John 3:13-18 - What will your response be?

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

John 3:16

This is one of the most famous, often quoted and promising scriptures in the New Testament. Here we read of God's all-encompassing love and grace for His beloved creation.

When we stop and truly think of the sacrifice God and Jesus made for each one of us, the thought becomes overwhelming.

Have you ever loved someone so much you were willing to sacrifice everything - even your very life - for that person? That is what Jesus did. That is what God did.

And what are our responses to this generous expression of love?

#1 Some of us accept the gift with open armed humility; so amazingly thankful for the gift we return the love to Jesus feeling the love grow more intensely and more fully each day we are in his presence. Because of this offer of grace we have developed a deepening relationship with the Father and the Son.

#2 Some of us respond to the gift by trying to earn it. We work and serve out of a sense of duty or guilt over the sacrifice which was made for us. We feel completely unworthy and unlovable. We assume that if we don't keep working we will never actually receive the gift.

# 3But, some of us turn our back on the gift. We deny its existence or discount its unmeasurable value. We go about our daily lives with little thought or care towards the One Who gave us everything out of an unending love. We simply ignore the gift.

We are all human beings with the amazing gift of free will. And in that free will we have options about how we will accept or deny Jesus's offer of grace.

Response number three is often how the world perceives God's grace. Many of the people of this world will celebrate Christmas and all of its trappings but deny the fullness of the story and the beautiful sacrifice in love of Easter. These are people who have heard the message of God's overwhelming love and have chosen to deny it. In all reality, many of these persons are good people who have simply chosen to believe only what they can see with their eyes instead of choosing to see with their hearts.

Response number two is one which many Christians unknowingly fall into. Out of sense of being unworthy, we push and we pull and we yank all of our different service obligations around until we become so weighted down in service we forget what motivated the service in the beginning. We cannot believe that God, the Mighty Wonderful Creator of the Universe would want to give us anything without us first jumping through at least one hoop. We who fall into this response rely on ourselves, rather than God to try and earn our salvation.

And response number one is given by Christians who recognize the love that God offers is freely given. We understand - regardless of how unbelievable the gift might be - that God gives us salvation not because we deserve it, but because He wants to be with us. We recognize that God's love is a gift given to us because of His desire for a relationship with each of us. We cannot explain it but we can live it. We can love as God teaches us to love - without limits.

Your response to God's offer of grace and love shown in John 3:16 is yours alone. Maybe it looks like one of the three responses above or maybe it is entirely different. God will not force you to accept His love - but He does offer it - with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

So...what will you say to Him?

Scripture

John 3:13-18

Quote of the Day

“If thou desire the love of God and man, be humble, for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, is beloved of none but itself. Humility enforces where neither virtue, nor strength, nor reason can prevail.”

Francis Quarles, English Poet during the 16th Century

Question of the Day

What will your response to God's love be?

John 3:1-12 ~ What Jesus Says is True....

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus. He was one of the Jewish rulers. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. We know that God is with you. If he weren't, you couldn't do the miraculous signs you are doing."

John 3:1-2

When Jesus was first fully in his ministry, the stories of the miracles he was performing and the people he was healing traveled throughout Israel. Nearly everyone knew who Jesus was and this was before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and even the good old fashioned telephone. 

Everyone knew because the stories of Jesus were so powerful, so amazing, that they had to be shared. And soon, by way of the Israeli pre-phone tree, the leaders of the church were discussing Jesus and his great power.

The leaders were torn and were unsure how to address this unknown teacher who was performing miracles beyond their broadest imaginings. Some wanted to ignore him, considering him a liar and a fraud, but others wanted to understand him. However, they feared, like many of us, stepping out in faith and aligning themselves with someone who would make them unpopular amongst their friends.

Nicodemus was one of the Jewish elite. He was a Pharisee and he was in power. He was a celebrity of sorts - a cross between an actor and a politician in our modern translation of fame. And by aligning with Jesus, he felt he had everything to lose.

If Nicodemus was found meeting with Jesus, he would face certain ridicule, possible ostracising from his friends, and a likely loss of power. So, Nicodemus went under the cloak of darkness so no one would see him, to learn more about Jesus.

His faith was weak at best - but it was there. A tiny grain of faith which Jesus tried to fertilize and grow by confirming who he was and what he said was true.

In his conversation with Nicodemus that evening, it is recorded that Jesus says, "What I am about to tell is true" three times. I believe Jesus did this for Nicodemus to help him trust in what Jesus was doing and to help him believe Jesus was the One and Only Son of God.

We are often like Nicodemus. We need the constant, gentle reassurance of Jesus - confirming who he is and how much he loves us. The love of Jesus and the unconditional nature of his sacrifice on our behalves can be overwhelming and doubtful, but we need to be like Nicodemus. We need to take that first step toward Jesus and trust that through his reassurance, his love and his grace we will come to understand that what he tells us is true.

He came so that we might one day be with him and the Father in heaven. He came so that we might be born again in faith. He came so that we might truly know the power and the love of God.

He came because he loves you.

Scripture

John 3:1-12

Quote of the Day

People see God every day, they just don't recognize him.

Pearl Bailey

Question of the Day

How can you make time to see God right before you?



John 2:23-25 ~ Jesus Knows the Heart of Man

He didn't need others to tell him what people are like. He already knew what was in the human heart.

John 2:25

For me it has always been a curious thing to know that God always knows what I am thinking, what I am doing and what I about to do. He knows me at the deepest part of my heart. He knows all the good about me and He knows all the bad - even the bad I do not know or will not admit to myself exists.

God knows all.

And as God in human flesh, Jesus knew all too. He knew the hearts and the minds of all of those around him. He knew when people, who professed faith were untrue. He knew when those who believed him were honestly in love with him.

And just as he knew the hearts of men and women two thousand years ago, he knows our hearts today.

There is a laundry list of differences between mankind and God, but one which I think is most evident is that we as men and women see with our eyes; God sees with His heart.

Often I hear people question the devotion of another's faith. I will hear people say that someone is full of faith or maybe that someone has a shallow faith - all based on what they see on the outside of a person. For sure, people will glow with the joy of salvation when they are followers of Christ, but it is not our place nor is it within our skill set to determine what is in the heart of another man or woman.

The judgement for how deeply another believes is only in the hands of God - not of man.

If you think about it, all of the disciples trusted Judas for three years. And if anyone had asked them about Judas, they surely would have stated that he was the most devout and faithful of men, when in fact he was known to the Lord to be his betrayer from the very on set.

 We see with our eyes and must trust what we see.

Only God can judge the hearts of men and women, because only God truly knows what is our hearts.

Scripture

John 2:23-23 (NIRV)

 Quote of the Day

"A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything..." 

The Crucible

Question of the Day

What can God reveal to you of your heart?



John 2:13-22 ~ Loving the person / Hating the sin

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:15-17

People tend to characterize Jesus as super tolerant, but in reality Jesus was love wrapped in a justice package. Jesus loves freely. He loved everyone he met and still today sends his love through the Holy Spirit in the world.

But Jesus was and is just.

Where there is wrong he demands that it be righted. When people are not living according to God and His will demands that they right their ways. Just because the world says it is "okay" doesn't mean that God thinks it is okay. He does not tolerate sinful behavior or wrong doing - regardless of what the world thinks.

Loving someone does not mean accepting their wrong behavior.

When Jesus entered the Temple, he was disgusted by what he saw. People were making a mockery of the holy place set aside purely for the worship of God. He showed righteous anger. This is anger we feel towards injustice in the world. This is the anger we feel towards habitual sinful behavior.

It may be hard to grasp, but Jesus driving the "money-changers" out of the Temple with a whip was Jesus showing love to them. If he had gone up to those who had been making their livings by profiting off of the needs of others and simply said, "Dude, this isn't right. You need to take this some place else." They would have laughed in his face. Even with his great show of force many still didn't want to listen to him:

The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

John 2:18

Sometimes to truly show love we must rise up with great force against injustice and tyranny. Love comes in many different forms but at its core is acceptance of the other person - not necessarily acceptance of their actions.

Jesus did not condemn the people, rather he condemned their actions. When we show love, this is what we are called to do: to love all regardless of the sin - but we are not called to accept the sin simply because we love.

This can be a hard line to walk, but the first place to look is yourself and how Jesus loves you.

Jesus showers you with love - but he hates the sin you commit in your life. He hates it when you are disrespectful or ungrateful. He hates it when you gossip or treat another poorly. He hates when you lie - even just a little white one. He hates it when you hate. But despite his hatred for your sin, and for my sin, Jesus loves us - all of us, even the money changers - UNCONDITIONALLY.

By driving out the money changers with a whip - he was doing justice. And he was also showing them love by bringing to light the sinful nature of their actions which were socially acceptable. Sometimes we all need the sin in our lives revealed to us so that we can cleanse ourselves of what seems to be "okay" in the eyes of the world.

Because, even if the world thinks what we are doing is okay - the Lord may seeing things differently.

Scripture

John 2:13-22

Quote of the Day

"No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

Albert Einstein

Question of the Day

Where has God shown you sin in your life which seems okay in the eyes of the world?