Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 8 today we see Jesus intensify His Messianic claims, making several definitive “I Am” statements, as He once again makes crystal clear His true transcendent, eternal, God incarnate identity…

“I Am the light of the world” (vs 12),

“I Am not of this world but from above” (vs 23),

“I Am He, and I do nothing on my own authority, but I always do what pleases my Father” (vs 29).

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Q. What did Jesus intend to relay by this dialogue?…

”So the Jews said to Him, you are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am!” (vs 57-58).

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that you have given us the truth regarding the good news of the Gospel, and that the truth has set us eternally free from shame, guilt, and the controlling power of sin.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for giving up your life in exchange for our freedom – Please help us all look to you for mercy, and like the guilty but uncondemned woman in the chapter, that we also receive your amazing grace and compassion with great gratitude and praise…

✝️ “Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you, go on your way (and be free), and from now on sin no more.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8:10-11‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 7 today we see huge crowds at the massive gathering in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Booths and standing in awe and astonishment, as the teaching and works of Jesus continue to distinguish His earthly authority and His heaven-bound status…

“Many believed in Him and said, ‘This is the foretold Prophet…No one has ever spoken like this man…When the Messiah comes will He do more signs than Jesus has done…This is truly the Christ!” (vs medley).

Q. Have you ever been given an “And One” from God – where He blessed you with something so off the charts amazing, and then added to it again and again in overwhelming ways?

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for the ultimate blessing of sending your Son to earth for our eternal benefit, that by His finished work at the cross, victorious resurrection, and subsequent ascension, you have truly met our greatest needs… (rescue, regeneration, forgiveness, adoption, redemption, new life, sanctification, and assurance of salvation).

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for all your earthly work on our behalf, and then going to prepare a place for us in heaven, ever-living to make intercession for us, and sending the promised Holy Spirit who consistently points us to you and seals us until we see you face-to-face in Glory…

✝️ “Jesus said, ‘Whoever believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ Now this He said about the Holy Spirit, whom all that believe in Him receive!”

John 7:38-39

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 6 today we see Jesus miraculously…

“Feeding the 5000 to satisfy abundant hunger” (vs 11),

“Walking on water to deliver from the raging storm” (vs 19), and

“Speaking Spirit words of life to encourage all who would believe His Gospel message of hope and truth” (vs 63).

Q. In light of these sweet truths about Jesus power, compassion, and willingness to meet our greatest need, has there ever been a more appropriate statement than Peter’s reply in verses 68-69?…

“Lord, where else can we go? You alone have the words of eternal life…and we have come to know and believe that you are the Holy One of God.”

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for being our all-sustaining Bread of Life that always satisfies, forever-quenching Living Water that never runs dry, and the eternal Word of God that lifts our souls and secures our salvation according to the Father’s good will and plan…

✝️ “And Jesus replied, ‘All that the Father gives to me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out…This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day!”

John 6:37,40

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 5 today we see Jesus Messiah performing miracles and forgiving sins on the Sabbath day, confounding the religious leaders by claiming perfect equality with God the Father, in nature and in deity…

“This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal to God” (vs 18).

Q. Have you ever given Jesus less glory than He deserves by minimizing His true identity?

Q. Do you prioritize worldly things (entertainment, food, relationships, money, pleasure, comfort, career, status, approval, etc, etc, etc)…above JESUS and His Word, His people, sharing His Gospel, and praying to Him?

🙏 Heavenly Father please forgive me for often times trying to find genuine joy and lasting satisfaction in temporary and lesser things – Help us all to give daily time, honor, devotion, and worship to King Jesus as He truly is,

*One with the Father

*Emmanuel God with us

*Creator of all life

*Judge over all death

*2nd Person of the triune God

*Reconciler of all things

*Savior and Lord of the earth

*Image of the invisible God in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…

✝️ “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever hears my word and believes has eternal life, they will not come into judgment, but will pass from death to life!”

John 5:21-24

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 3 and 4 today we see God’s transcendent love and endless mercy being poured out in two specific ways…

#1 Over the entire earth for all who trust in Christ…

“For 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.” (3:16-17).

#2 And to the individual in desperate need of redemption and grace…

“Jesus said to the woman at the well, ‘Whoever drinks this well water will be thirsty again, but the water I give to you will quench your thirst forever, and will become a spring of water welling up into eternal life!” (4:13-14).

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us – And that you have loved misguided rebels and defiant idolaters so much that you gave your only Son to rescue and redeem depraved and undeserving people from the four corners of the world for the glory of your name.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today that you have quenched our thirst with living water, and by your Spirit have transferred us from darkness to light and made us alive, opening our eyes and granting us the ultimate gift of faith and trust in you…

✝️ “For we have seen and heard for ourselves, and we know with confident assurance that Jesus Christ is indeed the Savior of the world!”

‭‭John‬ ‭4:42‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 2 today we see Jesus performing His first of many recorded signs and miracles, attesting once again to His divine personhood as the God-Man Messiah & Son of the Most High God, and leading many people to faith in His name…

“This is the first of His signs (turning water into wine) at the wedding banquet at Cana in Galilee. It manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him” (vs 11).

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much for your exceedingly gracious and generous gift, sending Jesus to give the overflowing good wine of fruitfulness and eternal provision to all who would put their trust in Him.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you (our Bridegroom) today for clothing us with the wedding garments of your righteousness, preparing us for the great wedding banquet of the lamb, and providing abundantly for us by your costly sacrifice at the cross and victorious resurrection from the grave…

✝️ “So they said to Him, what sign do you show us now? Jesus said, speaking of His own body, destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days…And when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

John 2:18-22

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In John chapter 1 today we see God’s authoritative Word revealing the glorious paradox, both strongly affirming the diety of Christ, and rightly celebrating the humanity of Christ, making the work and identity of Jesus absolutely clear to all who will hear…

Jesus is the sovereign “Creator of all things” (vs 3),

the “Light and life-giver of mankind” (vs 4),

the “God-Man full of Glory” (vs 14),

the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (vs 29),

the “Prophesied and promised Messiah and Christ” (vs 41),

the “Son of man, Son of God, and King of all kings!” (vs 49-50).

Q. It’s true that many times throughout history man has tried to play God and ascend into heaven on the basis of his own merits, but can you name the only time in history that God became a man and “Dwelt on earth, walking among us full of grace and truth?!!!”

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so very much for giving us grace upon grace, and for sending our great Redeemer, Rescuer, Savior, truest Friend and eternal Hero, Jesus the Christ…

✝️ “But to all who receive Jesus and believe in His name, He has given the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

John 1:12-13

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Luke chapter 24 today we see Jesus on the road to Emmaus teaching His followers about the true message of the Old Testament Scriptures – not primarily as a history book, or a self-help manual, or a practical guide for living, or a composition of moral laws and rules, but rather as a divine roadmap that in each infallible chapter, and on every perfect page, ultimately points directly to the person and work of the Savior of the world – Jesus Christ…

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself…And they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road and opened our eyes to the (true message) of the Scriptures?” (vs 27, 32‭).

🙏 Heavenly Father thank you so much that your ancient and true writings from Genesis to Revelation are “More to be desired than much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey and the honey comb”, and that they have unveiled your beautiful plan of salvation & redemption through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ our Lord.

🙏 Holy Spirit please open our minds and soften our hearts to this glorious truth, and let us respond with great joy and worship to the good news of the Gospel of Christ…

✝️ “Then Jesus said, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations of the earth!”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:44-47‬ ‭

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Luke chapter 23 today we see 3 crosses of crucifixion as the backdrop for God’s terrible wrath & His loving mercy to collide, while Jesus the Lamb of God (sinless and innocent on the middle cross) rightfully determines the fate of guilty sinners (on the other two crosses beside Him), and pours out His love as He prays for His enemies…

“Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do” (vs 34).

Q. Have you ever been frustrated or angry at the way God was doing things, demanding your own way when he took something away that was valuable to you?

Q. Which of the two guilty criminals on the cross is described best by the question above?

🙏 Heavenly Father I confess my selfish grumbling and frequent forgetfulness of your grace – Please open our eyes and deliver us all from the anger, arrogance, and entitlement mentality of the unrepentant criminal on the cross who cursed Jesus saying, “I don’t deserve this suffering, if you are God then do what I demand.”

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for absorbing all of God‘s wrath and punishment for our sin, and for shedding your righteous blood so that we could be once/for/all favored and forgiven – Help us to have the childlike faith of the repentant thief on the cross, and consistently echo his humble words of reverence and worship to you…

✝️ “Should we not fear God, since we are under the sentence of condemnation for our sin? For death and hell are the due rewards for our selfish deeds…Lord Jesus have mercy on me, and remember me when you come into your Kingdom…and Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise!”

Luke 23:40-43

Brothers and Sisters 😊

📖 In Luke chapter 22 today we see Jesus the suffering servant, agonizing in prayer and sweating great drops of blood at the garden of Gethsemane, preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice for us, and uttering some of the sweetest words ever spoken for the benefit of fallen mankind…

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me…Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done” (vs 42).

Q. Along with Jesus aforementioned words above, what are some other all-important phrases that fit into the category of – Most beautiful words ever spoken by God on our behalf?…

“It is finished” (Jn 19:30),

“Enter in thou good and faithful servant” (Matt 25:21),

“Behold, I am making all things new…It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment…and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation‬ ‭21:5-7‬)

Q. Can you name any others?

🙏 Heavenly Father in light of your many kind and beautiful words toward your people, please forgive me for my lack of gratitude and the many times I have spoken harsh and critical words toward others.

🙏 Lord Jesus we praise you today for your perfect and sinless endurance to the end at the most crucial time in human history – Thank you for being our heaven sent rescuer, precious redeemer, most loyal friend, and truest hero, as you gave up all and laid down your life for us…

✝️ “Jesus said, ‘Who is the greater among you, the one who reclines at the table (and is served), or the one who serves?…I tell you that I am among you as one who serves.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22:27‬ ‭