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“I am writing these things to you so that . . .” I John

If I went and grabbed an old journal and decided to share a page with you, you might ask these questions. “When did you write this? And what was happening in your life at the time?” You’d ask because context is everything.

While the whole bible is inspired and infallible, God used the pens of men to compose it. They are from different places, different times, and possess different personalities and stories. To fully appreciate and connect with what they are writing, it helps to know the authors better. This research accompanies meditation.

Was the author a type-A personality or a contemplative? Was he in a good period of his life or under great duress? Was he young or old? Knowing the answers (if they are available) means that I can feel comforted when I am experiencing the same circumstances as the author. His words will mean more because of shared experiences ~ even though we are many centuries apart. I won’t consider the Bible just a history book. The authors can be embraced as spiritual family members. Their lives and stories are my personal history.

Oftentimes, hints are given in the very passage I’m reading. John, in his epistles, tells his readers why he is writing. I get an instant picture of motive, of passion, and why he felt the words were imperative. Application is much simpler when intent is revealed and love is the driving force.

Truth is always meant to be a heart thing. Meditation feeds the mind but fortifies the heart. Over time, I feel a bond with the one who wrote the words. When reading the Psalms, for example, I often ask God to tell David how grateful I am for his songs and laments.

Scripture is not abstract poetry and historical storytelling. Personalize it with the breath of Your Spirit. Amen

And I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. Ephesians 1:18

Last week, I wrote five devotionals on Jesus’ name ~ Bread of Life. While understanding the meaning of that name is important, even more so is knowing how to consume the Bread. It would be wrong to move on and leave things in the abstract. So let’s talk about meditation. This is the way we eat and drink Bread and Water.

Before setting out to saturate myself with a verse or two, I must admit that I am blind without the Spirit’s help. I must ask Him for supernatural vision. I consider King Solomon who, at the beginning of his reign, recognized his inability to rule wisely. He said to Yahweh, “And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.” I Kings 3:7

Revelation, insight, wisdom, spiritual understanding ~ these things are given to me. I should not be impressed with how much I understand about the heart of the scriptures because whatever I grasp is a gift.

Whether I meditate on a few verses from the Psalms, the book of John, or a heavyweight passage from Hebrews, the process must always start the same way. It begins with this prayer ~

“Lord, I come humbly and acknowledge that I will know nothing apart from what You will show me. Open the eyes of my heart. Let me see Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.”  John 6:35

Jesus speaks clearly when He says that He is the bread. He does not say that He is like bread or like water, which could lead to confusion and arguments. For those who are hungry, this is excellent news. They draw closer and ask, “Then will You feed me?”

There is a fundamental trust in the character of Jesus that underpins His claims. If He said it, it must be true. Understanding and application will surely follow because He is the kind Rabbi/Teacher who takes pleasure in making disciples.

Spurgeon expands this beautifully.

We cannot sit down to table but what the piece of bread speaks to us.  Jesus has come down from heaven to keep you from absolute starvation; he has come down to be bread and water to you. As you take up that loaf and think of the processes through which it has passed before it has become bread, it preaches a thousand sermons to you concerning the sowing of Jesus as a grain of wheat in the earth, his grinding between the millstones of divine wrath, his passing through the fiery oven. We see the sufferings of Jesus in every crumb we put into our mouths.  

For those of us willing to trust, Jesus being referred to as the “Bread” fills our hearts with countless profound implications. When we prayerfully meditate on this beautiful truth, the warmth of our connection with Him deepens. However, for those who are resistant and seek to undermine the words of our Lord, Jesus’ claim may seem increasingly absurd. Arguments do not disappear over time; rather, they tend to grow. There’s a reason for that.

Just as the Holy Spirit nurtures the seeds of truth, allowing them to grow and fulfill their purpose, the Deceiver cultivates the seeds of apostasy. These seeds also grow but serve to satisfy pride and stubbornness. Truth has the power to either draw people in or push them away. The Gospel, in its simplicity, challenges those who hear it, separating those whom Jesus calls from those who consistently choose darkness over Light.

You feed the hungry.  We are Your sheep and eat from Your hand.  Amen

It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread.”    John 6:32-34

When Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a local well, they had a conversation about water and thirst.  Using that as a segue way, He told her that there was such a thing as ‘spiritual water,’ something that could satisfy her thirst forever after just one drink.  When the woman felt the urge to experience it for herself, she asked Him for a drink of this water.  Immediately, he pointed out her deepest spiritual need.

Similarly, in this John 6 passage, Jesus interacts with a crowd of people who have just witnessed Him feeding five thousand people with a meager amount of bread and fish.  He tells them that there is such a thing as spiritual bread, a bread that comes from heaven, a meal that forever satisfies.  They ask Him for that kind of bread.  Immediately, He takes them on a steep learning curve. 

He reminds them that He is the ‘Bread’ that will erase hunger and ‘Water’ that will eradicate thirst.  Then He says, “But you don’t believe Me!”  Their unbelief keeps them shallow, only looking to Him for temporal solutions to earth-bound crises.  They miss out on the richest gifts, spiritual food that satisfies their innate ache for God.  If they would only come as beggars to the table, they would be filled.  Forever. 

Show me my true spiritual needs today.  Amen

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about.  John 1:29-30

The entire Old Testament asks the question, “Where is the lamb?”  At the beginning of Jewish history, God instructed His people to put lamb’s blood on the doorposts of their homes.  This blood sign would cause the death angel to pass them by.  And it did. 

At another pivotal point in history, Abraham was told to take Isaac up to the top of Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him.   Isaac asked his father, ‘But where is the lamb?’  Abraham answered that God would provide one.  He did then and He did – in Jesus – once and for all. 

The priests in the temple in Jerusalem sacrificed a lamb every morning and every night for centuries.  For hundreds of years, God’s people brought lambs to the temple to sacrifice.  Just one trip, or one lamb, would not suffice.  They had to keep coming back year after year because no lamb could take away all their sin.  

People were used to people providing lambs.  The announcement from John that God’s Lamb was approaching was the most shocking thing they could hear.  God providing a Lamb, the promised Savior?  The best news of all was that this Lamb could take sins away forever.  They wouldn’t be covered over until the next sacrifice.  

No wonder John was breathless.  The question of the ages was being answered in the person of Yeshua coming up over the knoll of the hillside.  Jesus authenticated, in that moment, the Torah and all the writings of the prophets.  John’s audience had heard the stories from their Rabbis but never would they think that Yeshua would approach them in person.  

You were sent by God and came to each of us personally. Each of us feels you came just for us. You are our Yeshua.  Amazing, Jesus.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross.  It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  John 19:19

It is said that Pilate designed this sign as a reproach.  The hidden meaning was, ‘Can you imagine anyone from Nazareth claiming to be king?’  Earlier in Jesus’ ministry when his humble beginnings were discussed, some said, ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?’  The place of Jesus upbringing had been a stumbling block the belief that he could be Yeshua, the One who would save and deliver His people.

God will exalt whomever he chooses.  None is disqualified for lack of breeding.  God is found in unsuspecting places.  His face shines through unexpected vessels.  After all, Jesus was born in a stable.  Who thought to find God there?

I am convinced that I have looked too hard for God in places where I assumed he would be found.  The larger the church, the more of God you’ll find, right?  Not always.  Christian entities might be well funded, utilize the latest marketing strategies, and offer everything from self-help groups to aerobics, but the system can still be carnal.  While size can be a sign of blessing, we must not forget to look for the face of God in places like Nazareth.  He may be found behind a shabby storefront.

Finally, what if you are from Nazareth?  You feel discounted.  Your confidence is marred by your lack of credentials.  Jesus died beneath a sign of reproach, but no one was laughing three days later when he rose from the dead.  If God chose you to do great things, no birthplace and wrong last name can thwart the purposes of our sovereign Savior.

Jesus is my brother, from Nazareth.  Use my life, God.  I’ll do my part.  I’m confident you will do yours.  Amen

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. … When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing.  Galatians 3:13

Yeshua was born with a purpose that defied understanding.  He wasn’t born to be a teacher, or to tell stories about God, or to perform miracles, or to be king of Israel.  He was born to reverse the curse that was pronounced in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve failed to believe God about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Turning their deaf ear to God’s boundaries, and then sealing it with an act of disobedience, ushered in immense consequences for them and every one of their descendants.  Is it any wonder that Jesus would grow up to say, “Whoever believes in me, though He dies, yet shall He live.”  

The sin of unbelief was committed in a garden.  Thirty-three years after little Yeshua was born, He would enter another garden to deal with the weight of our curse and to give up His life to reverse it.  Unbelief brought the curse.  Belief in Jesus lifted it. 

Every one of us who has embraced this Savior and believed in Him is no longer cursed ~ but blessed.  The theme of our life is not ‘paradise lost’ but ‘paradise restored.’  Barren landscapes, once brown and decayed by sin, are now lush and green.  Futility and hopelessness were instantly banished with this pronouncement, “It is finished.”  

You rescued me from eternal darkness and alienation from You. You are my Yeshua.  Amen

[Jesus] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.  Titus 2:14

I was not created to love evil.  Quite the opposite.  If Adam and Eve had never sinned, I wouldn’t know what evil was.  I’d be walking in Paradise, communing with God in the evening after an enjoyable day at work.  Instead of pondering my regrets of the past 24 hours, I’d be savoring the beautiful moments on God’s perfect earth.  Instead of brainstorming on how to keep my soul safe from unsafe people, I’d be soaking in the beauty of perfect intimacy, one without any reservations whatsoever. 

But that’s not how the storyline unfolded.  A knowledge of good and bad opened.  Acquaintance with evil came into view, and with it, an incapacity to understand the breadth of wickedness.  It is still too shocking for the human mind.  Too horrific to grasp.  Yet, before we came to Christ, we had an appetite for what it might be like to explore the edges of the canyon of evil desires.  One taste after another put us deeper into the pit with an enemy who never intended to let us go.  Once in his web, he lured, tormented, condemned, and maligned the only Savior who could rescue us.

Praise Jehovah Tsidkenu – that’s not the end of the story.  Nothing could stop His plan of redemption.  Jesus came to snatch us from the fire, to give us a new nature, one that would no longer want to sin.  Wickedness would repel us.  Dressed in His garments of righteousness, we would dance in our new identity.  We would forever stand in awe of Jesus’ shed blood, for by it, we have been purified and perfected. 

There is Paradise in my soul now.  But Paradise for my body – coming later – is still a sure thing.  Even so come Lord Jesus.  Amen

I will not execute my fierce anger. I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst. Hosea 11:9 

God stood on the brink of executing judgment. When He looked upon His people, His heart was filled with waves of love. He controlled His anger instead of executing it. It’s as if He couldn’t stand the thought of the pain they would experience. He explains the reason for such holy restraint. He is God and not man. 

Because God is God ~ He did not leave me to die in my sins without any chance of being saved. He sent a Savior, even though it meant sending His Son for sacrifice.  He did not send me to eternal judgment, even though I deserved it. He credited all my sins to His Son’s account, the Son He loves. How humbling!  He forgave me for every wrong thing I did and I was made perfect when Jehovah Tsidkenu clothed me in His Son’s righteousness.

I am now His image bearer. I cling to righteousness and not to the ways of the anti-kingdom. God’s nature is being fully formed in me and I am perfect in my Father’s eyes. This affects every decision I make today.

A lover of righteousness ~ I can restrain my anger and redirect with love and good deeds. I can withhold what someone deserves and give grace instead. I can suspend making a list of wrongs done against me and offer someone a clean slate in its place.  And, I can pray for my accuser instead of delivering a pointed speech. Restraint, prudence, purification and redirection. These are the hallmarks of a child of God. 

I am Yours, dressed in Your perfection. I make different choices as I live by Your Spirit. Amen