Category Archives: 5x5x5 Reading Plan

Posted on

God’s Sovereignty, Our Submission

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 19
Meditation: John 19:11

“Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.’”

Shift Your Focus… There is nothing in this world that happens apart from God’s sovereign knowledge and by his sovereign permission.

Jesus understood that as he stood before Pilate, who nervously tried to impress upon our Lord that he held the power to either crucify or free: Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” (John 19:10)

That is when Jesus, who had previously held his peace, looked Pilate directly in the eye and informed him in no uncertain terms that even though he might be a high officer of the Roman court, he held no such power—only God did.  In the awful light of what Jesus had been through, and what he knew he was about to go through, what an amazing statement of not only an understanding of the sovereign will of God, but complete trust and submission to it.

That was the reason Jesus could so calmly and resolutely traverse the terrible way of the cross.  And that is the reason you can walk through the difficulties of your life as well—even if your path takes you through the valley of the shadow of death.   As King David said, you don’t have to fear even death because “Thy rod and Thy staff will comfort me.”

You can know what King David knew that our Lord Jesus knew:  Because of God’s sovereign control over all the affairs of this universe, and because of his immeasurable love for you, this world is a perfectly safe place for you—even if you are standing before your cross.

Before you begin this day, take a moment to read the Shepherd’s Psalm printed below.  In fact, you may want to read it every day this week before you head off into the busyness and challenges of your world:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

No matter what you face today, be strong and courageous—the Lord is your Shepherd!

“Much that worries us beforehand can afterwards, quite unexpectedly, have a happy and simple solution…Things really are in a better hand than ours.”  ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prayer… Lord, my life is in your hands, therefore I will not fear.

Posted on

What Jesus Did Often

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 18
Meditation: John 18:1-2

“Jesus went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.”

Shift Your Focus… We know that this garden was called Gesthemane. By the other Gospel accounts we also know that when Judas showed up with the guards to arrest him, Jesus was in deep and agonizing prayer.  But what may be lost in the greater drama of Judas’ betrayal and Christ’s passion to follow are the words, “for Jesus often met there with his disciples.”

This was a regular place for Jesus.  The disciples were familiar with Jesus’ garden retreat; so was the devil, who had moved Judas to betray the Savior. Jesus had gone there often enough that those who knew him knew where he prayed.

Why does John include and bury this small, seemingly insignificant detail here amidst the more obvious story of Jesus’ arrest?  Perhaps he wanted us to see what Jesus had made plain to his disciples:  That even the Son of God found the time and made the place in his life for regular communion with his Father.

Jesus had purposely included his disciples in his private times with God to leave an example for them.  If he, the Son of God, needed quiet time, so did they.  So do I—and so do you.

Do you have that regular place?  Do the people in your life know where you spend time with God?  Does the devil know where to find you?  The place itself is not important.  The fact that people know that you are regularly in that place is not important.  What is important is that you are in that place where you can touch God and God can touch you with his love and grace.

It is said that early African Christians were dedicated and regular in their personal devotion to God.  Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God.  Over time the paths to these places became well worn.  As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly challenge anyone neglecting their prayer life, “Brother, the grass grows on your path.”

Keep the path to your garden well worn!

“Prayer is the acid test of devotion.” ~Samuel Chadwick

Prayer… Lord, it is a pleasure meeting with you in this regular time again today. Not for my credit, but may others be inspired by my regular and persistent devotion to you.  May they, too, discover the pure delight of spending time in your presence.

Posted on

Worth The Effort

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 17
Meditation: John 17:20-21

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Shift Your Focus… Jesus spent his last hours on earth praying desperately for the unity of his church. He knew that without unity, the church would fall apart. But with it, Jesus knew that nothing could stop his people from accomplishing the mission of reaching the world with the Gospel.

That is the power of unity. The great preacher Vance Havner once said, “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.” So it is with the church. If we get together in unity in our church, we’ll stop the traffic in our community.

The question is, since we all agree that unity is a powerful and a necessary thing, how do we move from agreement to action? How can we practice unity?

The Apostle Paul gives us some insight in his words to the church in Ephesus:

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 1:1-3)

Did you notice the word, “effort?” Paul says we are to “make every effort” to attain and maintain unity in our church. Frankly, it takes hard, focused, continual, intentional and strategic effort individually and corporately to keep the church united as one.

The word “effort” means to be diligent, to be zealous, to make haste to do something, in this case, being eager and fully dedicated to maintain the unity of the Spirit. It refers to a holy zeal to guard our Christian unity. Why do we need holy zeal? Because Satan’s number one goal is to divide us. That’s why each Christian needs to take the responsibility for the spiritual unity of his or her church.

James Hewitt tells the story of one woman’s unforgettable experience teaching Vacation Bible School with her primary class. The class was interrupted one day about an hour before dismissal when a new student was brought in.

The little boy had one arm missing, and since the class was almost over, she had no opportunity to learn any of the details about the child’s disability or his state of mind. She was afraid that one of the other children would make a comment and embarrass the poor little guy, and there was no time to warn them to be sensitive.

As the class time came to a close, she began to relax. She asked the class to join her in their usual closing ceremony. “Let’s make our churches,” she said. “Here’s the church and here’s the steeple, open the doors and there’s…”

Then the awful reality of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. The very thing she’d feared the kids would do, she’d done. As she stood there speechless, the little girl sitting next to the boy reached over with her left hand and placed it up to his right hand and said, “Hey Davey, let’s make the church together.”

If you and I give every ounce of effort to keep the unity of the Spirit with other believers, we will make the church together! And it will definitely be worth the effort.

“We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately” ~Benjamin Franklin

Prayer… Father, nothing is more important to you than the unity of your people.  May I do my part always to maintain the unity of the spirit through the bonds of peace.

Posted on

Heads Up

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 16
Meditation: John 16:33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Shift Your Focus… I hate to be blindsided, and I am sure you do, too. Nobody likes to be caught off guard by bad news or troubling circumstances. The surprise of such experiences makes these difficulties doubly devastating.

That’s why Jesus gives us a divine heads-up in John 16. Standing at both ends of this chapter, like bookends, Jesus gave his followers an FYI on some of the challenges they would surely face. In verse one, he says, “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble.” Then again in verse 33, the very last verse of the chapter, he reminds them of the insider information he has provided so that when it takes place, they won’t be unsettled by it.

Just what insider information did Jesus provide? Simply that your faith is going to get you into a fair amount of trouble in this life. People are not going to like you because you follow Jesus. You will be persecuted not only for the stand you personally take on moral issues, but just for the position your Christianity represents. In fact, some people will even hate you with a murderous zeal disguised as religious passion simply because of the Christian life you live (verse 2). Without even trying, your lifestyle of faith will bring them under such conviction that they will find it intolerable and want to do away with you. Things may get a bit rough, so be ready for it, Jesus says.

The good news, however, is that you will never have to face these difficulties alone. The fact is, through Christ you will overcome each challenge victoriously, even the most extreme challenge of staring into the face of martyrdom. You will overcome because you know what is coming (verses 1,4,33). You will be victorious because Jesus has already been victorious under these same pressures (verse 33). You will be able to face these situations with courage and grace because of the presence of the Divine Helper, the Holy Spirit (verse 7.) You will win in the hour of trial because the Sovereign Father who loves you (verse 27) will hear and answer your every prayer (verses 23-24).

Knowing ahead of time what is coming, and knowing that your victory has been secured already, you can go about your day, and come what may—trouble, hardship, disappointment, failure, persecution, hatred, even death—live in the wonderful reality of what Christ promised: “In Me, you will have peace!”

“God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.” ~C.S. Lewis

Prayer… Lord, I don’t know what this day holds, but I know Who holds this day. And I know Who holds my life in his hands. So I thank you ahead of time for the peace of God that will guard my heart and ease my mind today no matter what circumstances I will face.

Posted on

Bearing Much Fruit

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 15
Meditation: John 15:7-8

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

Shift Your Focus… Have you ever been around fruity Christians? Not the kind you are thinking. I’m talking about the believer who seems to enjoy more of God’s blessings than the ordinary Christian? They tend to get more prayers answered than you, live in a greater degree of Divine favor than you, appear to have more of an inside track with the Almighty than you, and definitely produce more spiritual fruit than you.

They’re fruity—their lives produce a lot of fruit.

Perhaps you wish you could live their kind of blessed life, but secretly feel a little selfish in asking God for it. Don’t feel selfish one second longer. God wants you to experience that kind of abundant life, too. In fact, Jesus said the God-blessed life is arguably the best proof that you are his disciple. Furthermore, he pointed out that your fruitfulness as his disciple is what brings much glory to his Father. The fruitier you are, the greater glory that goes to God. The more God answers your prayers, the more he receives the praise.

Wanting to live the God-blessed life is not selfish at all. It is no more selfish than God wanting to be glorified by giving you your blessings. It is simply the rule of God’s kingdom to ask for his favor and to live in his blessing.

That’s what God wants for you. So stop feeling weird about asking and start asking expectantly. What do you desire for your life? Ask for it. If you are connected to Jesus—and make no mistake, that is the key to receiving—the Father will allow you to bear not just a little, but a whole bunch of fruit. That what he wants for his disciples, and that includes you.

If you are not at the level of fruitiness that you would like to be, that ought to be your first prayer today.

“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, ‘above all that we ask or think’. Each time, before you Intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!” ~Andrew Murray

Prayer… Lord, I want to bear much fruit. I want to glorify you by being abundantly blessed. Keep me plugged into the Vine and abiding in your Word so that Kingdom life will flow from the Father into me and produce the kind of fruit that brings much glory to you.

Posted on

Greater Works

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 14
Meditation: John 14:12-14

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”

Shift Your Focus… That is a pretty amazing promise Jesus made to his disciples—and by extension—to you and me!

Jesus was laying out his succession plans for God’s kingdom. He told his disciples that he needed to go back to the Father, and in his absence, they would carry on his works in the world, extending the kingdom wherever they went. And although he would no longer be with them physically, he would be with them—and more importantly, live in them and work through them, by the indwelling Holy Spirit:

“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18)

Literally, to his followers who would completely yield their lives in obedience to his word, commitment to his purposes, and availability to his work, “We [the Father, Son and Holy Spirit] will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23)

Those words are from the lips of Jesus himself, and they are meant for you! Do you believe them? If you do, they will transform you to the core of your being. They will radically alter the way you perceive yourself and interact with your world. And they will lead you to have the kind of impact for Christ in this world you have always dreamed of having.

The story is told of a private in the army of the Greek general, Alexander the Great, who ran after and retrieved the general’s runaway horse. When this lowly soldier brought the animal back, Alexander offered his appreciation by saying, “Thank you, Captain!”

With one word the private had been promoted. When the general said it, the private believed it. He immediately went to the quartermaster, selected a new captain’s uniform and put it on. He went to the officer’s quarters and selected his bunk. He went to the officer’s mess and had a meal. Because General Alexander had said it, the private took him at his word and changed his life accordingly. He was simply now doing life in the authority of Alexander.

Why don’t you take the word of Someone far greater than Alexander and change your life accordingly. If you will, greater works will you do!

“Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His Name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital [asking in] prayer is.” ~Charles Spurgeon

Prayer… Lord, I believe what you said. On this day, I ask the Father, as you have commissioned me to do, to empower and embolden me to do the very kingdom works that you would do if you were in my place. And may all glory go back to you!

Posted on

Why Serve?

5×5×5 Bible Plan

Read: John 13
Meditation: John 13:17

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

Shift Your Focus… If we are going to be the kind of Christ-followers that God can bless, our behavior will have to align with our beliefs. What we “know” must become what we “do.” Specifically, we will have to live like Jesus lived, which means serving like Jesus served.

Jesus made that perfectly clear when he said, “You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:13-15)

So why is serving such a big deal?

First, quite simply, we are called to serve!  Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-7, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God…took on the very nature of a servant.”  In Galatians 5:13, Paul urged us to “serve one another in love.” When we are serving, we are fulfilling our basic Christian calling, and taking a huge step toward the blessed life Jesus promised.

Second, we were created to serve!  Christians serve!  Like a fish swims and a bird flies, Christians serve! Ephesians 2:10 reminds us “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Think about it: Before you were even conceived, God laid out specific plans just for you.  You are not just an after-thought; you don’t just exist; you are on this earth not just to be a potted plant, you were born not just to consume, but to contribute.  God shaped you to serve him.  That places a big responsibility on your shoulders.  Who you are is not just a product of random DNA from your mom and dad getting together and saying, “Hey, nice genes…what are you doing later tonight?” No—God was there at the moment you were conceived, even before, according to Ephesians 2:10, deliberately shaping you to serve his purposes through your life.

Third, service is what we contribute to the Body of Christ. God has a very specific purpose in mind for our call to serve:  Not just go around helping people out randomly—although that is not a bad idea—but he specifically created us, converted us and called us to contribute to the life, health and mission of the local church.

I Peter 4:10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”  How is God’s grace distributed?  Not just in our private times with God…not just in corporate worship as we experience his marvelous presence…but as we serve one another.  After salvation, serving is the primary means of God’s grace coming into our lives.

Fourth, service is what captures the world’s attention. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (Matthew 5:16, NLT)  Here in John 13, Jesus said, “By this will all men know that you are my disciples:  That you have love for one another.” (verse 35)

It’s by authentic servanthood that we become living proof of a loving God.

Roy Hattersley, a columnist for the U.K. Guardian is an outspoken atheist who laments, “It ought to be possible to live a Christian life without being a Christian.”   But after watching the Salvation Army lead several other faith-based organizations in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, he wrote,

“Notable by their absence were teams from rationalist societies, free thinkers’ clubs, and atheists’ associations—the sort of people who scoff at religion’s intellectual absurdity… [Christians] are the people most likely to take the risks and make the sacrifices involved in helping others.  Civilized people do not believe that drug addiction and male prostitution offend against divine ordinance. But those who do are the men and women most willing to change the fetid bandages, replace the sodden sleeping bags, and—probably most difficult of all—argue, without a trace of impatience, that the time has come for some serious medical treatment.  The only possible conclusion is that faith comes with a packet of moral imperatives that, while they do not condition the attitude of all believers, influence enough of them to make [Christians] morally superior to atheists like me.”

The spotlight never shines more brightly on Jesus than when Christians serve.  “By this, all will know that you are my disciples.”

Fifth, service causes happiness in your soul.  There is something ennobling about serving others.  Paul tells us in Acts 20:35, “Remember that our Lord Jesus said, ‘More blessings come from giving than from receiving.’”

Do you want to live an incredibly blessed life?  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

“Just as a servant knows that he must first obey his master in all things, so the surrender to an implicit and unquestionable obedience must become the essential characteristic of our lives.” ~Andrew Murray

Prayer… Lord, just as you came not to be served but to serve and give your life for the salvation of the world, so I want to serve your purposes through my life.  Make me a servant, just life you.