Today’s reading: John 3:1-21

And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. - John‬ ‭3:19‬ 

Here we see the real reason for those who disbelieve and subsequently perish (Jn 3:16).

From our perspective, as Christians, we can’t imagine there being anything worth trading for eternal life. Yet those in darkness are trapped. They can’t see. Their greatest fear is being exposed for who they really are.

Believing in Jesus in its purest form is a stepping from the darkness into the light. When we do, we are surprised at the reaction of Jesus. We, like Isaiah in his experience (see Isaiah 6:7), expect for the fiery coals to burn our lips, but instead we experience complete regeneration and forgiveness that we never deserved.

We may have been hesitant to step into the light, but trusting Jesus was the best decision we ever made.

Jesus, help us to never stop sharing your invitation for others to step into the light!

Today’s reading: John 2

“Passion for God’s house will consume me.” - John‬ ‭2:17‬

This is a quote from Psalm 69:9. A song sang in the very Temple in which Jesus has just gone wild.

I counted five actions from Jesus when he  here “cleansed” the temple (He would do so again, at the end of his public ministry, see Luke 19:45-48).

Made a whip

Chased them out of the Temple

Drove out the 🐑 and 🐂

Scattered the money changers coins

Turned over tables

Think Jesus was/is soft? Think again. The second half of Psalm 69:9 is: “Those who insult you, are insulting me.” Insulting the Father? You are insulting Jesus!

How are we directing our passionate energy?

Worshiping without distraction or pretentiousness is what Jesus valued. The noise and commerce was taking away from a focus on God’s presence.

What distractions can we remove to restore our passion for unpretentious worship?

Let’s keep ourselves from angering and insulting our Savior.

May Jesus, instead, see a mighty flood of justice!

Check out Amos 5:21-24.

Today’s reading: John 1:29-51

Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.
‭‭John‬ ‭1:51‬

The answer that Jesus gave two of his first disciples when they asked where he was staying was this: “Come and see.” The answer was the same from Philip to Nathaniel (Bartholomew) when Jesus’ hometown was called into question: “Come and see.”

Life transforming discipleship is at its best when it is experiential.

It cannot be adequately explained or taught in a class. Sure, you can admire Jesus, but He really does His most impressive work when we dive deep into knowing His presence.
Where is His presence, and how can we step more fully into it?

The answer is found in the verse above, where Jesus references the ladder vision of Jacob. This may be a little confusing until we read the account in Genesis 28 and find verse 16: “Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t aware of it.” To quote Moses and Paul, “The word is near you.” (Deuteronomy 30-12-14; Romans 10:6)

Come and see.

Today’s reading: John 1:1-28

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John‬ ‭1:17‬ 

One of the best books I read in 2019 was Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach. Look it up if you need a great book to read in this pandemic. The whole book pivoted off of the verse above. Caleb says, “...the tension of grace and truth is love.”

Jesus doesn’t pretend that we haven’t sinned. He comes in with truth to show us how sinful we have become and how holy and consistent He is. He wants to reveal that darkness! At the same time, He comes in with grace to flood that personal darkness with brilliant, unmatched light. The illuminating power of grace is irrationally for us, wanting us to prosper and be free from sin.

This is love.

It doesn’t shirk off sin.

Nor does love leave us there.

Jesus comes with both grace and truth to show us the way to eternal life.

John doesn’t bury the lead in his gospel. Instead, he lays it out from the start. This Word has come to save the world, one soul at a time.

Today’s reading: Luke 24:13-53

“They stood there doubting, filled with joy and wonder.” - Lk 24:41

Their minds were saying, “People do not rise from the dead!”
Their hearts were saying, “We finally have found what we were looking for. Time to enjoy and explore this truth!”

They thought they were looking for a Messiah to come and give them political and religious freedom from Rome. They hadn’t anticipated it all to end with crucifixion and be validated by resurrection. Now they were starting to realize that Jesus always had His sights set on so much more. God, per usual, was thinking so much bigger than His people.

Matthew, just before he records his ascension account, also affirms (see Matt 28:17) the fact that they were still doubting what they were experiencing (and it had been 40 days of appearances) and yet worshiped.

Is there room for us to doubt when we are worshiping and seeing the resurrected Christ still moving among us today? It seems here that doubt, joy, and wonder can work in harmony as we worship Jesus.

Today’s reading: Luke 23:44-56, 24:1-12

Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock. Lk 23:53‬

Amongst some of the most fragile, distanced, hypocritical, weak, and too-pious-to-eat-with-sinners group of religious people to ever live — stands Joseph of Arimethea (and as John tells us, Nicodemus; see John 19:39-42).

Joseph not only has the intestinal fortitude to ask Pilate for permission to take the body down from the cross, but he and Nicodemus personally see to it. Joseph was a part of the Jewish Supreme Court, the Sanhedrin (71 strong), and was more than likely missing from the unanimous vote to crucify Jesus.

Today I cannot escape the blood transferred from Jesus’ crucified body to Joseph’s vestment clothing. The transfer of the blood happened when he took a step of faith, allowing Jesus to be buried with respect and honor.

Jesus, I too want to be associated with you and your blood, no matter what the cost. Amen.

Today’s reading: Luke 23:13-43

We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong. Luke‬ ‭23:41‬ ‭NLT‬‬

First, when we come to each of the four crucifixion scenes in the New Testament, we may long for more details. Why wasn’t there more descriptive language given for these six hours of Jesus on the cross? The purpose of the gospel writers was to record history, not legend, and we are to find ourselves in that history.

This criminal, in verse 43, shows us a model of the conclusion that everyone who is saved has to come to:

We are guilty, deserving death (Ephesians 2:1).

He was innocent, a perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14), and now stands able to make us innocent by His blood🩸.

Father, we pray today that more and more people would come to the conclusion of this insurrectionist and murderer. May they place their faith in (and turn to) the King of the Jews (Isaiah 45:22).

Read Colossians 2:12-15 to get an even clearer picture of what happened on the cross and what happens when we trust in Jesus. ✝️

Today’s reading: Luke 22:54-71, 23:1-12

..and they said, “Tell us, are you the Messiah?” But he replied, “If I tell you, you won’t believe me. And if I ask you a question, you won’t answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated in the place of power at God’s right hand. Lk‬ ‭22:67-69‬

For so long, Jesus has deflected questions about his true identity. It hadn’t been time yet. Here, on the brink of His crucifixion, it was time to let the most powerful men in his culture know who He really was. They thought they had a handle on power and influence among the people in Judea. Jesus was about to teach them the greatest lesson on power and influence the world had ever seen!

The Jewish religious leaders thought they had finally caught him, but what they were really doing is releasing Him into majesty. This releasing of Jesus into majesty (resurrection, then ascension) would then be the catalyst for us all being released from the power of sin and death (see Romans 8:1-2).

Fueled by love, Jesus remained in full control.

Today’s reading: Luke 22:35-53

There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” Lk‬ ‭22:40‬

In Gethsemane we see so many helpful lessons about prayer.

1) Alert prayer to God delivers from temptation. >> How fervently do we actually pray? What scriptures are we praying when our flesh is too weak to resist? Maybe it is time to get more acquainted with this type of watchful prayer.

2) The purpose of prayer isn’t to get our way. >> The purpose of prayer is to align our will with our Father’s. When this alignment happens, we are placed in the optimum position for the miraculous to take place. Our prayers become more powerful than we could ever imagined. If Jesus is delivered from death at this point, we would remain eternally in our own deaths.

Perhaps Jesus heard this kind of prayer from His momma:

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord;  let it be to me according to your word. - Lk 1:38

Jesus, you offered a genuine request with a genuine heart of surrender.

Jesus, we will follow your lead in the way we pray.

Today’s reading: Luke 22:14-34

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat.” Luke‬ ‭22:31 NLT‬‬

Here we see a little throw back to Jesus’ teaching from yesterday about being ready.

Apparently Satan (literally: accuser) is wanting this whole Kingdom of God movement to stop with Jesus’ death, and he knows that “sifting” the disciples is key when Jesus is presumably taken out of the picture.

We are told in Revelation 12:10 that Satan continues to accuse us, day and night. He does not want us to flourish in our dependence upon Jesus. Satan wants us to stay in our shame and weakness.

Peter (in Luke 22:33) declares he is ready, but Jesus directly tells him he is not, in fact, ready. He will deny association with Jesus three times.

Yet Jesus prays for Peter’s faith, so he can repent personally and lead others into the same.

The following quote gives exclamation:

“He who has been through deep waters has the experience that enables him to be of help to others (see 2 Corinthians 1:6).” - Leon Morris