John 6:14

Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Personal Challenge

These men had the opportunity to see Jesus perform spectacular miracles, over and over again. And yet, many who observed these miracles and proclaimed Him as the great Prophet, later called out for Him to be crucified. Seeing is not always believing. Jesus later called out Thomas for his doubting and proclaimed how blessed many of us will be for believing without seeing. Our belief must come from deep within us and change us permanently. If it doesn’t then it can be shaken. If we truly believe in Jesus then our eyes will be opened and we will begin to see Him. Glory be to God!

John 5:39-40

You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Personal Challenge

In the days that Jesus walked on this earth, the chosen people, His early church, were all wrapped up in searching their scriptures and observing their traditions in search of the coming Messiah. All the while, their Messiah was standing there before them and being ignored by them. He did not fit their preconceptions of who He would be and therefore, they missed Him. We are seeing the same thing happening today in our churches. People are so focused on searching for Jesus in their teachings, their traditions, and their trappings of piety, that they do not see Him standing right there in our midst. He promised that He would be with us always. He proclaimed the Kingdom of God is amongst us. And yet, just like our ancestors of old, we ignore Him and look for Him in places where He is not. Is it no wonder that our churches are dying and being devoured from within by petty arguments and politics. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 5:30

I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

Personal Challenge

Jesus is fully God. He is an integral part of the Trinity, the God-head. And yet, here He makes it clear that He submits to the Father for everything. He seeks the will of the Father in everything that He does. This is complete submission for the purpose of unity. It is this example that we are to follow as we submit our will to God! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 5:24

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

Encouraging Words

Jesus, our Lord and Savior assures us that if we hear His word and believe in the Father that sent Him, we will have everlasting life. How can we trust this assurance? By faith. Also by knowing that Jesus was the only one that fulfilled every prophecy about the coming Messiah, the Son of God. He is the only human, because He was fully God and fully man, that never sinned, that died a physical death, and rose again to later ascend into heaven before a crowd of witnesses. He truly was sent by the Father and could give us this assurance. Glory be to God!

John 4:13-14

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Encouraging Words

Water is so important to life. We are comprised of mostly water. We cannot live for very long without water. We are carried in the womb encased by water. We are baptized into the church in water. Does it not make sense for Jesus to proclaim that we must drink in of His life-giving water in order to receive eternal life? It is also a blessing to know that through Him, through the ingestion of His living water, that we too can become fountains of living water pouring out His blessings on those around us. Glory be to God!

John 3:36

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Encouraging Words

We have seen in the verses leading up to this one that God has offered us the free gift of eternal life. It is a gift that cannot be earned and that we don’t deserve. What we do with that gift is very important. If we believe in the Son, that gift, then we will receive it and have everlasting life. If we reject it then we will see separation from God. Either way the gift remains real and given to all of us. Glory be to God!

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

Personal Challenge

John the Baptist holds a very prominent place in the church. He was the forerunner of Christ. He proclaimed the eminent coming of our Lord. He is considered the last of the old covenant prophets pointing to the coming Messiah. And yet, he was a very humble man recognizing that once Christ had arrived, it was time for Him to fade into the background so that the God-Man that He had been proclaiming could increase. Isn’t this what we all should be doing? Letting Christ increase in our lives as we humbly decrease. Lord Jesus Christ, Son. of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Encouraging Words

God is love! And as a loving God, the creator of all, He would not let His creation go unloved. Throughout the Old Testament and His covenant with the Jewish nation, He kept promising that His Son would come and create a new covenant with all nations. Jesus, God’s only begotten son, came in that love and became man so that we would not perish but have everlasting life. He fulfilled the condemnation of the law and ushered in a new era of salvation for all. Lord, have mercy! Lord, mercy! Lord, have mercy!

John 2:9-10

When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

Personal Challenge

One of the messages in this passage is about how we should do our works for God in such a way as to bring no attention to ourselves. Jesus performed His first public miracle at this wedding and made sure that the minimal number of people knew about it. He was not interested in having the spotlight focused on Him. His mother asked Him to do something and He did it without fanfare. We are to do the same. We are called to do His work, and to do it willingly and without attracting attention to ourselves so that we become prideful. Glory be to God!