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Day 30

     So today is the last day of the 30 days of sharing, I did enjoy this last 30 or so days (because of Internet being down I think it was a few more than 30 days) and will from time to time continue this.  I hope that someone got something out of this sharing.  

Some uses of truth in the book of John:

Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 15:26), we need to take joy that He dwells in the lives of believers!

Jesus is truth (John 14:6), we need to be daily reminded of His work!

Word of God is truth (John 17:17), we need this word to daily cleanse us!

     What is interesting is that Jesus is the Holy Spirit, Jesus is the Word, and they are all truth.  I'm learning the joy of seeing Scripture affirm over and over again something...itself.  The more I read the more joy I take in seeing Scripture back itself up and validate itself.  Circular reasoning would not be useful if our document was invalid, but we have Scripture that are never contradictory and always complimentary!  God is the same forever and ever and His words in scripture are the same throughout, they never disagree with each other.  This is just one small example there are many others.

Day 29

     When someone asks you how you are doing what do you say?  There is two sayings that I've heard people use that are deeper than my normal "pretty good".  

1 - Better than I deserve

2 - Overcoming the world

     The "better than I deserve" comment was from a book by C.J. Mahaney, Humility.  It was an easy way for him to share that because of God's grace he is doing better than he deserved.  You see, sin makes us deserve death, God's grace holds that death back and gives new life.  It is true that we are always doing better than we deserve.  

     Overcoming the world is a saying that my friends uncle uses.  My friend, Adam, has since adapted it at times.  The saying comes from John 16:33, Jesus says, "take heart: I have overcome the world".  Adam's uncle knew that because of Christ living in him that he was able to overcome the world.  Without Christ we will continually give into our sinful nature and be of the world instead of overcoming them.  

     Both are such good tools or sayings to let someone know how great God is.  So my question is:

     What is your saying?  Do you have one?  If not, what could be a good one? 

Day 28 A sign of the trinity...

     As I study John's Gospel more the deeper I love the words of God given to him.  Something I read tonight showed me something I had never seen before.  I don't want to go into major detail because I'm teaching on the topic of the trinity in a few weeks at youth.  But I will tie to passages together to help show 2/3 of the trinity.  John 14:6 Jesus says "I am the way, and the truth and the life..."  Keep in mind Jesus just called Himself the "truth".  Fast forward to John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me."  

     Jesus is the truth...the Holy Spirit is the spirit of .... TRUTH ... Jesus is truth, Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth ... the Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus (truth).  While nowhere in scripture is the word trinity this is one example of how two pieces of the trinity fit...more to come during the lesson on the trinity in a few weeks! 

Day 27

If...then...

     We have all heard these sayings:  "if you clean your room you can get a toy!" or "if you finish your broccoli you can have desert" or "if you clean the car you can use it".   If then statements are always given by somebody who desires an action out of somebody else.  In John 14 Jesus gives one of His biggest If/then statements.  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments".  It must be important, He says it in verse 15, 21, 23, and in verse 30 says that He Himself is doing it for God.  If someone says something to you three times and then says I'm doing it also, you think they are trying to get a point across? 

     Love God by obeying what His word says.  It's pretty simple, don't make it hard.

Day 26

John 13:34-35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love on another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."  

     Do strangers know that I am a disciple of Jesus?  Do my neighbors know that I am a disciple of Jesus?  Does my family know that I am a disciple of Jesus?  

     I think most Christians would say yes to this, I'm not questioning a person's faith only that person and the Holy Spirit know if they are truly saved (Romans 8:16).  I'm questioning how they know.  Do they know because I have told them I'm a pastor, or I go to church?  Or do they know because I'm loving somebody by meeting their needs?  Love is meeting needs.  The question I find myself pondering is: who's needs have I met lately?  

     Meeting a need can be something as simple as an encouraging word, a card, a phone call.  Or it could be something more demanding such as cleaning up around the house so the person who normally does it can relax.  It could be helping the elderly couple down the road with yard work for free.  It can be something as grand as running a drive for fresh water wells in third world countries.  The sky is the limit.  The point is, Jesus says the reason people should know that you are His disciple is by how you meet others needs in love.  

     When was the last time we met someones' needs?

New Slogan for Girls in Youth Ministry???

Day 25

OK, I finally have internet back at the house!  I will continue where I left off...thoughts on John 12:

     It's got to be more than belief.  John 12:42-43 "nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."  Romans 10:9-10 gives us the basis on what a person goes through as they are saved.  They confess with the mouth and believe in their hearts.  It is two parts.  Not one, not one-and-a-half.  Two.  

     It's so common to see people today that perhaps confess with their mouths that Jesus is the Savior, Son of God, Messiah, etc.  Rarely do we hear the beauty that is in "Jesus is my Lord".  This means that He is your master.  A master rules over all of their slaves (followers of the master) lives.  What they eat, drink, listen to, how they speak, where they go, who they are with.  When we believe it does not save us, for even the demons believe and shutter.  We must confess that He is the Lord of our life also.  When Christ is Lord of your life the glory that is important is the glory that comes from God and the glory that is given to God not the glory from man.  Do not focus on the glory man gives, but focus on the glory God gives through His son Jesus Christ, and reflect the glory given to you back to where it belongs, God the Father.  

Day 24

     I will admit that this post is not being done on the 24th day, I had no internet last night so I'm writing this from Papa Joe's (pizza cafe in Erie).  

     Sometimes we need to be patient and see what happens.  We have a new president and some people are happy, some people could care less, and some are upset.  In John 11:37 some Jews are upset at the fact that Jesus allowed Lazarus to die, and wished that He would have healed them while He was sick.  The Jews are much like us at times.  We think our way would be better, but we don't even know what is to come.  If the Jews would have been patient they would have saw that what He was about to do was one of His greatest signs to glorify God.  

     John Piper just recently commented on the election and the economy and made a comment regarding that even if the economy tanks how do we know that this is not how God will most glorify Himself?  Our role as believers is not to worry about the future, but rather to obediently seek after God.  This includes several things, maybe none as important as prayer, as this shows the dependence on God rather man.  

     We believe we are in uncertain times, just like the Jews thought before Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave.  Be patient.  Wait upon God.  He will deliver His people.  We just may never see it.  The next four years are NOT eternity.  I am excited to see what God WILL do, not nervous about what man MAY do.

Day 23

Ezekiel 7

     There are several ways God "shows up" throughout scripture.  He is in a cloud, in a burning bush, in a wind, through the love of others, in the humanity of Jesus Christ, the indwelling of His Spirit into a believer's life to name a few.  In Ezekiel 7 God is letting Israel know that He is going to show up.  The way is destruction.  God is going to harshly judge the nation of Israel so they will know that He is Lord (He says this three times in this passage of Scripture).    

     Aren't you thankful that God does this no longer?  You should.  Christ paid our judgment when He bore our sins on the cross.  There is and never will be a greater judgment than for Christ to have our sins on Him.  Jesus took my judgment so that I will never have to.  I deserve it, more than most at times, but I will never have to face it because His grace covers my sin.  

Blogs I Check

I thought I would share with you the Blogs I read:

Justin Taylor's - "Between Two Worlds"
C.J. Mahaney's - "View from the Cheap Seats"

Chip Bennett's 

Justin Bower's 

John Piper's - "Desiring God Blog"

Sam Storm's - "Enjoying God Blog"

Boston Globe's Red Sox Update "Extra Bases"

Monday Morning Insight

Joshua Griffin's - "More Than Dodgeball"

New Attitude Conference Articles

New Attitude Conference Blog

John MacArthur - "Pulpit Magazine"

Monergism.com "Reformation Theology"

Enjoy!

Cool Video

New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Day 22

     On a day when there is uncertainty in America's future, not because of Obama being the next President of the United States, but because with any change there is conflict.  I was blessed to read two different blogs today that I thought I should share:

What do with Obama as our next President

Prayer for America On Election Day

    It is a joy to rest in God in times of uncertainty, this is why Scripture is so meaningful and precious to the life of the believer.  No matter what is happening around us God is sovereign and never fails, we can take confidence in that and view our days in light of eternity rather than viewing them in light of the next four years.  

     John 10 has opened my eyes to many things and is close to John 6 as one of my most treasured passages of scripture.  I will point out a small piece tonight as I have already pointed you in other directions with the above links.  

     John 10:27-29 reads: 

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, 

and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  

My Father, who has given them to me, 

is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."

Why I love this passage:  John 10 is all about God's calling of His elect.  All throughout John 10 we read that the sheep hear, nobody else, God's elect (His sheep) are the hearers.  Why are they the sheep?  Jesus gave them eternal life, the sheep didn't choose Jesus, He chose them and they followed Him.  Will the sheep ever face time away from Jesus?  No, not ever.  We can not lose our salvation.  This is a sad teaching that is rampant and presents a low view of God.  Jesus not only says that his followers (sheep) would not be taken away from His hand, he says that it also applies to God!  Jesus follows this by saying that Jesus and God are One.  

     Check out the blogs I linked to, rejoice in your calling from Christ, rejoice in the security of your salvation.  No matter what happens in the next four years we will still have a great God who is in control of all things, especially the reviving of spiritually dead men and women.  

Day 21

     God has been putting the act of obedience to Him at the center of my life lately.  Through books I am reading or Scripture.  In Ezekiel I've been learning that is what  not about the results, but rather the obedience to God's command.  I just finished a book about evangelism that focused on daily obedience to Christ as our main way of evangelizing.  In John 9:11 we read "the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight"  The blind man from birth was given a command from Jesus and simply put "he went".  He didn't ponder, he didn't argue, he didn't discuss, he went.  

     In the context of living out our faith daily God has given us a mind to use as we live our lives, but there are somethings that simply should not consume our daily thoughts.  When we are consumed by the thought of whether to reach out to that hurting person, or feeding the hungry, clothing the needy we are ignoring the "Go" that Jesus commands of all believers.  It is not a radical thing it is the norm.  Christianity has sadly strayed from this at times.  I am as guilty as anyone if not worse.  Here are some steps to get back on the right track:

1 - Confess that we have put self first

2 - Ask God to reveal what works He has prepared for you 

3 - Read scripture, follow the examples given

4 - Act

5 - Repeat

Day 20

     John 8 gives a great piece of scripture to show how important it is to be growing in our knowledge of God.  In verse 28 Jesus says "...I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me".  Jesus was taught.  We need to be taught.  Believers in Christ should not stop learning.  Jesus had to be taught by God just as we need to.  We are taught by God through His word.  The next time you are struggling with listening to another sermon or lesson, reading a book, or discussing what God is teaching you remember that Jesus was taught by God.  We need to be instructed even more.  

     Learning about God is pleasing to God.  In John 8:29 Jesus says "I always do things that are pleasing to Him".  This is right after Jesus tells us that He was taught by God.  The instruction that Jesus undertook was a part of "things" that are pleasing to God.  

We need to be instructed, just like Jesus was.

We please God when we seek instruction.

Day 19

     Ezekiel 6 has 14 verses.  Four of those verses are of God saying "they will know that I am the Lord".  When God wants people to realize who He is and the power He has He will make it known.  Today we see that in a few ways.  We see it in the beauty of His creation, but they could have seen that then also.  We have something that we can notice that they did not have.  That is a life that has been transformed by the Holy Spirit dwelling inside.  When we see people today living changed lives it is a way that God is telling people "I am the Lord".  If not for God we would be hopeless, hurting, angry, and depressed to name a few.  God has made Himself known to His people and in those lives we can see the evidence of God and take joy in it.  When was the last time you looked at a follower of Christ and stopped long enough to think "I can tell who the Lord is because of their changed life"?

Day 18

     I read a couple different places today in Ezekiel and John.  The thing that kept sticking out to me throughout the entire day was a passage I read in Ezekiel.  In Ezekiel 5 God declares how the things Israel has done: they were more unruly than all the nations, they were disobedient to God, and also disobedient to the nations laws. 

     It is important to God that we be obedient to Him.  It is important to God that we obey the nations laws as a humble, respectable people.  It is important to God that we live moral lives, pointing people to Him by our actions.  

     So we have a group of people that are adamantly sinning against God.  They know what is right and choose the opposite action.  God's response: "I am against you.  And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations.  And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again."  It is an eye opening to think how many times daily we do this to God.  God has given us a way out though.  The cross covered the sins His people commit, we must always be examining ourselves and confessing our sins to God because He is faithful to forgive them (1 John 1:9).  What do you need to confess to your faithful, forgiving, loving Father?