Posts with the tag “john”

Daily Devotional from John 21--Verse 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” This last chapter of John is so powerful. Peter had betrayed Jesus 3 times, and now Jesus gave Peter the c...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 20—Verses 21 and 22Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”In Genesis 2 God created man and woman with a purpose. He told them to work and keep the land, He breathed his life into them and gave them a duty. Humans fell awa...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 19--Verse 2The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe.A coronation is usually a grand affair. A kingdom-wide celebration of the crowing of a new king. It is big and flashy. It signals to the entire kingdom that a new king or queen is in rule.But the coronation of Jesus looked different. It was solemn. Dark. ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 18--Verse 36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”Pilate had nothing to fear from followers of Jesus - their mission was not to overthrow Roman rule. If only the Crusaders had listened to the  words of J...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 17--Verse 11Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. Jesus prays for us that we would be one, just as the Father, Son and Spirit are one. We call this phenomenon the Trinity—a divine diversity found in unity. And if you were to take a peek inside the Trinity, do you know what you would find? You would discove...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 16--Verse 13-14“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The Spirit is always pointing us to Jesus. Sometimes as believers we forget ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 15—Verse 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.Plug-in with Jesus today. We absolutely need to be connected with Jesus, so find some time to pray, to open up the Word. Don’t try to manage today on your own strength but instead get some time with Jesus and allow Him to s...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 14--Verse 1 & 27 (CSB)Let not your hearts be troubled…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.Don’t let your heart be troubled. Jesus says this phrase twice in the same chapter! Anxiety and fear have the tendency to trouble our hearts. Life overwhelms us and sometimes we feel lik...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 13--Verses 34-35A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”The words of a children’s song summarize the truth of God’s love for us, and the verse tell...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 12--Verse 24Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.The principles of the Kingdom are often counterintuitive—You want to live? Then you must die.You want to win? The you must lose.You want to receive? You must give.You want to rise? You must sink.You want to be great? Be small.You want to be first? Be l...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 11—Verse 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.Like you and I, Jesus experienced grief. Even though He knew He could raise Lazarus from the dead, He still grieved with those around Him. He was deeply moved.I love Jesus’s opening to His prayer in verse 41, where He says, “Fathe...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 10--Verses 2-4But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.I love that we have God’s word written for us and kept through history. But it is...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 9--Verse 25[The man born blind] answered, “Whether or not [Jesus is] a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”Another way to express this man’s words is “I was one way, and now I’m different.” If you know Jesus, you understand this deeply. This man’s encounter with Jesus changed his life. For his entire life, he was told that either hi...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 8--Verse 58Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”Jesus claimed to be God. “I am” was the name God told Moses to use when referring to Him.The Jews knew what Jesus was claiming and tried to stone Him for blasphemy.Some people think of Jesus as a great moral teacher.C S Lewis said, “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 7--Verse 6My time has not yet come. I love the confidence. Here Jesus’s brothers were trying to egg him on. But Jesus stayed in the moment. He didn’t allow ambition to drive him forward or fear to hold him back. He trusted in the perfect timing of the Father. And the pathway into this same kind of confidence is Jesus. Oh, to abide in Jesus, the supremely confident One. W...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 6—Verse 26Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”The people in the crowd were desperately chasing after Jesus, but it was because of what He did, and not who He is. All of His metaphors they took literally and thus turned away from Him quickly—after crossing the sea to ...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 5—Verse 24Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.There is this judgment that all of us deserve: it’s death. A criminal's death, since we are all sinners. But by simply believing God, in believing Jesus is the Son of God and that He is God, we no lon...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 4--Verse 35b…Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready for harvest.Jesus was preparing his disciples for what was coming. John the Baptist had been working to prepare the hearts of the people to recognize Jesus as the messiah. And Jesus just openly admitted his identity to the woman at the well and the people of Samaria...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 3--Verses 16-17For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), but it is through the Bible that God reveals His love for all...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 2--Verses 24-25Jesus did not entrust himself to them… for he knew what was in man. People love you when times are good, but they seem to duck out when times get tough. People can be flighty and undependable. People change their minds and switch loyalties. They bounce from one thing to another. And this can be said of us all. And, as we can see in this passage today, Jesu...  Read More

Daily Devotional from John 1—Verse 48Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”Now, we don’t know what was going on with Nathanael when he was under the fig tree. Maybe he was crying out to God, maybe he was worshipping, and maybe he was angry—we will never know. But what stands out to us, and what stood...  Read More

John 21:7When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment… and threw himself into the sea.  I love that picture. Utter abandon! He put on his coat and dove into the sea. Clearly this man lost all sight of himself. But he didn’t mind looking like a fool when it came to Jesus. David was the same way. When criticized for his love for God, he said, I’ll become even more undigni...  Read More

John 20:26Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” A popular prayer these days is “Lord, open the door” because we simply can’t walk through doors that are closed. We need God to rearrange the situation. For us, it is a necessity. But for Jesus, the rules do not apply. There’s a shift in thinking. When the situation looks like one big closed do...  Read More

John 19:5Behold the Man! Behold is to stop everything and take the scene in for all it’s worth. Behold the Man! Crowned with thorns, robed in shame, struck with malice, forsaken by all. Behold the Man! Don’t move another step. Let it pierce your very soul. Behold THE LAMB OF GOD – bludgeoned and bloody, but sweetly serene. This should’ve been you. This should’ve been me. This should’ve been us. Bu...  Read More

John 18:3So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. What in the world is Judas doing? Earlier that evening Jesus was washing his feet. And now he is using those feet to lead an army against his friend. All for what? 30 pieces of silver. Beware of the love of money! It’ll take you to leng...  Read More

John 17:11Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. Jesus prays for us that we would be one, just as the Father, Son and Spirit are one. We call this phenomenon the Trinity—a divine diversity found in unity. And if you were to take a peek inside the Trinity, do you know what you would see? You would see a harmonious, giving, and non-com...  Read More

John 16:7It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. Imagine if you were on a football team, and your beloved and trusty quarterback has been taken out of the game for the “benefit of the team.” You are in the red zone and the coach suddenly pulls QB1 because he knows that QB2 is best equipped to finish the game. It was a part of the game plan ...  Read More

John 15:5Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. If you want to be a fruitful Christian the gardener will undoubtedly bring pain. It might be the pain of pruning, it might even be the pain of removal, but it comes to make the tree better. This is called addition by subtraction. If you want more tomorro...  Read More

John 14:27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Peace is a lot like oxygen. We have to have it, but we do nothing to make it. It’s made available to us and we breathe it in. The peace of Jesus is similar. We can’t manufacture it, but, as you can see in verse 27, it’s made available to us...  Read More

John 13:5He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. This is amazing. Jesus is literally minutes from being arrested and hauled off to a mock trial, and he’s washing his disciples’ feet. Now that’s dedication. He knew his disciples would forsake him. He knew one of them would even betray him. Yet there he is washin...  Read More

John 12:24Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. The principles of Jesus are often counterintuitive—You want to live? Die.You want to win? Lose.You want to receive? Give.You want to rise? Sink.You want to be great? Be small.You want to be first? Be last.You want to be strong? Be weak.You want to be wise? Be my fool.You want to ...  Read More

John 11:6When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Seems kind of strange. If anybody could help, he could. It's like calling 911, and them saying, “Okay, we'll get back to you in a couple of days.” Jesus didn't turn on the sirens. He didn't even get in the car. He stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Why? Our answer is found back in verse...  Read More

John 10:33It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God. Here’s the stone upon which many stumble. Islam says, he's not God, he's only a Prophet. Hinduism says, he's not God, he's only a guru. Judaism says, he is not God, he's only a false Messiah. Buddhism says, he is not God, he's only an enlightened man. Jehovah Witness s...  Read More

John 9:3It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We may never know the cause of a misfortune, but we know from verse 3 the reason. Something good can come from your misfortune. The darker the room, the brighter the light. The tougher the situation, the better the solution. The more lost the cause, the more stunning the salvation. Misfort...  Read More

John 8:11Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. This woman got off scot-free! Doesn’t that allow people just to think they can go out and commit immorality and there will be no consequences? If it worked for her, it’ll work for me, right? But I don’t think we need to be afraid of that. Here’s the reason—undeserved blessing motivates unexpected behavior. I wish we could see what her life loo...  Read More

John 7:6My time has not yet come. I love the confidence of Jesus. Here his brothers were trying to egg him on. But Jesus stayed in the moment. He didn’t allow ambition to call him forward and he didn’t let fear hold him back. He trusted in the perfect timing of the Father. And the door into this same kind of confidence is Jesus. Oh, to dwell in Jesus, the supremely confident One. Where there is no...  Read More

John 6:11Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. Sometimes all we have is a “little boy’s lunch.” Our need is great, and our resources are small. If we give, it won’t make much difference. If we give, what will we have left over? Whether it be tithes and offerings, or talent and ability. It may not be much, but if you pass it through ...  Read More

John 5:10It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed. Now the Old Testament law did prohibit normal work on the Sabbath. But the Pharisees got so steeped in the law that they lost the heart. And when there’s no heart all you have is a mold. So, they had their mold for what the Sabbath should look like. But here comes Jesus breaking the mold and claiming divinity. And he’s s...  Read More

John 4:4He had to pass through Samaria. He had to pass through Samaria? Was it the only way to go? No. He had to pass through Samaria, because he was compelled to do so. Jesus desired to reach ALL KINDS of people. And he was willing to cross cultural lines to get to them.  The typical route for the Jew of Jesus’ Day was around Samaria. The typical route was avoidance. Those who are radically diffe...  Read More

John 3:26Look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him. What happens when you’re pretty good at something, and somebody else comes along and does it better? I think it’s an established fact that Walmart is the new Kmart. And maybe we should say that Chick-fil-A is the new KFC? At any rate, no body likes being out done. Not even John the Baptist’s disciples, as you can see here in verse 26. Yet, ...  Read More