I assure you

This is Jesus, talking to the Pharisees...

 “I assure you, 

those who listen to my message 

and believe in God who sent me 

have eternal life. 

They will never be condemned for their sins, 

but they have already passed from death into life. 

John 5:24

persecuted

I hear conservative white evangelicals whine 

about how discriminated & persecuted they are, 

& I always am reminded of this passage...

2 Corinthians 11

23 Are they servants of Christ? 

I have served him far more! 

I have worked harder, 

been put in prison more often, 

been whipped times without number, 

and faced death again and again. 

24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. 

Once I was stoned. (dan note: & Paul was left for dead!) 

Three times I was shipwrecked. 

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 

26 I have traveled on many long journeys. 

I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. 

I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, 

as well as from the Gentiles. 

I have faced danger in the cities, 

in the deserts, 

and on the seas. 

And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers 

but are not. 

27 I have worked hard and long, 

enduring many sleepless nights. 

I have been hungry 

and thirsty 

and have often gone without food. 

I have shivered in the cold, 

without enough clothing to keep me warm.

28 Then, besides all this, 

I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 

29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? 

Who is led astray, 

and I do not burn with anger?

30 If I must boast, 

I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 

31 God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is worthy of eternal praise, 

knows I am not lying. 

32 When I was in Damascus, 

the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 

33 I had to be lowered in a basket 

through a window in the city wall 

to escape from him.

(Compared to Paul, we know NOTHING about discrimination or persecution.)

night visit

John 3 

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. 20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. 21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

giving

2 Corinthians 9 

6 Remember this:

a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. 

But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 

7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. 

And don’t give reluctantly 

or in response to pressure. 

“For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” 

8 And God will generously provide all you need. 

Then you will always have everything you need 

and plenty left over to share with others. 

9 As the Scriptures say,

“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
    Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

10 For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer 

and then bread to eat. 

In the same way, 

he will provide and increase your resources 

and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

the Word

 John 1 

In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

6 God sent a man, John the Baptist, 7 to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. 8 John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. 9 The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

123

 

Psalm 123

1 I lift my eyes to you,
    O God, enthroned in heaven.
2 We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,
    just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
    as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
    for we have had our fill of contempt.
4 We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
    and the contempt of the arrogant.

giving

Luke 21 

1 While Jesus was in the Temple, 

he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. 

2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins.

3 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, 

“this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 

4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, 

but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

ambassadors

2 Corinthians 5 

14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. 

Since we believe that Christ died for all, 

we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 

15 He died for everyone 

so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. 

Instead, they will live for Christ, 

who died and was raised for them.

16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

onetwoone

 

Psalm 121

1 I look up to the mountains—
    does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble;
    the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
    never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The Lord himself watches over you!
    The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon at night.

7 The Lord keeps you from all harm
    and watches over your life.
8 The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
    both now and forever.

Jesus & children

Luke 18 

15 One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus 

so he could touch and bless them. 

But when the disciples saw this, 

they scolded the parents for bothering him.

16 Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, 

“Let the children come to me. 

Don’t stop them! 

For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. 

17 I tell you the truth, 

anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child 

will never enter it.”

true servanthood

 We have such a glamorous view of what "being a servant of the Lord" is.

We can bet that when we hear someone say in some sanguine manner, "all I want is to be a servant of the Lord" - they've never been one.

Here's the picture of servanthood Jesus gave.

It's not glamorous.

It's not guaranteed with success.

It's not appreciated sometimes.

It's not the heady, exhilarating thing many preachers, missionaries, or the such would have us think it is.

Luke 17

7 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, 

does his master say, 

‘Come in and eat with me’? 

8 No, 

he says, 

‘Prepare my meal, 

put on your apron, 

and serve me while I eat. 

Then you can eat later.’ 

9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? 

Of course not. 

10 In the same way, 

when you obey me you should say, 

‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

comfort

2 Corinthians 1 

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

God is our merciful Father 

and the source of all comfort. 

4 He comforts us in all our troubles 

so that we can comfort others. 

When they are troubled, 

we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 

5 For the more we suffer for Christ, 

the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 

6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, 

it is for your comfort and salvation! 

For when we ourselves are comforted, 

we will certainly comfort you. 

Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 

7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, 

you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

2 sons

Luke 16

 11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.

17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’

20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.[a]’

22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’

28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’

31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”

being a disciple

Luke 14 

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. 

He turned around and said to them, 

26 “If you want to be my disciple, 

you must, by comparison, 

hate everyone else:

your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters;

yes, even your own life. 

Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 

27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, 

you cannot be my disciple.

28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

narrow door

Luke 13 

22 Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

He replied, 24 “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. 25 When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’

28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. 29 And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God. 30 And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then"

love

 I know, I know...

I've shared this passage before here...

But I believe it to be one of the most profound chapters in the Bible.

Every time I read it - every time - I see something differently.

Read it slowly, read thru it more than once.

I can change your life...

1 Corinthians 13 

1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, 

but didn’t love others, 

I would only be a noisy gong 

or a clanging cymbal. 

2 If I had the gift of prophecy, 

and if I understood all of God’s secret plans 

and possessed all knowledge, 

and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, 

but didn’t love others, 

I would be nothing. 

3 If I gave everything I have to the poor 

and even sacrificed my body, 

I could boast about it; 

but if I didn’t love others, 

I would have gained nothing.

4 Love is patient 

and kind. 

Love is not jealous 

or boastful 

or proud 

5 or rude. 

It does not demand its own way. 

It is not irritable, 

and it keeps no record of being wronged. 

6 It does not rejoice about injustice 

but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 

7 Love never gives up, 

never loses faith, 

is always hopeful, 

and endures through every circumstance.

8 Prophecy 

and speaking in unknown languages 

and special knowledge 

will become useless. 

But love will last forever! 

9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, 

and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 

10 But when the time of perfection comes, 

these partial things will become useless.

11 When I was a child, 

I spoke 

and thought 

and reasoned as a child. 

But when I grew up, 

I put away childish things. 

12 Now we see things imperfectly, 

like puzzling reflections in a mirror, 

but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. 

All that I know now is partial 

and incomplete, 

but then I will know everything completely, 

just as God now knows me completely.

13 Three things will last forever:

faith, 

hope, 

and love;

and the greatest of these is love.

gifts

1 Corinthians 12 

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, 

regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. 

I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 

2 You know that when you were still pagans, 

you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 

3 So I want you to know 

that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, 

and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, 

but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 

5 There are different kinds of service, 

but we serve the same Lord. 

6 God works in different ways, 

but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 

8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; 

to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 

9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, 

and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 

10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, 

and another the ability to prophesy. 

He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. 

Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, 

while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 

11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. 

He alone decides which gift each person should have.