RSS

Tag Archives: bible

John 5:1-11

04 Sep

5 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

John 5:1-11

Dear God, okay, this is a fun story with a lot of layers. Here’s what I’m noticing when putting it in context with chapter 4:

  • Jesus has been watching Peter for at least a day or two. Maybe more. Maybe he was staying at Peters. but I need to go to John’s Gospel to see how he describes Peter meeting Jesus and how that overlaps with this. Peter’s brother Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and went to find Peter after he met Jesus: 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. 41 Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). 42 Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”). 43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” With this, I presume that John was baptizing in the Jordan near the Sea of Galilea because it doesn’t seem like it was a big decision to go on to Capernaum. Maybe Peter invited them there to stay. And then when Jesus was teaching one day he saw Peter’s boat and the pushed off.
  • This story isn’t about the content of Jesus’s teaching, but about Peter’s (and James’s and John’s) decision to follow Jesus. But I have to wonder what Jesus was saying and how Peter was hearing it. Was he giving his Sermon on the Mount stump speech? Was he talking about how the poor in spirit and mourning would be blessed? Was he talking about forgiving enemies, suffering through persecution, raising the bar on the standards of sin, teaching them to pray, etc.? What did Peter hear before the next part?
  • Jesus uses the miraculous catching of fish to not only impress and recruit Peter, but James and John also.
  • Peter had already seen the healing power. He had heard the lessons. But it doesn’t seem he was very impressed until this moment. He might have justified the healings. Maybe he had seen that before. But he had never seen the obvious power to manipulate nature and bend it to your will. I guess you could say the healings were that too, but these might still be rationalized.
  • Peter’s response to Jesus is to say he himself is not worthy of Jesus’s presence. Maybe he had just heard about all the ways Jesus said you can sin by lusting and hating and wanted Jesus to know up front that he was guilty. Guilty in your eyes. Guilty in Jesus’s eyes.
  • Jesus invited him, James, and John to follow him. Jesus ignored his admonition to leave him because he was too sinful. Instead, he invited him to follow. Jesus knew they would work out the sin part as they walked together.
  • Peter, James, and John decided to follow. They could have easily stayed in their squalor. And their paths would not be easy. It might have been easier to stay and fish. But they were part of changing the world and we are still talking about these simple fishermen from Galilea 2,000 years later.

Father, thank you for inviting me to be on this journey with you. Help me to know how to walk it. Love through me. Lead through me. Lead me through others you appoint to teach and show me the way. Your way. Help me to not veer from the path. Help me to show others the narrow way.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 4, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Luke 4:38-44

03 Sep

38 After leaving the synagogue that day, Jesus went to Simon’s home, where he found Simon’s mother-in-law very sick with a high fever. “Please heal her,” everyone begged. 39 Standing at her bedside, he rebuked the fever, and it left her. And she got up at once and prepared a meal for them.

40 As the sun went down that evening, people throughout the village brought sick family members to Jesus. No matter what their diseases were, the touch of his hand healed every one. 41 Many were possessed by demons; and the demons came out at his command, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But because they knew he was the Messiah, he rebuked them and refused to let them speak.

42 Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. 43 But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” 44 So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

Luke 4:38-44

Dear God, after my experience teaching on Saul and David, and then looking at the maps when it came to the seven letters to the churches in Revelation, I am becoming more interested in place. In this case, I am becoming more interested in Capernaum. And I’m also interested in the context of this story of Simon’s (Peter’s) mother-in-law in relation to when Simon was called as a disciple. I probably should have realized this by now, but I never noticed that this story happens before Jesus calls Simon to become Peter. So Simon has Jesus in his house, witnesses not only his mother-in-law’s healing, but also several other healings, and then will later have the fishing experience where there are so many fish the nets tear. So this is a prelude to that.

I wonder what Simon was thinking as this new prophet was in his house and healing all sorts of people. It must have been quite a spectacle. How did it set him up for the experience on the boat and Jesus calling him to follow?

The first thing I thought of this morning was a recent conversation I had with someone about something that is plaguing them. When I saw the description of everyone begging Jesus to heal Peter’s mother-in-law I wondered if I shouldn’t be begging you for the healing of several people I know. And these aren’t just physical ailments. Some are, but the ones that really distress me are the emotional ones. Hurts from the past that are unhealed. Secrets. Nightmares. The truth is, I don’t really know how to pray for this. I don’t have the words to say. But I know these situations need you. I know they need healing. I know they need the Holy Spirit to be praying, ministering, and helping.

Father, I beg you to help the people on my heart right now. Holy Spirit, I beg you to pray to the Father for them. Groan. Moan. Communicate the depths of my heart. Be with them. Break through the darkness. Tear back the lies. Shine light on the secret places so they might be freed. Oh, God, love them. Heal them, please, Jesus. Jesus, please heal them.

I pray this in that same Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 3, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Luke 4:31-37

02 Sep

31 Then Jesus went to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught there in the synagogue every Sabbath day. 32 There, too, the people were amazed at his teaching, for he spoke with authority.

33 Once when he was in the synagogue, a man possessed by a demon—an evil spirit—cried out, shouting, 34 “Go away! Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

35 But Jesus reprimanded him. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the demon threw the man to the floor as the crowd watched; then it came out of him without hurting him further.

36 Amazed, the people exclaimed, “What authority and power this man’s words possess! Even evil spirits obey him, and they flee at his command!” 37 The news about Jesus spread through every village in the entire region.

Luke 4:31-37

Dear God, to what extent am I supposed to pray like this? To what extent am I supposed to recognize demons and cast them out? Is my prayer life failing you in this way? Am I failing those around me in this way?

I looked at the map this morning to see where Nazareth and Capernaum were in relation to each other and to Jerusalem. Capernaum was on the Sea of Galilea while Nazareth is southwest of there and inland. Then Jerusalem was much father to the south. So the people in Nazareth tried to kill Jesus and his next move was to go to Capernaum. I wonder why. What took him that direction? Was it because it was farther from Jerusalem and he wanted to teach while letting some of the controversy die down a little? These are all wild suppositions. I don’t have the slightest clue. But it’s an interesting thing to note.

But back to demon possession, rebuking, and casting out, this seems like a big deal that I pretty much overlook in present day. I probably need to recognize it more. I probably need to look for it more. And maybe I should start in my own life and the lives of those closest to me. Am I or my loved ones being messed with in the demonic realm, and am I overlooking that in my prayers?

Father, I beg your protection right now. I beg it for myself, wife wife, my children, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, and my parents. For my coworkers. Over my home and the building I work in. Be with me. Be with us. Protect us. Guard us. Heal us. Redeem us to yourself. Whatever lies are keeping us trapped, let them be released. Oh, Father, be merciful, powerful, and healing. Cast out any demons involved in our lives through the power of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Free us, please. Holy Spirit, pray for us. Guide us. Teach us. Love us.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on September 2, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Luke 4:14-30

01 Sep

14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

22 Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

23 Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24 But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

25 “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27 And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

28 When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29 Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30 but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.

Luke 4:14-30

Dear God, they went from pride in Jesus to fury in one moment. And why? All because he said your glory was being extended to the Gentiles. It was only a year or two ago I heard someone teach on this. I had never noticed it before. I thought they were offended at his insolence. “How dare this boy from our hometown think he’s better than us?!?” But that wasn’t it. They were mad because he invoked the idea that he was there for Gentiles too. The captives released? Gentiles too. Blind see? Gentiles too. Good news for the poor? Gentiles too. And here’s the biggie. The Lord’s favor? Your favor? Gentiles too.

As humans, we are simply too focused on our own good and survival. Our own advancement. If Jesus were to walk into a Russian church today and say he was there for the Ukrainians too, they would be furious. If we walked into a Ukrainian church and said he was there for the Russians, they would be furious. And I could go down the list. An Iranian mosque and say he was there for Americans too. An American church and say he was there for the captive, blind, poor South and Central Americans too. In every case, we would be mad he wasn’t there for us. And we certainly wouldn’t be inclined to help him help them. Those are the other people on the other side of the proverbial fence. We need to take care of our yard first. And we expect your loyalty to be with us.

It makes me think of the older son in the Prodigal Son parable. Of course, the father in that parable represents you. And you have your rebellious child you love, Israel. But is that child only Israel? Is maybe the younger child the Gentiles coming home to you while the older child, Israel, says, “No way!” I’m not sure if I’ve ever considered the rebellious child who left to be Gentiles before, but I need to go back and look at the beginning of that parable now:

The setup for the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:12) actually starts before two other similar parables at the beginning of the chapter:

15 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

So the intimation here is that Jesus is referring to sinful Israelites, but I would say Gentiles can certainly be part of the mix.

Father, you are not mine and mine alone. And I don’t demand that you do anything for my life here. Sure, I will gladly accept what you’re willing to provide me. I’ll gladly accept any answers to my prayers for people I care about. But I don’t demand it. I am your child. You are my father. You know so much more about this world and what is your best for me and all of us than I do. I am just here to learn to love you and others better. And I cannot love them well if I am jealous of your love for them at the same time. So I offer my worship to you. I offer my love and time to others. Help me to know how to live a life that draws others closer to you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 1, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Luke 14:7-14

31 Aug

7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: 8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? 9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. 11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. 13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

Luke 14:7-14

Dear God, why do we need to be honored in front of others? What itch is that scratching? Is it insecurity? Is it the desperate need to know that our lives mattered? Typing this made me think of the passage in Matthew 16 about Jesus saying we need to lose our life to find it. He was referring to death and his own crucifixion (this is right after he rebuked Peter and told him to get behind him), but the lesson is consistent for this story. The day…no, the moment I start looking out for myself first is the point where I start to diverge from you. Not that you don’t want me to have good things. I don’t need to live an austere life to be submitted to you. But it is better for me to take less, offer someone else more, and then let you offer me something greater than I took for myself. The layers of these lessons from you are so consistent and so deep.

And it makes me think of the stuff I prayed yesterday about idols. When I worship an idol I understand there is a value exchange. I give up something so I can get something. And the idol is also offering me something so it can get something. The idol doesn’t want me. It tolerates me so it can get my affection and build up its ego. Of course, I’m speaking of traditional idols, but the modern idols we have in America fit this description as well. If I make the economy, my health, my job, or even the U.S. military my source of peace and safety then those things will always need fed. All of my decisions will be to maximize any of those things. I will start to idolize my physical health above all else. I will make decisions or support decisions that will make the economy work better for myself regardless of what harm that change might cause for my neighbor. I will say, “Take my money and build the best military you can to keep me safe, but don’t use any money to serve others who are suffering.” And those idols, as inanimate as any little statue, will take my money or attention and feed on it. They will just keep taking and taking and taking. And one day they will fail me. They have to. The economy will hit a recession or downturn. Something will happen to my body and it will get sick and die. And the Chinese, Russians, or, more likely, some terrorist (foreign or domestic) will still threaten me.

Father, only you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. And only you just loves me and wants relationship with me. Yes, you want me love, but it’s only because you love me so much. And you want me to love others because you know it’s what’s healthiest for me. So help me to be mindful of my selfishness. Help me to know when and where to sacrifice so that you might be glorified. And while I’m here, let me pray for my wife. She’s about to do a beautiful act of service this morning, but it might also expose her to some pain. Protect her from that pain. Protect her heart, mind, body, and soul. Please, Holy Spirit, walk with her. She will be loving on some people in pain. Give her your words to speak to them. Give her your insights into what they are saying and help her simply enjoy being your presence for them. And if there is anything you need to teach her or me through this, give us ears to hear. Give us eyes to see. Give us knowledge to know. And give us courage to change.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 31, 2025 in Luke

 

Tags: , , , ,

Ephesians 2:11-22

30 Aug

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.

17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Dear God, the verse of the day from Bible Gateway was just verse 19, but I’m so glad I went back and picked up the context for it. As I slowly read through these 12 verses this morning, I kept thinking, “Oh, that’s great!” There is such good stuff in here. I think I just need to go verse by verse:

  • Verse 11 – There was division among God’s creation. Gentiles were excluded from the blessing you gave to the Jewish people. How does that work? That’s an awful lot of people who lived and died without you. The vast majority, in fact. But it’s also interesting that Paul takes a little dig at the Jewish people saying their were Jewish and your people on the outside, but many were proud of that but did not submit their hearts to be conformed as their bodies were.
  • Verse 12 – I think the key sentence in verse 12 is, “You lived in this world without God and without hope.” Hope in what? I’m sure if you had asked a Roman who was worshipping his or her idols they would have told you they were fine and had plenty of hope. I think part of the uniqueness of following you and your ways is that it’s how you taught us to live and experience your redemptive love for us that brings us a joy and peace we would never know otherwise. Forgiveness. Mercy. Love neighbor. Worship you, a God who loves me and wants me. I don’t know that any of the Roman or Greek idols were perceived to have wanted their worshippers. They needed them for their own egos, but I don’t think the other Gods wanted the people just because they loved them. So the hope I experience in you is wholly different than what an idol offers me. An idol is created to fulfill my desires and worshipped so that the god will agree to give me what I want. In this relationship with you, I am just yours and you are mine. And if I will live by Jesus’s instructions (see the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7), I will find great hope that is beyond what idol worshippers ever experience.
  • Verse 13 – Jesus brought me near to you. Oh, Jesus, thank you for your blood. Thank you for your redemption. I know the Father has a list of the frustrations and pain I’ve caused him and others, including even myself. But he cannot see it through your blood. It’s gone. That’s amazing. He/you had no reason to do that for me except that you love me. Thank you.
  • Verse 14 – We are one creation again. We are your human creation. No longer Jew or Gentile. Male or female. Slave or free. Jesus made us one with each other and you. He gave us that pathway. This whole passage is beautiful!
  • Verse 15 – As I see this verse about “end[ing] the system of law with its commandments,” I can’t help but think about some of the American church who is convinced that children will be drawn to you and your Lordship by posting the 10 Commandments on classroom walls. I asked my wife recently what Bible passage she would put on a school wall if she could pick anything. Here answer was John 3:16. Yeah, I think that’s a better choice than the 10 Commandments too.
  • Verse 16 – Our hostility towards other people is so ridiculous. I was at a college football game last night, and I sat next to two young women rooting for the other team. We had a nice time talking with them. It could have been hostile because we have constructed a division between us by getting behind our respective universities. But we kept is fun and gracious. But isn’t it interesting how much we, as your human creation, find ways to build our tribes so we feel like we can belong to it and get some of our self-worth out of that identification instead of simply getting that affirmation from your love? We are such fools.
  • Verse 17 – Both groups needed your peace. Even though the Jewish people were nearer to knowledge of you, they still lacked the peace of forgiveness and mercy, both received and given. And the Gentiles had much to learn about you. But make no mistake, both groups needed your peace. As I think about the secular Israelis majority in Israel today, I wonder if this passage doesn’t describe both them and the Palestinians.
  • Verse 18 – Jesus prayed for us to be one in John 17. He gave us the path through his redemption of our souls and he taught us what it would look like. Paul, Peter, and the other apostles tried to teach us too. If only we would follow your teaching.
  • Verse 19 – Jesus brought me here to your feet this morning, Father. I am nothing if I wake up this Saturday morning with only my selfishness and need to fulfill my own desires over the next person’s. Help me to worship you and worship others like I should.
  • Verse 20 – The foundation of your house for us (with many rooms?) is made up of the teaching and lives of the apostles and prophets. But Jesus is the cornerstone. You built the foundation for Jesus to build on, but he first standard setting stone sets the stage for the rest of our church.
  • Verse 21 – And now we build from that cornerstone into your holy temple, both personally/individually and corporately. Oh, how we need to do better in both areas! How I need to do better in both areas! I need to be better about continually making you the cornerstone of my individual life, and I need to be better about building your church with you as the cornerstone.
  • Verse 22 – And the temple isn’t just about having a place to perform. It’s a place about building an internal, personal culture as well as being part of building a dwelling where all of us can live under you and your authority.

Father, it was such a delight to spend this time thinking about these things this morning. Thank you. Thank you for all of this. I love you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

P.S. As I was closing, I got to thinking about John’s/Jesus’s letter to the church in Ephesus some years later. They did all the right things, but they lost their first love. And when they are just performing but they aren’t loving you as part of it, then the cornerstone is no longer setting the standard for the house. Help me to keep you as my cornerstone.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 30, 2025 in Ephesians

 

Tags: , , , ,

John 6:22-71

28 Aug

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

John 6:22-71

Dear God, this is a long passage, but it’s too easy to take one or two verses out of context so I didn’t want to not look at all of it together. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway was just verse 29, but since this all seems to be part of one scene on one day I wanted to link it all together.

I almost feel like I need to outline this to really see what John’s trying to communicate to us through his telling of this story:

  • It’s the day after walking on water the night before.
  • The crowd is surprised to see Jesus gone and they go looking for him. I wonder how big that crowd was.
  • They found him and John tells us they explicitly asked him to solve the mystery of how he ended up there without a boat.
  • Jesus doesn’t answer. He changes the subject and starts to challenge them. Was he frustrated with them? I think so. What frustrated him? Was it that they were still only wanting to use him for themselves. He tells them they are just wanting a sign and fun miracles. Jesus claims to have your seal of approval, and says they need to seek the eternal life that he can give.
  • They change it back to works and miracles. I think they are saying they would love to be able to do some miracles. That would be cool and fun.
  • Here is the verse of the day (verse 29). Jesus tells them to let go of the flash and glory of being able to do cool things and simply believe in him.
  • They hold onto the miracles and the show. They want to see a sign so they can believe in him. I have to admit, I would not have believed in Jesus if I had been there. Not just because he told me to.
  • They want him to be like Moses. At that level. That’s the kind of liberator they are looking for. Maybe he can do what Moses did and bring on some food.
  • Jesus deflects the glory from Moses and even himself to you, Father.
  • They still want bread.
  • Jesus challenges them a little more by claiming to have come to them directly from you.
  • They aren’t buying it.
  • Here’s a fun one that causes controversy even to this day. From Jesus: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (NASB1995) Predestination? I’m not going there today. Your ways are too complicated for me to fully understand.
  • And now the divisive issue that permeates the church even to this day. The idea of us eating Jesus’s flesh. The living bread. Again, I have my thoughts on this, and people I love and respect have other thoughts. I’m going to trust you with our disagreements and simply move on and love you.
  • Most of the crowd leaves. He finally culled the herd a little. It’s interesting that you don’t seem to want to have every last one of us in the fold. I think you want each of us as individuals. You love us all. But it’s almost like hiring someone to work for me. I love each person, but I can’t have them all work for me. There are some that I know would be a bad fit for our team and our work. Is it the same for you? You can’t have just anyone in the fold? You need each one to be bought in and working together?
  • Jesus looks at who’s left (the twelve) and asks if they are in.
  • Peter looks beyond the tricks and miracles and simply says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (NASB1995)
  • Jesus affirms his selection of them including Judas, indicating he knew all along what Judas would do.

Father, I am grateful for the successes you give me in life, but I know they are for your glory and not mine. If you are blessing me with good things it is so I can give them away and do good for others. I don’t think your desire for me to be your ambassador and hands and feet in the world takes a break. You just want me to love and worship you. To love and share you with others. Help me to be your love to others today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 28, 2025 in John

 

Tags: , , , , ,

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

27 Aug

9 Don’t you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that we would not be a burden to any of you as we preached God’s Good News to you. 10 You yourselves are our witnesses—and so is God—that we were devout and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. 11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you to share in his Kingdom and glory.

13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Dear God, it seems Paul was leaning on his credibility to get the right to speak into the lives of the Thessalonians. It’s as if he was saying, “Hey, I didn’t just show up and tell you what to believe. I worked with you. I took nothing from you. I wasn’t a huckster for personal gain. I was there to give to you, not to receive from you.” And I think that does make a difference. It’s one thing for Paul to have been run out of town by the Jewish leadership if he was going town to town like a traveling evangelist looking for money from the people (which he wasn’t doing). It’s another thing when he shows up to invest in the community, give more than he takes, and then share the message he wants everyone to know.

There are a lot of ideas that float around within the church right now. Some of them are varying shades of progressive. Some of them are varying shades of conservative. In both cases, both politics on the left and politics on the right have seeped in. I could name liberal issues that I think are steering the people of the church away from you, and I could name conservative issues as well. And it is hard to know where, on the spectrum of ideas, you would fall.

I think the thing I keep coming back to is when we start asking ourselves if something is a sin or not I go back to the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus gave the series of “You have heard it said ____, but I say ____.” He raised the bar on hate and equated it with murder. Lust and equated it with adultery. So when we talk about some of the political issues and start to wonder how close we can get to the fire without getting burned, I wonder if we aren’t asking the wrong question. Not only how far from the fire can we get, but how do we lovingly show people who don’t want to let go of those things the why behind it?

And then what are the blind spots I have? Where am I still too close to the fire? Am I willing to let you reveal those parts of my life to me through your Holy Spirit?

Father, it’s funny because this all started with Paul working with the people to get credibility with them, and it ended with me asking you to reveal my own sin to me. Maybe that’s exactly how all of our prayers should be: being led by you into repentance. So help me to see. I hope you can be gentle with me as you reveal my sin to me. And help me to be your man with others so that you can touch their lives and draw them closer to yourself as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 27, 2025 in 1 Thessalonians

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Ruth 3

26 Aug

3 One day Naomi said to Ruth, “My daughter, it’s time that I found a permanent home for you, so that you will be provided for. 2 Boaz is a close relative of ours, and he’s been very kind by letting you gather grain with his young women. Tonight he will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. 3 Now do as I tell you—take a bath and put on perfume and dress in your nicest clothes. Then go to the threshing floor, but don’t let Boaz see you until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Be sure to notice where he lies down; then go and uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”

5 “I will do everything you say,” Ruth replied. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor that night and followed the instructions of her mother-in-law.

7 After Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he lay down at the far end of the pile of grain and went to sleep. Then Ruth came quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Around midnight Boaz suddenly woke up and turned over. He was surprised to find a woman lying at his feet! 9 “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she replied. “Spread the corner of your covering over me, for you are my family redeemer.”

10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter!” Boaz exclaimed. “You are showing even more family loyalty now than you did before, for you have not gone after a younger man, whether rich or poor. 11 Now don’t worry about a thing, my daughter. I will do what is necessary, for everyone in town knows you are a virtuous woman. 12 But while it’s true that I am one of your family redeemers, there is another man who is more closely related to you than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning I will talk to him. If he is willing to redeem you, very well. Let him marry you. But if he is not willing, then as surely as the Lord lives, I will redeem you myself! Now lie down here until morning.”

14 So Ruth lay at Boaz’s feet until the morning, but she got up before it was light enough for people to recognize each other. For Boaz had said, “No one must know that a woman was here at the threshing floor.” 15 Then Boaz said to her, “Bring your cloak and spread it out.” He measured six scoops of barley into the cloak and placed it on her back. Then he returned to the town.

16 When Ruth went back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “What happened, my daughter?”

Ruth told Naomi everything Boaz had done for her, 17 and she added, “He gave me these six scoops of barley and said, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

18 Then Naomi said to her, “Just be patient, my daughter, until we hear what happens. The man won’t rest until he has settled things today.”

Ruth 3

Dear God, still following this theme of Ruth not having any guile about her, this is the part of the story where Naomi teaches her to have a little strategy, and I think that’s okay. But there are still a couple of things I noticed about Ruth’s character here.

  • Boaz is right in that it would have been the more obvious path for her to have pursued younger men. Excitement. Happiness. Frivolity. I don’t know how old Boaz was. Maybe as young as 40. Maybe as old as 80. It’s difficult to say. But Ruth wasn’t waking up in the morning looking for a young husband. Maybe she had already been there and done that with her first husband, Kilion. She had been to the circus and looked behind the curtain. Now she just wanted to serve Naomi, and this is what Naomi was asking her to do.
  • There was no reason for Ruth to be there except to present herself to Boaz. It’s not like this was the end of a long harvesting day. Ruth got washed up, perfumed up, and dressed up. She went down after everyone had been drinking. I wonder if it was typical for women to come and offer themselves to men in some way at times like this. I’ll need to look that up.
  • This whole scene is probably a little more risqué than I give it credit for. How much was Ruth jeopardizing her reputation in the community by doing this? At least to some extent because she had to sneak away before daylight.

Father, I just love Ruth’s gentleness. She is just waking up and doing in each moment what she things is best. And you were using her and this situation this whole time. And this is actually the last story we get about Ruth herself interacting with someone in the book. The last chapter is about what Boaz does and then the fruit of their lives. I read one time that your design for us is to be born, grow up, have babies, and then get out of history’s way. And to some extent that is true. We are also called to love you and love others while we are here. That’s what our children are to do as well. Help me to simply love you and love others today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 26, 2025 in Ruth

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Ruth 1:19-2:23

25 Aug

19 So the two of them continued on their journey. When they came to Bethlehem, the entire town was excited by their arrival. “Is it really Naomi?” the women asked.

20 “Don’t call me Naomi,” she responded. “Instead, call me Mara, for the Almighty has made life very bitter for me. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty. Why call me Naomi when the Lord has caused me to suffer and the Almighty has sent such tragedy upon me?”

22 So Naomi returned from Moab, accompanied by her daughter-in-law Ruth, the young Moabite woman. They arrived in Bethlehem in late spring, at the beginning of the barley harvest.

2 Now there was a wealthy and influential man in Bethlehem named Boaz, who was a relative of Naomi’s husband, Elimelech.

2 One day Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go out into the harvest fields to pick up the stalks of grain left behind by anyone who is kind enough to let me do it.”

Naomi replied, “All right, my daughter, go ahead.” 3 So Ruth went out to gather grain behind the harvesters. And as it happened, she found herself working in a field that belonged to Boaz, the relative of her father-in-law, Elimelech.

4 While she was there, Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters. “The Lord be with you!” he said.

“The Lord bless you!” the harvesters replied.

5 Then Boaz asked his foreman, “Who is that young woman over there? Who does she belong to?”

6 And the foreman replied, “She is the young woman from Moab who came back with Naomi. 7 She asked me this morning if she could gather grain behind the harvesters. She has been hard at work ever since, except for a few minutes’ rest in the shelter.”

8 Boaz went over and said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Stay right here with us when you gather grain; don’t go to any other fields. Stay right behind the young women working in my field. 9 See which part of the field they are harvesting, and then follow them. I have warned the young men not to treat you roughly. And when you are thirsty, help yourself to the water they have drawn from the well.”

10 Ruth fell at his feet and thanked him warmly. “What have I done to deserve such kindness?” she asked. “I am only a foreigner.”

11 “Yes, I know,” Boaz replied. “But I also know about everything you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband. I have heard how you left your father and mother and your own land to live here among complete strangers. 12 May the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge, reward you fully for what you have done.”

13 “I hope I continue to please you, sir,” she replied. “You have comforted me by speaking so kindly to me, even though I am not one of your workers.”

14 At mealtime Boaz called to her, “Come over here, and help yourself to some food. You can dip your bread in the sour wine.” So she sat with his harvesters, and Boaz gave her some roasted grain to eat. She ate all she wanted and still had some left over.

15 When Ruth went back to work again, Boaz ordered his young men, “Let her gather grain right among the sheaves without stopping her. 16 And pull out some heads of barley from the bundles and drop them on purpose for her. Let her pick them up, and don’t give her a hard time!”

17 So Ruth gathered barley there all day, and when she beat out the grain that evening, it filled an entire basket. 18 She carried it back into town and showed it to her mother-in-law. Ruth also gave her the roasted grain that was left over from her meal.

19 “Where did you gather all this grain today?” Naomi asked. “Where did you work? May the Lord bless the one who helped you!”

So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”

20 “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”

21 Then Ruth said, “What’s more, Boaz even told me to come back and stay with his harvesters until the entire harvest is completed.”

22 “Good!” Naomi exclaimed. “Do as he said, my daughter. Stay with his young women right through the whole harvest. You might be harassed in other fields, but you’ll be safe with him.”

23 So Ruth worked alongside the women in Boaz’s fields and gathered grain with them until the end of the barley harvest. Then she continued working with them through the wheat harvest in early summer. And all the while she lived with her mother-in-law.

Ruth 1:19-2:23

Dear God, I’ve read this story several times, but it’s amazing to see what I never noticed before. Today, what stands out to me is that they arrived in late spring for the barley harvest (1:22) and she worked through the early summer of the wheat harvest (2:23). And it makes a point that she lived with Naomi the entire time. I don’t know what her options would have been and why she wouldn’t have lived with Naomi, but the author is pointing out that she was working hard and she was loving on Naomi.

Again, there was seemingly no guile in her. She was just loving Naomi and working hard. People were kind to her. She was grateful to them and for them. I am curious that Naomi wasn’t out in the field with her. I suppose Naomi was probably in her 40s at this point, and maybe she was infirm for some reason, but I know a lot of 40-, 50-, 60-, and even 70-year-old women who would be capable of gleaning in a field. And maybe there were cultural reasons Naomi wasn’t out there. I don’t want to judge her ignorantly. My point is, “Mara” was getting good care from you through Ruth.

Let me spend a little time with Boaz for a moment. Coming off a famine, he now had fields with plenty. I would imagine this harvest was much more enjoyable than the previous years. He was able to employ men. He was probably anxious to gather the crop, sell some and then save some just in case this year was a one-year aberration. But then he was a hardworking woman who was loving one of his family members and he appreciated her. He literally gave from his harvest to her and Naomi and he expected nothing in return. His first instinct was to reach out in love. A legacy of honor to pass to Obed, Jesse, and David later.

Father, I will have choices to make today. Help me to make the ones that turn loose of my own ambitions or even self-preservation, but do what is right by those around me. You know the needs I have at home. You know my needs at work. Even my needs in the things I do in the community like Rotary and Christian Men’s Life Skills. Help me, Father, be the man you need me to be in each of these areas. My wife needs a man who will love and serve her. My coworkers, clients, volunteers, and donors at work need a man who will love and serve them. My community needs a man who cares for it and will serve it. Make me that man, but do it for your glory and not mine. When people see me, I pray they simply see a reflection of you and are drawn to know you, worship you, and serve you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 25, 2025 in Ruth

 

Tags: , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →