Category Archives: John

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God So Loved … You!

For the Bible Tells Me So

If you ever have doubts about God’s unconditional, unstoppable love for you, just remember, there is a cross that stands as a continual reminder of how deeply loved you are. You see, on that cross, when Jesus stretched out his arms wide on the crossbeam, it was as if he were saying, “I love you this much!” Then he bowed his head, and died—for you. And the Bible tells us that there is nothing today or tomorrow or ever that can separate you from that love. Let the power of God’s love absolutely, profoundly change your life today!

The Journey: John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16—it’s the whole Bible in just one verse. The verse is so simple that any child can memorize it, yet it is so infinitely profound and irresistibly powerful that it can totally, radically transform your life. That’s right, this verse is not just an amazing statement about God’s universal love for all mankind, it is about God’s personal love for you!

God so loved the world, but he didn’t just look at it as one big mass of nameless faces. When he looked at the world and loved it, he was looking at you. Max Lucado, who wrote an entire book just on John 3:16, said, “If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.”

God has a crazy love for you! He really does. St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, one of the most influential figures in church history, said: “God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.” Think about that: If you were the only person on this planet, God would have loved you so much that he still would have given Jesus to die for your sins. There would still be John 3:16 if you were the sole human ever created and had fallen from God’s grace.

One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, told the story of an Irish priest on a walking tour of his rural parish, and he happened upon an old peasant man kneeling by the roadside, praying. The priest was impressed: “You must be very close to God.”

The peasant looked up from his prayers, thought for a moment, and smiled, “Yes, he’s very fond of me.” This simple man had a profound sense that he was loved by God, and that was all that mattered! From that story, Manning developed a personal declaration: “I am the one Jesus loves.”

That is in no way arrogant; it is actually quite Biblical. The Apostle John identified himself throughout his Gospel as “the one Jesus loved.” That came to be John’s primary identity in life. If you were to ask John, “Tell me about yourself,” he wouldn’t have said, ‘Well, I’m a disciple, an apostle, and the author of this incredible Gospel.” Rather, John would have simply said, “I’m the one Jesus loves.”

Now if John could think of himself that way, so can you. John 3:6 gives you permission. Charles Spurgeon wrote,

We have a share in the special love of Jesus. We see evidences of that love…in the precious blood that He so freely shed for us…Behold how He loves us!

I hope you’ll practice remembering that this today: “Behold how He loves us!”

Yes, you are the one Jesus loves!

If you are still doubting that God could love you, just remember, the cross is a continual reminder that when Jesus stretched out his arms on that wooden crossbeam, it was as if he were saying, “I love you this much!” Then he bowed his head, and died. And there is nothing today that can separate you from that love.

So why not let the power of God’s love absolutely, profoundly change your life today!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, you love me, this I know. The Bible tells me so. I choose to believe it, I receive it, and I will live in the reality of that love today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life and all eternity. I am the one you love!
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How To Get Into Heaven

Clue: Not By Being Rich, Respectable or Religious

Nicodemus was a person who did the right spiritual things, knew the right spiritual language, had gained everyone’s spiritual admiration, but was still spiritually empty because he was still spiritually lost! That’s why Jesus said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” Jesus was simply saying that human beings must have two birthdays to get to heaven. We must have a physical birthday and we must have a spiritual birthday. Which begs the question, have you been born again? If not, then I would encourage you to personally invite Jesus Christ to be your Savior – the forgiver of your sins, and your Lord – the ruler of your life.

The Journey: John 3:1-3

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Nicodemus was a very bright man. He had given himself to much study and he’d grown quite famous as a teacher, but he had little wisdom as to how to be in right standing with God. He knew a lot about God, but he didn’t know God.

Nicodemus was rich. Tradition tells us that he was one of the three richest men in Jerusalem. But how much a person has does not change who they are! You can have plenty of money, lots of fame, an enviable place in life, but it doesn’t change the fact that you are still a sinner in need of a Savior!

Nicodemus was not only rich, he was respectable. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the prestigious ruling spiritual body of Israel. He was a rabbi. Jesus refers to him in verse 10 as “Israel’s teacher”, which suggests that he had attained celebrity as a master communicator. However, what you’ve achieved doesn’t change who you are before God. The truth is, hell will be populated with a lot of respected people, because admiration, though not necessarily a bad thing, does not equal salvation!

Nicodemus was rich, respectable, and he was religious. He was a Pharisee! He kept the Mosaic Law to the smallest detail. He was morally pure to a degree that you and I can’t imagine! But religion doesn’t redeem the heart; religious ritual is not the same as right relationship with God. Titus 3:5 reminds us, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us….”

Nicodemus was a person who did all the right spiritual things, knew all the right spiritual language, had gained everyone’s spiritual admiration, but was still empty on the inside because he was still spiritually lost! That’s why Jesus said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.” He is simply saying that human beings must have two birthdays to get to heaven. We must have a physical birthday and we must have a spiritual birthday.

Jesus uses the picture of physical birth to point out the need for spiritual birth because of the obvious comparisons. To begin with, physical birth provides life. All babies have life because they are born! Likewise, spiritual life cannot begin until spiritual birth occurs. Not only that, physical birth means a brand new start. No baby is born with a past! They only have a future! So it is with the spiritual birth. When you get saved, you get a brand new start. Your past is wiped away and the future begins! That’s why Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Most profoundly, physical birth takes place because of the suffering of another. A mother literally, through the pain of childbirth, comes close to death in order to bring life into this world. Jesus didn’t come close to death—he experienced death so that you and I might be born again. Spiritual birth rests squarely upon the pain and suffering of another!

So what does that mean? It means that salvation requires a new beginning. Not just a reformation of your flesh, but a rebirth from death to life. It means that someone else had to die so that you could be reborn. That’s why you can’t do it on your own. It only comes through depending on the complete and adequate supply of God’s saving love through Christ’s suffering for your salvation. It means because of Christ’s adequacy, you can have a brand new beginning and an unending future with God.

Have you been born again? If you haven’t, I would suggest that you pray the Simple Prayer below. If you will pray it from your heart, you will be born again!

A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works: indeed, he certainly would not know how it works until he has accepted it. ~C.S. Lewis

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I confess that I am a sinner. Please forgive me. I repent of my sins and turn to you. I believe that you sent your Son to die on the cross for my sins, and he rose again from the tomb to make me right with you and to give me eternal life. So I invite him to come into my heart as Lord and Savior.
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The Divine Bouncer

In the new economy of the Kingdom of God, the church has replaced the Jewish temple as the dwelling place of God in the earth. Of course, that refers more to a people than a place—yet both people and place are the church. What would Jesus see in your church—in you, in your brothers and sisters in the local community of Christ, and in the activities that take place in your church building? If zeal for God’s house still consumes Jesus, I have a sense that each, both people of worship and places of worship, are due for a little divine house cleaning.

The Journey: John 2:13-17

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

“Zeal for God’s house will consume me.” I have always enjoyed this story of Jesus cleansing the temple. I love the robust image it paints of him. It stands in stark contrast to most of the historical paintings as well as the more recent images we get from the portrayal of Jesus by filmmakers. For some reason, artists from the Renaissance on up to this very day have given us a softer Jesus—tender, doe-eyed, almost porcelain-like.

That is not the Jesus of John 2:13-16.

It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration, so Jesus went to Jerusalem. In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”

Jesus doesn’t appear all that soft in this encounter, does he? I’d say he opened up a can of comeuppance on these merchants of religion, and no one dared stop him. Go down to your local Saturday Market and do that, and see what happens. People typically don’t take too kindly to having their economic systems so abruptly disrupted.

Jesus was different. He was right—and people knew it. His anger was one of righteous indignation and holy zeal for the House of the Lord. This kind of house cleaning was long overdue, and if they didn’t overtly cheer him on, inside the worshippers were secretly applauding.

Now as much as we enjoy this story, it really is incomplete if we don’t fast-forward to our time and ask how Jesus would respond if he walked into our church today. How much zeal would Jesus express for his body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the church? How much holy fire and righteous indignation would he display for that which he suffered and died to redeem?

You see, in the new economy of the Kingdom of God, the church has replaced the temple as the dwelling place of God in the earth. Of course, that refers more to a people than a place—yet both people and place are the church. What would Jesus see in your church—in you, in your brothers and sisters in the local community of Christ, and in the activities that take place in your church building? I have a sense that each, both people of worship and places of worship, are due for a little divine house cleaning.

Here’s what I would suggest: How about we get started before the Lord of the church has to show up and do it for us!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, fill my belly with holy fire for your house. Let it consume me as it does you. Zeal not only for the physical house in which your people gather, but also in this house made up of body, soul and spirit, in which your Spirit dwells.
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Understated Miracles

When God’s Power Breaks Out, Word Gets Out

Maybe we would see more supernatural displays of God’s power in our culture if we would commit to allowing the miracles to speak for themselves—and to fiercely make sure that all the glory goes to God when he graces us with one. In The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen wrote, “To live and work for the glory of God cannot remain an idea about which we think once in a while. It must become an interior, unceasing doxology.” Spend some time today—and make it a practice every day—thinking of how to give God glory through your life.

The Journey: John 2:7-10

Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled, he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions. When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. “A host always serves the best wine first,” he said. “Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!”

It was his first recorded miracle—and even then, Jesus was reluctant to perform it. It was not yet time to launch his public ministry as Messiah of Israel, but he was at a wedding with his family and the wine was running low. The event planner was in a panic, so Jesus’ mother said, “No worries, my son will take care of it.” Thanks, mom! So Jesus turned water that was being stored in several thirty-gallon jars nearby into the best wine the world has ever tasted, before and since.

Of the many things that could be discussed from this water-into-wine miracle, one of the facets that stands out the most to me is how understated Jesus was in performing this miracle. When the great tasting wine was discovered, neither the master-of-ceremonies nor the happy partygoers knew where it came from. Only those who brought the water jugs to Jesus knew that he had transformed the liquid. And Jesus wanted it that way.

In fact, that seemed to be the way Jesus performed most of his miracles. He never made a big deal out of them, other than to draw praise to his Father. He never made a spectacle of his divine powers. He never showcased the miracles’ recipient like a zoo exhibit. Jesus’ miracles, you might say, were under the radar.

Yet there is no way to keep an authentic miracle under wraps—not for very long anyway. Sooner or later, the power of God breaks containment, and word gets out. Maybe that is why Jesus handled miracles the way he did—he let the miracles do the talking.

Unfortunately, too many spiritual leaders today who have been used in the miraculous don’t follow Jesus’ lead. The bigger the miracle, the quicker the press conference or the book deal or the fund-raising letter! Now to be fair, if I turned water into wine, or raised someone from the dead, or performed some other sensational miracle, I’m afraid I, too, would head right to the local Christian network to tout what God had done through me. That is too bad! God doesn’t get all the glory when we do that. Reminds me of what Thomas Merton said,

That is what gives Him the greatest glory – the achieving of great things through the weakest and most improbable means.

Maybe we would see more supernatural displays of God’s power in our culture if we would commit to allowing the miracles to speak for themselves—and to fiercely make sure that all the glory goes to God when he graces us with one. In The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen wrote,

To live and work for the glory of God cannot remain an idea about which we think once in a while. It must become an interior, unceasing doxology.

Spend some time today—and make it a practice every day—thinking of how to give God glory through your life.

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I want my life to be a conduit of human praise back to you. Keep me from self, pride and independence. I want to live and breathe and do everything for your glory alone. May that be my interior, unceasing doxology.
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The Best Mission Statement

When People See Your Christianity, Do They See Christ?

What would happen if the qualifier to every mission statement of every Christian and every faith-based organization was the same as John the Baptist’s: “Jesus must become greater; I must become less”? Oh my! We would change the world—that’s what would happen!

Enduring Truth // Focus: John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease…

Over the last two or three decades, it has become clear, at least in the western world, that a person cannot be successful, live a truly satisfying life and experience significance as a human being without a well-written, eye-catching personal mission statement. Likewise, no business can increase its bottom line and influence its market without a corporate mission statement. Next to oxygen and nourishment, a mission statement is essential to life.

Of course, I am speaking facetiously. To be sure, strategically developing and clearly stating your personal or corporate mission is a good thing. I have one. Jesus had one: “The Son of man came to serve, not be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45). The Apostle Paul had one: “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24) You would do well to have one, too.

But what would happen if the qualifier to every mission statement of every Christian and every faith-based organization was the same as John the Baptist’s? Oh my! We would change the world—that’s what would happen!

John the Baptist’s mission statement can be found in John 1:7, “John came as a witness to testify concerning that light (Jesus Christ), so that through him all might believe.” Throughout his ministry, John faithfully, fearlessly and passionately executed against that calling until he himself was executed, literally, for doing his job. (Mark 6:14-29) And while in reality John’s time in fulfilling his mission was brief, it was undeniably powerful.

It is very likely that John could have avoided what from a human perspective looked like the failure of his business. Most likely, he could have gone on to a lucrative career as a speaker, or the leader of a religious movement. But had he done that, from an eternal perspective, he would have failed at his mission.

No, John’s mission to testify to the Light (that is, Jesus and his messianic mission) was controlled by this caveat: that no matter how famous and prosperous his clients were willing to make his ministry, John knew that he had to decrease so Jesus could increase. After all, his mission was simply to introduce and represent Jesus. Jesus was the real deal; John only knew of Jesus. It was Jesus, not John, who had the bona fides to speak of the Kingdom of Heaven since he had been there and was actually from there. And with that was the case, the more successful John did his job of introducing Jesus, the less of John people needed to see.

Now of course, you and I are likely not called to John the Baptist’s path. He was unique in the initial public offering of Jesus. Yet in another sense, all Christians and Christian organizations are called to introduce and represent Jesus. And to successfully execute against that mission—however that mission statement might be personalized uniquely to you and me—John’s caveat must control ours as well: In all that we do, in the success that we experience, in the direction we take and in the dreams we pursue, we must decrease so that Jesus can increase.

From a human point of view, that might seem silly. But from heaven’s perspective, that is the path by which you and I can change the world—for Christ’s sake. Yes, that is the best mission statement!

Thrive: If you have a personal mission statement (or a corporate one), add John’s caveat to the end of it: “Jesus He must become greater; I must become less.”

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Imperfect But Passionate

A Bad Regulator but a Powerful Spring

Simon Peter was a well known bumbler, but he sure was passionate! Perhaps that’s why Jesus gave him so much attention and placed him so prominently on his leadership team. Like the very flawed King David, Peter had a heart after God. I suspect God prefers the passionate over the perfect. (By the way, there are no perfect people, only those who think they are.) The Gospel writers were not shy about including Peter’s famous gaffes to remind us that God uses imperfect people, especially the passionate ones!

Enduring Truth // Focus: John 18:25

Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it, saying, “No, I am not.”

Peter usually takes a beating when evaluated alongside the eleven disciples. He gets labeled as the stumbling, bumbling, think-before-you-speak, foot-in-the mouth, inconsistent goofball from Galilee, who for reasons God only knows, got chosen to be one of Jesus’ first disciples. Good old Peter—the first century version of Gomer Pyle in the Lord’s little band of foot soldiers.

But let’s give Peter some credit. He may not have been perfect—by a long shot—but he sure was passionate! And he was there—at least give him that. In John 18, as Jesus was arrested and brought to trial, when everyone else but John had fled, Peter figured prominently. He was like a bull in a china shop—passionate, yes; perfect, no—but he was there:

  • He whacked off the ear of one who came to arrest Jesus. (John 18:10-11, NLT) Passionate—but misguided!
  • He surreptitiously followed as the High Priest’s SWAT team took Jesus to jail. (John 18:15-17, NLT) Passionate—but fearful!
  • He stood among the soldiers as they warmed themselves by the fire. (John 18:18, NLT) Passionate—but silent!
  • He denied knowing Jesus when questioned, but at least he was there to be questioned. (John 18:25, NLT) Passionate—but weak!
  • He doubled down on his denial when questioned again. (John 18:26-27, NLT) Passionate—but fundamentally flawed!

Yes, Peter was all of those things we’ve said—there is no doubt about it—but passionate? You bet—imperfect, but passionate to the core! Perhaps that is why Jesus gave Peter so much public attention and placed him so prominently on his leadership team. Like the very flawed King David, Peter had a heart after God.

God can use people like that. In fact, I suspect God prefers them over the perfect. Oh, and just a little hint: There are no perfect people, only those who think and act like they are. Of course, I am not excusing Peter’s imperfection; only explaining it. But I think the reason the Gospel writers included Peter’s gaffes with regularity was not to put him down as the dunderhead we often think he is, but to remind us that God uses imperfect people, especially the passionate ones!

Thrive: Ask God to give you greater passion. Pray for self-control and wisdom, too—but if you are like me, you probably need more passion than the other two.

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Customer Satisfaction

Nothing is as Powerful as Your Personal Testimony

Your personal testimony as a satisfied customer is unassailable. Who can argue against it. So speak for Christ as one who has been forever changed by his grace, who was once blind but now can see, whose life overflows with the joy of being forgiven, and who lives with purpose, both now and forever. You may not feel it’s all that dramatic, but your testimony is powerful because it’s your story. So tell it, and God will use it.

Enduring Truth // Focus: John 9:25

I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!

The Pharisees didn’t like the fact that Jesus had healed a man born blind on the Sabbath. The truth is, they didn’t like Jesus at all, and they were looking for him to slip up so they could do away with him once and for all. Perhaps this latest “Sabbath miracle” was their chance.

They found the man Jesus had healed and began to question him. Had he really been born blind? Was this a hoax? Was he secretly a disciple of Jesus? Would a true man of God really heal on the Sabbath?

These weren’t just the innocent questions of a curious group. This was an interrogation. The tone of the Pharisees was intimidating and threatening, and the implication was that it wouldn’t go well for this healed man and his family if he didn’t repudiate both the miracle and the miracle worker.

Then, in a flash of unrehearsed inspiration and simple brilliance, the man parries their attack and thrusts the most persuasive of all daggers into their opposition against Jesus: The testimony of a satisfied customer. All this man knew was that he was once blind, but now he could see. Case closed; end of story. The Pharisees were defenseless. What response could they give against such overwhelming evidence?

That is the simple power of a personal testimony. When you speak for Christ as a satisfied customer, as one whose life has been changed forever, as one who was once spiritual blinded by sin but now can see by God’s grace, there is no defense. Who can argue against that? Your testimony may not be as dramatic as the healing of the man who had been born blind, but it is just as powerful a weapon as his. You, too, are a satisfied customer, and a satisfied customer makes the most compelling witness of all.

Take a moment today to think through your story. Perhaps you should write it out—one or two pages will be enough. Simply describe what your life was like before Christ, how you came to know him, and the joys and benefits of what it means to now be his follower.

I guarantee, God will give you an opportunity before too long to share your story with someone who needs to know Jesus.

Thrive: As suggested above, write out you own “before and after” account of knowing Jesus. And expect to share it—an opportunity is just around the corner.