be punished in some way, perhaps even being taken home to heaven sooner than they otherwise would have? Is it simply an incredibly sobering reminder from the Son of God to God’s children that God deeply desires to grow us, use us, bless us, and reward us, but that He cannot when we refuse to line up our lives with His Word?

Whatever exactly Jesus is saying (perhaps ALL of that!), He goes on to explain something incredibly precious that happens when believers ARE abiding in Him, living according to Scripture, and basing all that they are and do on what God says honors and pleases Him. Besides being able to bear MARVELOUS fruit, this believer will get what they ask for in prayer—BECAUSE they are asking for what they already know God wants. In other words, they are praying according to God’s will—exactly as Jesus did in His every prayer. So there it is: the secret to a successful prayer life! Simply pray God’s will. How can we know what that is? While we definitely don’t know just how and when God is going to do everything, we CAN know what His goals and desired outcome is—because the Bible tells us over and over from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. There are literally verses that say, “This is God’s will,” but there are thousands of other verses and passages that share principles that teach us what we need to know about God and what He desires. The abiding, fruitful child of God DELIGHTS to learn about these and to do them—and in so doing, the Father is glorified. Amen!

Tuesday, July 21, 2020
(Thank the Father that once His, we are always His!)
-Read John 15:4-5
“Abide in me, and I will abide in you. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. _____ in me, and I ______ abide in you.
2. Just as the branch _____ produce fruit ____ ____ unless it abides in the vine,
3. Neither can you _____ you abide in me.
4. I am the _____, you are the _____.
5. The one who abides in me while I abide in him produces ___ __, because apart from me you can do ___.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
A critical key to a victorious Christian life is found at the end of verse 5 where Jesus Christ says to us, “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” Stated another way, we might say, “All that we do that is not from Christ/for Christ/through Christ is actually NOTHING.” It’s useless. Of no value. A waste of time. It has zero eternal value.

Wow.

I wonder. Just how much of what I have done in the last few days is “nothing” in God’s eyes? It’s a scary and sobering thought! Every single thing that I did without taking His Word into consideration is NOTHING. The words I said, the labors I expended, the things I did with my time. NOTHING.

Things that are nothing will not count towards rewards in heaven. They will not bring a smile of pleasure upon the Father’s face or a “Well done!” by the Savior.

Wasted.

Alrighty, then. That was yesterday. Today is a new day. God gives us new mercies every single morning. What am I going to learn from John 15 that will make today different? That will make today a day that counts as a great SOMETHING in God’s eyes?

I need to abide in Him. To remain close to Him in prayer and by reading, memorizing, meditating on, and obeying His Word. I need to abide in Him by confessing sin so that the Holy Spirit can teach me, remind me of what God said so that what I say, do, and think is HIS words, actions, and attitudes. I need to REFUSE to think or act based on my ideas, another person’s ideas, or anything that is not GOD’S IDEAS. I need to abide in Him by thanking God for who I am “in Christ,” for providing me countless opportunities to show my love for Him by obeying Him and serving Him by serving others; for giving me the blessing of being able to tell others about the salvation He freely offers all who believe.

Without abiding in Christ, I can do nothing; with Him, I can do all things through Him Who gives me strength.

Monday, July 20, 2020
(Thank the Father for the lessons and blessings of the weekend.)
-Read John 15:3 (entire chapter found on page 39-40)
“You are already clean because of what I’ve spoken to you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John 15 is an incredibly important chapter on the importance of a close and obedient relationship with God. Jesus is addressing His disciples—and all believers. He reminds them in verse 3 of something He had mentioned a short while ago, that they were already “clean.” I believe that when Jesus said this in John 13:10, that He was speaking of their obedient walk with Him AS saved individuals, but it’s also true that there can be NO RELATIONSHIP with God apart from first trusting in Jesus as the Savior from our sin. Just a small side note, though. I am among probably thousands, if not millions, of those who have doubted my salvation over the course of my life since my salvation as a child. I have no doubts that challenging believers that what God said about simple faith in Christ is what gives eternal life is one of satan’s biggest attacks. After all, our first introduction to him in Genesis 3 was to tell Eve that what she heard God say was not true! Since then, a huge struggle for all believers is simply trusting God at His Word. I’m 100% positive that if we were to do that ALL THE TIME we wouldn’t have doubts, struggles, and times of sinful living.

Back to doubting my salvation, I know just how scary that thought can be. For me personally, it is forever entwined with a movie I saw at a church meeting as a child. The movie was called “A Thief in the Night.” This was decades before the popular novels, “Left Behind” came out (by Jenkins and LaHaye), followed by the blockbuster movies. This 1970’s movie was focused on a young couple who heard the gospel, but only the husband responded and trusted in Christ as Savior. It might have been that very night that the Rapture occurred—and the whole rest of the movie was focused on the HORROR the wife felt in being left behind and the sickening and unbelievable things that began to happen in the world as the Tribulation began. Frankly, in the middle of the Coronavirus Crisis, I see a teeny-tiny glimpse of what the world will face on a MUCH bigger scale when the Tribulation really does begin! It makes me sick to think of it, because THE DIFFERENCE is that in the real Tribulation (as opposed to today’s pandemic), the influence of the Church will be removed. People will be starting, as it were, on square one, needing to find a Bible so that they can figure out what happened and what to do about it. I believe that many will remember what they heard in Sunday School as a child or what a loving family member or friend told them by way of witnessing—and will realize that they should have trusted in Christ when they had the chance. I am incredibly grateful to know that I will not be there. How can I KNOW (in spite of the doubts that I have already mentioned that I have suffered with over the years)? Because God has made me clean. How? When? When the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to my sinful condition and I trusted in Jesus’ work on the cross to save me and make me righteous in the eyes of God. What God says is ALWAYS true and it will always happen exactly as He said. He promised salvation, therefore salvation is a done-deal.

I’ll have you know, all of the above is NOT what I thought I would be talking about with you today AT ALL. I simply read how Jesus assured His disciples that day some 2,000 years ago that their salvation was all set, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude that this is true for me too. Is it with you? HAVE you trusted in Christ as the Savior from your sin? That He died in your place, but rose again in three days, winning the victory over sin and death? If you have, you are CLEAN. Your eternity is guaranteed in the presence of God. You need not fear. You need not beg God to save you over and over (once is enough, praise the LORD!). You need not fear being “left behind.” God is utterly trustworthy—and He is the One Who promised, so all is well and more than well.

So, if you’re all set, all glory to God. But who do you know who may NOT be set? Who do you know who WILL be left behind should the Rapture occur tonight? Pray for them! Pray for opportunities to tell them about the gift God wants them to receive! Pray for the words and bravery to talk to them when God gives you the opportunity.

Our life here on Planet Earth is too precious and too short to waste doubting our salvation or to not share the good news of salvation with others.

Friday, July 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for your friends. Ask His help to be a godly friend to them and to others He wants you to be a blessing to.)
-It’s time to review John 14. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 14 Summary & Review:
Once our children were old enough to fend well for themselves (at least one of them was old enough to drive), my husband and I began taking occasional trips where we were gone for a week or more. Before we left, though, you can be sure that we wrote down all sorts of important information for the kids. We reminded them about their personal responsibilities, church-related responsibilities, meal ideas and supplies in the freezer, when to check the post office mail—all sorts of “necessary” things. We also, of course, reminded them how much we loved them and how important they were (are!) to us.

John 14 reminds me a little bit of a letter that a parent might write to their children if they were going to be separated for a time. Jesus is just a few hours away from being arrested, falsely tried, and killed. He wanted His disciples to know some last critical things—and He wanted to remind them how much He loved them. He proved His love, in fact, by putting into place Someone Who would be with them (and all believers from the day of Pentecost until the Rapture) to help them understand Scripture, obey it, and be becoming more like Christ; imitators of God the Father. He also proved it by letting them know that He would be using the time that they were separated from one another to prepare “rooms” in His Father’s house for them (and us!). We know, too, that Jesus is at the Father’s side, interceding on our behalf.

What the “letter” of John 14 is NOT, is a letter that one might write before their death when they realize that they will be parted with loved ones forever. Jesus’ death was not an ending or a defeat. It was, in fact, a tremendous victory! Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection defeated death and sin for all time, opening up the way for those who trust in Him as Savior to also live eternally in the presence of God. After Jesus’ ascension, He was no longer physically on earth, but this separation is for a very short time only (according to God’s view of time). He WILL return (and it literally could be at any moment) and gather Christians to His side in the clouds and bring us to heaven, then a mere seven years later, He will set up the long-awaited Kingdom on earth for 1,000 years, then heaven and earth will be remade and we will dwell in God’s presence into the ages of the ages.

So, “don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.”

Thursday, July 16, 2020
(Thank the Father for the heavenly peace that He provides.)
-Read John 14:28-31
“You have heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, but I’m coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I’m going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I am. I’ve told you this now, before I leave, so that when I do leave, you will believe. I won’t talk with you much longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me. But I’m doing what the Father has commanded me, to let the world know that I love the Father. Get up! Let us leave this place.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Those who love Jesus should ____ that He is returning to the Father.
2. Who is greater than Jesus?
3. Who is coming that has no power over Jesus?
4. Jesus said that He was doing what the ____ has commanded.
5. What did He let the world know?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus has much, much more to tell His disciples in these last few hours before His arrest, but I was impressed with the abrupt “Get up! Let us leave this place” at the end of verse 31. In my head, Jesus and His crew are all still reclining at the table after having enjoyed their meal, listening with wonder, confusion, and some fear to Jesus speak about going away and leaving them—even if He has promised that it is actually GOOD for them. It usually takes hindsight to see the good in what seems pretty bad, and the disciples weren’t anywhere near hindsight yet. Anyway, Jesus had just brought up the fact that the ruler of the world was coming (satan!), but that satan had zero authority over Him when He told them to hop up because they were going to the Garden of Gethsemane.

There have been several epic moments in my life (my marriage proposal, the wedding itself, the birth of my children, the first day of a new job, the first Sunday at a new church. . .) that at the time seemed quite surreal and even “fuzzy,” and I’m sure that this was one such moment for these eleven men. But, just as Jesus promised (because God’s promises are ALWAYS fulfilled!), with time—and the help of the Holy Spirit—they eventually understood more and more about what Jesus meant in these last hours (and have explained a lot of it to us in the rest of the New Testament!). The victorious Christian life is about faith and patience (which is faith over the long haul). The very same God Who we entrusted our eternity with is the very same God seeing us through epic moments in our life, including shocking things like pandemics. He’s got this, so we simply need to trust Him and continue to obey Him. In glory, with perfect hindsight, we will see crystal clear that “Jesus doeth all things well.”

BONUS:
The whole “Let’s get up and go” comment got me thinking about the do’s and don’ts of hospitality. Just for fun, here are some “niceties” to consider as a guest and as a host. (Because this is already pretty long, I didn’t include the short bit on do’s and don’ts of overnight hosting. If you want to read it, let me know.)

The Door’s Open! Becoming a God Honoring Host & Guest (from “Daughters of the King, a Training Manual,” a First Baptist Church Solid Rock Publication).

One of the major principles taught in Scripture is that of sacrificially giving to others while not giving undue concern to your own needs, trusting God to take care of all that you truly need. This critical truth can impact every part of our life, especially in how we relate to other people. And we should note right at the outset, that this kind of thinking is not what you will hear encouraged in ladies’ magazine, nor demonstrated on TV sitcoms, nor be praised by whoever happens to be the leading celebrity guru on human relationships. This is simply because man cannot do the right thing apart from God. All attempts to live life apart from His plan will end in failure and heartache.

Just this morning while reading a novel written in the late 1800s, I was reminded of a good way to view this subject. The adult advised the child who was about to be a guest for the first time to not think about what THEY might want or not want, but to instead focus on pleasing their host and any other guests. God’s Word would agree with this advice! The Bible is full of reminders to think of others before yourself, to do unto others what you would have them do unto you, to love others as yourself, to do good, to consider yourself a servant to all, and so on.  When faced with either being a host or a guest, if our main goal is to be a blessing to others, then we will not go wrong and we will also please God and bring Him glory.

A second, but similar question we should ask ourselves before being a host or a guest, is who are we ultimately doing this for? If we are looking to be a blessing to others, then we are doing it for God. If we are looking to get something out of it, then we are doing it for our own selfish gain. Showing love to others IS to show our love for God. They go hand-in-hand.

So, moving on to accept that what the Bible teaches about what our roles are as hosts and guests (and all other interactions with people) is all about what we are giving and not about what we are getting, let’s talk about some of the ways we can be a blessing to our guests and to those who are hosting us. Let’s discuss polite manners.

Preparing for an event.
Host:
Since your goal is to be a blessing to the person or people that you have invited over, it stands to reason that you would want to tailor the time to things you know they would enjoy. This would include the foods you plan to serve and the activities you plan to do.

If you are going to serve food, it makes sense to first find out if there are any food allergies. Currently, people choosing to eat gluten-free foods is getting more and more popular. If you and your family eat gluten, it might be a bit more work to come up with a gluten-free menu, but certainly not impossible. In fact, the internet has hundreds, if not thousands, of sites that offer ideas and advice about gluten-free food.

Beyond avoiding foods that your guests are allergic to, finding out what kinds of foods they enjoy or prefer also shows consideration. If, for example, your family makes sure to have some kind of sweetener on every single dish, but your guests are trying to eat more healthy, couldn’t you adapt your normal schedule for this one meal? Who knows? Maybe you’ll even find that food can be delicious without added sugars!

Generally speaking, if you invited your guests to have dinner at 5:00, you should have the food hot and ready to eat soon after that. If you have invited someone to Sunday dinner, only to get them to your home and dinner isn’t even started, you might have some pretty ravenous guests by the time food is ready. Simply stating your plans ahead of time removes doubt about when the meal will be served. If you invited your guests for 5:00, but don’t plan to eat until 6:00, tell them and they can adjust their other meals for the day around this later time.

Similarly, if you know your guests ALWAYS eat dinner at 5:00, but you think that is ridiculous and only ever eat your dinner at 9:00, couldn’t you just this once eat “early” out of consideration for them?

Keep in mind any special needs your guests may have in the area of small children (special chairs, different kind of plates and utensils, etc.), or in special needs for an older guest. Serving a challenging-to-chew steak may not be kind for children or older guests whose teeth may not be up for the job.

Guest:
When invited to someone’s home, your first question should be, “What can I bring?”  If your host is the kind who wants help, its up to them to say so, if they turn you down, graciously accede.  However, it is still nice to bring something as a hostess gift, but not something that they will feel obligated to add on to their carefully thought out menu.  It could be flowers, a baked item that you clearly tell them is for another time just for them,  or some other small gift that you know they will enjoy.

The second question to ask is, “What time would you like us to arrive?” Once that information is received, then respect your hosts enough to arrive only slightly before the given time. Arriving too early may catch them hustling around fixing last-minute things, arriving too late may cause them some anxiety because they are wondering how to keep the food hot and fresh.

When you do arrive, follow the host’s direction for what they would like you to do. Some women enjoy help in the kitchen, some would rather scurry around on their own. If you are instructed to sit and wait in another room, sit and wait in another room, though you should at least offer to help first. One of the “tricks” to get your host to let you help is how you word your question. Saying, “Can I help you?” will almost always result in a “No, thanks.” Saying, “What’s my first job?” may result in an invitation into the kitchen. One of my sisters-in-law doesn’t wait for the invitation, she simply follows me back to the kitchen and FINDS a job to do. That, however, is good in some situations, but maybe not all situations.

The Meal
Host:
Other than being careful about food allergies, choosing food that isn’t too messy to eat can be a kindness to your guests. I’ve often thought that eating spaghetti in front of company can be a stressful meal! Pasta has a great sense of humor! And, perhaps, serving something universally unpopular may not be a kind choice either (for example, liver and onions!). Having said that, food that your family already loves is usually a great choice.

You may choose to serve your meal “family style,” by placing the food in serving dishes and putting it on the table, or you may choose to set up a counter or table for a buffet style. Some hosts prefer to serve up the plates restaurant-style, and that is up to you, but keep in mind that you are kind of forcing your guests to eat different amounts or kinds of food than they might have chosen had they been given an option. However, if that is what works best for you, a gracious guest will say thank you and enjoy what they have been given.

Generally, it falls upon the hostess to explain what foods are being served and if there are any special instructions (such as a sauce that is intended to be ladled over potatoes). Whether the food is on the table or in a buffet line, plan ahead a bit so that your guests have the most important things next to them, with any special sauces or gravies that they will need to complete the menu. Smaller items can be placed by the family-end of the table. This allows the guests to have the first pick of the “big” items so that you’re sure they get all they want.

The head of the home is in charge of praying before the meal. He may choose to do it himself or ask someone else to pray. At that point, the hostess usually instructs the guests to grab a dish, help themselves (or take their plate to the buffet), pass the dish to their left or right (pick one!). While the food is going around the table, the hostess should keep an eye on things so that everything goes all the way around and so that she can refill any dish that is getting low. At this point, conversation is usually begun by the host. It can be a little tricky to find the balance between keeping your guests engaged and not making them talk so much that they can’t actually eat the food on their plate. In a general truth, as in all other aspects of interaction with people, it should be give and take. No one person should monopolize the conversation, and when asked a question and you have answered it, it is usually polite to ask one in return. However, it is the job of the host family to make sure their guests are comfortable and at ease.

Once everyone has been eating for a while, it is not inappropriate to mention dessert.  If you have no dessert, you might say something like, “We aren’t serving dessert tonight, so go ahead and have all the extra helpings of the food that you want!”  If you  are, you might say something like, “We want you to eat all the food you can hold, but be sure to save a small corner for __________.”

It is polite to wait for everyone to be done eating before plates are cleared off and food is removed, but once people are done, it is polite to remove the dirty plates and any leftover food. However, this isn’t really the time for clean up. If your guests see or hear a lot of dishes rattling, they might feel uncomfortable about the extra work they have caused you to deal with. Simply set things aside and bring out the dessert and any additional dishes or silverware that might be needed. It is okay to make an exception for something that might be ruined if it isn’t returned to the fridge.

Depending on your home, dessert can be served at the table, or you could move to the living room. If you are moving, make sure that your guests have plenty of places to set their plates, water glasses, and/or coffee. If you don’t generally eat in the living room, it might be best to just stay at the table. That way everyone has what they need right there.

Guest:
Eat what you are served—with a smile and many words of thanks. Generally speaking, if someone else has served your food for you, you aren’t expected to eat every bite of everything. However, if you have scooped it up, it is appropriate to eat it.

Wait for your host’s lead on when to sit, where to sit, how to pass the dishes, etc. If they don’t instruct you, follow their lead. It is usually polite to wait for everyone to be served before beginning to eat, but if your host urges you to go ahead, follow their lead. This is true for the main dish and this is true for each additional course. Politeness dictates that you wait for the hostess to touch her fork before beginning your serving, unless she asks you to not wait.
It isn’t always easy to eat in someone else’s home, it is hard to not feel a bit awkward, but if you continue to focus on being a blessing to others, this will help you feel at ease too. Go ahead and answer questions asked of you, but try not to be the only one talking. Feel free to direct questions back to your other diners. Avoid conversations not fitted to the dinner table: either sad things, ugly things, or gross things. Speaking about how God has blessed you, others, or your church family is ALWAYS a great topic of conversation.

If instructed, go ahead and have seconds if you want them, but always be aware of how much food there is and how many people are eating. Don’t eat your share and someone else’s to boot.

Pay attention to how you are eating. Don’t take huge bites, don’t chew with your mouth open, don’t talk with food in your mouth, use your napkin as needed, then store it on your lap, not the table—observe basic table manners. Be sure to thank the hosts during the meal, after the meal, and later via a thank you note. Thank you notes are ALWAYS the right thing to do.

If you feel that it is the right thing to do, offer to help the hostess clear the table and wash some things up. If she declines, honor her wishes.

Entertainment
Host:
As was true for the food, think about who you are having as guests before you plan what you will do before and/or after the meal.  If they are sedentary people, don’t suggest Duck, Duck, Goose.  If they are very active people, simply sitting in a circle chatting may be a bit of a let down for them.  Depending on how well you know your guests, I don’t think it is inappropriate to simply ask them what they prefer to do after they eat.  You will probably get a non-answer like “Whatever you want…” unless you offer some suggestions.  You could give them two or three things to choose from, always making one of them a simple chat.

How long you expect your guests to stay can also be a little tricky to figure out. If you are a serious night owl, you may think that playing wild games until 11:00 pm is being a great host, but what if your guests are early-to-bed-early-to-rise people. Staying up until 11 would be torture! Once again, you may have to simply ask them what their preferences are. You could say something like, “We love having you here and would keep you until midnight, but we know that you may have to get up early tomorrow, how long can you stay?” Then honor the time limit they set. It can be tricky for guests to get away without appearing rude if the party is still hopping when they need to go. You should pay attention to the time and be sure to close down things ahead of when they wanted to head home.

I don’t want to give the impression, though, that “simply” sitting around and talking is being a poor host! Sitting around with God’s people, sharing how God is blessing you and working through you, is ALWAYS a really wonderful way to spend an evening. Furthermore, there are many Bible-fact related games that add fun to the evening AND keeps our thoughts on our God and our Savior.

Guest:
Be willing to go out of your comfort zone to please your hosts. If they love, love, love board games, but you don’t, play board games—and determine to be an excellent sport. If you think sitting around talking is dull, but your hosts love to do that, sit around talking, but if you think it is dull, you are perhaps not thinking of the other person as more important than yourself. Ask them questions, listen carefully to the response, then ask more questions based on the new information. This isn’t to put anyone on the spot, but to get to know them better, to express interest in their lives, and to know how to better pray for them and encourage them in the future.

As in during the dinner hour, answer questions asked of you, while finding the balance of not monopolizing the attention.
Do not keep your hosts up past their normal bedtime. If you have to ask outright what time they normally turn in, do it. Always be conscious of their needs and ways you can be a blessing to them. Clean up any messes that you made. Don’t leave your dirty dishes in a room other than the kitchen, if you moved a pillow or book, return it to where you found it.

Other dos and don’ts:
Host:
It is very nice to have instrumental music playing during the meal and later (unless it interferes with a game). However, be absolutely, 100% certain, that what you are playing is not offensive in even the smallest ways to your guests. A great general principle to live by is: if in doubt, don’t. Don’t assume that because you think a certain kind of music or a certain artist is okay, that your guests will agree. Perhaps a safe rule of thumb is to play music that is exactly the kind of music your church sings/plays on Sunday. In fact, here’s a secret from a pastor’s home: we listen to music that we have played and/or sing at church. We don’t have “different” music at home. The only exception would be classical music.

I personally believe that God is most honored when there is no reason to “hide” something from guests.  By that I mean movies, books, or music that you don’t think that they will think honors God.  I don’t mean private papers, financial records, that kind of thing.  So while we want our homes to be comfortable for our guests, it is usually best to remove clutter and/or anything that you don’t want to be looked at or read.

Another consideration is to move things that are fragile or damageable. You might have taught your own children to not touch certain “pretties,” but you shouldn’t assume your guest’s children know this. It is a good thing for your child to share his/her toys with visiting children, but there may be a few special things that it is wiser and safer to put away before the company comes.

Be sure to give your guests the boundaries of where they can go/be, if necessary (most likely only a concern where children are present). Let them know which rooms are okay to play in and which are out of bounds. Certainly, let everyone know where the bathroom is early in the visit.

Of course, you will want to have a clean, uncluttered home for your guests to enjoy, but sometimes it is important to find the balance between clean and perfect. Insisting that your home be perfect before you have guests over might result in your never having guests over, and it will also place undue stress on you and your family. Nonetheless, a basic cleaning and decluttering is a good thing to do. A clean, well-stocked bathroom is necessary. If you have pets, make sure they are either locked up somewhere, or that they won’t jump on your guests, drool on your guests, or shed on your guests. Guests who have no pets are to be especially cared for in this area. If your guests are allergic to pet hair, it is essential that you dust and vacuum before they arrive and put the animal someplace far from where the guests will be. You sure don’t want to send your guests home with runny eyes and a clogged nose!

Guest:
Don’t snoop anywhere where you are not specifically invited to look. This includes rooms, cupboards, the fridge, closed doors, books, albums, bookshelves, DVD collections, music collections—ANYTHING. Respect the privacy of your host in all ways and at all times. If you need something, ask.
Your children are your responsibility. Make sure they understand the rules before you arrive at your host’s home and keep an eye on them the entire time. Don’t leave their discipline and care up to your host family.

A Final Word…
If you got to the end of this chapter (or the whole book) and dismiss the entire thing as a narrow-minded, legalistic list of dos and don’ts, then you have missed the point completely. My intent was never to present people with impossible standards and expectations so that they are afraid to either go to someone’s home or have people in their home for fear they are doing it all wrong! The most important thing to remember as guest or host, is simple to have a servant’s heart and treat others the way you like to be treated. In other words, try to out love each other! What a wonderful kind of relationship to have two of more of God’s people who just want to show their love for God, by pouring out their hearts and homes to others! You don’t have to have a fancy home or a fancy meal, you just need to put others before self. THAT makes a wonderful host and a wonderful guest. And in this, God is honored and pleased.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020
(Thank the Father that He has never forgotten you and will never forget you!)
-Read John 14:27
“I’m leaving you at peace. I’m giving you my own peace. I’m not giving it to you as the world gives. So don’t let your hearts be troubled, and don’t be afraid.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because John 14:27 has been one of my all-time favorite verses from the time I was a young girl, I am going to give you FOUR additional translations of it:

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (NLT)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV)
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.” (CSB)
And for my dear sweet friend, Rita, one last translation:

“Eu lhes deixo a paz. A minha própria paz eu dou a vocês. Eu não lhes dou essa paz como o mundo a dá. Portanto seus corações não devem ficar nem perturbados nem com medo.”  (VFL)

Isn’t this a grand verse! Jesus has given to His followers His own peace. Because He is the King and Master of all, we have nothing to be troubled about or afraid of. That simple, that delightful.

Did you know that this is more than simply a nice thing to know? It is God’s expressed desire that we not allow ourselves to become fretful, worried, anxious, or otherwise upset when things happen around us that we don’t like or understand. God wants us to CHOOSE to place ourselves in the realm of His peace SO THAT we don’t have to suffer in the way that the world does when hard things happen. Our Father in heaven knows exactly what’s going on every single second of every single day—and it is in His perfect control. Since He simply CANNOT do anything that is not in keeping with His character (Who He is), then all that He does is always right, good, and has as its goal His own glory—and our spiritual good.

By the way, the world cannot know true peace or offer true peace to others simply because it does not know the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Genuine peace, love, and joy are ONLY found in God and in having a right relationship with Him.

BONUS: More delightful verses about the peace that comes from God to obedient believers:
“I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!”  John 16:33

“Let the peace of the Messiah also rule in your hearts, to which you were called in one body, and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15

“Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.  Then God’s peace, which goes far beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your hearts and minds in union with the Messiah Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“Great peace belongs to those who love your instruction, and nothing makes them stumble.” Psalm 119:165

“You will keep perfectly peaceful the one whose mind remains focused on you, because he remains in you.” Isaiah 26:3

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest. Place my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls, because my yoke is pleasant, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

“Now may the Lord of peace give you his peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with all of you.” II Thessalonians 3:16

Monday, July 13, 2020
(How were you blessed on the Lord’s Day yesterday? Thank the Father.)
-Read John 14:21
“The person who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and reveal myself to him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The person who has my commandments and _____ ______ is the one who ______ me.
2. The one who loves me _____ be loved by my _______.
3. And I, ______, will love him and _______ _______ to him.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
(the following was supposed to appear in a “wanted ad” in the newspaper, but for various technical reasons, here it is in simple text.)

WANTED: People on whom I can pour My blessings upon in a deeper, richer way day by day and grow closer and closer to as a Father and beloved child might do.

REQUIREMENTS: #1 You must have placed your trust in My Son, Jesus Christ, as your Savior from the sin you were born with. This is by faith in the work He did, not by any “good” that you might have done.

#2 You must be obeying My commands. You can read about them in My Book, the Bible. In order to enable you to do this, I have given you the Holy Spirit. He will help you understand My Word and apply it to your attitudes, words, and behavior. I have also given you a pastor and a church family. They are there to help you do all of this, too.
#3 I will always love you fully and freely—on matter what—however, I will not show you the expression of that love fully if you allow sin to remain in your life. Stay right with Me—and I will reveal all My wonders to you, more every day!

The Father

Saturday, July 11, 2020
(Thank the Father for the indwelling Spirit. Ask for help to always be sensitive to what He shows us from the Bible that He wants us to acknowledge and apply to our lives.)
-Read John 14:18-20
“I’m not going to forsake you like orphans. I will come back to you. “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. At that time, you’ll know that I am in my Father, that you are in me, and that I am in you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Does Jesus forsake His disciples?
2. Will He return one day?
3. Will Christians live because He lives?
4. Will every believer KNOW that Jesus is in the Father, the Father is in Him, and He is in them?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Have you ever noticed just how much of Scripture seems to be addressing more than one thing? In today’s verses, there seems to be an element of the present, the near future (in a few days AND in about 60 days), and the distant future.

God has promised several times in Scripture that He will not leave or forsake His children. He told this to Moses, to Joshua, to other Old Testament saints, and to Church Age believers. However, it’s also true that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had to leave earth physically shortly after this conversation with His disciples. Even this, though, is on a few levels. He would die and be gone physically for 3 days, but He would return in His resurrected body for a short while before leaving once again to return to heaven to prepare it FOR US. BUT, Jesus leaving the earth was NOT abandoning us. He currently is interceding on our behalf with the Father, helping to interpret our prayers and petitions, and He also left behind the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit has been with believers 24/7 since the day of Pentecost. In fact, it is likely that He will ALWAYS indwell us—right on through all of eternity. AMAZING!

Jesus told His disciples that He had to go away and they wouldn’t see Him, but then they would, referring to His short time with them after the resurrection and before His ascension—but—they (and us) will also see Him when He meets us in the clouds on the day of the Rapture. From that point, we will be with Him always. HOWEVER, and this is a critical exception, all of this is for believers only. Those who have not trusted in Jesus as their Savior do not have any of these special privileges, so we sure need to get busy and tell them what they will be missing! They need to get saved!

Once Jesus is resurrected, a whole lot of things will become much more clear to the disciples—and would become even more clear once the Holy Spirit began indwelling them, helping them to remember what Jesus said and did—and why. We, too, come to understand God better the more time we spend in His Word, with His people, and in His House, learning and applying Scripture. The more we know God, the more we love Him and the deeper our relationship with Him grows. It’s a sweet pattern of discovery, joy, obedience, blessing, and a desire to learn even MORE.

And finally, because Jesus will be resurrected to new life, so will all who have trusted in Him as Savior. EVERYTHING that we are, have, and will come to have are because of HIM.

Friday, July 10, 2020
(Spend some time telling the Father how much you love His Word and enjoy obeying it.)
-Read John 14:16-17
“I will ask the Father to give you another Helper, to be with you always. He is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor recognizes him. But you recognize him, because he lives with you and will be in you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who asked the Father to provide a Helper?
2. How long will this Helper stay with believers?
3. The Helper is the _____ of _____.
4. Can the world receive Him?
5. Can they see Him or recognize Him?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This is a pretty fascinating—and amazing—thing that Jesus is telling His disciples. They definitely did not get the full impact of what Jesus was telling them until much later, but Jesus is identifying a brand new, never seen before, AWESOME change in history. When the Church Age begins (about 2 months from that day), the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, would begin to indwell believers every moment of every day—and for forever. This is an ENORMOUS game-changer! Up until this point in history, mankind’s face-to-face time with God was sporadic and temporary. Oh, that’s not to say that God was not keeping a close eye on people and directly working to complete His will in every area, BUT one-on-one times with God were quite rare and very, very special. From the day of Pentecost until the Rapture, every single person who trusts in Jesus Christ as their Savior from their sin will immediately have the Holy Spirit—GOD—indwelling their hearts, helping them to understand and obey Scripture, developing a closer and closer relationship to God, and growing to become more like Christ.

By the way, Jesus is definitely mentioning the Trinity here. This is something His disciples may have wondered greatly about. The Trinity is taught in the Old Testament, but it was not a matter of emphasis in Jewish teaching. Their heritage was to trust in God as One God, but they were learning to believe that Jesus was God—and, now, that there was the Spirit of God.

The word “Helper” here is the word “Advocate,” literally “someone who comes alongside” (to encourage/strengthen). The Holy Spirit’s role is to help believers learn to love God’s Word, to remember it, and to apply it to the nitty-gritty of life (obey it). In fact, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth,” meaning that He will use the Bible, God’s Word (the measuring stick that identifies what is “truth”), to show us what God wants for us and from us.

Although Scripture seems to instruct us to not pray to the Holy Spirit or to give Him undue attention (He, Himself, gives ALL attention to the Son), no one can deny what an astounding Gift the Holy Spirit is to Church Age believers. Definitely something to give God loud and long praise for!

Thursday, July 9, 2020
(Thank the Father for the privilege of learning about Him and for help to learn to be like Him.)
-Read John 14:15 (entire chapter found on page 6-7)
“If you love me, keep my commandments.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It was Jesus’ love for God that motivated His obedience and it is our love for Jesus that motivates us to keep His commandments. Obeying God is definitely not something we can choose to do or not do—it is non-negotiable, but our motivations and heart desires ARE our choice. We can choose to obey God grudgingly and out of necessity or we can choose to obey Him joyfully and with great delight. Attitude, my friends, is everything.

When I think about someone who loved God’s Word and who was exceptionally enthusiastic about obeying it, I think of whoever wrote Psalm 119. Yes, we’re going to look at the Bible’s longest chapter in reference to one of it’s shortest verses. =)

Use as much time or as little time as you’d like to read through Psalm 119. Focus especially on all the ways that the author declared his love for God’s Word and his determination (and pleasure) at obeying it. I’ve underlined several that were a blessing to me, but I hope that you will do some of your own.

1 How blessed are those whose life is blameless, who walk in the Law of the Lord!
2 How blessed are those who observe his decrees, who seek him with all of their heart,
3 who practice no evil while they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded concerning your precepts, that they be guarded with diligence.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast, so I may keep your statutes.
6 Then I will not be ashamed, since my eyes will be fixed on all of your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart, as I learn your righteous decrees.
8 I will keep your statutes;  do not ever abandon me.
9 How can a young man keep his behavior pure?  By guarding it in accordance with your word.
10 I have sought you with all of my heart;  do not let me drift away from your commands.
11 I have stored what you have said in my heart, so I won’t sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, Lord!  Teach me your statutes.
13 I have spoken with my lips about all your decrees that you have announced.
14 I find joy in the path of your decrees, as if I owned all kinds of riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts, and I will respect your ways.
16 I am delighted with your statutes;  I will not forget your word.
17 Deal kindly with your servant so I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I will observe amazing things from your instruction.
19 Since I am a stranger on the earth, do not hide your commands from me.
20 My soul is consumed with longing  for your decrees at all times.
21 You rebuke the accursed ones,  who wander from your commands.
22 Remove scorn and disrespect from me, for I observe your decrees.
23 Though nobles take their seat and gossip about me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.
24 I take joy in your decrees, for they are my counselors.
25 My soul clings to the dust;  revive me according to your word.
26 I have talked about my ways, and you have answered me; Teach me your statutes.
27 Help me understand how your precepts function, and I will meditate on your wondrous acts.
28 I weep because of sorrow; fortify me according to your word.
29 Remove false paths from me; and graciously give me your instruction.
30 I have chosen the faithful way; I have firmly placed your ordinances before me.
31 I cling to your decrees;  Lord, do not put me to shame.
32 I eagerly race along the way of your commands, for you enable me to do so.[
33 Teach me, Lord, about the way of your statutes, and I will observe them without fail.
34 Give me understanding and I will observe your instruction. I will keep it with all of my heart.
35 Help me live my life by your commands, because my joy is in them.
36 Turn my heart to your decrees and away from unjust gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from gazing at worthless things, and revive me by your ways.
38 Confirm your promise to your servant, which is for those who fear you.
39 Turn away the shame that I dread, because your ordinances are good.
40 Look, I long for your precepts; revive me through your righteousness.
41 May your gracious love come to me, Lord, your salvation, just as you said.
42 Then I can answer the one who insults me, for I place my trust in your word.
43 Never take your truthful words from me, For I wait for your ordinances.
44 Then I will always keep your Law, forever and ever,
45 I will walk in liberty, for I seek your precepts.
46 Then I will speak of your decrees before kings and not be ashamed.
47 I will take delight in your commands, which I love.
48 I will lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
49 Remember what you said to your servant, by which you caused me to hope.
50 This is what comforts me in my troubles: that what you say revives me.
51 Even though the arrogant utterly deride me, I do not turn away from your instruction.
52 I have remembered your ancient ordinances, Lord, and I take comfort in them.
53 I burn with indignation because of the wicked who forsake your instruction.
54 Your statutes are my songs, no matter where I make my home.
55 In the night I remember your name, Lord, and keep your instruction.
56 I have made it my personal responsibility to keep your precepts.
57 The Lord is my inheritance; I have given my promise to keep your word.
58 I have sought your favor with all of my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
59 I examined my lifestyle and set my feet in the direction of your decrees.
60 I hurried and did not procrastinate to keep your commands.
61 Though the ropes of the wicked have ensnared me, I have not forgotten your instruction.
62 At midnight I will get up to thank you for your righteous ordinances.
63 I am united with all who fear you, and with everyone who keeps your precepts.
64 Lord, the earth overflows with your gracious love! Teach me your statutes.
65 Lord, you have dealt well with your servant, according to your word.
66 Teach me both knowledge and appropriate discretion, because I believe in your commands.
67 Before I was humbled, I wandered away, but now I observe your words.
68 Lord, you are good, and do what is good; teach me your statutes.
69 The arrogant have accused me falsely; but I will observe your precepts wholeheartedly.
70 Their minds are clogged as with greasy fat, but I find joy in your instruction.
71 It was for my good that I was humbled; so that I would learn your statutes.
72 Instruction that comes from you is better for me than thousands of gold and silver coins.
73 Your hands made and formed me; give me understanding, that I may learn your commands.
74 May those who fear you see me and be glad,  for I have hoped in your word.
75 I know, Lord, that your decrees are just,  and that you have rightfully humbled me.
76 May your gracious love comfort me in accordance with your promise to your servant.
77 May your mercies come to me that I may live, for your instruction is my delight.
78 May the arrogant become ashamed, because they have subverted me with deceit; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 May those who fear you turn to me, along with those who know your decrees.
80 May my heart be blameless with respect to your statute so that I may not become ashamed.
81 I long for your deliverance; I have looked to your word, placing my hope in it.
82 My eyes grow weary with respect to what you have promised—  I keep asking, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I have become like a water skin dried by smoke, I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How many days must your servant endure this? When will you judge those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pitfalls for me, disobeying your instruction.
86 All of your commands are reliable.  I am persecuted without cause—help me!
87 Though the arrogant nearly destroyed me on earth, I did not abandon your precepts.
88 Revive me according to your gracious love; and I will keep the decrees that you have proclaimed.
89 Your word is forever, Lord; it is firmly established in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation. You established the earth, and it stands firm.
91 To this day they stand by means of your rulings, for all things serve you.
92 Had your instruction not been my pleasure, I would have died in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts, for you have revived me with them.
94 I am yours, so save me, since I have sought your precepts.
95 The wicked lay in wait to destroy me, while I ponder your decrees.
96 I have observed that all things have their limit, but your commandment is very broad.
97 How I love your instruction!  Every day it is my meditation.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my adversaries, since they are always with me.
99 I am more insightful than my teachers, because your decrees are my meditations.
100 I have more common sense than the elders, for I observe your precepts.
101 I keep away from every evil choice so that I may keep your word.
102 I do not avoid your judgments, for you pointed them out to me.
103 How pleasing is what you have to say to me—  tasting better than honey.
104 I obtain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my pathway.
106 I have given my word and affirmed it, to keep your righteous judgments.
107 I am severely afflicted. Revive me, Lord, according to your word.
108 Lord, please accept my voluntary offerings of praise, and teach me your judgments.
109 Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I do not forget your instruction.
110 Though the wicked lay a trap for me, I haven’t wandered away from your precepts.
111 I have inherited your decrees forever, because they are the joy of my heart.
112 As a result, I am determined  to carry out your statutes forever.
113 I despise the double-minded, but I love your instruction.
114 You are my fortress and shield; I hope in your word.
115 Leave me, you who practice evil, that I may observe the commands of my God.
116 Sustain me, God, as you have promised, and I will live. Do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Support me, that I may be saved  and I will carry out your statutes consistently.
118 You reject all who wander from your statutes, since their deceitfulness is vain.
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like dross; therefore I love your decrees.
120 My flesh trembles out of fear of you, and I am in awe of your judgments.
121 I have acted with justice and righteousness; do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Back up your servant in a positive way; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes fail as I look for your salvation and for your righteous promise.
124 Act toward your servant consistent with your gracious love, and teach me your statutes.
125 Since I am your servant, give me understanding, so I will know your decrees.
126 It is time for the Lord to act, since they have violated your instruction.
127 I truly love your commands more than gold, including fine gold.
128 I truly consider all of your precepts—all of them—to be just, while I despise every false way.
129 Your decrees are wonderful—  that’s why I observe them.
130 The disclosure of your words illuminates, providing understanding to the simple.
131 I open my mouth and pant as I long for your commands.
132 Turn in my direction and show mercy to me, as you have decreed regarding those who love your name.
133 Direct my footsteps by your promise, and do not let any kind of iniquity rule over me.
134 Deliver me from human oppression and I will keep your precepts.
135 Show favor to your servant, and teach me your statutes.
136 My eyes shed rivers of tears, when others do not obey your instruction.
137 Lord, you are righteous,  and your judgments are right.
138 You have ordered your decrees to us rightly, and they are very faithful.
139 My zeal consumes me because my enemies forget your words.
140 Your word is very pure, and your servant loves it.
141 Though I may be small and despised, I do not neglect your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an eternal righteousness, and your instruction is true.
143 Though trouble and anguish overwhelm me, your commands remain my delight.
144 Your righteous decrees are eternal; give me understanding, and I will live.
145 I have cried out with all of my heart. Answer me, Lord!  I will observe your statutes.
146 I have called out to you, “Save me, so I may keep your decrees.”
147 I get up before dawn and cry for help; I place my hope in your word.
148 I look forward to the night watches, when I may meditate on what you have said.
149 Hear my voice according to your gracious love. Lord, revive me in keeping with your justice.
150 Those who pursue wickedness draw near; they remain far from your instruction.
151 You are near, Lord, and all of your commands are true.
152 I discovered long ago about your decrees that you have confirmed them forever.
153 Look on my misery, and rescue me, for I do not ignore your instruction.
154 Defend my case and redeem me; revive me according to your promise.
155 Deliverance remains remote from the wicked, for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Your mercies are magnificent, Lord; revive me according to your judgments.
157 Though my persecutors and adversaries are numerous, I do not turn aside from your decrees.
158 I watch the treacherous, and despise them, because they do not do what you have said.
159 Look how I love your precepts, Lord; revive me according to your gracious love.
160 The sum of your word is truth, and each righteous ordinance of yours is everlasting.
161 Though nobles persecute me for no reason, my heart stands in awe of your words.
162 I find joy at what you have said like one who has discovered a great treasure.
163 I despise and hate falsehood, but I love your instruction.
164 I praise you seven times a day  because of your righteous ordinances.
165 Great peace belongs to those who love your instruction, and nothing makes them stumble.
166 I am looking in hope for your deliverance, Lord, as I carry out your commands.
167 My soul treasures your decrees, and I love them deeply.
168 I keep your precepts and your decrees because all of my ways are before you.
169 May my cry arise before you, Lord; give me understanding according to your word.
170 Let my request come before you; deliver me, as you have promised.
171 May my lips utter praise, for you teach me your statutes.
172 May my tongue sing about your promise, for all of your commands are right.
173 May your hand stand ready to assist me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I am longing for your deliverance, Lord, and your instruction is my joy.
175 Let me live, and I will praise you; let your ordinances help me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come find your servant, for I do not forget your commands.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020
(Thank the Father for making you His child. Ask His help to be “like” Him today through words and actions that represent His character well.)
-Read John 14:10-14 (entire chapter found on page 6-7)
“You believe, don’t you, that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I don’t speak on my own. It is the Father who dwells in me and who carries out his work. Believe me, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe me because of what I’ve been doing. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the one who believes in me will also do what I’m doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I’m going to the Father. I’ll do whatever you ask in my name, so that

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Here are some things to consider from these verses:
-Our God is an extraordinarily amazing God. He is three Persons, yet One. It is impossible to understand one Person of the Godhead apart from the other Two, nor could One act out of sync with the other Two. Interestingly, as children of God, God wants us to learn how to think and act in keeping with His character, His values, and His perfect will. Even more astonishing, however, is that with His help, we can!

-Jesus, fully God, made the decision to not speak His own words. He joyfully submitted His will to that of the Father’s and speaks His Father’s words. You know, we sometimes wonder what to say in some situation or what to think about some circumstance. We’ll never think more clearly or accurately when we “think God’s thoughts after Him.” In other words, when we literally use Scripture to shape our thoughts and words. Memorizing Scripture helps us to do exactly that—and even if we don’t know it literally word by word, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind principles and truths that we have studied when we need them.

-Jesus’ actions proved Who He was. Our behavior, attitudes, actions, and lifestyle ALSO prove who WE are. Jesus stated extremely clearly that if we are not obeying the Father fully, then we are obeying satan. HORRORS! I’m sure that Jesus meant this in regard to an ongoing behavior or lifestyle and not when we inadvertently do something that wasn’t what God wanted, but changed our behavior when we realized that we were wrong. There’s all the difference in the world between a believer who strives to be faithful to God in all they do day by day, but who messes up, repents, confesses, then gets right back on track versus a believer who only obeys God when it suits them, when they “just happen” to agree anyway, or in some other on-again, off-again relationship with Him. God is not pleased with this attitude and their actions prove that they are NOT right with Him.

-Jesus told the disciples that they would be doing greater things than Him once He returned to the Father. I believe that Jesus was referring to how the Holy Spirit would be working in people’s hearts so that the gospel would spread in an amazing way in the years that followed His ascension back to heaven. In fact, if you’ll recall, over THREE THOUSAND people were saved on the day of Pentecost alone! Eventually, because of the trials Paul went through, the gospel was spread to Rome—even in Caesar’s own household. And, dear one, God’s miracles are STILL SEEN every time someone trusts in Christ as Savior today and every time a child of God trusts and obeys. This, too, is a tremendous work of God!

-Lastly, Jesus is not giving all who pray a blank check for whatever their little hearts might desire. What He IS doing, however, is better than that: it is sharing the incredible truth that when we pray in His name, that is, in a way consistent with His will and His character, that He will answer that prayer with what the Father knows is best for us. This is a pretty awesome truth—one that we are ENCOURAGED to take advantage of. All we need to do is keep studying our Bibles so that we know God’s likes, dislikes, will, plans, goals, and character, then pray in keeping with that. It’s a joy and a huge privilege. It’s also a responsibility. Praying the way God said to do it must be our goal. When we do, mountains might be moved!

Tuesday, July 7, 2020
(Thank the Father for His gift of the Bible that contains all that we need to know to live victorious lives.)
-Read John 14:7-9 (entire chapter found on page 6-7)
“If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.” Philip told him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will satisfy us.” “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me?” Jesus asked him. “The person who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Do you remember the first chapter of this beloved gospel? In it, John described Jesus as the One Who “exactly” represents God the Father. Jesus, Himself, repeated over and over that to “see” Him was to see the Father. SO, all we need to do to investigate what the Father is like—is to study His Son. And, good news, that’s what the Bible is all about! And information about Jesus Christ is not limited to the New Testament. The Old Testament has tons to say about the One Whom God would send to represent Him and fulfill His plan of redemption. That’s one of the (many) reasons why all humankind should be studying the Bible every single day. Its riches simply cannot be measured, so vast and amazing are they!

Did you remember that God gave a few men in the Old Testament tiny glimpses of Himself (which was more than they could handle!)? I wonder if Philip was wishing for a similar privilege since they were Jesus’ disciples? What Philip (and the others) hadn’t fully grasped, yet, was that they HAD not only “seen” God, but spoken with Him, were taught by Him, were friends with Him, and had been extremely close to Him for three years! They were FAR more privileged than Moses or Isaiah. They had come to KNOW Who Jesus was: what was important to Him, what pleased Him, what brought Him sorrow, and how EVERY PART OF HIS BEING was all about obeying and pleasing the Father. These are the very things they needed to KNOW and SEE God, and they are the very things that you and I need to know and observe, too. And not just know in the sense of accumulated knowledge, but “know” as in take into our hearts and allow it to change us and grow us so that we, too, can represent God in our attitudes and actions. Though we cannot ever perfectly be “like” God in true righteousness and holiness in this life, we can—and must—live in such a way that we represent Him with excellence so that when people see us, they see a glimpse of the Father and the Son.

Monday, July 6, 2020
(What did God show you about Himself yesterday? Thank Him. Praise Him. Find someone to tell it to.)
-Read John 14:4-6
“You know where I am going, and you know the way.” Thomas asked him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It’s interesting that even this close to Jesus’ crucifixion that the disciples really weren’t sure what Jesus meant when He spoke about going away. For one, their preconceptions about what the Messiah would do and when, seemed to blind most people to what Jesus SAID He was going to do and why. For another, what Jesus was about to do was a once-in-all-eternity event. It had never happened before and would never happen again, so how COULD they “get” it? And, the disciples sure had a lot of information given to them in just a few short hours—while dealing with death threats against Jesus, confusion and concern about a betrayer in their midst, and finding out that Jesus intended to leave them behind. I imagine that it was a confusing and stressful time for them.

In Jesus’ answer is an incredibly important and precious truth: Jesus is THE ONLY way to God the Father, all that He says (and is!) is TRUTH, and it is only IN Him that life is possible. Jesus is not only the Creator of physical life, it is His sacrifice on the cross that makes spiritual life possible.

Jesus not only SHOWED people the way to get right with God and become His children, He BECAME the way to obtain it. It is ONLY through His life, death, and resurrection that a “way” to God becomes possible, so Jesus IS the way, too. In fact, if anyone claims to be able to get to heaven by ANY way other than through Jesus, they are just plain wrong. We cannot add to, take away from, or otherwise change what GOD said about GOD’S creation.

Have you ever thought that Jesus is STILL the way, truth, and life to those of us who are already saved? It is “in Jesus’ name” that we have access to the Father in prayer and it is through His gift of the Holy Spirit that we are able to understand biblical TRUTH and live a LIFE that is pleasing to God and brings Him honor. Philippians 1 dedicates the longest verse in the Bible to all the wonders that are ours “in” Christ (look it up!).

What a blessed truth that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life!

Saturday, July 4, 2020
(Thank the Father for the Country that He has given to you. Pray for it. Pray for the president and leaders. Pray for revival so that we can once again be one nation under God.)
-Read John 14:2-3
“There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If there weren’t, I wouldn’t have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you, would I? And since I’m going away to prepare a place for you, I’ll come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. How many rooms are there in the Father’s house?
2. What is Jesus going to prepare?
3. Will Jesus ever come back?
4. Where will He welcome us?
5. Where is our ultimate destination?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples (and us!) was that:
-There is no need for our hearts to be troubled, we simply need to trust God.
-God the Father has a house!
-There are a lot of rooms in the Father’s house—a room for every single person who is a child of God. We need not fear that this isn’t the case.
-What Jesus tells us is true.
-We can trust that Jesus has told us what we need to know.
-One of the reasons why Jesus returned to heaven is to prepare a place for all Christians when it is time for them to go there themselves.
-When the time is right, Jesus WILL return.
-Jesus WILL welcome us into His presence when the time is right.
-One day all believers WILL be where Jesus is.

These truths have been cherished by believers down through the centuries. Regardless of how long ago Jesus promised them, they are still valid and they WILL happen. In fact, we can joyfully claim that we are 2,000 years closer to their fulfillment than the disciples were! =) We have many wonderful and amazing things to look forward to.

BONUS:
I don’t know about you, but passages like this often raise more questions for me to think about and ponder. For example, why do we need rooms in heaven if heaven is mostly temporary (won’t we be living on the new earth)? Why do we need rooms if we don’t need to eat or sleep? Are we 100% sure that we DON’T need to eat? There is food in eternity, the Bible says so. Are we 100% certain that we don’t need to sleep? Does the Bible say we don’t??? If all believers end up on the new earth, what will heaven be used for? Can you picture a world without the sun? I can’t. Oh, I trust that every single thing that God does will be far more wondrous than we could ever imagine, but it’s a challenge sometimes to picture what life will be like! Good thing we can trust God to always do what is right.

Friday, July 3, 2020
(Pray, asking the Father for help to glorify Him today in all ways and at all times.)
-Read John 14:1
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. _____ let your hearts be _______.
2. Believe in _______, believe also in ________.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John 14 contains some of my favorite Bible verses of all time. It starts right off with a tremendous treasure: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” Why? Because we KNOW that God IS. He is One God in Three Persons, the blessed Trinity. Whatever might cause us to be troubled is in the capable hands of GOD. Whatever questions we might have are already answered by our all-wise GOD. Whatever burdens we bear are being upheld by our loving GOD. Whatever our heart’s cry, our compassionate God hears us and comforts us.

Stated differently, “Don’t let your hearts be trouble, might be: “choose to refuse to be upset.” I think that this is an important reminder because, frankly, we can be pretty good about winding ourselves up in some areas. Fear is one such danger. With Coronavirus all over the news, it would be pretty easy to be hyper aware of even the tiniest of sniffles in one of our loved ones. If we allow ourselves to jump into the volatile land of our imagination, we can jump from “it’s allergies” to “THEY ARE GOING TO DIE IN TWO DAYS!” at the speed of light!

Anger is another emotion that easily grows out of control. Perhaps “someone” said “something” to us at church, and at the time we just brushed it off. But later, when we had time to think (and stew!) about it, we think “Hey! That wasn’t very nice” – and before we know it, that person has become our sworn enemy who ALWAYS does unkind things to us ALL THE TIME (which, of course, is NOT true!). What happened? We have “let our hearts be troubled”. We have NOT given the burden to God.

Prayerfully consider what you might be allowing to trouble your heart, then give it to God and enjoy the blessed peace that He will give to you in its stead.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020
(Ask the Father’s help to love others in the same way that He loves YOU.)
-Read John 13:36-38
“Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “I’m going where you cannot follow me now, though you will follow me later on.” “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” Peter asked him. “I would lay down my life for you!” Jesus answered him, “Would you lay down your life for me? I tell you emphatically, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who wanted to know where Jesus was going?
2. When did Jesus say they would be able to follow Him?
3. What did Peter offer to do for Jesus?
4. What did Jesus say Peter would do quite soon?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
While we cannot know what all Peter was thinking (or even all his motivations), I know that if it were me, I would NEED to return to what Jesus had said just prior to His command to love each other. Jesus had just said that HE WAS GOING AWAY—and that they couldn’t come! I imagine that this would have been quite an awful and scary thing to hear, especially after the exceptionally close bond they had all come to have with Jesus. Where was He going? When? Why couldn’t they come too? What was going to happen to them without Jesus there? How could Peter NOT follow Jesus when that was his life’s PURPOSE!

Jesus answered Peter’s inquiry about where He was going by telling Peter (and all of them) that they would follow Him later, but not now. To this, Peter blurted out, “Why???,” confessing that he loved Jesus so much that he would be willing to die for Him/with Him. But, of course, we know that although Peter was speaking sincerely, when push came to shove, Peter was too afraid to stand up for Jesus.

This, of course, hits too close to home—the truth that what we commit to say and do for Jesus while sitting in our comfortable pews in church is not always the same as our carry-through when standing in front of someone who has just expressed their dishonor of God in the grocery store. We fail. We flop. We chicken out. Like Peter, we may weep bitterly over our poor testimony and giving in to fear. BUT, God is always gracious. God is always merciful. God always hears our prayers of confession and regret. And God always answers our plea for help to honor Him better and grow more mature in our walk with Him. And, as long as we are not constantly refusing to do what He wants us to do, He will give us more chances to speak of His wonders, kindness, and yes, forgiveness of sin.

BONUS: Over the years, I have read many diet books and have tried many programs and have felt extremely frustrated at just how many of them contradict each other. No sooner do I get on board with one person’s idea for the “only” diet that truly works, when some other expert goes on record to say that the first person’s method not only doesn’t work, but is very dangerous. Who are we to believe! So, one of the things that I have tried to do, is to glean the (very) few things that everyone seems to agree on (for example, they all seem to agree on the importance of staying hydrated). Why in the world am I bringing all this up? Because one of the techniques that many of these people have suggested that has stuck with me as being valuable in many areas of life is the idea of planning ahead for situations that might be difficult to deal with. In the area of eating, an example of planning ahead might include a situation like going to a buffet. The “planning ahead” advice might include NOT going while you are starving, planning to go to the salad bar before the pasta bar—and NOT hang out close to the desserts. =) Applying this to talking to others about the Lord, we might plan ahead what we could say to various comments that others make—and how we might tell about God and His love for us (and them!). Simply having a “plan” in mind for when God gives us a chance to interact with others might be just the thing to help us speak confidently and freely about our LORD. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

August 2020 DBSQs

Monday, August 31, 2020
(Thank the Father for the wonders He showed you from His Word yesterday and for opportunities to be a blessing to fellow believers.)
-Read John 17:24-26
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, which you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has never known you. Yet I have known you, and these men have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Jesus want believers to be?
2. What did He want them to see?
3. What did Jesus make known?
4. Why?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In the middle of these precious sentences, Jesus says that He made the Father’s name “known” to the ones who God gave to Him (as believers). I appreciated the challenge to you and me to also “make His name known” to the people who He brings into our lives from day to day. I think, surprisingly, that we do this 100% of the time simply by how we act, what our attitude is, and even in our appearance (in addition to what we say), though making God’s name known isn’t necessarily always done positively. It should cause us horror and shame to come to the realization that when we allow ugly words and attitudes to show to people, that we are presenting God’s name as being BAD! It’s even possible that simply keeping that in mind can help us to CHOOSE to not allow any “attitude” to pop out in our actions or words (or even in how we drive when provoked!).

Looking on the positive side of this, we can, simply with well-chosen words, represent God’s name well to others. We can do this in a kind of behind-the-scene way in our deportment and appearance, but we can most certainly do it also in our words. When we spend enough time in Scripture and around godly fellow believers, our words will naturally reflect that. We might, in fact, even find ourselves quoting Scripture! Wouldn’t that be an awesome habit to develop! Furthermore, when we spend a lot of time in prayer thanking God for big things and little things, praising Him in the presence of others will also come naturally from our mouth. Have you known a believer like that? Someone who just looks and sounds “holy”? It’s quite a blessing to just be near them and absorb their obviously close relationship to God. But, dear one, this can describe you and me, too! If we apply ourselves to personal devotions, to learning to “pray without ceasing,” if we memorize Scripture and listen to music that honors God in word and instrumentation, if our local church is our “second home,” then we, too, will be slowly but surely learning how to make God’s name known to all those who come into our lives.

P.S. I asked my Hebrew scholar son about the word “name” in Scripture and he verified, first, that although we often see charts with “all” the names of God listed, the truth is that God has only one name (Yahweh/LORD/Jehovah, meaning “Self-Existing One” or “I AM”), but many, many titles. He suggested that if you look at the Scripture associated with what people often call “names” of God, you will discover that it’s really more of a description of Him in relation to a particular incident. That’s not to say, of course, that these titles for God aren’t awesome. They most definitely are! They’re just not His name (many are further descriptions of His name).

He also pointed out that in the Old Testament especially, someone’s name was more than a label. It was a description of their character and who they were as a person. To apply that to today’s lesson from John 17, when we are making God’s name known to others, we will be talking about Who He is, how amazing He is, what He is like, and what matters to Him, not just literally His name, though it is certainly a beautiful and unique name. =)

Saturday, August 29, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to represent Him well today.)
-Read John 17:19-23
“It is for their sakes that I sanctify myself, so that they, too, may be sanctified by the truth. I ask not only on behalf of these men, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their message, so that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. “I have given them the glory that you gave me, so that they may be one, just as we are one. I am in them, and you are in me. May they be completely one, so that the world may know that you sent me and that you have loved them as you loved me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus prays on behalf of these men and who else?
2. Jesus wants all believers to be ____.
3. Jesus wants believers to be one in the same way He is one with the
4. God’s love for believers is the same as what?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This section of John 17 is pretty special to today’s believers, because Jesus is praying for us—for those who would come to trust in Him as Savior down through the millennia following His return to heaven. That’s you and me! Actually, Jesus never STOPPED praying for you and me—and He is doing it right now. Furthermore, His prayers aren’t just general “help them all” prayers (like ours sometimes are for the needs of the missionaries!). Nope, Jesus intercedes on behalf of every child of God, helping the Father to understand what we’re dealing with (because He has been here on earth and He understands). One of the chief things Jesus is doing right now (right NOW) is being your sympathetic High Priest (Heb. 4). Pretty awesome!

Did you notice something in this chapter (that is also true throughout the entire Bible)? There IS a right way for everything to “be,” (which is, of course, the way God says it should be), and when God’s way is disregarded, the result is chaos, evil, pain, loss, hardship, sickness, disunity, destruction—and everything else that is ugly and bad. However, when God’s way is followed, the results include genuine joy, confident trust, reassuring peace—and unity. Unity that is centered on God (because it’s the only location unity can be found) and which automatically surrounds whatever else is centered on God. Therefore, when believers are living an obedient life according to God’s Word, they will have a sweet relationship with God AND with other obedient believers. When an entire church family is striving for excellence in their Christian walk and supporting each other to do the same, the unity of that church family is literally heavenly. That’s because God is pleased with them and is blessing them and drawing them ever closer to His side.

F.Y.I. These verses also say that it is AS believers walk in close unity with each other, showing the love of God in what they do and say and how they interact with other believers, that the unsaved will see this and be drawn to God. They will want what we have—and God will be glorified. Obviously, the opposite is true, too. There’s nothing more heart-breaking than to hear of believers fighting! We all need to stay close to the Lord so we can guard against thoughts and feelings that are contrary to what God wants from and for His children.

Friday, August 28, 2020
(Thank the Father for helping you to say yes to holiness and no to sin!)
-Read John 17:18
“Just as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. _________ ____ you sent me into the world, _____ ______ have sent them into the world.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus is talking to His Father and states the fact that He is sending His disciples out into the world “just as” the Father sent HIM! Does that strike you as super important? It does me! The Father sent Jesus to be His Emissary. He sent Him to demonstrate WHO HE IS through all that He said and did as well as through His outlook, goals, and plans. God sent Jesus to tell people Who God was, what He is like—and how they needed to stop sinning and get right with Him, no matter the cost. Jesus was also sent with the understanding that He would lay aside His own will—and only do what the Father wanted Him to do; to only SAY what the Father wanted Him to say; to point all attention, honor, and glory to the Father, and not Himself. And Jesus was sent to literally die for wicked mankind’s sin, because that’s what God said needed to happen in order for us to have a relationship with Him.

This is serious stuff!

God the Father doesn’t ask hardly any of His children in this current age to literally lay down their lives as part of His plan to reach the lost, but it’s not unheard of—especially in places where believers are persecuted. God DOES, though, ask all believers to lay down their lives in the sense of setting aside our agendas and what we might have thought is “how things should go” so that He can work through us and make things happen the way HE says it should. Why anyone would step in front of God is incomprehensible, and yet, we try to do it all the time, so strong is the pull of our sin nature (even though it has no true power over us!).

Believers (you and me!) have the “job” (joy, privilege, and responsibility) to represent Jesus Christ in the same way He represented the Father. We are His ambassadors! We demonstrate WHO HE IS by what we say (and DON’T say), but our outlook on what happens to us and around us day by day (for example, NOT complaining about the weather!), on what our goals are—and why, and what sort of plans we make (both on a daily basis, a weekly basis, and in our lives as a whole). We should be telling others about our Savior! We should be sharing what glorious things He has done for us—and what He would like to do for them. We need to be honest and forthright that sin kills, but that there is a way to overcome it (belief in Jesus as their Savior).

This may sound intimidating, but don’t forget that God gave to us EXACTLY the same tools that Jesus used while on earth: the might of the written Word of God and the inexhaustible might of the Holy Spirit. Don’t forget that with God all things are possible—even being a godly representative of Jesus Christ, and by extension, the Father. It’s done one decision at a time, prayerfully applying Scripture to know what to say, to think, to “feel”, and to act.

I Would Be Like Jesus (by James Rowe, 1911)
Earthly pleasures vainly call me, I would be like Jesus; Nothing worldly shall enthrall me, I would be like Jesus.

Refrain:
Be like Jesus, this my song, In the home and in the throng; Be like Jesus, all day long! I would be like Jesus.
He has broken every fetter, I would be like Jesus; That my soul may serve Him better, I would be like Jesus. (Refrain)
All the way from earth to glory, I would be like Jesus; Telling o’er and o’er the story, I would be like Jesus. (Refrain)
That in Heaven He may meet me, I would be like Jesus; That His words “Well done” may greet me, I would be like Jesus.

Thursday, August 27, 2020
(Ask the Father to flee every form of evil today and to focus on being holy as He is holy.)
-Read John 17:17
“Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The process of sanctification is both becoming more holy/righteous – and – removing ourselves from all that is opposed to God’s holiness and righteousness (set apart from sin, but set towards God’s values). It is a process that begins upon our salvation and doesn’t end until we are called home. It is entirely and completely a work of the Holy Spirit – EXCEPT – God gives us a role to play, too. Yes, this is totally a paradox—two things that are true at the same time that seem to oppose each other. ONLY God can make us more like Himself, but God wants our full cooperation—and if we refuse to cooperate, we won’t be becoming holy or separate from worldly thinking, philosophy, and actions.

But, HOW, you might ask? Jesus said it here in John 17: by the Word of God, which is truth. Don’t miss the fact that the Bible not only CONTAINS truth, it IS truth. It is how we know what truth even is! It is not my opinion v. yours, it’s not Einstein’s v. Plato, it is what GOD has said is truth. This is, without question, one of those foundational facts that every single believer MUST cling to and live by. God makes the rules, God determines what is good and what is evil, God declares what is truth and what is lies, God chooses what is pleasing to Him and what isn’t—and God determines truth. Thankfully, our God doesn’t play games, change the rules, or otherwise make us guess what He wants. He has stated it crystal clear in the 66 Books He gave us that we call the Bible.

So, while it is God Who will change us to be becoming more like Him in holiness and righteousness, we are the ones who need to make some essential life decisions (out of our love for Him and appreciation for our salvation). We need to focus on learning about God IN ORDER TO obey Him and please Him, and we need to turn our backs on our own sin nature’s desire to rebel against God by doing what we think is best, and to distance ourselves from the evil influence that is constantly surrounding us in the world. It DOES make sense to read and memorize Scripture, it DOESN’T make sense to read the tabloids and memorize the dialog of blockbuster movies. It DOES make sense to come to God often in prayer to praise Him for Who He is, to thank Him for the constant blessings and help He gives, and to seek His wisdom so as to make wise and God-honoring choices and decisions, it DOESN’T make sense to consult secular psychologists for advice, to check your horoscope daily, or to read self-help books written by unbelievers. It DOES make sense to bathe your day in music that honors God both in words, rhythm, and melody, and which reminds you of the truth of Scripture, it DOESN’T make sense to waste long hours brainwashing yourself with pop songs, movie tunes, and YouTube videos that encourage dissatisfaction with life, arrogance in self, and rebellion against authority. It DOES make sense to find a Bible-teaching church to belong to, attend regularly, and serve God in, it DOESN’T make sense to look for friends, activities, or “things to do” that are opposed to God or disinterested in Him. God’s children must think differently than the world, because God’s children are not of the world. They are new creatures in Christ. They are citizens of heaven.

Now might be a good time to prayerfully evaluate whether you are using God’s Word fully and totally as your source of truth. This is something all believers should do regularly so that we can be joyfully cooperating with God as He miraculously sanctifies us.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020
(Thank the Father for the joy—and happiness—He provides on a daily basis!)
-Read John 17:14-16
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one. They don’t belong to the world, just as I don’t belong to the world.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Jesus gave the disciples the world.
2. T/F The world hated the disciples.
3. T/F The disciples do not belong to the world any more than Jesus does.
4. T/F Jesus asked the Father to protect those who belong to Him.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It is as we maintain a close relationship with the Father by obeying His Word, praying without ceasing, and relying on the Holy Spirit to help us grow fruit in keeping with His holy character, that we are “protected” from the evil influence of the world. We cannot suppose that we can bathe ourselves in mud and come out clean, nor can we immerse ourselves in worldly thinking and behavior and not be affected spiritually.

In what way might we immerse ourselves in ungodly ways? By mindlessly clicking on whatever pops up in our sidebar on YouTube. By reading every person’s “thoughts” about life on Facebook, gently excusing their bad attitudes, crass words, and selfish focuses. By listening to music that promotes sensual feelings and encourages defiance, pride, and fighting to get what we want. By watching television shows that entice us to purchase items we don’t need in order to be more beautiful, smarter, skinnier, or “better” than however God made us. By reading books, magazines, and gossip-related propaganda that glamorizes wealth, fame, worldliness, and secular thinking. By sitting in front of “entertainment” for hours at a time where there is foul language, sex scenes, ungodly behaviors, attitudes, and conversation. By finding humor in things that dishonor God and are the opposite of what is pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy.

I can probably think of other areas that we should be avoiding in order to not be influenced by satan and the world, but I’m guessing that if you allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you, He will point out areas that He would like you personally to neaten up a bit (or a lot). Besides, as critically important as it is for us to recognize what it is around us that we need to steer clear of, we sure don’t want to miss out on the REASONS why this is important. Obviously, honoring God and showing Him our love through our obedience is an incredibly important thing throughout the entire Bible, but so is God’s joy at blessing us and rewarding us for choosing to do so! HE WANTS TO BLESS US. HE WANTS TO GROW OUR JOY. He won’t work with a dirty vessel, but boy, oh boy, the things He wants to do with a clean one is WELL WORTH any of what might be foolishly thought of as a “sacrifice” to give up! Why not give Him a chance to show you today by committing to prayerfully evaluating what you do, see, hear, and read on a regular basis and how you might weed out the ugly and cultivate the good? The Holy Spirit is right there, delighting in the opportunity to help you do so—and to excel still more!

P.S. Just so you know, I never give challenges like that to you without being fully aware of the deep responsibility that I have just laid on my heart and life! God makes me fully accountable for every word I say to you. As you’ve heard, to point a finger at someone else is to point three times as many back at yourself. I’ll keep praying for you—and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers on my behalf!

Tuesday, August 25, 2020
(Thank the Father for His absolute loyalty to His children. Ask His help to show loyalty to Him in decisions, attitudes, and actions.)
-Read John 17:12-13
“While I was with them, I protected them by the authority that you gave me. I guarded them, and not one of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled. And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. While I was with them, I _____ them by the authority that you gave me.
2. I guarded them, and _____ ______ of them became lost except the one who was destined for destruction, so that the Scripture might be ______.
3. And now I am _____ to you,
4. And I say these things in the world so that they may have my ____ made ____ in themselves.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Okay. This passage isn’t without a few challenges! How does one deal with verses and passages that are hard to understand or which don’t seem to fit other passages, anyway? Well, first of all, it is essential to remember that God’s Word will never contradict itself—nor will it contradict God’s character (Who He is). So, one Scripture passage will not say something that negates another Scripture passage. If it seems to do so, then we are either not understanding it properly, we are not reading the entire context, or we are reading a translation that made an error in how they understood the original text (it’s important to try to not forget that ALL English texts are translations of other languages, therefore, not all English words will “fit” their Hebrew and Greek counterparts. Furthermore, because so much of the Bible is from another time and place, those of us living in twenty-first century America may not understand some reference to a person, place, or thing that is from 100 A.D. and earlier (and in a different culture)—much as they wouldn’t understand our references to the internet.).

As noted, neither will Scripture tell us to do something or stop doing something that is contrary to God’s character: Who He is in true righteousness, holiness, justness, and so on. Anything that appears to do so is either the record of some lie that a person stated, or is a very poor translation. God’s Word always upholds and supports all the rest of God’s Word.

Another thing to be aware of when faced with hard-to-analyze Scripture verses is that there simply are some words, phrases, concepts, and passages that scholars have a tough time figuring out!

Once we’ve stood upon the solid foundation of knowing God’s Word will never contradict itself or not be consistent with God’s character, we can compare Scripture with Scripture to try to help us understand a passage better. For example, in John 17:12, where Jesus says that He has “protected’ His disciples and only “lost” one, the one destined for “destruction,” what could He possibly mean? Well, you may recall from several lessons ago that I am convinced that Judas was actually a believer in Jesus Christ because of John 2:11, where ALL His disciples believed “into” Him and because of repeated comments by Jesus about how all the disciples belonged to Him. So, I personally look at this verse with the understanding that Jesus cannot be saying that He lost Judas spiritually since that’s impossible (all sorts of Scripture points to the fact that salvation cannot be lost once it is obtained). So, what other kind of “lost” could be in play here? What was Jesus guarding all 12 men from? What if Jesus was referring to their physical lives? Only Judas of the Twelve died—and Old Testament Scripture prophesied that this would happen. In fact, you may find it interesting that the word here, can mean lost or destroyed in physical or metaphysical terms.

We can also look at John 17:12 and find great comfort in the truth that nothing can happen to us apart from God’s will—and if it is His will for something to happen, it’s because He allowed it for His glory and our spiritual good. There is much comfort in this. In fact, Jesus speaks about His desire for His followers to have His joy made complete in them. Hey, did you know that it is God’s plan and desire for you to have joy in your heart all the time? There are many verses that talk about this, so many in fact, that I don’t think it would be inaccurate to say that if we do not have genuine joy in our hearts, then we are probably out of whack with God. We may be allowing some sin (however “small”!) to remain in our lives, we may be negligent with Bible study, or prayer, or church attendance, or fellowship with other like-minded believers. We may not be trusting that every single part of God’s Word is true or not following through with our trust in obeying it and applying its principles to what we think, say, and do.

The point is that God WANTS us to be joyful, obedient, upbeat, calm, and VICTORIOUS believers. So much so, that He has provided everything that we need to live godly lives (He said so in His Word!). The only one holding us back—is us.

P.S. I know that it is commonly taught that happiness is the counterfeit of true biblical joy, and this is true when we are settling for earthly-oriented happiness and disregarding the joy and peace that can only be found in Christ, but I would contend that when we ARE loving God wholeheartedly by maintaining an excellent relationship with Him that we will have joy AND happiness. His joy is not dependent on circumstances, so we can have that no matter what’s going on around us. However, when we give our heavy burdens to God’s care, we can also enjoy the many occasions for happiness that come every single day.

Monday, August 24, 2020
(Did the Holy Spirit nudge you yesterday to notice someone—or nudge someone to notice you? Pray for them, thank the Father for your church family, make note of anything He brought to your attention about their needs.)
-Read John 17:10-11
“All that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine, and I have been glorified through them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your Name, the Name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. ____ that is mine is yours, and what is yours is mine.
2. And I have been ____ through them.
3. I am no longer in the world, ____ they are in the world.
4. And I am coming to you. ____ Father.
5. Protect them by your ___, the Name that you gave me, so that they may be ____, as we are one.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Unity and loyalty are two things that most people yearn for—even if they don’t always recognize that it is these that they are missing. Humans were created to bring glory to God in all we do and even in who we are as people (though sin has marred this, often beyond all recognition, apart from the saving grace of God). Humans were created to work together to supervise and oversee God’s creation, taking care of the resources He gave us in the earth and upon the earth. This, too, has been so marred by sin that today we have people who place their pets above that of other people and even their own welfare or who would choose to have people go homeless in order to save some plot of land in some corner of the world.

The right relationship with God brings about both unity and a sense of loyalty. Knowing how much God loves us and takes care of us from second to second causes obedient believers to want to love God right back by choosing to represent well His name and character in what we say, do, and in who we are as people. That’s loyalty. God is always loyal to His children 100% of the time, and when we are loyal back, we also enjoy the incredible blessing of unity. We have unity with the Father, unity with the Son, unity with the Spirit, and even unity with other faithful and obedient believers. At the moment that we are all right with God and living to bring Him glory, we are of one mind and spirit. What an awesome privilege that is! It goes hand-in-hand, of course, with what we’ve previously spoken about in regards to truly “knowing” God. The more we know Who He is, His likes and dislikes, and what brings Him pleasure, the more we can adjust what we think, say, and do to align ourselves more closely to Him (which is loyalty to Him as a member of His family) – the more in unity we are with Him and His purposes and goals.

Obviously, we will not be perfect at all that this side of eternity, but God is greatly honored simply in our continuous efforts to keep on keeping on and to not give up in doing what is right. He ALWAYS helps those who sincerely want His help—and since God can do anything, He can definitely help us be more consistently faithful. He is the One Who WANTS to be “one” with us, and He can bring it to pass. We simply must be willing, humble, obedient children, ever eager to labor to earn His smile of approval and pride!

BTW I read somewhere that this is the only time that Jesus addressed God as “Holy Father.” There is going to be no unity with the Father without the pursuit of holy living. Holiness is both the absence of sinful thinking and action and the inclusion of righteous thinking and action (using Scripture to instruct us what to say and do and why).

Saturday, August 22, 2020
(Ask the Father’s help to do the next right thing today—and every day.)
-Read John 17:5-9
“So now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed. I have made your name known to these men whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they realize that everything you gave me comes from you, because the words that you gave me I passed on to them. They have received them and know for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those you gave me, because they are yours.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus have with the Father before the world existed?
2. What did Jesus make known?
3. What did Jesus pass on to the men who God gave Him?
4. What did the men believe?
5. Jesus is asking the Father on behalf of _____ He gave Him, because they belong to Who?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Did you ever stop to think just how neat it is that Jesus prayed for the disciples before He chose them, during His years teaching them, before His death, and after His resurrection and return to heaven? If Jesus prayed for these men—and thanked God for them—shouldn’t we pray for the men of God that we know? Certainly, starting with your own pastor makes the most sense. God has given him the job of caring for YOUR soul! Don’t forget the deacons. Though their primary job has to do with assisting the pastor and helping carry the load, they are called on all the time for spiritual counsel and wisdom, too. These men should, for sure, be a part of our daily prayers. They are all part of the unique family that God created for YOUR local church—an incredibly precious gift that He gave to all of you!

Who else, though, do you know who has been called into full-time ministry by God? Just as Jesus said of the disciples, these men belong to God. He handpicked them to serve Him, and as such, they have His special care—and have been tasked with some pretty huge responsibilities. Does your church support any missionaries? Are you praying for them? Personally? By name? With specific prayers that fit their newsletters? How about other churches that your church fellowships with? Are you praying for those men of God? Does your church have a fellowship of churches? Have you gotten a list of who belongs to it so that you can pray for those pastors? I have no idea how many men who have been called by God to pastor there are around our world right this minute, but I do know that each and every one of them could use the prayers of brothers and sisters in Christ. The closer and closer we get to the Rapture, the more challenging it is to teach, preach, and witness for Christ. Praise God that He is ABLE. He can –and does—help these men, and all of us.

Who is the Holy Spirit nudging you to pray for right now?

Friday, August 21, 2020
(Ask the Father’s help to focus on Him today, choosing actions and activities that will honor Him and help you grow to be more like His Son.)
-Read John 17:4
“I glorified you on earth by completing the task you gave me to do”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
THE biggest goal for all believers is to be becoming more like Christ. For sure, we cannot argue that Jesus said that the most important commandment is to love God supremely and the second one is to love our neighbor as self. However, becoming like Christ would most definitely mean that we are working to fulfill these two commands—in addition to everything else that God said in His Word is pleasing to Him. Jesus said it succinctly when He stated that He was on earth to do the Father’s will. This basic statement includes all of what God wants. Everything.

So, today I hereby challenge me (and you, too!) to live in such a way that we, like Jesus, can turn to the Father in prayer with our last breath and say with confidence, “I have glorified You on earth by completing the task You gave me to do.”

Wow. Did you get chills? I did! What HUGE, HUGE accomplishment that would be! Can we even do that? Is it even POSSIBLE?

Why, yes it is! You see, God has never required us to conquer the world in a day. In fact, the truth is that WE are not the conquerors at all! It is God Who works in us and through us to do ASTRONOMICAL things—when we are willing, submissive, and humble servants of Him; obedient children of THE Father. Step by step, decision by decision, He helps us to honor Him, obey Him, and bring Him glory.

How can we even KNOW what the tasks are that God has for each of us as individuals (because we know that He has planned very specific “works” for each of us!)? That’s simple too: just do the next right thing. God has given us sixty-six books stuffed full of what He says is right and what He says is wrong (sin!), and by CHOOSING to do what we know is “right,” we will automatically ALSO be doing the tasks that He has planned for us. And so, when we wake up in the morning rejoicing in that specific day that God has given us and then ask for His help to not do even one thing that is outside His will, helping us to remember His Word and apply it to each thought, each word, each action, bit by bit, hour by hour, then at the end of the day we can thank Him and entrust Him with “all the details” and sleep in peace and security—rising the next day to again trust Him for that day. Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and months turn into whatever lifespan God has ordained for each of us individually. And when our time to die has arrived—or joy of joys, Jesus raptures us out of here—we can turn OUR face to the Father and declare, “I glorified You on earth by completing the task You gave me to do! Thank You! Praise Your holy name!!!!”

Will you commit to the Father right this moment to do the next right thing? He LOVES that kind of prayer—and He loves to help us enjoy tremendous victory.

Thursday, August 20, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to be victorious today in your Christian walk while maintaining constant praise and thanks to Him.)
-Read John 17:1-3
“After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you. For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him. And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus say had “come”?
2. What is eternal life?
3. Eternal life is to know God the ____ and God the _____, the One He sent.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had been given the mission by God the Father to provide eternal life for the ones that God had given to Him. Jesus says that eternal life is wrapped up in knowing the “true God” and the One He sent, specifically, Jesus the Messiah (Christ/Anointed One). He ALSO said that He would give eternal life to ALL those whom God sent. In other words, if you belong to God, it is a permanent deal.

We know, of course, that eternal life/salvation comes when a person believes in Jesus Christ as the Savior from their sin. Once a soul has trusted in Christ, they HAVE eternal life right at that moment, even though the full realization of it comes later. But just because we can’t really see our eternal life in the here and now, we can—and should—live like one who belongs to God eternally today, right this very moment. How do we know to do that? Jesus told us in verse 3. We must come to KNOW God. We must be willing and eager participants in the forever-family we have with God the Father and God the Son (and all the other children of God!). How? What does this look like?

Picture someone that you REALLY love. It could be a spouse, a child, a parent, or an extra close friend. HOW did you become so close? Did it happen with zero labor on both sides? Did it happen when one person gave their heart on a platter while the other one ignored it or stepped on it? Of course not! Building a relationship takes time. It takes getting to know each other. It takes sacrificing of one’s self for the other person. It takes spending time together—regularly. And bit by bit, contact by contact, a bond begins to grow. Conversations switch from “And I did that, and I want that” to “What did YOU do today? How are YOU feeling about that? How can I encourage you?”. A godly relationship is never about a 50/50, you give, then I give back kind of deal. No way. God is all about extreme generosity, unending grace, great measures of mercy. Godly relationships, the ones that honor God and richly bless people, are the ones where each party gives 100%. Where each side of the relationship spends all their time trying to out-love the other. It’s quite the beautiful thing!

NOW, take that whole scenario and ratchet it up about 1,000%! A relationship with GOD is SO MUCH MORE that we might as well call a teaspoon of salt water the ocean. Even that is not a good illustration, because what God gives and IS, is literally endless, beyond understanding, and eternal. And yet (LISTEN UP HERE), GOD, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Almighty—wants to have a deep friendship with YOU. Yes, you—just as you are, where you are, how you are. Who would EVER say no to that! Only, isn’t that what we do every time we skip praying when we know God wants us to come to Him with some challenge or some joy? Isn’t that what we do when we flop open our Bible, hunt for a verse that isn’t too bossy, and then say “There! I did my devotions,” but without prayerfully contemplating what God wanted us to know that day and in that moment? Isn’t that what we do when we put church attendance on hold so that we can spend more time with guests, or gardening, or sleeping? Isn’t that what we do when we knowingly do and say things that we know are not God-honoring—or—even when we didn’t know whether it was okay or not, but couldn’t be bothered to find out?

And yet, our loving, gracious, kind, and merciful Father STILL loves us—and still stays available to us so that He can build a wonderful relationship with us. WE, my dear friends, are the only ones hindering a precious and growing relationship with Him. So, rather than taking a “barely getting by” approach to knowing God, why not jump in with both feet and REALLY get to know Him through intense Bible study, through meaningful time in prayer, through being at every church service that we possibly can, note-taking notebook in hand, through hanging out with mature Christians and talking about God and all His glories, through replacing your music with music that honors and glorifies God, through doing away with junk reading and replacing it with Bible knowledge books and focus, through disdaining movies, TV, and computer sites that uphold what is carnal, and search for those that will equip you well for eternity? The more we do all of that, the more God will disclose Himself to us, and the more we will KNOW Him. What are you waiting for? Get started right now!

Wednesday, August 19, 2020
(Spend some time in prayer simply thanking God for Who He is, what He has done and is doing, and all the mighty acts of mercy and grace He has shown to you and your loved ones.)
-Read John 17:1-2
“After Jesus had said this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, so that the Son may glorify you. For you have given him authority over all humanity so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When did Jesus begin praying?
2. How did He address God?
3. What was His request?
4. What authority had the Father given Him?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John 17 in an incredibly special chapter, not just in the context of John’s gospel, but in the entire Bible. This is because it a record of what Jesus Christ, the Son of God, prayed to God the Father just moments before His arrest and death—the fulfillment of the mission He had come to earth to do some 33 years earlier. Jesus could have, of course, prayed silently. This is an exceedingly private and precious prayer, so not allowing anyone else to hear Him makes perfect sense. But that’s not what our Savior chose to do. He WANTED us to have a record of what He said so that we would know why He died (for us!), how it glorified the Father, and how it would impact us—even all these centuries later. One of the reasons, also, that this chapter is so precious to believers today is that Jesus prays for you and me specifically. That is, Christians who would come years, decades, and centuries after those who lived during that time. Get a sneak peek by looking at verse 20 and following.

Some might have the wrong idea that Jesus’ prayer is a bit on the sad side, but if you remember, He had JUST said to the disciples that they had no reason to be afraid or oppressed—because He had overcome the world. Jesus’ death on the cross was not a defeat, it was a MOST MARVELOUS victory! Sin, satan, and death were all defeated in His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection. Because of this, you and I (and all believers!) do not operate from a position of defeat or as the underdogs, nor are we to be pitied. We are the children OF GOD! Because of who we are in Christ, we ARE victors! We—right this moment—belong to God and are seen as righteous and holy in His eyes. His love for us is PERFECT and unending and NOT dependent on whether or not we are living victoriously for Him or have failed Him in some way. John 17 is a wonderful chapter to go to for refocusing on God’s truth when the lies of the world have pulled us off center.

So, Jesus telling God that the hour has come isn’t a comment of horror as much as it is a “Let’s get this thing done! This is what I came to do!.” It’s a comment of eagerness to glorify the Father THROUGH the task of death (which is what glorifies the Son). And, of course, don’t miss the point of this entire thing: Jesus is giving Himself so that YOU can have eternal life. He willingly suffered it all FOR YOU. What, then, would you like to give back to Him? Certainly, your praise. How about whatever it is that keeps you from a more meaningful prayer time? How about the rearranging of your day so that you have regular time for personal devotions? How about dedicating Sundays to give the very most top priority to be in church services? How about setting aside your agenda to help another believer—in whatever way they most need? There are millions of ways a faithful and willing Christian can show gratitude to the Father and to the Son! Ask Him. He’s will gladly show you (AND help you).

Tuesday, August 18, 2020
(Thank the Father for how perfectly He cares for you and how thankful you are to be at peace—no matter what—because of it.)
-It’s time to review John 16. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 16 Review & Summary
Once in a while, we hear of someone who knew they only had a very limited amount of time to live writing a letter to a loved one to be read at a later time. Maybe, most especially, from a parent to a young child. The child would not be able to understand what that parent wanted them to know until they were a lot older, so leaving “last” thoughts for them is one way to handle that hard situation. John 16 isn’t quite that, for our Savior is completely and forever ALIVE (though He did leave us a SIXTY-SIX BOOK love-letter!), but certainly there must have been a sense of time clicking down quickly until the disciples’ lives would be torn apart due to Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion, and death. What is recorded in John 13-17 is some of what Jesus spoke about just before He was torn from His men (or more accurately, they ran away from Him). So, while the entire Bible is critically important for all of mankind, there seems something especially tender and important in what is recorded of Jesus’ conversation before His death.

Jesus says, right at the very beginning of this chapter, that the things that He has been sharing with His disciples were to help them to not fall away in all the chaos, horror, uncertainty, and hardship of the next few days, but also in the hard days and years that would follow Jesus’ return to heaven. He was quite forthright that those who live as He did and obeyed His Word faithfully WILL suffer persecution, WILL be misunderstood and abused, and WILL be challenged and denigrated. The world didn’t understand Him, so they cannot understand those who are like Him. BUT, what the world thinks is inconsequential in the big picture. All that truly matters is what GOD thinks—and God is honored and glorified by all believers who live like His Son. God is PLEASED with His children who are striving every day to imitate Him in their thoughts, words, and deeds. In fact, God extends the honor and privilege of speaking directly to Him in prayer to all His children and blesses those who are faithful to Him with joy that is COMPLETE.

Surrounding all the information about what the disciples can expect in the immediate future and the extended future, is the promise and encouragement that God the Holy Spirit is going to come once Jesus has gone—and that His coming will be INCREDIBLE. A true game-changer. This is because the Third Person of the Godhead would begin indwelling believers, and would continue to do so constantly and for forever. He would help them to understand God’s Word, LOVE God’s Word, and have the ability to live according to God’s Word. And, in spite of the great ugliness and turmoil that is found all around us in the world, the Holy Spirit would help believers recognize and enjoy PEACE, Christ’s peace. Quite the big deal! Through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, every faithful believer can live this life courageously, peacefully, and joyfully.

Monday, August 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for the blessings and lessons of the weekend!)
-Read John 16:33
“I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John 16:33 is one of my top 5 all-time most precious verses. “I have told you this so that through me you may have peace. In the world you’ll have trouble, but be courageous—I’ve overcome the world!” Peace is ours because of Jesus Christ. No matter what the world throws at us, we can be courageous because He won the victory over it. When huge things happen like house fires—or when small things happen like your favorite top getting ruined with grease splatters, our peace resides in our relationship to Jesus Christ. When life suddenly seems more than we can bear due to some sudden and shocking illness of a loved one—or the ongoing battle with feeling inadequate and a failure, our peace resides in our relationship to Jesus Christ. And when our very existence is chopped up and rearranged due to a tiny virus—or we can’t sleep well at night and are tired to the bone, our peace resides in our relationship to Jesus Christ.

Can anything or anyone overwhelm what God has for us? Of course not! Take heart, dear fellow believer, your Savior has overcome the world and His peace is YOURS. Take rest in Him. Allow Him to carry your burden.

BONUS: Jesus uses the phrase “take courage” in these verses, too:
-Matthew 9:2 “All at once some people brought him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he told the paralyzed man, “Be courageous, son! Your sins are forgiven.”

-Matthew 9:22 “When Jesus turned and saw her, he said, “Be courageous, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” And from that very hour the woman was well.

-Matthew 14:27 “Have courage!” Jesus immediately told them. “It’s me. Stop being afraid!”

-Mark 6:50 “All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, “Have courage! It’s me. Stop being afraid!”

-Mark 10:49 “So Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!” So they called the blind man and told him, “Have courage! Get up. He’s calling you.”

-Acts 23:11 “That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too.”

The Take-Away? It’s not a question of our bravery or strength. Our peace and confidence is because of WHO our God is!

Saturday, August 15, 2020
(Thank the Father for your salvation. Pray for family, friends, and co-workers by name who are unsaved.)
-Read John 16:29-32
“Jesus’ disciples said, “Well, now you’re speaking plainly and not using figurative language. Now we know that you know everything and don’t need to have anyone ask you any questions. Because of this, we believe that you have come from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Listen, the time is coming, indeed it has already come, when you will be scattered, each of you to his own home, and you will leave me all by myself. Yet I’m not alone, because the Father is with me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The disciples believed that Jesus came from Who?
2. Jesus told them that they will be _____ and leave Him by Himself.
3. Why wouldn’t Jesus truly be alone?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
God has blessed me with four precious granddaughters, ages 6 to 1 year. They live several hours away, but by the awesome gift of the internet, I am able to chat with them by way of live video, so I am can see and hear them (though they seldom hold still for even part of these virtual visits!). It is very hard to see them in person only rarely, so I treasure these few minutes each week of video chatting. I enjoy asking each of the girls questions (well, the baby isn’t quite up to answering me yet!). Their answers are a lot of fun to hear. One of the typical things that they do is to state something with utmost honesty that I know is not literally true. For example, Michelle, 5, might tell me that she made supper with Mommy the other day. By that I am aware that Michelle was on a stool near the counter, perhaps stirring something with a spoon, but she did NOT choose the menu, shop for the food, prepare the food, place it in the oven, or retrieve it from the oven and set it out for the family to eat. When she told me that she helped make supper, my response wasn’t to challenge her by pointing out everything that she didn’t (and couldn’t) do, but to acknowledge this first step in what will eventually become actual cooking when she is several years older.

When Jesus agreed with His disciples that they now believed, He is “taking the disciples where they are” – theirs at that moment was a small, immature faith, but He knows it’s all they’ve got, and He’s willing to work with it. He, however, does know (and says so!) that before the night is out, they will ALL run for their lives, abandoning Him to face His oppressors all alone. Only, was He truly alone? He Himself said that He was not all alone. The Father was with Him. And, dear one, when we are facing something hard, lonely, and difficult to bear, we are not alone either! The Father is with us, too! He will NEVER leave us or forsake us. He will ALWAYS be right beside us, helping us to not only bear well the burden, but to relax in His peace, and be uplifted through His joy.

It sure would be awesome to mature to the point where we would never abandon our family or friends when they are in a difficult circumstance, but we can praise God that He never abandons those whom He loves.

Friday, August 14, 2020
(Thank the Father for the incredible privilege of prayer!)
-Read John 16:25-28
“I have said these things to you in figurative language. The time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly about the Father. At that time, you will make your requests in my name, so that I will have no need to ask the Father on your behalf, because the Father himself loves you, and because you have loved me and believed that I came from God. I left the Father and came into the world. Now I’m leaving the world and going back to the Father.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What kind of language had Jesus been using?
2. Would He continue this forever?
3. In what way would He tell them about the Father?
4. Who did Jesus say loves them?
5. Where is Jesus going?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Figurative language is the use of words and phrases to stand for something else. There are many ways to do this. Some examples that are common today include calling someone a couch potato, calling time “money,” and declaring a loved one your “sunshine.” Jesus taught using figurative language all the time! He said the Christians should be “salt” and “light” to the world, He called the disciples to be “fishers of men,” He identified the Pharisees as white-washed graves. Interestingly, though, sometimes Jesus used figurative language that was also a literal truth. I think, especially, of Him proclaiming to be the Light of the World. This is spiritually true, but as the Creator and Sustainer of all of creation, it is true physically, too. In addition, the book of Revelation tells us that in eternity, God will BE the light-source, that we will no longer need the sun, moon, or stars. Interesting!!!

Jesus told the disciples quite frankly that the reason why He taught figuratively so much is that they weren’t quite ready to hear and understand the whole truth (He also mentioned that much of what He taught was only for believers and so He did not always explain the meanings of His teaching to the unsaved crowds). BUT, in just a short while, nothing would ever be the same again, and part of the many benefits of His death, burial, and resurrection was that they, with the help of the Holy Spirit, would be able to understand deeper and more pointed spiritual truth. In addition, they would be able to pray directly to the Father in His name—with the sure knowledge and comfort that the Father loves them deeply. This was no casual conversation just to “shoot the breeze!” (another figure of speech!). Jesus had critically important things to say to these men whom He loved so dearly – and He refused to waste even a second of this precious time.

Jesus then stated in impossible-to-misunderstand terms, His mission from the Father. It was to leave the Father’s presence in heaven, come into the world, then return to the Father’s side. If Jesus had refused to do the Father’s will in this regard, all of humanity would have been hopelessly (yet deservedly) doomed to eternal suffering in the Lake of Fire. Spending some time today in prayer to thank God for His plan and the willingness of the Son to obey Him should surely be on our agenda!

Thursday, August 13, 2020
(Praise the Father for the victory won through His Son! Talk to Him about how excited you are to be in His presence one day soon.)
-Read John 16:23-24
“On that day, you won’t ask me for anything. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whatever you ask the Father for in my name, he will give it to you. So far you haven’t asked for anything in my name. Keep asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. On that day, you won’t ask me for anything. Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, whatever you ask the Father for _____ ______ _____, he ____ give it to you.
2. So far you haven’t asked for anything in my name. ____ ____ and you will receive,
3. ______ ____ your joy may be complete.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Did you catch what Jesus was telling His disciples? It’s a brand new thought—that of praying “in Jesus’ name.” It’s something you and I are quite familiar with, but this was a first for the disciples.

What exactly is “praying in Jesus’ name”? Well, first, it is the acknowledgment that it is only because of the work that Jesus did on the cross that we even have the right to call God “Father” and to pray directly to Him. Before salvation, God wasn’t our Father, nor did He need to listen to our pleas (though He certainly shows grace and mercy to the unsaved ALL THE TIME). Our trust in Jesus as the Savior from our sins restored a right relationship to God and made us His adopted children. Part of the perks of being part of His family is the exceptional privilege of coming directly before the Father any time night or day to talk to Him in prayer. However, like every single aspect of living a life that honors and pleases God, we should do it as He asks us to—and in this case, it is to always pray “in Jesus’ name.” That’s why we tack those words on to the end of our prayer (and why they are more than just some formula or unnecessary “ritual” words).

In addition, praying in Jesus’ name also reminds us that what we talk to God about, what we ask Him for, what we tell Him our heart’s desire is—should be in keeping with the character of Jesus Christ. God cannot and will not give us what is not good for us spiritually or what is not in keeping with His perfect will, or is not in harmony with His holiness, righteousness, and grace. BUT, when we pray with godly motives and goals (in Jesus’ name), God WILL hear and answer our prayers resulting in joy that is “complete” (or “full”). This is a pretty amazing thing and something we should be thanking God for and praising Him for every day!

We might take this biblical truth and turn it around to help us evaluate how we are doing spiritually. For example, if our prayers seem dull and flat, if we would NOT characterize our hearts as having complete joy, we might need to spend some time in prayerful evaluation about whether or not we are thinking and behaving in a God-honoring way or if we have allowed some ungodly attitudes and actions to creep into our hearts, minds, and actions. Thankfully, these can easily be eliminated by confessing them to the Father and relying on Him to help us return to obeying His Word first, foremost, and always.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020
(Pray for the believers that God has placed in your life, most especially your church family and pastor. As fellow members of the family of God, we need to support each other in our prayers!)
-Read John 16:20-22
“Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you’ll cry and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You’ll be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor she has pain, because her time has come. Yet when she has given birth to her child, she doesn’t remember the agony anymore because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. Now you are having pain. But I’ll see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Though the disciples would cry and mourn, the world will ____.
2. Though they would be deeply distressed, their pain will turn into ____.
3. Why does a women forget labor pains?
4. Jesus told them that they would see Him again and their hearts would ____.
5. Can anyone take away the joy of those who love Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus reminds His disciples that human perceptions are always wrong when they are not viewed through the lens of Scripture. The disciples WOULD experience tremendous sorrow and grief upon His death and departure, but the Holy Spirit would show them that what Jesus did for them is a cause for unending JOY. As much of the Bible points out, sorrow, grief, hardship, and pain are very temporary things for the child of God. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, all of that ugliness will be taken away forever at the end of the Millennium, and eternity with be one of perfect peace and everlasting joy—all thanks to the Father and to the Lamb.

Jesus also pointed out that any rejoicing and feelings of victory on the side of the world in regard to overcoming Him, God’s children, or holiness is actually false hope and temporary happiness. God has already won. Jesus is the Victor. Sin, death, and satan only have a limited amount of time to influence the world and “feel” like winners. Their utter destruction and eternal punishment are just around the corner. It is only those who have aligned with God through simple faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work as their Savior who have cause for true joy and complete confidence about eternity. Don’t let satan lie to you about what is true! He’s dead meat. We, in Christ, are more than conquerors. We need only live like it, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us on the narrow path of righteousness.

Tuesday, August 11, 2020
(This is the day the LORD has made, rejoice and be glad in it in prayer to the Father!)
-Read John 16:19
“Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him a question, so he asked them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again’?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus know?
2. Did He wait for them to ask?
3. Did He know what they were concerned about?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This verse makes me smile a little. Here’s why: I can’t help but picture Jesus on His way to the Garden of Gethsemane, instructing His disciples, but the lot of them are all huddled in a group, muttering to each other about how they have NO IDEA what in the world Jesus is talking about, perhaps trying to guess what He means, but mostly feeling confused and sad. They clearly wanted to question Jesus, but they didn’t, so Jesus had to volunteer the answer.

What’s the (almost) humorous part of this scene? Why didn’t they just ask Jesus what they wanted to know? Why would they question each other, but not go to the Source—Who was RIGHT THERE? You know, we sometimes also act foolishly in this regard. We may have wondered to ourselves what Mrs. So-and-so meant when she said ___________ to us the last time we saw her. We think about what she said, we wonder why she said it and what she meant by it—and we can’t seem to let it go. We might even call up a bestie and ask THEM what Mrs. So-and-so could have meant, perhaps dredging up past bad experiences to make a judgment on her motives—when we can’t truly know what they were UNTIL WE ASK HER. I wonder? Just how many tiffs among people could be avoided simply by communicating with one another? Simply by giving the other person the benefit of the doubt? Simply by assuming they meant no harm? Simply by loving others and showing grace and mercy in the same manner that God does to us on a constant basis?

Another obvious—and essential—thing to do when we have a question of any kind is to do what the disciples did not do on that day: ask God. Bringing our questions, our uncertainties, our heartaches—and our joys and triumphs—to God in prayer is always the right FIRST thing to do. Perhaps when we talk over the issue with Him in prayer, allowing Scripture to mold our thinking to be patterned after God’s thinking, the answer will be obvious and we will know exactly what to do—or not do.

Got questions? Got concerns? Go to God first, then if He directs you to, go only to the person/people involved and talk to them about it with the goal of clearing things up so that you can both honor God and draw closer to Him—and each other.

P.S. It’s not wrong to seek godly counsel from your pastor or another mature believer. Just be uber careful to share facts and not guesses or opinions. And, of course, be certain to pray together and search God’s Word to find direction and help.

Monday, August 10, 2020
(What did God teach you from His Word yesterday? Thank Him! Tell someone about it.)
-Read John 16:16-18
“In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again.” At this point, some of his disciples asked each other, “What does he mean by telling us, ‘In a little while you will no longer see me, then in a little while you will see me again,’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” They kept saying, “What is this ‘in a little while’ that he keeps talking about? We don’t know what he means.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus say that confused the disciples?
2. Who did they ask for clarification?
3. Did any of them understand Jesus?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I’m going to guess that I’m not the only one who sometimes (often!) feels confused and uncertain about what’s going on in my life and wonder where it is all headed. I feel like typical responses to that kind of uncertainty include trying to “fix” it, or totally disregarding it and pretending it’s not there, or to try to escape it—to move on to the next thing. But God has been bringing to my attention pretty often in the last few months just how easily and quickly my focus can get off-kilter. And by off-kilter, I mean that I am not aligned with God’s viewpoint, standards, goals, or direction. For example, I was just reading this morning about someone who was frustrated with her day-to-day demands, wrongly thinking that they were getting in the way of “the works that God prepared ahead of time for her to do,” when, in fact, our day-to-day demands ARE the works that God has prepared for us to do! It is in the mundane, ordinary, everyday tasks that we are called to choose to think of as from God, as tasks to tackle with the goal of giving our very best, as what we are to rejoice in as part of the current day that God gave to us, and to thank God for them because God only always ever gives us His best for His own glory and for our good.

Do you see it? When we stop fussing about all the things in our lives that we believe need to be changed, and start honoring God with what we have—as we have it—then He is free to teach us more about Himself, to display His goodness to us and to others who see us, and to mature us to be more like His Son. He is free to grow in us His fruit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, kindness, faith, meekness, and patience. When we embrace each new day and each part of every day, however blasé and “boring,” as gifts from His gracious and loving hand, then it BECOMES the “great” thing that it truly is, that which is a gift from our loving Father TO US.

And just to bring all this back to today’s verses, just as the disciples didn’t understand where Jesus was going, how long He would be gone, and when He would be coming back, we may struggle with feeling like Jesus will NEVER come back to rapture us away from this sinful world, but He said He would, so He will. And though we cannot perceive it now, living in the thick of our lives, I believe that when we do get to glory that we will be able to see that it was truly “in a little while” before Jesus returned to the clouds to catch up His Bride and bring her home. In the meantime, we can CHOOSE to trust God’s promises and we can CHOOSE to use every second of the day and every task He gives us to honor and glorify Him and do our best for Him.

Saturday, August 8, 2020
(Thank the Father for the Holy Spirit. Ask for His help to be tender and submissive to His leading.)
-Read John 16:12-15
“I still have a lot to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. Yet when the Spirit of Truth comes, he’ll guide you into all truth. He won’t speak on his own accord, but he’ll speak whatever he hears and will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said, ‘He will take what is mine and declare it to you.’”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Jesus had pretty much said all He wanted to say.
2. T/F The disciples weren’t at all affected by what Jesus told them.
3. T/F The Spirit of Truth guides believers into all truth.
4. T/F The Spirit of Truth shares what Jesus tells Him to share.
5. T/F The Spirit of Truth brings glory to Jesus.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
In today’s verses, Jesus is continuing to explain a bit about what the Holy Spirit’s role will be and just how essential that role is. Jesus had already mentioned that it is the Holy Spirit Who convicts people of their sin and Who points out to them their need to trust in Jesus as their Savior. He has also mentioned a few times how the Holy Spirit would be working in the hearts and lives of believers to help them understand God’s Word and apply it to the circumstances of their lives. And, here, Jesus states that the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to help believers focus on Him (Jesus). In fact, we find here, and in other passages of the New Testament, that the Holy Spirit does not really want people to focus on Him at all. He wants them to focus on Jesus Christ. For that reason, we don’t sing hymns to the Holy Spirit specifically. We believe that Scripture teaches that He is not pleased with that. His pleasure comes in bringing glory to Jesus Christ, Whose pleasure is in bringing glory to the Father. It’s all very interesting, because, as you well know, God is One God, yet Three. Just boggles the brain!

Once Jesus Christ has been crucified, resurrected, and has returned to heaven until the time of His Millennial Rule (at least 7 years from today), the Holy Spirit will begin to indwell all Christians and the Church Age will have begun. At that point, it is the Holy Spirit Who will work in the hearts and lives of the disciples to know how to tell other people about the wonderful thing that Jesus did for them—and how they can live the kind of life that brings honor to God. As more people became saved and began to grow in their understanding of Christ (because the Holy Spirit helped them to do this), they, too, began to teach others—and soon, the gospel of Christ began to spread not only in Israel, but to all the world. Additionally, in the next few decades, the Holy Spirit would tap very specific people on the shoulder to use to write exactly what He wanted (yet using the person’s “style”) so that the New Testament of the Bible would be written. This included Peter, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, Jude, Paul, and others. The TREASURE of our Bible is thanks to the Holy Spirit—Who was relaying to human authors what God wanted Him to relay. Pretty astonishing! Pretty awesome! Pretty praiseworthy!

Friday, August 7, 2020
(God’s plans are perfect. Thank Him.)
-Read John 16:8-11
“When he comes, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment— of sin, because they don’t believe in me; of righteousness, because I’m going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and of judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When he comes, he will _____ the world of _____, righteousness, and ______.
2. Of sin, because they don’t _____ ___ _____; of righteousness, because I’m going to the Father and you will ____ ______ _____ _____
3. And of judgment, because the _____ ____ _______ ______ has been judged.”
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I think that we can safely say that the role of the Holy Spirit in this time period is “big.” Very, very big. =) You see, salvation only comes when the Holy Spirit “turns on the light,” as it were, so that an individual realizes that they need to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. He points out to people that they are sinners and that they sin. And, of course, to recognize what is sin, there must be something to compare it with—which is righteousness. Righteousness is right according to GOD’S standard of right. He is the One Who determines what is right and what is wrong (sin). The Holy Spirit also points out that sin must be judged. There is a very serious penalty for sin that MUST be paid. In fact, if Jesus hadn’t come and paid the price for sin, NO ONE could be “saved” and EVERYONE would be spending eternity in the Lake of Fire as the just and proper punishment for his or her sins.

Interestingly, other than the Bible, the primary way that the Holy Spirit does His convicting is through believers and through local churches (where believers are joined together in local “bodies”). He uses the words, behaviors, witness, and testimonies of Christians to demonstrate to the unsaved what God is like, how He transforms lives, and the unending help and blessings He gives to His children. Merely refusing to do something or go somewhere because God doesn’t want us to is to demonstrate to others that God is holy, and His character and standards cannot be broken. This holy lifestyle, lived in front of a lost and dying world can be used by the Holy Spirit to introduce the unsaved to the true concept of right and wrong and it may “convict” them of sin. HOW, WHO, and WHEN the Holy Spirit works in people’s hearts and lives is His job. Ours is to live faithfully and obediently according to God’s Word (with a joyful heart!), being ready and open to talk about our wondrous Father at every opportunity that He gives.

Before we move on, though, we would do this topic a disservice to not be reminded that the Holy Spirit continues to work in the hearts and lives of believers, too. We NEED His help and strength to remember that what God says is right, that what the world says is wrong, and to choose to turn away from sin and to choose to do what is holy and righteous. We NEED His help to recognize when we have sinned so that we can confess it and make it right with God, then return to God-honoring behavior and attitude. We need His help to grow to become more like Christ, to learn to hate what God hates and love what He loves, and to delight in living in such a way that God is glorified and pleased to be able to reward us richly when eternity begins.

Thursday, August 6, 2020
(Thank the Father for how perfectly He cares for the world—and you.)
-Read John 16:7
“However, I’m telling you the truth. It’s for your advantage that I’m going away, because if I don’t go away, the Helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What is Jesus teaching them?
2. It is to their __________ that Jesus goes away.
3. Why?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It’s interesting to me that this is the verse that I am working on today because earlier today I read someone else’s devotions about the faithfulness of God. She was pointing out that even if we cannot see how God is working in some situation, He most definitely IS working. She pointed out that HER idea about the best way for some situation to resolve itself was clearly not God’s idea about the best way to handle it—and I’m guessing you can guess who was wrong! =)

How does that fit with today’s verse in John? The disciples were VERY upset at the thought of Jesus leaving them—and very confused. They had very definite ideas about what the Messiah would do when He finally came, but Jesus was NOT what anyone had pictured AT ALL. Pretty much everything about Him was unexpected (even though everything about Him was EXACTLY what God planned and prophesied—and what was PERFECT). Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that the fact that He was returning to the Father was actually a very good thing for them. This was for many reasons. First, and most importantly, it meant that Jesus paid the price for sin and won the victory of death—pretty huge accomplishments that are total game changers! Second, His return to heaven would usher in the next time period that God had planned for our world, that of the Age of Grace/the Church Age. And part of this age would include the impossible-to value-highly-enough gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit given to all those who trust in Jesus as their Savior. Having God the Spirit with them ALL THE TIME is definitely a very, VERY good thing!

So, what about us? Today? Well, for one, we have also been given the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us understand and obey God’s Word. He also helps us have faith in God.

Faith in God is about trusting in GOD—and not the circumstances and situations that we are in, that we can see, that we CAN’T see. Faith is focused on WHO God is—and Who God is, is utterly trustworthy, completely wise, all-powerful, and the One Who loves perfectly. When unhappy with how something has gone, is going, or might go, focus on the Father. Place your confidence in Him. Thank and praise Him for the wonderful outcome that you are confident He has planned in His perfect timing, refusing to allow yourself even a smidgen of disappointment if His will wasn’t quite what you had in mind. His way is perfect.

Wednesday, July 5, 2020
(It’s not easy living wholeheartedly for the Lord in all places. Ask the Father for His help for all His children, most especially that we would all remain faithful to Him.)
-Read John 16:4-6
“But I’ve told you this, so that when the time comes you’ll remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you this in the beginning, because I was still with you. But now I am going to the one who sent me. Yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have told you this, sorrow has filled your hearts.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did Jesus wait until now to talk about these things?
2. Where is Jesus going?
3. What didn’t the disciples ask?
4. What had filled their hearts?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
So. . . because we’ve been treasure hunting through the Gospel of John verse by verse, we know that the disciples HAD asked Jesus where He was going to go. It would seem, though, that their previous questions were either asked without really listening to His answer or were simply a way to express interest while actually mostly wondering about their own issues. In other words, they might have asked Jesus where He was going to go, but their concerns were self-centered and not focused on Him.

The remaining eleven disciples (remember that Judas Iscariot left them in the upper room) seem to finally now realize that Jesus will be leaving very soon—and this causes them great sadness. They can’t see the big picture at that time, and are, no doubt, confused, anxious, and unhappy to think of their lives being so severely disrupted. Remember, too, that it kind of seems that almost every Jew believed that when God sent His Messiah that He would set up His kingdom on earth then and there, immediately (overthrowing the hated Roman oppression). They didn’t yet understand that Jesus was there to pay for sin at that time and that His kingdom rule was going to be a long way in the future. They, like us, had it stuck in their heads that “things” were going to go a certain way—and it was very hard for them to grasp that the pictures in their heads was NOT how it was all going to play out.

I suffer the same disappointment all the time. How about you? I paint some rosy picture in my head about how something is going to happen, then when something very different happens, I am surprised and, perhaps sad or even angry. With time, though, I can usually look back on it and see how God was working in and through it to the perfect ending.

CLEARLY, the only right way to think about anything is to yearn for GOD’S WILL, then whatever happens IS the good and right thing. But since this kind of thinking is not in harmony with our human nature, we need to maintain a close walk with God so that He can continually renew our minds. This, in turn, will result in our thinking, desires, and actions being in accord with what pleases and honors Him. The closer we adhere to God’s Word as our code of conduct (and even more importantly, our guide for right thinking), the more we will want what God wants—and the more stable our emotions will be.

Tuesday, August 4, 2020
(Thank the Father that He not only wants you to mature and become more like His Son, He gives you the help you need to succeed.)
-Read John 16:2-3
“You’ll be thrown out of the synagogues. Yes, a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he’s serving God. They’ll do this because they haven’t known the Father or me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where will faithful Jews be thrown out of?
2. Who might someone think they are serving when they kill believers?
3. Why will they make this mistake?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
While God labors to help us live victorious, abundant lives for Him, humans are not always that helpful. In fact, Jesus told His disciples point-blank that they should expect some pretty rough encounters once He has returned to heaven. Up until this point, those who didn’t want to get right with God took their anger out on Jesus, but once Jesus has gone, they will take their anger out on those who follow Jesus. Jesus told these men that they would be thrown out of the synagogues and then hinted pretty broadly that at least some of them, if not all of them, would be killed for their relationship to Him. The killers definitely have the wrong idea about why they will kill them, but that doesn’t stop them from doing it. They will gladly do this wrong BECAUSE they didn’t “know” God. That is, they didn’t know Who He truly is and what He wants and only acted on their own ideas about what they thought was “right.”

What’s our takeaway from these sobering verses? There’s no getting around the fact that the closer we are to God and the more accurately we live as He tells us will lead to problems with those who do not love God or serve Him biblically. And while those of us in America are not really putting our lives on the line to witness of Christ, believers in other parts of the world sure are! Many believers may not be martyred for their faith, but live with tremendous persecution and hardship. They need our prayers—as do all believers. We must never slack off on the important job of praying for Christians to remain faithful to God in whatever circumstances they are living, be it a life that is “easy,” or one that is very difficult. Whatever life God has given to YOU is the one in which He will help you live a godly life, a joyous life, a peace-filled life, and an abundant life—because HE is the Source of all that is good, not our circumstances, possessions, or even the other people in our lives.

Another takeaway would be to hear the word of warning in what Jesus said people will do because they didn’t know Him. For sure, the unsaved are capable of any sin because they are in bondage to it. But believers can, simply by allowing themselves to drift from a close relationship to God, place themselves back into bondage to sin—and as such, ALSO sin in shocking ways. We, too, can make decisions and do things that evidence that we don’t “know” God. That is, do things in His name that are NOT biblical or in keeping with His character and will. We NEED to be in the Bible every day so that we can be reminded exactly what God likes and doesn’t like. We need as well to maintain a constant and close prayer life with the Father and to rely on the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit so that our words, decisions, and actions are right according to His standard of right. In many ways, as members of the Church Age, blessed with the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are FAR more privileged than even those who saw Jesus face to face on earth and were able to hear Him preach and teach. And when we discover that we are drifting away from a humble, sincere, obedient walk with our Savior, we need to be quick to return to Him in confession and repentance.

Monday, August 3, 2020
(Thank the Father for all the ways He blessed you over the weekend. Commit this week to His perfect care.)
-Read John 16:1
“I have told you this to keep you from falling away.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Go back to chapter 15 and note a few of the things Jesus said to help the disciples not fall away.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This verse reminds us that the Bible was not written with chapter breaks. There isn’t a break between the end of chapter 15 and the beginning of chapter 16, nor did Jesus and the disciples take a week off and begin this talk where they had left off. No, Jesus had just finished explaining to them just how critical it is for believers to abide in Him and to obey His Word. That’s because, in order for believers to help each other and encourage each other in their growth to be more like Christ, they NEED to maintain a close walk with God, spending daily time in Bible study and prayer, learning all they can from the Bible, from their pastor, from other mature believers SO THAT what they think, what opinions and ideals they form, and what they do and say is in line with what God says is “right.” They also need to sacrificially give of their time, talents, and treasures. Jesus reminded them that the Holy Spirit would be given to them to help them do this—and to deal well with the hate and hard time that they will be receiving from the world.

Jesus didn’t want them—and He doesn’t want us—to give up, or, as worded here, “fall away.” I’ve heard God being accused of setting people up for failure, laying traps for people to fall and fail, or otherwise give the idea that God is purposefully maneuvering circumstances so that people will mess up so that He can pounce on them and punish them. Nothing could be further from the truth. God wants all to come to Him for salvation. God wants all those who have trusted in Christ for salvation to live a faithful life. God wants all faithful believers to experience victory, growth, and to excel still more day after day. God wants all His children to have ABUNDANT life! Failing and falling away happens when we turn our backs on God. Praise His name, He NEVER turns His back on us. He has given us His Written Word and the Holy Spirit so that we WON’T fall away.

Dear Fellow Treasure Hunters of Scripture,

Welcome to a new month of daily Bible study in the Gospel of John! I trust that you have been richly blessed as we slowly wend our way through this magnificent recounting of the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

August 2020 is our 20th month working in this Book and we have reached the section just before Jesus’ crucifixion and death. Chapters 13-17 are Jesus’ last teaching to His disciples—and He has many critical things for them to learn. Thankfully for us, John faithfully recorded what was said so that we can read it, re-read it, memorize it, and apply its truths to our lives. How blessed we are to have the completed Bible in our language and in our hands!

Lord willing, we will get to the end of John in late fall, then we are hoping to have a special study for the month of December. Thank you for praying for wisdom and clear direction from God as to what He wants in this area. Thank you, too, for your prayers as I try to relate what I have been blessed and challenged within my own Bible Study. It is a tremendous honor and privilege to be able to share my thoughts with you and I do not take this responsibility lightly. I only ever want to be accurate and “rightly divide the Word of truth” to be a help and blessing to you and to bring God honor and praise.

A few reminders: the rest of this John study can be found on our church website (firstbaptistnorthconway.org) under the tab “ministries” at the top of the screen. There are other studies there that go back to 2016 as well. Our church has had a livestream ministry for several years and you can find sermons, Bible studies, and Bible conference sessions on YouTube at FBCNorthConway.

Enjoy John 16 and 17!!!

By His Grace, Lorie Brown
(Scripture is quoted from the ISV via biblegateway.com)

Saturday, August 1, 2020
(Pray to the Father, thanking Him for how He is going to bless you today as you live for Him!)
-It’s time to review John 15. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 15 Summary
If anyone has ever had doubts just how to live the Christian life and to live it to its fullest, they need to read John 15, where Jesus explains EXACTLY what our role is in relation to Him and the Father, how to be “fruitful,” what happens when we refuse to abide in Him, and how to have ABUNDANT joy. It’s all here!

Not only can believers appreciate that they are members of God’s family, He gives us the opportunity to be His FRIEND. We GET to be God’s servants, but when we voluntarily and happily do so, we ALSO become His friend. This is not an auto-default for every Christian! Friendship with God is freely offered, but only on His terms (which, THANKFULLY, He helps us keep).

Jesus warns us, though, that the closer we walk and talk like Him, the more likely we are to face conflict in the world. The world in its sin hated Him, so it will not appreciate those who represent Him well either. That’s okay, though. Many other Bible passages remind us that it is a huge privilege to suffer because we are living a righteous life and that God has special rewards for those who do and who maintain their testimony throughout. That’s not to say that it is any fun to be persecuted! But when we remember what Christ, as a completely innocent Man, suffered for us, taking some guff for Him is an honor.

One of the other huge privileges of abiding in Christ and living obediently according to God’s Word is that God discloses more of Himself to us. I don’t think anyone would expect to share precious one-on-one time with someone we hardly know and with whom we never spend time with, but we’ve probably all enjoyed the delight of getting to know someone super well and understanding a bit how they think and why they do what they do. In fact, a relationship like that naturally results in each party trying to out-love the other by laboring to do or say something to bring a smile of pleasure to the other’s face. We can have this kind of relationship WITH GOD. Only, of course, what God does to show His love for us is beyond description in its depth of meaning and delight.

Lastly, in these final few hours before His death, Jesus reminds His disciples again that He has to leave—and even though that seems like a bad thing, it’s actually a good thing. That’s because God the Father’s next plan for the world is to give a Gift that has immeasurable blessings associated with it. He is giving the Third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, to each and every child of God as a permanent gift! Did you get that? The Holy Spirit will ALWAYS be with us, even throughout eternity! He will continue to help us understand Who God is better and better as we spend time in the Word and He will help us mature into more godly individuals as we obey what we know He wants us to do. The gift of the Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Truth,” is a gift beyond description.

September 2020 DBSQs

Wednesday, September 30, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to bravely speak of His glories in all situations and in front of all people.)
-Read John 19:38-40
“Later on, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, and he came and removed his body. Nicodemus, the man who had first come to Jesus at night, also arrived, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about 100 litra. They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths along with spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who helped Joseph?
2. What spices did he bring?
3. What were the burial custom of the Jews?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 23:50-56
“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and righteous man— he had not voted for their plan and action—from the Jewish town of Arimathea; and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb cut in the rock, in which no one had yet been laid. It was the Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was just beginning. So the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee, following close behind, saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they went back and prepared spices and perfumes, and on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”

Only John mentions that Nicodemus helped Joseph with Jesus’ body (though they almost certainly would also have had servants to help them). We “met” Nicodemus in John 3 and he remains a pretty well-known Bible character because it was to him that Jesus said what is probably the most well known Bible verse, John 3:16.

Nicodemus was probably also a member of the Sanhedrin and was also wealthy. In fact, the amount of burial spices (about 65 pounds) that he brought to prepare Jesus’ body was very lavish. Clearly, he and Joseph loved Jesus dearly.

Those living in Israel at the time of Christ did not bury their dead in the ground as we do in this country. Those who could afford to, dug a cave-like structure in the rock and placed the body inside, closing the opening with a large rock. Later, after the body had completely decomposed, the bones would be removed and placed somewhere else and they would reuse the spot for other relatives. Joseph, though, used a brand new, never-been-used, tomb for Jesus. This was probably Joseph’s own tomb.

Did you notice how, at the end of Luke’s narrative, that he let the reader know that the women who had been watching everything that happened to Jesus ALSO followed the progress of where His body was laid? This shows their deep love and concern for Him—and it helps set the stage for His empty tomb come Sunday morning. They knew where He had been placed, but He was no longer there!

Luke also mentions that the Jews who were a part of Jesus’ burial did not disobey God’s Law while they were doing this very good deed. Obeying God is ALWAYS the #1 goal of anyone who professes to love God. The only exception that you and I in the Church Age concerning obeying those who are in authority over us is if we are ordered to sin against God in some way. So far, in our country, this doesn’t generally happen. We may get asked to behave in a way that we don’t like (say, for example, not meeting in our church buildings for a few months due to a health risk!), but this is different than being asked to sin. Sinning is NEVER the right answer. Trusting God by obeying Him is the right way every time. In other words, these Jews were doing the right thing in the right way

(from Thomas Contable Notes, https://www.planobiblechapel.org/tcon/notes/html/nt/john/john.htm : The burial custom of the Jews was to place the corpse on a long sheet with the feet at one end. Next, they would cover the corpse with thick layers of spices. They would then fold the cloth over the head and back down to the feet, which they would tie together. They would also tie the arms to the body with strips of cloth. Normally a separate cloth covered the face. John’s interest was not in the manner of the burial, as much as the honor that Joseph and Nicodemus bestowed on Jesus by burying Him in “linen” cloth (“wrappings,” Gr. othonia). Their work had to be hasty, because sunset was approaching quickly, and all work had to cease when the Sabbath began at sunset on Friday.)

Tuesday, September 29, 2020
(Ask the Father for witness opportunities today—and to know what to say when you need to say it.)
-Read John 19:38
“Later on, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, and he came and removed his body. “
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who was Joseph of Arimathea?
2. What kind of disciple was he?
3. Why?
4. Who did he talk to?
5. What did he get permission to do?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Mark 15:42-45
“It was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath. Since it was already evening, Joseph of Arimathea, a highly respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was amazed to hear that Jesus had already died, so he summoned the centurion to ask him if he was in fact dead. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he let Joseph have the corpse.”

Luke 23:50-52
“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and righteous man— he had not voted for their plan and action—from the Jewish town of Arimathea; and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.”

Here are a few things to note from this verse:
-Joseph of Arimathea is only mentioned in association with Jesus’ death, but all four Gospels mention him. Arimathea isn’t a known location. Some guess that it might have been Samuel’s birthplace, roughly 20 miles from Jerusalem.
-Joseph is a member of the Jewish Council known as the Sanhedrin. In fact, he was a “highly respected” member of the Council. We also know that he was wealthy.
-Joseph was also a believer in Jesus Christ. He is identified as a disciple of Jesus and a “good and righteous” man who had NOT voted to have Jesus killed—even though that would definitely have brought him into disfavor with all those who fought so hard to have Him killed.
-Joseph was apparently important enough that he had access to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body (otherwise, it probably would have been thrown into the common person’s grave outside the city walls). Pilate, once he confirmed that Jesus was truly dead, agreed to let Joseph have Jesus’ body.

John identifies Joseph of Arimathea as an important official who hid that he was actually a disciple of Jesus. However, Jesus’ unjust death seemed to have caused Joseph to rethink a few things and Mark notes that Joseph went BODLY to Pilate to request that he be given the body of Christ. This took courage. Joseph would now forever be marked as a follower of Jesus. This might well have ruined his political career—and may have even put his life in jeopardy. Even so, Joseph did what was right. He did what HE could do to show his love for his wonderful Savior.

It took a pretty horrific event for Joseph to stand up and declare his allegiance with Christ. I wonder: What does it take for you and me to declare that we belong to Christ, that we are daughters of the King? Do we keep our relationship with God a secret? Do we mostly choose to be private about our faith? Do we speak up on His behalf when others blaspheme His name? When asked the reason for the hope within us, do we joyfully share how God saved us, claimed us as His own, and watches over us every second of every day?

I think it is super cool when someone faced with a crisis of some sort begins to share their trust in God and publically praises His name. I think that GOD thinks its super cool when one of His children shares their trust in Him and praises His name in everyday general conversation—just because they are THAT thankful and that proud of their Father and Savior.

Perhaps if we make the decision to stand up for God a bit more, Joseph of Arimathea will look us up in heaven and thank us for being courageous in our faith. =)

Monday, September 28, 2020
(Thank God for all the blessings of the Lord’s Day yesterday. Commit this week to serving Him with your whole heart.)
-Read John 19:35-37
“The one who saw this has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows he is telling the truth so that you, too, may believe, because these things happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “None of his bones will be broken.” In addition, another passage of Scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they pierced.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. The testimony of the one who saw Jesus’ death is ___.
2. He knows he is telling the truth so that others can ___.
3. What two things fulfilled Scripture?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
The two prophecies that John mentions can be found in Psalm 34:20 and Zechariah 12:10. The first quote, “None of his bones will be broken” is prophesied in Psalm 34:20 (an excellent psalm!!!) in reference to Jesus being the perfect Passover Lamb (for the background story of the Passover, read Exodus 1-11—a most thrilling tale!).

Both Exodus 12:46 (entire passage includes verses 43-50) and Numbers 9:12 give the “rules” for the Passover meal. Among the things that must be followed are that the lamb that is chosen to be the sacrifice must be perfect, without blemish, and none of its bones may be broken in the preparation or cooking. That is because this is a picture of our perfect Savior Who was without sin or fault of any kind Who was sacrificed to pay for our atonement. Interestingly, both I Corinthians 5:7 and I Peter 1:19 also speak about Jesus as the Passover Lamb and both passages are addressing the need for believers to be holy and not tainted with sin of any kind (look them up!). As children of God, we are to be becoming like Him and we are to be following the example of Jesus Christ. This includes being “holy as He is holy,” that is, separating ourselves from sin and setting ourselves TOWARD righteousness (right living according to God’s standard).

The second quoted prophecy, “They will look on the one whom they pierced,” is from Zechariah 12:10. This is a reminder that Jesus WILL come back, He WILL set up His righteous kingdom, and those who are standing on the side of satan WILL be judged. NO ONE will not see and realize Who Jesus is and no one can stand up against Him. Jesus may have come as a helpless baby on His first visit to earth, but His second coming will be on a white war horse as the conquering and rightful King. His mission will be clear—and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the all-powerful King of kings and Lord of lords. Incidentally, the phrase about Jesus being pierced is also found in Revelation 1:9, describing what is yet to come once the Church Age is completed (check out Revelation 1:4-8!).

John also mentions in these two verses that he is the one who has been testifying concerning all that happened at Jesus’ crucifixion and that his testimony can be trusted because he only wrote was truly happened. He wrote it carefully and accurately so that you and I could read it and believe it—and believe that Jesus is the Son of God Who died on our behalf. He repeats this thought again in John 20:31 and 21:24. John 20:31 says this, “But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah (Christ), the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.”

None of the knowledge of Who God is, Who Jesus is, what sin is, or how Jesus died to do away with sin is of any good to us unless we believe it. Unless we believe that Jesus died and was resurrected for us—for you and for me. It is in placing our trust in Him as our Savior that we are given spiritual life in His name. If you have already done this, who do you know who hasn’t? When are you going to tell them? The Gospel of John is an excellent first Book of the Bible to recommend to the unsaved. It’s interesting to read, but more than that, it says what we need to know to get saved and become a child of God forever and ever.

Saturday, September 26, 2020
(Ask the Father how you could influence others for Christ today in word, in deed, and in written word.)
-Read John 19:31-34
“Since it was the Preparation Day, the Jewish leaders did not want to leave the bodies on the crosses during the Sabbath, because that was a particularly important Sabbath. So they asked Pilate to have the men’s legs broken and the bodies removed. So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water immediately came out.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why didn’t the Jews want to leave bodies on the cross?
2. Who gave permission to hasten their death?
3. What did the soldiers do to Jesus since He was dead?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-All Sabbaths were important to the Jews, but this Sabbath occurred during the Passover week, so it was especially important that no dead bodies be left on crosses. This was in obedience to Deuteronomy 21:22-23.
-Breaking the legs of those on the cross would have hastened their death since they would no longer be able to push up in order to get air into their lungs.
-There was no reason to break Jesus’ legs because He was already dead. That His legs were not broken fulfills prophecy—as does the soldier piercing His side with a spear.
-It isn’t known why the soldiers felt it was necessary to stick a spear in Jesus—other than, perhaps, because they were (unknowingly) fulfilling Scripture. The blood and water that came out indicates that the sword probably pierced Jesus’ pericardium, the sack that surrounds the heart.
-In piercing Jesus’ side, it proved that He was truly dead—and that He was truly human. Both of these facts are critical to know in order to acknowledge that Jesus was exactly Who He said He was: God AND Man. It also proved that He was dead and not just in a coma or state of unconsciousness. Jesus literally died for you—and for me.

It would be very appropriate for us to consider deeply just what it cost God the Father and God the Son to make a way for us to be saved. Sin is hideous. It is never not a big deal, it is never unimportant, it is never “little,” it is always an affront to God’s holy character, it is always a slap in the face of the One Who died to set us free, it is always against God—and pleasing to satan! So, while that horrible, horrible day so long ago was necessary, was it truly a defeat? Did those who knew and loved Jesus NEED to be heartbroken and unsure about their tomorrow? No. Why not? Because Jesus’ death was God’s plan all along. His death was what defeated sin and satan then and there—and for all eternity. His death did away with the penalty of sin for all who trust in Jesus as Savior. In many ways, that long, painful night was also a night of celebration—for everyone on God’s side, NOT satan’s side.

I think that our perspective of hard times and difficulties is also often slightly off kilter. We may think we know what is “bad” and what would be a good substitute, but we cannot know God’s game plan nor how He intends to use our circumstances to bring glory to His name and spiritual good to us. We cannot know how He intends to mature us, to help us more closely resemble His Son, nor how He will bless others through how we handle the things that come our way. All any of us need to do is to obey what we know that God wants us to do—and trust Him for all the details. Even when incredibly hard things come (like Jesus’ crucifixion!), we can still KNOW in our heart of hearts that God is in complete control and all is “good.”

Friday, September 25, 2020
(Thank the Father that He does everything with perfection!)
-Read John 19:30
“After Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit”.
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus say after He drank?
2. He then ___ His head and ___ His spirit.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 27:50-54
“Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice again and died. Suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, rocks were split open, tombs were opened, and many saints who had died were brought back to life. After his resurrection, they came out of their tombs, went into the Holy City, and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those guarding Jesus with him saw the earthquake and the other things that were taking place, they were terrified and said, “This man certainly was the Son of God!”

Luke 23:44-49
“It was already about noon, and the whole land became dark until three in the afternoon because the sun had stopped shining, and the curtain in the sanctuary was torn in two. Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “This man certainly was righteous!” When all the crowds who had come together for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they beat their chests and left. But all his acquaintances, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, were standing at a distance watching these things.”

Here are several observations (some are my own, but some are thoughts I read in a commentary or study Bible that I thought were important to include):
-Unlike all other humans, because Jesus was also God, He had the right and ability to choose the moment of His death. His life wasn’t taken from Him, He willingly gave it up for you—and for me.
-Jesus’ final words included, “It is finished” (indicating He had met all the requirements God had set for our salvation), and “Into Your hands I entrust My spirit” (indicating His utter trust in the Father’s perfect will and way). Incidentally, I read that this particular prayer has been used by thousands of Jews and Gentiles over the millennia before going to sleep for the night since it shows complete trust in the Father’s care. What a great idea!
-Jesus’ words before death were not words of defeat and weakness. On the contrary, they were shouts of victory! Jesus’ suffering WON THE BATTLE against sin and satan—forever!
-Some pretty astounding things happened when Jesus gave up His spirit. First, remember that the sky was unnaturally dark for three full hours, so people would have already been on edge. But at the moment Jesus died, I’m going to guess that there was some serious freaking out happening. The very thick, very strong curtain in the temple (60 feet tall, 30 feet wide!) that separated the inner “holy place” from the most secluded and special place, the “holy of holies,” was torn from the top to the bottom. That it tore from the top indicates that God did this, not man. The fact that the veil was torn has been said by some to indicate God’s anger at what was done to His Son, but it also is a not-so-subtle hint that things are changing in how God wants to be worshiped. Those who want to pray to God no longer need priests as their intercessors, they can now go directly to the Father—in Jesus’ name.
-Also occurring upon Jesus’ death were earthquakes, rocks splitting open, tombs being opened—and dead believers brought back to life! What a jaw-dropping day that must have been!
-You may recall that when a person was crucified, they were provided with an execution squad of 4 soldiers and a centurion (an officer in charge of 100 soldiers). Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention the centurion at this point in the narrative as someone who saw these astonishing events and who may have, at that point, believed that Jesus WAS the Son of God.
-Also noted as witnesses were the crowds of people. At least some of the crowd was unhappy with how Jesus was treated. They showed this by beating their chests.
-There were also women who were standing off in the distance observing the entire event. We know these women to be among those who loved Jesus and who followed Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb where Jesus was to be laid. We can assume from an earlier verse that John and Mary were among them.

You and I—and the entire world—are on the tail end of a powerful pandemic that had millions of people upset, confused, and unsure how to act and react. Because of social media, most people had up-to-the-minute updates about the good and the bad, making them, perhaps, a bigger deal than they truly were. In a nutshell? People and governments went ballistic. Our lives since the pandemic began have changed dramatically and even though it has literally been months since it all began, thousands of people are still not able to return to the life that they knew as “normal.” There are hints that it might NEVER be normal again. Keeping that in mind, can you IMAGINE the chaos, uncertainty, and fear that will envelop every corner of our planet when millions of believers disappear in one second? It’s difficult to guess what governments will have to do to restore order, but more importantly, how will those left behind know what happened? How will they know how they, too, can trust in Christ as Savior?

This is part of what you and I are tasked with today. Our job (and joy!) is to tell people what Jesus did on the cross for them—even though we cannot “make” them get saved or believe that what we say is true. BUT, what we can do (or more accurately, what the Holy Spirit does), is to plant that seed of truth in their mind. Who knows how or when God might bring it to their attention? Who knows who else He might use in their lives to speak the truth or to demonstrate godliness in their attitudes, words, and behaviors? Whether this side of the Rapture or the other, what we said to the unsaved may yet be used by God to cause them to trust in the Savior. The more people we talk to about salvation, the more people will know what happened when you and I are no longer on the earth.

Another way that we as believers can help the world to know the truth once we are no longer here is by what we write. Bible verses posted on Facebook and Pinterest may well be what God uses to show someone their need of a Savior. The words we write to friends, family, and co-workers in letters, notes, emails, and texts may be the words that lead them to spiritual life one day. Certainly, making provision in our funeral arrangements for the gospel to be given is essential for all of us, as is any letters we might write to those who we leave behind when we are promoted to glory. Of course, many of us don’t know when that will be, but we all know that it will happen, whether by death or through the Rapture. Why wait until the last minute? Why not write some of those “from the heart” letters to loved ones right now, pleading with them to trust in Jesus as their Savior?

How might God be touching your heart right now to tell others the essential truth of salvation both today and for after you are gone?

Thursday, September 24, 2020
(Ask the Father who in your church family could use some encouragement, a task to be done, or simply a listening ear.)
-Read John 19:28-29
“After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), “I’m thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was standing there, so they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Jesus knew when everything was completed.
2. T/F Jesus refused to ask for a drink.
3. T/F Jesus was given a sip of sour wine.
4. T/F Jesus’ thirst fulfilled Scripture.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 27:45-49
“From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. About three o’clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, eli, lema sabachthani?”, which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the people standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” So one of the men ran off at once, took a sponge, and soaked it in some sour wine. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. But the others kept saying, “Wait! Let’s see if Elijah will come and save him.”

Just a reminder: the Matthew passage is included because I wanted to include some of the other things that happened during Jesus’ crucifixion that John did not mention. I’m trying to place them where they would have happened in context to what John addresses. We would all be wise, though, to take the time regularly to read the entire record from each of the gospels so that we get the entire picture.

These few verses are literally the last words and events before Jesus surrendered His life. He was extremely dehydrated by this time, and though He is the Living Water, His human body needed hydration. The sour wine was a kind of vinegar beverage that either belonged to the soldiers and they were being kind to share it with Him or it was a beverage that was regularly used as part of the crucifixion to extend the victim’s life and give them more time to suffer. Experts aren’t sure. We do know, though, that this happened at the end of the three hours where Jerusalem (and possibly all of Israel) was unnaturally dark. This darkness would have been, no doubt, very unsettling and I have to wonder if those who were part of Jesus’ crucifixion didn’t wonder if what they were doing was a huge mistake after all!

Jesus said only 7 things while hanging on the cross. The words that Matthew records are some of the last. Matthew notes that Jesus cries out to the Father, “Why have You forsaken Me!”. I don’t think any of us can doubt that Jesus knew exactly why He was on the cross. He was crystal clear about that from day one. I think that, in that moment, He was bearing the full brunt of mankind’s sin on His own shoulders—and for the first time EVER—God the Father had to turn His back on God the Son. God cannot allow sin to go unpunished and Jesus BECAME sin. For you—and for me. Jesus’ most torturous suffering on the cross was during those three hours, the darkness indicating the wrath of God which He was pouring out upon His Son: the punishment that we deserved. I’m not sure if it is even possible to have even the beginning of an understanding about how horrible that was for Him—and how much we owe Him for His incredible sacrifice of love.

I read someplace how fitting it was for the Light of the world, Whose birth was heralded by the glorious light in the sky of a new star and myriads of rejoicing angels, would die for the darkness of sin in a place where the normal brightness of the day was missing and the world was not just spiritually dark, but physically dark.

Also critically important to note in John 19:28 is that Jesus realized that everything was completed. In fact, in verse 30 He says, “it is finished.” Jesus would not allow His physical body to die before every single thing that was supposed to happen, happened. Nothing got left out. There were no mistakes. He did every single thing that He needed to do to meet God’s requirement so that you and I could believe in Him and become children of God. If that’s not something to stop and praise God for, then I don’t know what is!

Wednesday, September 23, 2020
(Pray for all the parents and grandparents who have children who are suffering in some way. Ask the Father who you can be an encouragement and help to.)
-Read John 19:26-27
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he kept loving standing there, he told his mother, “Dear lady, here is your son.” Then he told the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When Jesus saw his ____ and the ___ whom he kept loving standing there.
2. He told his mother, “Dear lady, ___ ___ ___ ___.”
3. Then he told the disciple, “Here is your ____.”
4. And ____ ____ ____ the disciple took her into his own home.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
From this verse, we know that Jesus was Mary’s legal guardian and in charge of her well-being. Even as His body suffered untold pain, even as He checked off in His brain all that must be fulfilled before He allowed His body to die, even as He was continually being ridiculed for being Who He claimed to be, He never lost sight of the individual people He loved. He was very aware of THEIR suffering as they watched Him. There are several really practical applications that we can make from this verse, but let the first be that we ask the Father for help to not neglect the suffering and needs of others EVEN IF we ourselves are dealing with something difficult. In fact, a clear biblical prescription to combat personal pain and suffering is to minister to others in their need! As we take our eyes off ourselves (trusting God that His promises to bring about spiritual good in our lives and glory for Himself are true), we may well be BETTER able to see the hurts other people are enduring. Jesus was on the cross because of you—and because of me— but He also took the time to make sure His mother was going to be cared for by someone He trusted completely.

Another application that can be made from this verse is the idea of adoption. I don’t really mean legal adoption, but since you brought up the subject, who better to bring a neglected or abandoned child up than faithful and obedient believers! Christians know what every child TRULY needs—and they know that the Father will see to their physical and financial needs as well. There’s also the added bonus of an entire church family to go to for help, encouragement, and biblical counsel. I am NOT pushing anyone to begin looking around to see if there is someone who needs to become a part of their home, but neither do I know that GOD isn’t placing this burden on your heart.

What I mostly meant by adopting someone is the decision to be a special blessing to someone within your local church family. When my children were little, their biological grandparents lived many hours away and being a part of a busy ministry, it was difficult for us to go and visit them very often. What a blessing it was, then, to have folks from within the church volunteer to be “adopted” grandparents! Some of my kids had a husband/wife team, but others had a single adult. These grandparents would take them on little outings, spend time with them in their own homes, and often give them little gifts to remind them that they were special (ANY mom with more than one child appreciates when children are shown attention individually!). These relationships sometimes lasted for years. In fact, one of my “kids” is 32 and her adopted grandparents have been loving on her for over 20 years! This is a super special relationship for everyone involved. Is there someone God might be nudging YOU to give special attention to?

Of course, there are a million “little” things any member of a local church might do to be a help and a blessing to individuals, to families, and to help the church in a general way (such as workdays, projects, and such). Being a blessing to someone else is NEVER wasted time (and it’s most definitely building treasure in heaven)!

Another obvious application has to do with John’s willingness to bring Mary into his home. As you know, Jesus had half-brothers and sisters. Many have speculated that they had not yet believed in Jesus as Savior, so Jesus put Mary in the care of His much-loved disciple (some of Jesus half-siblings, at least, DID later trust Him. We know this because the book of James and Jude are written by His half-brothers). Anyway, back to John, he was more than willing to commit to taking care of Mary however long she lived, and this is most commendable. I wonder? Is there an older person in your church who could use a helping hand? I’m not suggesting giving them a room in your home (unless this is what God wants you to do). I’m suggesting keeping an eye on them during services to see if they need water, a tissue, a cough drop, help standing—that kind of thing. I’m suggesting making sure they are safe to drive and if not, giving them a ride. I’m suggesting making sure they have enough food and the means to cook it. I’m suggesting help with errands, offering to be a second person at the doctor’s office to make sure all instructions were heard correctly, a friend to talk to on the phone, coffee dates—whatever they need to feel loved and well taken care of.

Biblical love is about what we do for each other to be a help, an encouragement, and an example of what Christ was all about in our words, actions, and focus. Jesus demonstrated this in giving up Himself for others, in making sure His mother was well cared for, in gifting His beloved mother to His loved and trusted disciple, and, of course, in telling the thieves how they, too, could get to heaven.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020
(Thank the Father that He hears every cry you utter.)
-Read John 19:25
“Meanwhile, standing near Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who else was standing nearby?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
My heart has always gone out to these women. They all loved Jesus deeply—and they were all helpless to save Him from the torture He was enduring. I know that as a mother, simply IMAGINING one of my kids suffering is an incredibly painful thing, but Mary WATCHED Jesus endure false trials, beatings, the long painful walk to Calvary, and the crucifixion itself. I simply cannot imagine her pain.

Do you remember elderly Simeon in the Temple on the occasion of Mary & Joseph bringing baby Jesus there for the required presentation to the Lord? It had been revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. The Holy Spirit showed him baby Jesus—and oh, how thankful he was! He just took the Baby in his arms and praised God because his eyes had “seen His salvation, a Light that would reveal salvation to unbelievers and bring glory to His people, Israel.”

He also, though, spoke directly to Mary, warning her that a “sword would pierce her soul.” And now some 33 years later, Mary’s heart was definitely pierced. Did she remember what Simeon had said to her? Was she thinking back to when Gabriel told her that she had been chosen to become the mother of God’s Son? Did she smile a bit remembering that long, difficult trip to Bethlehem for the census and the birth of Jesus in a cave? Did she remember the many things she treasured in her heart that night—how angels shared the good news of Jesus’ birth with shepherds and how they came to stand in awe of her tiny Son? Did she shudder at the unpleasant memory of fleeing to Egypt before Herod could kill her Son—or her sorrow for the moms left behind who lost their infant sons that night? Did she think back to Jesus growing up and when He knew not only Who He was, but what He had come to do? Were her thoughts on the incredible things that Jesus had done in the last three years and how He glorified His Father 100% of the time?

I hope that she ESPECIALLY pondered how her Son was also her Savior and that He was, right before her very eyes, fulfilling His mission to become salvation for unbelievers. For you—and for me.

(You can read Simeon’s story in Luke 2:25-35.)

Monday, September 21, 2020
(What were the blessings and lessons from the weekend? Thank God!)
-Read John 19:23-24
“When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and took his cloak as well. The cloak was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they told each other, “Let’s not tear it. Instead, let’s throw dice to see who gets it.” This was to fulfill the Scripture that says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they threw dice.” So that is what the soldiers did.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What happened to Jesus’ clothes?
2. What happened to His cloak?
3. Why did this happen?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I think that today we think of Jesus being “crucified” as being synonymous with His actual death, but it’s obvious from this verse that it’s not. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they nailed His hands (probably at His wrists) to the crossbeam portion of the cross and His feet (probably overlapped at the ankle) to the upright portion. It usually took many hours or even days for the victim to suffocate to death or to succumb to the wounds of their scourging.

It was custom for the executioners to become the owners of the victim’s clothing. There were usually four pieces of clothing (a headdress, an outer cloak, and inner tunic, and a belt) and since there were four soldiers, it worked out well. Jesus’ cloak was apparently nicer, in that it was woven in one piece (no seams), so they decided to gamble to see who would get it. As John noted, this fulfilled Scripture (and MANY other parts of Jesus’ arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death were also fulfillments of Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah—which should have been yet one more hint to the Religious leaders that Jesus was Who He said He was). In this case, John is referring to Psalm 22, written by King David.

Read Psalm 22, taking note of the many phrases that prophecy about Jesus’ final hours (I have underlined them for you).
“My God! My God! Why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from delivering me— from my groaning words? My God, I cry out to you throughout the day, but you do not answer; and throughout the night, but I have no rest. You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our ancestors trusted in you; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried out to you and escaped; they trusted in you and were not put to shame. But as for me, I am only a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by people. Everyone who sees me mocks me; they gape at me with open mouths and shake their heads at me. They say, “Commit yourself to the Lord; perhaps the Lord will deliver him, perhaps he will cause him to escape, since he delights in him.” Yet, you are the one who took me from the womb, and kept me safe on my mother’s breasts. I was dependent on you from birth; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be so distant from me, for trouble is at hand; indeed, there is no deliverer. Many bulls have surrounded me; the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me. Their mouths are opened wide toward me, like roaring and attacking lions. I am poured out like water; all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like broken pottery; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and you have brought me down to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of those who practice evil has encircled me. They gouged my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look at me; they stare at me. They divide my clothing among themselves; they cast lots for my clothing! But as for you, Lord, do not be far away from me; My Strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword; my precious life from the power of the dog. Deliver me from the mouth of the lion, from the horns of the wild oxen. You have answered me. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying, “All who fear the Lord, praise him! All the seed of Jacob, glorify him! All the seed of Israel, fear him! For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person; he does not hide his face from him, but he hears him when he cries out to him.” My praise in the great congregation is because of you; I will pay my vows before those who fear you. The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him, “May you live forever!” All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord; all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the Lord. Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the Lord; he rules over the nations. All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission. All those who are about to go down to the grave will bow down in submission, along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive. Our descendants will serve him, and that generation will be told about the Lord. They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born; indeed, he has accomplished it.”

As you contemplate David’s heart cry—and how so much of it was ALSO in reference to Jesus Christ and the cross, consider how the basic format can be a help to you when faced with difficult circumstances. For one, God WANTS us to cry out to Him and share what is making us sad, confused, angry, or hurt. He understands perfectly that when we are hurting, our emotions can cause us to feel confused and unsure what to do and how to think. But, don’t miss out on what David did after expressing his concern: He placed his trust in His trustworthy God. David praised God, thanked God, pointed out all the ways He had helped Him in the past, and how He might deal with the current situation. Oh, it’s true that there’s a bit of a back-and-forth thing. David cries out, he claims God’s promises and praises Him, then he remembers more of his anguish. In the end, though, David is able to rejoice—because GOD always keeps His promises and God will ALWAYS take care of those who belong to Him.

Check out some other psalms to consider how you can adapt your thoughts and prayers to fit those of the psalmists.

Saturday, September 19, 2020
(Spend some time today thanking God for Who He is and all that He has done, is doing, and will do in the future.)
-Read John 19:19-22
“Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus from Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. Then the Jewish high priests told Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this fellow said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’” Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who wrote the inscription placed over Jesus’ head?
2. Did the Jewish high priests like it?
3. What did they want?
4. What was Pilate’s response?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 27:37-43
“Above his head they placed the charge against him. It read, “This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.” At that time two bandits were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left. Those who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads, and saying, “You who were going to destroy the sanctuary and rebuild it in three days—save yourself! If you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross!” In the same way the high priests, along with the scribes and elders, were also making fun of him. They kept saying, “He saved others but can’t save himself! He is the king of Israel. Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him, if he wants to do so now. After all, he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

It was common for a sign to be posted over the head of a person being crucified to identify his crime. This was, presumably, to deter others from trying the same thing. Jesus’ sign, of course, is ironic. Pilate labeled Jesus as “the King of the Jews,” even though the Religious leaders wanted him to differentiate what Jesus said versus what was they believed to be true. Only what Jesus said WAS true—and so, what Pilate wrote was also true. Furthermore, Jesus WAS being killed because He was the Son of God. You see, ONLY God could pay the blood-debt of sin, because only Someone Who had never sinned was a worthy sacrifice. ONLY Jesus Christ, the Son of God, willingly taking on the form of a human man could be killed—and, so, Jesus was all the things that people mocked Him for—AND—He could most definitely have come down from the cross and saved Himself. Except, of course, He loves you—and me. His love kept Him there. His love kept Him resolved to do what needed to be done to make a way for you and me to become children of God when we placed our faith on His work on the cross on our behalf.

By the way, all the people who read that sign over Jesus’ head (and it was written in 3 languages so that everyone could read it) were culpable that day. They heard the TRUTH: Jesus is the Son of God. And you and I, reading about this 2,000 years later are also culpable. If we haven’t placed our faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as the Savior for our sin, then we need to do so today—right this minute. And if we already belong to Him, then reading about the lengths Jesus went to, to save us, ought to cause us to reevaluate just how fully we are living for Him. Have we turned our backs completely on selfish desires and sinful living? Are we obeying what we know that He wants us to do as stated in His Word—or are we holding out in one or more areas? Are we telling those who do not know what Jesus did for THEM? Are we determining to thank God for our salvation every single day? Are we shining His light through our attitudes and actions?

If there was a sign hanging over YOUR head today based on your lifestyle this week, what would it say about who you are and Whose you are?

Friday, September 18, 2020
(Ask the Father to show you someone—or multiple someones—who could use some encouragement and help.)
-Read John 19:18
“There they crucified him, along with two others, one on each side of him with Jesus in the middle.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 23:32-43
“Two others, who were criminals, were also led away to be executed with Jesus. When they reached the place called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Jesus kept saying, “Father, forgive them, because they don’t know what they’re doing.” Then they divided his clothes among them by throwing dice. Meanwhile, the people stood looking on. The leaders were mocking him by saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if he is the Messiah of God, the chosen one!” The soldiers also made fun of Jesus by coming up and offering him sour wine, saying, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him written in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew:“This is the King of the Jews.” Now one of the criminals hanging there kept insulting him, “You are the Messiah, aren’t you? Save yourself…and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him, “Aren’t you afraid of God, since you are suffering the same penalty? We have been condemned justly, because we are getting what we deserve for what we have done, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he went on to plead, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” Jesus told him, “I tell you with certainty, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Have you ever thought of the two thieves crucified alongside Jesus as symbolic of those who believe in Jesus as Savior and those who refuse to (since one got saved and one refused to listen)? Also pertinent is the fact that Jesus promises salvation to the thief who trusted in Him—even as the crowd was jeering at Him to save Himself. So much of what Jesus was mocked about was the literal truth. He was God, He was the King of the Jews, He was the Savior, He was the Chosen One. I can’t help but wonder what all these people thought upon their own death and the realization of what they said and did to God’s Son, the One Who came on their behalf, the One they utterly rejected.

Here and there in the middle of all the ugliness are moments of tremendous beauty (and, of course, all of the crucifixion story is beautiful in regards to God’s demonstration of love for you—and for me!). In today’s passage, we are introduced to two men who DID deserve death for their crimes. They, too, were beaten, made to carry the crossbeam of their cross, and crucified next to Jesus. They, too, would suffer a horrible death. But, how they chose to live their last few hours is very different. One chose to join the crowd in insulting Jesus and hurling abuse, while the other recognized his sin, that Jesus was his only hope of salvation, and placed in trust in Who Jesus was and what He had come to do. Hanging on that cross of shame, this one thief became our brother in Christ!

The few things that Jesus said while on the cross are precious to us, and here is one of them. He told this dying new believer that WITH CERTAINTY he would be with Jesus in Paradise on that very day. There was no question, it was a FACT. What comfort that man must have felt in spite of his terrible circumstances! What hope and confidence he now had to cling to as his physical life ended! Furthermore, this man would have been among some of the last to enter Paradise, also known as Abraham’s Bosom, that special section of Hades where believers went prior to Jesus’ resurrection. When Jesus died later that day, He went to Paradise—and led all those people waiting for Him into heaven, where they are right now. I hope that we are given “big screen” views of some of the astounding things of history past—including all those folks seeing Jesus for the first time, then being ushered into God’s presence in heaven! What a day! What a day!

Our experience will be a little different. Because Jesus died and came alive again, forever defeating sin and death, those who have trusted in Him as Savior now go directly to heaven upon our death and the first Person we will see is Christ Jesus, our Savior and King. What a day! What a day!

Hang in there, dear believer! Though many days seem as painful and hard as the ones were are describing from the Gospel of John, the FACT is that you belong to God and know His care of you is perfect and perfectly timed. And when He calls “Time!,” you will be in His presence, all pain, sorrow, and sickness behind you forever. In the meantime, keep on keeping on, knowing that our redemption draws near—and today is one more day to rejoice in the LORD always, and again I say, rejoice!

Thursday, September 17, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to proudly name yourself as His child as you witness about Jesus today.)
-Read John 19:17
“Carrying the cross all by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Jesus carry His cross?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 23:26-27
“As they led Jesus away, they grabbed Simon, a man from Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and they put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large crowd of people followed him, including some women who kept mourning and wailing for him.”

Here are some facts & information:
-John doesn’t mention it here, but after Pilate gave up on saving Jesus, the Romans gave Him an even more severe beating than Pilate did earlier. This type of beating (“scourging”) was so severe that many people died from it.
-The condemned was often called upon to carry the crossbeam of the cross to the place of execution. The upright piece was normally left in the ground at the location of crucifixions.
-The crossbeam weighed roughly 30 pounds and was a 3 inch by 5 inch piece of cypress wood (there is evidence that the Romans sometimes used much heavier, and more valuable, olive wood) that was 6 feet long.
-“Golgotha” is the Hebrew transliteration of Aramaic for “skull” (in Latin, this is “Calvary”).
-Not everyone agrees what “The Place of the Skull” was or where it was located, but many scholars place Jesus’ crucifixion just outside the northern city wall on a knobby hillock that happens to look a bit like of a skull.
-Jesus would have been accompanied by an execution squad of 4 Roman legionnaires and a centurion.
-Jesus hadn’t slept for a few days, had undergone at least two massive beatings, and had been questioned for hours and hours (probably without food or drink). He was exhausted and unable to carry the crossbeam, so the soldiers nabbed someone out of the crowd to do it for Jesus, Simon of Cyrene
-Cyrene is a city in a town in northern Africa (modern day Libya) where there was a large settlement of Jews. You may remember that thousands and thousands of Jews had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover.
-There were two other men who were also crucified that day. They seemed to have been part of this processional, too.
-A large crowd of people followed Jesus as He made His way to His crucifixion. Part of the crowd included women from Jerusalem who were mourning and wailing for Him. We know, too, that John was there with Jesus’ mother, Mary. Also present was Salome (John’s mother), Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

So, that’s a lot of information, but what do we do with it? How can we use it to help us know God better or know better how to live for Him?

Certainly, it would be hard to read this without having tremendous compassion for all the suffering that was present that day. For Jesus, for certain! But, many others were suffering horribly that day, too. Even though the Religious leaders had roused a crowd of people to insist that Jesus be crucified, there were many others who loved Him and who had trusted in Him as their Savior—and I simply cannot imagine their pain at seeing their beloved Savior so severely beaten that it was almost impossible to recognize Him (Isaiah 52:14). I cannot imagine their agony at knowing what was yet to come for Him—the literally worst way to kill someone available at that time. I cannot imagine their confusion and uncertainty about what this could mean to their own future and eternal home. Jesus as the Son of God couldn’t actually DIE, could He???

As ones reading all this 2,000 years later—and knowing how wonderfully it all turned out—we can only imagine what that day must have been like for the people involved, but we can clearly see tremendous pain and suffering. And although we are not aware of everything that is going on in the world today from moment to moment, social media has certainly given us a much closer look at suffering and pain. We often know within minutes of some catastrophe or problem—and we can PRAY. We can ask for God’s help for all involved and we can look for ways to be a blessing and a help. We can ESPECIALLY turn people’s attention to God, the One Who can do what needs to be done in exactly the right time and way.

I wonder, though, could there be someone closer to home who needs our prayers, encouragement, and help? Have we prayed this morning for God to show us someone to be a blessing to? Have we actively and prayerfully looked around us to see who might be hurting? Who might be struggling? Who might need a hug? Or a task done? Or a listening ear and a time of prayer together?

Until God remakes the heavens and the earth and sin is eradicated, there will ALWAYS be someone who is suffering. Make yourself available to them as God opens the doors for you. Learn to develop a tender heart and a willingness to think of others first and foremost. God is honored with this. After all, wasn’t that at least some of what Jesus was doing on that horrible day all those years ago? Suffering for YOU and for me?

Wednesday, September 16, 2020
(Thank the Father for His perfect—and perfectly wonderful care and keeping, both today and for forever.)
-Read John 19:12-16
“From then on, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you release this fellow, you’re not a friend of Caesar! Anyone who claims to be a king is defying Caesar!”
When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat in a place called The Pavement, which in Hebrew is called Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day for the Passover, about noon. He told the Jewish leaders, “Here is your king!” Then they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Should I crucify your king?” The high priests responded, “We have no king but Caesar!” Then Pilate handed him over to be crucified, and they took Jesus away.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did the Jews threaten to “tell” if Pilate released Jesus?
2. What sort of seat was “Gabbatha”?
3. Who did the Jews claim as their king?
4. At this, what did Pilate do?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Have you ever heard someone gasp at something someone said that was particularly mean, outlandish, or a clear lie? Well, if there was ever a cause for this kind of gasp when reading today’s Scripture, it is when the Jewish leadership declared Caesar as their king. Their contemptible behavior is astonishing throughout this entire account, but their comment here takes the cake when, rather than accept Jesus for Who He declared Himself to be, they took it a step further and rejected GOD as their King, choosing instead to place themselves under Caesar, the man who ruled Rome, whom they despised. This was the lowest of low blows—all because they were so desperate to see Jesus killed.

Do you remember Abraham, the “father” of the Jewish nation? These same Religious leaders referred to him often when talking down to Jesus. He was the man whom God chose some 2,000 years earlier to be the first person in what would become an entire nation whose sole goal was to be GOD’S SPECIAL PEOPLE. God made a covenant with Israel that as long as they served Him and obeyed Him, that He would help them be prosperous, safe, and well. And though God never abandoned them, they turned their backs on Him over and over again. Nonetheless, God’s promise to them stood firm: if they forsook their sin and returned to Him, He would again begin to bless them. This was a permanent covenant, so these very people choosing to place themselves under Caesar, were rejecting the very reason for their existence. I cannot imagine their thoughts when they stand before God Almighty at the end of their physical lives and give account for their actions that day!

Did you notice that once Pilate had given up on the idea that he could change the Jews’ mind that he sat down “on the judgment seat”? Guess what? The Greek word for this special seat is “bema.” Sound familiar? That’s because you and I (and all Christians) will stand before Jesus Christ one day at a Bema Judgment. This is not a judgment for sin because our sin has been paid for by Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and has already been settled forever. This judgment is based on how we lived once we became Christians, and our faithfulness and fruitfulness for the Lord. I Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us that not only will what we say and do be noted, but with what attitude and motivation we did them. For example, singing in the choir every week is a wonderful service for the Lord—as long as it isn’t done in pride and with the hopes that people would hear us and give us praise for a “wonderful” voice. The world sings in front of others to entertain them and to become well-known and popular. Singing in church is a ministry, never a “performance,” done to bring glory to God and to bless and edify those in attendance. That’s why applause isn’t really appropriate after a special number. Applause brings attention to the singer, an “Amen” brings attention to the message of the song and glory to the Object of the song.

There are as many examples of God-oriented service v. self-focused service as there are jobs to do on any given day, week, or month. Everything we do is either to bring God honor and to be a help and blessing to people—or—it is designed to help ourselves in some way. Only the things done God’s way are the ones that will be praised by the Son of God at the Bema Seat Judgment in heaven. Unlike the Jews on that horrific day 2,000 years ago, we must never forget Who our King is and Who we live to serve and to please.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020
(Thank the Father for what the Savior did for you. Ask His help to live faithfully for Him today in gratitude.)
-Read John 19:4-11
“Pilate went outside again and told the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”  Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate told them, “Here is the man!” When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find no basis for a charge against him.” The Jewish leaders answered Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he became even more afraid.  Returning to his headquarters, he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to speak to me? You realize, don’t you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, except what was given to you from above. That’s why the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Pilate went outside again and told the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find ___ ___ for a charge against him.
2. Then Jesus came outside, wearing the victor’s crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate told them, “Here is the man!” When the high priests and the officials saw him, they shouted, “____ ____!”
3. Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I find ____ _____ for a charge against him.”
4. The Jewish leaders answered Pilate, “We have a law, and according to that Law he must die because he made himself out to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he became even more _____.
5. Returning to his headquarters, he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to speak to me? You realize, don’t you, that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You have no authority over me at all, ___ what was given to you ___ __.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Isn’t what Jesus said here interesting? Even though He had been manhandled, yanked here and there, yelled at, beaten, lied about, and displayed for public humiliation, He contradicts what Pilate had to tell Him about the authority that he believed that he had over Jesus. Jesus told him that he didn’t actually have any authority EXCEPT that which the FATHER gave him! He might have thought he was calling the shots, but in the end, nothing happens outside of the Father’s will. God had been arranging details since sin entered the world so that Jesus would be in that place at that time with those people—and what He wanted done, would most definitely be done.

When we are faced with a hard thing, we tend to kind of pick one of two sides of thought. We choose the outraged “WHY does God allow pain and suffering!” side, or we choose the “God is good and I trust in Him” side. The one side kind of has, by its nature, the idea that the ones whom God created have the right to tell Him how to run His creation—which of course CANNOT be right. How could it be??? The other side, though, far from feeling defeated and downtrodden, is OVERJOYED to know that the Creator, the Sustainer, the Almighty, the Righteous One, the God of all Wisdom, the Holy One, their FATHER, is in charge and is 100% dependable, loving, merciful, and good. They know that evil will not reign forever and that every day that dawns is one day closer to the end of satan’s rule and influence and the presence of sin on the earth. They know that no matter what unjust and unfair things happen now, God, the only One Who has the right to vengeance, WILL deal with everything the right way at the right time. Their job is simply to trust Him and obey Him, delighting in all the opportunities to think, speak, and act in a way that brings a smile of pleasure upon the Father’s face.

Maybe you think I am being over simplistic or that I have an unrealistic view of what life is like here on earth in the twenty-first century. Perhaps, but have you tried it? Have you laid your burdens at the feet of Jesus and said to God, “I trust You”? Have you CHOSEN to refuse to get hot and bothered, worried, or fretful about all the what-if’s around us and in the world, choosing instead to thank God for His perfect timing and care? To claim, “The one who lives in the shelter of the Most High, who rests in the shadow of the Almighty, will say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my fortress, and my God in whom I trust!” (Psalm 91:1-2)?

Give it a try. You won’t be sorry. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

Monday, September 14, 2020
(Who did God bring to your attention yesterday who could use your prayers—and perhaps your help this week?)
-Read John 19:1-4
“Then Pilate had Jesus taken away and whipped. The soldiers twisted some thorns into a victor’s crown, put it on his head, and threw a purple robe on him. They kept coming up to him and saying, “Long live the king of the Jews!” Then they began to slap him on the face. Pilate went outside again and told the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Describe some of what happened to Jesus.
2. What did Pilate declare?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As noted previously, the Gospel of John sometimes explains things that the other three Gospels didn’t mention – or doesn’t mention something they did. John included quite a bit more of Jesus’ encounter with Pilate than the others. John 19:1-4 tell us that once Pilate saw that the Jewish leaders were not going to give up on their demand that he deal with Jesus, he decided to have Him flogged and beat up a bit in hopes that when the Jews saw that Jesus had been beaten and humiliated, that they would give up on insisting that Pilate have Him crucified. Pilate had said repeatedly that he did not find Jesus guilty and saw no reason to condemn Him to death. However, as we know, the Jews did not give up. Instead, Pilate gave in and Jesus was eventually given over for crucifixion.

It’s impossible to not see the irony in what the Roman soldiers did to Jesus. They gave Him a victor’s crown, but it was a plant with thorns that poked deeply into Jesus’ head. They found a purple (or red) cloak to place on His shoulders (potentially a soldier’s cape) as if it were a royal robe, but rather than bowing to Him, they hit Him with open-handed slaps that were cruel and vicious. They said the right words (“long live the King of the Jews”), but they said it in mockery and derision.

It is heartbreaking to read what Jesus endured for you—and for me. Many Christians down through the millennia have tried to express their gratitude to Jesus and their sorrow over what He suffered in prose, poetry, and song. You might enjoy writing something of your own, as a matter of fact. Even if you don’t, though, be sure to take some time today to express to the Father your gratitude for the Son.

My Jesus Fair (words by Chris Anderson, music by Greg Habegger)

My Jesus fair, was pierced by thorns, by thorns grown from the fall. Thus He Who gave the curse was torn to end that curse for all.

My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men, by men in blasphemy. “Father, forgive their senseless sin!” He prayed for them, for me.

My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails, by nails of cruel men. And to His cross, as grace prevailed, God pinned my wretched sin.

My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God, by God in judgment just. The Father grieved yet turned His rod on Christ, made sin for us.

My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign, to reign in majesty—the Lamb arose, and death is slain. Lord, come in victory!

O love divine, O matchless grace—that God should die for men! With joyful grief I lift my praise, abhorring all my sin, adoring only Him.

Saturday, September 12, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to never lose your desire to know and obey Him—and all that He says is “truth.”)
-It’s time to review John 18. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s Review and Summary of John 18:
You may have noted that (a) there is a LOT of information here—and even more when we look at what the other three Gospels had to say, and (b) I didn’t always address all the happenings in the various passages we looked at in John 18. Some of that is simply because it’s a pretty painful chapter to read. I love the Lord and reading about His betrayal, suffering, and the horrible things that people did to Him just makes me SICK.

John 18 begins literally a few minutes after Jesus had finished praying to the Father for help to bear what was coming (and to pray for us!). It begins with Judas following through with what satan entered his heart to get him to do: betray Jesus. With a kiss. As a friend.

UGH. Horrible. Sick.

But how is it any different when I betray Him by not talking about Him when given the chance or when I don’t do something I know He wants me to do—or I start doing something that I know dishonors Him? Isn’t that also ugly and horrible?

Jesus does not lose His cool even once in this long horrific night. He has accepted the Father’s will and He accepts all that comes as a result of that. This is not to say that the folks who dishonored Him, betrayed Him, and lied about Him will not have to answer for that. God cannot and will not ignore sin.

In the midst of anger, fear, bravado, and ill intent, Jesus pauses to ease the pain of an enemy whose ear was cut. We can be like Him when we show compassion and kindness regardless of the circumstances, regardless if we ever hear a “thank you.” To do any kindness for another human being is to do it for Christ.

Judas went ahead and betrayed Jesus, then stood back among those who had come to arrest Him. But that’s not the end of the story! Judas felt such remorse that Matthew 27:3-10 says that he returned to the Religious leaders and admitted that he has sinned in betraying Jesus and returned the money they had paid them. He then went out and hung himself. Such sorrow comes from turning our backs on God! Oh, how we need to have compassion on the unsaved and the saved who are not living obedient lives! They must know such sorrow, such unrest, such fear of tomorrow! We need to tell them all that Jesus wants to be their Savior, that God wants to bless them—if only they will come to Him, recognizing their sin so that they can get right with Him!

Most of John 18 occurred at night. One of the more sorrowful things is how Peter fell prey to his own fear and denied knowing Jesus on three occasions. How heartbroken that made him, no doubt affecting him the rest of his life! I think that we, as believers, need to be on our guard when we are all alone and when it is after dark, that we not succumb to the lure of sin in whatever form most tempts us—be it pornography, alcohol or drugs, ungodly music, ungodly movies, unwholesome websites, or simply the lie that you are unloved or not worth anything. Memorizing and quoting Scripture is a wonderful way to exchange the lies of satan for the blessed truth from God. Just say “No!” to anything that might lead you to doing, thinking, or saying things that are not befitting a child of God. Also, keeping in mind that evil resides in darkness, we should be extra aware of where we are going, what we are doing, and who we are doing it with.

Judas, Annas, Caiphas, the whole Sanhedrin, Herod, and Pilate were ALL given the opportunity to LISTEN to Jesus and to turn from sin and self to Him. They all chose to not listen to the Son of God, rejecting the joy and peace that God wanted to give them. We, God’s children, should beware that we do not turn our backs on what God wants EVER, and should have as our deepest desire to be pleasing to Him, to actively pursue more and better ways to be like Him and bring Him honor. We should ask for God’s help to never have a hard heart, but to be always tender and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

And, perhaps, above all, John 18 should help us remember to thank God for our incredible Savior and all that He underwent so that we could be called children of God—because of Him!

Friday, September 11, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to bring Him great honor today in all you say and do.)
-Read John 18:33-40
“So Pilate went back into the governor’s headquarters, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Are you asking this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? It is your own nation and high priests who have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But for now my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born for this, and I came into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is committed to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is ‘truth’?” and then he went out to the Jewish leaders again and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against him. But you have a custom that I release one person for you at Passover. Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?” At this, they shouted out again, “Not this fellow, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What did Jesus say He had come into the world for?
2. What do those committed to truth listen to?
3. What choice did Pilate give the Jews?
4. What was their decision?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Because the Jews kind of forced him to, Pilate went ahead and tried Jesus in the Roman court. Pilate’s main concern was that Jesus was going to try to overthrow his government as a self-identified “king.” Of course, you can see great irony in Pilate asking the King of kings if He was “a” king! Jesus, though, gives Pilate a chance to listen to TRUTH. Jesus asked Pilate why he wanted to know? If Pilate wanted to know the real reason why Jesus had come to earth and Who He really was, then Jesus would have joyfully told Him. Sadly, Pilate didn’t care about knowing what Jesus had to offer, so he dismissed Jesus’ question. Even when Jesus does explain a bit about His kingdom, Pilate is not interested in hearing anything other than a reason to either judge Jesus guilty or innocent. Pilate further multiplies his own guilt by not letting the Jews get away with condemning a Man whom he found to be innocent. He even went so far as to ignore the fact that Barabbas WAS a serious threat to Rome and most definitely should have been crucified. He let Barabbas go and left Jesus to His fate.

Of course, as sickening as all that is, it had to happen this way in order for Scripture to be fulfilled. Jesus even noted in verse 32 that He knew that He must be crucified—and only the Romans could order this kind of death. Jesus dealt with unjustness and cruelty for you—and for me.

P.S. These verses argue against the idea that the Kingdom of God resides in people’s hearts. Jesus has a real kingdom and He will rule it on earth during the Millennium.

Thursday, September 10, 2020
(Thank the Father for godly friends. Ask His help to BE a godly friend to others today.)
-Read John 18:28-32
“Then Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters early in the morning. The Jews did not go into the headquarters, to avoid becoming unclean and unable to eat the Passover meal. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What accusation are you bringing against this man?” They answered him, “If he weren’t a criminal, we wouldn’t have handed him over to you.” Pilate told them, “You take him and try him according to your Law.” The Jewish leaders told him, “It is not legal for us to put anyone to death.” This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When was Jesus brought before Pilate?
2. Did the Jewish accusers and soldiers enter Pilate’s headquarters?
3. Did Pilate want to sentence Jesus?
4. When questioned, the reason why the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate, it was illegal for them to do what?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 23:1-12 “Then the whole crowd got up and took him to Pilate. They began to accuse him, “We found this man corrupting our nation, forbidding us to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that he is the Messiah, a king.” Then Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He answered, “You say so.” Then Pilate told the high priests and crowds, “I do not find anything chargeable in this man.” But they kept insisting, “He is stirring up the people with what he teaches all over Judea, from where he started in Galilee to this place.” When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. When he learned with certainty that Jesus came from Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him off to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at that time. Now Herod was very glad to see Jesus, because he had been wanting to see him for a long time on account of what he had heard about him. He was also hoping to see some sign done by him. So he continued to question him for a long time, but Jesus gave him no answer at all. Meanwhile, the high priests and the scribes stood nearby and continued to accuse him vehemently. Even Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and made fun of him. He put a magnificent robe on Jesus and sent him back to Pilate. So Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day. Before this they had been enemies.”

And so Jesus was first brought to Annas, the High Priest recognized by the Jews, then Caiaphas, the High Priest recognized by the Romans, then He went before the full Sanhedrin (kind of the Supreme Court of the Jews), then to Pilate (a Roman governor in charge of that part of the Roman Empire), then to Herod, and then He was returned to Pilate a second time for sentencing.

Because the Gospel of Luke is the only one who recorded that Jesus was brought to Herod, I included that Scripture for you. You should note that the verses from John in today’s reading happened in the middle of the discussion that Luke records. Pilate understood that Jesus wasn’t trying to become King then and there and that was why he considered Him innocent and was ready to release Him. The Jews, however, were not going to give up. They had worked long and hard to get rid of Jesus once and for all, and they would say ANYTHING to get Pilate to sentence Jesus to death. In fact, there are multiple ways that Jesus’ “trial” was illegal. The Jewish leaders broke rules left and right simply to get rid of Jesus because they considered Him a threat to the nice cushy life they had built for themselves. Sadly, what Jesus wanted to give them was an eternity in the presence of GOD, ruling and reigning alongside King Jesus. They traded the streets of gold for the right to boss people around and be considered important.

I wonder? What do we “trade” for rewards in heaven? Since we who have trusted in Christ as Savior are God’s children and cannot lose our salvation, we will never be judged for our sin. We will, though, give an account for how well we lived our lives as children of God. God has given us everything we need to live godly lives, and so when we CHOOSE to act in a disobedient way, it’s all on us. To choose to obey brings God glory and it results in rewards in eternity and opportunities to serve God in bigger and better ways while in His presence in glory. When we live for ourselves and choose to not do the things that we know we should be doing, we have traded one of those eternal rewards and service opportunities for something else. Things such as looking good to our friends? Obtaining a new possession of some sort? Earning a few more dollars? Wasting a few hours of our life in front of a fantasy world on the TV or computer? Can any of those things POSSIBLY compare to seeing the smile of pride and joy on our Savior’s face when He welcomes us home with a “Well done, good and faithful servant!”???

I know that doing some of these things seems to “just happen” because they are so much a part of what is currently “normal” behavior, but I also know that the Holy Spirit is standing at the ready 24/7 to help us LEARN to re-set our automatic behaviors so that they become God-honoring. If you think about it, there are probably many God-honoring behaviors that you currently do that ARE auto-response actions. Do you pray and thank God for a new day when you wake up? This pleases Him! Do you thank Him throughout the day and before you go to bed? This pleases Him! Is church attendance a part of your Sunday and Wednesday habits? This pleases Him! Is opening the Bible daily to look for ways to praise Him and ways to better obey Him something you try to never miss? This pleases Him! Have you determined to say “please,” “thank you,” “you’re welcome” and otherwise be kind, courteous, and polite to one and all? This pleases Him!

One of the (infinite) ways that God is awesome is that when we pause for a minute in our busy day and ASK Him for help to honor Him better, He ALWAYS hears that prayer and He ALWAYS answers that prayer. He WANTS to be able to bless you today—and throughout eternity, so He is constantly guiding the willing heart to better and better attitudes, actions, and words. Thank Him! Praise Him! Ask for help to excel still more in your own walk with Him right this minute!

Wednesday, September 9, 2020
(Pray, leaving the sorrows and victories of the past at Jesus’ feet, asking His help to live for Him wholeheartedly TODAY. Thank the Father for the new day and new opportunities to live for Him.)
-Read John 18:28
“Then Jesus was led from Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters early in the morning. The Jews did not go into the headquarters, to avoid becoming unclean and unable to eat the Passover meal.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 26:57-68; 27:1-2 “ Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had assembled… the high priests and the whole Council were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order to have him put to death. But they couldn’t find any, even though many false witnesses had come forward. At last two men came forward and stated, “This man said, ‘I can destroy the sanctuary of God and rebuild it in three days.’” At this, the high priest stood up and asked Jesus, “Don’t you have any answer to what these men are testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent. Then the high priest told him, “I command you by the living God to tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God!” Jesus told him, “You have said so. Nevertheless I tell you, from now on you will see ‘the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power’ and ‘coming on the clouds of heaven.’” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need witnesses? Listen! You yourselves have just heard the blasphemy! What is your verdict?” They replied, “He deserves to die!” Then they spit in his face and hit him. Some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you?” When morning came, all the high priests and elders of the people conspired against Jesus to put him to death. They bound him with chains, led him away, and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the governor.”

Were you interested to see that the Gospel of John left out this whole part of Jesus’ night that we read about in Matthew, Mark, and Luke? Well, first, we know that each Gospel writer had a purpose in what they wrote (which was, of course, what the Holy Spirit wanted), but I think that there can be a few lessons from this. First, in order to FULLY understand some Scripture, we may need to do a little work and find out if there is other Scripture that fills in a few more details or explains something more fully. In the case of the four Gospels, there are all sorts of charts out there that compare passages with each other and summarize which author teaches which account and where it can be found. Many Bibles have cross references in the verses and/or near the beginning of a paragraph. These other verses have something to do with that verse and can be helpful and interesting to look up. There are also study Bibles that provide all sorts of information, specialized Bibles (such as chronological Bibles and Bibles that explain the customs of that time and place), Bible encyclopedias, and so on.

Not all Bible verses and passages have additional material other places in Scripture, but it’s important to remember that the Bible will never contradict itself or go against God’s character, therefore there are probably Bible principles and truths that can help us better understand something. And, of course, don’t forget to use that FANTASTIC resource that God gave to you: your pastor! I ask mine questions ALL THE TIME! In fact, I don’t email or print these devotions to you until my kind husband looks them over to make sure they are accurate, at least somewhat intelligent, and that they aren’t stuffed full of crazy typos (they are sneaky things, for sure!).

A second lesson we might get from the difference between John’s account and Matthew’s is to realize that there is a whole lot of hurt that people carry around with them that we might not know about. John WITNESSED Jesus being ridiculed, slapped, spat on, and terrorized! He was RIGHT THERE! How horrible it must have been for him to see. How sick he must have felt in his gut. How anguished he must have felt that he couldn’t do anything to stop it. But he didn’t share any of this with his readers for whatever reason he and the Holy Spirit had. I wonder, what might the people in your life be carrying around that you don’t know about? Could some burden on their heart be what’s causing them to be a little impatient with you and others? Could some tragedy from their past make them a little awkward in social settings? Could some health challenges make them seem rude or unapproachable?

My point? People need our prayers, and our love, and our patience, and our kindness, and our comfort, and our encouragement, and most especially, our use of Scripture to build them up in the things of the Lord.

Tuesday, September 8, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to trust in Him to deal with wrongdoers and not seek vengeance on your own. Ask for help to see people with the same heart of compassion that Jesus had.)
-Read John 18:25-27
“Meanwhile, Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Some people asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples, too, are you?” He denied it by saying, “I am not!” Then one of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “I saw you in the garden with Jesus, didn’t I?” Peter again denied it, and immediately a rooster crowed.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Meanwhile, _____ ____ was standing and warming himself.
2. Some people asked him, “You aren’t ____ ____ _____ _____, too, are you?”
3. He denied it by saying, “I am ___!”
4. Then one of the high priest’s servants, a _____ of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “I saw you in the garden ____ ____, didn’t I?”
5. Peter again denied it, and ___ a rooster crowed.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Luke 22:54-62 “Then they arrested him, led him away, and brought him to the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had taken their seats, Peter, too, sat down among them. A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire, stared at him, and said, “This man was with him, too.” But he denied it, “I don’t know him, woman!” he responded. A little later, a man looked at him and said, “You are one of them, too.” But Peter said, “Mister, I am not!” About an hour later, another man emphatically asserted, “This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!” But Peter said, “Mister, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word from the Lord, and how he had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” So he went outside and cried bitterly.”

I have such deep pity for Peter! The poor guy was under such tremendous strain! His entire world was being torn apart bit by bit: his beloved Rabbi had been arrested and was undergoing unjust accusations and brutal treatment and he feared for his own life both as a follower of Jesus and as the one who had cut the ear off a Temple police officer. I’m actually kind of surprised that Peter was anywhere near all these officials and wasn’t hiding in a cave somewhere!

It was to his credit that he and John followed Jesus after His arrest and that Peter wanted to be near Him, but what a shame that Peter totally caved and not only denied knowing Jesus once, but three times. I’m not sure, though, that there could have been a worse punishment than looking at Jesus face to face and KNOWING that He knew exactly what he had just done. Peter was so shook up that he went outside and cried bitterly. Poor Peter!

All this happened at about 3:00 a.m., by the way. Hurts and fears are far more difficult to deal with in the middle of the night. But, praise God, He never sleeps or slumbers, nor does He ever stop keeping a close eye on us and for us. Peter was overwhelmed in every possible way there is to be overwhelmed, and yes, he failed in this instance, but this one horrible night does not define who Peter is, nor does it negate all the times Peter showed great trust in Jesus, all the times he spoke boldly about Jesus—even in the face of tremendous danger, and how he had given Jesus his whole heart and soul for the rest of his life, helping to establish the church and teaching the thousands of new believers what it meant to be loyal to the Master and grateful for His provision, mercy, kindness, and grace.

Peter was at a low on the night of Jesus’ arrest, but Peter learned from this and went on to be a hero of the faith. And no matter what your past contains (bad stuff AND good stuff), today is the day you can SHINE for Jesus and show others what wonderful things He has done for you and how He wants to do so for them, too. Today is the day to be victorious in your walk with God, to demonstrate your love for Him through wholehearted obedience to His Word. And if you hit a snag and realize you sinned, confess it and make it right with Him, then hop right back up and share a new testimony of praise of God’s mercy and love!

Is there something from your past that you haven’t let go of? Often, it’s some sin pattern that just makes us sick to remember, but if it has been made right with God, then it is time to turn your back on it, learn from it, and move ahead to giving God your best TODAY. Once in a while, though, the thing that is holding us back is past victory! We may be thinking fondly of that time when we were 14 and had such a vibrant devotional time and how we were so invested in and among the church family—and it just makes us glow with the goodness of it all. Well, that’s awesome, but what about TODAY? How are you serving God TODAY? What sort of devotions are you doing NOW? How invested are you in your church TODAY? Who are you showing a servant’s heart to NOW? What’s your prayer life like NOW? Today is the day to rejoice in the Lord and share His glorious light with all!

Monday, September 7, 2020
(What did God show you from His Word yesterday that was a blessing and/or challenge? Thank Him. Ask His help to apply it to your life today.)
-Read John 18:19-24
“Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his own teaching. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue or in the Temple, where all Jews meet together, and I have said nothing in secret. Why do you question me? Question those who heard what I said. These are the people who know what I said.” When he said this, one of the officers standing nearby slapped Jesus on the face and demanded, “Is that any way to answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have said anything wrong, tell me what it was. But if I have told the truth, why do you hit me?” Then Annas sent him, with his hands tied, to Caiaphas the high priest.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What two things did Jesus get asked about?
2. Jesus said that He had always spoken ____.
3. Who did He say they should question?
4. What did an officer do?
5. Was this deserved?
6. Where was Jesus sent next?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Here is a bit of a timeline taken from comparing all 4 gospels:
-Jesus was brought to the residence of the High Priest (and He was back and forth there a bit), then to Pontius Pilate (the governor of Judea and Roman prefect under Emperor Tiberius), then to Herod Antipas (tetrarch [ruler of a quarter of a territory that had been divided into fourths] of Galilee and Perea), then back to Pilate before being crucified.
-John is the only gospel writer to share that the first person the Temple police brought Jesus to was Annas. Annas wasn’t the official High Priest in the view of the Romans, but the Jews considered him to be a kind of High Priest emeritus since they believed that once someone was chosen as High Priest, they had the job for life. Annas was actually the father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the one who the Romans considered to be the High Priest.
-One of the things that the Jewish leadership had been worried about from the first time they heard of Jesus’ popularity was that He had come to overthrow the government. This is what Annas was hinting at with his questions—and to which Jesus assured him He was innocent of. He had not been teaching one thing to the crowds in public settings while teaching subversive teachings to the disciples when they were in private. What Jesus was teaching was FAR more important than politics!
-Jesus suggested that if Annas wanted to know what Jesus had been teaching, he could find out simply by talking to those who heard Him teach. For this reasonable suggestion (and one which accords with the requirements of the Mosaic law to have testimony substantiated by two or more witnesses], one of the Temple police officers slapped him hard in the face. Jesus didn’t get angry, nor did He try to retaliate for that undeserved violence. Jesus had said before that God is the One Who will bring vengeance on injustice—and that He would wait patiently for the Father’s timing for it and simply continue to do what He knew to be the Father’s will (a wonderful model for us to follow, too!).
-I can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the soldier who slapped the Son of God. When He stands before God Almighty, what excuse could he give? There is none. And I think that a bit of compassion for those who have done us wrong is not out of line, either. Unless these folks trust in Jesus as Savior, their permanent destiny in the Lake of Fire is already confirmed. Even those who are Christians, but who have chosen to live a life that is rebellious to God should be pitied when we contemplate what it will be like for them when they stand before Christ Jesus at the Bema Judgment. People need our prayers! They also need our compassion, our patience, our mercy, and for us to show enough love to say what needs to be said to challenge their walk with the Lord.
-Note that although Jesus had done NOTHING to hint at running away or fighting back, the soldiers continued to keep His hands tied up. This is yet another way that Jesus was humiliated and treated as a criminal. For you—and for me.
-After Annas was given the chance to question Jesus, He was taken to Caiaphas. Both of these men were probably in the same building, but different wings. In the meantime, Peter was still outside, warming himself with Jesus’ captors. All this took place in the dead of night (which was actually illegal, by the way).

Saturday, September 5, 2020
(Thank the Father that sin will not reign forever. Thank Him that He will send His righteous Son to rule the world with perfect justice someday soon.)
-Read John 18:12-18
“Then the soldiers, along with their commander and the Jewish officers, arrested Jesus and tied him up. First they brought him to Annas, because he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the person who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one man die for the people. Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Since the other disciple was known to the high priest, he accompanied Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. Peter, however, stood outside the gate. So this other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter inside. The young woman at the gate asked Peter, “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples, too, are you?” “I am not,” he replied. Meanwhile, the servants and officers were standing around a charcoal fire they had built and were warming themselves because it was cold. Peter was also standing with them, keeping himself warm.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did they bring Jesus first?
2. Who was this man?
3. Which disciples followed Jesus?
4. Since Peter couldn’t go inside, where did he go?
5. What was Peter’s response to the woman at the gate?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
When you were a child, did you ever play a game of hide and seek in the dark? In the woods? And let your imagination run away with you? Even a simple game played with brothers and sisters can instill a genuine feeling of fear and panic. There’s just something about the combination of darkness, unfamiliar sounds, and the knowledge that someone is after you that causes your adrenaline to rise and your breathing to get faster. But, in the end, when your mom calls out for all of you to come in to get ready for bed, you joyfully return to the warmth and light of home and all fear is gone again.

Can you imagine what it must have felt like for Jesus’ disciples to watch perhaps two hundred men with swords, clubs, and torches come to arrest Him? Added in was the short scuffle of Peter chopping someone’s ear off! There’s nothing like the introduction of bloodshed in an already volatile situation to really ramp things up! But, Jesus put a quick end to the potential fight by healing the injury and going readily with the soldiers. Panicked, afraid, confused, and overwhelmed with sorrow and fatigue, the disciples all ran—hiding in the trees and foliage of the Garden of Gethsemane.

But, then we find that Peter and another disciple (probably John), even though really upset, regrouped and followed Jesus and the soldiers at a distance, no doubt, trying to be quiet and unnoticed. When they came to the first stop in Jesus’ long, long night of inquisition, John is able to go right into the courtyard because he was known to the high priest. Peter, though, was not known and stayed outside the gate until John led him in. The gatekeeper, a woman, questioned Peter. The Greek indicates that she questioned Peter in such a way that it was very easy for Peter to agree with what she said. It might have been something like, “YOU’RE not one of his “disciples,” are you???” It would have taken a lot of guts to say that he WAS a disciple of Jesus—and Peter just couldn’t make himself do it after all the stress of the last few hours. Peter seems to have compounded his denial a bit by then going to warm himself side-by-side with the very men who had just arrested Jesus.

I’m not making excuses for Peter, but I sure can see what a horrible position he was in. There’s no question that this night was forever seared in Peter’s mind as, maybe, his worst memory EVER. I don’t know if when he remembered it off and on over the years, he was heartsick and disgusted, but it would surely have been a bitter regret. I have many regrets—and I’m guessing that everyone else does, too. The question isn’t so much what we did or didn’t do in the past that makes us sad and heartsick, but what we DO with it. First, of course, all sin MUST be confessed to God and made right with Him. But right on the heels of thanking God for forgiving us needs to be the decision to not punish ourselves or “forgive ourselves” (neither one of these is a biblical concept). We most definitely need to learn from our sin and we need to choose a God-honoring action/reaction for the next time we face a similar challenge. And, of course, if what we have done has harmed someone else in some way, we need to humbly and lovingly go to them and ask for their forgiveness.

B.T.W.
The only right biblical response to being asked for forgiveness by someone is to say “Yes, I forgive you.” By saying these things, BOTH parties are agreeing to never bring this up again with each other, other people, or themselves. It is to forgive—and refuse to “remember” (since we often cannot truly “forget”).

Friday, September 4, 2020
(Pray for brothers and sisters in Christ who have left your church and are not living for God. They desperately need to return to a right relationship with God. Until they do, they can know no true peace, joy, or blessing from the Father’s hand.)
-Read John 18:10-12
“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.  Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Shouldn’t I drink the cup that the Father has given me?” Then the soldiers, along with their commander and the Jewish officers, arrested Jesus and tied him up.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. T/F Judas cut the ear of a servant with a sword.
2. T/F Jesus was glad that someone stood up for Him.
3. T/F The most important thing to Jesus was doing the Father’s will.
4. T/F Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested and tied up.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Consider this additional information about that long, painful night:

“Jesus asked him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then the other men surged forward, took hold of Jesus, and arrested him. Suddenly, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear.  Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place! Everyone who uses a sword will be killed by a sword.  Don’t you think that I could call on my Father, and he would send me more than twelve legions of angels now?  How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say this must happen?” At this point, Jesus asked the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a bandit? Day after day I sat teaching in the Temple, yet you didn’t arrest me.  But all of this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Jesus and ran away.” (Mt. 26:50-56)

“When those who were around Jesus saw what was about to take place, they asked, “Lord, should we attack with our swords?”  Then one of them struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” So he touched the wounded man’s ear and healed him. Then Jesus told the high priests, the Temple police, and the elders, who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit? While I was with you day after day in the Temple, you didn’t lay a hand on me. But this is your hour, when darkness reigns!” (Luke 22:49-53)

-Carrying weapons during Passover was not something Jews were supposed to do, but clearly, the disciples were expecting trouble and had come prepared.
-Can you even IMAGINE the adrenaline and emotion present that night? It must have been through the roof! The disciples were terrified—for Jesus and for themselves. They were so scared, in fact, that they simply ran away once Jesus was tied up.
-Peter, in an act of bravery and loyalty to Jesus, jumped to defend Him by slashing one of the servant’s ears off. This was not what Jesus wanted, however, and He not only put an end to any thoughts of His disciples fighting for Him, He tenderly repaired the man’s ear. He acted on what He preached: to do good even to your enemies. I wonder what that man thought of Jesus from that night on? Surely, this changed his life forever!
-Jesus remained calm and steadfast despite the high emotions of everyone else. He trusted in the Father and refused to allow circumstances to lie to Him about what was okay and what wasn’t okay. He knew that if God allowed it, it was most definitely “okay.” There is no question that the time Jesus spent in prayer in preparation for this event helped Him, and an argument can be made that if the disciples had prayed with Jesus as He asked instead of napping, that they, too, might have been better prepared for the coming emotional trauma.
-Jesus wasn’t saying that Christians must be pacifists when He told the disciples to put away their weapons. God commands humans to never murder each other, but He doesn’t expect us to not defend ourselves and our loved ones when we are in danger, nor does He expect a soldier to not defend his unit and his country when called upon to do so.
-Isn’t it a fascinating thought that Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to His aid? Angels are pretty fascinating creatures, but if we could speak to one, do you know what THEY would like to talk about? Glorifying the Father and the Lamb. Nothing is more important to them than bringing God glory and extolling His holiness. This is an excellent focus for us, too!
-Jesus reminded everyone there that everything they were doing was fulfilling prophecy about Him. Again, I have to wonder how many of the men went home later and pondered these things for the rest of their lives.
-Jesus noted that it was the time when darkness was reigning. He didn’t mean, of course, that satan was temporarily winning over God—even though that’s what this narrative sounds like in the moment. Rather, He meant that in order for sin to be dealt with permanently, satan was given permission to work in men’s hearts to crucify the Son of God. As noted previously, this wasn’t a victory for satan, sin, or the wicked Religious leaders. It was God’s victory over sin and death.
-Jesus noted that these men could have arrested Him in broad daylight—in a nice and convenient location, the Temple courtyard. They, instead, in keeping with their “dark” deed, chose to try to sneak up on Him at night and to hide what they did by acting far away from any crowds of people. It’s not a coincidence that cowardly deeds, theft, and attacks are done in dark or private areas. One day, though, there will be no such thing as darkness. In eternity, the entire world will be illuminated by the presence of God Almighty. There will be no sin, no harm, no trauma, no sorrow. The perfection that God intended from the very beginning will be ours, just as God promised.

Thursday, September 3, 2020
(Thank the Father for this new day that He made for you to live for Him, to praise Him, and to glorify Him as you deal biblically with whatever challenges come your way.)
-Read John 18:4-9
“Then Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen, went forward and asked them, “Who are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus from Nazareth.” Jesus told them, “I AM.” Judas, the man who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus told them, “I AM,” they backed away and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Who are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus from Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I told you that I am the one, so if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill what he had said, “I did not lose a single one of those you gave me.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did the soldiers say they were looking for?
2. How did Jesus respond?
3. Who was Judas standing next to?
4. What was the response when Jesus identified Himself as I AM?
5. What did Jesus ask them to do?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Here is what the other gospel writers say about this:

“Now the betrayer personally had given them a signal, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him.” So Judas immediately went up to Jesus and said, “Hello, Rabbi!” and kissed him tenderly. Jesus asked him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then the other men surged forward, took hold of Jesus, and arrested him.” (Matthew 26:48-50)

“While Jesus was still speaking, a crowd arrived. The man called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them, and he came close to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:47-48)

Did you notice how the description of Judas in the gospels as “one of the twelve” morphed into “Judas, the man who betrayed Him” and “the betrayer”? Even years after this event happened, these men who had once been closer than brothers, now seemed to hardly be able to say Judas’ name. How incredibly sad! And how incredibly sad it is in our churches today when a brother or sister turns away from God and leaves heartache and pain in their wake! These things shouldn’t be. These things should cause all of us to hate sin even more—and to fight against it in our own lives even more diligently. Sin is always horrible and always brings horrible consequences. It should be looked on as a vile, slimy, toxic waste dump of disgustingness that has NO PLACE in our hearts or lives. It should NEVER be treated as a plaything, as something that “doesn’t really matter,” or as something we would EVER choose to do—for any reason whatsoever.

As heartwarming and encouraging as John 17 was, John 18 is filled with sorrow, pain, and heartbreak. The man whom Jesus had chosen to be one of His closest, most special followers, now stood among the men who had come to falsely arrest Him – after pointing Jesus out to them by means of a “tender” kiss. Wow. Just makes me sick to think about! Jesus, though, calls Judas “friend.” And, in fact, Jesus’ only concern here is for the well-being of the other eleven disciples. The compassion and mercy of our God knows no bounds—and we would do well to remember this when we are feeling self-pity or when we are faced with personal attack from others. Self-pity is never valid since our God only always allows what is good into our lives, and attacking back those who are attacking us is leaving compassion and mercy out of the picture. That person needs our prayers since they are clearly not thinking right in some way. They need to be gently, lovingly, and humbly pointed to God’s Word for right responses and actions.

Did you notice the reaction of this great band of soldiers and fighters who had come to arrest Jesus with their clubs, swords, and torches? At the mere mention of Who He is, they fell back and away from Him! It is Jesus Who encourages them to get on with their task and Who offers Himself up to them. Our God is ABLE. Nothing is too hard for Him. He has our best interests in mind constantly and will carry through with all that He has promised. We can rest in Him, allowing Him to deal with any and all “problems,” and simply carry on living a life that honors and pleases Him in every respect.

Wednesday, September 2, 2020
(Thank the Father that Jesus prays on your behalf. Thank Him for the excellent example Jesus left us as far as what to pray for and why.)
-Read John 18:1-4
“After Jesus had said all of this, he went with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas took a detachment of soldiers and some officers from the high priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen, went forward and asked them, “Who are you looking for?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Why did Jesus cross the Kidron valley?
2. How did Judas know to find Jesus in the garden?
3. Who did Judas bring to the garden?
4. Did anything about to happen take Jesus by surprise?
5. Who spoke first when armed soldiers entered the quiet garden?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?)

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
-Jesus had prepared His disciples for His arrest by warning them, encouraging them, instructing them, and praying for them (as seen in John 13-17 as well as Matthew 21-26, Mark 11-14, and Luke 19-22).
-Jesus was fully aware of what was going to happen in the Garden of Gethsemane, yet He went willingly.
-Judas knew where Jesus would be (and Jesus knew that Judas knew) and he planned his betrayal to happen there.
-Judas, according to Luke 22:47, chose to identify Jesus to the soldiers by means of a kiss on the cheek. It would have been dark, so the object of their search needed to be identified, but doing so with a kiss was an added layer of betrayal.
-Jesus called Judas “friend” when He greeted him (Mt. 26:50). He asked Judas, “Would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Luke 22:48).
-Judas brought with him a detachment of soldiers (Romans) as well as some officers from the Religious leaders (Jews). It’s possible that there were 200 or more soldiers. The other gospel writers describe them as a “great crowd.”
-The soldiers had lanterns, torches, and weapons (swords and clubs). They came prepared for trouble.
-Jesus “knew everything” that was going to happen.
-Jesus did not cower in fear, nor try to hide from the soldiers. With authority and dignity, He went up to the soldiers and asked them who they were looking for, though, of course, He knew.

All of the above is information and facts. What is the lesson, though? The application for you and me? The best answer is to prayerfully ask the Father what He wants YOU to see, remember, and apply to your life. I think some of the biggies for me would be to try to remember Jesus’ attitude throughout this entire ordeal. He, as a Human, did NOT want to have to go through what He knew was coming, but He as the willing Son of God, was resolute to do what needed to be done—to do GOD’S WILL—and not His own. And as I go through my days and years and life, I, too, need to remember that it is God’s will that matters, not my own. I need to remember that my comfort, my happiness, my choices are not my ultimate focus in life. It is what God wants, what pleases God, and how God is being glorified. Sometimes that’s going to be through what we tend to call “happy” circumstances, but sometimes God is going to glorify Himself and bring “good” for me through scary circumstances and hard times. I don’t look forward to that any more than Jesus did, but with His help, I can trust Him and go forth with my head held high, with a resolute heart to please God NO MATTER WHAT.

What application did the Holy Spirit lay on your heart from John 18:1-4?

Tuesday, September 1, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to “make Him known”’ today in what you say and do.)
-It’s time to review John 17. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 17 Summary & Review
Although we have snippets of Jesus’ prayers to His Father for these few years of His public ministry, there are none as long and as tender as the one recorded here in John 17. In it, Jesus simply confirms with the Father that He has finished all He needed to do, having done so with the goal of bringing Him great honor. And even though Jesus was facing humiliation, physical pain, and the horror of the penalty of mankind’s sin being placed on His body in just a few short hours, He turned the focus of His prayer to His beloved disciples who were not far from where He was praying—and He turned His focus on all those who would believe in Him in the days, years, and decades after His ascension (which includes you and me).

Jesus acknowledged that those who believed in Him as Savior now forever belonged to Him and to the Father and that they would need help to deal with the hardships that the world doles out to those who love and obey God. He wanted them to have help to remember that it is God’s Word that has the answers and which provides direction for all the things that they would need to know in order to live godly lives and to represent Him well as they walked among unbelievers—and to have His joy while doing it.

Our take away? Well, one (among many) is to follow Jesus’ example and “complete the task that the Father gave us to do.” This might be a bit different for each of us in the details, but the big picture task is the same for all of us: to trust God and to obey Him, to love Him supremely and love others as self, to have a servant’s heart, considering others more important than self, to live as citizens of heaven in the here and now, eagerly waiting for the return of our Savior and Lord.

FYI: As we forge ahead, please note that the four Gospels present different viewpoints of Jesus’ last few days on earth. It’s not that they are contradicting each other, just that each of the writers has a different focus on what they wanted to convey in their retelling of Jesus’ life. It’s interesting, informative, and a blessing to read these other accounts.

Jesus’ prayer before His arrest: Mt. 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46

Jesus’ betrayal and arrest: Mt.26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12

October 2020 DBSQs

Saturday, October 31, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to know how to be holy as He is holy, willing to do whatever it takes to represent Him well.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 3 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
There was a man. . . named Nicodemus.

John, chapter 3, contains, arguably, the most well-known Bible verse in the world—and God has chosen to place it the context of a friendly chat between two Jewish Rabbis in the night. You see, Nicodemus had heard about Jesus and the miracle He performed at the wedding and seemed to be one of the few who realized that if Jesus was a Prophet from God, then he needed to hear Jesus’ message. Nicodemus, however, was one of the important Religious Leaders—and his fellow Council members did NOT want anyone, even God’s own Son, to mess up the wonderful life they had built for themselves as the elite in Jerusalem. So while we might be a bit disappointed in Nicodemus for coming to talk to Jesus secretly, at least he DID come. And from that conversation, everyone who has ever read it now knows the basics of salvation: who needs it (everyone), why we need it (we are all born condemned because of sin), Who provides salvation (Jesus Christ), and how to get it (believe in Him as the Savior). Jesus also stated quite clearly that He was from heaven, that God is His Father, and that God sent Him to die on behalf of the world’s sin so that those who believe in Him would have eternal life. Really, the Jewish leadership had no excuse for not listening to and obeying Jesus Christ once they heard this truth, they simply chose to not believe it and to continue in their “dark” deeds.

>I think that it will be interesting to talk to Nicodemus in heaven and hear “the rest of his story.” We know nothing about him from this point early in Jesus’ ministry until three and a half years later when he helps Joseph of Arimathea to get Jesus’ dead body from the cross to the tomb. Here’s something else to consider, though. If you and I live a life of faithfulness to God and obedience to His Word, I wonder who in heaven will want to look US up so that they can hear more of how we lived to bring God honor and glory and to show love to brothers and sisters in Christ??? Have you ever thought about that? How we, too, can join the others listed in the “Faith Hall of Fame” in Hebrews 11? On one hand, it seems ludicrous to picture the great saints from the Bible being interested in us, but on the other hand, the reason why they are “great” is because they chose to be faithful, they chose to trust God at His Word, they were not afraid to stand up for Christ and share the gospel with those God brought into their lives. They were just “regular people,” until they yielded their ideas and plans to God. With His help, we can ABSOLUTELY do that, too! As John the Baptist so aptly put, He must increase and we must decrease. That simple, that profound.

Friday, October 30, 2020
(Thank the Father for the blessings of prayer!)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 2 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
John 2 is pretty famous in that it contains Jesus’ first recorded miracle. John calls these “signs,” because the Jewish people were told to keep an eye out for prophets from God. One of the ways a prophet from God was identified was through their miracles/signs. They also had to be 100% accurate in what they predicted. The important thing to note here, though, is that once a prophet proved He was sent from God, the people were obligated to listen to what he had to say. So, Jesus should not have had to face such tremendous opposition for the three and a half years of His public ministry. People SHOULD have accepted Him at His word. I wonder what those years would have looked like if people had just done what God told them to do???

>I cannot, of course, give the Jews grief without spending some prayerful contemplation on just how often I have not listened to God or done what I knew He wanted me to do. It’s embarrassing and sad to think about! And I think it is a fair question to wonder how my life and the lives of others would have been different had I always obeyed God quickly and completely. Maybe God will tell us about it in heaven—and maybe He won’t. I think that what is the past is the past, and while we must learn from it so that we don’t repeat the same sins, we need to make it right with God, then leave it in His care. He isn’t honored when we continue to beat ourselves up about things that He has forgiven and chosen to not hold us accountable for. And, of course, we need to ask His help daily to obey His Word and only do the things that we know He wants us to do. We cannot change the past, but we sure can pick ourselves up and choose to obey Him today!

In a kind of similar thought to the importance of listening to God and obeying Him, Jesus also demonstrated the importance of respecting God (“fearing” Him) through our actions. In this case, people were using the Temple complex to cheat other people—most especially in regard to buying and selling animals to make sacrifices to God. That sure sounds sacrilegious and wrong! I wonder how we might do that in today’s church buildings? It may sound picky, but do you think Sunday mornings are the right time to hand out order forms for your Pampered Chef party or pledge sheets for your child’s school fundraiser? Wouldn’t that be more appropriate outside of the building—maybe NOT when we should be focusing on what God wants to teach us from His Word? How about people coming to church in clothes that are immodest and revealing? It just doesn’t seem “right.” (Please know that I am distinguishing between believers who ought to know better and visitors and unsaved/unchurched folks.) And though not all of you may agree with me, I do not for one second think that music that could be found at a rock concert has any place inside a church building—even if the words are about loving God. When God asked us to come out and be separate from the world, He meant more than where we are physically standing. He meant that our clothes, our hobbies, our music, our reading material—everything—should meet His qualification as holy. God is our Creator and He is the One Who gets to set the rules. It is our PRIVILEGE to spend our lives trying to honor and please Him better and better.

One last thing that I note from John 2 (which continues through Jesus’ whole ministry) is that Jesus didn’t waste His words – and He did use them to bring focus on God, God’s will, and how God wanted people to think and live. As God’s children, we can do this too in our attitude, our demeanor, and yes, our words. And lest your take away from my look at John 2 be what is judgmental and harsh, one last reminder that all we do must also be done IN LOVE, regarding others as more important than ourselves, looking for opportunities to bless, encourage, and build up in the things of the Lord. When that is our focus, the rest of these things seem to also naturally fall into place, too. =)

Thursday, October 29, 2020
(Thank the Father for TODAY. Ask His help to live wholeheartedly for Him so that He receives great glory and so others are blessed and encouraged.)
End of the Gospel of John Review & Summary
There are many delightful ways to study God’s Word! We can do a search of a specific word, we can search for themes (such as the love of God, the right way to view friendship, what God says pleases Him, etc.), we can do character studies, and we can do book studies—which is what we just completed in only (almost) TWO YEARS. =) Furthermore, we challenged ourselves, even more, the first year by only addressing one verse at a time. This forced us to consider each verse more closely (as opposed to only addressing one focus among many verses). I enjoyed it very much and hope you did too. What I found the most interesting was how there was always SOMETHING to learn—even from one verse.

Studying a book of the Bible verse by verse is very profitable, however, when you get done it can be very helpful to go back to the beginning to remind yourself what you learned. If we cannot remember what we had for breakfast yesterday, how can we remember what we learned in on February 10th, 2019? To that end, let’s do the job of treasure hunting in John right and return to the beginning. This time, though, we are going to look at an entire chapter each day. This will take more time to read, but what we are looking for is broader themes found within the chapters, not so much the tiny details that we already studied.

P.S. If you want to REALLY try to get a grasp of the Gospel of John as a unit, try to read the entire thing in one or two sittings! It will take some time, but you may find yourself appreciating it even more than you do now. To make it even easier, you could dig out a lap project that doesn’t take a lot of thinking—one of those adult coloring pages might be fun—and listen to someone else read it out loud online. You might choose a different version than your usual since we can sometimes get too familiar with a particular version and stop “hearing it.” Try it! (biblegateway.com offers this as a free service—just choose what Scripture you want to hear, then click on the listening icon.) Listening to God’s Word is NEVER wasted time!

-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 1 at least once straight through.
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
Although most of us are pretty familiar with the accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew and Luke, the Gospel of John ALSO introduces Jesus Christ. He simply goes about it in a different way. John identifies Jesus as God from his very first words and then he shares a bit of His grandeur—and WHY He came in the flesh to earth.

>The world saw Jesus as a human man—and Jesus DID take on a human body and become a Man, but He was (is!) oh, so much more! He is “the Word,” He is the Creator of EVERYTHING, He is Life and Light, He is the One through Whom people can become CHILDREN OF GOD. He is the Son of God and He is co-equal with God, the Father. Jesus is “full of grace and truth,” the “Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world,” the Messiah/Christ (Anointed One), the “One Moses and the prophets wrote about,” the King of Israel, and the Son of Man.

We would do well to remember WHO God is, WHO Jesus Christ is, and WHO the Holy Spirit is when we are thinking about Them, talking about Them, and praying. While we are INCREDIBLY privileged to be welcome to pray anytime about anything as a child to their Father, we ARE addressing God Almighty. We should never not be respectful and mindful of Who He is—and who we are NOT. God invites us to share our hearts with Him and tell Him every single thing about everything, but we need to remember that we are not talking to our “buddy,” nor will there ever be an occasion where we have the right to scold God or indicate that He dropped the ball in some way. We are talking to the Holy One, the King of kings. BUT, He is also our Father Who loves us unconditionally, so we have much to thank Him for and praise Him for!

On this topic, but on a little different slant, the study of WHO God says He is as God, as the Father, as the Son, and as the Spirit, is a really important and really wonderful thing to work on. In fact, it might be THE most important thing we EVER study—because it is as we know all about God that we come to understand not “just” about Him, but how we can praise Him and bring Him glory accurately and the way that HE wants it done. Learning more about Him will also affect how well we trust Him and how thoroughly we obey Him. It will also help us speak accurately and enthusiastically about Him to others. The more we come to know Him, the more we will stand in awe of Him and the more we will delight to praise Him and glorify His name to others.

Wednesday, October 28, 2020
(Spend some time praising God in prayer, song, recited Scripture, and so on.)
-It’s time to review John 21. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 21 Summary & Review
Many people will name their wedding day as one of the all-time most happy days of their life. And while my wedding day was FANTASTIC and incredibly special, I think that I might actually identify the day after my wedding day as even happier. Here my brand new husband and I were, having successfully planned—and lived through—all the months of wedding prep, not to mention the CRAZY long wedding day itself (our ceremony didn’t even BEGIN until 7:30pm!), only to find ourselves with an entire morning to ourselves before we had to drive a distance to catch a flight to our honeymoon destination. We shared blueberry pancakes for breakfast (the hands-down BEST pancakes EVER), then wandered around a gorgeous state park with a waterfall—just being TOGETHER. We both felt like we were wearing the proverbial rose-colored glasses, because, I’m telling you, the greens were greener, the flowers were brighter, the sky was bluer, and the water in the waterfall was wetter. =) It was quite the magical morning for us.

I can’t help but feel like there was a little bit of that “magical” feel in the air on the days that followed Jesus’ resurrection. Those who loved Him best had just had the WORST experience of their life—followed by ANGELS, JOY, GOOD NEWS, and mostly, THE RESURRECTED Lord and Savior. Each time they saw Him was even nicer than the time before. Therefore, when John recognized that it was Jesus standing on the shore that morning a few weeks after the resurrection, he was ecstatic—and so was Peter. So much so that he jumped from the boat so that he could get to Jesus’ side quicker!

Really wonderful days stand out to us because there are other days that maybe aren’t quite so wonderful—and I suppose that when Peter was being questioned by Jesus after breakfast, that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable and wishing to re-wind to about an hour earlier! Nonetheless, what Jesus had to say to Peter was actually not a condemnation or a criticism, it was a charge! Peter was being given the opportunity for GREAT service for Jesus—which is ALWAYS a good thing—even when it comes with challenges and struggles. Jesus instructed Peter (and all those who He would one day call to be His shepherds of His people in local churches) to be certain to give young and immature believers the solid foundation that they needed in God’s Word. He was also reminded that all believers need to be taken care of. Certainly, spiritually, but really in any area where they need some counsel and encouragement to make godly decisions and to obey the Bible. Then Jesus reminded Peter that mature believers also need to be taught and challenged to greater godliness and maturity. A good pastor is one who is well-balanced in all these areas. He knows how to give a great salvation message, but he also knows how to dig deeply into Scripture so he can share the doctrine that all levels of believers need.

Jesus then gave Peter a hint about what his death would consist of, but while pointing out that the MOST IMPORTANT thing was to keep following Him—an essential message for us all!

Finally, John, the author of this Gospel, identifies himself, asserts the accuracy of all he wrote, and then turns our attention back to Jesus, Who is so marvelous that there simply aren’t words enough to do Him justice. As the songwriter said, “Could we the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, tho’ stretched from sky to sky! O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure, the saints and angels’ song!” (words by F.M.Lehman)

No need to wait to begin singing about our marvelous God! We can start right this second!

Tuesday, October 27, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to focus on others for their benefit and encouragement and focus on yourself to make sure you are pleasing God in all aspects of your life.)
-Read John 21:24-25
“This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down. We know that his testimony is true. Of course, Jesus also did many other things, and I suppose that if every one of them were written down, the world couldn’t contain the books that would be written.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. This is the disciple who is ___ to these things and has ___ them down.
2. We know that his testimony is ___.
3. Of course, Jesus also did ___ other things,
4. And I suppose that if every one of them were written down, the world ___ ___ the books that would be written.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, completes his account of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection by verifying the truth of what he wrote, then once again turning the attention to Jesus where it always belongs. John’s last statement was something like this, “Of course, you all HAVE to realize that what I wrote in my short account is really just a tiny part of all the INCREDIBLE things that Jesus did while He was on earth. I’m not even sure that everything COULD be written about—there were so many! I suppose that if someone were to try, I have to wonder if the world were even big enough to hold all the books that would be necessary!”

What was John saying? “You haven’t seen NOTHING yet!” And I believe that all of Scripture bears this out: WHO God is, WHAT God did, does, and will do, WHY God shows such compassion to ungrateful, ungodly people, and HOW He demonstrates His grace, mercy, holiness, righteousness, justness—and all He IS—is just more than we can grasp on any level. Furthermore, I believe that as God’s children, we will be given the incredible privilege of enjoying God reveal more and more of Himself every day for forever. It’s going to be pretty awesome.

For today, though, keep following Christ—and keep telling others what an amazing Father and Savior you have!

Monday, October 26, 2020
(Think of one point from yesterday’s sermon to thank God for, committing to live wholeheartedly today for Him.)
-Read John 21:18-23, part 2
“Truly, I tell you emphatically, when you were young, you would fasten your belt and go wherever you liked. But when you get old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten your belt and take you where you don’t want to go.” Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus told him, “Keep following me.” Peter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus’ chest at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus told him, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you? You must keep following me!” So the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple wasn’t going to die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to Peter that he wasn’t going to die, but, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Peter ask about?
2. Would Jesus tell Peter about John’s death?
3. What rumor began that day?
4. Who did Jesus want Peter to be concerned with?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Based on Peter’s life in the days and years to follow Jesus’ ascension, we know that Peter DID follow Christ as commanded to. But on that day, Peter’s gut reaction to hearing about Christ’s command to follow Him all the way to his future death was to look around him and inquire about someone else. I think that we’re ALL really good at wanting to blame others or redirect attention so that we are not the only ones in the hot seat! Peter spotted John, the author of this Gospel (they were often together, along with James). Rather than responding to Jesus’ command to keep following Him, Peter says, “What about him?” Jesus, though, was unwilling to disclose John’s future and counseled Peter to pay attention to his own walk/life.

This is excellent advice for us to follow as well. We, for sure, want to encourage and build up brothers and sisters in Christ, and we may even be called upon on rare occasion to gently, lovingly, and humbly point out to someone that they have wandered away from God’s Word a bit, BUT this is not the same as being a busybody or the self-appointed obedience-police. Maybe a good way to look at it is this: our focus on others is mainly to be an encouragement for them to greater godliness and to keep on keeping on, while our focus on self is to prayerfully evaluate how well we are living according to Scripture. With this in mind, we would be wise to pray before every Bible study, before every sermon, before every chat with other believers, that God would both help us to think, speak, and act in accordance with His Word, and that we would recognize when He is showing us new ways to love and obey Him (and/or in a deeper and fuller way). The most important role of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to help us become more and more like Christ (and less and less like our unsaved self). We need to have a tender heart to His leading and an eagerness to learn more ways to serve and love God from His Word.

P.S. Note how a rumor about John began that day—and how John attempts to share with people what was really said so that they would know the truth about it. He shared what happened, not conjectures, not opinion, not embellishments. Stating the simple truth is the right way for us to tell others “what happened,” too.

Saturday, October 24, 2020
(Thank God for your pastor. Pray for his needs.)
-Read John 21:18-23, part 1
“Truly, I tell you emphatically, when you were young, you would fasten your belt and go wherever you liked. But when you get old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten your belt and take you where you don’t want to go.” Now he said this to show by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus told him, “Keep following me.” Peter turned around and noticed the disciple whom Jesus kept loving following them. He was the one who had put his head on Jesus’ chest at the supper and had asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus told him, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you? You must keep following me!” So the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple wasn’t going to die. Yet Jesus didn’t say to Peter that he wasn’t going to die, but, “If it’s my will for him to remain until I come back, how does that concern you?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus began telling Peter about his future
2. Jesus said that Peter’s death would ____ God.
3. After, Jesus told him, “_____ ____ ____.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I’ve heard lots of people claim that they would love to know what’s going to happen at a future date or time. It might be something really mundane like curiosity over how a book is going to turn out. It might, though, be something pretty serious such as the outcome of someone’s battle with a serious illness or concerns about the future of a loved one who isn’t following the Lord. I wouldn’t be surprised if pretty much everyone has wished to know the future at some point or other. Well, on that day by the shore, Jesus told Peter a bit about his future—and it wasn’t happy news. He, in fact, gave Peter a pretty broad hint about how he would die (tradition states that Peter was crucified, but feeling unworthy to die as Jesus did, asked to be crucified upside down).

I think that what we mostly want when considering the future is good news. We may not really want to know about hardships, trials, and losses. As Jesus pointed out once, there’s enough to deal with today, let tomorrow deal with itself. But there was something pretty important that Jesus ALSO said to Peter in this conversation about what’s to come. He looked Peter straight in the eye and commanded, “Keep following Me.” And dear one, that’s our life goal, too! Whether the new day brings sunshine or downpours, keep following Christ. Whether we wake feeling young and energetic or old and crippled, keep following Christ. Whether we are ready to embark on a long-awaited trip of a lifetime or are off to an unpleasant work day, keep following Christ. Whether our bank account is delightfully full or alarmingly empty, keep following Christ.

And one day, one day in OUR future, we KNOW what it will contain. Either by death or the rapture, we WILL stand in the presence of our Lord and Savior and our Father in heaven. Sin, heartache, distress, disappointments, and all manner of pain will FOREVER be behind us—and before us will be literally endless days where we get to be in the presence of God WHILE praising Him, giving Him glory, and laboring wholeheartedly on His behalf. We don’t know a lot about what is between today and that day, but we don’t need to. We need simply trust Him—and keep following Christ.

Friday, October 23, 2020
(Thank the Father for His unconditional love for you. It is permanent and cannot be withdrawn—EVER.)
-Read John 21:15-17, part 2
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” Then he asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus told him, “Take care of my sheep.” He asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So he told him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!” Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What three jobs did Jesus give Peter?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
After asking Peter about just how committed he was to Him, Jesus went on to say something like, “Okay, you love Me, now prove it by doing this. . .”.

Jesus then commanded Peter to do three similar, but different tasks. He was to feed Jesus’ lambs, take care of His sheep, and feed His sheep. These are actually the three focuses a pastor must have in preaching and teaching the people in his congregation. This set of commands is a good job description for the work of the pastor. He must help the new and immature believers (the “lambs”) to understand what living for God looks like (give the “basics” of godly living). He must also take care of the spiritual needs of all the people under his care (“take care of the sheep”). This would include preaching the whole counsel of God’s Word (and not just pet topics or skipping parts of the Bible he isn’t comfortable with), discipleship, counseling, and generally helping them with WHATEVER their needs are. Last, he is to also provide sound biblical teaching for his mature and knowledgeable people (“feed the sheep”). New believers need to learn from God’s Word, but so do mature believers—just at different levels. There’s no such thing as exhausting the knowledge found in the Bible. There are always exciting deeper and more complex things to learn in order to know God better and to understand how to excel still more in our walk as His children.

And so, Jesus is outlining a comprehensive plan of preaching and teaching so that all the Christians are taught, challenged, and built up in the things of the Lord. As you might imagine, this is quite the responsibility for the pastor! We (his “sheep”!) can help by upholding him in constant prayer, by faithfully attending the services, by paying attention to what is taught, by asking questions and desiring to dig even deeper, by sharing with him (and all the congregation) how God has been using God’s Word in our lives, and by thanking him and encouraging him in person, letters, and emails. We might, too, make sure that his physical and financial needs are met, as well as those of his family. It is very hard to do the excellent job that he wants to do for the Lord and for His people when he is exhausted, disheartened, concerned about putting food on the table, and unable to spend enough time with his family.

God takes the care of His under-shepherd VERY seriously—and every church member should too. What might YOU do to encourage your pastor today?

Thursday, October 22, 2020
(Thank the Father for drawing close to us when we draw close to Him!)
-Read John 21:15-17, part 1
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” Then he asked him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter told him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus told him, “Take care of my sheep.” He asked him a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” So he told him, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!” Jesus told him, “Feed my sheep.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Jesus turn to after breakfast?
2. What question did Jesus ask him three times?
3. What did Peter answer three times?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This is a pretty important Bible passage. Unfortunately, it isn’t always explained based on a full understanding of the language it was written in. I sure don’t claim to know Greek, but my husband does, so I will try to convey what he has to say about the importance of the words used in this passage—and how it affects our walk with the Lord (but don’t worry, I always ask him to proof these before I send them—so he will make sure I didn’t say anything too confusing!).

First, it seems like Jesus is giving Peter some one-on-one time (even though the others are listening too) to help clear the air after Peter’s three-fold denial of Christ after His arrest. Jesus is also, though, commissioning Peter in his new role as the leader of the brand new church that will begin on the day of Pentecost. Peter was never a “pope” as the Catholics like to think, but he was a founding apostle of the church (see Ephesians 2:20). We’ll get more into how Peter is to pastor in a minute, but first, let’s look at the three questions Jesus asked Peter.

Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him. The first two times Jesus uses the Greek word agape, but Peter answers with the Greek word phileo (both of which are translated as “love” in English). When Jesus asks Peter a third time about his love, He switches to the word phileo. Why? What was going on?

In English, we are fond of synonyms and may use any number of words that, in our heads, mean the same exact thing. This is not exactly true. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit chose every single word to be in the exact place He wanted it—because words (even words that overlap a great deal in concept) means something. Very specific words were chosen to convey what the writer wanted to say. There are two words for “love” used in the conversation between Jesus and Peter. “Agape” is sometimes mistakenly taught as being a higher, more divine kind of love, but that’s not really the case. In fact, in Matthew 5:6 it is used to identify how the Pharisees love themselves. In addition, “phileo” love is often thought of as a lesser kind of love, more a friendship kind of thing, but Jesus uses it to identify His love for the Father in John 5:20, so it has to have far more significance than only friendship.

Agape love is a love that flows naturally from a person’s heart. I think it would be safe to say that most mothers gazing at their newborn children experience agape love for them. Phileo love is a love that is more analytical. It is when someone has thought it through, counted the cost, and decided to love. A husband/wife relationship might begin as an agape kind of love, but sooner or later, both man and woman will need to DECIDE to love each other, they will need to commit to giving their best to their partner in order for the marriage to grow and mature.

Jesus first asked Peter if he loved Him from his heart (agape), to which Peter responded that he had given it much thought, realizing what it would mean, and YES, he loved Jesus (phileo). Jesus then gave him a task to do before asking Peter exactly the same question to which Peter answered again that he had counted the cost and he did love Jesus. When Jesus asked a third time, He switched to phileo love, giving Peter the chance for a fully restored relationship with Him after his denial, and Peter again confirmed that he had made the decision to love Jesus (which he proved by serving God wholeheartedly for the rest of his life).

I guess an obvious application is to ask what sort of love we have for God. Do we love Him from our hearts? There’s no reason NOT to! He is our EVERYTHING! He created us, loved us when we were His enemies, created a masterful plan to redeem us from the Lake of Fire, sacrificed His own beloved Son to pay the price that we could not, adopted us into His family, and intends to be with us forever and ever! A necessary follow up question, then, is to ask just what are we doing to demonstrate our love for God? Have we counted the cost, determined that we WILL love God, and therefore will obey Him, honor Him, please him, bring Him glory in all we do with our every waking moment to our very last breath? THAT is LOVE.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020
(Thank the Father for your Bible!)
-Read John 21:1-14, part 3
“Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened: Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together. Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.” They all told him, “We’ll go with you, too.” So they went out and got into the boat but didn’t catch a thing that night. Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. Jesus asked them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” They answered him, “No.” He told them, “Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you’ll catch some.” So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish. That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were only about 200 cubits away from the shore. When they arrived at the shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish lying on it, and some bread. Jesus told them, “Bring me some of the fish you’ve just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish—153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn. Then Jesus told them, “Come, have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”, because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who recognized Jesus first?
2. Who reached His side first?
3. What did Jesus provide for the tired fishermen?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Imagine eating breakfast with Jesus on the shore of a sea just after sunrise! Doesn’t that sound delightful in every way! The disciples had had a pretty challenging month. They had been at Jesus’ side when the death threats started coming in, then had a bittersweet last Passover meal with Him—hearing both scary and concerning things about Jesus going away, but also exciting and comforting things about the Helper Whom Jesus would send to be with them always. And then most probably four of the most difficult days of their lives: Jesus arrest, crucifixion, and death. Dark, dark days. And yet, when Sunday came, so did joy, renewed hope, and awe upon seeing Jesus alive and in a resurrection body.

It had now been a few weeks. The disciples were waiting near Galilee as Jesus told them to do—and that day, that sunrise after a fishless night, they were able to see, hear, touch, and be with the resurrected Lord a third time. In a characteristic gesture, Jesus took the food and gave it to them to eat. It doesn’t say specifically, but I’m sure He also thanked the Father for the food, as He did on other occasions.

Jesus is about to do some teaching, but first, fellowship. I wonder what they talked about? Was it the mundane? A recounting of what happened the day before? Did they talk about where Jesus had been and what He had done? Did the disciples question Jesus about what was next? Did they speak at all—or did they just eat in companionable silence?

You know, the fellowship that God gives to fellow believers is a pretty special thing. I wonder if we don’t always fully appreciate it—or take advantage of it. While I don’t think that Christians need to spend every single minute of their time together talking about spiritual things, neither do I think it is true fellowship if spiritual matters are NEVER discussed. One of the major things that characterizes godly believers is that they are in God’s Word so much that it automatically seeps into their words, their attitude, their focus, and their reason for what they do or choose to not do. The closer any believer is to God, the more common it will be to hear them praise and/or thank God during otherwise “commonplace” conversations. You see, EVERYTHING in the believer’s life is colored by their relationship to God (and it’s equally true that everything in an unbeliever’s life is colored by their inability to understand spiritual truth or to do “good” as God defines good). If we are focused on God, God’s blessings, God’s work in our lives, and are meditating on what we are reading from His Word, then these are the things that will be on our heart and mind and these are the things that we will want to talk about. Oh, faithful Christians can still love sports, shopping, and entertainment, but those things won’t be separate from their desire to please and honor God. Our relationship with God affects every single area of life, giving us a right view of it’s importance, and a right direction as to honor God in it and through it.

We might not be able to literally sit at Jesus’ side by the shore today, but we DO carry His presence with us at all times and in all places: the indwelling Holy Spirit helps us remember what Jesus said, how He lived, and what He taught is honoring to God—and then He helps us to want to obey it AND to follow through and actually do it. BUT, I think that one day, perhaps in the Millennium, perhaps beyond, we WILL have the blessing of sitting side by side with our Savior, delighting that He is alive, delighting that we are His and He is ours.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020
(Thank the Father for His utter trustworthiness!)
-Read John 21:1-14, part 2
“Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened: Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together. Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.” They all told him, “We’ll go with you, too.” So they went out and got into the boat but didn’t catch a thing that night. Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. Jesus asked them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” They answered him, “No.” He told them, “Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you’ll catch some.” So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish. That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were only about 200 cubits away from the shore. When they arrived at the shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish lying on it, and some bread. Jesus told them, “Bring me some of the fish you’ve just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish—153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn. Then Jesus told them, “Come, have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”, because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Which disciples were with Peter?
2. What did Jesus ask the fishermen?
3. What did He tell them to do?
4. What happened?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Seven of Jesus’ disciples are hanging out together and when Peter decided to spend the night fishing, the other six tag along. You may recall that several of the disciples were raised in fisherman’s families, therefore that’s what they learned as their occupation from their youth. When Jesus came along and chose them to be His disciples, their life’s work was no longer fishing (for fish, anyway!), but that didn’t mean that they didn’t still go fishing—and probably, a lot. They had to eat, their families had to eat. In their community, fishing was essential to their way of life. It’s also possible that they—like so many anglers down through the millennia—also simply found fishing relaxing and enjoyable.

And so, there they are, several expert fishermen—who were unable to catch any fish. The Bible doesn’t say if that discouraged them or made them annoyed. What it DOES say is that when a Stranger asked if they had caught anything, they had to answer “No.” I wonder at what point they remembered another fishless night when Jesus, the Creator of the sea and all it contains, told them to cast their net on the other side? Whether it was that memory or some other reason, they listened to the Stranger—and the catch was more than they could handle! John, the disciple whom Jesus kept loving, remembered that night—and KNEW that it was the Lord Jesus Who was standing on the shore. Peter, upon hearing this, put his outer cloak back on (he only had his inner garment on—the one used to sleep and work in), and jumped into the sea so he could swim to shore and be with Jesus as quickly as possible.

This is a touching scene! We can’t know the mood of these 7 disciples of Jesus at the start of the story, though they were surely tired after fishing all night, but we can absolutely feel their joy and delight when they realize that Jesus had come. We, too, get tired, discouraged, overwhelmed, and unsure—pretty easily (at least, I sure do!). But, when we focus on Jesus, our concerns, doubt, and fatigue fall away. God’s Word, the Bible, help us to see the bigger picture, to recognize truth versus lies and wrong thinking, and provides a definite focus and direction in what we need to do and why. The Bible contains everything that we need for a life of godliness (it says so in II Peter!). It provides us with the story of creation, WHY God created the world, and what God intends for it in the eons to come. The Bible provides all the things that please and honor God—and—all the ugliness, sorrow, and suffering that result from choosing our way over God’s way. The Bible provides examples of those whose lives made God smile with pleasure as well as examples of those who got off course, but returned to a right relationship with God. There are, as well, cautionary tales of those who turned their back on God and sided with satan (spoiler alert: it does NOT end well!). The Bible gives many magnificent reasons to praise God and magnify His name and much assurance and joy in the area of what comes next for mankind on God’s timetable. The Bible shows us how to pray, when to pray, and why to pray. It’s a pretty incredible Book!

When you are feeling lonely, turn to Scripture for reminders that God has never left your side—even for one second. When you are feeling afraid, turn to Scripture and be reminded that God is in perfect control of everything at every moment. When you are feeling happy, turn to Scripture and join others who praised and glorified God in words and song. When you are looking for something that makes sense in this crazy world, turn to Scripture and read about Jesus’ victory over sin and God’s plan for heavenly living in the ages to come.

Monday, October 19, 2020
(Thank the Father for what He taught you from His Word over the weekend and for opportunities to display a servant’s heart.)
-Read John 21:1-14. part 1
“Later on, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is what happened: Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two of his other disciples were together. Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.” They all told him, “We’ll go with you, too.” So they went out and got into the boat but didn’t catch a thing that night. Just as dawn was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. Jesus asked them, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” They answered him, “No.” He told them, “Throw the net on the right hand side of the boat, and you’ll catch some.” So they threw it out and were unable to haul it in because it was so full of fish. That disciple whom Jesus kept loving told Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his clothes back on, because he was practically naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were only about 200 cubits away from the shore. When they arrived at the shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish lying on it, and some bread. Jesus told them, “Bring me some of the fish you’ve just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish—153 of them. And although there were so many of them, the net was not torn. Then Jesus told them, “Come, have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”, because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus took the bread, gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus revealed himself to the disciples after he had been raised from the dead.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where did Jesus next reveal Himself?
2. Who decided to go fishing?
3. Was he (and the others) able to catch any fish?
4. What time of day did Jesus call to them?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This last chapter of John is, in some ways, kind of like the epilogue of a novel. John had already given the point of his gospel at the end of chapter 20 (that people would read all about Jesus and believe in Him as their Savior), but now he gives his readers just a bit more information about what happened after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension. Because verses 1-14 go together as a story, I am including all of it, but we’ll take a few days to dig for the treasures (and will repeat this process in verses 15-23).

So, first off, isn’t it interesting that John states that Jesus “revealed Himself” again to them? We can also note in verse 4, 7, and 12 that the disciples weren’t really sure if the Man they saw was actually Jesus (we saw this a few times in chapter 20, too). There was something different about Jesus’ resurrection body. Could it have simply been that He was so severely beaten that He was no longer recognizable as the Man they followed around for over three years? Could it be that Jesus made it so that they were unable to recognize Him (we’ve seen accounts of this happening in many places throughout Scripture)? Could it be that His resurrection body was somehow transformed to only marginally resemble the Man they knew so well? Even so, they eventually DO recognize that it is Jesus—and when they do, they always rejoice.

Are YOU looking forward to seeing Jesus for the first time? I know that the right answer is “yes!” How could it possibly be anything else? However, it’s not an uncomplicated question. Seeing Jesus means leaving this earth and our loved ones. It also means leaving all the things that we know for things we do not know. Oh, don’t think that I’m not fully aware that everything about leaving this world and being promoted to glory isn’t a VERY good thing—a perfect thing, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot feel some sorrow (for lack of a better term) about what we will be leaving behind. While there are many, many hardships and unpleasant things associated with this world and our life in it, there are also countless blessings and joys. Maybe it’s just hard to imagine leaving behind what we know for what we don’t know. I’m sure, too, that much of our unease stems from not knowing what will happen to those who we love who have not yet gotten saved.

To be honest, we often wish we could just KNOW the future. But, this is where trust comes in. God commands us to trust that He is good, that all He does is good, that all He DOESN’T do is good, that all He claims to be good—is good. One of the biggest problems with our sin nature is that it forever wants to question and doubt God. It wants to impose OUR ideas, plans, goals, and desires on Him—as if we actually knew better than Him! Insane (and our sin nature IS insane – not of “sound mind”)! Foolish! Wicked!

The strength/wisdom of trust is found in who or what we are trusting. To choose to trust a rolling chair as a stable object to stand up on to reach something high isn’t a good choice, nor is “trusting” you won’t get wet if you walk into a downpour without an umbrella. BUT, trusting in the Almighty Sovereign Ruler of all there ever was and all there will ever be, IS the right thing to do every time. Choosing to live based on His standards of right and wrong is the right thing to do—every time. Choosing to trust in His Son as our Savior from the sin we were born with because He tells us this is the ONLY way for salvation, is the right (and critically important) thing to do—for us AND every single man, woman, and child. And to trust that moving from here to heaven is MARVELOUS in every possible area that there is, is the right thing to do every time. The “countless blessings and joy” that we will be leaving behind will only be magnified in their delights and fulfillment because we will now be in the presence of God and we will NOT be held back by sin and our own sin nature. God is the One Who has been taking care of us AND our loved ones from since before time began—and He will never stop doing it. They are safe and secure in His loving hands. We need not fret.

Jesus revealed Who He was to His apostles on three occasions after His resurrection. One day He will reveal Himself to us. What a glorious day that will be!

Saturday, October 17, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to please Him today and be a blessing and help to others so that He receives much glory.)
-It’s time to review John 20. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 20 Summary & Review
The history-shattering astonishing and incredible miracle of John 20 is the topic of hundreds, if not thousands, of songs.

“Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes! He arose the Victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign! He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!”

“Christ the Lord is risen today, alleluia!”

“He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!”

I believe that this topic will, in fact, be one of the things that we sing in rapture over throughout the ages of ages. Why? Well John 18, 19, and 20 kind of summarize the situation by portraying the anxiety, doubts, and darkness of a world encased in sin, followed by a picture of the brutality and sickness that sin brings out in people ALONGSIDE the love, grace, and mercy given by our holy God, Who sacrificially gave His all to make a way to redeem fallen man back to a righteous relationship with Him. John 19 is a hard chapter to read because we are given a vivid picture of how our Savior was tortured in our place. Everything that happened to Him should have happened to us – but in His love, He substituted His own life for ours.

John 19 ends in an extremely sad and heart-wrenching way, UNLESS, of course, you happened to believe what Jesus had been saying and were waiting for the miracle to happen. And because God ALWAYS does everything He says, when the heartbroken women came to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been placed three days earlier, He was not there. Why? Because He had risen “just as He said.” What was the darkest of Saturdays turned into the most magnificent Sunday: the Savior was alive!

Oh, how I look forward to glory so that I can chat with these folks who had gone through that experience! How I hope that there will be film projectors EVERYWHERE showing us all the amazing things God did (and why and how)! How I look forward to joining the millions who are singing non-stop the praises of the Father and the Lamb! How I yearn to also “see the Lord” for myself, to hear HIM say my name! To be able to declare with perfect peace and joy, “MY Lord and MY God!”!

And though the events of this first Easter morning happened so long ago, its repercussions continue all the way to today, bringing eternal salvation to you—and me. Providing for us the reason to get up each morning and give our all to Christ. Providing a purpose for living obediently according to His Word. Giving a blessed hope: the reappearing of our Lord and Savior and the beginning of eternity.

John 20 is quite the chapter, wouldn’t you say?

P.S. Don’t miss, though, the charge to share this good news with others so that they, too, can believe in Jesus’ name and also have eternal life.

Friday, October 16, 2020
(Time to spend some time thanking and praising God for Who He is and all He has done for you!)
-Read John 20:29-31
“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and so that through believing you may have life in his name.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Jesus performed ___ ___ signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book.
2. But these have been recorded ____ ____ you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
3. And so that through believing you may have ____ in his name.

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As John finishes up his account of Jesus’ years on earth, he jots down what is THE most essential thing that he wants his readers to understand: that Jesus Christ IS the Messiah, the One “anointed” by God for a specific purpose (to substitute Himself for sinful man, thereby paying the debt of sin for all who believe in Him), that He was far more than just an amazing Rabbi, He is the Son of God! AND that believing in this (Him!) is how eternal life comes about. Salvation is found in no other name than that of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

Of course, as we well know, believing in Jesus Christ is just the first step in our new life as children of God. It is an essential step and the ONLY way to a right relationship with God, but once we have done that, once we have placed our faith in Jesus as our Savior, we now begin a LIFETIME of faith. We are now challenged with, commanded to, but helped with—applying our faith in God to our every thought, our every word, and our every action. We begin to learn how to find out what God wants from us and for us (as stated in Scripture) and, by faith, obey it in the circumstances of our daily life—not just the big things, but in the nitty-gritty everyday things. In fact, a general principle of Scripture seems to be that of learning to trust and obey God in “little” areas, which will then make it very natural and “easy” to trust Him in the big and momentous areas. It is as we learn to become faithful children of God that we not only have life in His name, as in eternal spiritual life, but we have “life,” as in the joyful, abundant, peaceful, and productive life that God wants to bless all His children with. We will no longer need to slump through days with no purpose, battling feelings of uselessness or having no direction or focus. We can walk hand-in-hand with God, calmly enjoying His grace and mercy to help us from moment to moment, year to year, until, in the end, we are forever in His presence, forever “saved” from sin, sorrow, and death. God has HUGE delights planned for His children! Are you taking advantage of it? Are you choosing to remember every day that Jesus is your LORD and your God? That you have been gifted with LIFE in His name?

Thursday, October 15, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to be faithful to Him and to your church family in attendance, in service, and in being an encouragement and help.)
-Read John 20:26-29
“A week later, his disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were shut, Jesus came, stood among them, and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he told Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Take your hand, and put it into my side. Stop doubting, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him, “Is it because you’ve seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. When did Thomas get his second chance to see Jesus?
2. Did Jesus need to have the door opened for Him?
3. What was His greeting?
4. What opportunity did He give Thomas?
5. Does it say if Thomas needed to do this before believing Jesus was the Lord?
6. Who does Jesus say is more blessed?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It doesn’t surprise me that the disciples needed Jesus to say, “Peace be with you” when He appeared in their presence a second time—without coming through the door! These post-resurrection pictures of what Jesus was like give us broad hints about the possibilities for us and our bodies during the Millennium (and beyond). It’s a pretty exciting thing to think about! Will we be able to translocate? Will we be able to walk through walls? Will we be able to communicate without audible words? And one of my fondest wishes, can the resurrection body soar like the birds??? One thing we can be certain of, because God planned it, it will be PERFECT!

Back to John 20, Jesus very graciously returned to one of the disciples’ get-togethers, this time with Thomas present, and allowed Thomas to do as he wished—to physically see and touch His body. Thomas’ response is, I believe, one of earth-shattering awe. He exclaimed in wonder and delight, “MY Lord and MY God!” Thomas wanted to know for sure that Jesus was alive—and now he was CERTAIN.

I love the personal connection here. Not just for Thomas’ sake, though it will be fun to chat with him in glory and hear his account of this most marvelous day! I love the personal connection, because God is at the ready to commune with each of us on a very personal level, too. He, in fact, YEARNS to have an incredibly precious relationship with each of us PERSONALLY. We are the ones who inhibit this sweet fellowship—not Him. It is when we “forget” Him and try to live life on our own that we wander from His side and begin to feel as if He were the One Who left us! The solution is always the same—as is the result. When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins—and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. And then, in that moment, our fellowship with Him is perfect and perfectly wonderful.

It’s loads of fun, too, that Jesus points out you and me to Thomas on that day so long ago! He told him that it was great that he now believed that He had died and been resurrected, BUT how much more blessed are those (in the millennia to come) who haven’t had that chance, yet still believe. That’s us! We were not privileged to live during Jesus’ lifetime on earth, but we most definitely are privileged to be living in the Church Age with the indwelling Holy Spirit, with the completed Word of God, with the support and help of our local church, AND with the joyous expectation that Jesus could return for us as literally any moment. Oh, we are blessed, and no doubt about it!

Have you thanked the Father for these gifts lately? What a great time to get started!

Wednesday, October 14
(Thank the Father for all the treasures of knowledge, comfort, and hope found in His Word!)
-Read John 20:24-25
“Thomas, one of the Twelve (called the Twin), wasn’t with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he told them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into them, and put my hand into his side, I’ll never believe!”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who wasn’t with the disciples that evening?
2. Was He able to believe that the others had seen the resurrected Lord based only on their testimony?
3. What did he say he needed?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Poor Thomas! We have very little recorded about what he said during his lifetime, but this one declaration of his has gone down in infamy.

I feel bad for him for a few reasons. For one, I can understand why Thomas said what he said and I can see myself, perhaps, saying the same thing. It seems reasonable to want to see proof of Jesus’ resurrection personally. Don’t we all like the chance to see for ourselves if something is true or not? I hope the other disciples gave Thomas a little grace that night—and I pray that we can all extend grace to the people in our lives who say things that might seem a bit not-quite-right to us. The Father certainly is gracious to us, we can do no less for others.

Another reason I feel bad for Thomas is that he must have felt a bit left out. All the other men had seen the resurrected Lord (quite the HUGE deal!), but he wasn’t there, so he missed it and sure had no idea if he would get a second chance. I guess a pretty big question (and application) in my mind about this is to wonder why Thomas wasn’t with the others. What was more important than being with his fellow apostles during all the turmoil and confusion? I don’t know—and maybe it was a perfectly legitimate reason why he missed, but it DOES lead me to ask you (and myself!): what might WE be missing when we skip church services??? What wonder from His Word did God want to show us? What encouragement had He planned by way of someone’s testimony or action? What comfort might He have wanted us to have through the words of a hymn or special music? And on another angle, who missed out on BEING encouraged because we weren’t there? What service opportunity went undone due to our absence? What believer went home discouraged because we didn’t go that day? We are given 168 hours every week. Of that, church services take up 5 hours (if we go to Sunday School, Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday Prayer Meeting). That doesn’t really seem that big of a sacrifice, does it?

So, Thomas missed out on seeing Jesus—and he was bummed. I wonder if that changed his mind about whether or not to join the others the next chance he was given? I wonder if considering what we might miss receiving—and giving—might make us reconsider whether or not to attend church at our next opportunity?

Tuesday, October 13, 2020
(Express your trust in the Father’s perfect will and timing. Ask His help to focus on the Savior as you deal with today’s challenges.)
-Read John 20:21-23
“Jesus told them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain people’s sins, they are retained.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What words of comfort and reassurance did Jesus repeat in this Sunday evening meeting?
2. “Just as the Father has sent _____, so I am sending ____.”
3. Who did Jesus command them to receive?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
It is now evening of the day Jesus rose from the dead, the day that you and I celebrate each year as “Easter.” The disciples had been through quite the whirlwind in the previous few days and they had to be physically and emotionally exhausted. Their world had been flipped upside down for a few very unpleasant days, but now it was being flipped back—only to find that they were entering a new phase of world history that changed EVERYTHING (the Church Age). And in the turmoil, the Savior steps in and gives them peace, His peace. It’s hard to imagine how much that must have impacted every single one of them. It was truly an epic moment in their lives, one they would have never forgotten.

Jesus said more than “Peace,” though. He also gave them a job to do—a commission. In the same manner that the Father sent Him into the world to tell others that they need to get right with Him, He was now sending these disciples, the apostles, into the world.

The word “disciple” means “student” or “a follower of a teacher,” the word “apostle” means “one sent with a mission,” or “one with a commission.” These eleven men might have started out as “just” disciples, but they were now apostles, men of God with a clear job to do for Him. They would be able to do this because of the indwelling Holy Spirit (which would happen in about 50 days at Pentecost). Incidentally, pastors are also “called ones.” They have been hand-picked by the Father to shepherd the people in the local church. They have a very specific job to do—and John will talk about it in the next chapter.

(This paragraph is Pastor Brown helping me out!) Verse 23 is anticipating the authority of the church as the apostolic authority will gradually diminish over the next several decades, and the jurisdiction of the local churches (and their shepherds) grows. The language Jesus uses here is similar to His discussion of church authority, membership and sin, and forgiveness in Matthew 18:18-20. The significance of being a member of a local, Bible-believing and Bible-obeying church would be hard to overstate. Apparently, when a local church disciplines one of its members, there are heavenly repercussions to that action; likewise, when a local church forgives sin, there is a respondent chord in God’s presence.

Monday, October 12, 2020
(Praise God for the blessings and lessons from the weekend!)
-Read John 20:19-20
“It was the evening of the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Jesus came and stood among them. He told them, “Peace be with you.” After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side, and when they saw the Lord, the disciples were overjoyed.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Where were the disciples on Sunday evening?
2. Why were they behind locked doors?
3. Who (suddenly) stood among them?
4. What did He say?
5. What did He do?
6. What was their response?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These two verses remind us AGAIN about the tremendous contrasts found all throughout the accounts of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God! Innocence vs. wickedness, sorrow vs. joy, confidence vs. confusion, and now, fear vs. peace.

The very clear balance point between what is right, good, joyful, and peaceful versus sin, wickedness, sorrow, and angst is Jesus Christ. Those who have trusted in Him as Savior and who are faithfully living as He commanded are able to see sin in all its ugliness and holiness in all its glory. They are able to calmly face unpleasant and confusing circumstances, knowing that the Peace-Giver is always near, always working things out perfectly. They are able to stand firm as Christian soldiers doing battle against the forces of darkness because the Righteous King is their leader and He has never failed and can never fail. He is the undisputed Victor, therefore sin and satan have no power over them. They are able to come to His Word for refreshment, for ammunition to fight the good fight of faith, for direction to walk through the narrow gate and on the less-traveled path that honors and pleases the Father. They are eager and excited to quote God’s Word to fellow believers for the sheer joy of recounting it, but also to encourage them to keep on keeping on and to excel still more.

Without Jesus, we might feel like we need to stay behind locked doors and fear for our lives. With Him, though, our joy can be full and our hearts can know peace. Jesus Christ is the difference.

Saturday, October 10, 2020
(Thank the Father that His mercies are new every morning!)
-Read John 20:17-18
“Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” So Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I’ve seen the Lord!” She also told them what he had told her.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was Mary doing that she needed to stop?
2. Who was Jesus sending her to?
3. What was the message she was to give?
4. What was the first thing she said to the disciples?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Don’t you find it interesting that the very first person who saw Jesus alive and who He spoke to was a woman? But then again, God often does something different than what humans expect. Didn’t He, the King of kings, come to earth as a tiny helpless Baby, born to an unknown young woman who was engaged to a poor carpenter? Wasn’t the SON OF GOD born in an extremely humble abode? Didn’t God choose to first announce the Messiah’s birth to country folk—shepherds keeping watch over the sheep by night? And didn’t Jesus choose “regular” men to be His chosen Twelve: fishermen, tax collectors, and a zealot?

Why, then, should we be surprised when God does something marvelous through our small acts of faithful obedience? You and I both know that we can claim none of the glory, for apart from Christ, we can do no good, we cannot even please God. Yet, God loves to use plain old regular people like you and me to talk about Him, to tell others about His greatness, to share with them the glorious plan of salvation that God created, and to bring Him honor as we walk by His side in our mundane tasks from day to day—but doing so with a heart of gratitude for His blessings and an attitude of eagerness to bring a smile of pleasure upon His face through what we do and say. I don’t think anyone could ever argue what an honor it is to belong to God’s family and to be able to represent Him in our lives.

It would seem that Mary, upon realizing Who Jesus was, threw herself upon His legs or feet and had no intention of ever letting go, but Jesus needed her to let go (for a time, anyway). He had things to do before He ascended back to Heaven—and she had things to do. She needed to go to the disciples and tell them what she had seen and heard—which she did, with great joy.

We, too, have a job to do before we can stand in the presence of our Savior and God and revel in the joys and delights of heaven. We have things to share from God’s Word with the people in our life. We have GOOD NEWS to share with one and all: Jesus is alive!

Friday, October 9, 2020
(Cast on the Father all your cares and concerns. Place you trust in Him, giving Him praise and thanksgiving.)
-Read John 20:14-16
“After she had said this, she turned around and noticed Jesus standing there, without realizing that it was Jesus. Jesus asked her, “Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she told him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.” Jesus told her, “Mary!” She turned around and told him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means “Teacher”).”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who did Mary suddenly notice?
2. Did she know Who He was?
3. What caused her to recognize it was Jesus?
4. What did she call Him?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
When our eyes are on Jesus, our night is turned to day, our sorrow is turned to rejoicing, our depression is turned to confident expectation. When Jesus is our focus, all that was wrong is mercifully “right.”

Don’t you love this passage! Poor Mary, so alone, so overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, so sick at heart, remembering every gruesome thing done to her Savior, but all is changed by one word—her name, actually! Mary, unable to recognize Jesus (maybe her vision was blurry from all her tears, maybe Jesus’ post-resurrection body was slightly different), didn’t realize Who the Man was outside the tomb until He said her name. You see, Mary might not have recognized Jesus, but He knew her. He’s the Shepherd Who knows all His sheep and calls each by their name! He’s the Light Who sheds understanding on all that is dark. He’s the Living Water, the One Who can satisfy spiritual thirst. He’s the I AM, the Savior, the One Who loved her so much that He died on her behalf.

Jesus knows YOU too. Don’t ever let satan lie to you about that. He knows you, He loves you (no matter what!), He died for YOU. He knows your name, and He loves you every bit as much as He loved Mary.

The key, of course, is to keep our eyes on Him. How do we do this? You know the answer! It’s by studying our Bible, by learning all we can from it so that we can obey it and apply it to our circumstances—and so we can praise God both in prayers to Him and in all our conversations with the saved and unsaved alike. We can keep our eyes on Jesus by confessing sin quickly and maintaining a right relationship with God. We can keep our eyes on Jesus by being a member and active participant in a local Bible-believing church and by fellowshipping with like-minded believers, each helping one another grow to become more and more like Christ.

Prayerfully evaluate how you are doing in these areas so that you can keep your eyes on Jesus:
-Personal (regular) devotions.
-Meaningful prayer time.
-Church attendance.
-Church involvement.
-Fellowship with other believers.
-Memorizing Scripture.
-Applying Scripture and biblical principles to decisions, attitudes, actions, and words.
-Loving God by obeying His Word.
-Loving others by having a servant’s heart, treating others as more important than self, and building others up in the things of the Lord.
-NOT poisoning your mind with worldly thoughts and attitudes through TV, movies, internet, reading material, music, or ungodly friends.
-Other:

Thursday, October 8, 2020
(Spend some time thanking God for Who He is and all the blessings He has given you in Christ.)
-Read John 20:11-13
“Meanwhile, Mary stood crying outside the tomb. As she cried, she bent over and looked into the tomb. She saw two angels in white clothes who were sitting down, one at the head and the other at the foot of the place where Jesus’ body had been lying. They asked her, “Lady, why are you crying?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. What was Mary doing at the tomb?
2. What did she see in the tomb?
3. What did they ask her?
4. What was her answer?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This scene with Mary and Jesus in the Gospel of John has always resonated with me. Mary was so incredibly sad—and then she was so incredibly joyful.

Before the joy, though, before Mary grasped that there was no true need for her sorrow, she was overwhelmed. The angels even asked her why in the world she was crying. Implied is their knowledge that Jesus Christ HAD risen from the dead, paying once and for all time the penalty for the sin that was committed shortly after creation and which had ruined millions of lives since then. THEY knew that this was a morning for the entire universe to REJOICE. But Mary didn’t know that yet. She was outside the tomb crying.

I’ve been there and I’m sure you have been too. At a place where the world was incredibly dark and it seemed like there could never be a reason to smile again. But, of course, that’s because I didn’t know what God knew. I didn’t understand what He had already done to not only remedy whatever horrible thing happened, but to make it helpful for my spiritual growth and maturity and bring Him great glory. Oh, I’m not saying that there are not truly horrible, gut-wrenching things that happen in our world all the time. Until sin is removed entirely from the picture, ugliness will keep happening. BUT, an end is in sight. Sin WILL be removed entirely from the picture. Sin will be removed entirely from within US! One day, the blinders that sin has placed on our eyes will be forever lifted and we will be able to see for the first time completely clearly just how “good” our God is, just how PERFECT are all His ways and works.

In the meantime, today, when we are crying outside the tomb, know that Jesus is right there. We need only turn from our sorrow to His glorious face and believe that He will give us the strength for “all things” in His name. He will help us claim the peace that passes understanding and the joy that stands solid despite troublesome circumstances. He will remind us that hope placed in Him is a sure thing, that His promises are rock-solid. And in that, we can dry our eyes and carry on, choosing to love Him supremely and others as ourselves—all while eagerly waiting for Him to come back and bring us back to be with Him forever and ever.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to “see” what He wants you to see today about His goodness and love—as well as areas where you can direct other people’s attention to Him, too.)
-Read John 20:10
“So the disciples went back to their homes.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):

-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I was going to include this verse with yesterday’s reading—or perhaps tomorrow’s, as a kind of “throw away” verse, but then the Holy Spirit prompted me to remember what I have been telling you guys for YEARS: no part of God’s Word is a throw away, and there can be great treasures in looking at just one verse (as long as we keep it in context).

So, John 20:10 says, “So the disciples went back to their homes.” Of course, I would love to plunge ahead in the story and read about Mary’s encounter with Jesus (one of my favorites), but then I thought, “WAIT! . . . After discovering an empty tomb—and after BELIEVING that Jesus had actually been resurrected—they went back to their homes???? Why! Shouldn’t they be shouting this astonishing news to the WORLD? Shouldn’t they be jumping up and down and yelling ‘Good news!’ to every single inhabitant of Jerusalem?” They went back home???

We are given a bit more information about the disciples in John’s account as well as the other Gospels, but I wanted to pause here so that you and I could prayerfully contemplate what WE do when we come home from church. If you’re like my family, we most definitely have immediate thoughts about getting lunch on the table! But, after lunch. After things have quieted down a bit for the afternoon. What do we do then? Jumping right to the point, how often do we take the time to find a quiet place, open our Bible, and contemplate what God showed us from His Word that morning? How often do we think deeply about the privilege of being in God’s House, sitting under the teaching of the shepherd who was given to your church by God, fellowshipping with the brothers and sisters in Christ that God made a family in that place and time? How often do we CHOOSE to pray about whatever thing the Holy Spirit pointed out to us to change, or make improvements in, or to otherwise excel still more in? How often do we praise God for the rich treasures in His Word, simply enjoying the delightful promises and truths found within its pages? How often do we thank Him for Who He is in very specific areas as noted that day in a service? How often do we jot down Scripture, or some Bible challenge to remember, or someone’s name to pray for that week? How often do we intentionally consider how to implement that day’s teachings into the week we have just entered?

What joys, what peace, what opportunities for growth and service are we passing up because we simply go home after spending time in God’s House with God’s family and that’s the end of it?

Tuesday, October 6, 2020
(What has God done for you or your loved ones that bears some marveling? Spend some time praising Him this morning.)
-Read John 20:9
“For they did not yet understand the Scripture that said that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Who is this verse talking about (look back to find out)?
2. What provided facts about Jesus that they didn’t understand?
3. What did Scripture say Jesus would do?
4. What does this verse imply as to what they understood after seeing the tomb?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I have this vague memory from first grade. The school year started out with one teacher, but halfway through, a new teacher came to finish out the year (I have no idea why!). Here’s what I remember. The first teacher had a rule that if we needed to use the bathroom, we could just raise our hand, then go. The second teacher, however, had a different rule. I remember being frustrated by her rule and I must have told her that this wasn’t the first teacher’s rule (in my head I was thinking, the REAL teacher!), though I don’t remember being brave like that during ANY school classes! But, I clearly remember her saying that though it may have been the rule before, HER RULE was different. It took me quite a bit of time to get it through my head that the “new” rule was also the permanent rule.

Down through the years, there have been many occasions when something dawns on me and I wonder how I could not have understood it sooner. Was I just thick-headed? Totally oblivious? More concerned with myself that I should have been? John 20:9 reminds me of some of these moments. You see, the disciples had been with Jesus more or less continuously for over three years. He taught them many things—including WHY He had come to earth, WHAT was going to happen to Him, and even HOW He was going to be arrested, killed, AND resurrected in three days. Yet, when all of it happened, they fell apart. They were lost. They were confused. They were terrified for their own lives. OTHER PEOPLE than them made sure Jesus’ body wasn’t thrown into the common grave and that it was taken care of with great respect. OTHER PEOPLE made sure they knew where His body had been laid. They hadn’t yet understood the Scripture that said that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

Aren’t you thankful that our God is gracious and kind? That He is patient and forgiving?

What the disciples SHOULD have known and how they should have RESPONDED was not how it played out, but that didn’t lessen God’s love for them. It didn’t stop God from doing every single thing that He said He would do. And, THANK GOD, He continues to do what is perfect, right, and good—whether or not we “get it”!

It’s kind of impossible to guess what you and I might have “missed” that God has already shown us about Himself from His Word and from how He has been and is working in our lives. We can’t “get’ what we don’t yet understand. However, I am completely confident that when we are faithful in our devotions, personal prayer time, church attendance (and involvement!), and in obeying what we know God wants of us, then God WILL help us understand a bit more about Him and all the truly miraculous things He is doing, has done, and will yet do for us—and for all who love Him and who are eager for His Son to return from heaven. He will continue to patiently point out what He wants us to know—and when we “get it,” He will receive tremendous glory and praise – because there is no other right response to all our God IS.

Monday, October 5, 2020
(Thank God for what you learned in church yesterday. Ask Him for opportunities to share it with others today.)
-Read John 20:2-8
“So she (Mary Magdalene) ran off and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus kept loving. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple took off for the tomb. The two of them were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. Bending over to look inside, he noticed the linen cloths lying there, but didn’t go in. At this point Simon Peter arrived, following him, and went straight into the tomb. He observed that the linen cloths were lying there, and that the handkerchief that had been on Jesus’ head was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside, looked, and believed.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Which two disciples did Mary speak to?
2. What did they begin to do?
3. Although Peter went in first, what did John do after he saw the empty tomb?
4. What convinced him?

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I’ve always found these verses interesting. Most scholars agree that Peter seems to be the oldest disciple and John (the “other disciple”) was the youngest. With that in mind, it’s not a surprise that John got to the tomb first, nor that he waited to let his elder enter first. It must have been pretty interesting to see these two men running flat out to the tombs that Sunday morning! I wonder if anyone followed them or asked around to find out what was going on?

John merely peered into the tomb, seeing the linen cloth lying on the bench where Jesus’ body has been (but wasn’t there now!). When Peter caught up, he went directly into the tomb, also noting the linen cloths lying there. He also saw the piece of cloth that had been on Jesus’ head neatly rolled up and placed apart from the long linen piece. I’ve been told that the cloth that was used to wrap up Jesus was probably quite expensive (both Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were wealthy men) and that if grave robbers were responsible for taking Jesus’ body, they would not have left behind the valuable cloth. I’ve also heard that it was kind of curious to find the cloth that was on Jesus’ head neatly rolled. Thieves certainly would not have done that! Both of these things seem to be pretty strong evidence of Jesus’ resurrection—as noted by the disciples themselves.

When John went into the tomb with Peter, he says that he saw the grave cloths left behind and believed that Jesus had been resurrected (he had already trusted in Him as his Savior three or more years earlier). This is definitely a major turning point in John’s life and something he would never, ever forget. The same Jesus whom he had seen tortured and killed was now ALIVE.

Luke 24:12 says that Peter also saw the empty tomb and he went home MARVELING at what had happened. This made me wonder how often you and I pause to MARVEL at the things that God shows us??? Did He open your eyes to some awesome truth from His Word during a recent morning sermon? Did He bless and comfort your heart by sending one of His children to give you a hug and express love and support? Did He delight you with a glorious sunset or the perfection of a single flower? Did He give you strength for some task that could have only come from His hand? Did He provide His perfect peace during a moment of distress? Did He give you His joy and laughter even though you were in pain of some kind? And, Dear One, do we take the time to MARVEL that the tomb is empty? That Jesus rose again? That His victory is OUR victory—our freedom from sin and our ability to be holy, righteous, and obedient according to His standards? There are ENDLESS reasons to marvel over our God. Let’s be intentional about noticing them, thanking Him, and praising His name to all we encounter!

Saturday, October 3, 2020
(Thank the Father that He gave you a way to thank Him for your salvation—to obey Him and please Him with every moment of every day.)
-Read John 20:1
“On the first day of the week, early in the morning and while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and noticed that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. On the _____ day of the week, ____ in the morning
2. and while it was still ____,
3. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and noticed that the ___ had been ___ from the tomb.”

-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 28:1-8
“After the Sabbaths, around dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to take a look at the burial site. Suddenly, there was a powerful earthquake, because an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven, approached the stone, rolled it away, and was sitting on top of it. His appearance was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. Trembling from fear, even the guards themselves became catatonic. Responding to the women, the angel said, “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee, and you will see him there. Remember, I have told you!” So they quickly left the tomb, terrified but also ecstatic, and ran to tell Jesus’ disciples.”

Luke 24:1-10
“But at early dawn on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, two men in dazzling robes suddenly stood beside them. While the women remained terrified, bowing their faces to the ground, the men asked them, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living? He is not here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’” Then the women remembered Jesus’ words. They returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven disciples and all the others. The women who told the apostles about it were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some others.”

Just as the other three Gospels had details to add concerning Jesus’ arrest, trials, crucifixion, and death, they also have additional information about Jesus’ resurrection. Here are a few facts concerning all the early-in-the-day happenings:

-All four Gospels agree that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday morning. That is why Easter is always on a Sunday and also the reason why we have church services on Sundays here in the Church Age.
-The same women who followed Jesus to the cross then to the tomb, now returned in order to prepare His body with additional spices. Present are Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna (and “others”).
-The women have come at dawn, the very earliest they were allowed to do so (due to Sabbath regulations).
-A powerful earthquake struck. You may recall that there were earthquakes and other shake-ups at the time of Jesus’ death a few days earlier. This earthquake seems to be connected to the angel of the Lord coming from heaven, rolling the stone away from the front of Jesus’ tomb and then sitting on it. His appearance was bright as lightning and his clothes were white as snow (Luke says that there were two angels). Please note that Jesus had not removed the stone when He returned to life to get out of the tomb. He must have simply passed right through it (as He did with walls a bit later in this account).
-There had been guards keeping an eye on the tomb so that Jesus’ body couldn’t be stolen, but they were so afraid at the appearance of the angels that they became catatonic. Later, they reported to the chief priests what they saw and were paid to lie and say that the disciples had come and stolen Jesus’ body (Mt. 28:11-15).
-Apparently, the angels were waiting at the tomb to give a message to the women. First, unlike the wicked guards, they had no need to be afraid. When we belong to God, we have no need to fear, either! Matthew places the women outside the tomb, but Luke says that at least a few of them went inside, didn’t see Jesus, and then the angels appeared.
-Matthew says that the angels said this: “Stop being frightened! I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. He is going ahead of you into Galilee, and you will see him there. Remember, I have told you!” Luke has them saying this: “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is living? He is not here, but has been raised. Remember what he told you while he was still in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day.’” The important point both made is that Jesus was NOT dead, that He had done exactly what He said He would do, that they all needed to pause and REMEMBER what He had told them, and that these women should give the good news of Jesus’ resurrection to His disciples—and tell them that they would see Jesus for themselves very soon. WOW! Now, that’s quite the message!!!

So, how do we take all that and apply it to our lives so that we can love God more and obey Him better?
-God ALWAYS keeps His word. We can trust in Him without reservation. We can take what He has said and live our lives according to it, knowing that He will be working out all the details perfectly.
-Jesus did not stay dead. He returned to life—making a way for us to obtain eternal life. His victory is our victory over sin and death. In this we can rejoice, in this we can be thankful, in this we can sing praise to the Father.
-We need not fear because of our relationship to God. Fear is unnecessary.
-God rewards faithfulness. God chose these few faithful women to be the very first to find that Jesus was alive. He didn’t pick the disciples, He didn’t pick the High Priest, He chose these few humble women. Service to God may not be noticed by people, but it is ALWAYS noticed by God.
-When life seems unbearably hard, dark, and utterly painful, it’s important to remember that God has not left us alone, nor has He stopped working. When we least expect it, an earthquake-sized change in circumstances comes. If not in this life, then most certainly, in the next!
-Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.
-It’s marvelous to be hugely blessed by something God said in His Word or did for you in your life, but how much MORE joy there is to share it with others!
-When we are confused, when we are sad, when we are doubting, when we feel uncertain—remember what God said. Open Scripture, anchor yourself in God’s promises, find peace in Who He is, rejoice in all He has done. Remember, too, what He has shown YOU in your life and how He has blessed you, helped you, and directed you to a better way to think and act.
-In the end, you and I WILL also see Jesus face to face. Look forward to it! Cling to it! Let it grow you into the child of God who can meet Him without shame and WITH joy.

Friday, October 2, 2020
(Thank the Father for His written Word. Ask His help to obey it and not get sidetracked by human opinion and add-ons.)
-It’s time to review John 19. Read the entire chapter, review the lessons from this chapter, then summarize what you learned. Be sure to include a few of the applications that the Holy Spirit laid on your heart to work on.

Lorie’s John 19 Review and Summary
One of the things I noticed when studying this chapter of John was that none of the Gospel writers focused on just how horrible each beating Jesus got was, nor how wounded and damaged He was. I think this was because they wanted to focus on WHO Jesus was and WHY and HOW He allowed all this to happen, rather than describing each and every heart-wrenching detail concerning the tortures He underwent. There is a prophetical statement about Jesus, though, in Isaiah, that states quite clearly just how horribly He was injured. He was literally unrecognizable, so severely beaten, was He. This makes me feel such sympathy for all those who loved Him and had to see this with their own eyes, His mother, most particularly. I cannot imagine her suffering! “So was he marred in his appearance, more than any human, and his form beyond that of human semblance.” Isaiah 52:4

As sickening as all that is, though, Jesus’ most severe suffering came from the Father having to turn His back on His Son because of the sin that Jesus bore on our behalf. Jesus bore the pain of the physical agony silently, but the agony of OUR SIN caused Him to cry out in distress. Yet, He did not turn aside from what needed to be done to earn our freedom from the penalty of sin. He endured every single thing needed to do away with sin and win the battle over satan and spiritual death.

Isaiah 53:1-7 gives additional insight concerning John 19,
“Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of a dry ground; he had no form and he had no majesty that we should look at him, and there is no attractiveness that we should desire him. “He was despised and rejected by others, and a man of sorrows, intimately familiar with suffering; and like one from whom people hide their faces; and we despised him and did not value him. “Surely he has borne our sufferings and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, and struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, and he was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that made us whole was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, each of us, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he didn’t open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Despite what mankind did to Jesus, He allowed it because of His love for the Father—and for you and for me. John 3:16 reminds us what John 19 is all about, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his uniquely existing Son so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.”

So what should be our response? Surely, gratitude and unending thankfulness to the Father and the Son for the price They paid, but what else? The Bible is LOADED with practical ways we can show our love and gratitude to God, but for today, let’s look at I Peter 2:18-25:

“You household servants must submit yourselves to your masters out of respect, not only to those who are kind and fair, but also to those who are unjust. For it is a fine thing if, when moved by your conscience to please God, you suffer patiently when wronged. What good does it do if, when you sin, you patiently receive punishment for it? But if you suffer for doing good and receive it patiently, you have God’s approval. This is, in fact, what you were called to do, because: The Messiah also suffered for you and left an example for you to follow in his steps. “He never sinned, and he never told a lie.” When he was insulted, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he did not threaten. It was his habit to commit the matter to the one who judges fairly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the tree, so that we might die to those sins and live righteously. “By his wounds you have been healed.” You were “like sheep that kept going astray,” but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.”

We can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, follow Jesus’ example and respond to challenges and hardships as He did. We can entrust each difficulty to the Father, trusting Him to deal with it in His timing and manner. We can choose to not sin in our response (in deed, word, OR thought), we can be patient, we can submit ourselves to those who have authority over us, and we can choose to ALWAYS please God in what we do, say, and think.

Thursday, October 1, 2020
(This is the day the Lord has made. Spend some time thanking Him for it!)
-Read John 19:41-42
“A garden was located in the place where he was crucified, and in that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they put Jesus there.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Answer the questions.
1. Describe the place where Jesus was crucified.
2. Why did they put Jesus in that particular tomb?
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Matthew 27:62-66
“The following day (that is, after the Day of Preparation), the high priests and Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘I will be raised after three days.’ Therefore, order the tomb to be secured until the third day, or his disciples may go and steal him and then tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ Then the last deception would be worse than the first one.” Pilate told them, “You have a military guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and secured the tomb by putting a seal on the stone in the presence of the guards.”

John gives just a few more details about where Jesus’ body was placed. Putting his account with the other Gospel writers gives us a good picture of a rich man’s tomb (fulfilling Isaiah 53:9) that had never been used and was in a garden close to the site of the crucifixion. Placing Jesus’ body there and preparing it with special spices and cloth was done kind of quickly since evening was fast approaching and all the Jews needed to be home before Sabbath began. In fact, it was because of this haste that the women came back Sunday morning to do even more to demonstrate their love for Him.

So, noting that no work was supposed to be done on the Sabbath, don’t you find it curious that these Religious leaders went to Pilate, spoke to a Gentile, and made arrangements for a squad of guards (either Jewish Temple guards or Roman soldiers) to guard the tomb entrance? Sure sounds like breaking the Sabbath to me! Pilate allowed these men to do what they wanted, but he didn’t seem to want anything to do with it. Some have suggested that his words might have been something like, “Go ahead and keep Him in the tomb—if you can!” I don’t know if that is true, of course, but the fact that the Pharisees had their men guarding the tomb made Jesus’ resurrection all the more powerful—and clearly true.

I think that one of the things that the Jewish Religious leaders really struggled with was double standards and being hypocritical. They loved to make rules for everyone else—while providing all sorts of reasons why they were the exception to their own rules. Does that sound like something that pleases God? Of course not. At the foundation of things, the right way to live is how GOD said to live as found in His Word. Simply obeying what He said to do is not only the right thing, it’s the easier thing. It’s generally humans who make things more complicated or unfair. There are examples galore throughout Scripture where people have misquoted God, have not followed Him COMPLETELY, and who have added to what He said so that what He said is no longer what they are doing. These things should not be. A really good example of this is in Matthew 5. Matthew 5-7 is a record of Jesus teaching His disciples what living in His kingdom looks like as far as our attitudes and actions. If you haven’t studied it in a while, hop on over there and give it some prayerful contemplation. Jesus gave several clearly stated do’s and don’ts for the child of God who wants to live in a way that honors and pleases the Father.

Matthew 5:21-48, specifically, provides several examples of how humans altered God’s Word to make it say something different than what God said. It has six sections that are organized by Jesus quoting what God told the Hebrews in the Law, then quoting the human add-on, then explaining what GOD wanted from them and for them. Jesus says over and over, “BUT, I say unto you. . .”. This simple phrase, “I say unto you,” ought to be our focus as we consider how to think and how to act. Simply cutting away all the human add-ons and looking to what God said will help our focus, which will in turn help our actions. And, PLEASE, do not demand that other believers hold to some standard that you yourself don’t keep—or which is not a standard that GOD asks them to keep!

November 2020 DBSQs

Monday, November 30, 2020
(Thank God for your pastor, your church family, and for the blessings of being in His House this last weekend.)
-Read Acts 2:1-12
“When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the magnificent acts of God in our own tongues.” They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
We couldn’t look at the entire life of Christ and His promise of the coming indwelling Holy Spirit without reading about it at the end of our study! Not only are these few days after Jesus’ return to heaven the end of an era (that of the “Old Testament”), they are the beginning of the New Testament and the Age of Grace, also known as the Church Age. That is because Acts 2 introduces the birth of the church. Pretty awesome, wouldn’t you say! This is where you and I enter the picture—because we are currently living in the Church Age. It has been going on for about 2,000 years now and will only end when Jesus comes to the clouds and raptures out all who have trusted in Him as Savior from the day of His resurrection until that day (of the Rapture). I have no idea if unbelievers will be able to see the exit of millions of dead and alive Christians, but I imagine that this event will cause quite the enormous sensation in news feeds!

Back to Pentecost (meaning “50”), the Gift of the Holy Spirit was finally given to all believers gathered together in that house in Jerusalem—and it was quite the fanfare! Loud sounds, tongues of flame resting over heads. . . and believers suddenly being able to speak a foreign language fluently! Did you notice that genuine “speaking in tongues” isn’t incomprehensible babble? It is actual languages (as demonstrated by the people from other countries who heard and understood their language being spoken by those who had never spoken it before). Furthermore, please note that what the people who were given the gift of speaking foreign languages were speaking about was God and all His magnificent acts. All true praise focuses on God, the only One worthy of our worship.

Here’s another interesting fact about the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. ALL believers were present in a positional sense. Thousands and thousands of us were not there in a physical sense, but the “baptism” into the Holy Spirit that was given to those Christians on that day was ALSO given to all who would one day believe in Jesus as their Savior. From that day on, when someone gets saved, the Holy Spirit immediately begins indwelling them—never to leave them again. I am extremely confident that this Gift from God is far, far too wondrous for us to even begin to grasp this side of glory! That shouldn’t keep us from thanking God for it, though, and from being aware of it so that we can lean on the Holy Spirit to help us do good and flee evil, to help us know what and how we should pray, and to help us understand and apply Scripture to our moment-to-moment thoughts and actions.

F.Y.I.
Other passages in the New Testament indicate that speaking in tongues (as well as the other “sign gifts”) are no longer for today. They gradually died out because they were no longer needed when the “perfect thing” (the Bible) was completed. Once God’s Word was written, it became all we needed to learn about God and how to live obediently for Him (with the help of the Holy Spirit, of course).

Saturday, November 28, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to walk victoriously with Him today.)
-Read Acts 1:23-26
“So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
I love that the apostles went about finding out who would replace Judas the right way. They acknowledged there was a need, they named two men who had already proved themselves to be faithful disciples of Christ, THEN THEY PRAYED. They asked God to show them who He wanted to be the twelfth apostle. And God DID show them, by means of casting lots. Interestingly, this is the last time lots were used to help believers know God’s will. That was because the Holy Spirit was given shortly after, and from that point on, He would direct believers in the way they should go (as He still does for you and me).

Casting lots wasn’t voodoo, nor was it a means of “voting.” It was simply a way for God’s people to understand what God wanted. They would use small stones or sticks and the short one or long one would be the indicator. On that day, God showed the eleven apostles that He had chosen Mattias to join their number. We don’t have any other New Testament evidence that Christians are supposed to cast lots today. We are to make decisions by collecting information, looking at the situation from God’s point of view, and applying biblical principles to arrive at a God-honoring choice.

I’ve often wondered about Matthias. The Bible doesn’t give us any more information about him at all. What sort of man was he? Did he have a family? What were his thoughts at being selected as one of Jesus’ special apostles? What sort of labor did he do for the Lord and in the new church? I think it will be fun to meet him—and a host of other people who we don’t know about today, but who almost certainly did great things for God. And though some of you have heard me say this before (more than once!), I contend that if you and I live a life that pleases God and remain faithful to Him, then some of the “famous” saints from Bible times might very well want to look US up to talk to us about how God helped us live our lives in a way that pleased Him! What a thought! This isn’t fantasy, though. I’m very confident that believers will be delighted and blessed throughout eternity to find out how other believers were used by God and how they remained faithful to Him. We’re going to have some super awesome coffee dates! =)

P.S. While it is harmless to flip a coin to decide which baseball team gets to bat first, gambling and other games of chance are displeasing to God. Even more serious is any form of divination or trying to “see the future” using psychics or any other aids, including thing that may seem harmless, such as the daily horoscope in the paper. All these kinds of tools are a horrible waste of time and money at the BEST—and a tool of satan and his demons at their worst. Believers should stay far away from all of this.

Friday, November 27, 2020
(Thank the Father for the tremendous blessing prayer is!)
-Read Acts 1:15-22
“In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters—the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty—and said, “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out. This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, “Field of Blood”). For it is written in the Book of Psalms: “Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position”. Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
These verses are very interesting for these reasons:
-We now know that there were (about) 120 men and women gathered together in Jerusalem waiting for the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
-Peter acknowledged that Judas’ betrayal fulfilled Scripture spoken from all the way back to King David, roughly 1500 BC.
-Peter knew that Scripture is the result of the Holy Spirit working through human authors (II Tim. 3:16).
-Peter acknowledged that Judas had been one of their number and shared in the ministry.
-We find out what happened to Judas. After he realized what his betrayal had led to, he tried to give the money back to the Religious leaders. They used the money to buy a field for burying strangers that eventually became known as the “Field of Blood” (Hakeldama). Meanwhile, Judas committed suicide in his grief and guilt (Mt. 27:3-10).
-Peter acknowledged a Psalm that instructed them to replace Judas so that they would be Twelve again (Ps. 69:25; 109:8).
-We now find out that there had actually been several men who also spent most of their time with Jesus the years of His public ministry.
-Peter said that it was necessary to choose one man from among those who had been by their side all the way back to when John the Baptist first introduced Jesus, all the way forward to His death, burial, and resurrection to replace Judas.
-It was especially important that all the apostles had personally witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Their testimony to this fact would be an important part of their spreading the good news of the gospel to all people in all places in the years to come.

One of the parts of the above information that especially blessed and encouraged me was to see Peter step up and take the role that Jesus had given to him. Remember how Jesus wanted Peter to take care of His sheep and how He told Peter that He would build the church upon Peter’s shoulders? This speech to these people was the beginning of Peter taking charge and fulfilling the ministry that Jesus gave him to do. He became a leader here. And what’s neat about that is that just a few short weeks earlier, Peter had denied THREE TIMES in a row that he even KNEW Jesus. Don’t you love how God sets behind Him our failures and falls and helps us to stand up and be victorious for Him! While humans often make other people pay for their infractions, God helps us to use them to mature and to become even MORE faithful to Him and useful as a servant. He forgives ALL confessed sin and “forgets” it, helping us to carry on with even more experience under our belt so that we can serve Him even more fully, more accurately, more pleasing in His eyes. God used Peter in astronomical ways after his fail—and God wants to use YOU, too. We only need to be willing, to be obedient, and to learn from our failures.

Thursday, November 26, 2020
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!
(Spend some time thanking God for today’s blessings—as well as those that are just around the corner, most especially, eternity in His presence.)
-Read Acts 1:12-14
“Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
After Jesus had left earth (as He said He would), the disciples returned to Jerusalem to the room where they were staying. Interestingly, we find that those gathered here were not just the eleven disciples. Also gathered were “the women,” Jesus’ mother, Mary, and His half-brothers. I was especially interested to hear that Jesus’ half brothers were gathered with the others in prayer. I think that this would have to mean that they got saved sometime between when they were giving Jesus a hard time before the Festival (in John 7) and His ascension. We do know that two of His half-brothers, James and Jude, wrote the epistles named after them in the New Testament, so they must have grown a lot in their walk with the Lord after salvation.

Doesn’t this give you encouragement about family members and friends that you have who have heard the gospel, but haven’t yet responded? They might yet trust in Christ as their Savior—and they might yet be used of Him in mighty ways in their life. Keep praying for them. Keep witnessing to them. Keep inviting them to church, to Bible studies, and to fellowships. Keep living in such a way that they see that you belong to the Holy God and not the evil one who entices all people to ugly, ungodly behavior.

Note, too, how these “faithful few” gathered TOGETHER—and not just to drink coffee and chit-chat. They gathered together to PRAY. They were, in fact, UNITED in prayer, meaning, they had a common focus and common goal—and that, dear one, is one of the many outstanding blessings of belonging to a God-honoring local church! Being a member in a church where all the members love God and want to please Him and honor Him in every way gives us a bond that is incredibly strong—because it is a bond that God gifts to all His children who live faithfully for Him. I expect that the disciples and other believers present that day in Jerusalem were praying about the Gift that Jesus promised would happen very soon, but I’m sure they were also praying about the commission He had just given them to be His witnesses near and far. They might have also been praying for Jesus’ swift return—something we pray for as well.

Hey! If you aren’t a regular attendee of your church’s prayer meeting, what’s holding you back? In order to enjoy the extra marvelous unity God gives to His children who come together and pray with one mind, we kind of have to actually be with each other. I will tell you a secret. Every single Wednesday, come about dinnertime, when I think about brushing my teeth and going to church, I want to NOT GO. I am tired. I enjoy doing “easy” things in the evening. I could just watch the service on livestream. . . But, I will tell you another secret. EVERY TIME I get up and go to church IN PERSON, I am encouraged, I am uplifted, I am blessed. And as someone who attends regularly, I can ALSO tell you that each and every OTHER PERSON who attends in person is a blessing to me, too. So, give it a try. It’s not so hard! Get a blessing, BE a blessing. Attend Prayer Meeting this week.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020
(In preparation for Thanksgiving, spend some time praising and thanking God for people, places, and things in your past.)
-Read Acts 1:9-11
“After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
As I sit at my computer and type, I am currently at the end of a week that was literally comprised of days where I had no idea how the schedule was going to go, and/or what all I would need to do and be ready for. If you know me well, you know that I’m not that fond of indecision, of unsettled plans, and of trying to work around the kind of people who seem to go through life making things up as they go. I am the kind of person who likes to KNOW (and plan, of course!). That’s why, when I imagine the 11 disciples (and whoever else was there) watching Jesus float (???) up into the sky and beyond the clouds, I imagine them with their mouths open and their eyes about as big as saucers. Even though Jesus had done many amazing miracles, each “new” thing He did was equally astonishing—and now He was zooming away from them, literally on His way back to heaven!!! I would have been FULL of questions—and doubts. I would have wanted to shout, “WAIT! I’m not ready for You to go! Come back and answer just a few more questions!” But, as my loving Father in heaven has to teach me over and over and OVER, my timing isn’t His, nor are my plans His plans. Further, it is only HIS plans that are the “right” ones.

Wasn’t it kind of the Father to send a few of His messengers to stand next to the disciples to remind them of what Jesus had said? Yes, Jesus was now gone physically from the earth, BUT that sure wasn’t the end of the story. He WILL come back—and when He does, the kingdom that the Jews were forever begging Him about would finally be established—and it will be so spectacular, that I’m sure everyone will exclaim that it was well worth the wait.

So, what’s the application here? Jesus finished the job that the Father gave Him to do on the earth, so He left to do His next job. BUT, if you and I are still standing here on earth, then our job isn’t done yet! From the day of our salvation, God has assigned jobs for each of us to do. Some of these jobs are pretty mundane—things like laundry, grocery shopping, and keeping the bathroom clean. But ALL jobs are given to us to bring God glory and to be a help and blessing to others, so in that sense, nothing we do is “mundane,” lowly, or unimportant. God has given us loads of other jobs, too, though. What all they are isn’t easy to identify, especially before they happen. However, as we travel through our days, weeks, and months, choosing to obey His Word to the best of our knowledge, the “jobs” will be presented and as long as we always say “yes” to what God asks of us, we will be doing them. I expect that a lot of them will be regular kinds of things: lending a hand to someone in need, offering a listening ear to someone who needs to talk, sharing some of our “stuff” with someone else, that kind of thing. I even expect that a lot of the things that we do in any ordinary day might not seem a big deal to us—but they are a VERY big deal in God’s eyes. That’s because He is able to take what is “small” and make it massive; He is able to take plain ol’ water and make it the best juice EVER. And He DELIGHTS in taking our acts of love and obedience and bringing about great glory for Himself (and great blessing in the lives of His children). And, to be sure, God ALSO gives us “bigger” jobs as we are faithful in the little ones. Things like being asked to help in the nursery, teaching a Sunday school class, singing in the choir, helping with a church workday, going to another church to minister in some way, hosting a full-time ministry worker in our home, heading up a Bible study, being on a committee at church—a million and one tasks that are all a gift from God intended to bring Him glory, to help us be becoming more like His Son, and provide an opportunity to show love to others.

So, I got off on quite the tangent in what God impressed on my heart from Acts 1:9-11, but what did the Holy Spirit want you to see to help you grow into the image of the Son?

Tuesday, November 24, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to use today excellently for His glory.)
-Read Acts 1:4-8
“While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
Jesus kindly, but firmly, points out to His disciples that there are things they can know and there are things they can’t know (which reminds me of being a parent to small children and the final answer being, “because I said so!”). =) Jesus also pointed out that God the Father had certain jobs that were His alone, He had jobs that were His alone, AND the disciples had jobs to do that were for them to focus on (ALSO a good parenting pep talk!).

What was the job the disciples were given to do? To be Jesus’ witnesses to all they came across in however many days they had left on earth. They were to tell others what they had seen and heard about Jesus, focusing especially on how He died to pay for their sins and how simple belief in Him gives eternal life and a restored relationship with God the Father. The thing is, this job description wasn’t ONLY for the disciples (soon to be referred to as “apostles”). God commands ALL His children to tell others about Him, about Jesus, about salvation, and about what God both requires of us and how wonderfully He rewards and blesses us. The pattern given here in Acts 1:8 is that of witnessing first to those who are geographically close to us, then as God opens doors, to reach out a bit further. With today’s technology, we can literally reach all four corners of the world from our phones and computers! We can use phone calls, texts, emails, and all the social media platforms to tell others about our amazing Savior and holy God. We can do this by sharing what the Bible says about it, by writing out Scripture, by sharing testimony of how He has helped and blessed us, but also in HOW we say “regular” things and with what attitude and outlook. If believers spend their time online griping about co-workers, bad weather, and COVID restrictions, how does that set us apart as belonging to God? How does that make us witnesses “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”? What about that will cause someone to “want what we have” because they see our joy and peace despite tough circumstances?

And, of course, the pictures that we post that untold masses can see ALSO “speak” to others about how seriously we take our role as children of God and citizens of heaven—or how well we fit in with the world around us, that is, satan’s domain. Pretty sobering things to consider! Thank God that we can turn to Him literally every moment to find help and wisdom so that our actions honor Him, please Him, and reflect His image well. Thank God that we can come to Him for forgiveness when we’ve forgotten and said or done something that was less than Christ-like. Thank God that His mercies are new every morning and tomorrow is a new day without any failures in it. Thank God!

Monday, November 23, 2020
(Thank the Father for the lessons and blessings of the weekend!)
***Programming Note: Now that we have concluded our long and amazing treasure hunt in the Gospel of John, I thought it would be fun and interesting to find out what happened next with the disciples. The Book of Acts tells this account as well as of the birth and growth of the church. We’ll take a glimpse at chapter 1 and the first twelve verses of chapter 2, but be sure to read on to find out “the rest of the story”!
***Programming Note, part 2: I am excited to announce to you that my daughter, Rachel, will be writing the December DBSQs this year on the women who are in the lineage of Jesus Christ. I’m very eager to hear what she’s been learning and I’m confident that this information will make this year’s Christmas even MORE meaningful than usual!

-Read Acts 1:1-3
“I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up, after he had given instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After he had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
-Pray for God’s help to understand the passage—and how to apply it to YOUR day and life. Be sure to thank Him for what He is going to show you.
-Re-read the passage.
-Application (how does God want you to think, speak, act, change based on this passage?):
-Notes, things to remember, things to check on:

Lorie’s Thoughts and Applications from this Passage:
This introduction to the book of Acts is the follow-up of what Luke wrote in the gospel named after him. Luke was not one of Jesus’ apostles, though he clearly interviewed a lot of people because his gospel (and the book of Acts) is full of rich details and important information. Luke was, in fact, a physician and a scholar. Later in his life, some believe that he became the Apostle Paul’s personal physician, and, perhaps, that of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He CLEARLY loved the Lord Jesus and he clearly had a tremendous grasp of doctrine and what’s important for believers to know. He is definitely someone I want to chat with when we get to glory!

No one is sure who Theophilus was, but Luke’s letter is addressed to him. Luke references the Gospel Luke, mentioning what he has already explained: Jesus’ life and death. He now focuses, though, on what happened after Jesus’ death, including His return to heaven. The happenings of Acts 1 are the prelude to the birth of the church, described in chapter 2.

Did you notice how Jesus was not idle during the days after His resurrection and before His ascension? I don’t know about you, but after I am done with huge and demanding projects, I enjoy some downtime and “lazy time” before returning to demands and obligations. However, Jesus wasn’t willing to waste even one day—and He “presented Himself alive by many convincing proofs” and taught about the kingdom of God (if you want to know the right kind of thoughts, attitudes, and actions are fitting for the kingdom of God, read what Jesus said about this in Matthew 5-7!).

I’m going to say that if we are supposed to follow Jesus’ example (and we are), then we probably shouldn’t be wasting our time, either. Oh, I am confident that God knows when we need rest (He made our bodies to require sleep every single night!), and I’m confident that He understands when we get weary and overwhelmed (I’m not sure Jesus was well rested for ANY of His three and a half years of public ministry!), so I am most definitely not saying to not take downtime or to pay attention to when your body and mind needs a break. I am just saying that time is short. Our opportunities to live wholeheartedly for God are limited simply by the hours in a day and the days of our lives. What may seem like endless days when we are teenagers, shrinks pretty fast the older we get! Furthermore, as our days tick closer to “old” age (whatever that is!), our energy levels and ability to get around may be diminished, too. My point? TODAY is the day to live wholeheartedly for God in every way and at all times. And if He grants us a tomorrow, then that is the day that belongs to Him too. When it is our turn to kneel in the presence of our Savior, how delightful it would be to hear Him acknowledge that we had been good servants and He was glorified through us!!!

P.S. We could also consider taking Luke’s letter to Theophilus as a challenge to ALSO write notes, letters, and even entire books, about our wonderful God and Savior! Who does God want YOU to write to today?

Saturday, November 21, 2020
(Ask the Father to use your words, spoken and written, to tell others about His goodness and the salvation He offers today.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 21 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
One of the things that I underlined today was Peter’s response to Jesus’ question (“Do you love Me?”). He said, “You know that I love you.” And, of course, God DOES know if we love Him! This is especially comforting if we are going through a time of challenges or if we have not been doing our best for the Lord. Despite all that, God DOES love His children—God loves YOU.

The fact that God loves us no matter what and does not base His love on whether or not we behave well, is certainly a tremendous and blessed truth. But that’s not the whole picture, either. It’s a critical part of the picture of our relationship to God the Father as His child, but God ALSO gives us a chance to respond a certain way to His love. Whether we respond poorly or well cannot change His love for us, but it most definitely affects our RELATIONSHIP with Him. You see, when Peter fervently asserted that he DID love Jesus, Jesus gave him a job to do. And while God only calls a few of His children into full-time service for Him, we are ALL given tasks to do for His glory and to benefit others. Some of these jobs are church related: Sunday school teachers, piano players, choir members, janitors, flower arranging, nursery, deacons, but a whole lot of them happen simply as we live our day-to-day lives. We can “prove” our love for God by serving Him as wives, as moms, as daughters, as fellow church members, as friends, as co-workers, as neighbors, and even as strangers in the grocery store or as some unnamed person in the car behind someone else on a busy traffic day. We do this in word, in deed, in demeanor. We do this through the expression on our faces and in the tone of our words. We do this by NOT doing things that would reflect poorly on our Father in heaven. We do what honors God publicly, but also privately; when we are seen, and when we are unseen. This is how we serve God with our lives as His children and how we thank Him for His unconditional love to us.

Friday, November 20, 2020
(Thank the Father for His perfect care of you, your loved ones, and the world.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 20 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
There’s certainly a lot here to pick from to choose five things to underline! I have always LOVED the scene with Mary and how, though Mary didn’t recognize Jesus in His resurrected body, He knew her—and the simple speaking of her name from His lips caused her to recognize Him and rejoice with abandon. Jesus knows each of us BY NAME. Each of us are precious in His sight. What a blessed and astonishing truth! Mary went from devastating sorrow to incredible joy in a second—simply by listening to her Savior. We can, too, when our focus is on Him and His Word.

But, the underline that I wanted to talk about is at the end of the chapter. John, the disciple who Jesus loved—and the author of this gospel, steps in to say that he recorded only a few of the miracles that Jesus did while on earth, but he wrote about what he did SO THAT everyone who reads this gospel would recognize that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior from the sin that we are all born with. He wrote it so that every single person who read his gospel would trust in Jesus as THEIR Savior and become a child of God. And interestingly enough, isn’t it John’s gospel that people turn to the most when telling someone about their need to get saved? God has used this gospel in great ways!

I was thinking about the incredible gift of the new spiritual life we are given upon salvation and thinking that the gift doesn’t stop with trusting in Christ as Savior. That’s the essential first step, but God wants to bless us with SO MUCH MORE once we are His child. He wants our new life to be one of tremendous joy, despite pandemics, riots, and face masks. He wants our new lives to be one of unshakable peace, despite failing health, election fraud, and hurricane watches (in New England!). He wants our new lives to be more than “nice,” He wants to give us ABUNDANT lives as we lean on Him, learn about Him, and step out in faith in Him, seen in our putting into practice what we know He wants us to do. He wants us to wake up every morning FLOORED at His goodness and grace, STAGGERED at what Jesus did on the cross for us, DELIGHTED to get to serve Him, praise Him, and thank Him—all day long.

Jesus gave His life so that we could have new life. How are you using yours?

Thursday, November 19, 2020
(Ask the Father for a willing and humble spirit in regards to what He asks of you today.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 19 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
In our beloved country’s current state of unrest and the hijacking of our media by those who want only their lies heralded to the masses, I take great comfort in what Jesus said to Pilate. Pilate claimed that he had the authority to either choose to release Jesus or to turn Him over to the Jewish leadership for death. And, according to human terms, this was perfectly true. Jesus pointed out, though, that this wasn’t quite as clear cut as Pilate (and all the Jewish leaders!) thought. Authority is always GOD given. God is the only true Ruler. God only allows what He knows is best—and no one can act without His allowing it, be they rulers of nations, the boss at your job, or the parents of children.

That’s certainly not to say that there isn’t tremendous injustice, wickedness, and evil in and among world leaders! The lies, deceit, and sinful actions of those involved in Jesus’ death are an excellent example of that. This is because of sin, the sin nature inside all people, and satan’s influence in the world. The only thing that will make all that right is for sin to be demolished and for all to acknowledge Jesus as the Righteous King—and that WILL HAPPEN. We need only be patient and keep our trust in the LORD. We, as ones who know the truth, also need to remember WHO our “Boss” actually is and live in such a way that we are in keeping with His rules and parameters for “good” behavior. We need to live according to God’s Word, watching the sky with excitement for Jesus’ return, and yes, by submitting to those who are in authority over us. The only exception to this is if we are asked to do something that God says is sin. Our country hasn’t challenged this too much in the last many decades, but times are changing and we may not always be able to say that. We need to commit now to how we will act when told to do something that is not what God says is okay. We need to obey God over man. It might not be a super happy experience, but ALL acts of obedience and faithful living bring God honor and are blessed by Him. AND, we must not forget what Jesus said to Pilate: it is GOD Who is in charge, not governors, not presidents, and not media moguls. Our hope is in the LORD, Who gave Himself for us, and paid the price for all our sins on Calvary to give us light and life everlasting by His side.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020
(Thank the Father that you belong to Him and He belongs to you!)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 18 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
Do you, like me, sometimes balk over some of the things that are required of you? “But, I don’t WANT to make supper tonight! Did you know that I have made literally 13,000 suppers since I got married? Surely, tonight everyone can fend for themselves!” “I TOTALLY do not want to clean the bathroom. Again. Or ever.” “PLEASE don’t make me call the office to schedule an appointment!” “Do I have to get up every single day?” “I don’t want to go to the meeting!”

As you can see, the lion’s share of my examples are silly and/or petty, but I could also provide dozens of examples of serious and important things that I knew I needed to do, but which I didn’t really want to. The reasons why are pretty varied, but if I was forced to analyze them, my guess is that the main culprit would be selfishness or laziness—which are pretty close cousins. They both indicate that we are thinking more of ourselves than of others—or even of God. Not good.

Do you want to know what I underlined in John 18? It’s something Jesus said, “Am I not to drink the cup the Father has given me?” I’m not trying to give you (or me!) a big guilt trip, but how can any of us compare what we are often unhappy about with what Jesus so willingly did? We don’t like to run errands, to do something that someone else asked us to, or keep our family’s underwear clean, but Jesus willingly did every single thing that the Father asked Him to do—including presenting Himself to the soldiers, Religious leaders, and thugs who had come to arrest Him that night. He, Who was more innocent than any human ever born or yet to be born, was accused of being a liar, a heretic, a devil, a leader of a rebel band, and a host of other things that were completely and 100% false. What He WAS, was exactly what He claimed from day one: the Son of God come to represent His Father in heaven. He was the perfect and obedient Son fulfilling the Father’s will, which meant He was going to die in sinful mankind’s place. On the basis of this perfect sacrifice, all those who put their trust in Him could have a restored relationship with God and have perfect fellowship with Him for all of eternity. And aren’t we eternally thankful that He did! That He DIDN’T balk at what was required of Him for our salvation!

I believe that when we are thinking straight (making decisions in accordance with God’s Word), that we will be willing to do the things required of us—and with a good attitude. This would include the mundane examples listed above, but more importantly, the things that GOD requires of us to live obediently according to Scripture. This would include the biggies like devotions, prayer time, church attendance, and so on, but it would also include things like a good attitude, dressing modestly, having a good testimony, being a good steward of our time, treasures, and talents, planning ahead, being kind, being hospitable, and showing biblical love to all those in our life. The good news is that this is exactly the kind of thing that the Holy Spirit loves to help us with and as we (willingly!) yield to God’s way over our way, He slowly grows in us His fruit. We come to have a deeper knowledge of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and patience. As these attributes grow, we will find that we are LESS likely to want to balk over “requirements.” We might even begin to see them as opportunities and privileges!

Tuesday, November 17, 2020
(Thank the Father for who He made us in Christ and for how He sees us because of Him.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 17 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
When you were a child, did you promise to do something or be something, say an astronaut, a ballerina, or the president, but that is not what happened? Did you ever schedule a coffee date with a dear friend, only to have to cancel at the last minute due to bad weather, not feeling well, or some scheduling conflict that came up? Did you ever promise to phone someone “later,” but never quite got around to it? Maybe even closer to home, have you ever promised to start a diet on Monday—only to realize that the Monday in question was a few weeks (or years!) ago?

As humans, we can promise things, but we cannot always follow through. Even when we mean well and fully intend to do what we promised, “stuff” happens and we cannot always do what we promised. BUT, here in John 17, Jesus points out that both He and the Father are so reliable in what they say, that He can thank God for things that haven’t happened yet! God said they would happen, so that is all that is needed. No time stamps, no I.O.U’s, no “ticket.” His word is the same as the promise being fulfilled already. We see this in what Jesus says in His prayer here in John 17—that He has COMPLETED the work He was given. Although Jesus had not yet been arrested, crucified, and resurrected, because He said it would happen, there was NO QUESTION that it would.

This is pretty amazing information as is, but it is also a tremendous encouragement to us. Why? Because, like Jesus, we can equally trust that all God said is so true, that we can go ahead and live like it has occurred. We don’t have our glorified bodies, of course, and we do still have our sin natures, but God has said that we do not have to give in to the temptation to sin—because he HAS provided a way for us to escape it! God has said that we don’t need to feel alone, despondent, and defeated, because He will NEVER leave us or forsake us (and we BELONG to HIM)! We don’t need to wonder what happens after death, because God has promised that when we leave this life and world, we will be in His presence FOREVER! Jesus actually lists some promises right in this chapter: God WILL be glorified, Jesus Christ will be glorified, those who have been given to Jesus for salvation HAVE salvation, those who remain in Christ ARE one with God and each other, those who remain in Christ can have “complete” joy, those who remain in Christ are sanctified by the truth of God’s Word, and so on.

Once saved, we ARE citizens of heaven and children of God RIGHT NOW. That promise has been fulfilled and cannot not happen. What should be our response? To work each day to live up to WHO we are and WHOSE we are. Thankfully, God has give us His Holy Spirit to help us slowly, but surely, be becoming more like Christ as we study His Word and apply it to our lives, as we grow closer to God through meaningful and frequent prayers, and through the fellowship, teaching, and service found in Bible believing and teaching local churches. In order to focus on who we are, we would ALSO be wise to remember that we are NOT “of the world” anymore and that we have nothing in common with the people, practices, and philosophy of the world around us. Our focus needs to be on being holy as our Father is holy.

Monday, November 16, 2020
(What treasures did God show you from His Word yesterday? Ask His help to apply them to your life.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 16 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I was again stopped by the very first sentence when choosing what to underline in this chapter. Jesus said that we CAN keep from stumbling! Isn’t that encouraging? I don’t know about you, but I often feel defeated and discouraged, wondering if I can EVER get it right. At the same time, it’s crystal clear to me that it is when I take my eyes of Jesus and when I DON’T “remember” what God told me in His Word, that the trouble begins. Sometimes, sure, it is clearly sin (like responding in anger, for example). Often, though, it’s more likely to be a really poor view of myself.

The whole idea of how we see ourselves is, I believe, kind of complicated. Those of us raised in the United States, are taught from a pretty early age about “self-esteem,” about finding strength “within,” and about standing up and fighting for what we want. The problem, though, is that these are not biblical truths. In fact, they’re pretty much the opposite of what God wants. He wants us to leave our own needs at His feet, focusing instead on loving Him supremely and loving our neighbor as self. He wants us to find our worth in HIM, not ourselves. He wants us to depend on His strength and wisdom—and never our own (which is faulty to the max!).

All that being said, neither does God want us to be mean to ourselves through self-loathing, unreasonable demands, or feelings of uselessness. A devotional I read earlier today advised us to “believe what Jesus says about us.” She meant, rightly so, that He loves us so much that He gave His life for us, therefore, to say that we aren’t “worth” anything could be considered pretty insulting to Him. I agree with her, though I would hasten to add that we ALSO need to be aware of what God says about us in regard to what we are alike apart from Him. That’s pretty important to keep in mind if we don’t want to fail and fall!

BUT, let’s explore for a few minutes how God DOES view His children. Let’s explore some of the ways *He describes His children as seen in the Bible. God says we are
-children of God
-joint-heirs with Jesus
-justified
-righteous
-sanctified
-treasured possessions
-friends
-conquerors
-masterfully created
-beloved
– “Mine”

And, don’t forget that God calls us each BY NAME. He knows us—and loves us—just as we are. What an encouraging and helpful truth to keep in mind when life seems on the hard side!

*These awesome descriptions were brought to my attention from the podcast, Broken Vessels, Hidden Treasures, by Paul & Tabitha Norris. Check them out at bvhtministries.org!

Saturday, November 14, 2020
(Thank the Father for the incredible riches found in His Word.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 15 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
John 15 is yet one more chapter where it is difficult to pick just one thing to address. There are several critically important truths found here! “Secrets,” as it were, of victorious Christian living and how to have the closest possible relationship with the Father.

I was struck, though, with Jesus’ comment that one of the ways that He displayed being a true Friend to the disciples, was by making known to them everything that He had heard from the Father. Part of that essential information was that of “remaining” in Him so that we can bear much fruit, have “fruitful” prayer lives, glorify the Father, bear up well under persecution, be able to speak to others about Him, and have full and “complete” joy.

To “remain in Jesus” is to keep His commands. In order to keep His commands, we need to be in His Word by studying it, meditating on it, memorizing it, and most importantly, applying it to our lives. God’s Word contains everything we need in order to live godly lives in either direct commands or in principle form. Even the “stories” of things like Jonah and the whale, the crossing of the Red Sea, and Jesus feeding 5,000 men are all in the Bible to teach us more about God and how to better live, think, and act. They are also, of course, there so we will praise and thank God morning, noon, and night for the magnificent God that He is.

So while it is our responsibility to CHOOSE to study and apply God’s Word to our every decision and action, don’t lose sight of the blessed fact that it is God Who helps us to do so. “Apart from Him, we can do nothing.” It should be our daily habit to commit each new day to His care, asking His help to remember His Word so as to apply it to what we say, do, and think all day long, not forgetting, of course, to keep open communication with Him by “praying without ceasing.”

One other consideration here is that if Jesus has said that it is the Father’s words relayed to us that proves His genuine friendship, shouldn’t our words to others ALSO be the Father’s words??? Shouldn’t everything that we say either literally be Scripture or biblical principles? If truth is only found in God’s Word, how can we truly help and encourage others without it?

Friday, November 13, 2020
(Thank God for day and night, seasons, and the passing of time. They are all gifts from His gracious hand.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 14 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
My first underline was the very first sentence. =) Jesus commands us to not let our hearts be troubled. But, He doesn’t command us to do that without also giving us THE REASON why we never need have a troubled heart. We don’t need to fuss, fret, stew, worry, or be “troubled” – because we have a relationship with God. When we believe that everything that God said is true, there is simply nothing to be concerned about! He’s got it all well in hand. That frees us up to simply trust and obey!

I have spoken many times over the years about the value of making lists based on our Scripture reading. There are so many things we can do that with! We can, first, simply list WHO God is, what He is like, and what we learn about His character as we read Scripture (which will fill notebook after notebook—because there is no end to the depth and richness of our Father’s character!). We can then list WHAT God says, but we might want to make this one more manageable by separating it into several categories. These categories will naturally be identified as you study the Bible, but some to be looking for include: promises that God made, things that God says please/displease Him, things that He desires, and/or are His “will,” commands that God gives to us (the do’s and don’ts of godly living!), what God says we should be thankful for, specific areas we should praise God in, what God says should be in our prayers, what God says we need/don’t need, and so on. If you’ve never kept a notebook near your Bible to jot some of these treasures down, I challenge you to start today. It’s not only a thrilling exercise, it provides us with the ammunition and help we need to live a victorious and joyous Christian life.

So, getting back to the command to not let our hearts be troubled: we know that the way to do that is to believe God (He said so in verse 1!). I thought it might be fun to use John 14 as a base to find out exactly what God is promising here. I don’t claim that my list is exhaustive, but here’s what I got:

-There are many rooms in the Father’s house.
-Jesus, after leaving earth, went to heaven to, among other things, prepare rooms for believers.
-Jesus will return for Christians to bring us to heaven to be with Him.
-Access to the Father happens when we go through Jesus Christ.
-When we learn about Jesus, we will also learn about the Father.
-The things (obedient) believers ask for in Jesus’ name will be done.
-The Father gives the Holy Spirit/the Counselor/the Spirit of Truth, to all who trust in Christ as Savior.
-The Holy Spirit will remain with believers forever.
-Because Jesus lives, all Christians will live (eternal life).
-Christians are not orphans. They belong to the Father forever.
-One day, all believers will understand the relationship between the Father, the Son, and ourselves.
-Obedience to God brings GREAT blessings.
-Christians are given Jesus’ peace so that we don’t need to be troubled or fearful (which is a nice place to end this study, since it’s where we began!).

What else did you notice from this chapter that fits one of the lists?

BONUS:
Over the years, I have used a method of Bible studies that is based loosely on something given to me as a teenager developed by Positive Action for Christ (I know nothing about this company now or where they stand for Christ, so I am not endorsing their material). It revolutionized my personal devotions and thus my walk with God. The basic idea is to pick one thing out of your Bible reading (it is usually best to stick with small, manageable portions of Scripture for ANY Bible study program) and determine which category it fits into. Categories include:

-A Principle. A principle is a general statement of truth. (Example: “God is good.” Jer. 33:11 This basic principle will affect how we look at the “hard” things of life. Knowing God is good means He cannot give us anything “bad.” It would go against His character.)
-A Weapon. A weapon is something God gives us to help us to have victory in our spiritual walk. (Example: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word.” Psalm 119:9 The weapon here is the Word of God. It is given to us to help us not sin. Did you know that we do not HAVE to sin? We don’t. Jesus’ death broke the chains of sin. See the Book of Romans!)
-A Promise. A promise in Scripture is something that God says He will do—or not do. His promises never fail and are a great delight to claim. (Example: “ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you ” James 4:8. God promises to be near to us when we draw near to Him. It is usually valuable to take a truth from Scripture and turn it the other way around. For example, what do you think happens to our closeness to God when we ignore Him???)
-An Action. Action is simply something we do. God had a lot to say about what He wants us to do or not do. (Example: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; ” Proverbs 3:5 We must trust God. We must not trust our own judgment. Verse 6 goes on to give a promise of God. Read it!)
-Other. This is a nice happy dumping place for the information you want to remember, but aren’t sure where else to put. Maybe this is where you want to list the attributes of God you find as you read, maybe it is where you want to keep a record of some phrase or truth you believe God is impressing on you. As you use this system, this category will come to be used in one way or another.

Once you have found a truth to identify in one of the above categories, make sure you complete your study by coming up with an application. Bible truth is really wonderful to discover, but it becomes more valuable when it begins to change our life. Identify what needs to change in your life and list steps you need to take to make that happen. Don’t let the idea of putting things into categories keep you from trying this method. No one is going to denounce you if you thought something was a promise and they thought it was an action! Some verses may have several category options. For example, Proverbs 3:5,6 has three actions and a promise (lean not on your own understanding; trust in God with all your heart; acknowledge Him—and He will direct your path.)

Thursday, November 12, 2020
(Ask the Father for opportunities to bless others today so that He receives great glory.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 13 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I found it interesting that John noted that after satan entered Judas and he left the upper room where they had been eating with Jesus and listening to Him teach, that it was night. Night seems to be the time when humans tend to get into trouble, are more easily tempted to sin, and in which satan and his evil spirits are better able to influence us for evil. Have we not all witnessed just recently how nighttime tends to bring out the rioters, looters, and the extremely ugly side of people?

I think that even believers probably need to be extra cautious after dark. What might seem like an ugly website during the day, may entice us to explore it a night. What may seem inappropriate music during the day, may seem pleasant at night. What may be “not quite right” in a movie by the light of day, may seem perfectly fine at night. Why do you think that is? Don’t you think that we often have this idea that what we do is a bit more hidden and private in the dark? That we are not likely to be interrupted or challenged all alone in a dark room? That what we do all alone without anyone knowing is kind of “free time” to do whatever we want?

The answer, of course, is a resounding NO. Why? Because we are never truly alone. Every ugly thing we watch, every sinful thing we do, every wicked act we partake in as believers is done with the Holy Spirit right by us (actually—in us!). Did you catch that? We are forcing the HOLY Spirit to “participate” in things that are against His holy nature! I think this is a VERY serious thing and would most definitely “grieve” Him—a thing we are warned against (Eph. 4:30). Besides this incredibly important truth, though, is that we are children of LIGHT and as such, we must be reflecting God’s light AT ALL TIMES and in every way. To do anything else is sin—which hinders our fellowship with God and puts a halt to our ability to please Him and glorify Him.

So, what sort of safeguards can we put into place so that we are not tempted by ungodly things when we are alone and/or at night? How about taking advantage of the safeguards computers offer parents to keep their children safe? We could ask someone else to place the guards so that our computer cannot go to certain websites, watch any movies that are rated over PG—and that kind of thing. Sometimes we may have to simply put strict guidelines on what we allow into our house. For example, a wonderful friend of mine threw out all her beloved CDs that were dishonoring to God in even the smallest way. Sometimes it takes a very definitive break with some item in order to remain holy and pure before God. Another tool might be to have a godly and mature friend who can help you make good decisions and advise you about what is okay and what isn’t.

All the above being said, nighttime does not have to be feared! Didn’t God Himself make night? He made it as a gift—a time of rest, recuperation, and restoration. He gave us night to enjoy the quiet after a busy day, to look at the stars and marvel at His creation, to sit with loved ones and share heartwarming stories, precious memories, and sweet testimonies of God’s goodness and grace. He gave us night, knowing our bodies would need to lay down, sleep, recover from the daytime, and prepare for the next day. Night is something to thank God for and praise His name for. It’s an opportunity to make sure our heart is right with Him and all sin is confessed before we place all our thoughts and concerns at His feet so that we can rest and sleep in His perfect peace.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020
(Thank the Father for listening to YOU when you pray to Him!)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 12 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I was reading and re-reading John 12, praying and asking for direction regarding what God wanted me to take note of from this chapter. I thought it could be interesting to list the people’s names who are mentioned in the chapter, then note how they were described/ what they were known for, thinking that we should be aware of what WE are noted for as believers. Prayerfully, it’s not for a quick temper, lazy work ethics, or unfaithfulness to the Lord! Being known as a kind, patient, loving, forgiving, and hard working person would all honor God and bring Him glory.

I considered, too, how some people truly heard what Jesus had to say, believed Him, and forever changed their lives because of it—and how others heard, but resented Him or feared following Him because of the fear of man. Even as a Christian, we are still called on to respond to God in quick obedience with a heart of gratitude (and NOT disregard doing what pleases God because it might look “odd” to a family member, friend, or co-worker).

Then I noticed this: “So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,” speaking, of course, about the perfume Mary used to anoint Jesus’ feet to show her love and gratitude. And I thought, How awesome! How wonderful that Mary’s act of worship blessed everyone that was in the house! This made me wonder two things. One, is my love and devotion for the Lord known by those who are around me? I’m not talking about doing service in order to be seen and praised, I mean, does what I do on a regular basis bless others and help them (the alternative would be that I am, perhaps, acting selfishly)? Of course, there’s definitely a place for “secret service,” some kindness that is known only to the Lord and you, but shouldn’t the lion’s share of what we do be a blessing to someone else?

Second, I wondered if I am paying attention to others who are serving the Lord, or am just so interested in my own affairs that I’m not attuned to the loving and kind things others are doing all around me—and even FOR me and my loved ones? I am especially picturing in my head right now being in the church building on a Sunday. There are all the people, all over the auditorium. For my service to the Lord, who needs a hug? Who could use a laugh? Who looks lonely and all alone? Is there someone who I haven’t spoken to in a while? Is there someone who did something nice that I should thank? And as far as noticing other people’s service for the Lord, who is being a blessing to someone else? Who is shaking hands and welcoming visitors? Who is giving someone else a card or gift? All these things release a beautiful fragrance that fills God’s House with a lovely smell. All these things bring honor and glory to our Father and Savior.

Prayerfully consider whether or not you are spreading lovely fragrance around as you go through your day and week.

Tuesday, November 10, 2020
(Thank the Father for His constant and perfect care. Ask His help to follow only Him and never be led astray.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 11 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
One of my underlines was this: “Father, I thank you that you heard me. I know that you always hear me,” spoken by Jesus right before He raised Lazarus from the dead. I like it because it reminds me that I am a child of God who also has the right to call on God as my Father. We could stop right here and just spend some time in grateful prayer for that one HUGE thing!

I love the reminder from Jesus’ prayer that God always hears His children. What a comfort that is! Even when our prayer might come out a bit jumbled up and confusing, God knows what we are thinking and wanting—and He gives us what we truly need (which isn’t always what we asked for!). I like, too, that Jesus, God Himself, thanked the Father for hearing Him. I’m not sure there is EVER an occasion for prayer that doesn’t also include our gratitude to God! It should always be there, but perhaps NOT as mere words without the heart behind it. In fact, I suspect that one of the biggest challenges facing Christians in the prayer department (besides simply taking the time to DO IT) is saying all the right words, but without really paying attention to what we are saying. GOD is paying attention, shouldn’t we be too??? And though there are only so many ways to say, “Thank You for the food,” we should be giving God the courtesy of consciously forming—and meaning—the words. This is true also for morning prayers, bedtime prayers, and other prayers that can too easily turn ritualistic. We are not praying to an idol, we are praying to the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE, Who is also OUR loving, kind, gracious, and wise Father.

When Jesus thanks the Father for hearing His prayer, He makes note that He is praying out loud for the sole purpose of being a good testimony to others. Our prayers can also be used by God as a witness, as an encouragement, and even as an example of what a godly prayer sounds like. New believers and those young in the faith need some help and education in prayer content and technique, just as they do in all aspects of their life as a child of God and a citizen of heaven.

One warning, though. God will not “hear” the prayers of His children who have chosen to disregard His Word and are living a life of sin. I’m not talking about an unplanned sin (such as spouting off in anger when someone said something mean). These kinds of sins can (and must be) confessed to God the moment we realize we have done them. Once confessed, God forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. I’m speaking of a habit of sin that we have chosen to continue to do. Willfully sinning will greatly affect our relationship to God and how He hears and answers prayer. There’s really no point in asking God to bless the life of someone who is willfully living in sin. God cannot and will not bless them. A much better prayer is that God would do what He needs to do to bring that person back to a right relationship with Him. We might also ask God to use us to help that person see their spiritual needs and help them get back on track.

Monday, November 9, 2020
(What awesome thing did God bless you with over the weekend? Thank Him. Tell someone.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 10 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
One of the lessons that I see in John 10 is that of a right way and a wrong way. We, as humans, like the idea that WE get to determine what is right and wrong as far as our decisions go, but we are created beings and it is only God Who has the right to label what is right and wrong. The thing is, the things that God labels “wrong” are the things that cause us pain and harm, while the things that He labels “good” and “right” are the things that bring joy, peace, and reward! I am definitely not the first person to shake my head in confusion why we would EVER choose a path set against God. It’s truly insane.

So, what are some of the words that Jesus uses in John 10 that express warning and assurance?

WARNING:
-Those who enter the sheep pen other ways than by the gate are thieves and robbers.
ASSURANCE:
-Using the gate to enter the sheep pen indicates ownership (the shepherd uses the gate).
-The shepherd knows His sheep by name and leads them where they should go.
-The sheep hear the shepherd’s voice and follow Him.

In 21st century talk? There is one way to salvation and that is through faith in Jesus Christ and the work He did on Calvary. There is no other way and if anyone says there is (or adds additional stipulations beyond simple belief), they are WRONG—and potentially very dangerous. Carrying this principle a bit further, we need to obey God’s Word—and—we should use EXTREME caution when reading what others have to say about what is good and right behavior for a believer. If they are in accord with Scripture, then awesome. If they deviate, even a little bit, back away and do not listen to them. Carrying this principle even further, our own actions, attitudes, and decisions must be governed by the Word of God. When we add to or take away from what we know God wants us to say, do, and think, then we are the ones who are “entering the sheep pen” a different way than the gate (obviously, I am not talking about salvation here, but a right relationship with God as a Christian).

WARNING:
-All those who claim to be the Savior (“gate”) besides Jesus, are thieves and robbers who have come to steal, kill, and destroy.
ASSURANCE:
-The True Gate, Jesus Christ, is the only One Who can give salvation.
-It is through Jesus that the sheep can come in and go out and find pasture.
-Jesus came to give abundant life.

My husband has mentioned in his sermons that God provides many “guard rails” to help us recognize when we are getting off course in our Christian walk. If we are children of God, but we are mostly disheartened, feeling flat, and have no excitement about each new day God gives us, it may be that we are not coming to Jesus for “pasture.” Perhaps we have let our personal devotions time slack. Maybe we stopped taking the time for heart-to-heart talks with God. Perhaps we have missed a few too many church services. And, of course, an obvious reason could be that we have not confessed some sin in our life and we need to do that. God WANTS us to be truly “living the dream” every day—that is, recognizing His surpassing glory and the unending blessings that He provides each and every day. And sure, lots of these are evidenced as we go through our day, but even more are enjoyed during our personal time in God’s Word, during our meaningful prayers to the Father, and when we are in God’s House with God’s people being fed, being encouraged, and giving encouragement. Is your life the abundant one that the Father wants for you? Why or why not?

WARNING:
-Those who say they are the shepherd not only don’t protect the sheep, they run away when trouble comes, leaving the sheep to be snatched and scattered.
ASSURANCE:
-Jesus is the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for His sheep.
-Jesus knows every one of His sheep—and they know Him. This special bond is likened to how the Father and the Son “know” each other!
-Jesus gives His sheep eternal life and they will never perish.
-No one can take Jesus’ sheep from His hand. They are in His hand—and the Father’s hand surrounds His hand. They are 100% secure—forever.

Those who reject Jesus (the unsaved as their Savior and the saved as their Master) are opting for heartache, rejection, sorrow, disappointment, and a lot of emptiness. Those, however, who have trusted in Jesus as their personal Savior and who wake up each day choosing to obey His Word and be becoming like Him, are promised blessings galore in the here and now—and an eternity that is so incredible as to be literally beyond understanding or description. Each decision we make is a choice to follow the thief or the Good Shepherd. There is no middle ground, there is no other choice. With God’s help, we can be the sheep that revel in the constant presence, protection, and perfect care of Jesus Christ, the Son of God—and OUR Savior.

Saturday, November 7, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to live in such a way that when people see us, they see His Son.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 9 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I underlined this statement by Jesus: “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.” I underlined it because I think that this same truth can be applied to all of us—at all times. In this particular event, this man was born blind so that years later he could be used by God to point out spiritual blindness as well as to showcase His glory in Jesus miraculously healing him physically (as he pointed out, this was a “first” in recorded history of the world). And though we don’t generally say so, isn’t every single breath that every single one of us take a miracle straight from God’s hand? Of course it is! He is our Creator and He is the One Who keeps all of us running. When we begin to study just how incredibly complex our bodies are, we just stand back in AWE at what God did—and He receives glory.

The Bible is LOADED with examples of things God did that bring Him glory—from creation itself, to the world-wide flood (and salvation of just 8 humans), to placing Joseph in the right place to save the entire Hebrew nation, to giving Israel a land of their own, to protecting them in countless battles and nation-ending emergencies time and time again. And, of course, in sending His own Son to be born as a helpless infant—only to allow Himself to die to take the penalty of sin that all of mankind deserves. Then, bringing Himself much glory, God established the church, bringing Jew and Gentile into one family, the family of God.

But moving beyond all the glorious examples in Scripture (which we should be studying and praising God for ALL THE TIME), let’s not make the mistake in thinking that God is not STILL doing things CONSTANTLY to bring glory to Himself—and to give us the opportunity to give Him glory. Have we or a loved one been saved from a serious medical situation? Have we or a loved one been spared after a horrific car wreck? Have we or a loved one been brought out of some painful situation into a loving, supportive, and edifying church family? Does the Father provide food for you to eat? Shelter to keep you safe? A job to do for Him?

Of course He does! Each and every blessing from God’s hand is a reason to give God glory and to tell others what a wonderful Father we have. Each and every blessing that God gives to us PERSONALLY is our opportunity to share with others what great things He has done for us and through us.

It would not be a waste of time to begin listing some of the ways that God has brought Himself glory through some situation in your life. Just be sure to thank Him for each item—and to share His glorious with church family, friends, co-workers, and whomever God opens the door to tell

Friday, November 6, 2020
(Thank the Father for His Word, which is truth.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 8 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
Wow. This is a jam-packed chapter! I remember in English class being taught to not overdo using “I” in what we write, but I think taking note of when Jesus said “I” and what He said is an excellent use of our time and energy. Here’s what He said in John 8 (please note that I am doing just a tiny bit of paraphrasing):

-I am the Light of the world.
-My testimony is true.
-I know where I came from and where I am going.
-I judge no one.
-If I do judge, My judgment is true because I judge along with the Father.
-The Father testifies about Me.
-To know Me is to know the Father.
-I am going away.
-I am from above.
-I am not of this world.
-I am He.
-I am telling you what I heard from the Father; what He has taught Me.
-I do nothing on My own.
-You will know that I am He when you lift Me up.
-The Father sent Me.
-The Father has not left Me alone because I always do what pleases Him.
-If I set you free, you will really be free.
-I know you are descendants of Abraham.
-I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father.
-I have told you the truth that I heard from God.
-I came from God and I am here.
-I didn’t come on My own. God sent Me.
-I do not have a demon. I honor My Father.
-I do not seek My own glory.
-If anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.
-The Father is the One Who glorifies Me. I do not glorify Myself.
-I know the Father. I keep His word.
-Before Abraham was, I AM.

So, what do we do with all that? Well, apply it to OUR LIVES, of course! Obviously, there are things connected with Jesus’ deity that don’t apply to us, however, there are far more things on this list that we can live out in our lives than there are things that we can’t. For example, we aren’t the “Light of the world,” but we most definitely can—and should—reflect Jesus’ light in all we say and do as we go through our days! We CAN be honest and above board in all we say and do. We DO know where we came from and where we are going! We, too, can leave judgment and justice in the Father’s hand—right where they belong. We can strive to live in such a way that when people see us and watch our behavior, they have a better understanding of God’s character and what is important to Him. We ARE “going away” – any day now! We may be earth-bound for now, but we are citizens of heaven RIGHT NOW. We can most definitely be telling others what the Father has said in His Word, the Bible! In fact, this should take up a large portion of our focus and conversation. We, too, should be seeking God’s help every single morning to “do nothing on our own,” but to do what HE wants, HOW He wants. Closely tied with that is a focus on only doing what pleases the Father. I think this one speaks a bit to our attitude. We are COMMANDED to obey God, but we can CHOOSE to do it out of gratitude and with delight.

There’s more, but you get the idea. Jesus said that to see Him was to see the Father. Our goal each day should be to live in such a way that when people see us, they see Jesus.

P.S. If we wanted to, we could go back through the chapter and note what Jesus DID. (Go for it!) =)

Thursday, November 5, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to focus on what truly matters for eternity.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 7 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
One of the things that I noted from John 7 is what Jesus said about how we can know if something someone is saying is from God or not. At that time, direct revelation from God was still happening, but once the writing of the Bible was completed, direct revelation ceased (though there are references to young men once again getting visions in Revelation during the Tribulation Period).

Basically put, we need to know God’s Word in order to know if someone is speaking the words of God. Every time we hear God’s Word being talked about and taught, we have an obligation to open up our Bibles to see if what we were told is true. Acts 17:11 speaks about this (look it up!). Our pastors pretty much always give the Scripture references for what they are teaching about, so that’s really helpful, but we need to be far more careful with what we hear on the radio and internet, what we read in books, and what a friend of a friend of a friend said was “true.” Furthermore, we need to be careful that what we are claiming as DOCTRINE upon which we are basing our lives is actual Scripture—and not someone’s ideas about Scripture. I’m not saying that everyone who tells us what God said about something is wrong, I’m just saying that we need to compare it with Scripture to make sure it is what GOD said—and within the context of how He meant it. I think that humans have proved time and time again that they can take actual Scripture, but use it to say something that is the opposite of what God intended. In fact, during Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 4, SATAN uses Scripture to try to trick Jesus into disobeying God. Jesus wasn’t fooled, of course, and He quoted Scripture right back to satan, pointing out what God really said and what He meant by it.

Here are several Bible verses with a warning about false teachers. It’s clearly an important concern to be aware of as we enjoy the news and information that is literally at our fingertips on our computers and phones.

“For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.” II Corinthians 11:13-15

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.” I John 1:1-4

“There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.” II Peter 2:1-3

“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.” II Timothy 4:3-4

“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge. By professing it, some people have departed from the faith.” I Timothy 6:20-21

“Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world, rather than Christ.” Colossians 2:8

“Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles contrary to the teaching that you learned. Avoid them, because such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites. They deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting with smooth talk and flattering words.” Romans 16:17-18

“If anyone teaches false doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited and understands nothing, but has an unhealthy interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.” I Timothy 6:3-5

“And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.” Ephesians 4:11-14

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

P.S. It should go without saying that WE be uber careful to not tell people “biblical truth” that isn’t actually God’s Word! It’s okay to have opinions about what best pleases God in some area, but this should always be carefully noted as our opinion as opposed to actual Bible quotes (which, of course, are the final word every time).

Wednesday, November 4, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to reflect Him well today in word and deed.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 6 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
One of the things I underlined from this chapter was this: “Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life.” Jesus had been admonishing the crowd of people who had been pursuing Him to feed them, heal them, and otherwise take care of their earthly needs, that they were focusing on the wrong things. And while, as humans, our Creator certainly knows that we need to eat, stay hydrated, and have shelter, Jesus knew that their more critical need was a spiritual one. He also knows human hearts (He says so several times in these chapters) – and He knows that our tendency is to pursue short-term, temporary, “earthly” things, but to put off attending to spiritual growth and focus.

For sure, this describes us these some two-thousand years later, too. When push comes to shove, and our day is jam packed with obligations, which comes first: dashing out the door for a meeting—or—spending quality time in God’s Word as the most essential “first thing” in our day? When we find ourselves in a dangerous, heart-breaking, or scary situation, do we “fight and flight” – or do we fall on our knees in prayer, petitioning the One Who can truly help us? When company comes for a weekend visit, do we miss church so that we can show them that they are special to us—or do we show them that they are special to us by inviting them to join us at church because church attendance is THAT important and necessary in our week?

Another aspect of this same topic is to question why we do what we do and what our end-game goals are. Those who do not know and love God have goals that involve getting ahead, looking good or important to others, and eventually retiring and living the “good life” – whatever that might even mean. Others gravitate more toward the goal of just being left alone to do whatever they want, whenever they want, and however they want. These are all self-oriented goals, of course, which make sense if you are not a child of God.

But if we DO belong to God, can these be our goals (or at least, our entire goal)? I don’t think so! The Bible has some pretty clear direction as to what pleases God and how He wants His children to act, think, and become. Jesus brought it up a lot, actually. He spoke about “representing” the Father, He spoke about “looking like” the Father, He spoke about doing ONLY the Father’s will, He spoke about unity with the Father, He expressed trust in the Father in prayer, also seeking His wisdom and help. He directed praise to the Father, He impressed on people how essential it was to obey the Father’s Word, and He shared quite clearly that loving God supremely and loving others as self are the necessary “basics” of belonging to the family of God. These are all goals every believer should have and these are the goals that will affect what we do from moment to moment, day after day, decade after decade, until our goal is reached, that of being more and more like the Son when we finally get promoted to glory.

I am confident that we all WANT to work . . . for the food that lasts for eternal life, and assume that we (mostly) are. I just know myself enough to acknowledge that frequent prayerful evaluations are necessary to make sure that I am doing what God wants and haven’t wandered off in the thicket of worldly focused attitudes or goals. God is SO GOOD to remind us about what is TRULY important!

Tuesday, November 3, 2020
(Ask the Father for help to want the things that He wants for you and from you.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
–Read John chapter 5 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I’m quite confident I noted the following statement when we were in John 5, but I was arrested once again by this statement of Christ, “the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things.”

It is interesting to me on a few levels. For one, Jesus states quite clearly that He has a role to play, as does the Father. The Father is the Architect of His will and the Son is the One Who carries it out. God the Father is God—and God the Son is God (and so is God the Holy Spirit, Who, by the way, is the One Who provides the power to carry out the Father’s will). They are equal, yet they have different roles. No one is jealous of the other, nor do they wish they could “trade places for a day.” They are in perfect harmony and unity.

When Christians live exactly according to how God has set things up, we too can live in harmony and unity with each other—and with God! Oh, for sure, we still currently have a sin nature that snags us here and there, BUT it is most definitely possible for believers to live in unity with each other and God RIGHT NOW. We but need to follow Jesus’ example and only do the things that we know that God wants us to do!

When I was a teenager, it was popular to play a game where someone challenged someone else to try to be their mirror image. They would stand face to face and one person would take the lead, perhaps moving their right hand to their head and smoothing their hair. The other person’s job was to try to act as the mirror and copy what the other person was doing—at the same time. Obviously, the leader wanted to try to trip the other person up by moving suddenly or in an unexpected manner, but it was a fun game. One thing was true for that game, though, if the person trying to imitate the other person knew them really well, they had a much greater chance of success in not being caught off guard. In many ways, this is how we are to live our lives as faithful children of God (although, God NEVER tries to trick us or throw us off guard!). We are to keep our eyes focused on those of our Savior—and mirror everything He did, as He did it, and even WHY He did it. Now, I know we can’t literally see Jesus’ face right now, BUT we CAN “see” Him in Scripture. In fact, that’s what the Bible is all about—so we can know Who God is and how to please Him! There’s actually quite a bit of important information right in today’s chapter in John. Look over the following list (taken from John 5) and consider how you might mirror Jesus in your attitudes and actions:

-Jesus didn’t overlook people who were poor, disabled, or outcasts of society. He helped them physically, but He was mostly interested in their spiritual needs.
-Jesus told people the truth about their spiritual needs.
-Jesus obeyed God’s Law. He didn’t allow people to think that human add-ons were equal with what God had said. He was sometimes accused of ‘breaking the Sabbath,” but the Bible is crystal clear that He never sinned, not even once, so He could not have broken the Sabbath.
-Jesus did what the Father did.
-Jesus gave honor to the Father.
-Jesus sought the will of the Father.
-Jesus did the jobs that God sent Him to do.
-Jesus acted in the Father’s name.

Monday, November 2, 2020
(Thank the Father for how He blessed you yesterday through His Word and through His people.)
-Pray and ask the Father to help you focus on today’s Scripture so that you can understand it and know how He might want you to apply it to your life.
-Read John chapter 4 at least once straight through.
(For bonus points, read the chapter before and after today’s target chapter for help to keep everything in context and fresh in your memory.)
-Read the chapter in John again. Underline five things that are interesting or seem important to you (ONLY five).
-Look at what you have underlined and summarize why you underlined at least one of them (Was it interesting information? Was it something that you want to research and find out more about? Was it something that seemed important to meditate on or even memorize? Was it something that you need to apply to your current actions and life? Was it something you wanted to thank God for? Was it something you wanted to share with someone else by way of witness or testimony of praise?).
-Pray again, thanking God for what He showed you from His Word. Ask His help to use it today in what you think, say, and do.
-Other Prayer requests for the day:

Lorie’s Chapter Observations and Summaries:
I think one of the huge lessons of John 4 is that, although we (humans) like to THINK that we know most answers (or can figure it out on our own given enough time), the truth is that only God truly knows. And because only God truly knows what’s what, we NEED to go to Him for the answers. All of them!

The famous “woman at the well” (who we will get to meet in heaven!) had some questions for Jesus, just not the right ones*. But, Jesus, as the gracious, kind Man that He was (is!), didn’t limit Himself to the “polite” and expected responses that most people would give (for example, how often do we nod our head or laugh in agreement with something someone said when we didn’t actually agree with them or when we KNEW that God wanted us to say something about Him to them???). Nope. Jesus was hyper aware of the very limited amount of time that He had to teach about His Father and about people’s need for salvation. So He was careful to not blow someone off or to not say to them merely what they wanted to hear. The woman was actually being pretty brave to ask this male Jewish stranger ANYTHING, but even so, Jesus addressed her TRUE NEED. As a result she got saved—as did many others in her town! Wow! I wonder what God might do in people’s hearts when we obediently speak of important things—eternal things—to the people we come across on a day to day basis? I wonder, too, how much better we could serve God and honor Him if we came to Him FIRST with our questions and concerns—before trying to answer it on our own?

Another big life-lesson that Jesus gives us in John 4 is that of making the consistent choice of going through life with the simple goal of doing what the Father wants (which means NOT doing what we might want)**.

Jesus was forever being interrupted. Did you ever notice that? It would seem that He could never go ANYWHERE without someone stopping Him to ask a favor or to try to pick a fight. If you or I were interrupted every single time we walked out our door, I’m not sure our reaction would always be in keeping with the Father’s will, but that’s how Jesus lived. And as hard as it sounds, if Jesus did it, so can we! And before we say that it doesn’t count because he is God, Jesus didn’t live in the strength of His deity. When He took on human flesh, He temporarily set aside the independent use of His divine power and might (Phil. 2:7)—and, instead, “only” used the same two tools that you and I also have, that of the direction and help of the Holy Spirit and the might and wisdom of God’s Written Word. I am 100% confident (because God’s Word says it) that we, too, can slowly but surely learn how to live as God wants. And as we draw closer to God and become more and more like the Son, our wants will also more closely match what God wants for us to have or not have.

*The woman at the well wanted to know why Jesus would even speak to her. Jesus told her that she should have asked Him for living water. She asked Jesus if He thought He was greater than her ancestor, Jacob. Jesus continued to explain about the living water and its ability to give eternal life. She focused on an area of religious debate, but Jesus simply identified Himself as THE Messiah.

**Jesus said that He NEEDED to leave Judea and go to Galilee—and to travel through Samaria (not around it as most Jews did). Jesus needed a drink of water—because He needed to talk to this woman about salvation. Jesus did not always need physical food, but He DID need to do the will of Him Who sent Him and to finish His work.

December 2020 DBSQs

Messianic Mothers: Conclusion

Thursday, December 31
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please look over: The mothers we studied this month

Let’s Dig In
How can we summarize twenty women/groups of women? They were real people who really existed. They were of different times, places, peoples, and backgrounds. Some were godly, some incredibly wicked, and some started well but ended poorly—but they all had a sin nature. They all needed the Promised Son to come and pay the price for their sin.

And we can learn something from all of them, too. Whether she was a shining example of faithfulness and endurance, or a dark stain of wickedness, we can learn a lesson from each mother, “for whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction” (Rom. 15:4). Each woman exemplified a trait, whether a reflection of Christlikeness or the opposite. We can imitate the God-honoring women and avoid following in the footsteps of the others.

I’ve written some contemplative questions for you to answer slowly and prayerfully as you look over the mothers that God chose to be in the line of the Promised Son:

Question time!
1. Who was your favorite mother in this study? Why?
2. Who was your least favorite? Why?
3. Was there a woman you particularly related to?
4. List one thing that you either didn’t know before starting this study, or a point you hadn’t thought of before.

Is there an application (either one I suggested or one that the Holy Spirit brought to your mind) that stands out to you? How can you implement it practically? For example: “Sally” likes connecting with her grown children and distant friends over Facebook, and she can’t help but notice the ads Facebook shows. Actually, several of the products advertised have looked great—Sally scanned the website of the product, read the description and a number of glowing testimonials, and ended up buying them. But when the products arrived at her door, most of them they weren’t as marvelous as the pictures looked: they were cheap, didn’t work well, or only useful for one specific thing. After reading about our first mother Eve and how she was deceived, Sally decided to make a change. Instead of buying products while her husband was at work, she
1. would wait until the evening, after supper, to show him the website. He would help her decide if it was a wise purchase.
2. Has there been a mother in this study who reminded you of a woman you know in a positive way? (For example, a hard-working woman who volunteers for potentially difficult jobs unflinchingly, like young Rebekah.) Write her name here: ___. Write yourself a note in your planner (or phone) to tell her so: Write a note, call, text, or talk to her in person to thank her for her godly example and encourage her in her service for God. Check here when done:
3. Is there a “Naomi,” a bitter, complaining, never-pleased person, in your life? How can you be faithful to him/her and endure like Ruth?
4. Is there a “Ruth,” a faithful, loyal, patient person, in your life who has put up with you when you were a little hard to get along with? Write a note, call, text, or talk to her in person to thank her for her godly example and encourage her in her service for God. Check here when done:
5. Is there a “Queen Naamah,” an unsaved/ungodly influence in your life? How can you guard your purity and loyalty to God from being tainted? Do you need to make a decision to end that relationship?
6. Are you a student of God’s Word like Mary (and probably her mother, “Batya”)? Evaluate your current style of devotions. Do you need to switch things up? Read from a different translation for a while? Do you need to do them in a different place in the house, or at a different time of day? Are you using any tools, like a study Bible or multiple translations? While not strictly necessary, they can be very useful; your pastor will be happy to show you examples and give recommendations. Write down any changes you’re going to make here:
7. Look over some of the titles I gave these women. What title would you give yourself right now? (For example: “Daughter of God” or “Hard-Working Wife”) What title would you like to earn in the future?
8. Is there something(s) from this study that made you curious? What would you like to study from God’s Word? (For example: “promises of God,” “what life was like for women in Christ’s day,” or “prophecies about Christ and their fulfillment”)
9. Room for any final thoughts:

May God help us each to look more like His Promised Son, Jesus Christ, each day!

Mother of the Teacher: Mary, Part 3

Notable Family:
Father: Joseph, son of Heli
Mother: “Batya”
Husband: Joseph, son of Jacob
Firstborn Son: Jesus Christ
Mary’s References:
Isaiah 7:14
Matt. 1-2; Luke 1-2
John 2:1-12
Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 6:42
Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 3:20-21; 31-35
Luke 11:27-28
John 19:25-27
Acts 1:14
Joseph’s References:
Matt. 1:18-2:23; Luke 2
Meaning of Name: “beloved”

Wednesday, December 30
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Luke 2:46-51
After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
And when His parents saw him, they were astonished. And His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
And He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them.

Mark 3:20-21; 31-35
Then He went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him, for they were saying, “He is out of His mind.”
And His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, He said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Question time!
1. How long did it take Mary and Joseph to find the boy Jesus in the city of Jerusalem?
2. How did Mary respond when they found Him?
3. Did she understand Jesus’ answer?
4. One day when He was around thirty, Jesus began to teach and minister, and great crowds flocked to hear Him. What did Mary and her sons think when they heard that the crowds around Jesus were so thick that He couldn’t even eat?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Years passed. Mary’s children had grown up and left the nest. Joseph had apparently died. The Bible doesn’t record anything directly about Jesus’ life as a young adult, but the inhabitants of Nazareth called Him “the carpenter,” so it’s a fair speculation that Christ took over Joseph’s work as his oldest legal son (Mark 6:3). But one day, without warning it seems, Jesus left Nazareth, traveled to the Jordan River, and was baptized by John. After disappearing into the wilderness for forty days (to be tempted), He chose twelve men to follow Him and began teaching.

I wonder what Mary thought? Did she think her son was behaving oddly? She knew He was God’s Promised Son, miraculously sent through her, but she didn’t know what was coming—how He would fulfill prophecy and rescue sinful mankind from his rebellion.

Perhaps not; we do get a little hint of her faith. Right after He chose His disciples, He attended a big wedding in Cana, and Mary was there, too. When a need presented itself—the grape juice ran out—Mary informed her son and told the servants to obey Him. And Jesus did display His glory with a miraculous change.

However, in the following weeks or months, His popularity grew so fast that crowds followed Him everywhere—even preventing Him from eating. By this time, Mary’s perspective had shifted. She, along with her other children, thought Jesus was “out of His mind.” They intended to take Him home and, presumably, “talk sense into Him.”
It seems that Mary had forgotten the wonder of Jesus’ birth. After the excitement died down came a normal childhood: besides never needing discipline, Jesus was a normal human child (He is 100% man as well as 100% God). Unlike some paintings you’ve probably seen, He didn’t have a glowing halo to signify His holiness. In fact, He wasn’t extraordinarily handsome; he didn’t look eye catching (Is. 53:2).
All that to say: Mary got used to Jesus. She forgot who He was.

Not that we can blame her. We, like her, are only human, and we are forgetful beings, too. But God knows this—He made us, after all, and He knows our frame, that we are but dust (Ps. 103:14). Christ was gracious even when His mother lost sight of an eternal perspective. He was respectful and, before He died on the cross, rose again, and ascended to the Father, He made sure Mary was cared for by charging John with providing for her.

We get one last peek at Mary in the biblical record. Luke tells us she was present—one of many “devoting themselves to prayer”—in the upper room in Jerusalem on Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came on all believers present and the church was born. (And two of her other sons, Jesus’ half brothers James and Jude, were later used of God to write letters that became books of the Bible.)

What can we learn from Mary’s later years? Even when our focus slips off God, He is gracious. Even when we forget the big picture, He is kind. In fact, Christ, on the last day before His crucifixion, instituted a special reminder for us forgetful humans: Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. This is to be a solemn time of remembering Christ’s death and work for us, as well as a time of self-examination (I Cor. 11:23-34).

But of course we can seek to remind ourselves daily of God’s gifts to us. We can start each day by thanking Him for it and asking for His help in serving Him today. We can write down verses and carry them in a pocket. We can frame beautiful verse art on our walls. We could even write reminders in our planner.
Don’t get used to God’s goodness and grace. Be careful not to lose your focus or lose your first love (Rev. 2:4). God honors our efforts to honor Him.

Mother of the Promised Son: Mary, Part 2

Notable Family:
Father: Joseph, son of Heli
Mother: “Batya”
Husband: Joseph, son of Jacob
Firstborn Son: Jesus Christ
Mary’s References:
Isaiah 7:14
Matt. 1-2; Luke 1-2
John 2:1-12
Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 6:42
Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 3:20-21; 31-35
Luke 11:27-28
John 19:25-27
Acts 1:14
Joseph’s References:
Matt. 1:18-2:23; Luke 2
Meaning of Name: “beloved”

Tuesday, December 29
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Luke 2:15-19
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:28-33
He [Simeon] took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” And His father and his mother marveled at what was said about Him.

Luke 2:46-51
After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
And when His parents saw him, they were astonished. And His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
And He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

Question time!
1. Not long after giving birth, Mary, Joseph, and the baby had some unexpected and unusual visitors in the humble stable (or cave) in Bethlehem. Who were they?
2. Who had told them about the birth? How had these messengers described the baby?
3. Eight days later, Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. An old man named Simeon met them and held the baby. What did he say about Him?
4. Twelve years later, Mary and Joseph were returning from Jerusalem with their traveling group when they realized the boy Jesus was not with them. They found Him in the ____, ___to the teachers and ____ them questions.
5. How did Jesus describe the Temple?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Mary had received an announcement from God’s messenger, telling her she would be God’s servant in something impossible He would accomplish. She visited her older relative Elizabeth, who exclaimed a blessing and praised God herself. Not long afterward, Mary realized she was expecting… and then she had a normal pregnancy, presumably with all the normal aches, inconveniences, and discomfort that that entails. She got married and began adjusting to life as a wife (although Joseph was not intimate with her yet). Then a distant king made a decree, and the new couple was forced to travel despite Mary’s condition.

While they were in Bethlehem, staying in a stable (likely a cave), Mary went into labor. Joseph probably asked around and found the village’s midwife, and except for being forced to deliver in such humble environs, the birth was a normal one. Mary’s firstborn son looked like any normal newborn Jewish baby, and she swaddled Him as any other baby would have been.

Then shepherds—generally viewed as dirty, disreputable, second-class citizens—tumbled into the stable. Awed and excited, they babbled their news: a glowing angel of God had announced that this baby, lying in a manger, was the Savior, Christ the Lord. They probably talked over each other, wonder in their eyes, as they described the multitude of angels who had praised God.

I can imagine Mary sitting quietly, listening to these men. She was reminded that her baby was God’s precious gift, His Messiah. She absorbed these things—the news, the shepherds’ awe, the village’s wondering—and “treasured” them, “pondering them in her heart.”

Likewise when Mary and Joseph brought the baby the short journey to Jerusalem, to obey the Law at the Temple, Simeon’s joy and prophecies probably caught her off guard. She and Joseph wondered: what did it mean that Jesus would be “a Light for revelation to the Gentiles?” How would this baby boy bring “glory to God’s people Israel?”

Twelve years later, Mary had probably largely forgotten the wonder and astonishment of her firstborn son. She knew He was God’s special gift, but her time and energy had been devoted to caring for Him and raising Him, a normal human child. She was also busy mothering her and Joseph’s six or more children (James, Joseph, Simon, Judas, and unnamed sisters). She and Joseph were normal worried parents when they realized Jesus was missing. They left their traveling group, returned to Jerusalem, and searched there. It took them three days to find Him. When they did, they found a boy wise beyond His years. He was conversing intelligently with learned, white-bearded rabbis, revealing a deep, intimate knowledge of God’s Word incredibly unusual for a youth. Mary, after her initial scolding, Jesus’ unexpected and confusing answer, and their return to Nazareth, again “treasured up all these things in her heart.”

In other words, Mary meditated. (She doubtless had this habit from her youth, since her Magnificat is so full of scriptural references.) Not “meditation” as in today’s dangerous new-age hocus-pocus, but a thoughtful mulling over. A “chewing on.” A quiet contemplation. Turning over to examine every facet.
Mary was not the only person in the Bible who meditated. Let’s see what David and other psalmists say about deeply pondering God’s perfect Word:

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season,and its leaf does not wither.

Psalm 63:6-7 (David)
I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the watches of the night; for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy.

Psalm 77:11-15 (Asaph)
I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old. I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds. Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders; You have made known your might among the peoples. You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.

Psalm 119:9-16
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are You, O Lord; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of Your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 145:5 (David)
On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works, I will meditate.

There are so many wonderful truths packed into these few short selections. Here a few thoughts:
-Meditation is focused on God’s Word, God’s character, and God’s deeds.
-Meditation leads to stability and maturity.
-Meditation is to be done anywhere and everywhere.
-Meditation helps a believer to stay pure.
-Meditation brings joy and peace.
-Meditation is aided by memorization of Scripture.

What does this mean practically? How does one actually go about meditating? Let me give you an example. Let’s say I read passages about the Last Supper from all four gospels in my chronological Bible. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet and He taught them that leaders ought to serve.

I could pause and think about this. My father, a pastor, is a great example of a humble leader who serves; he’s perfectly willing to do dirty, lowly tasks. How can I serve? What needs are there that I have the ability to meet? Is there someone I need to thank for his or her humble service?

I could even choose a specific verse or two, write it down, and carry it around with me during the day. Then when I’ve got a moment at work with no customers, I could look at it and remember and mull it over some more.

I could also remember other Bible passages connected to today’s. Jesus said He washed feet as an example; what other examples did He give us?

Perhaps it would help you to write your thoughts down, if it’s disorganized scribbles. Maybe talking out loud would help your thoughts flow. If you like to draw, you could sketch the scene from the Bible as you consider it. Maybe you’d like to pray your meditation back to God as you go. Find what works for you and do it—God blesses the child of His who treasures His Word up in her heart.

The Virgin Mother: Mary, Part 1

Notable Family:
Father: Joseph, son of Heli
Mother: “Batya”
Husband: Joseph, son of Jacob
Firstborn Son: Jesus Christ
Mary’s References:
Isaiah 7:14
Matt. 1-2; Luke 1-2
John 2:1-12
Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 6:42
Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 3:20-21; 31-35
Luke 11:27-28
John 19:25-27
Acts 1:14
Joseph’s References:
Matt. 1:18-2:23; Luke 2
Meaning of Name: “beloved”

Monday, December 28
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Isaiah 7:14
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Isaiah 9:2, 6
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone. For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given.

Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for Me One who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Luke 1:31-32, 34-35, 37
“…And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Luke 2:1-6
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Gal. 4:4-5
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Question time!
1. What miraculous sign did God give in Isaiah’s day?
2. The people who walked in darkness would see a great ___. What would this light be?
3. Who was Mary’s child going to be called?
4. What little village did Mary find herself in after a decree from a distant, powerful king? ___, which is also called the City of ____
5. Why did God send His Son? To ___ sinners and give them the right to become ___ of God

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Thousands of years ago, God had promised an “impossible” thing: His Son would be born of a virgin. The Son of God would be born of a lowly human woman who was by no means holy or perfect; she had a sin nature like all of mankind. The Son would be Son of God and Son of Man equally: 100% God and 100% man.

Finally, God’s perfect timing was right. His great rescue plan, to save His creation from their foolish rebellion, was ready to come to completion. God chose His special maidservant: the young woman who would carry and raise His Son until He was ready to minister and die for her and all mankind. God hand-picked Mary, out of all the potential options, for two reasons. First, because of her lineage. She was descended from King David, specifically the more righteous, faithful line of David’s son Nathan. Secondly, I believe God chose Mary because she was godly, humble, willing, and well-versed in Scripture. (God also hand-picked Joseph, a righteous man, because he was descended from David’s royal line through his son Solomon, to be Mary’s husband and the adoptive, legal father and protector of Christ.)

And God kept His promise. His power caused an “impossible” thing to happen: a virgin conceived and bore a son. God always keeps His promises, even when it seems impossible to us.

Here are some other “impossible” things God can do:
-Create the universe out of His words (Genesis 1)
-Enable a 90-year-old woman to become a mother (Genesis 21)
-Turn a staff into a snake and back again (Exodus 7)
-Turn an entire river into blood (Exodus 7)
-Send plagues of frogs, gnats, flies, and so on all over Egypt—but not on the Israelites (Exodus 8-12)
-Part the Red Sea and create a path of dry land straight through the middle (Exodus 14)
-Supply bread for millions of people in the desert every day for 40 years (Exodus 16)
-Create a gushing river from a rock (Exodus 17)
-Keep shoes and clothes from wearing out, and feet from swelling for 40 years of travel over rough terrain (Deut. 29:5)
-Enable animals to speak (Numbers 22)
-Part the Jordan River in full spring flood and make the water stand up like a wall (Joshua 3)
-Collapse walls of a great city at a shout (Joshua 6)
-Make the sun stand still for a day (Joshua 10)
-Control exactly where dew forms (Judges 6)
-Defeat an army of a million men by a very small army (II Chron. 14)
-Send fire from heaven that consumed the offering, wood, stones, dust, and water (I Kings 18)
-Cause a jar of oil not to run out (II Kings 4)
-Make the sun move backward (Isaiah 38:8)
-Heal blindness, including one’s optic nerve and brain (John 9)
-Heal lameness (Luke 5:17-26)
-Provide food for thousands out of a few small loaves and fish (Mark 6, 8)
-Walk on water (Matthew 14)
-Rebuke the wind and waves of a raging storm (Matthew 8:23-27)
– Resurrect: make physically dead people alive (John 11)
– “Quicken:” make spiritually dead people alive (Col. 2:13)

(As long as this list is, there are so many more examples in God’s Word. What others can you think of?)

Take a moment to ponder this list and praise God for His power. And the next time you’re feeling discouraged and worn down, remember that God cannot change. The same God who parted the Red Sea and raised Christ from the dead thousands of years ago is your God. Nothing on heaven or earth can snatch His child away from His hand (John 10:29), and He always keeps His promises. Nothing is impossible for Him.

Mother of Mary: “Batya” **

Notable Family:
Husband: Joseph, son of Heli
Chosen Daughter: Mary
Joseph’s Reference:
Luke 3:23
**Name assigned for personification: in other words, I chose this name so we don’t have to call her “Mrs. So-and-so”

Sunday, December 27
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Luke 1:39-55
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has looked on the humble estate of His servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Question time!
1. Does anything sound familiar to you from Mary’s words of praise?
2. Look up Hannah’s prayer of praise in I Samuel 2:1-10. Do you think this was part of Mary’s inspiration?
3. What are several of your favorite psalms and Bible stories? Compose your own words of praise to God, using them as your foundation. (No rhyming required!)

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
What was “Batya,” the mother of Mary like? While we don’t know anything about her except the name of her husband (Joseph, son of Heli) and that she had at least one child besides Mary (John 19:25), we can speculate based on the character of her chosen daughter Mary.

-Mary was humble; she called herself God’s maidservant.
-Mary believed God; when His messenger Gabriel announced that she, a virgin, was going to conceive and bear a son, she merely asked how that would occur.
-Mary was willing; when Gabriel told her that God had chosen her, she accepted God’s will: “Let it be to me according to your word.”
-Mary was godly and mature; she had an eternal perspective instead of worrying what all her neighbors would think of her.
-And, our focus for today, Mary had a deep knowledge of the Word of God. I had you read Mary’s poetic words of praise in the house of Elizabeth; this is also called Mary’s “Magnificat,” (named after the Latin word for “magnify,” the main word in the first line).

The Magnificat is loaded with references to the Old Testament, especially Hannah’s prayer of praise (I Sam. 2). Mary begins by praising God, as many psalms do, and thanks Him for looking on her with favor. She knows she was given a unique blessing. Mary speaks of God’s character and His deeds throughout history, as revealed through His Word. She finishes by focusing on God’s special care for His people, Israel. Although brief, the Magnificat is a beautiful example of eloquent praise from a person who had steeped her mind and heart in God’s Word.

Who taught Mary to read? Who told her stories of God’s grace on Israel throughout the centuries? Who brought her to the synagogue every Sabbath so she could listen to the reading of God’s Word and a sermon from the rabbi? Who encouraged Mary to read God’s Word for herself? Who memorized and quoted Scripture as part of her day-to-day talk?

Probably her mother. Batya was likely a lover and student of God’s Word and instilled this lovely trait in her children.

Say, are you a lover of God’s Word? Are you a student of Scripture? Of course I mean you should attend every church service you possibly can and listen carefully to the pastor or teacher. But more than that, I mean do you read and absorb God’s Word on your own? Do you make notes, underline, and write down questions? Do you use tools like a study Bible (or notes from your pastor’s sermon on that book from last year)? Do you have a notebook (or a document on your computer) for writing down your thoughts and applications from the Bible? Do you seek to memorize verses? Does Scripture come from your heart and out of your mouth during normal, daily conversation?

If you’re a mother, you also have a solemn responsibility from God Himself to teach His Word to the next generation (Deut. 6:7, 20). Besides children, we all have someone we could positively influence. Wives, how about asking your husband to lead the two of you in a Bible study? Is there a sister in Christ you could meet with to read the Bible or a Bible study book together?

No time spent in God’s Word is wasted (Is. 55:11). All Scripture is profitable for training in righteousness (II Tim. 3:16).

Mothers in Exile, Returned Exiles, & Mothers in an Oppressed Israel (from Mrs. Shealtiel to Mrs. Jacob)

(Rachel made a great chart of these women. If you would like to see it, email me.)

Saturday, December 26
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: II Chronicles 36:14-17, 20-21
All the people [of Judah] likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations
of the nations. And they polluted the house of the Lord that he had made holy in Jerusalem.
The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy.
Therefore he brought up against them [Nebuchadnezzar] the king of the Chaldeans. He gave them all into his hand. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, to fulfill seventy years.

Daniel 1:3-7
Then [King Nebuchadnezzar] commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king.
Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego.

Daniel 5:24-31
[Daniel said,] “Then from His presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then [King] Belshazzar [grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar] gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean [Babylonian] king was killed. And Darius the Mede [Persian] received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Ezra 1:1-3; 3:8
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—He is the God who is in Jerusalem.”
…Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen [to rebuild God’s Temple].

Esther 3:6-7, 13
But [Haman] disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus [King Xerxes of Persia].
In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur (that is, they cast lots) before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with instruction to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.

Haggai 1:1-4, 12
In the second year of Darius the king [of Persia], in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”
…Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.

[Over 400 years later]
Luke 1:26-27
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Question time!
1. Why did God allow King Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Judah and Jerusalem and bring thousands of Judeans captive to Persia?
2. How long had Jeremiah prophesied that the exile of God’s people would last? ___ years
3. Which four young men, among the captives from Judah, were trained in Babylonian language, culture, and wisdom? ___, ____, __, & ___
4. During the days of King Nebuchadnezzar’s foolish grandson King Belshazzar, God sent a hand to write on the wall. ___ interpreted the message, and that very night it came true. Who took over as king? ___ the _____
5. Finally, seventy years of exile had passed. King ___ of Persia issued what proclamation?
6. Many Jews returned to Israel and began rebuilding the Temple and Jerusalem’s walls under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah—but not all of them. What beautiful young Jewish girl became queen of Persia? ___. Who was the wicked man who tried to commit genocide against all Jews?
7. How long was the silence, a lack of new revelation, from God?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Like Israel before her, Judah fell into sin and ignored God’s warnings sent through His prophets. God is holy and must punish sin, so after much patience and many warnings through His prophets, He allowed the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to conquer Judah and Jerusalem. In stages, he conquered Judah, destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, killed many Jews, and carted off thousands more to Babylon. This included people in the line of the Promised Son: King Jehoiachin and his mother, Queen Nehushta. God’s people (except for a few of the poorest) were no longer in the Promised Land.
(For more on this devastating event, read Lamentations, which Jeremiah wrote about the fall of Jerusalem, and Psalm 137, which describes the crushing grief of Jewish exiles in Babylon.)
Then came seventy years in exile. The world power that began as Babylon (also known as Chaldea) later became Medo-Persia after a surprise attack and takeover (Dan. 5). It was King Cyrus of Persia that God had prophesied to release His people from their exile (Isaiah 44-45). Cyrus proclaimed that Jews could now return to Israel and rebuild God’s Temple.

Many Jews returned, in clusters, beginning with those under the leadership of Ezra the scribe and Zerubbabel. They began rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, only to face opposition from their Gentile neighbors.

But not all Jews had returned to Israel; they disobeyed God’s command. Of those still in exile were Mordecai and his cousin Esther, Jews living in the Persian capital of Susa. But God used them to stop the murderous plan of wicked Haman, who had plans to destroy all Jews everywhere—including the line of the Promised Son, who would save the world from their sin!

Back in Israel, work on the Temple had stalled for some time, until God sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to warn and encourage the people (Ezra 5:1).

Later, Nehemiah came as governor with another group of Jews and led the massive project of rebuilding Jerusalem’s fallen, indefensible walls.

The stories of Ezra and Nehemiah end on a positive note, but later we learn through Malachi, another prophet to the returned exiles, that the Jews were merely going through the motions of worshipping God; their hearts weren’t true to Him.

Then comes the “Four Hundred Years of Silence:” the Intertestamental Period, after Malachi and before the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. God sent no prophets and no new books of the Bible were written. What was happening during that time?

You’ve probably heard of Alexander the Great. After the Medo-Persian Empire collapsed, he conquered most of the known world, spreading the Greek culture and language and making Greek the “lingua franca” of the world, before he died unexpectedly. One of his successors had control over Israel, and they were harsh, pagan masters. Finally, a family of Jews called the Maccabees led a rebellion and guerrilla warfare against them, and actually succeeded. Later, however, the Jews were squabbling amongst themselves, and one side wanted aid against their rivals and reached out to the rising world power: the Romans.
The Romans took control over Israel, and Israel became a vassal, or territory, of the Roman Empire. Naturally, the Jews hated this and wanted their own king, but the Romans were powerful, well-organized, and well-armed. Roman officers and soldiers occupied the land, enforcing taxes and laws, and keeping a close watch out for any rebels. However, the Roman Empire also built good roads and communication systems, making travel much easier and safer.

By the time of the New Testament, when God sent messengers to Zechariah, Mary, and Joseph in preparation for sending the Promised Son, the Jews had developed a system of traditions added on to the Law. The religious leaders (Pharisees, scribes, and so on) taught that their add-ons and interpretations were of equal importance to God’s Law. They followed the letter of the Law exactly—right down to tithing their herb gardens—but they ignored the spirit of the Law: loving God and others. The system of synagogues had also developed. Jews attended their town or village’s synagogue each Sabbath (Saturday) and heard a pre-assigned reading from the Law (the Old Testament) and a sermon from the rabbi (teacher). The rabbis, however, taught mainly about the teachings of previous rabbis rather than the Law itself.

What were the mothers of this time like? Many probably felt abandoned by God when the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar carted them off to live as exiled servants in a distant, pagan land. They grieved and mourned and wept for their lost land, families, and freedom. They stayed there, foreigners and exiles, for seventy years. By the time King Cyrus made his decree, many Jews were too comfortable to obey.
For those who did return—mothers on our list among them—life was anything but idyllic. Jerusalem and environs lay in blackened rubble, and pagan people now lived in the land. Their husbands and sons went to work on rebuilding the Temple and later the walls of Jerusalem, but the neighbors opposed it so much that the men (and a few women) ended up working with swords in hand.

Later, these mothers and their families suffered under the oppression of cruel, pagan, foreign masters. I can picture a wife pacing the house after dark until her husband finally stumbles in, explaining that he was late because a Roman soldier had forced him to carry his heavy gear for him. Perhaps they prayed to God, asking for relief from these other nations’ power, and wondered why He didn’t send a prophet.
And most or all of these mothers, knowing that God had promised to send the Promised Son through a descendant of David (II Sam. 7), and that they were married into David’s lines, probably wondered when God was going to fulfill that promise. If she was going to be the mother of the Promised Son.
We, with access to the entirety of God’s Word, know that we’re supposed to “wait on the Lord” and wait patiently for Him, but sometimes it can feel like He’s forgotten us—especially when we’re waiting for an answer to an important prayer (For example: “Please give me a baby” or “Please bring my loved one safely through surgery” or “Please give my husband a better job so we’re not so tight financially”). Or how about when you’ve prayed earnestly for salvation for a loved one for years—decades, even—and he or she seems as hard-hearted as ever? Has God been ignoring that prayer request?
The answer is simple: Of course not. God always keeps His promises, and what has God promised?

“You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” (Isaiah 41:9-10, 13)

“He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’ (Heb. 13:5-6).

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)

When fears rise up, put your trust in God. He hears and He cares, and He will never leave you. He loves you as His own.

The Promised Son: Jesus Christ

Notable Family:
Father: God the Father
Mother: Mary
Adoptive Human Father: Joseph
Christ’s References:
Gen. 1; John 1:1-18
Gen. 16:7-13; 18; 22:11-18; 32:24-30; Ex. 2:2-6; Josh. 5:13-15; Judges 6:11-24; 13
Gen. 3:15; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; 11:1-5; 42:1-7; 50:6; 52:13-53:12; Micah 5:2-4; Zech. 9:9; Psalm 22:1,16-18; 41:9
Matt., Mark, Luke, John
Acts-Revelation
Meaning of Name: “God is salvation”

Friday, December 25 Merry Christmas!
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 3:15
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this… I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 12:1-3
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 49:10
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to Him; and to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

II Samuel 7:12-13
When your [David’s] days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.

Question time!
1. Whose Offspring would defeat the serpent?
2. Through a descendant of ___, ___ the families of the earth would be ___
3. The kingly ____ will ___ depart from a son of Judah.
4. God promised that He would establish the ______ of a son of David ____
5. Which of these prophecies have been fulfilled?
6. Which of these prophecies have not been fulfilled yet?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Today is the day we celebrate the giving of the Promised Son. Although we’re not quite done with our Messianic mothers in chronological order, I thought it would be appropriate to look at Christ Himself now.
After thousands of years and dozens of prophecies, God’s timing was finally right. The generation who would walk among God’s Son on earth was growing up. God had used world conquerors to construct a system of roads and institute a lingua franca for the spreading of the good news within the century. The Romans, who had perfected the type of death prophesied for the Messiah, had control over Israel. The herald, or messenger, the “voice of one crying out in the wilderness,” had been ordained: John the Baptizer.

Finally, God’s Son became flesh and was born of a woman in humble circumstances. His birth was announced by angels, yes, but to shepherds. not to kings and high priests. Very few (besides His mother and adoptive father) recognized the Messiah when He arrived: namely, an old man and an old woman (Simeon and Anna).

Years passed. Jesus grew up and began His ministry without fanfare.

What did the Promised Son, the Son of the Glory on high, look like?
He looked like a normal Jewish man: He probably had light brown skin, brown hair and beard, and brown eyes (not blue). There was nothing distinctive about His physical appearance (Is. 6:2).

What was the Promised Son like? What was His character?
He was gentle, as Isaiah prophesied. While He was harsh with those who knew better, such as the Pharisees, He was kind to the ignorant and used questions to help His listeners think. He cared for the “useless” people of society, such as lepers, women suffering from medical issues, and blind people. He loved children and respected women (which the culture largely did not). He was also compassionate, even though His people had rejected Him and His prophets many times, and patient, even though His disciples had to learn the same lesson multiple times.

He was authoritative. He taught clearly, often using simple examples from life, and directly from God’s Word (as opposed to the Pharisees, who talked about the interpretations of previous rabbis). He was intimately acquainted with Scripture. He was confident and never anxious or concerned about others’ opinion of Him. He defended the vulnerable unapologetically.

He was pure. He never sinned. He was not afraid, however, to “break” the man-made traditions that the Pharisees thought were as important as the Law; He made a clear distinction between God’s Word and man’s word. He always told the truth; He never lied, “stretched the truth,” or deceived anyone.
Although He was (and is) God, He laid aside the independent use of His power and relied instead, completely, on the Father’s commands and the Spirit’s guidance. He obeyed the Father diligently and communicated constantly with Him through prayer.

What did the Promised Son do? What was His goal?
He taught God’s Word and interpreted it clearly, exactly as God intended; He nullified the loopholes that the Pharisees had created. He healed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of every kind of illness, deformity, chronic disease, and even blindness. He hand-picked and trained His closest followers, twelve disciples (including the one who would betray Him). He challenged the Pharisees and other self-righteous people. He traveled constantly, preaching and ministering, without a home of His own. He raised the dead.
But His ultimate goal was the cross. The Son came to finally fulfill the rescue plan that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit had set in place before the world began—even before He created Adam and Eve and they sinned (I Cor. 2:7). He came to be the Lamb of God, the Passover sacrifice, to take away the sins of the world. He came to fulfill the Law and abolish it by living a perfect, sinless life. He came to pay the price of sin before a holy, righteous, just God for every human being throughout time, once for all. He bore our sins in His body and took our place and God the Father poured out His righteous wrath on Him: the punishment that we deserve.

If the Son had not come, we—all mankind—would be lost forever, hopeless, in our sin, heading for a justly deserved Christless eternity in the Lake of Fire. But since He came and provided a way for us to be declared righteous and holy before God—the only way—all one needs to do is believe that Jesus is God and that He took your place, died, was buried, and rose again the third day (I Cor. 15:3-4).
Thank the Promised Son! Praise Him! He deserves our all, for He gave His all for us.

How did this fit in with our study on the mothers of the messianic line? Well, each of them had an opportunity to look a little like her descendant, the Promised Son. Each woman reflects one or more element of Christlikeness—or the opposite trait.

For example, Sarah is an excellent example of obedience to one’s authority, just like how Christ was always and completely obedient to the Father. However, Tamar shows us anti-Christlikeness in her trickery of Judah. Although God turned her ugly deceit and immorality into grace, He would have blessed her honesty and purity much more.

If I were to ask your family, friends, and the cashier at Walmart about your traits (and assuming they were honest), what would they say? What traits would they assign you? Of these traits, which are a reflection of Christ’s glory and goodness—and which need a little polishing?
God wants us to look more and more like His Son. Oh, we’ll never fully achieve that in this phase of life, but it should be our greatest goal, alongside pleasing God. Reflecting Christ’s traits brings Him glory. In fact, it would be a real honor if someone were to confuse us with Christ.

The Murderous Grandmother: Queen Athaliah

Notable Family:
Father: King Ahab of Israel
Mother: Queen Jezebel of Israel
Father-in-law: King Jehoshaphat
Mother-in-law: Queen “Keziah”
Husband: King Jehoram
Messianic son: King Ahaziah
Athaliah’s References:
II Kings 8:18, 26; 11:1-20
II Chron. 21:6
II Chron. 22:10-23:21
Jehoram’s References:
II Kings 8:16-24
II Chron. 21
Meaning of Name: “Yahweh is exalted”

Thursday, December 24
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: II Chronicles 18:1
Now Jehoshaphat had great riches and honor, and he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.

II Chronicles 21:4-6
When Jehoram had ascended the throne of his father and was established, he killed all his brothers with the sword, and also some of the princes of Israel. Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

II Chronicles 22:2-4
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing.

II Chronicles 22:10-12
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Question time!
Godly King Jehoshaphat of Judah made an alliance with King Ahab of Israel by arranging the marriage of his firstborn, Prince Jehoram, to King Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah. Briefly describe Ahab and Jezebel (if you need a refresher, look at I Kings 16-22):
1. What kind of king did Jehoram become because of his wife?
2. When Jehoram and Athaliah’s son Ahaziah became king, his ____ was his ____ in doing ___. He did what was evil in God’s sight, as the house of ____ had done.
3. When her son King Ahaziah died, what did Athaliah, the Queen Mother, do?
4. Jehoshabeath, wife of Jehoiada the priest, managed to hide ____, the youngest son of King Ahaziah and his ___.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
When you hear the word “queen,” you probably think of a beautiful, graceful, tactful, gentle woman wearing a delicate crown, beautiful clothes, and jewelry. But Athaliah was the opposite: she was merciless, wicked, and manipulative.

King Jehoshaphat of Judah was a godly king, but he made several foolish decisions. Perhaps his worst was to ally with wicked King Ahab of Israel and therefore with his even more wicked wife, Queen Jezebel, who was from Sidon. To seal the deal, the two kings arranged for their children to marry.
Princess Athaliah had been raised by people who worshipped Baal, a false god, devoutly. Athaliah probably watched her parents argue with, ignore, and try to kill Elijah, the prophet God had sent to confront Ahab. She observed her mother hunt down true prophets of God while personally providing for 450 prophets of Baal. Perhaps she watched her father sulk when he could not get Naboth’s vineyard, and her mother’s lies, manipulation, and indirect murder to steal it for him.

Upon marriage, Athaliah certainly immediately began influencing her husband. She refused to worship his God, only hers, and incited him to join her. She felt no shame in manipulating and lying to get what she wanted. She trained him in wickedness and lusting after power.

She was surely successful, because when Jehoshaphat died and Jehoram became king, he killed all six of his brothers so that none of them could challenge or assassinate him. And he didn’t just do what was evil in God’s sight; he walked “in the way of the house of Ahab,” which was more wicked than any previous king (I Kings 16:30). Through Athaliah, the evil of Israel had infected and affected Judah, which largely had been more faithful to God.

Because of his wickedness, King Jehoram’s reign only lasted eight years. God allowed enemies to raid Jerusalem and the king’s palace; they took captive Jehoram’s other wives and sons, all except the youngest.

After that, God struck him with a horrible disease that eventually killed him. Finally, he died “with no one’s regret” (II Chron. 21:20).

When Athaliah’s youngest son Ahaziah was crowned king at age 22, she became Queen Mother, a position of respect and influence. And influence him she did: she “was his counselor in doing wickedly.” Again, God brought consequences for sin: Ahaziah was killed after only one year after allying with his mother’s wicked family.

Athaliah saw her chance for great power and seized it. She murdered the entire royal family of Judah—her own family. Her own grandsons. Children. She was ruthless and merciless. She wanted no challenger for the throne.

This done, she took control of the throne of Judah and ruled as a terrible, wicked queen for six years. We’re not told directly what kind of a monarch she was, but given all that we know about her and her parents, she was doubtless an extremely wicked, idolatrous, cruel one.

But God, in His grace, mercy, and power, had rescued a single survivor in the line of the Promised Son. He had used the bravery of Jehosheba, Ahaziah’s sister and wife to the priest, to rescue a baby boy: Ahaziah’s youngest son. Jehosheba and Jehoiada hid him in the Temple of God, a holy place in which Athaliah probably never stepped foot.

After six years, Jehoiada took courage and gathered leading godly men, swore them to secrecy, and showed them little Prince Joash, who was only seven years old. He carefully assigned armed men to protect him from every direction. Finally, they led Joash out and crowned him king.
What did the Queen Mother do when she saw her grandson, the rightful heir to the throne? She shouted “Treason!” But Jehoiada had her executed, led the people in tearing down altars and temples for Baal, and the people rejoiced. They finally had peace.

What a character! I wish I could say she was fictional, and that no grandmother could murder her own grandchildren, but no. God’s Word tells the truth, and Athaliah was all too real. But despite such a monster influencing the throne of Judah and then directly on it, God was still in control. Athaliah may have been queen, but God was king of the universe. He had a plan and when His timing was right, Athaliah met justice.

There have been other wicked, power-hungry monsters throughout history. But there are also countless stories of God’s grace and protection. For example, a Jewish family “just so happened” to move to America right before World War II broke out or they would have died in the Holocaust. More recently, you probably know someone who was “supposed” to be at the World Trade Center on Tuesday, September 11, 2001—but a car engine broke down, an appointment was canceled, they were late to a flight. I do. Are these little stories “fate” or “chance” or “good luck?” No, they reveal just a little of our Father’s loving grace and perfect timing. It wasn’t God’s will for my uncle to die on 9/11, so God prevented that from happening. It was probably frustrating at the time, but afterward, he realized it was God’s mercy.

Who knows how many frustrating little interruptions, disappointing cancelled trips, and inconvenient rearrangements have been examples of God’s grace, protecting us from some unknown disaster? Perhaps He will tell us one day. For now, let’s trust Him, even when we can’t see the good in a situation, and thank Him for protecting us from thousands of big and little dangers.

The Queens (and Concubines) of Judah (from Mrs. Rehoboam to Mrs. Jehoiachin)

Wednesday, December 23
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: I Kings 15: 1-3
Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.

I Kings 22:41-43
Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.

II Kings 8:16-18
In the fifth year of Joram the son of Ahab, king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign. He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.

II Kings 11: 1-3
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

II Kings 18:1-3
In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.

II Kings 21:1-2
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

II Kings 23:36-24:2, 6, 8-12, 14-15
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets.
So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his place.
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to the city while his servants were besieging it, and Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The king of Babylon took him prisoner … and carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the
land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon. The king’s mother, the king’s wives, his officials, and the chief men of the land he took into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Question time!
1. King Abijam, whose mother’s name was ___, walked in all the ____ that his father did before him
2. King Jehoshaphat, whose mother’s name was ___, did what was ____ in the sight of the Lord
3. Jehoshaphat’s son King Jehoram did what was ___ in the sight of the Lord, for the ____ of ___ was his wife
4. That same woman, Athaliah, ____ all the royal family (except __)
5. King Hezekiah, whose mother’s name was ______, did what was _____ in the eyes of the Lord
6. Hezekiah’s son King Manasseh, whose mother’s name was ____, did what was __ in the sight of the Lord, according to the ____ ____ of the nations around Israel
7. King Jehoiakim, whose mother’s name was ___, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So did his son Jehoiachin, whose mother’s name was ___. When God handed Judah over to mighty King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, King Jehoiachin gave up ___ and his ___ and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. Where did Nebuchadnezzar take them?

Let’s Dig In
These seventeen mothers span hundreds of years, from the division of Israel into two nations under Solomon’s foolish, arrogant son King Rehoboam, through good kings, evil kings, and kings who started well but ended poorly, to the fall of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire in 586 B.C. because of the sin of the nation—kings and common people alike. (In fact, you’ll notice that although I gave each mother the title of “queen,” some of them were not their husband’s only wife, and in fact some of them may have been concubines!)

The selection of royal records I had you read reminds us of how many times Judah switched from following God to turning their back on Him. Sometimes a godly, faithful king was followed by a wicked one; Hezekiah is the best example of this. King Hezekiah tore down high places for worshipping false gods and had faith in God when a massive Assyrian army came to conquer Judah. And yet his son, King Manasseh, was perhaps the most wicked, wretched king of Judah—he built even more high places, sacrificed his own son to a false god, and got involved in witchcraft, among other things. How did this happen? Well, it is possible that instead of being influenced by his godly father, Manasseh was primarily raised and influenced by his mother Hephzibah, and perhaps she was not a godly woman.

Much work for the Lord can be tainted or undone by a single ungodly person, especially a leader.
Do you have influence over a leader? Does your husband have a role of authority at work (for example, management) or church (for example, deacon, head of the youth ministry, or pastor)? Do you have a close friend who leads a Bible study group? Is your daughter captain of her all-girls sports team? Do you have an adult son in a position of power? Even if your husband is “just” an everyman, he is still a leader: he is the God-appointed leader of your household.

Pray and ask God for wisdom in using your influence, gracefully and tactfully, in guiding that person to faithfulness and greater godliness. Guard against nagging, complaining, and focusing on material, temporary things that will only drag him or her down to a worldly mindset. Pray for him or her. Praise God verbally in his or her presence. What are some other ways you can gently nudge the person in your mind to a closer walk with God?

Even if you don’t have direct contact with a leader, you still have influence in the form of prayer. Pray for your pastor, deacons, and other church leaders. Pray for your state’s governor and the nation’s president (no matter his or her political alignment). Pray for wisdom (and salvation, where applicable).

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

P.S. If you want a copy of the chart that shows these women, their husbands, and the Scripture pertaining to them, please email me.

One of a thousand: Queen Naamah the Ammonite

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: King David
Mother-in-law: Bathsheba
Husband: King Solomon
Messianic son: King Rehoboam
Naamah’s References:
I Kings 11:1-8; 14:21
Solomon’s References:
I Kings 1-11
I Chron. 3:5; 14:4
I Chron. 28 – II Chron. 9
Meaning of Name: “pleasant” or “lovely”

Tuesday, December 22
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: I Kings 3:1; 11:1-13; II Chron. 12:13-14
Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem.
…Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines.
And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.
And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.”

…So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. And he did evil, for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Question time!
1. How many wives did Solomon have? How many concubines?
2. What nation was Naamah from?
3. What was the god of her people? ____, the ___ of the Ammonites
4. Did Naamah worship Yahweh or Molech?
5. God was understanding of Solomon’s need to make alliances by marrying foreign women. True or False
6. Naamah’s son, King ___, did ___, for he did not __ __ ___ to ___ the Lord.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
King Solomon started his reign as a promising young man. He was young, naïve, and he knew it—so he asked God for wisdom (I Kings 3). God not only gave him wisdom, He gave him riches, power, and fame. Solomon built a glorious temple for God (I Kings 5-7) and dedicated it with a godly prayer and abundant sacrifices (I Kings 8). He built a palace for himself and a great fleet of ships (I Kings 9). A powerful queen visited him (I Kings 10).

But then, full of wealth, power, and fame, King Solomon began falling. He began marrying not just more than one wife, but wives from foreign nations. God had specifically forbid the Israelites from marrying their godless neighbors (except in special circumstances) (Deut. 7:1-4), and He had specifically forbid the king from “multiplying wives” (Deut. 17:17).

And just as God had warned, Solomon’s foreign wives kept worshipping their own gods, doubtless pressuring him to join them, and Solomon caved. He built worship places for abominations. Did Solomon influence any of his wives to turn to God and worship Him? Maybe a handful, but surely not many.
Queen Naamah (probably one of his top wives, given that her son became Solomon’s successor) was from Ammon, a wicked neighboring (and technically related) nation. Their primary god was Molech (also called Milcom), and worshipping it involved not just sacrificing human babies, but burning them alive. In fact, it’s entirely possible that Naamah murdered one of her and Solomon’s children in this horrible way.
And Naamah almost certainly raised Rehoboam on her own. (I can’t imagine that Solomon had any measurable time to spend with any individual child of his, since he must have had dozens upon dozens of them.) She raised the next king of Judah, God’s chosen, holy people, therefore, in the ways of her wicked, ungodly people. And to no one’s surprise, King Rehoboam turned out as a foolish, wicked, jealous man.

There is a strong warning from this sobering tale. As Paul sternly commands: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (II Cor. 6:14-16). This principle—we call it “separation”—applies not just to marriage, but also to other close fellowships. For example, I would caution a Christian brother or sister against starting a business with an unsaved business partner. And while we can have many unsaved acquaintances, we as children of God should not become best friends with an unsaved person. And—this is the hardest one—Christians who are following their holy God closely must sometimes separate themselves from brothers or sisters who have strayed from God.

May God give us grace and strength to stay loyal to Him, no matter what.

From Adulteress to Queen Mother: Bathsheba Widow of Uriah the Hittite

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Jesse
Mother-in-law: “Nitzevet”
Husband: Uriah the Hittite, King David
Messianic son: King Solomon
Bathsheba’s References:
II Sam. 11
I Kings 1-2
David’s References:
I Sam. 16-I Kings 2
I Chron. 11-29
Heb. 11:32
Meaning of Name: “daughter of the oath” or “seventh daughter”
Alternate Name: Bathshua, daughter of Ammiel

Monday, December 21
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: II Samuel 11
In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful.
And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.)
Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”
Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died.
Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’
then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”
So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.
And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son.
But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

Question time!
1. What time of year was it? ___, “when kings go out to ___”
2. What did David do?
3. Does it sound like Bathsheba tried to tell David no when his intentions were made clear?
4. Who did Bathsheba lose because of this sin?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Bathsheba was living a fine life. Although her husband was not an Israelite, he was an honorable man and one of King David’s mighty men (II Chron. 11:41). Then one day things changed. Although Bathsheba may not have been trying to expose herself, King David—staying home from war against God’s enemies—saw her. It seems she did not object or resist when David’s intentions were made clear. She, a married woman, committed adultery with him, a married man.

She seems unrepentant afterward, too, when she simply sent a message to David to tell him she was pregnant. David tried and failed to cover up his sin and ending up indirectly murdering one of his loyal officers.

Bathsheba did mourn her husband (although this may have been simply the cultural expectation), but again, it doesn’t seem she resisted David’s marriage proposal. She joined his harem in the palace and gave birth to a son.

After nine months of unconfessed sin, Nathan the prophet confronted David, who repented of his adultery and murder. He wrote Psalm 51 about his great sin, and then Psalm 32 in the peace of God’s forgiveness.

There were still consequences, however: David and Bathsheba’s baby son died. I wonder if this was the chastisement from God that Bathsheba needed in order to finally acknowledge her sin. We’re not told, but it seems that she confessed and God forgave her by the time Solomon was born, because Solomon was “loved by the Lord” and personally named by Him (II Sam. 12:24-25). Bathsheba didn’t know it yet, but her second son had been chosen by God. God had her, a former adulteress, to be a mother in the line of the Promised Son.

Years pass before we see Bathsheba again, although we know she bore David more sons (I Chron. 3:5). However, while David was not an excellent father to his sons, it seems that Bathsheba was a wise mother. Solomon’s many proverbs of wisdom include an epilogue from the mother of “King Lemuel” taught him: warning against alcohol and strange women and instructions on finding a godly wife. Many scholars believe that “Lemuel” was a pen name and that Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba, wrote Proverbs 31. (If this is the case, it is intriguing that Bathsheba refers to Solomon as “son of my vows.”)
At the end of David’s life, Bathsheba enters the scene again. King David had decreed that his son Solomon was to be his successor, but while he was old, feeble, and bedridden, his spoiled son Adonijah proclaimed himself king. Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba together took quick action to inform King David, who immediately had Solomon anointed and coronated (I Kings 1).

Finally, after Solomon was firmly established as king and Bathsheba was now Queen Mother, Adonijah (the one who had tried to steal the throne) asked Bathsheba to ask Solomon a favor. When she approached her son the king, Solomon greeted her respectfully (another sign she raised him well). The favor itself was politically charged, however, and I think Bathsheba may have been deceived or simply not realized what Adonijah’s request meant (I Kings 2:13-20).

What can we learn from Bathsheba?

No matter how great one’s sin, when one confesses and God forgives, God can use him or her for great things. Bathsheba started as an adulteress, but after getting right with God, God blessed her with a son. She raised him to keep the laws of God. She taught him to seek wisdom—and in fact, Solomon became the wisest man on earth. She taught him respect, honor, and humility.

As Paul says: “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.” (II Tim. 2:20-21).

No matter how chipped and broken a vessel may be, if the vessel is clean, God can use it for great things.

Mother of Israel’s Greatest (Human) King: “Nitzevet daughter of Adael” ♦

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Obed
Mother-in-law: “Ariel”
Husband: Jesse
Messianic son: David
Nitzevet’s Reference:
I Sam. 22:3-4
Jesse’s References:
I Sam. 16; 17:12-18; 22:3-4
I Chron. 2:12-16
♦Name from Jewish tradition: in other words, this may or may not have been her name, but it’s easier than calling her “Mrs. Jesse”

Sunday, December 20
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: I Samuel 16:1, 6-23
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
When they [Jesse and his sons ]came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”
And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.
And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?”
And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.
And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.”
Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service.

And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

I Samuel 17:12-13
Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle.

I Chron. 2:13-17
Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

I Sam. 22:3-4
And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.

Question time!
1. How many children did Jesse and “Nitzevet” have? ____ sons and _____ daughters
2. In the days of ___, ____ was already ___ and ___ in years
3. What was Nitzevet’s youngest son like?
4. When David was hiding from the crazed King Saul, he made sure his parents were safe and cared for. True or False.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
We don’t know much about “Nitzevet,” Jesse’s wife and mother of David, except that she was still alive when David had been anointed the future king of Israel and the jealous King Saul was chasing him all over the land. But given how much influence a mother can have over her children, we can make some educated guesses about her.

Nitzevet had nine children (scholars believe that one of Jesse’s sons died young and childless, and thus is not counted or named in the Chronicles account), and since mothers usually named children in that culture, we can perhaps learn something about her from what she named them.
Eliab (or Elihu, I Chron. 27:18) means “God is my father” or “He is my God.”
Abinadab means “father of a vow.”
Shammah (or Shimea) means “loss, desolation, astonishment” or “He hears.”
Nethanel means “God has given.”
Raddai means “ruling” or “coming down.”
Ozem means “strong.”
David means “beloved.”
Zeruiah (pronounced “Zeh-roo-yah”) means “balsam of God” or “rock of God.”
Abigail means “my father’s joy” or “my father is joy.”

And what were her children like? We have a little information. Eliab, her firstborn, got angry with David and accused him of just wanting him to see battle when David brought supplies to his brothers at the battle line against the Philistines (I Sam. 17:28), but later apparently matured and became chief over the entire tribe of Judah (I Chron. 27:18).

Zeruiah herself is not mentioned directly, but her three sons, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, are called by her name instead of their father’s, so it’s a reasonable guess that they inherited something of her character. All three were warriors under their uncle David, but after Asahel died, Abishai and Joab sought vengeance and murdered their brother’s killer dishonorably (II Sam. 3:26-30). Joab became David’s general (II Sam. 8:16), and Abishai was chief of David’s thirty mighty men (II Sam. 23:18). Both of them, especially Joab, were violent, bloodthirsty men (I Sam. 26:8; II Sam. 16:9-10; 19:21-22), so much so that at the end of his days, David told his son Solomon to deal with them according to his wisdom (I Kings 2:5-6). In summary, it is safe to speculate that Zeruiah was fiery and perhaps struggled with a temper and holding grudges.

But we know the most about Nitzevet’s youngest son, the one who God chose to be king instead of Saul, who became “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). When we meet David, he is a simple shepherd, but he is also gifted in playing the lyre and in writing songs of praise, contemplation, and trust in God (he wrote over 70 psalms in his lifetime). He trusted God and wasn’t afraid to defend his father’s sheep from dangerous bears and lions (I Sam. 17:34-35), and later trusted God for help against a blasphemous nine-foot-tall warrior. Even as a youth, he also had a reputation as “a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him” (I Sam. 16:18).
I like to think that Nitzevet saw the beginnings of good traits in her youngest son when he was small and encouraged them, guiding them. She instilled the importance of trusting God and a love for His Word. She pestered Jesse to buy him a lyre and encouraged David to practice playing every day. When he began composing his own songs, she encouraged him, asking to hear his latest compositions. She warned him against foolish speech.

Those of you who are mothers, are you encouraging your children to use their talents for God? If your daughter loves to bake, buy her tools she needs and encourage her to minister to church family and unsaved friends through food gifts. If your son excels in learning Spanish, find a ministry that ministers to Spanish-speaking people in your area. If your daughter loves playing piano, encourage her not just to play hymns and special music at church, but also to consider writing her own songs of praise to God.
This applies to those of you who are older as well. Is there a younger (physically or spiritually) sister in Christ you can “adopt?” Is there a younger wife who writes beautiful poetry? Encourage her to set Scripture in rhyme and meter. How about kids in the church? Maybe there’s a little boy who loves baseball. Take him on outings and teach him to tell his team about God.

There are many ways we as women can encourage the next generation to love and serve God!

The faithful daughter-in-law: Ruth, Part 2

And yet Ruth did not just put up with “Mara,” she loved her. She had determined to stick with her mother-in-law, and she kept her promise. Day after day, she stayed and endured “Mara’s” pessimism and negative outlook on everything.

Ruth was also polite. Even though the two women, without a man to support them, needed food to survive, Ruth asked her mother-in-law for permission before going to glean. Gleaning was to gather leftover grain that the reapers missed; it was a labor-intensive survival tactic reserved for the very poor. Despite the necessity of the task, it was not without danger, especially as a lone foreigner, if an immoral man came upon her.

Of course Ruth didn’t know anyone, but God guided her to just the right field. There she joined other gleaners behind the reapers and worked hard all morning, stooping and plucking ripe heads of barley over and over, and gathering them in her basket.

At some point, an older man, Boaz, approached her and revealed he owned these fields. He told her to stay on his land, near the safety of his female servants, that he had ordered his young men to leave her alone, and that she was to drink from his servants’ vessels. Ruth responded with great humility and gratitude.

And when Boaz shared his servants’ lunch with her, Ruth brought home her leftovers—what possibly might have been her only opportunity to eat supper—home to Naomi. She was generous.
This continued for at least three months, until the end of the barley and wheat harvests: Ruth working hard gleaning in Boaz’s fields by day, and responding to Naomi’s bitterness and complaining with love. But slowly, I think, Ruth’s faithfulness and godly love began to soften Naomi. Just by treating Naomi kindly day after day, it seems Ruth helped Naomi remember the goodness of God.

Finally God gave Naomi an idea and a hope. She told Ruth about the Jewish law of “Levirate Marriage:” if a man died childless, his brother or nearest relative was to marry his widow to carry on his line (Deut. 25:5). Boaz, the well-to-do man who had shown Ruth such kindness, “just so happened” to be such a relative, called a “redeemer.”

Ruth obeyed Naomi. Even this custom was almost certainly foreign to her, and even though Boaz was probably an older man (3:10). She went down to Boaz’s threshing floor, where he and his men had worked all day and feasted in the evening, celebrating the completion of the harvest. After dark she lay down at Boaz’s feet. (There was nothing unclean or sexual about this; it was simply the custom of the day.) Do you think she was nervous waiting for him to notice her? Excited? Trusting God?
When Boaz woke, Ruth humbly asked for his grace as a redeemer. She must have been dismayed when Boaz said he would if he could, but that there was a nearer relative. He sent her away with a generous gift of grain.

But, as Naomi predicted, Boaz settled the matter that very day. The nearer redeemer agreed to buy the land of Elimelech and Mahlon, Ruth’s late husband, until he heard he would have to marry a Moabite. So Boaz—son of an Israelite and a foreigner himself—redeemed Ruth. He married her, and, although she had been barren ten years, God gave them a son!

Ruth didn’t seem to mind when Naomi more or less adopted him, though, or that the village women ended up naming him Obed (which means “servant of God”). God also gave her the honor of becoming a mother in the line of the Promised Son.

Ruth is a beautiful example of determination, endurance, hard work, obedience, gracious humility… and how God can bless such a man or woman! Who knows what rewards God has for a faithful servant who follows Ruth’s example?

“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (I Cor. 2:9).

The determined daughter-in-law: Ruth

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Elimelech, Salmon
Mother-in-law: Naomi/Rahab
Husband: Mahlon, Boaz
Ruth’s References:
Ruth 1-4
Boaz’s References:
Ruth 2-4
I Chron. 2:11-12
Original Hebrew Name: Root
Meaning of Name: “friend”

Friday, December 18
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Ruth 1
In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited his people and given them food. So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

Question time!
1. When did the events of the book of Ruth take place? (1:1) “In the ___ when the ____ ruled”
Turn back one page in your Bible and look at Judges 21:25. What did everyone do in those days?
1. Why did Elimelech move his family to Moab? (1:1)
2. How long did they live there? (1:4)
3. Who died? (1:3, 5) ____, ___, and ___
4. What was Naomi like by the time she returned to her hometown with Ruth? (1:20-21)
5. What was Ruth like?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
By now the Israelites had conquered many cities, destroyed or evicted many wicked Canaanite peoples (but not all), and settled in the Promised Land by their tribes. Joshua had died, and the people were left without a godly leader, and they fell into idolatry and other sins. Judges 2:16-20 describes the cycle of sin, consequences from God, crying out to God for help, and deliverance: “Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.”

In the midst of this chaotic time, everyone did “what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25), which would be fine if mankind was naturally good like the world thinks. But that’s not what the Bible says. Paul quotes Isaiah: “None is righteous, no, not one. All have turned aside; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12) and Solomon says “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov. 16:25).

So Elimelech, instead of trusting God, brought his family to the idolatrous neighboring country of Moab. Although Moabites were technically related to the Israelites, their founder came from an ugly sin, and when the Israelites were approaching from the wilderness, the Moabites had been hostile (Num. 22-24) and later seduced Israelites into deadly idolatry (Num. 25:1-9). But there Elimelech went and “remained.” In fact, after Elimelech died, his family stayed and his sons married Moabite women. After ten (childless) years, Mahlon and Chilion died.

Although we can sympathize with Naomi’s grief and suddenly finding herself without blood family in a foreign land, I’m disappointed that she dismissed her daughters-in-law and telling them to go back to their people their horrific false gods. In fact, their main god, Chemosh, is described as “the abomination of Moab” (II Kings 23:13), and its worship—along with another god, Molech—involved sacrificing babies!
But Ruth, sometime in the ten years of being married into an Israelite family, had learned that their God was the true one. Her husband and in-laws had surely told her stories of how their God, Yahweh, had led their people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, through the Red Sea on dry land, and guided them through the wilderness. Ruth had learned that unlike the angry, hungry gods of her people, Yahweh cared for His people and had made a covenant with them. God’s blessing was on the Israelites—even such a bitter soul as Naomi—and Ruth determined to attach herself to Naomi. She loved her (4:15).

So, despite Naomi’s urges to return to home, familiarity, and a new husband like Orpah, Ruth voiced her determination to stay with Naomi and her God beautifully: “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

It was not easy for Ruth to leave her homeland and her people to keep her promise, and we will see that continuing to keep her word would not be easy, either. Sticking with Naomi and her God would require endurance and faithfulness.

This reminds me of other people in the Bible who determined something:
-“I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin?” (Job 31:1)
-Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. (II Chron. 20:1-4)
-After this Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. (II Chron. 24:4)
-But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. (Dan. 1:8)
-For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. (Ezra 7:10)
-Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 2:12)
-“ But I [Paul] do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:24)

If you have placed your trust in Christ as your Savior, you already have eternal life and many blessings besides. But have you decided to follow Him? Have you resolved to obey His commands? Have you set your heart to study God’s Word? Have you made a covenant to keep yourself pure to Him? Have you set your heart to seek God’s face? Is finishing your spiritual course more important than physical life to you?
After salvation, this is the most important decision you can make in your life. And you will probably have to re-make it many times. In fact, some believers begin each day by dedicating it to God. Is there something standing in the way of you determining to follow God, no matter what?

From Pagan Prostitute to Honored Proselyte: Rahab

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Nahshon
Mother-in-law: “Nisukha”
Husband: Salmon
Firstborn son: Boaz
Rahab’s References:
Josh. 2; 6:17, 22-25
Matt. 1:5
Heb. 11:31; Jas. 2:25
Salmon’s References:
I Chron. 2:11
Original Hebrew Name: Rachab
Meaning of Name: “vast,” “spacious, or “generous”

Thursday, December 17
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Joshua 2
*Note: This chapter has been arranged chronologically.
And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.”
And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there.
The woman took the two men and hid them. She brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.
Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.”
Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.”
And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.”
The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. But if you tell this business of ours, then
we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.”
And she said, “According to your words, so be it.”
Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing.
Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”

Please Read: 6:15-16, 20-25
…On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city!”
As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.”
So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.
And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive.
And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Question time!
1. How many spies did Joshua send?
2. They lodged in the house of a ___ named ___, whose house was in the __ of the city of Jericho.
3. What did Rahab say to the spies?
4. How did the spies escape Jericho?
5. After an unusual siege of the city of Jericho, the priests blew their trumpets and the people shouted, and the wall fell down. The Israelites conquered and destroyed the city completely—except for ____ and her ___.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute (and possibly an innkeeper) living in the prosperous, well-fortified, wicked city of Jericho when she started hearing rumors and stories. The people whose God had dried up the Red Sea so they could cross on dry land to exit Egypt forty years ago was approaching. The stories said these people, the Israelites, had completely destroyed two powerful kingdoms just across the river: King Sihon and the Amorites and King Og and the Bashanites (Num. 21). The peoples around Rahab—not just her neighborhood or her city, but the whole region—became terrified of the Israelites. Even strong warriors were weak-kneed.

And Rahab herself acknowledged that the God of the Israelites was God “in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Josh. 2:11). Word came to the inhabitants of Jericho: the Israelites had come. The whole sea of them, millions of people, camped just across the Jordan River. The city must have been restless and buzzing—but surely their strong walls and their king would protect them.

Then Rahab met two men and took them into her house. Either their dress was distinctive or they told her who they were. And since God has given everyone a conscience that bears witness to each of us that we are sinners (Rom. 1:19-20; 2:14-15), Rahab knew she was a sinner. Rahab realized that destruction on her wicked city was coming, and that she must align herself with the people of the God of heaven and earth to survive. So she hid the Israelite spies from her own people. If she had been found out, she surely would have been put to death.

She told them that she knew God had given Israel the land and that their God was the God of heaven and earth. She knew her city would be destroyed, and asked for safety for herself and her family.
The Israelites agreed: in exchange for hiding them and not telling their business, all of Rahab’s family who were in the house on that day would be saved from destruction—as long as they stayed inside and Rahab tied a red rope* in her window to signify which house was hers.

So Rahab helped the Israelites escape through her window and told them to hide in the hills for three days. When messengers from the king—her king—came, she lied to them and misdirected them. (The Israelite men never asked her to lie, only not to tell their business.)

Not long afterward, the news spread like fire in Jericho: the Israelites had crossed the flooded Jordan River on dry land and now approached their city! Jericho shut its gates tight, all warriors stood guard on top of the walls, and the whole city was on high alert. Then the entire camp of Israel—millions of people—started marching around the city once a day, led by a golden ark and priests with trumpets and all the armed men. This strange tactic kept up for six days. Maybe the Jerichoites started to mock Israel from the safety of their great stone walls.

But on the seventh day, the Israelite enemy did something different: they kept marching. Rahab, if she hadn’t already, must have hurried to gather her family into her house and refused to let them out, even to get a forgotten possession. I bet she kept touching the red rope and making sure it was secure, trusting that the Israelite spies would see it and keep their word.

The Israelite people marched around Jericho seven times. Then the priests blew their trumpets, and the entire people shouted a great shout. It must have been tremendously loud and terrifying inside Rahab’s house. It must have shook like an earthquake as God caused the walls of Jericho to fall flat—all except the little section where Rahab’s house was built.

Rahab must have been so relieved to see the familiar faces of the two Israelite men she had hidden! They escorted her and her family to safety. Rahab’s faith had saved her. Physically, her faith saved her life, and those of her family, from the righteous destruction of the city. Spiritually, her faith in the God of Israel, the God of heaven and earth, and when she learned of it, His promise to send a savior from sin, saved her from the eternal judgment.

Rahab became a “proselyte:” a person who has converted to Judaism. She joined the Israelite people from then on. In fact, she married into the Israelite people; she married a man of the tribe of Judah named Salmon. (I personally like to think that Salmon was one of the two spies, but the Bible doesn’t say.) In any case, the woman who had been a pagan with a wicked profession now became not just a proselyte, but an honored one, because God chose her to be a mother in the line of the Promised Son. How amazing! How gracious is our God!

You probably weren’t saved out of a prostitution background, but I assure you that each of us is as guilty as one (Is. 64:6). And no matter your background, whatever horrible sins you’ve committed in our past, if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior, then God has forgiven you completely and blotted out those sins (Psalm 103:12). Your past has no bearing on your present as a child of God. In fact, God can use “the chief of sinners” for mighty deeds for His glory (I Tim. 1:15-17)!

And when, since we’re still plagued by the sin nature in this fallen world, we sin during our daily walks, we need only confess (acknowledge) them before our Holy God, and He will forgive it completely—and any sin we didn’t realize we committed! God promised it: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

*Side note: the red cord or rope was actually an instance of foreshadowing. Just as the only way to physical salvation was through the red rope, the only way to spiritual salvation is through the red blood of Christ

Mothers in Egypt and the wilderness (from Mrs. Perez to Mrs. Nahshon)

Husband/Father: Perez
Wife/Mother: Aviva**
Scripture: Gen. 38:27-30
Husband/Father: Hezron
Wife/Mother: Tzeitel**
Scripture: I Chron. 2:5,9
Husband/Father: Ami
Wife/Mother: Huldah
Scripture: Luke 3:33
Husband/Father: Ram (Aram)
Wife/Mother: Zulmah**
Scripture: I Chron. 2:9-10
Husband/Father: Ammindab
Wife/Mother: Hilah**
Scripture: I Chron. 2:10
Husband/Father: Nahshon
Wife/Mother: Nisukha**
Scripture: I Chron. 2:10-11
**Name assigned for personification: in other words, I chose this name so we don’t have to call her “Mrs. So-and-so”

Wednesday, December 16
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 46:3-4
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again .”
Please read: Exodus 1:1-11
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.
Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens.

Please read: Exodus 12:30-33; 37-38, 40
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead. Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”
The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, “We shall all be dead.”
And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds.
The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years.

Please read: Numbers 14:33-35
“…And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure. I, the Lord, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a
full end, and there they shall die.”

Question time!
1. Who went down to Egypt? ___ and his family, who numbered ___ in total
2. Who promised to go down with them and bring them back up?
3. After Joseph the Prime Minister of Egypt died, a new ___ arose, who feared the people of __ and made them into slaves.
4. After ten ___, Pharaoh and the Egyptians had finally had enough, and were __ with the people to send them ___ of the land in ___.
5. How long had the people of Israel been in Egypt?
6. After the Exodus from Egypt, God consecrated the people at Mount Sinai, made a covenant with them, and gave them the Law. But what did the people do when the spies reported that the Promised Land was full of fortified cities and giants?
7. God punished the rebellious, untrusting people of Israel by having them travel in the wilderness for ___ years.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
The mothers in the line of the Promised Son during these chapters of Israel’s history span 470 years: from the sons of Israel, Jacob’s sons and grandchildren—only 70 people—traveling south to live in Egypt to millions of Israelites about to enter the Promised Land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. I’ve selected a few passages in an attempt to summarize this history.

What were these mothers like? What did they live through? Well, things started off great. “Aziza,” wife of Judah and Tamar’s son Perez, lived in Goshen, an area of Egypt, and she and her extended family enjoyed not just provision during a severe famine, but favor from Pharaoh himself. And since Egyptians disliked shepherds, the family also were shielded from the worst of Egyptian worldliness and idolatry, allowing them to better serve God. All these blessings from God helped the family multiply into a people.
But soon a new regime took control over Egypt (possibly the Hyksos people), and this new Pharaoh had no knowledge of or respect for Joseph, who had saved Egypt from famine (Ex. 1:8). They feared the numbers and powers of the Israelites and turned them into forced laborers: slaves. Now the Israelite men had to make mudbricks, carry and drag heavy loads, work in the fields, and so on, leaving them hardly any time or energy to work on their own needs, such as flocks. In fact, the Bible credits the Israelite slaves with building two entire cities. I can only imagine the wives of this dark time welcoming their exhausted, whipped, discouraged husbands home at night after a long day of hard service in the Middle Eastern sun. I can almost see her setting a meager meal before her family and looking down at her young sons, worrying about the time when they would be taken away to work.

The Israelites suffered under cruel taskmasters for at least eighty years. But God had not forgotten them. When the time was right, God sent a man He had prepared: Moses, an Israelite, son of a devout Levite
family, raised in the court of Pharaoh, guided by God Himself (Ex. 2-4).

Moses and his spokesman, his brother Aaron, approached Pharaoh and told him: “God says: ‘Let My people go.’” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he refused to listen even when God sent signs and plagues that humbled Egypt, decimated the harvest and livestock, and revealed its false gods as fakes. Throughout all these horrible plagues, God miraculously protected the people and animals of Israel (Ex. 5-10).

Finally, when God sent His angel to destroy the firstborn of every Egyptian (and of their livestock) but passed over the houses of the Israelites (who had obeyed Him and put a sign on their doorposts), Pharaoh had had enough. He and the Egyptians, terrified of the Israelites and their God, ushered them out with haste (Ex.11-12). In fact, wives didn’t even have time to leaven their bread (Ex. 12:34)!
God, through a pillar of fire and cloud, led the Israelites to the Red Sea, led them through on dry land, and closed the waters over the heads of the pursuing Egyptians (Ex. 14). Moses led the people in praising God, and Miriam, Moses’ sister, led the women in praising God with tambourines, dancing, and song (Ex. 15). I bet at least one of the mothers on our list joined in!

God provided a miraculous river of water from a rock for the complaining Israelites and their livestock, along with daily bread from heaven (Ex. 16-17). Shortly afterward, they arrived at Mount Sinai in the wilderness of Sinai, where God set the Israelites apart as His people and gave them the Ten Commandments (Ex. 19-20), along with the rest of the Law and instructions for building the Tabernacle (Ex. 21-31; Lev. 1-7, 11-27; Num. 4-8). The people made the Tabernacle and the priestly articles (Ex. 35-40) and were counted (Num. 1-3).

Through various idolatry (Ex. 32), grumblings (Ex. 16:2; 17:2; Num. 11, 12), and rebellions (Lev. 10) in the desert, God brought the Israelites north to just outside of the Promised Land, Canaan. There Moses sent out twelve spies to scout out the land, and the people so feared the report about large, fortified cities and giants that they rebelled against God and Moses. They wanted to return to Egypt and stone Moses, Joshua, and Caleb (Num. 13-14).

God is holy and must punish sin, and even after Moses’ intercession and the people’s repentance, there were consequences: Israel would wander in the wilderness for forty years, and all of that rebellious generation would die and not enter the Promised Land (Num. 14).

So that’s what happened. The Israelites, man and woman, child and elder, walked for forty years in the rocky, arid Negev Peninsula. God gave more of the Law (Num. 15, 18-19, 28-30, 34-36). The people rebelled more (Num. 16, 20, 21) and fell into idolatry and immorality (Num. 25). God gave victory over some wicked kings (Num. 21, 31) and protected them from the schemes of another (Num. 22-24). God called for a census (Num. 26). Meanwhile, during those years, the older, rebellious generation died. Can you imagine the funerals and the burials? At least one of the mothers on our list died—almost certainly “Nisukha.”

Finally, forty years was up. The book of Deuteronomy records Moses’ sermon, full of reminders, history, and the Law, as the people stood poised just outside the edge of the Promised Land, by the Jordan River (Deut. 1:1). I can almost picture the young, unmarried man Salmon, now an orphan, listening intently to Moses.

What can we learn from this history? There are any number of potential lessons, but here’s one or two.
First, God hears and cares about the suffering of His people—both Israelites and us, believers in the Church Age (Ex. 3:7-9). He inclines His ear (Psalm 116:1-2) toward His saints. He is a fierce defender of even the smallest of His children (Matt. 18:5-6). And when God does allow suffering, it is for our good (Rom. 8:28-29) and His glory (II Cor. 4:15-18). As David sang, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

God is also gracious and forgiving. Although the people grumbled and complained often, putting God to the test ten times (Num. 14:20-23), He was patient with them. He did not wipe them from the face of the earth, as He had every right to do.

Next, God is holy. There were consequences for sin in Israel’s wilderness wanderings, and there are consequences now.

Praise God for His perfect character!

The “more righteous” daughter-in-law: Tamar

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Judah
Husband: Er, Onan
Messianic son: Perez
Tamar’s References:
Gen. 38
Ruth 4:12; I Chron. 2:4;
Matt. 1:3
Judah’s References:
Gen. 29:35-50:21
Heb. 11:20
Meaning of Name: “date palm” or “palm tree”

Tuesday, December 15
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 38
It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua.
He took her and went in to her, and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. (Judah was in Chezib when she bore him.)
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.
Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”
But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and He put him to death also.
Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained in her father’s house.
In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died.
When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.
She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”
He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”
And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—”
He said, “What pledge shall I give you?”
She replied, “Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.”
So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.”
So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No
cult prostitute has been here.’”
And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”
About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has been immoral. Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”
Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.
When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”
But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.
Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

Question time!
1. Who did Judah marry? The daughter of ___ the Canaanite
2. What were the names of their sons? ____, ____, and ___
3. Why did God put Er and Onan to death? They did what was ___ in the ___ of the ___
4. Did Judah keep his promise to give Shelah to Tamar?
5. What happened as a result of Tamar’s deception of Judah?
A. Judah acted immorally
B. Tamar conceived
C. Judah died
D. A and B
6. Judah was going to have Tamar put to the death until he realized __ was the father.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
What a story. As my father would say, the Bible records the truth of what happened, but just because God included this story, that doesn’t mean He approves of the actions of these people. Successes and sins alike are written down that we may learn from them (I Cor. 10:11).

By my estimate, Judah was about 25 when he left the relative spiritual safety of his family, made friends with a local, and married the daughter of a Canaanite. They had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.
Roughly 17-20 years later, Judah arranged a marriage for his firstborn, Er. It is a safe speculation that Tamar was Canaanite as well. But Er committed unwritten wickedness, and God, in holy righteousness, put him to death. (That doesn’t speak well of Judah, does it?)

So Judah commanded his second son, Onan, to marry Tamar and father a son on his dead brother’s behalf. This sounds pretty outlandish to us, but this was actually a normal cultural rule, and later became part of the Mosaic Law (Deut. 25:5-10). It’s called “Levirate Marriage.”

But Onan was selfish and refused to father a son for his dead brother. God put him to death as well.
Judah then promised that he would give her his third son, Shelah, in marriage once he was old enough… but Judah had no intention of actually following through because he didn’t want Shelah to die too. Tamar believed him and returned to live in her father’s household as a widow, waiting.

Sometime later, Tamar realized her father-in-law hadn’t kept his word. What would she do when she grew old? Eventually, her father would die, and she, as a widow, would have no means of support. With no husband or child, she would have no one to take care of her. Her father-in-law had failed his duty to provide her with a new husband. He was to blame. She would embarrass him and acquire a child to provide for her future in one fell swoop. (Please note that her thought process is not recorded; this is an educated guess.)

So Tamar tricked Judah. She used his immoral desires against him, but not before shrewdly acquiring evidence: his pledge of payment for services. Once Tamar’s indecency was discovered, Judah pronounced judgment… until Tamar showed the evidence proving that he himself was the father. He called her “more righteous” than himself since he had broken his promise to her.

Tamar’s not exactly a role model, is she? And yet God used her as part of the Messianic Line. How could God use such an ugly situation in His plan? Our amazing God can use even ugly things, even sin, and turn them into opportunities to show His beautiful grace. To quote Judah’s brother after he was sold into slavery, but ended up saving countless lives from famine: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Gen. 50:20). The apostle and theologian Paul goes into more detail: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (Rom. 5:20-6:2a).

Praise God, who can cause grace to abound in the place of sin!

Unloved Mother of Six Sons: Leah, Part 2

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Isaac
Mother-in-law: Rebekah
Father: Laban
Husband: Jacob
Messianic son: Judah
Leah’s References:
Gen. 29; 49:31
Ruth 4:11
Jacob’s References:
Gen. 25:19-49
Heb. 11:20-21
Heb. 11:20
Meaning of Name: “weary,” “wild cow,” or “gazelle”

Monday, December 14
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 30:1-22
When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”
Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf, that even I may have children through her.”
So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.
Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have called me happy.” So she called his name Asher.
In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah.
Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”
Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”
So he lay with her that night. And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.
And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.
Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

Question time!
1. What was Rachel’s solution to her barrenness?
2. What did Rachel name Bilhah’s sons? ___ and ___
3. Did Leah follow her sister’s lead?
4. What did Leah name Zilpah’s sons? ___ and ___
5. What plant did Reuben find that the sisters squabbled and bargained over?
6. Leah then gave birth to ___ and ____, for a total of ___ sons (plus Dinah).
7. How many sons did Rachel bear?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
My namesake may have been physically beautiful and beloved by her husband, but when, after at least four years of marriage, she hadn’t had a baby (which was considered shameful in that culture), she fell into sin: like Sarah before her, she gave her servant to her husband so that Bilhah could give her children by proxy. The culture around them saw this as perfectly acceptable—but God did not. God, as the One who created the institution of marriage, decreed that it is to be one man and one woman for life. Adultery is always an abomination in His sight (Jer. 13:27), and this proxy childbearing certainly qualifies (Heb. 13:4).

As disappointing as Rachel’s action was, it’s even worse that Leah followed her sister’s sinful example: she gave Jacob her servant as a proxy mother, too. This child-bearing had become a full-on competition. Can you imagine the strife and jealousy in this household? I wonder if each mother had her own tent. I bet Jacob looked forward to leaving the tents every morning to go shepherd Laban’s sheep out in the hot sun. I bet the boys, as they grew, learned to fight and squabble, not share, and that they had “cliques:” “I’m a son of Leah, so I’m better than you, since you’re just a son of a servant!”

Again we can gain some insight into Leah’s heart from what she named Zilpah’s sons and her own.
I think she may have backtracked spiritually by the time Zilpah birthed Gad, whose name sounds like “good fortune,” since she credited luck rather than God.

Then Leah named Zilpah’s second son Asher, whose name simply means “happy,” with a simple declaration of happiness. “The women” (servants? neighbors?) said she must be happy with this baby boy. (There’s a possibility that Gad and Asher were twins.)

Then Leah’s firstborn Reuben, who was probably at least eight by this point, found some mandrakes.
This plant was thought to increase one’s fertility, so Rachel, who had still not had a child herself, of course wanted them. Leah replies bitterly; to paraphrase: “Do you think it’s no big deal that you stole my husband? Are you going to steal my son’s mandrakes, too?” So Rachel traded “husband privileges” (implying that she hogged his attention) for the mandrakes.
“And God listened to Leah” (v.17) seems to suggest that Leah had prayed for another son… but then she named her fifth son Issachar, whose name means “wages,” since she thought God was rewarding her for giving Zilpah to Jacob.

Finally, Leah had Zebulun, whose name means “honor.” She said that God had given her a precious gift in the form of this son, and she thought that Jacob would honor her, since she had borne him six sons. I don’t think Jacob did… but God did.

Leah also had a daughter, Dinah, whose name means “judged” or “vindicated.” We’re not told what she said as she named her, but we can speculate that she felt God had vindicated her suffering by giving her seven children.

What can we learn from this chapter in the life of the unloved mother of six sons? The ignored, plain, inconvenient mother of seven children?

Although we ought to sympathize with Leah’s unjust suffering at the hands of Jacob and Rachel, we must take warning: no matter how hard the trial is, don’t follow your sister (or brother) into sin. Don’t cave to the temptation of thinking “If he/she did it, why can’t I?” Each person is responsible for God for his or her own actions.

The Surprise Bride: Leah, Part 1

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Isaac
Mother-in-law: Rebekah
Father: Laban
Husband: Jacob
Messianic son: Judah
Leah’s References:
Gen. 29; 49:31
Ruth 4:11
Jacob’s References:
Gen. 25:19-49
Heb. 11:20-21
Heb. 11:20
Meaning of Name: “weary,” “wild cow,” or “gazelle”

Sunday, December 13
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 29:1, 4-6, 9-35
Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. …Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!”
…While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.
As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.
Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”
Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.
Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”
Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”
So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.)
And in the morning, behold, it was Leah!
And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”
Jacob did so, and completed her week.
Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. (Laban gave his female servant
Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.)
So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.”
She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.
Then she ceased bearing.

Question time!
1. Was Laban happy to meet his nephew? _
2. Who did Jacob want to marry? ___ What did he offer to do to earn her hand?
3. When the wedding night came, what did Laban do?
4. What happened next?
A. Jacob divorced Leah
B. Jacob was disappointed, but did nothing
C. Jacob married Rachel, too, as soon as possible
D. Jacob struck Laban in anger
5. What did God do for Leah?
6. How many sons did she give Jacob?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
It was love at first sight. Jacob, sent away by his parents to find a suitable bride (and to avoid his murderous brother), found his uncle Laban and was immediately smitten by his stunning cousin Rachel. Leah, we can guess, was probably happy for her younger sister at first. Lacking money for a dowry, Jacob agreed to work for Laban for seven years instead. During this time, we can speculate that the engaged couple went for walks, had long conversations, and stared lovingly into each other’s eyes. Perhaps Leah tired of watching this, but I bet she also wished for a man to love her, too. I bet she grew a little discouraged that her father hadn’t arranged a marriage for her, especially since she was older.
But Laban had a devious plan. On the night of the wedding, Laban took Leah. The Hebrew word means “snatched” or “seized;” this was not something Leah had agreed to beforehand. Perhaps he strictly commanded her to keep silent. Then he put her in the wedding tent, and, between the dark and the customary veils, Jacob didn’t discover the switch until morning when the marriage had already become official.

How awful! I can only imagine how grieved, confused, and betrayed Leah felt. Things didn’t improve, either, as Jacob hurried through that weeklong wedding feast, probably ignoring Leah as much as possible, in order to marry his love, too, as soon as possible. (Please remember that God never condoned this. He created marriage to be between one man and one woman for life. Polygamy never honors Him.)

Then, as Jacob, now married to both sisters, worked for Laban further as a second dowry payment, Leah’s true, long-term trial began. Jacob loved Rachel but hated Leah. Yes, the Bible does use the word “hated” or “to find odious!” This was anything but a happy home. Can you imagine the disharmony, jealousy, and bitterness? Can you imagine Jacob kissing his favorite wife and ignoring—or even speaking harshly to—his unloved wife?

But God saw Leah’s suffering, and He gave the blessing of children—specifically sons, viewed as more honorable in that culture. And from her sons’ names, as well as what she said while naming them, we can learn more about Leah.

Reuben means simply, “See, a son.” It seems at first Leah thought bearing Jacob a son would cause him to love and respect her. Apparently it did not.

Simeon sounds like “To hear” because God had heard that she was unloved, and had given her another gift in the form of a second son.

Leah was still struggling with false hope when she birthed Levi, whose name means “attached,” because she thought a third son might make Jacob attached to her.
Finally, Leah turned a corner in her walk with God. She named her fourth son Judah, which means “praise,” because she decided to praise the Lord. This time she would simply praise God for giving her another child.

My heart goes out to wives whose husbands treat them poorly, don’t love them, or even hate them. I ache for those sisters in Christ with abusive parents or husbands, or those living under the power of a strict anti-Christian government. But even in such dark, painful valleys, a daughter of God can still choose to praise God for the gifts He has given her (for example: eternal life, the Bible, a church family, children). And even if suffering lasts one’s whole life (like Leah), a believer can be comforted by Paul’s eternal perspective:

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
~II Cor. 4:16-18

Mother and Schemer: Rebekah, Part 2

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Abraham
Mother-in-law: Sarah
Husband: Isaac
Messianic son: Jacob
Rebekah’s References:
Gen. 24-27
Isaac’s References:
Gen. 21-35
Gal. 4:28
Heb. 11:20
Original Hebrew Name: Reevka
Meaning of Name: “ensnarer of men”

Saturday, December 12
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 26:34–28:4
When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.”
He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”
His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”
So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
So he went in to his father and said, “My father.”
And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”
He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.”
Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?”
He answered, “I am.”

Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.”
So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”
So he came near and kissed him.
And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”
His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.”
As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”
But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.”
Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”
Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high. By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother, but when you grow restless, you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!”
Thus Isaac sent Jacob away.

Question time!
1. Who did Esau marry? ____ the Hittite and ____ the Hittite
2. Why did Isaac tell Esau to hunt and bring him tasty food?
3. Who was listening?
4. What plan did Rebekah hatch?
5. Did it work?
6. What were the results of this deception?
A. Jacob was blessed
B. Isaac was upset
C. Esau was murderously angry
D. Jacob had to flee for his life
E. Rebekah never saw her favorite son again
F. All of the above

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Isaac was now 100 and blind or nearly blind. Not knowing the time of his death, he wanted to bless his firstborn, favorite son (although God had said the older son would serve the younger (Gen. 25:23)). But Rebekah was listening, and she wanted her favorite son to receive the blessing.

So Rebekah called Jacob and told him to obey her plan: together they would trick Isaac. Jacob’s only objection was to raise a concern that he might be found out.

How sad! Rebekah used her motherly influence to help her adult son deceive her own husband. Besides this being a fruit of her favoritism, it also revealed her lack of trust in God to fulfill His promise concerning Jacob and Esau. God did not need Rebekah’s intervention in Isaac’s blessing in order to bless Jacob. God never needs a “nudge” or a reminder. He’s already got it all worked out, if only we obey Him.
Although we as women are not made to be leaders, God has given us as women a certain amount of influence. A wife has influence on her husband. A mother has influence on her children, even once they’re grown. A woman has influence on friends, family, and neighbors. God wants us to use that influence to nudge people closer to Him, not further away.

The next time your husband sighs about a bad day at work, your child complains about your supper, or a Christian friend starts to gossip, think about how you can use your God-given influence to guide them to greater godliness.
*****

The Chosen Bride: Rebekah, Part 1

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Abraham
Mother-in-law: Sarah
Father: Bethuel
Husband: Isaac
Messianic son: Jacob
Rebekah’s References:
Gen. 24-27
Isaac’s References:
Gen. 21-35
Gal. 4:28
Heb. 11:20
Original Hebrew Name: Reevka
Meaning of Name: “ensnarer of men”

Friday, December 11
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 24:1-4; 10-38; 49-57
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
…Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.
And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water. And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”
Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.
Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar.”
She said, “Drink, my lord.” And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink. When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels.
The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.
When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, and said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” She added, “We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night.”
The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”
Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.
Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.
He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”
He said, “Speak on.”
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has. My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.’ …Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”
When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.
And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there.
When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”
Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.”
But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”
They said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.” And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”
She said, “I will go.”
So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”
Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.
Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel and said to the servant, “Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?”
The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Question time!
1. What important task did Abraham give his most trusted servant?
2. What was most important about this bride?
A. her skin color B. her beauty C. her hometown and people D. her age
3. What did the servant pray when he entered the city of Haran?
4. What did Rebekah offer to do when the servant asked her for a drink?
5. How did she do it?
6. Was Rebekah willing when her family asked her about marrying Abraham’s son?
7. What did she do when their group approached Isaac?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Finding a bride for the promised son, Isaac, was no small matter. Abraham had now lived among the Canaanites for 65 years, and he knew they were anything but God-fearing, but Abraham, now 140, was too aged to travel himself, so he entrusted this task to his oldest servant, a godly and humble man. Let’s call him “Eliezer.”

After a long journey with ten camels, supplies, gifts (a dowry), and under-servants, Eliezer finally arrived in Haran. There he prayed, asking God for a specific sign to show which girl He wanted to be Isaac’s wife. God answered immediately in the form of Rebekah: a beautiful, friendly, hard-working young woman. She not only offered to water ten camels (many trips up and down the steps to the cistern with a heavy clay water pot—and one thirsty camel can drink 30 gallons in fifteen minutes!), the Bible says she ran to do it!
Rebekah’s positive traits continue: she was hospitable and willing to leave her family to follow God’s will. Then, after a long journey back to Canaan, when the traveling party approached the tents of Abraham’s household and Isaac was coming to meet them, she veiled herself, which was the modest thing to do in that culture.

As she carried an empty water pot out to the cistern, Rebekah had no idea that God had chosen her not just to be a beloved wife, but to be the mother of Jacob, who would become Israel. But if she had not been generous with her time and energy to a stranger, if she had been having a bad day and told Eliezer to get his own water, she would have been passed over for someone else.
We never know how God might use our generosity, our kindness, our hospitality, our willingness, and so on. Who knows what service opportunities we might miss if we’re feeling grumpy or frazzled and say “No, do it yourself?”

Remember that the future rewards for serving God far outweigh the present annoyances, inconveniences, and hard work of right now. Don’t give up! As Paul says: “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Gal. 6:7-10).

A Godly Example: Sarah, Part 3

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Terah
Mother-in-law: “Zehava”
Husband: Abram
Only son: Isaac
Sarah’s References:
Gen. 11:29; 12-23:2
Gal. 4:21-31
Heb. 11:11
I Pet. 3:1-6
Abraham’s References:
Gen. 11:26-32; 12-25
Acts 7:2-3
Rom. 4; Gal. 3; Jas. 2:21
Heb. 6-7; 11:8-10; 17-19
Meaning of Name: “princess”

Thursday, December 10
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: I Peter 3:1-6
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Question time!
1. Wives are to be subject to
A. Every man
B. Every husband
C. Every person
D. Their own husbands
2. Why?
3. Christian wives do not need to obey unsaved husbands. True / False
4. What kind of adornment is more important than beautiful hairdos, jewelry, and fashion? The ________ ___ of the ____
5. What kind of beauty does a gentle and quiet spirit have?
6. How does God view such beauty?
7. What did Sarah call Abraham?

Let’s Dig In
Sarah has some failures for us to read and seek to avoid: going along with her husband’s lies, occasional lack of faith, jealousy, and meanness. But she was overall an excellent wife. In addition to a generous amount of physical beauty even as an older woman (Gen. 12:14), her obedience to her husband, respect and deference to him, good deeds, a gentle and quiet spirit, and courageous faith in God made her gorgeous.

It may sound extreme that Sarah called her husband “lord,” but keep in mind that she lived in a very different culture and era than us. She was simply acknowledging Abraham’s role as leader over the household in general and herself specifically. Such respect does not mean that their relationship was always formal and lacking sweet fellowship and affectionate conversation.
Would you like to be Sarah’s “daughter?” Peter tells us how to follow her example: do good (by God’s
standards, not man’s). Be brave and bold in believing and obeying God. Submit to one’s own authority (husband, father, pastor, employer, etc.). Cultivate your “make up routine” on the hidden person of your heart: a gentle and quiet spirit. While outward beauty is fine, focus your efforts on true beauty, the kind that God sees as very precious.

May God help each of us to grow more beautiful in His sight.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Mother at Ninety: Sarah, Part 2

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Terah
Mother-in-law: “Zehava”
Husband: Abram
Only son: Isaac
Sarah’s References:
Gen. 11:29; 12-23:2
Gal. 4:21-31
Heb. 11:11
I Pet. 3:1-6
Abraham’s References:
Gen. 11:26-32; 12-25
Acts 7:2-3
Rom. 4; Gal. 3; Jas. 2:21
Heb. 6-7; 11:8-10; 17-19
Meaning of Name: “princess”

Wednesday, December 9
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 18:1, 9-15
And the Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him.
…They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Let’s Dig In
After the debacle with Hagar, God returned in the form of a man (the preincarnate Christ) to confirm to Abraham that He would give him a son through his wife Sarah. It had been twenty-four years since God had first called Abraham, back in Ur, and had promised him offspring. Twenty-four years of aging on an already elderly couple. Abraham had named a worthy servant as his heir, and then fathered a son through Sarah’s servant. But Sarah had remained barren—and in fact, she was no longer fertile at all. By human standards, a son was impossible. Laughable.

So we can’t blame Sarah too much for her initial lack of faith here, as she listened to the strange Man promise a son next year through her “worn out” body.

But nothing is impossible for God. Even if Sarah continued to disbelieve, this would not have been a problem for Him, but we receive more information about Sarah from the author of Hebrews:

Please read: Hebrews 11:11; Genesis 21:1-7
By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded
him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Question time!
1. How long had Sarah waited for a son? ___ years
2. Did Sarah believe God’s promise at first?
3. Did she believe later?
4. Did God hold Sarah’s doubting against her?
5. Did God keep His promise?

God is always faithful, even when we doubt Him. God always keeps His promises, even when they seem impossible to us. And God always blesses faith in Him.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Mother of the Promised Son: Sarai, Part 1

Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Terah
Mother-in-law: “Zehava”
Husband: Abram
Only son: Isaac
Sarai’s References:
Gen. 11:29; 12-23:2
Gal. 4:21-31
Heb. 11:11
I Pet. 3:1-6
Abram’s References:
Gen. 11:26-32; 12-25
Acts 7:2-3
Rom. 4; Gal. 3; Jas. 2:21
Heb. 6-7; 11:8-10; 17-19
Meaning of Name: “princess”

Tuesday, December 8
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 12
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.
When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.”
When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.”
And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Question time!
1. What did God command Abram?
“___ from your ____ and your ____ and your ____ house to the ___ I will show you.”
2. What did God promise Abram? “____ will make of you a ____ ___, and I will ___ you and make your ___ great, so that you will be a blessing. ___ will _______ those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will ___, and in you ___ the families of the earth shall be ___.”
3. Did Abram obey?
4. Why did he travel down to Egypt?
5. What favor did he ask of his wife?
6. Why?
7. Was Abram’s lie found out?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
Sarai was a good wife. Peter describes her as submissive and obedient. We can speculate that when God called Abram, Sarai didn’t complain as they left their home, city, friends, relatives, and familiarity to travel over a thousand miles to a strange new and unknown land. Perhaps she helped organize the household goods onto carts and camel packs and directed servants. Finally, after weeks of exhausting, uncomfortable travel, the travelers arrived in Canaan.

It seems they’d barely arrived when a drought struck the land, drying up streams and scorching the grain fields. Abram, without direction from God, led his household down to Egypt, where the great Nile would still flow through fertile fields. At the border, he asked a favor of Sarai: to protect his life with a lie.
Sarai was too obedient. Instead of protesting the lie or challenging her husband on his lack of faith in God to protect him, she went along with it—and almost was married a second time! In fact, we can see from our perspective that this lie endangered the messianic line!

It is an incredibly difficult and unenviable task to disobey one’s human authority in order to obey God, but as Peter says, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). God wants a wife to obey her husband and submit gracefully to his authority—unless he asks her to sin. Then she is to respectfully, prayerfully tell him “no” and obey God instead. She might lovingly remind him of a verse or passage that supersedes his command. The husband may accept this correction well or he might not, but the wife’s focus should be on her own obedience to God, not worries on how he might react—or cowing if he gets upset.
May God give us strength to obey Him first if the situation should arise.

“Mothers of Nations” From Mrs. Arpaxad to Mrs. Terah

Husband/Father: Arphaxad (Arpachsad)
Wife/Mother: Chava**
Scripture: Gen. 10:22-24; 11:10-13
Husband/Father: Shelah
Wife/Mother: Timnah**
Scripture: Gen. 10:24; 11:12-15
Husband/Father: Eber (Heber)
Wife/Mother: Yehuda**
Scripture: Gen. 10:24-25; 11:14-17
Husband/Father: Peleg
Wife/Mother: Tikvah**
Scripture: Gen. 10:25; 11:16-19
Husband/Father: Reu
Wife/Mother: Bina**
Scripture: Gen. 11:18-21
Husband/Father: Serug
Wife/Mother: Adinah**
Scripture: Gen. 11:20-23
Husband/Father: Nahor
Wife/Mother: Parach**
Scripture: Gen. 11:22-25
Husband/Father: Terah
Wife/Mother: Zehava**
Scripture: Gen. 11:24-32
**Name assigned for personification: in other words, I chose this name so we don’t have to call her “Mrs. So-and-so”

Monday, December 7
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 10-11 (the text is too long to include here; please read from your own Bible)

Question time!
1. Besides Shem, Ham, and Japheth, did you recognize any names in Chapter 10? Any sons that became fathers of nations?
2. Were the early peoples spread out or bunched together and unified?
3. Had they obeyed God’s command?
4. What did they build? A ____ and a ___
5. Did God approve?
6. What did He do?

Let’s Dig In
After God saved Noah, “Naamah,” Shem, Ham, Japheth, and their wives aboard the ark, God promised to never flood the whole earth again. He commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply” and to “fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1).

The people did obey the first command. Although lifespans had dropped considerably, couples still had many, many potential childbearing years, and fertility would have still been high. In other words, the human population exploded from eight to dozens to hundreds to tens of thousands in only a few generations. By the time of Terah and Abram, one million or more is not an unreasonable estimate. Ancient, powerful nations were “fathered:” Egypt, Cush, Canaan, Assyria, Babylon, Sidon, and more. (In fact, scholars call Genesis 10 “The Table of Nations.”)

But before all that, back in the days of Peleg, the people had not obeyed God’s command to spread out. Instead, they had unified against God, built a city, and built a tower. This tower was probably a ziggurat (a huge structure a bit like a pyramid) with an observatory at the top to study—and worship—the stars. So God enforced His command by dividing their one language into many: the ancient “ancestor” of Hebrew, the ancestor of Chinese, the ancestor of Greek, the ancestor of Latin, the ancestor of Swahili, and so on. Then the peoples split up by families to travel to new lands.
We know all this already, of course. But what were the “Mothers of Nations” like, and what can we learn from them?

Well, it seems that the world was more peaceful after the Flood: people started off unified (although it was for sinful reasons) and less violent. But true followers of God were still rare. Perhaps these here in the line of the Promised Son, the Semites (named after Shem, Noah’s son) were believers, but the Bible doesn’t say.

Perhaps Terah was a believer, since he partially obeyed God’s command to Abram to move out of his homeland (Gen. 11:21; Acts 7:2-4).
But most people were unified in their rebellion against God. Especially in the days of Babel, mankind agreed that they would rather do what they wanted rather than obey God. Those few who did believe and follow God were moving upstream against a sea of people moving in the opposite direction.
Our world today is comprised of many cultures, religions, philosophies, and lifestyles, but almost everyone agrees that they would rather follow their own sinful hearts than acknowledge and obey the one true God. Even “Christian” religions that claim to serve God actually follow their own man-made interpretations of His Word and regard their add-on rules as more important than Scripture. Other religions may worship “God,” but when you look closely, you realize that their deity is not the God of the Bible at all. Still others deny God entirely and attribute His power over the universe as a “force.” And of course, many of our neighbors here in Western civilization think themselves too modern, advanced and intelligent to acknowledge a god at all. They worship science instead.

My point? If everyone around you agrees on a certain thing, examine it closely. It’s probably the opposite of what God commanded. If the majority gives you advice, use biblical wisdom and compare it to what God says. Does the cultural peer pressure look at you funny for a particular action?
Sometimes standing for God and His truth is lonely, but don’t give in. Base your convictions on the solid rock of God’s Word, anchor them deep, and hold on tight.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

The Mother Who Endured Judgment: “Naamah♦”
Notable Family:
Father-in-law: Lamech
Mother-in-law: “Betenos”
Husband: Noah
Messianic son: Shem
Noah’s References:
Gen. 5:29-32; 6-9
Matt. 24:37-39
Heb. 11:7; II Pet. 2:5
♦ Name from Jewish tradition: in other words, this may or may not have been her name, but it’s easier than calling her “Mrs. Noah” Pronunciation: “Nae-ah-mah”

Sunday, December 6
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 6-9 (the text is too long to include here; please read from your own Bible)

Question time!
1. What were the people of earth like by this point?
2. What was Noah like?
3. Was this because Noah was just better than everyone else?
4. What did God tell Noah to build? ____ Were His instructions vague or specific?
5. What happened on the day that God shut the door? (See Gen. 7:11)
6. How long did it rain? ___ days and ____ nights
7. Noah, his family, and the animals were able to exit the Ark right after that. (See Gen. 7:24 and 8:5-14). True or False

Let’s Dig In
It’s easy to forget that Noah and “Naamah” (along with their sons and daughters-in-law) were real people. The story of the Flood is so “fantastic” and counter to evolutionists’ ideas that the world constantly mocks it, making jokes in comics and other references. Even we Christians tend to portray the Ark as a chubby little boat with giraffes sticking out of it rather than as a huge, realistic, seaworthy vessel. Although these Sunday School depictions are adorable, we need to remember that the Flood really happened, that Noah and Naamah were real people, and that the Ark held all the necessary animals easily.

So what were Noah and Naamah like? Well, Genesis says that God showed him “favor” (Old Testament word for “grace”), meaning he believed in God and His promises. Implied is that Noah’s family believed as well, and that they were some of the very few believers in a dark, sinful, violent world. (Perhaps even the only ones!) Noah was “righteous, blameless, and walked with God.” I hope Naamah did, too. Peter also tells us that Noah was “a herald of righteousness.” I think this means that it’s safe to say Noah declared righteousness among his wicked neighbors and condemned their wickedness. Perhaps he was the first preacher of sorts.

Not that the righteousness of Noah and his family rubbed off on any of their neighbors, of course. I bet Naamah was concerned, along with her husband, for the spiritual well-being of their young adult sons and their wives. Would they keep themselves from the abundant temptations all around them? And what about when the couples eventually had children? How could anyone raise children to follow God when surrounded by such blatant wickedness? Then one day—if you’ll forgive a little more speculation—Naamah was kneading bread, thinking and praying about these things, when her husband stumbled in the door, looking pale. “God Himself has spoken to me,” he said. “God has decided to wipe out the evil of the world.” He told her all about what God had said, both His plan and His detailed instructions for building the Ark to save them, their sons and daughters-in-law, and representatives of each kind of animal.

Noah, being a “herald of righteousness,” probably immediately started warning people to turn from their sin and believe in God, even as he began gathering materials for the Ark. I bet the wicked people jeered and mocked him. They didn’t believe him, not at all. In fact, Christ Himself confirmed that people carried on just as normal until the day the Flood came (Matt. 24:38-39).

We’re not told how long it took to build the Ark, but it was certainly a huge project: it stretched 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. It had three decks or stories inside, one door, and one window. Cages or fenced areas had to be built for each “kind” of animal: the dog kind, the bear kind, the monkey kind, and so on. Perhaps Naamah swung a hammer or helped brush on waterproofing pitch, but perhaps she and her daughters-in-law wove baskets to store food for man and beast. Maybe they bought large clay vessels to store drinking water. I bet each wife helped make sure their future living spaces were homey. Naamah probably also tried to witness to neighbors and prayed for them.

At last, the ark was completed, God sent the animal kinds to Noah to be led into the area built for each, and God told Noah and his family to enter the ark. Then God Himself shut the door. What must have that been like? Despite all their efforts, none of the family’s wicked neighbors had listened or recognized their sin. Now the rain was coming—and what would this flood be like? (Remember, the earth had never had any natural disasters before.) I’m guessing the family was huddled together inside the ark, waiting, maybe a little scared.

Then “the windows of the heavens were opened” and “all the fountains of the deep burst forth” (Gen. 7:11). Picture the most intense downpour you’ve ever seen in your life. Now add geysers like those in Yellowstone Park, only nonstop. I can picture the ground being too soaked to absorb more water almost immediately, and the muddy, swirling water filling low areas and climbing rapidly. Now people remembered what Noah had said, and it’s fair to guess that some pounded on the sides of the ark, begging to be let in. But God had shut the door. All people and animals fled the rising waters; the fastest of them made it the furthest to higher ground, but within hours or days, the water covered all land on earth (7:17-20), so no one survived.

How sobering.
But these were not innocent people. Man had sinned, and God must punish sin.
God has not called us to live through judgment of sin on the whole earth like He did Noah and Naamah, but we do have something in common with her. We, too, live in a sinful world, surrounded by people whose “every intention is only evil continually.” And someday soon, maybe even today, God is going to snatch away His children, the Church, and begin judging the world for all the accumulated sin and filth of the last 4,500 years or so. Scoffers of our day ignore the fact of the Flood (II Pet. 3:3-10), but the truth is that at the end of judgment, the earth will be dissolved in fire and remade.
Because of this, Peter says we ought to live holy, godly lives and seek to reach the lost: we don’t know who might turn to God in faith and be rescued from the coming judgment.

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

The Ancient Matriarchs, From Mrs. Enosh to Mrs. Lamech

Husband/Father: Enosh
Wife/Mother: Noam*
Scripture: Gen. 4;26; 5:7-11

Husband/Father: Kenan(Cainan)
Wife/Mother: Kokavet**
Scripture: Gen. 5:9-14

Husband/Father: Mahalalel (Maleleel)
Wife/Mother: Matannah**
Scripture: Gen. 5:12-17
Husband/Father: Jared
Wife/Mother: Alya**
Scripture: Gen. 5:15-20
Husband/Father: Enoch
Wife/Mother: Yael**
Scripture: Gen. 5:18-23; Heb. 11:5-6; Jude 14-15
Husband/Father: Methuselah
Wife/Mother: Edna*
Scripture: Gen. 5:22-27
Husband/Father: Lamech
Wife/Mother: Betenos*
Scripture: Gen. 5:25-31
*Name from Christian tradition: in other words, this may or may not have been her name, but it’s easier than calling her “Mrs. So-and-so”
**Name assigned for personification: in other words, I chose this name so we don’t have to call her “Mrs. So-and-so”

Saturday, December 5
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 5:6-31
When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.
When Enosh had lived 90 years, he fathered Kenan. Enosh lived after he fathered Kenan 815 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enosh were 905 years, and he died.
When Kenan had lived 70 years, he fathered Mahalalel. Kenan lived after he fathered Mahalalel 840 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Kenan were 910 years, and he died.
When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he fathered Jared. Mahalalel lived after he fathered Jared 830 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Mahalalel were 895 years, and he died.
When Jared had lived 162 years, he fathered Enoch. Jared lived after he fathered Enoch 800 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Jared were 962 years, and he died.
When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died.
When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Lamech lived after he fathered Noah 595 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Lamech were 777 years, and he died.

Let’s Dig In
I’ve titled these mothers “The Ancient Matriarchs” because they lived a long time ago, only 235 years or so since Creation, and because, if their husbands’ recorded lifespans are anything to go by, they lived a long time! In fact, besides Enoch, the youngest death here is Lamech at 777 years! That’s a lot of birthdays.
And like Adam and Eve, sin had not had much time to affect their bodies, so these couples probably had centuries of fertile childbearing years and had dozens, if not hundreds, of children. But it’s their firstborn sons that are important.
What were these mothers like? What were their lives like? Well, again, with little effect of sin, they were probably highly intelligent and physically healthy. We know that cities already existed, and this implies all the skilled trades to support a large population. Musical instruments, such as lyres and pipes, had been invented. Metallurgy, the art and science of working with metals such as bronze and iron, was already well underway. Surely these intelligent, healthy, long-lived peoples designed and built elaborate irrigation systems for their crops. They learned how best to care for various fruit trees. They built tools to aid them in various jobs. They tamed animals and used their strength to plow and carry loads. They crafted clothing and jewelry. These were not “cave people,” as evolutionists would have us believe.

However, most of these people, only a few generations removed from Adam and Eve who had been created sinless, were desperately wicked. The sin nature reared its ugly head, and these people probably created false gods to worship, instead of the Creator God. They squabbled over resources and perhaps even invented slavery. Violence and scheming filled the beautiful, previously unspoiled earth.

But the descendants of Seth were more faithful than most. Even as the world descended into depravity, it seems these mothers taught their children about God, His promise, and His ways. In fact, one of these sons, Enoch, son of Jared and “Alya,” walked with God so faithfully that he is mentioned both here and Genesis and twice in the New Testament. Do you think Alya helped instill faith that pleased God (Heb. 11:5-6) in Enoch? Enoch also prophesied about the Second Coming of the Promised Son (Jude 14-15), and I suspect ungodly people of his day mocked, ridiculed, and perhaps even threatened him. Do you think his wife, “Yael,” supported him? Prayed for him? Do you think she told others of his faithful walking with God even after God took him?

These mothers lived thousands of years ago on an earth that we wouldn’t recognize because the Flood hadn’t happened yet. But we have something in common with them: we too, live in a socially advanced but desperately wicked world. Just like them, we can walk faithfully with God and seek to teach the next generation—as well as our neighbors—about the Promised Son.

Question time!
1. Who are these people descended from?    ___ and “Azura”
2. How many years did Enosh live?
3. Did they live in caves, build fires, and communicate in grunts?
4. “Enoch ___ ___ God, and he was ___, for God ___ him.”
5. What do we have in common with these women?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Matriarch of the Promised One’s Line: “Azura” *
Notable Family:
Father: Adam
Mother: Eve
Husband: Seth
Firstborn son: Enosh
Seth’s References:
Gen. 4:25-26; 5:3-8

*Name from Christian tradition: in other words, this may or may not have been her name, but it’s easier than calling her “Mrs. Seth”

Friday, December 4
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: Genesis 4:25-5:1-8
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.”
To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years, and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.
When Seth had lived 105 years, he fathered Enosh. Seth lived after he fathered Enosh 807 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Seth were 912 years, and he died.

Let’s Dig In
After Adam and Eve sinned and God banished them from the Garden of Eden, God blessed them with a son, Cain, and then another, Abel. (In fact, they were probably twins.) This is speculation, but I bet they were a little confused: why two sons? God had promised them one to save them.
But then, after they had grown up, jealous, stingy Cain murdered righteous Abel: the first human death. Suddenly both sons were disqualified: Cain for his wretched sin, and Abel because he was dead. I suspect Adam and Eve now realized that their wait for the Promised Son might take longer than they had thought.

God, however, gave them another son, Seth. Adam and Eve didn’t know it yet, but Seth was special: he was appointed, the chosen one of the second generation out of all Adam and Eve’s sons. We know very little about him or his sister and wife, “Azura,” but we do know that his descendants were generally more righteous than those of Cain (for example, one of Cain’s grandsons boasted about murder to his two wives, whereas one of Seth’s grandsons walked with God).

To be chosen from among so many was a great honor. Sometimes we forget how many children Adam and Eve must have had. Adam was created as an adult and lived 930 years, and sin had not had much time to affect human health and fertility, so the first couple probably had more than 800 years of childbearing years. God told them to “be fruitful and multiply,” and the biblical evidence says that they did. Was Seth one of dozens of sons? Almost certainly. One of hundreds? Quite possibly. One of thousands? It’s not impossible.

While we don’t know anything about “Azura,” the sister that Seth took as his wife (please remember that Adam and Eve would have had vast genetic diversity built into them and that marriage between relatives was not outlawed for another 2,500 years or so), but we know that God specifically chose her. We can guess that she obeyed her parents and believed the promise of God that they told her. And we can guess that when God blessed her and Seth with their firstborn son, Enosh, she repeated her parents’ stories of the garden and God’s promise. In fact, in the days of Enosh, “People began to call upon the Name of the LORD,” so maybe, just maybe, Azura was a prayer warrior.

What can we learn from Azura? Well, just as she certainly had no idea that God had chosen her out of all Eve’s daughters to be the next mother in the line of the Promised Son, we cannot know what God might have planned for us. Little tasks and roles that might seem insignificant to us might have some major weight in part of God’s plan. “Just” a mother of a spunky little boy? God might make him into a mighty preacher who leads a revival. “Just” weekly coffee and Bible study with an unsaved neighbor? God could save that person and use him or her as a bold witness. “Just” altering a dress for a sister in Christ? God can use your simple act of kindness to encourage someone you didn’t know was discouraged and struggling. “Just” attending church every time the doors are open? God could use your obedient faithfulness to convict a believer.
We will never know all that God might do with us in this life. Won’t it be exciting to find out how He’s used our “little” and “insignificant” actions for His glory?

Question time!
1. What did Adam and Eve probably think about Cain and Abel when they were born?
2. Eve bore a ___ and called his name ___, for she said, “God has ____ for me another ___ instead of ___, for ___ killed him.”
3. Were Seth and Azura randomly selected to be next in the Messianic Line?
4. What was the name of Azura’s firstborn son?
5. What did people start to do in his days?
6. Can you think of a “little” thing that someone did that you noticed?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?
If you’re married, how are you doing submitting, respecting, and loving your husband? Have you muttered under your breath lately about one of his decisions, or complained to a friend? Pray for God’s grace to help you fight the Curse every day.

The Deceived: Eve, Part 2
Notable Family:
Husband: Adam
Messianic son: Seth
Eve’s References:
-Gen. 2:18-4:2; 25; 5:1-5
-II Cor. 11:3
-I Tim. 2:13-14
Adam’s References:
Gen. 1:26-4:1; 25; 5:1-5
Rom. 5:12-13
I Cor. 15:22, 45
I Tim. 2:13-14
Original Hebrew Name: Chava
Meaning of Name: “life, living”

Thursday, December 3
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it.

Please read: II Corinthians 11:1-4
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Let’s Dig In
The fact that Eve was deceived is mentioned several times in the New Testament, and although we might feel a little affronted for the sake of our first mother, the apostle Paul wants to teach us something using her negative example.
In II Corinthians, the believers of Corinth were in danger of being led astray by false doctrine: a “different gospel.” Paul fears they might be deceived by false teachers like how the serpent tricked Eve.
How does this apply to us? Obviously, we need to guard against “different gospels” that contradict the Bible, but there is another warning here for us specifically as women. Let’s look at a second passage:

I Timothy 2:9-15
…Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

What reason does Paul give for his command that women are not allowed to lead men? Adam was not deceived by the serpent; Eve was. It seems that women are more likely to be swayed by tricks and lies. Generally speaking, of course, men (especially those aided by the Holy Spirit and biblical thinking) are better able to see through half-truths and scams. Thus, Paul commands that women in the church should dress modestly and beautify themselves with good works rather than extravagant jewelry and hairdos. They should also learn quietly and submissively, and not teach or lead men. (Note: this does not include children or other women. I personally will not teach a boy after he has turned thirteen.)
“Whoa!” You might be thinking. “But what about equality and women’s rights?”
But equal rights between the genders does not negate God’s design: God created men to be leaders, and women to be helpers. Men and women are of equal value, but we have different roles. This is tricky for our
modern minds, influenced by our culture’s aggressive feminism, to accept, but joy and fulfillment come from following God’s perfect order. Besides the peace of obeying God, submitting to one’s male leader also brings protection—not just physical protection, but also spiritual protection. Among other things, one’s husband is more likely to see through lies that might have fooled his wife.
Oh, submission to one’s male leader (first father, then husband, as well as pastor) isn’t easy; the Curse saw to that (“Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” -Gen. 3:16), but this is God’s command and perfect design. A wife who struggles against her husband will never quite be happy.

Question time!
1. “But I am ___ that as the ___ __ __ by his __, your thoughts will be _____ __
2. What “different” thing do we need to guard against?
3. Women should adorn themselves with plenty of flashy, beautiful jewelry and hairstyles every Sunday. True or False
4. How should a woman learn biblical truths in church?
A. Quietly
B. Raising her hand to ask questions as often as she thinks of one
C. Questioning and arguing with the pastor or teacher
D. Submissively
E. A and D
5. Did Paul permit women to teach or lead men? ___ Why or why not?

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?
If you’re married, how are you doing submitting, respecting, and loving your husband? Have you muttered under your breath lately about one of his decisions, or complained to a friend? Pray for God’s grace to help you fight the Curse every day.

The Mother of All Living: Eve, Part 1
Notable Family:
Husband: Adam
Messianic son: Seth
Eve’s References:
-Gen. 2:18-4:2; 25; 5:1-5
-II Cor. 11:3
-I Tim. 2:13-14
Adam’s References:
Gen. 1:26-4:1; 25; 5:1-5
Rom. 5:12-13
I Cor. 15:22, 45
I Tim. 2:13-14
Original Hebrew Name: Chava
Meaning of Name: “life, living”

Wednesday, December 2
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it. Also, please pray for the Christmas events and evangelism efforts of your church!

Please read: Genesis 2:18; 21-23; 3:1-21
Note: Although I’ll include the applicable text when possible (in the English Standard Version), I encourage to have your personal Bible open and make notes as we go. For example, you could write the reference to a similar passage in the margin, note the passage of time, underline important words or phrases, write questions, or even color-code key words. Don’t leave that Bible blank! =)
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” …So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,  cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat  all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head,   and you shall bruise His heel.”
To the woman He said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,   ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Question time!
1. Because it was not good for the man to be alone, God made a __________ fit for him.
2. The man was pleased with his new wife. True or False
3. What did the snake challenge?
A. If God had really commanded something
B. If God had told the truth
C. If God was withholding something good from them
D. All of the above
4.    The _______ blamed the _________, and the _________ blamed the ____________.
5.    Name some of the consequences that God brought because of sin:

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from this study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?

Let’s Dig In
One day—the sixth day, to be precise—about 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, the first woman woke up. She had just been created personally by God. He led her to the first man, and she became his wife.
As leader and head of the household, Adam passed along God’s simple, singular command: Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He might have even added his own rule: Do not touch, either.

Their lives were beautiful, perfect, and fulfilling at first. During the day, Adam worked in the garden, caring for it and tending it as steward over God’s creation. Eve was his helper and companion. In the evening, they walked together with God (probably the pre-incarnate Christ) and talked with Him. They had work to do, and it was joyous and free of any strife, jealousy, or trouble.
One day, the crafty serpent struck up a conversation with Eve. With a challenge, an outright lie, and an implication that God was withholding something, the serpent deceived the woman. Eve ate the fruit. Her husband had either been silent during this talk or had joined them halfway, and now she gave some delicious fruit to him, too.

With that simple disobedience, the entire human race fell into sin. Adam and Eve died spiritually, dooming all their descendants to spiritual death and a sin nature. Besides this, the holy God must punish sin, and there were immediate physical consequences as well: work would be hard, sweaty, and sometimes thorny for the man, and the woman would find childbirth painful and submission to her husband difficult. Physical death also began immediately: animals had to die to cover Adam and Eve’s nakedness, and all created beings began the process of death. Instead of immortality, all living things, man and beast alike, would suffer slow decay, sickness, injury, and eventual death.

But God also gave hope. He promised that a Son of the woman would defeat the serpent. Scholars call Genesis 3:15 the “Proto-Gospel” because it contains the first good news: a Son is coming. This Son would rescue Adam and Eve from their sin.

Adam and Eve trusted God’s promise that He would give them a Son. In other words, they believed. Later, they doubtless told their many, many children of the Fall, the Curse, and the Promise. It is likely they used the pictures in the stars, the constellations that appear in sequence, as foundations for stories of the future God had promised. (These images have long since been corrupted into superstitious zodiac signs.)

Say, have you ever believed in the Promised Son? His name is Jesus Christ, and He came to earth as a human being, born of a human woman at just the right time, in order to live a perfect, sinless life to become “the lamb of God:” a perfect sacrifice to pay for sin. Whose sin? The sin of all mankind, starting with Adam and Eve’s disobedience. My sin. Your sin. All you have to do to become pure in God’s sight is to believe that Jesus is God and that He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day to take the punishment for your sins. If you do that, you become a child of God and receive eternal life—not to mention countless blessings and everything you need for life and godliness.
If you have believed, are you still believing? Of course, you can never lose your salvation, but are you trusting God for the struggles of daily life? The same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to you in the form of your loving heavenly Father. Trust Him. Although we can see little in this dark world, He sees all and is working things out for you good: gaining greater Christlikeness.

Welcome to December! 2020 has been quite the year, hasn’t it? But no matter what craziness is going in the world and the wickedness of people around us, we are infinitely blessed to have a loving heavenly Father who keeps His promises and will one day call us out of this old world!

My mom asked me to guest-write for the month of December on the Messianic Mothers: all the mothers that God chose to be in the line of the Promised Son, Jesus Christ. What can we learn from the women who span from Eve to Mary? Let’s dig in and find out! I pray that you will not just learn new things from God’s Word, but also look just a little more like Christ at the end of this study.

-Rachel D. Brown, November 2020

Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Hold on a second! You’d better pray before starting this time in God’s Word. Pray for understanding, no distractions, and help in applying it. Also, please pray for the Christmas events and evangelism efforts of your church!

Please read: Genesis 3:15
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this… I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Luke 1:26-28; 31
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! …Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.”

Let’s Dig In
Have you ever thought about the women in the line of Christ? After the very first sin, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the garden of Eden, God promised that an Offspring of the woman, Eve—a Descendant—would save them from their sin. The serpent would “bruise His heel,” but this Offspring would “crush the head” of the serpent, defeating him forever. At first, Adam and Eve knew very little about this Promised Son—in fact, they probably thought one of their first two sons, either Cain or Abel, was the promised one! But then Cain murdered Abel, ruling out both of them. As time wore on and death, brought in by sin’s power, began claiming generation after generation, those who believed God’s promise of this special Son had to trust God and wait.
However, God supplied hints and clues about this Promised Son and began choosing the Messianic Line. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising him unconditionally that one of his many descendants would be a blessing to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3). Several generations later, Jacob prophesied that a descendant of his son Judah would become king and judge of all peoples forever (Gen. 49:10-12). The beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy came when David was anointed king (I Sam. 16).
Over thousands of years and dozens of books of the Old Testament, God added more prophecies about His Anointed One, the Promised Son. He revealed the birthplace of the Messiah: a little village in Judah’s territory (Micah 5:2), the character of the Promised Son: gentle, ordinary (Isaiah 52:1-2), His physical appearance: ordinary (Isaiah 52:1-2) and the reason He would be sent: to take the punishment for our sins (Is. 52:4-12). But perhaps the most astonishing revelation about the Promised Son was the nature of His birth: through a virgin (Isaiah 7:13-14). Dozens of other prophecies added details about the Promised Son’s life, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, as well as events that are future to us as well.
Not long after these amazing foretellings, offering the clearest picture yet, God fell silent. He did not send any messengers, prophets, or new revelations to His people for five hundred years.
Then, finally, God’s perfect timing was at hand. He had already chosen a special servant, a virgin girl, to be a mother. The final mother in generations of the Messianic Line.
We may not have names for all the women of the Messianic Line, but they were all real people who really existed. They had hopes and fears and dreams, just like us. They had sins, failures, and spiritual victories like us. Just like every person mentioned in the Bible, we can learn something from them: to walk in their examples of serving God or see clearly the ways they failed and stumbled so we can keep ourselves from the same sins. I pray you learn and grow to be more like the Promised Son, Jesus Christ, as we study these women this month: the Messianic mothers.

Question time!
1. What did God promise Eve after the sin in the garden of Eden? ___________________________
2. The serpent would ____________ the _________ of the Offspring,
3. but the Offspring would ____________ the __________ of the serpent.
4. God promised Abraham that one of his descendants would be a _____________ to _____ the __________ of the earth
5. A descendant of Judah would be __________ and ____________ of all _________ forever
6. What prophecies did God reveal about the coming Promised Son?
-His birthplace Yes / No
-His hair color Yes / No
-His mother’s name Yes / No
-His mission Yes / No
-His death Yes / No
-His tomb Yes / No
7. What was special about the final mother in the Messianic Line?
She was a __________

Your Turn: Application
What truths is the Holy Spirit bringing to mind from today’s study? Is there something you can change, either in your thoughts, your daily actions, or your words?