trust

John 12 

44 Jesus shouted to the crowds, 

“If you trust me, 

you are trusting not only me, 

but also God who sent me. 

45 For when you see me, 

you are seeing the one who sent me. 

46 I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, 

so that all who put their trust in me 

will no longer remain in the dark. 

47 I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, 

for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. 

48 But all who reject me and my message 

will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken. 

49 I don’t speak on my own authority. 

The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say 

and how to say it. 

50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; 

so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

living

Galatians 5 

16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. 

Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 

17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, 

which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. 

And the Spirit gives us desires 

that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. 

These two forces are constantly fighting each other, 

so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 

18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, 

you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, 

the results are very clear: 

sexual immorality, 

impurity, 

lustful pleasures, 

20 idolatry, 

sorcery, 

hostility, 

quarreling, 

jealousy, 

outbursts of anger, 

selfish ambition, 

dissension, 

division, 

21 envy, 

drunkenness, 

wild parties, 

and other sins like these. 

Let me tell you again, 

as I have before, 

that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: 

love, 

joy, 

peace, 

patience, 

kindness, 

goodness, 

faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, 

and self-control. 

There is no law against these things!

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus 

have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross 

and crucified them there. 

25 Since we are living by the Spirit, 

let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 

26 Let us not become conceited, 

or provoke one another, 

or be jealous of one another.

shepherd & sheep

John 10 

1 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, 

rather than going through the gate, 

must surely be a thief and a robber! 

2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 

3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, 

and the sheep recognize his voice 

and come to him. 

He calls his own sheep by name 

and leads them out. 

4 After he has gathered his own flock, 

he walks ahead of them, 

and they follow him 

because they know his voice. 

5 They won’t follow a stranger; 

they will run from him 

because they don’t know his voice.”

6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

all one

Galatians 3 

24 The law (of Moses) was our guardian until Christ came; 

it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 

25 And now that the way of faith has come, 

we no longer need the law as our guardian.

26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 

27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, 

like putting on new clothes. 

28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, 

slave or free, 

male and female. 

For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

29 And now that you belong to Christ, 

you are the true children of Abraham. 

You are his heirs, 

and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

last 8 words

I believe the most important part of this passage are the last 8 words Jesus says at the end...

John 8 

1 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” 

concern

 

Psalm 131

1 Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.

5000+

 Little is much when God is in it.

John 6 

1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, 

also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 

2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, 

because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 

3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 

4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 

5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. 

Turning to Philip, he asked, 

“Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 

6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip replied, 

“Even if we worked for months, 

we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”

8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 

9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. 

But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. 

So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. 

(The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, 

gave thanks to God, 

and distributed them to the people. 

Afterward he did the same with the fish. 

And they all ate as much as they wanted. 

12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, 

“Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 

13 So they picked up the pieces 

and filled twelve baskets with scraps 

left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.