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Today’s reading:  John 15

Last weekend, B.J. and I spent Saturday and Sunday at a (virtual) goal setting retreat.  The sessions were designed to lead us through a framework that helps to create clarity and alignment for couples’ shared goals (the course was designed for marriages, business partners, etc.).  While I was tired and ready to be done by the end of day two, the experience was beneficial.  I’m really glad we went.  In fact, I’ve already put the retreat on my calendar for November, 2021.

One of the exercises early on day one was to have each person identify their top three values.  Believe me, this was a lot more difficult than I expected.  Do you know how hard it is to reduce a page of 140 different values down to your top three?  Now imagine trying to do that in 15 minutes or less!  Needless to say, I didn’t get it whittled down to my top three until about midway through day two.  But when I finally finished the exercise and compared my results to B.J.’s results, I discovered that our #2 value is the same – Impact.  Having a positive, measurable impact on people is very important to both of us.

As a I was studying John 15 and preparing for this post, I kept coming back to the notion of positively impacting others.  I think the apostle John would consider positively impacting others to be part of what Jesus refers to as “bearing fruit”.  We positively impact others when we encourage them, pray for them, love them, and point them to Jesus.

A little more than half of John chapter 15 is focused on Jesus as the vine, his followers as the branches, and God as the gardener.  Just like any other gardner, God’s objective is for his crops to produce much fruit, as this brings him glory (verse 8).

Depending on the type of fruit, vines (or trees) are its life source.  If you cut fruit off from the life source, it dies.  In the same way, we as followers of Jesus Christ will not bear fruit if we are cut off from Jesus, our life source.  How do we do stay connected to him?  We read his word, talk to him, seek counsel from and connection with other Christfollowers.

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

If I want to live out my core value of positively impacting those around me, the recipe is pretty simple.  I must stay close to Jesus Christ and let him guide my paths.  A life apart from him yields nothing.

 

Every year we go to Florida. We have spent every Christmas and every Spring Break with my family for as long a I can remember. Our group has grown by marriage and babies over the last 25 years and we currently boast a whopping 18 members. There are so many memories.  In the early days we would walk through the doors with dirty, tired babies. Gabo and Papa would whisk them off for a bath while we sat and ate the food they had waiting for us. We would spend the first days thawing by the pool from our Illinois winter while they cared for those babies and gave us a break from the diapering, napping, and feeding. We could leave our troubles behind for a few days and relax.  It’s one of those places that my kids talk about often. They talk about the sounds that come from the kitchen in the morning. Muffled voices and the clanking of coffee cups. It makes them smile to know everyone is together. Sometimes they stop and say, “it smells like the condo” or “it smells like the beach” and they close their eyes and go to a happy place in their mind.

Over the years, the dynamics have changed with older kids but there is the one constant that remains – my parents preparation for us. They head down to Florida after Thanksgiving and they get ready for us to come to them. My Dad is always planning boat trips or special time with the kids while my mom is cleaning, planning special dinners, and preparing for Christmas. They make it so easy for us to show up and relax because they have taken care of all the details. We pack very little and know that there is shampoo and soap ready for us. My kids even know where Papa keeps his extra toothbrushes when we arrive without any. The bedrooms are immaculate, the sheets are crisp and clean, and the bathrooms are sparkly and fresh. We arrive tired and cold and are met with sunshine and open arms. Our troubles fade for about 10-14 days.

After returning home refreshed, our life quickly returns to “normal”. School, sports, work, church. Looking back on our time with my parents, I always marvel at the way they prepare for us. They spend so much time thinking of us and getting things ready because they want us to be with them. They love us. What an amazing feeling – to be loved and cared for! I realize this is just a glimpse of how God prepares for us. Out of His love for us, He has prepared a place for us, with Him, in eternity. If I get excited about fresh sheets and clean bathrooms, I cannot begin to imagine the things God has prepared in eternity for me.  In John 14, Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure. He is encouraging them not to despair, because He is preparing a place for them. There is a place for each of us and He promises to come back for us.

John 14:1 “Don’t be troubled. You trust in God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know where I am going and how to get there”.

We have hope beyond the things of this world!

Shelly

 

18 years ago I was sitting at a water park chatting with a friend while watching my 3 and 5 year old daughters play in the baby pool.  It was a beautiful, warm summer day.  My 7 year old son and his friend were just beyond us enjoying the water slides.  I distinctly remember hearing my name over the loud speaker, “Stephanie Wolfe, please come to the lifeguard station immediately.”  I knew that it had to be urgent for them to stop the music and page me directly.  All eyes were on me as I looked to my friend for help.  She took my girls and I dashed off to find my boy, covered in blood.  Turns out he hit a pole on his way down the slide and cut his head.  It required quite a few stitches and we learned that a cut to the head bleeds profusely.  It looked way worse than it actually was.  My point is, I raced to my boy when I heard the call.  When someone we love needs help we react and are there by their side as fast as humanly possible.

John 11 tells a different approach to rushing to help a loved one.  Word reaches Jesus from the town of Bethany that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was sick.  These three siblings were close friends of Jesus, in fact, they may have been three of Jesus’ closest friends.  The sisters even called Lazarus “the one you love” when they called for Jesus to help.

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

John 11:3

Just as I ran to my son when I heard he needed me, I would expect Jesus to run to his friend who was deathly sick.  But, we are surprised when we read how Jesus responds.  

So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

John 11:6

What?!???!!  Was Jesus so busy that He could not get away?  No, we then read that he intentionally chose to wait for two more days.  

It is that small word (underlined by me) above in verse 6 that is important as to why Jesus waited.  So!  This little word presents a cause and effect to us.  What follows the “so” is the effect and what precedes it is the cause.

The cause before the “so” is found in verse 5:

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John 11:5

Jesus’ love caused Him to wait for his friend to die instead of rushing to his side.  It is hard to comprehend why Jesus would wait instead of rushing to his side when time was of the essence!  But when we take a look back at verse 4 we see that Jesus had a plan.  He knew that his friend’s illness would result in death, but not end in it.

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death.  No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”

John 11:4

Jesus knew that he would shout “Lazarus, come out!” and life would fill his friend once again.  This is why he waited!  He wanted Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and His disciples to experience something that would completely change them from that day forward.

Mary and Martha called for Jesus because they had seen Jesus heal many people.  They knew He could heal Lazarus before he died.  But, Jesus wanted them to experience something more.  He wanted them to see that He has power over death because that is what they would need to know about Him.  Because, soon they would see His lifeless body in a tomb.

Had Jesus rushed to Lazarus when he was sick and healed him we would have missed so much more than Jesus actually intends for us.  Jesus gave His friends (and us through the reading of His Word) the gift of deepening their faith.

The resurrection of Lazarus is an incredible demonstration of the power of Jesus.  It is a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection and a picture of our new life in Jesus. 

Jesus did not do what Mary and Martha were expecting.  He did something better.  This is the same we experience in our lives.  God does not always do what I expect or think He should do.  However, He can and will bring greater glory to Himself.  If He doesn’t do what I think He should, it is very probable that God has something better in mind.  

There is incredible power in good leadership. A parent firmly adhering to God-centered parenting can make an enormous difference in their child’s growth. A caring manager who listens and acts according to the strengths and best interests of their teams can skyrocket workplace productivity and morale. A politician who listens carefully to all constituents and works tirelessly to compromise on effective policy for all citizens can make any place much more harmonious and prosperous. So what happens when those who try to lead do so selfishly, with what serves them instead of what serves God and His people?

In John 10, when confronted about healing the blind man at the temple, Jesus uses an analogy about sheep listening and following their shepherd by the sound of his voice, and how the sheep safely enter and exit their pasture through the shepherd’s will. Others who seek to deceive and steal these sheep may sneak in, but the sheep will run from those they don’t recognize. He uses this to demonstrate what He has come to do: to be the rightful leader of God’s people how no one else could, in a way the thieves of God’s kingdom could never impede.

The context in which Jesus tells this story of people trying to falsely lead God’s people to destruction makes it a powerfully defiant move. The Pharisees have all gathered here together after Jesus restored the sight of a blind man, solely to judge the work of a man who has done this on the Sabbath in violation of the law. No celebration of this miracle, no thanking God for healing this man of his affliction. Just doubling down on demanding to know his sins and questioning Jesus for invalidating their authority. Then Jesus responds by telling how the sheep will flee from the voice of a stranger, how we may enter heaven only through Him, and those who came before were thieves and robbers.

This declaration that the Pharisees have failed in leading God’s flock is full of tough truth. They used their power and authority simply to enforce their rulings of the written law, rather than listening and obeying God’s commands and leading the people to Him. Unfortunately, Satan finds footing in the hearts and acts of even incredibly intelligent and apparently God-centered men like the Pharisees when they only act according to their own strength and knowledge.

It’s as written in 2 Corinthians 11: 13-14: “Such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Or 2 Peter 2: “False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” We are warned constantly in Scripture of those who would lead people seeking truth in the direction of destruction instead. And for good reason: 1 Peter 5:8 warned us, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” It only makes sense that the Devil would twist truth as an easy means to get into the hearts of men.

Instead, we must listen to Jesus’s words in verse 3: “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” We must first and foremost seek out Christ: for He is the Good Shepherd who has laid down His life for us, and only He has conquered death in the process. Only He can grant us passage into the Kingdom of Heaven, and only in Him can we never be separated from God. So we must look for wisdom and truth from Him; finding answers in Scripture and guiding each other to God’s word for the answers to our questions, rather than not looking past our flesh and feelings for guidance. We must be wary for sin in our own hearts, and search for support in fighting and defeating our sin only in Him who knew no sin, alongside those who mirror our same pursuit in both word and action.

Finally, I’d be remiss in not concluding this with a statement of thanks; it is that time of year to reflect on what we’re thankful for, after all. God gave us leaders in our families and communities for a purpose, but only He can lead us to everlasting life. Only Jesus Christ our savior can open the gate into the pastures of eternity, where we will never be snatched out of His hand. I am thankful today for our Good Shepherd, who would lay down His life for us so that we may reside with Him forever. I pray for renewal in our minds and hearts, that we would seek and follow only Christ’s voice now, that we may ignore the voices of all others who seek our demise, and steadfastness until our eternal reward with Christ has arrived.

 

John 8

 

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Jesus goes on to say, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” Later in verses 28-29, “I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father has taught me. And the one who sent me is with me-he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.” In verse 55 Jesus says, “I know the Father, I know him and obey him.”

What is our goal? As Christians, what are we after? What should our lives be aiming at? The simple answer is that we want to become more like Jesus. This chapter in John is loaded with Jesus’ words and explanations of who he is and how he thinks and operates in this world. If I want to be more like him, I should look at what is important to him, what he says is true, and how he behaved while here on earth.

He tells me if I follow him, I won’t have to walk in darkness. I will have access to the light that leads to life. When I follow him or decide to believe he is who he says he is and I choose to have relationship with him, I spend time talking to him and listening to him, I get help. I see situations differently because he sheds light that I can’t produce on my own. He knows everything! He understands every nuance of each situation and of every person. He is perfect truth and perfect love. He desires relationship with us so he can light our way. He wants to help us change and become more like him.

Jesus doesn’t judge anyone. A beautiful example of this appears earlier in chapter 8 (vs 3-11) when the woman is caught in adultery and brought before Jesus. When pressed to give an answer for how she should be dealt with he says, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.” After her accusers had slipped way, Jesus asked her if any of her accusers condemned her. She answered, “No Lord” and Jesus told her, “Neither do I, Go and sin no more.” If Jesus, whose judgment is perfect, doesn’t judge, than I, whose judgment is flawed, should definitely not judge others.

Jesus wasn’t alone when he was on this earth living in human form. The Father was with him and taught him. If Jesus needed the Father while here, how much more do I need Him? Jesus makes it really clear in this chapter that he is not alone, that God is with him and that God has not deserted him. As God’s children, we have the same access to God and the same promises from Him that Jesus did while here. I think I get distracted in life and forget Who’s I am, Who is with me always, and Who will never desert me.

Jesus chose to obey God and did what pleased Him. Jesus flat out tells us that he submitted to God. If his attitude was set to obey and please God, my goal should be to do the same. Part of getting obedience right is knowing God well enough to know what he asks of us. Jesus had a bit of an advantage over us in this department as he lived/lives in heaven with God always, except when he was here on earth. He knew what was required of him in every situation and he chose to obey. If God knows that our intent is to obey him, he won’t hold himself back from us. He wants us to grow to be more like him. He will do all he can to help us along that path, but he won’t choose it for us. We have to decide every day to follow him.

 

John 12:46 “I have come into the world as light, so that no one who believes in Me should walk in darkness.”